These few pages, devoted to the life and work of Simón Bolívar, the great South American Liberator, will attain their object if the reader understands and appreciates how unusual a man Bolívar was. Every citizen of the United States of America must respect and venerate his sacred memory, as the Liberator and Father of five countries, the man who assured the independence of the rest of the South American peoples of Spanish speech; the man who conceived the plans of Pan-American unity which those who came after him have elaborated, and the man who, having conquered all his enemies and seen at his feet peoples and laws, effected the greatest conquest, that of himself, sacrificing all his aspirations and resigning his power, to go and die, rewarded by the ingratitude of those who owed him their existence as free men. The more the life of this man is studied, the greater he appears, and the nearer he seems to the superhuman.
The American people, made free by Washington, do not begrudge the legitimate glory of other illustrious men, and if they have not rendered up to this time the homage due to Simón Bolívar, it has been mainly through lack of accurate knowledge of his wonderful work. The city of New York, the greatest community in the world, is now honoring his memory by placing in a conspicuous section of its most beautiful park a statue which the Government of Venezuela has given it; the statue of the Man of the South, the brother in glory to our own Washington. No greater homage could be paid to him than to have American fathers and mothers pass by the noble monument, pointing out to their children the statue and telling them the marvelous story of Simón Bolívar.
In a book as brief as this it is impossible to present documents or to give long quotations. Nevertheless, we may fairly affirm that all statements herein made are substantiable by documentary evidence. We have consulted all the books and pamphlets which have been at hand and have studied both sides of debatable questions regarding Bolívar. To follow a chronological order we have been guided by the beautiful biography written by Larrazábal, the man called by F. Lorain Petre "the greatest flatterer of Bolívar." That this assertion is false is proved in the first volume cited below. Petre's monograph contains apparent earmarks of impartiality, but in reality it is nothing but a bitter attack on the reputation of Bolívar. Its translator, a distinguished Venezuelan writer, is to be thanked for the serenity with which he has destroyed his imputations. We find nothing to add in defense of the Liberator.
The following studies have been particularly consulted:
"Bolívar—por los más grandes escritores americanos, precedido de un estudio por Miguel de Unamuno," Madrid and Buenos Aires, 1914,
a book containing the following monographs:
"Simón Bolívar," by Juan Montalvo (Ecuadorian)
"Simón Bolívar," by F. García Calderón (Peruvian)
"Simón Bolívar," by P.M. Arcaya (Venezuelan)
"Bolívar y su campaña de 1821," by General L. Duarte
Level (Mexican)[1]
"Bolívar en el Perú," by A. Galindo (Colombian)
"Simón Bolívar," by B. Vicuña Mackenna (Chilean)
"Simón Bolívar," by J.B. Alberdi (Argentinean)
"Simón Bolívar," by José Martí (Cuban)
"El ideal internacional de Bolívar," by Francisco José
Urrutia (Colombian)
"La entrevista de Guayaquil," by Ernesto de la Cruz (Chilean)
"Bolívar, escritor," by Blanco-Fombona (Venezuelan)
"Bolívar," by F. Lorain Petre (North American)[2]
"Bolívar," by J.E. Rodó (Uruguayan)
"Bolívar, íntimo," by Cornelio Hispano (Colombian)
"Bolívar, profesor de energía," by José Veríssimo (Brazilian)
"Bolívar, legislador," by Jorge Ricardo Vejarano (Colombian)
"Discursos y Proclamas—Simón Bolívar," R. Blanco-Fombona, Paris.
"Documentos para la Vida Pública del Libertador" por Blanco y
Azpurúa, Caracas.
"El Libertador de la América del Sur," Guzmán Blanco, London, 1885.
"Estudio Histórico," Aristides Rojas, Caracas, 1884.
"La Creación de un Continente," F. García Calderón, Paris.
"La Entrevista de Bolívar y San Martín en Guayaquil," Camilo
Destruge, Guayaquil, 1918.
"La última enfermedad, los últimos momentos y los funerales de Simón
Bolívar," Dr. A.P. Révérend, Paris, 1866.
"Leyendas Históricas," A. Rojas, Caracas, 1890.
"Memorias de O'Leary," translated from English by Simón B. O'Leary,
Caracas, 1883.
"Orígenes del Gran Mariscal de Ayacucho," discursos
del Señor D. Felipe Francia, Caracas, 1920.
"Papeles de Bolívar," Vicente Lecuna, Caracas, 1917.
"Pensamientos consagrados a la memoria del Libertador,"
Caracas, 1842.
"Recuerdos del Tiempo Heróico—Pájinas de la vida militar i
política del Gran Mariscal de Ayacucho," José María Rey de Castro,
Guayaquil, 1883.
"Resúmen de la Historia de Venezuela," Baralt y Díaz, Paris, 1841.
"Simón Bolívar," Arturo Juega Farrulla, Montevideo,
1915.
"Vida de Simón Bolívar," Larrazábal, Madrid, 1918; also sixth edition
of same book, New York, Andres Cassard, 1883.
[Footnote 1: Duarte Level is not Mexican but Venezuelan.]
[Footnote 2: Lorain Petre is not North American but English.]