"Here is no other authority and no other power than mine. Among all my
lieutenants I am like the sun; if they shine it is because of the light
I lend them."
Silence followed these words; everybody, including Páez, realized that
Bolívar could make himself respected whenever he wished.
His reception in Caracas surpassed any one that Bolívar had ever been given. He could not walk because of the crowd. He had to listen to addresses, hymns and eulogies, receive crowns, attend banquets and accept all kinds of homage. His modesty was recognized by an inscription on one of the banquet tables: "To conquer in the field of battle may be the work of fortune; to conquer the pride of victory is the work of the conqueror." Páez, who had been presented a sword by Bolívar, expressed his gratitude in the warmest terms, and pledged himself to the service of his fellow citizens.
"I should rather die a hundred times," he said, "and lose every drop of my blood than to permit this sword to leave my hand, or ever attempt to shed the blood which up to now it has set free…. Bolívar's sword is in my hands. For you and for him I shall go with it to eternity. This oath is inviolable."
CHAPTER XVIII
The Convention of Ocaña. Full Powers. An Attempt at Murder
(1828)
It was Bolívar's fortune to dispel the effect of evil with his presence, but in his absence evil was certain to raise its head. While he triumphed in Caracas, he was being severely criticised in Bogotá, even by Santander. His generosity with regard to Páez irritated the people of Nueva Granada to the extreme.
When Congress convened, Bolívar tendered his resignation, as usual, but this time he insisted still more. "For fourteen years," he wrote, "I have been Supreme Chief and President of the Republic. Danger forced me to accept this duty. Now that the danger has passed, I may retire to enjoy private life." The rest of his communication evidenced the sincerity of his desires and his modesty. He finished with these words: "I implore of Congress and of the people the grace to be permitted to resume my simple citizenship."
In spite of the resignation, intrigues continued in Nueva Granada, and the separatist feeling grew stronger and stronger in that country and in Venezuela. Through the separation of Nueva Granada, Bolívar's enemies in that nation saw a way to get rid of him without displaying their enmity, since, being a citizen of Venezuela, Bolívar could not be president of Nueva Granada. Páez and his partisans, on their side, did not want to have Santander in authority, because Santander was not a native of Venezuela. The situation was made more complicated and more serious by a rebellion in Lima, followed by another in Guayaquil. Notwithstanding that his resignation had been tendered, Bolívar, considering that the union of Colombia was threatened, immediately started for Bogotá, to take the situation in hand. He resolved to sacrifice everything to prevent anarchy from taking the place of freedom and mutiny from taking the place of law. He left Caracas, his native city, and here again he was taking a last farewell. In July he was in Cartagena, where the people received him with genuine affection. He recalled that it was from here he had begun his first quixotic expedition to his country in 1812. Fifteen years had elapsed since then, and he was again in Cartagena, his great work of redemption fulfilled but now in danger of being destroyed.