Símon Bolívar, the Liberator | Page 5

and the mestizos, as a rule, hated the creoles, or American
whites, who often were as bad as, or even worse than, the Spanish
colonists in dealing with the aborigines. It is not strange, then, that in a
conflict between Spain and the colonies, the natives should take sides
against the creoles, who did most of the thinking, and who were
interested and concerned with all the changes through which the
Spanish nation might pass, and that they would help Spain against the
white promoters of the independent movement. This assertion must be
borne in mind to understand the difficulties met by the independent
leaders, who had to fight not only against the Spanish army, which was
in reality never very large, but also against the natives of their own land.
To regard this as an invariable condition would nevertheless lead to
error, for at times, under proper guidance, the natives would pass to the
files of the insurgent leaders and fight against the Spaniards.
Furthermore, it is necessary to remember that education was very
limited in the Spanish colonies; that in some of them printing had not
been introduced, and that its introduction was discouraged by the
public authority; and that public opinion, which even at this time is so
poorly developed, was very frequently poorly informed in colonial
times, or did not exist, unless we call public opinion a mass of
prejudices, superstitions and erroneous habits of thinking fostered by

interests, either personal or of the government.
This was the condition of the Spanish American countries at the
beginning of the nineteenth century, full of agitation and conflicting
ideas, when new plans of life for the people were being elaborated and
put into practice as experiments on which many men founded great
hopes and which many others feared as forerunners of a general social
disintegration.

CHAPTER II
_Bolívar's Early Life. Venezuela's First Attempt to Obtain
Self-Government_
(1783-1810)
Simón Bolívar was born in the city of Caracas on the twenty-fourth day
of July, 1783; his father was don Juan Vicente Bolívar, and his mother,
doña María de la Concepción Palacios y Blanco. His father died when
Simón was still very young, and his mother took excellent care of his
education. His teacher, afterwards his intimate friend, was don Simón
Rodríguez, a man of strange ideas and habits, but constant in his
affection and devotion to his illustrious pupil.
Bolívar's family belonged to the Spanish nobility, and in Venezuela
was counted in the group called Mantuano, or noble. They owned great
tracts of land and lived in comfort, associating with the best people,
among whom they were considered leaders.
The early youth of Bolívar was more or less like that of the other boys
of his city and station, except that he gave evidence of a certain
precocity and nervousness of action and speech which distinguished
him as an enthusiastic and somewhat idealistic boy.
Misfortune taught Bolívar its bitter lessons when he was still young. At
fifteen years of age he lost his mother. Then his uncle and guardian,

don Carlos Palacios, sent him to Madrid to complete his education. The
boat on which he made the trip left La Guaira on January 17, 1799, and
stopped at Vera Cruz. This enabled young Simón Bolívar to go to
Mexico City and other towns of New Spain. In the capital of the colony
he was treated in a manner becoming his social standing, and met the
highest offícials of the government. The viceroy had several
conversations with him, and admired his wit; but it finally alarmed him
when the boy came to talk on political questions and, with an assurance
superior to his age, defended the freedom of the American colonies.
Bolívar lived in Madrid with his relatives, and had occasion to be in
touch with the highest members of the court, and even with the King,
Charles IV, and the Queen. There he met a young lady named María
Teresa Toro, whose uncle, the Marquis of Toro, lived in Caracas and
was a friend of the young man. He fell in love with her, but as he was
only seventeen years old, the Marquis of Ustáriz, who was in charge of
Bolívar in Madrid, advised him to delay his plans for an early marriage.
In 1801 Bolívar went to Paris, where he found Napoleon Bonaparte, as
First Consul, undertaking his greatest labors of social reorganization
after the long period of anarchy through which France had passed
following the Revolution. Bonaparte was one of the most admired men
at that time. He had come back from Egypt and Syria, had been
victorious at Marengo and Hohenlinden, and had just signed the Peace
of Lunéville. One does not wonder that Bolívar should admire him and
that his letters should contain many expressions of