onal convention. Meeting at Ocana, in
April, 1828, that body proceeded to abolish the life tenure of the
presidency, to limit the powers of the executive, and to increase
those of the 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.
Though 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 independent, under the name of the "Republic of the
Equator" (Ecuador). Everywhere the artificial handiwork of the Liberator
lay in ruins. "America is ungovernable. Those who have served in the
revolution have ploughed the sea," was his despairing cry.

Stricken to death, the fallen hero retired to an estate near Santa
Marta. Here, like his famous rival, San Martin, in France, he found
hospitality at the hands of a Spaniard. On December 17, 1830, the
Liberator gave up his troubled soul.

While Bolivar's great republic was falling apart, the United Provinces
of La Plata had lost practica