ty, and excited lively
apprehensions amongst the republicans of Buenos Aires and Chile; whilst
in Peru, Bolivar was accused of a design to unite into one state
Colombia, Peru and Bolivia, and to render himself perpetual dictator of
the confederacy.

In the meanwhile the affairs of Colombia had taken a turn which demanded
the presence of Bolivar in his own country. During his absence Santander
had administered the government of the state ably and uprightly, and its
independence had been recognized by other countries. But Paez, who
commanded in Venezuela, having been accused of arbitrary conduct in the
enrolment of the citizens of Caracas in the militia, refused obedience
to the summons of the senate, and placed himself in a state of open
rebellion against the government, being encouraged by a disaffected
party in the northern departments who desired separation from the rest
of the republic.

Accordingly, having entrusted the government to a council nominated by
himself, with Santa Cruz at its head, Bolivar set out from Lima in
September 1826, and hastening to Bogota, arrived there on the 14th of
November. He immediately assumed the extraordinary powers which by the
constitution the president was authorized to exercise in case of
rebellion. After a short stay in the capital he pressed forward to stop
the effusion of blood in Venezuela, where matters had gone much farther
than he could have contemplated. On the 31st of December he reached
Puerto Cabello, and the following day he issued a decree offering a
general amnesty. He had then a friendly meeting with Paez and soon after
entered Caracas, where he fixed his headquarters, in order to check the
northern departments, which had been the principal theatre of the
disturbances. In the meanwhile Bolivar and Santander were re-elected to
the respective offices of president and vice-president, and by law they
should have qualified as such in January 1827. In February, however,
Bolivar formally resigned the presidency of the republic, at the same
time expressing a determination to refute the imputations of ambition
which had been so freely cast upon him, by retiring into private life,
and spending the remainder of his days on his patrimonial estate.
Santander combated this proposal, urging him to resume his station as
constitutional president, and declaring his own conviction that the
troubles and agitations of the country could only be appeased by the
authority and personal in