to help him.

A junction of the forces of the two great leaders was perfectly
feasible, after the last important foothold of the Spaniards on the
coast of Venezuela had been broken by the Battle of Carabobo, on July
24, 1821. Whether such a union would be made, however, depended upon two
things: the ultimate disposition of the province of Quito, lying
between Colombia and Peru, and the attitude which Bolivar and San Martin
themselves should assume toward each other. A revolution of the previous
year at the seaport town of Guayaquil in that province had installed
an independent government which besought the Liberator to sustain its
existence. Prompt to avail himself of so auspicious an opportunity of
uniting this former division of the viceroyalty of New Granada to his
republic of Colombia, Bolivar appointed Antonio Jose de Sucre, his
ablest lieutenant and probably the most efficient of all Spanish
American soldiers of the time, to assume charge of the campaign. On his
arrival at Guayaquil, this officer found the inhabitants at odds among
themselves. Some, hearkening to the pleas of an agent of San Martin,
favored union with Peru; others, yielding to the arguments of a
representative of Bolivar, urged annexation to Colombia; still
others regarded absolute independence as most desirable. Under these
circumstances Sucre for a while made little headway against the
royalists concentrated in the mountainous parts of the country despite
the partial support he received from troops which were sent by the
southern commander. At length, on May 24, 1822, scaling the flanks of
the volcano of Pichincha, near the capital town of Quito itself, he
delivered the blow for freedom. Here Bolivar, who had fought his way
overland amid tremendous difficulties, joined him and started for
Guayaquil, where he and San Martin were to hold their memorable
interview.

No characters in Spanish American history have called forth so much
controversy about their respective merits and demerits as these two
heroes of independence--Bolivar and San Martin. Even now it seems quite
impossible to obtain from the admirers of either an opinion that does
full justice to both; and foreigners who venture to pass judgment are
almost certain to provoke criticism from one set of partisans or the
other. Both Bolivar and San Martin were sons of country gentlemen,
aristocratic by lineage and devoted to the cause of independence.
Bolivar was alert, dauntless, brilliant,