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Hispanic Nations of the New World; a chronicle of our southern neighbors by William R. (William Robert) Shepherd
page 48 of 172 (27%)
legislature. Bolivar managed to quell the opposition in
dictatorial fashion; but his prestige had by this time fallen so
low that an attempt was made to assassinate him. The severity
with which he punished the conspirators served only to diminish
still more the popular confidence which he had once enjoyed. Even
in Bolivia his star of destiny had set. An outbreak of Colombian
troops at the capital forced the faithful Sucre to resign and
leave the country. The constitution was then modified to meet the
demand for a less autocratic government, and a new chief
magistrate was installed.

Desperately the Liberator strove to ward off the impending
collapse. Tkough he recovered possession of the division of
Quito, a year of warfare failed to win back Peru, and he was
compelled to renounce all pretense of governing it. Feeble in
body and distracted in mind, he condemned bitterly the
machinations of his enemies. "There is no good faith in
Colombia," he exclaimed, "neither among men nor among nations.
Treaties are paper; constitutions, books; elections, combats;
liberty, anarchy, and life itself a torment."

But the hardest blow was yet to fall. Late in December, 1829, an
assembly at Caracas declared Venezuela a separate state. The
great republic was rent in twain, and even what was left soon
split apart. In May, 1830, came the final crash. The Congress at
Bogota drafted a constitution, providing for a separate republic
to bear the old Spanish name of "New Granada," accepted
definitely the resignation of Bolivar, and granted him a pension.
Venezuela, his native land, set up a congress of its own and
demanded that he be exiled. The division of Quito declared itself
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