Simon, the hero of South American independence, was born in the city of Caracas, on the 24th July 1783. His father was Don Juan Vicente Bolivar y Ponte, and his mother Doña Maria Concepcion Palacios y Sojo, both descended of noble families in Venezuela.

After acquiring the elements of a liberal education at home, Bolivar was sent to Europe to prosecute his studies, and with this view repaired to Madrid, where he appears to have resided for several years. Having completed his education, he spent some time in travelling, chiefly in the south of Europe, and visited the French capital, where he was an eye-witness of some of the last scenes of the revolution. Returning to Madrid, he married the daughter of Don N. Toro, uncle of the marquis of Toro in Caracas, and embarked with her for America, intending, it is said, to dedicate himself to domestic life and the improvement of his large estate. But this plan was frustrated by the premature death of his lady, who fell a victim to yellow fever; and Bolivar again visited Europe, in order, by change of scene, to alleviate the sorrow occasioned by this bereavement.

On his return home he passed through the United States, where, for the first time, he had an opportunity of observing the working of free institutions; and soon after his arrival in Venezuela he appears to have embarked in the schemes of the patriots, and pledged himself to the cause of independence. Being one of the promoters of the movement at Caracas in April 1810, he received a colonel's commission from the supreme junta then established, and was associated with Don Luis Lopez Mendez in a mission for communicating intelligence of the change of government to Great Britain. He took part in the first military operations of the Venezuelan patriots, after the declaration of independence on the 5th of July 1811; and in 1812, when the war commenced in earnest, by the advance of Monteverde with the Spanish troops, he was intrusted with the command of the important post of Puerto Cabello. But the castle of San Felipe, which commanded the town, having been treacherously surrendered to the Spaniards, Bolivar was compelled to evacuate the place; and Miranda having soon afterwards made his peace with the government, Venezuela submitted to Monteverde, while those who had been most deeply committed in the revolution consulted their safety by quitting the country. On this occasion Bolivar succeeded in obtaining a passport under a fictitious name, and made his escape to Curacoa.

But as important events were passing on the continent, he repaired to Carthagena in September 1812, and, with other refugees from Caracas, joined the patriots of New Grenada, who gave him a command in the small town of Baranca, under the orders of Labatut, the republican governor of Santa Martha. Not content, however, with the obscure part of a subaltern at Baranca, Bolivar undertook an expedition against Tenerife, a town higher up on the Magdalena; and having made himself master of the place, proceeded to Mompox, driving the Spaniards before him from all their posts on the Upper Magdalena, and finally entering Ocaia in triumph amidst the acclamations of the inhabitants. He then marched upon Cucuta; defeated a Spanish division commanded by Correa; and, emboldened by success, conceived the design of invading Venezuela, and expelling Monteverde. The congress of New Grenada approved of the project, and gave him a commission as brigadier; but from the jealousy of some, the lukewarmness of others, and the procrastination of all, many disheartening obstacles were thrown in his way. By zeal and perseverance, however, he at length surmounted every difficulty, and commenced his march for Venezuela with little more than 500 men. At the head of this handful of troops he boldly entered the province of Merida; made himself master of the provincial capital, where, on learning the news of his approach, the inhabitants rose upon the Spaniards; re-established the republican authorities there; then pushed his vanguard under Jirardot upon Trujillo, where a corps of royalists under Cañas was defeated; and finally expelled the Spaniards from the provinces of Merida and Trujillo. While he was thus carrying everything before him, Bolivar obtained intelligence of the cruelty and oppression exercised by Monteverde and his subordinate officers in Venezuela; and, exasperated at their barbarity, as well as desirous to give a check to their excesses, he issued the famous decree of guerra a muerte, condemning to death all Spanish prisoners who might fall into his hands.

Bolivar's army increasing daily, he now formed it into two divisions, one of which he committed to the charge of Rivas, and advanced rapidly on Caracas through the provinces of Trujillo and Varinas. After a variety of encounters, which generally terminated in favour of the patriots, a decisive battle was fought at Lastoguianes, where the flower of Monteverde's troops sustained a total defeat, and the road to Caracas was in consequence left uncovered. Monteverde threw himself into Puerto Cabello, and Bolivar lost no time in marching on the capital, which being evacuated by the Spaniards, he entered in triumph on the 4th of August 1813. While this operation was in progress, Mariano effected the liberation of the eastern provinces of Venezuela, of which, excepting the fortress of Puerto Cabello, the patriots regained entire possession. At this period the whole authority in Venezuela centred in Bolivar as commander of the liberating army; and a convention of the principal civil and military officers, held at Caracas on the 2d of January 1814, confirmed the dictatorial power which circumstances had placed in his hands. Misfortune, however, was at hand.

The contest, which had hitherto been confined to a species of partisan warfare, now assumed a more serious character. The royalists, effectually roused by the reverses they had sustained, concentrated all their means; and a number of sanguinary encounters ensued. At length, after various vicissitudes of fortune, Bolivar was defeated by Boves near Cura, in the plains of La Puerta, and compelled to embark for Cumana with the shattered remains of his forces. Cumana was also retaken by the Spaniards in July; and before the end of the year 1814 the royalists were again the undisputed masters of Venezuela. From Cumana Bolivar repaired to Cartagena, where he once more appeared as a fugitive, and thence proceeded to Tunja, where the congress of New Grenada was sitting, in order to render an account of his operations. He had been unfortunate, which generally exposes a commander to misconception and obloquy; and his expedition, as brilliant in its outset as it proved disastrous in the issue, was severely criticised. But notwithstanding his misfortunes, and the efforts of his personal enemies, he was received and treated with great consideration; and as the congress were then organizing an expedition against Bogota, for the purpose of compelling Cundinamarca to accede to the general coalition of the provinces, Bolivar was intrusted with the command of the forces of the union on this occasion. Accordingly, in December 1814 he marched against Santa Fe at the head of 2000 troops. All attempts at negotiation having failed, he invested the city, drove in the out-posts, carried the suburbs by storm, and was preparing to assault the grand plaza or square, where Alvarez and the troops of Cundinamarca were posted, when the latter capitulated and acknowledged the general government of New Grenada, which was now transferred to Bogota. For this important service Bolivar received the thanks of the congress; and even the inhabitants of the city against which he had been sent expressed their approbation of his conduct.

In the meanwhile Santa Martha had fallen into the hands of the royalists, through the incapacity of Labatut; and as the general government appreciated the importance of recovering possession of that place, Bolivar was employed on this service, with orders to receive the necessary supplies and munitions of war from the citadel of Carthagena. But the preposterous jealousy of Castillo, the military commandant, defeated all his plans. The season for action was wasted in disgraceful altercations and ruinous delays; and while Bolivar was investing Carthagena, in the hope of intimidating Castillo into submission, Morillo landed on the island of Margarita at the head of an overwhelming force of Spaniards, and put an end to dispute. Finding a check thus effectually given to any movement against Santa Martha, and satisfied that he could not be usefully employed at Carthagena, Bolivar resigned his command, and embarked for Jamaica in May 1815. He remained at Kingston during the greater part of the year, whilst Morillo was reducing Carthagena and overrunning New Grenada almost without opposition; and in the interim narrowly escaped assassination by a Spaniard who had been hired to make an attempt on his life.

From Kingston Bolivar repaired to Aux Cayes in Hayti, where, assisted by private individuals, and furnished with a small force by Petion, he organized an expedition, in order to join Arismendi, who had raised anew the standard of independence in the island of Margarita. In May 1816 he reached Margarita, and sailing thence, landed on the continent near Cumaná; but being attacked at Ocumare by the Spaniards under Morales, he was compelled to re-embark. Nothing disheartened by this failure, he obtained fresh reinforcements at Aux Cayes, and in December landed again in Margarita, where he issued a proclamation convoking the representatives of Venezuela in a general congress. He then proceeded to Barcelona, where he organized a provisional government, and assembled troops to resist Morillo, who was then advancing at the head of a strong division. The hostile forces encountered each other on the 16th of February 1817, when a desperate conflict ensued, which lasted during that and the two following days, and ended in the defeat of the royalists. Morillo retired in disorder, and being met on his retreat by Paez with his llaneros, experienced a new and more complete overthrow. Being now recognised as commander-in-chief, Bolivar proceeded in his career of victory, and before the close of the year had fixed his head-quarters at Angostura. But as the military operations of this and the following year belong rather to the history of Colombia than to the biography of Bolivar, the reader is referred to that head for an account of them. He presided at the opening of the congress of Angostura on the 15th of February 1819, when he submitted an elaborate exposition of his views on government, and also surrendered his authority into the hands of congress. Being, however, required to resume his power, and retain it until the independence of the country should be completely established, he re-organized his troops, and set out from Angostura, in order to cross the Cordilleras, effect a junction with General Santander, commanding the republican forces in New Grenada, and bring their united means into action against the common enemy. This bold and original design was crowned with complete success. In July 1819 he reached Tunja, which he entered, after a sharp action on the adjoining heights; and on the 7th of August he gained the victory of Bojaca, which gave him immediate possession of Santa Fe and all New Grenada. Nor was this all. By the resources of men, money, and munitions of war, which he found at Bogota, he was enabled to augment the effective strength of his army, and to return to Venezuela with a force sufficient to insure the expulsion of the Spaniards.

The campaign of New Grenada is unquestionably Bolivar's most brilliant achievement, and deserves much of the praise which has been lavished on it. His return to Angostura was a sort of national festival. He was hailed as the deliverer and father of his country, and all manner of distinctions and congratulations were heaped upon him. He availed himself of this favourable moment to obtain the enactment of the fundamental law of the 17th December 1819, by which the republics of Venezuela and New Grenada were henceforth united in a single state, under his presidency, by the title of the republic of Colombia. The seat of government was also transferred provisionally to Rosario de Cucuta, and Bolivar again took the field. Being now at the head of the most numerous and best appointed army the patriots had yet assembled, he gained important advantages over the Spaniards under Morillo, and on the 25th November 1820 concluded at Trujillo an armistice of six months, probably in the hope that the Spaniards would now come to terms, and that the further effusion of blood might be spared. If such were his views, however, they were disappointed. Morillo was recalled; Torre assumed the command; and the armistice was allowed to expire without any pacific overture being made. As a renewal of the contest was therefore inevitable, Bolivar resolved, if possible, to strike a decisive blow; and this accordingly he did at Carabobo, where he vanquished Torre, and so completely destroyed the Spaniards, that the shattered remains of their army were forced to take refuge in Puerto Cabello, where two years after they surrendered to Paez.

The battle of Carabobo may be considered as having put an end to the war in Venezuela. On the 29th June 1820 Bolivar entered Caracas, and by the close of the year the Spaniards were driven from every part of the country except Puerto Cabello and Quito. The next step was to secure, by permanent political institutions, the independence which had now been conquered; and accordingly, on the 30th of August 1821, the present constitution of Colombia was adopted with general approbation, Bolivar himself being president, and Santander vice-president.

Having thus achieved the independence of his own country, Bolivar next placed himself at the head of the army destined to act against the Spaniards in Quito and Peru. The fate of Quito was decided by the battle of Pichincha, which was fought in June 1822, and gained by the conduct and prowess of Sucre. Bolivar then marched upon Lima, which the royalists evacuated at his approach; and entering the capital in triumph, he was invested with absolute power as dictator, and authorized to call into action all the resources of the country. But being violently opposed by some of the factions which then distracted Peru, and unable to make head against their intrigues, he was obliged to withdraw to Trujillo, leaving the capital to the mercy of the Spaniards under Canterac, by whom it was immediately occupied. This success, however, proved only temporary. By June 1824 the liberating army was completely organized; and taking the field soon after, it routed the vanguard of the enemy. Improving his advantage, Bolivar pressed forward, and on the 6th of August defeated Canterac on the plains of Junín; after which he returned to Lima, leaving Sucre to follow the royalists in their retreat to Upper Peru; an exploit which the latter executed with equal abi- lity and success, gaining a decisive victory at Ayacucho, and thus completing the dispersion of the Spanish force. The possessions of the Spaniards in Peru were now confined to the castles of Callao, which Rodil maintained for upwards of a year, in spite of all the means that could be employed for their reduction. In June 1825 Bolivar visited Upper Peru, which having detached itself from the government of Buenos Ayres, was formed into a separate state, called Bolivia, in honour of the liberator. The first congress of the new republic assembled in August 1825, when Bolivar was declared perpetual protector, and requested to prepare for it a constitution of government.

We now come to what may be considered as the second part in the biography of Bolivar. Hitherto we have been almost exclusively occupied in tracing his military career; at first uncertain, and marked by great reverses, but afterwards illustrated by a series of victories which, although fortune frequently favoured his enterprises, were principally owing to his own courage and constancy, aided by very considerable military genius. But from the period at which we have arrived, he appears before us in the capacity of a lawgiver; and imputations on the purity of his political views, whether well founded or the reverse, seem to have been contemporaneous with his attempts to consolidate the governments which owed their existence to his military prowess. Our present business, however, is with facts. In December 1824 he convoked a constituent congress for the February ensuing, and this body assembled accordingly; but, owing to the unsettled state of the country, the dictatorial power was vested in Bolivar for another year, and a grant of a million of dollars was offered him, which, however, he declined. The congress soon adjourned, and the dictator remained absolute governor of Peru. There is no evidence that he abused the power thus intrusted to him. Residing partly at Lima and partly at Magdalena, he directed the acts of the government, and also proposed the celebrated congress at Panama for establishing an alliance between all the independent states of America. His project of a constitution for Bolivia was presented to the congress of that state on the 25th May 1826, accompanied with an address, in which he embodied his opinions respecting the form of government which he conceived most expedient for the newly-established republics. Of this code some account will be found in the article Bolivia; but its most extraordinary feature consisted in the provision for lodging the executive authority in the hands of a president for life, without responsibility, and with power to nominate his successor. This alarmed the friends of liberty, and excited lively apprehensions amongst the republicans of Buenos Ayres and Chili; whilst, in Peru, Bolivar was accused of a design to unite into one state Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia, and to render himself perpetual dictator of the confederacy.

And it must be confessed that the conduct of the liberator gave some colour to these imputations. By the surrender of the castles of Callao, Peru was completely freed from the Spaniards, and the object which Bolivar professed to have had in view was accomplished. Yet he manifested no intention of resigning his authority, and departing from the country. On the contrary, when the deputies for the constituent congress of 1826 assembled, they were induced to decline acting in their legislative capacity; whilst a majority of their number published an address, urging Bolivar to continue at the head of affairs for another year, and, in the meanwhile, requesting him to consult the provinces individually respecting the form of government which they would prefer, and the person who should be placed at its head. He complied with this request, which he had probably suggested; circular letters were addressed to the prefects of departments, commanding them to assemble the electoral colleges, and to submit for the sanction of these bodies a constitution similar in all respects to the Bolivian code; and this constitution was adopted by the colleges, which, with unanimity perfectly extraordinary, nominated Bolivar president for life. We are too distant from the scene of these events, and too near the time of their occurrence, to be able to judge accurately as to the means by which this unanimity was produced in a country which, above all others, was distracted by factions, and a prey to intestine commotions.

In the meanwhile the affairs of Colombia had taken a turn which demanded the presence of Bolivar in his own country. During his absence Santander had administered the government ably and uprightly; its independence had been recognised by other countries; and its territory had been subdivided into departments, defined by geographical boundaries analogously to that of France. But Paez, who commanded in Venezuela, having been accused of arbitrary conduct in the enrolment of the citizens of Caracas in the militia, refused obedience to the summons of the senate, and placed himself in a state of open rebellion against the general government; whilst the disaffected party, taking advantage of this collision, united with the refractory commander, and encouraged him in his opposition, by which means the northern departments became virtually separated from the rest of the republic. All, however, professed a willingness to submit their grievances to the decision of Bolivar, and equally required his return to Colombia. But the factious jarrings to which we have adverted did not rest here. Whilst these movements were taking place in Venezuela, various municipalities of the southern departments, which had originally constituted the presidency of Quito, held public meetings, at which the Bolivian code was adopted, and the supreme authority lodged in Bolivar as dictator. Whether these proceedings were in accordance with the wishes of Bolivar or not, it is impossible to affirm with any degree of certainty. It has been generally believed, indeed, that the meetings in question were summoned, and the resolutions suggested, by Leocadio Guzman, an emissary of Bolivar's; and some have even alleged that Paez was incited and encouraged by hints from the same quarter. But be this as it may, the actual state of affairs, however produced, was such as demanded the presence of Bolivar.

Accordingly, having intrusted the government to a council nominated by himself, with General Santa-Cruz at its head, he set out from Lima in September 1826, and hastened to Bogota, where he arrived on the 14th November, and immediately assumed the extraordinary powers which by the constitution the president was authorized to exercise in case of rebellion. He remained only a few days in the capital, and then pressed forward to stop the effusion of blood in Venezuela, where matters had gone on much farther than he could ever have contemplated, even supposing him to have been the main-spring of the intrigues to which we have already adverted. On the 31st December he reached Puerto Cabello, and the following day issued a decree offering a general amnesty. He had then a friendly meeting with Paez, and soon afterwards entered Caracas, where he fixed his head-quarters, in order to check the northern departments, which had been the principal theatre of the disturbances. In the meanwhile Bolivar and Santander were re-elected to the respective offices of president and vice-president, and by law should have qualified as such in January 1827. In February, however, Bolivar formally resigned the presidency of the republic, at the same time expressing a determination to refute the imputations of ambition which had been so freely cast upon him, by retiring to private life, and spending the remainder of his days on his patrimonial estate. Santander

combated this resolution, urging him to resume his station as constitutional president, and declaring his own conviction, that the troubles and agitations of the country could only be appeased by the authority and personal influence of the liberator himself. But distrust and suspicion of Bolívar's conduct and intentions now filled all the friends of republican institutions. The anti-republican code of Bolivia was considered as a record of his political faith, and he was believed to be anxious for its introduction into Colombia. He was also accused of being in concert with Paez, and of having secretly fomented discord in the nation, in order to create an impression of the necessity of appointing him dictator. What truth there may be in these charges, or whether there be any at all, we shall not at present take it upon us to say. That they were generally believed at the time is unquestionable; nor is it easy, upon any other supposition, to account for the private intimacy which subsisted between Bolívar and Paez, whilst publicly they were at open war, and fiercely denouncing each other. Another proof of the belief which then prevailed is the large minority in congress who voted for accepting his resignation of the presidency. But as a majority were of a contrary opinion, and insisted on his retaining the presidency, he repaired to Bogota to take the oaths and resume his functions. Before his arrival, however, he issued simultaneously three separate decrees; one granting a general amnesty of all past offenses; another, convoking a national convention at Ocana; and a third for establishing constitutional order throughout Colombia.

His arrival was accelerated by the occurrence of events in Peru and the southern departments, which struck at the very foundation of his power. Not long after his departure from Lima, the Bolivian code had been adopted as the constitution of Peru, and Bolívar had been declared president for life. This took place on the 9th of December 1826, the anniversary of the battle of Ayacucho; at which time the Colombian auxiliary army was cantoned in three divisions, one in Upper, and two in Lower Peru, at Arequipa and Lima. The third division, stationed at Lima, consisted of veteran troops, commanded by generals Lara and Sands, personal friends of the liberator. But notwithstanding their known attachment to Bolívar personally, his recent conduct in Colombia had rendered them distrustful of his designs; and although they had originally no disposition to thwart his views on Peru, had his ambition been confined to that state alone, they resolved to strike a blow against his power when they conceived it employed for the subjugation of their own country. Accordingly, in about six weeks after the adoption of the new constitution, a counter-revolution in the government of Peru was effected by this body of dissatisfied veterans. They had taken their measures so well that they arrested their general officers without opposition; placed them under the orders of Bustamente, one of their colonels; and announced to the inhabitants of Lima that their sole object was to relieve the Peruvians from oppression, and to return home to protect their own country against any attack on its liberties. Availing themselves of the opportunity thus unexpectedly afforded them, the Peruvians abjured the Bolivian code, deposed the council of ministers appointed by the liberator, and proceeded to organize a provisional government for themselves. After this bloodless revolution, the third division embarked at Callao on the 17th March 1827, and landed in the southern department of Colombia in April; part proceeding to Guayaquil, and part to Cuenca and Quito, but all declaring that their only object in the step they had taken was the restoration of constitutional order, the preservation of republican institutions, and opposition to the designs entertained by Bolívar against the general liberty.

Intelligence of these events reached Bolívar while in the north of Colombia. He had long remained in a state of comparative inactivity; but the news of the counter-revolution in Peru, effected by the very troops in whom he had most implicitly confided, called forth all his energy, and he lost no time in preparing to march to the south, in order to reduce the refractory division. But he was spared the necessity of coming to blows with these troops, who, finding the government in the hands of the national executive, had peaceably submitted to General Ovando. In the meanwhile Bolívar had accepted the presidency, and resumed the functions belonging to his official station. But although Colombia was, to all external appearance, restored to tranquillity, the nation was divided into two parties, and agitated by their opposite views and incessant collisions. Bolívar had regained the personal confidence of the officers and soldiers of the third division; but the republican party, with Santander at their head, continued to regard with undisguised apprehension his ascendancy over the army, and the political movements in which he was continually engaged, accusing or suspecting him of a desire to imitate the career of Napoleon. In the meanwhile all parties looked anxiously to the convention of Ocana, which was to assemble in March 1828, for a decided expression of the national will. The republicans hoped that the issue of its deliberations would be favourable to their views; whilst the military, on the other hand, did not conceal their conviction that a stronger and more permanent form of government was essential to the public welfare, that the people were unprepared for republican institutions, and that Bolívar should be intrusted with discretionary power to administer the affairs of Colombia.

And the latter view seems to have prevailed. In virtue of a decree, dated Bogota, the 27th August 1828, Bolívar assumed the supreme power in Colombia, and continued to exercise it until his death, which took place at San Pedro, near Santa Martha, on the 17th December 1830. By this decree he was authorized to maintain peace at home, and to defend the country against foreign invasion, to command the forces of the state by land and sea, to negotiate with foreign powers, to make peace and declare war, to enter into treaties, to appoint all civil and military officers, to issue decrees and ordinances of every description, to regulate the administration of justice, and in short to exercise all the functions and prerogatives of sovereign, not to say absolute power. The decree, indeed, provided that he was to be assisted in the exercise of the executive power by the council of ministers; but it is obvious, from the terms of this document, and above all, from the nature of the powers it conferred on the president, that, although the council might advise, it could never control him; and that, with the army at his back, he was sovereign of Colombia under a new denomination. Still his position was, in many respects, far from being an enviable one. Suspicion and distrust were excited by all his actions, and his life seems to have been embittered, if not shortened, by the incessant attacks made on his character and conduct. This seems evident from an address to the Colombian nation, which he dictated only a few days before his death; and in which, after alluding to his efforts in the cause of liberty, and asserting his disinterestedness, he complains that his enemies had abused the credulity of the people, and violated what to him was most sacred, his reputation; that he was the victim of his persecutors, who had brought him to the brink of the grave; that he had aspired to no other glory than the consolidation of Colombia; and that if his death should contribute to pacify all factions, and to strengthen the union, he would descend with tranquillity to the tomb. The time has not yet arrived when it would be either safe or just to attempt an estimate of Bolivar's real views and character. But there are some facts in his history which, as they seem to be well established, it is due to his memory to bring prominently forward. He expended nine-tenths of a splendid patrimony in the service of his country; and although he had for a considerable period unlimited control over the revenues of three countries, Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia, he died without a shilling of the public money in his possession. The value of his military services can best be estimated by their results. He conquered the independence of three states, which he also organized; and he called forth a spirit in the southern portion of the New World, which can never be extinguished. He purified the administration of justice; he encouraged the arts and sciences; he fostered national interests; and he induced other countries to recognise that independence which was in a great measure the fruit of his own exertions. (Restrepo's Colombia, vol. iii.; American Annual Register, vols. i. and ii.; Encyclop. Americ. v. Bolivar; Memoirs of General Miller, vol. ii.; Ducoudray Holstein's Memoirs of Simon Bolivar.)