of Georgetown. Among the posts which he filled was that of Rector of the
National University of Mexico, Legal Counsellor of the Inter-American
Committee in Washington and Professor of History and of Hispano-American
literature. Sincerely interested in the heroes of Spanish-American
independence, he dedicated himself to the study of their lives and
especially to that of the Liberator. He also wrote a biography of Sucre.

This biography of Bolivar was first published in Washington in 1921. It was
again published in Baltimore in 1930. There have been two translations into
Spanish, that of Roberto Cortazar and that of R. Cansinos-Assens, published
respectively in Bogota (1922 and 1930) and in Madrid (1922).

The Bolivarian Society of Venezuela has decided that in homage to the
memory of the Liberator on the occasion of the transfer of the statue in
New York to its new site at the head of the Avenue of the Americas, the
publication of another edition of this excellent work of Mr. Sherwell's
which gives in an excellent condensed form the historical significations of
Bolivar. The children of Mr. Sherwell have kindly given their consent to
the publication of this edition which is made under the auspices of the
Junta de Gobierno of the United States of Venezuela.




_Introduction_


In the history of peoples, the veneration of national heroes has been one
of the most powerful forces behind great deeds. National consciousness,
rather than a matter of frontiers, racial strain or community of customs,