This was especially true of Páez. The Liberator had to be very careful in dealing with them, constantly impelled by the fear that through peace their restlessness would become a danger to the stability of the country. Bolívar summarized the situation when he exclaimed: "I am more afraid of peace than of war!" His attention was then turned to the campaign of the South. He had been informed that San Martín was inclined to deal with the royalists, and he wanted to hasten there to avoid any such compromise. At this time he learned that the independence of Mexico was a fact, and he became impatient to finish the emancipation of Colombia by means of the freedom of the Isthmus of Panamá, which he used to call the "carrier of the universe." Upon the organization of Colombia, as a result of the union of Nueva Granada and Venezuela, Bolívar was made president, and in that capacity he signed the constitution of 1821. In his communication to the Congress of Rosario de Cúcuta, he reiterated his desire to resign the command. On this occasion, his declaration could not be more emphatic. "A man like me is a dangerous citizen in a popular government. He is an immediate threat to the national sovereignty. I want to be a cit in order to secure my own freedom and the freedom of everybody else. I prefer the title of citizen to that of Liberator, because the latter comes from war and the former comes from the law. Change, I beg you, all my titles for that of _good citizen_." Of course, no one would think of accepting his resignation at a moment when his genius was most needed for the organization of the country. We have mentioned very often the resignation of the Liberator from his command, and the invariable nonacceptance of it. Some enemies of Bolívar have declared that he never resigned in earnest, and have gone so far as to pronounce him an ambitious man who wanted all glory and power in Colombia and South America. The declarations made by Bolívar were made before the whole world. He had gained sufficient glory to be termed a great man, even though he left the army. If his resignation had been accepted, it is absolutely certain that he would have abandoned the power in order to keep untainted his reputation as a warrior, as an organizer, and as a self-sacrificing patriot. At that time he was praised by the North American press, as well as by men in every part of the world. The press of the United States opposed his resignation, considering it premature. General Foy said: "Bolívar, born a subject, freeing a world, and dying as a citizen, shall be for America a redeeming divinity, and in history the noblest example of greatness to which a man can arrive." The Archbishop of Malines, Monsignor de Pradt, said: