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.