BOLIVAR. 



593 



army, which took refuge in Puerto Cabello, and 

 there, after a protracted and obstinate struggle 

 of more than two years, surrendered to general 

 Paez. 



The battle of Carabobo may be regarded as having 

 put an end to the war in Venezuela. B. entered 

 Caraccas, June 29th, 1820, having now, for the third 

 time, rescued his native city from its oppressors, and 

 was received with transports of joy. By the close of 

 the year, the Spaniards were driven from every part 

 of the country, except Puerto CabeJlo and Quito ; 

 and the time was deemed auspicious for establishing 

 permanent political institutions in Colombia. The 

 present constitution was completed and adopted 

 August 30th, 1821, and B. was elected the first con- 

 stitutional president, with general Santander for vice- 

 president. Having thus achieved the independence 

 of his own country, B. placed himself at the head of 

 the liberating army destined to expel the Spaniards 

 from Quito and Peru. The fate of Quito was decided 

 by the battle of Pichincha, fought in June, 1822, and 

 gained by the talents and prowess of Sucre. Aware 

 that the southern provinces of Colombia could never 

 be secure while Peru remained subject to Spain, and 

 anxious to extend the blessings of independence to 

 all America, B. resolved to march upon Lima, and 

 assist the Peruvians. The royalists, not being pre- 

 pared to meet him, evacuated Lima at his approach ; 

 and B., entering the capital amid the acclamations of 

 the people, was invested with supreme power as dic- 

 tator, and authorized to call into action all the re- 

 sources of the country for its liberation. But, opposed 

 and denounced by some of the factions which distract- 

 ed Peru, he found himself under the necessity of re- 

 turning to Trujillo, in Northern Peru, leaving Lima 

 to be retaken by the Spaniards under Canterac. 



At length, in June, 1824, the liberating army was 

 completely organized, and soon after, taking the field, 

 routed the vanguard of the enemy. B. was anxious 

 for the opportunity of a decisive engagement, and, in 

 fact, soon obtained a brilliant victory, August 6, on 

 the plains of Junin. Leaving Sucre to follow the 

 royalists in their retreat into Upper Peru, he repaired 

 to Lima, to organize the government ; and. during 

 his absence from the army, Sucre gained the splendid 

 victory of Ayacucho. Nothing was now held by the 

 Spaniards in Peru but the castles of Callao; which 

 Rodil maintained for upwards of a year, B. employing 

 all the resources of the government for their reduc- 

 tion, until January, 1826. In June, 1825, B. visited 

 Upper Peru, which detached itself from the govern- 

 ment of Buenos Ayres, and was formed into a new 

 republic, named Bolivia, in honour of the liberator. 

 The members of the congress of the new republic, 

 assembled in August, 1825, seemed to vie with one 

 another in extravagant resolutions, testifying their 

 gratitude to B". and Sucre. The former was declared 

 perpetual protector of the republic, and requested to 

 prepare for it a constitution of government. Return- 

 ing to Lima, he occupied himself in performing this 

 task. 



We touch now upon a period when B. appears in 

 a new aspect. Hitherto, we have traced his military 

 career, at first uncertain, and abounding in great 

 reverses, but at length splendidly successful. His 

 remarkable fertility in resources, his courage, con- 

 duct, and pre-eminent genius for the art of war,- are 

 all undeniable, ajdare proved not less by his bril- 

 liant success, thaWoy the testimony of all the most 

 competent judges. But he now comes before us in 

 the capacity of a lawgiver ; and imputations on the 

 purity of his political views arise contemporaneously 

 with his assuming the -delicate task of consolidating 

 the governments which his military prowess had 

 created. 



In December, 1824, B. issued a decree, convoking 

 a constituent congress to assemble in Lima the ensu- 

 ing February. This body assembled accordingly; 

 but, in consideration of the unsettled state of the 

 country, resolved to continue the dictatorial powers 

 of B. another year, without attempting to settle the 

 government permanently. They also urged on B. a 

 grant of a million of dollars, which he, with the liber- 

 ality of feeling, and contempt of mercenary motives, 

 which invariably distinguished him, rejected. Con- 

 gress soon adjourned, and B. remained sole and abso- 

 lute governor of Peru. Residing partly at Lima, and 

 partly at Magdalena, he directed the acts of the 

 government, and, at this period, proposed the cele- 

 brated congress of Panama, for the purpose of estab- 

 lishing a stable alliance between all the independent 

 states of America. Having completed his project of 

 a constitution for Bolivia, he presented it to the con- 

 gress of that state, with an address, dated May 25th, 

 1826, wherein he solemnly recorded his opinions of 

 the form of government required by the new repub- 

 lics of the south. Of this famous code, an account 

 will be found in the article Bolivia. It is enough to 

 state here, that, among other features which alarmed 

 the friends of liberty, the most exceptionable was a 

 provision for lodging the executive authority in the 

 hands of a president for life, without responsibility 

 and with power to nominate his successor. When 

 the nature of this constitution became generally 

 known in South America, it excited the liveliest ap- 

 prehensions, especially among the republicans oi 

 Buenos Ayres and Chile, who feared, or pretended 

 to fear, an invasion from B. ; and not less in Peru, 

 where he began to be accused of a design to unite 

 permanently Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia, and to 

 make himself perpetual dictator of the same. 



These imputations received countenance, at least 

 from the proceedings of B. himself. The surrender 

 of Callao, by completely freeing Peru from the Span- 

 iards, finished the business for which B. and the Co- 

 lombian troops, had been called into the country. 

 But he manifested no intention of departing, or or 

 resigning his authority. On the contrary, when the 

 deputies for the constituent congress of 1826 assem- 

 bled, they saw fit, or were induced, for alleged irre- 

 gularities in then 1 appointment, and for other causes, 

 to decline acting in their legislative capacity. A 

 majority of the deputies published an address, in 

 which they urged B. to continue at the helm another 

 year, and, meantime, to consult the provinces indivi- 

 dually as to the form of government which they might 

 desire, and the person who should be placed at its 

 head. Accordingly, circular letters, written in the 

 name of B. and his council of government, and issued 

 from the bureau of his minister Pando, were ad- 

 dressed to the several prefects of departments, con\- 

 manding them to assemble the electoral colleges, 

 and submit, for their sanction, a form of constitution 

 precisely the same with the Bolivian code, only 

 adapted to Peru. This constitution was adopted by 

 the colleges, who also nominated B. president for life 

 under it, with a unanimity too extraordinary not to 

 have been the result either of intimidation or of man- 

 agement. Before this time, however, events had 

 transpired in Colombia, which demanded the presence 

 of B. in his own country. During his absence, the 

 vice-president, Santander, had administered the go- 

 vernment with ability and uprightness. Colombia 

 had been recognised by other countries as an inde- 

 pendent state ; its territory was divided into depart- 

 ments, and its government regularly organized. 

 But, in April, 1826, general Paez, who commanded 

 in Venezuela, being accused before the Colombian 

 senate of arbitrary conduct in the enrolment of the 

 citizens of Caraccas in the militia, refused obedience 



