594 



BOLIVAR. 



l the summons of the senate, arid placed himself In 

 open rebellion to the national government and con- 

 stitution. Taking advantage of tins unhappy inci- 

 dent, the ilisail'rc i il p.iny ill tin- ancient Venezuela, 

 all those opposed to a central form of government, 

 and all those opposed to the existing administrators 

 of the government, united with 1'aez ; and thus the 

 n.>rthern departments liec.ime virtually separated, for 

 the time Ix-ing, from the rest of the republic. But 

 all professed a readiness tomihinit their grievances to 

 tiie decision of R, and anxiously required his return 

 to Colombia. 



While these movements were taking place in Vene- 

 Euela, professedly with a view to obtain a federal, 

 instead of a central form of government, various 

 municipalities in the southern departments, formed 

 from what had been the presidency of Quito, held 

 public meetings in which they voted to adopt the 

 Bolivian code, and lodged the authority of dictator 

 in the hands of 1!. Evidence has been adduced, 

 showing that the latter proceedings were in accord- 

 ance with the wishes of B., and that the meetings 

 were actually summoned by the personal intervention 

 of I.eocadio Guzman, an emissary of his, who sug- 

 gested the resolutions they should pass ; nnd suspi 

 i - :c nis liave not been wanting, that Paez was either 

 incited, or sustained, by intimations received from 

 tin- same quarter. On these things it would l>e pre- 

 mature now to decide. Certain it is, that, to all 

 appearance, the central departments alone, answering 

 to New Grenada, continued faithful to the constitu- 

 tion. These circumstances most imperiously demanded 

 the presence of B., whether as the cause and object 

 of the public distractions, or as the means of compos- 

 ing them. Accordingly, he set out from Lima in 

 September, 1826, committing the government to a 

 council of his own appointment, and responsible to 

 him alone, with general Santa Cruz at its head, and 

 leaving the whole of the Colombian auxiliary army 

 in Peru and Bolivia. B. made all haste to reach Bo- 

 gota, which he entered, Nov. 14, 1826, and, assum- 

 ing the extraordinary powers, which, by the constitu- 

 tion, the president is authorized to exercise in case of 

 rebellion, he remained only a few days in the capital, 

 and pressed on to stop the effusion of blood in Vere- 

 zuela. 



He went, accompanied merely by a small escort, 

 although forces were in readiness to sustain him if 

 requisite, and all the demonstrations of insurrection 

 vanished at his approach. He reached Puerto Ca- 

 bello, December 31st, and immediately issued a de- 

 cree, dated Jan. 1, 1827, giving assurance of a 

 general amnesty to the insurgents, on their peaceably 

 submitting to his authority, and engaging to call a 

 convention for the reform of the constitution. He 

 had a friendly meeting with Paez, and, soon after- 

 wards, entered Caraccas, where he fixed his head 

 quarters, having the northern departments under his 

 immediate personal authority, and separated from the 

 body of the republic, which proceeded in its ordinary 

 routine. B. and Santander had respectively been re- 

 elected to the offices of president and vice-president, 

 and should have been qualified anew as such in Janu- 

 ary, 1827. But, in February, B. addressed a letter 

 from Caraccas to the president of the senate, renounc- 

 ing the presidency of the republic, and expressing a 

 determination to repel the imputations of ambitioir 

 cast upon him, by retiring to seclusion upon his 

 patrimonial estate. Santander, in reply, urged him 

 to resume his station as constitutional president, con- 

 vinced that the troubles and agitations of the country, 

 if they were not occasioned by the intrigues of B. 

 himself, -might at any moment be quieted by his 

 lending the authority of his name, and his personal 

 influence, to the cause of the constitution. But dis- 



trust, suspicion, and jealousy of the conduct and 

 intentions of B. now filled all the friends of republi- 

 can institutions. He had recorded his confession of 

 political faith, to use his own expression, in the 

 ami -republican Bolivian code, and he was believed 

 to lie anxious for its introduction into Colombia. 

 When his renunciation of the presidency was sub- 

 mitted to the consideration of the congress, a portion 

 of the members urged that body to accept the renuii 

 elation. They publicly accused him of being in 

 concert with Paez ; of having designedly thrown the 

 whole nation into discord and confusion, in order to 

 create a false impression of the necessity of bMtowiag 

 upon himself the dictatorship. But a majority of 

 the members insisted upon his retaining the presi- 

 dency, and required his presence at Bogotd, to take 

 the constitutional oaths. Before lie came, however, 

 they had passed a decree of general amnesty ; a 

 decree for assembling a national convention at 

 Ocana, and a decree for re-establishing constitutional 

 order throughout Colombia. 



His arrival was hastened by unexpected events, 

 touching him personally, which had occurred in Peru 

 and the southern departments. Not long after his 

 departure from Lima, the returns of the electoral 

 colleges were received by the council of government, 

 by which the Bolivian code was pronounced to be the 

 constitution of Peru, and B. the president for life. 

 The constitution was accordingly promulgated offi- 

 cially, and was sworn to, by the public functionaries 

 in Lima, Dec. 9, 1826, the anniversary of the victory 

 of Ayacucho. 



At this time, the Colombian auxiliary army in 

 Peru was cantoned in three divisions ; one station) d 

 in Upper Peru, and two in Lower Peru ; one of these 

 at Arequipa, and one in Lima. This third division 

 consisted of veteran companions of B.'s triumphs, and 

 was commanded by his personal friends, generals 

 Lara and Sands. Notwithstanding the attachment of 

 these troops to B., they had lately been growing 

 distrustful of his designs ; and, although they did not 

 feel disposed, it would seem, to thwart his views upon 

 Peru, they took fire immediately when they s;:w 

 cause to believe that he had similar views upon their 

 own native Colombia. The consequence was, that, 

 in the short space of six weeks after the new consti- 

 tution was solemnly adopted, they came forward, 

 and revolutionized the government of Peru. So well 

 were their measures taken, that, Jan. 26, 1827, they 

 arrested their general officers without any conflict or 

 opposition ; placed themselves under the command of 

 Bustamante, one of their colonels ; and announced 

 to the inhabitants of Lima, that their sole object was 

 to relieve the Peruvians from oppression, and to re- 

 turn home to protect their own country against the 

 alleged ambitious schemes of B. The Peruvians 

 immediately abjured the Bolivian code, deposed B.'s 

 council of ministers, and proceeded, in perfect free, 

 dom, to organize a provisional government for them- 

 selves. Arrangement* were speedily made, after this 

 bloodless revolution was effected, to transport the 

 third division to Guayaquil, according to their own 

 desire. They embarked at Callao, March 17th, and 

 landed in the southern department of Colombia, in 

 April, part of them proceeding for Guayaquil, and 

 part for Cuenqa and Quito, uniformly declaring their 

 object to be the restoration of constitutional order, in 

 Opposition to any designs upon jke republic enter- 

 tained by B. 



Intelligence of these events reached B. while he 

 was still in tne north of Colombia. Rousing himself 

 instantly from his long-continued inactivity, he made 

 preparations for marching to the other extremity of 

 the republic, and reducing the third division. But 

 these troops, finding the government was in the 



