Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-07-20

came a young Venezuelan with many
gold pieces and great grief. His
child wife had died the year before even as
the honeymoon was at its full, and youthful
Simon Bolivar sought the designations of the
French capital that he might numb the pain of
o broken heart. More lavish than Roman
proconsul, careless of everything save forget
fulnesS, his imperial prodgalities set a thou
sand nights on fire, Sham1ng Russian princes
by their superior magnifcence.
Suddenly those tense nerves snapped, and
as he lay Ill and more than ever unhappy, the
literature of the American Revolution fell into
his hands. The flaming sentences of the
Declaration of Independence caught his soul
and shook it loose from every self1shness; the
story of Washington was clarion call to high
resolve and noble purpose. visit to the United
States strengthened his belief in democracy as
the hope of humanity, and when he reached
his native land again, patriotism was passion
that consumed him.
It was not only that Simon Bolivar con-
secrated to great ideals gave liberty and laws
to Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and
Bolivia, ending three centuries of Spanish rule.
His was the hand that walked our own republic
from its dream of isolation, and his the courage
that fired Americans to hurl the grim phrases
Of the Monroe Doctrine against the insolent
pretenSions of Old World autocracy.
constituted an impossible barrier against
the aggressions of European monarchieS, James
Monroe sat stunned as he watched the Holy
Alliance prepare to send armies to South Amer
lea for the subjugation of SPANS rebelliouS
colonies led by Bolivar from victory to victory.
England, no less alarmed, proposed con-
certed resistance; Jefferson and Madison, called
upon for advice, urged immediate acceptance
of the offer, and even as the timorous Monroe
fused and fidgeted, the clamor of a nation
filled his Tapping ears.
From the very first, Americans had fol-
lowed Bolivar's campaigns with passionate in
terest, and now there was fierce anger that
European despots should gather to strike him
down. together with wholesome fear of what
might happen to the United States If the Holy
Alliance gained foothold in the Western
Hemisphere. Whereupon Monroe and John
Quincy Adams penned the historic message
that closed the New World against further
colonization by the Old, threatening war if
Continental troops we're sent to crush Bolivar
and the democratic aspirations of his people.
Small wonder that the heart of America went
out to Simon Bolivar, or that hundreds sailed
to fight under his banner There was wealth
of romantic appeal in the sight of this young
aristocrat risking life and great estates to win
freedom and justice for humber SOULS and
imagination could not fail to be thrilled by
spectacular marches that dared comparison
with the strategy of Hannibal and Napoleon.
His battle line was 5000 miles, intersected
by three painless Cordilleras, and the snow Of
every pass in the Andes knew the stain of his
armys bleeding feet
Bolivar's first chance for revolution came in
1908, when Napoleon put Joseph Bonaparte on
the throne of Spain. Quick to realize that
Spanish power now an empty shell, the
young patriot joined in q call to arms, and
by 1911 the Venezuelan insurgents were suf-
hciently victorious to declare their independence
Even as they exulted. the tide Of battle turned,
and within the year their forces were scattered,
their leaders in flight, and city cutters run
fAlIg With blood as the Spaniards' raced from
massacre to massacre.