"I cannot conceive of even the possibility of establishing a kingdom in a country which is constitutionally democratic because the lo and most numerous classes of the people want it to be so, with an indisputable right, since legal equality is indispensable where there is physical inequality, in order to correct to a certain extent the injustice of nature. Besides, who can be a king in Colombia? Nobody, for no foreign prince would accept a throne surrounded by danger and misery, and the generals would consider it humiliating to subordinate themselves to a comrade, and resign the supreme authority forever." He wrote that the idea of monarchy was chimerical, and that it should be discussed no more. In another letter he expressed his decision to relinquish power, whether Congress met or not. Bolívar arrived in Bogotá on the 15th of January, 1830, and on the 20th Congress began its work under the presidency of Sucre. With the inauguration of the Congress, Bolívar considered that his public duties had ended, and in that sense he published an eloquent proclamation, which closed with this supreme appeal: "Fellow citizens, listen to my last words, at the end of my political career. In the name of Colombia, I beg you, I pray you, always to remain united so that you may not become the murderers of your country and your own murderers." In this proclamation he mentioned the fact that a crown had been offered to him more than once, and that he had rejected the offers with the indignation befitting a strong Repúblican. In his message to the Congress, he offered to obey any person elected to occupy his place and to support him with his sword and all his strength. "The Republic will be happy," he said, "if, on accepting my resignation, you appoint as President a citizen loved by the country. She would succumb if you insisted that I command her.... Beginning today I am nothing but a citizen, armed for the defense of my country and for the obedience to her government. My public functions have ended forever. I deliver unto you the supreme authority which the will of the country conferred upon me."