In the meantime the Constitution of Great Colombia had been adopted by the Congress of Cúcuta in August, 1821, but before long Venezuela found her position in the Union far from satisfactory. The discontent found voice in the municipality of Valencia in 1826, Páez being one of the leaders of the separatists. Bolivar arrived in Puerto Cabello from the west in 1827, having previously written to Páez, whose loyalty to his old chief made him bow to his opinion. This, however, would not suffice to make up for the bad state of agricultural industries and of the country generally, and the murmurings broke out afresh. In 1828 Bolivar was given dictatorial power by the Congress of Colombia, while on the other hand plots were formed by the malcontents to assassinate him. In the following year, during Colombia’s squabbles with Peru, Carácas and Valencia repudiated Bolivar, and on January 13, 1830, Páez declared Venezuela independent of Colombia. The last Colombian Congress met in the “conference of Cúcuta,” and Bolivar finally retired from power on March 1st. Valencia even demanded his expulsion. The sentimental attempt, carried through in spite of practical opposition, to form so large a single State of three groups of settlements, separated by wide areas without roads or other means of communication, seems but another instance of the frequent inability of a gallant soldier to play a worthy part in the politics of the land he has served. It was, nevertheless, a melancholy period of the history of Venezuela when the liberator of half of South America, as well as of his own land, was left to retire broken-hearted to Santa Marta in New Granada, where he died of phthisis on December 17, 1830, and was buried in the little church of the town. But though Bolivar was unhonoured in his death, the main object to which he had devoted his life was attained, and, as we shall see, after twelve years his services were duly recognised by the country and town which gave him birth. The next period of Venezuelan history lasts to 1864, during which the centralist Constitution was in force, to be changed afterwards to the federal type which exists to-day. One of his generals, Monágas, still remained loyal to Bolivar’s views, and for some years continued his efforts to persuade the powers that were in Venezuela to join themselves again with Colombia. In April, 1831, however, the new Congress assembled and formally elected General José Antonio Páez as President of the republic; an embassy was dispatched to Bogotá, and Carácas was declared the capital on May 25th. Early in the following year their independence was formally recognised by Colombia, and measures were taken to provide for the efficient administration of the country, which was divided into three districts, the Oriente, Centro, and Occidente, the supreme courts of each being at Cumaná, Valencia, and Maracaibo respectively.