Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 1).djvu/331

BOISE, James Robinson, educator, b. in Blandford, Mass., 27 Jan., 1815; d. in Chicago, 9 Feb., 1895. He was graduated at Brown in 1840, became a tutor of Latin and Greek in that college, and in 1843 professor of Greek, which chair he held until 1850. From 1852 to 1868 he was professor of Greek in the university of Michigan, and after 1868 in the university of Chicago. He published in Chicago Xenophon's “Anabasis,” with English notes, the first six books of Homer's “Iliad,” “Greek Syntax,” “First Lessons in Greek,” and other text-books, and in 1884 “Notes Critical and Explanatory on St. Paul's Epistles.”

BOKER, George Henry, author, b. in Philadel- phia, Pa., 6 Oct., 1823 ; d. there, 2 Jan., 1890. He was the son of a wealthy banker, was graduated at Princeton in 1842, and studied law, but did not practise. In 1847, after his return from a tour in Europe, he published "The lesson of Life, and other Po- ems," followed in 1848 by a trag- edy called " Ca- laynos," which was successful- ly brought out on the stage in England. He next produced in succession the tragedies of "Anne Boleyn" (1850), " Leonor de Guzman," and " Frances- ca da Rimini." Among his other plays are " The

Betrothal" and

"The Widow's Marriage." In 1856 he published in Boston two volumes of " Plays and Poems." Among his individual poems, " The Ivory-Car- Ter," " The Podesta's Daughter," " Song of the Earth," " A Ballad of Sir John Franklin," and " Dirge for a Soldier," are noteworthy. During the civil war he wrote many patriotic lyrics, col- lected in a volume and published under the title of "Poems of the War" (Boston, 1864). Later works were " Street Lyrics," " Konigsmark, and other Poems" (1869), and "The Book of the Dead " (1882). In the autumn of 1871 he was ap- pointed by President Grant U. S. minister to Turkey, and in 1875 was transferred to the more important mission of Russia. He returned to Philadelphia in 1879. Mr. Boker's dramas are classical in form, and his sonnets and other lyrical poems greatly admired. He also wrote vigorous and eloquent prose, especially the stirring appeals contained in the reports of the union league club, of which he was secretary from the time of its establishment until recently, when he was elected its president. His latest work was a volume of sonnets, which appeared in 1886.

BOLIVAR, Gregorio, Spanish missionary. Early in the 16th century he preached the gos- pel for twenty-five years among the Indians of Mexico, Peru, and other regions whei'e Euro- pean civilization had not yet reached. He be- longed to the Franciscan order, and left a curious work entitled " Memorial de Arbitrios para la Separation de Espana."

BOLIVAR, Simon, the liberator, leader in the struggle for South American independence, b. in Caracas, Venezuela, 24 July, 1783 ; d. in San Pedro, near Santa Martha, 17 Dec, 1830. His father Was Juan Vicente Bolivar y Ponte, a wealthy proprietor of Peru, of noble descent, as was also his mother, Maria Concepcion Palacios y Sojo. Losing his parents early, young Bolivar was brought up by his uncle, the Marquis de Palacios. After receiving a liberal education at home, he spent several years in the study of law at Madrid, and in travel, mostly in the south of Europe. He remained some time in Paris, and was a witness of the closing scenes of the revolution. Returning to Madrid, he married, in 1801, a daughter of Don N. Toro. Embarking for America with the intention of devoting himself to the care of his estate, Bolivar lost his young wife, who died of yellow fever. He again visited Eu- rope to assuage his sorrow, in 1804, and spent five years in Paris. On his return to Venezuela, in 1809, he passed through the United States, where he had the opportunity of observing the working of free institutions. He soon afterward joined in the revolutionary movement in South America, and, having taken part in the uprising in Caracas of 19 April. 1810, he received a colonel's commission from the junta, and was sent with Luis Lopez Mendes to Great Britain to purchase arms and solicit the protection of the government, returning in 1811 with a cargo of arms.

After the declaration of Venezuelan independence, 5 July, 1811, he joined the insurgent forces, was attached to Gen. Miranda's staff in September as lieutenant-colonel, and was placed in command of the important fortress of Puerto Cabello. He lost that place, the strongest fortified post in the country, through a revolt of the Spanish prisoners of war in the citadel. The fortress was reoccupied by the Spaniards under Monteverde, the Spanish troops regained possession of the province, and Miranda, on the authority of the congress, signed the treaty of Victoria, restoring Venezuela to Spanish rule, 25 July, 1812. Bolivar, with other officers, who attributed their failure to the inactivity of Miranda, apprehended the latter at La Guayra, and delivered him up to the Spanish authorities. Hearing of important movements in New Granada, Bolivar went from Curagao, where he had taken refuge, to Carthagena, and obtained a commission to operate against the royalist forces on Magdalena river. He set out in January, 1813, with 300 men, enlisted for the expedition from refugees at Carthagena. Manuel Castillo accompanied him with 500 grenadiers, detailed for the expedition by the president of Carthagena, but soon decamped with his force. Bolivar and his cousin Ribas advanced up the river, driving the Spaniards out of Tenerife, Mompox, and other places as far as the valley of Cucuta on the Venezuelan border. He then determined to endeavor to rekindle the revolution in Venezuela and risk another encounter with Monteverde, and Bolivar and Ribas were commissioned as generals by the congress of New Granada, sitting at Santa Fe de Bogota. Amid many discouragements he pressed forward with his small force, not exceeding 500 men, and reached Merida and Truxillo, important towns in western Venezuela, where he succeeded in raising the population in his support. Dividing his force into two columns, Bolivar marched -upon Caracas at the head of one division, while Ribas proceeded with the other by another route. Recruits flocked to the revolutionary standard as they advanced into Venezuela. Incensed at the cruel methods of warfare practised by the royalists. Bolivar, on 13 Jan., 1813, issued his famous proclamation of war to the death (guerra a muerte). Ribas