History of Mexico (Bancroft)/Volume 4/Chapter 4

by Hubert Howe Bancroft

 

CHAPTER IV.

VICEROYS GARIBAY AND LIZANA.

1808-1810.

Garibay's Character — A Badge of Loyalty — Reorganization of the Army — Bonapartist Intrigues — Lampoons and Seditious Sheets — Effect of Reverses in Spain — Establishment of a Junta Consultiva — Pretensions to the Throne of Mexico — Archbishop Lizana Appointed Vice roy — Remittances to Spain — Lizana's Character — The Junta de Seguridad — Revolution at Valladolid — Spanish American Representation in the Córtes — Lizana Removed from Office — Weak Administration of the Audiencia — French Emissaries — Arrival of Viceroy Venegas — His Antecedents, Character, and Personal Appearance — Titles and Honors from Spain

When the chaquetas conceived the design of seizing and deposing the viceroy, they imagined that they would thus be cutting off the hydra's head, that by one bold stroke they would annihilate the monster of disloyalty. But they erred in their calculations. The Creole party, disappointed that their hope should fail in a season so fair for its accomplishment, were doubly embittered. They believed that as matters stood in the mother country, they, and not the Span iards, were the power in the land. Rivalry and hatred between the two factions increased, and henceforward the revolutionary spirit spread silently and far with rapidity.^[1]

At a time so fraught with difficulties, arising from violent political change, no more incompetent man could have been placed at the head of affairs than Pedro Garibay, field marshal of the royal armies. Infirm of body ^[2] and weak of will; of meagre resources, lacking ability, and wanting in authority even in his own household; a victim, moreover, to the anxiety attending poverty—he was undergoing the penalties which those must pay who by reason of great strength arrive at the age of fourscore years. ^[3] Nevertheless, he eagerly accepted the high position offered him. In the early part of his life he had served in the wars in Italy and Portugal, and in 1764 went to Mexico with General Villalva. By slow promotion he attained the grade of brigadier in 1789, and at a later date was allowed to retire on account of his infirmities, with the rank of mariscal de campo de los reales ejercitos. His poverty was such that he was frequently compelled to borrow small sums from his acquaintances. ^[4] He was honorable, and well liked by high and low. Such as he was, however, his insufficiency was the reason of his election. The oidores, whom he regarded as his protectors, ^[5] were not desirous that a strong man should be at the head of affairs; and during Garibay's short administration, in all acts of government he was but the mouth-piece of the audiencia. ^[6]

As soon as the coup d'état in the case of Iturrigaray was accomplished, the new government, without formally recognizing either of the Spanish juntas, proceeded to rule in the name of Fernando VII.; and an order was issued that the inhabitants of the capital, in token of their loyalty, should wear on their persons a badge bearing his name. ^[7] The tribunal del consulado. was instructed to communicate the same order to all corporations within the jurisdiction of that court. ^[8] The first important step which the new government took in order to insure its stability was the reorganization of the army. Neither the volunteers of Fernando VII. nor the forces at Jalapa were regarded as supports free from objection. The party from which the former were drawn seemed to expect their own political views adopted in the new order of affairs which they had created, and the oidores feared that the freedom of their own action would thereby be impeded. Accordingly the chaquetas were disbanded by Garibay, who would no longer detain such loyal and self-denying persons from their commercial occupations. He thanked them in the name of Fernando for their patriotism, for the ever memorable services they had rendered, and informed them that he should not fail to place a memorial of their merits at the feet of his majesty. ^[9] In breaking up the encampment at Jalapa the oidores were influenced by still more forcible reasons. The regiments which composed the army stationed there were drawn from the different provinces, and the ranks filled by Mexicans, whose loyalty could not be safely relied upon if the flag of independence should be raised. Orders were therefore issued that each corps should return to its respective district; the reason assigned being that, in view of the alliance which had been formed between Spain and England, ^[10] the concentration of so large a force for defence was no longer necessary. It was further urged that the government, in its efforts to send pecuniary aid to the peninsula, could not afford the expense of maintaining a standing army.^[11] A regiment of grenadiers was organized, and this with the dragoons of Mexico constituted the military force in the capital.

During Garibay's rule the revolutionary tendency advanced apace. Secret meetings were held at private houses.^[12] A society known as the Racionales Caballeros was organized at Vera Cruz, Jalapa, and Mexico, which by its machinations greatly aided the cause of independence.^[13] Further than this, the secret agents of Joseph Bonaparte were actively at work inciting the inhabitants to rebellion.^[14] Lampoons and scurrilous pasquinades were posted on the walls; insulting caricatures of the leading members of the government and loyalist party disfigured the public buildings; and seditious sheets in print were scattered on the floors of the cathedral and churches.^[15] The image of his majesty, moreover, was grossly disfigured on the coinage,^[16] and the supreme junta of Spain ridiculed. And all these seeds of insurrection were so secretly and warily sown that no efforts of the government were effective in suppressing the hostile demonstrations. In vain the use and sale of hand printing-presses were prohibited, ^[17] and in vain rewards were offered for the detection of the authors of these treasonable acts.

In April 1809 news of reverses sustained by Spanish arms in the peninsula reached Mexico, and Garibay issued a proclamation on the 20th, ^[18] exhorting the public to show their loyalty by contributions in aid of the mother country, by sentiments expressing a closer union in mind and heart, ^[19] and above all, by refusing to be influenced by the secret operations of those who were endeavoring to seduce them from their allegiance. But this proclamation had no effect in arresting the steady advance of the revolutionary party. Its adherents were jubilant, and did not refrain from openly expressing their joy at the news. They greeted with delight the intelligence of disasters suffered by the Spanish forces; and while they exaggerated their defeats, they underrated and derided the advantages which they gained.

Day by day the government was losing its influence over the public mind, and becoming more and more an object of ridicule on the part of the disaffected. In the hope of changing the current, Garibay, or rather his advisers, established a junta consultiva, composed of three oidores, before which all cases of treason were to be tried instead of in the criminal court. This tribunal was formed in June 1809, and some arrests were made, but instead of tending toward suppressing sedition, its creation was turned to advantage by the independents, and supplied additional means of fomenting discontent. The innovation made by transferring the prerogatives of the sala del crímen to an extraordinary court arbitrarily established, and employing a great number of spies, was seized upon as an illustration of despotism, on the part of the government. A rumor was spread that the prisons were crowded with innocent victims; households were filled with fear of arrests, and the public were taught to believe that the mere suspicion of free opinions being entertained by a man was sufficient to cause his being sent prisoner to Spain. ^[20] Outward demonstrations were, it is true, for the time suppressed; but none the less did the cause of independence gain ground under the more cautious and secret operations of its promoters.

Illustrative not alone of the anomalous position in which New Spain stood with regard to the mother country during this period, but also of the unsettled and somewhat incongruous ideas as to government and succession, was a claim in 1808 of an Indian to the throne of Mexico. This personage alleged that he was a descendant of the emperor Montezuma, and maintained that in view of the downfall of the Spanish monarchy he had a right to the crown of the Aztec royal line. Had the native population been as well prepared for revolt as they were two years later, such a claim might have caused much alarm, and probably bloodshed. As it was, ridicule was the only weapon employed, and the pretender came to be regarded by many as a madman. ^[21]

On the 13th of March, 1809, the English brig Sappho arrived at Vera Cruz from Rio Janeiro, bearing despatches from the infanta Doña María Carlota Joaquina, the sister of Fernando. The letter was addressed to the viceroy, audiencias, governors, and municipalities of New Spain, and contained her wishes and expectations that her son, the infante Don Pedro, would be received and acknowledged. as regent and lieutenant of the king. Such pretensions caused the viceroy and audiencia much inquietude, and they endeavored, though in vain, to keep the matter secret. In their reply to the infanta they confined themselves to expressions of courtesy, reporting that tranquillity reigned in the country. ^[22] Not long after, the viceroy received a letter from the junta central of Spain, informing him that it had become aware that Napoleon meditated sending Cárlos IV. to reign in New Spain, with the object of creating a division in the Spanish monarchy, ^[23] and instructions were given him to prohibit the landing of Cárlos, and arrest him if he persisted. With the approval of the real acuerdo, the viceroy issued the corresponding orders to the authorities at the ports. During the first six months of Garibay's rule no formal recognition of the Spanish juntas had been made. The decrees of the junta de Sevilla had been published and acted upon, but no oath of allegiance to it as representative of the king was ever taken. After the defeat of the French at Baylen, by Castaños, and their evacuation of Madrid, the juntas of the different provinces came to an understanding, and, the suprema junta central was installed at Aranjuez on the 25th of September 1808. In March 1809 its authority was recognized in Mexico, and the viceroy, audiencia, municipality, and tribunals took the oath of allegiance. The occasion was celebrated with salvoes of artillery and illuminations. ^[24]

The mental and physical incompetency of Garibay, who possessed neither bodily activity nor intellectual vigor, soon made it apparent to the Yermo party that the political situation was daily becoming critical. Under the misrule of the oidores they observed that revolutionary principles were spreading instead of being suppressed, and there were those who foresaw the coming struggle. ^[25] Warnings were whispered to the oidores, but passed unheeded, and the party which had overthrown Iturrigaray represented the true state of affairs to the junta central, urging the appointment of an able and energetic viceroy without delay. By such a measure only could the tranquillity of the country be maintained. ^[26] The Spanish junta accordingly appointed Francisco Javier de Lizana y Beaumont, archbishop of Mexico, to be viceroy in the place of Garibay, whose election had not been confirmed by the home government, and whose elevation could not be deemed legal. On the 19th of July Garibay surrendered the place, having been nominally the head of the government for a period of ten months, but in reality the political tool of Oidor Aguirre, who, in some alarm at the change, requested leave to retire from office four days previous to Lizana's installation. Garibay returned to private life and poverty. From the latter, however, he was relieved by the generosity of Yermo, who made him a monthly allowance of five hundred pesos. He was afterward decorated with the grand cross of Cárlos III., and granted a pension of ten thousand pesos a year. ^[27] He died on the 17th of July, 1815, at the age of eighty-six.

During his brief administration he exerted himself in raising remittances for Spain, and when news of the victory at Baylen arrived, he issued a proclamation, on October 4, 1808, asking for war contributions. His call in the general enthusiasm was liberally responded to, and the subscriptions, headed by the archbishop with 30,000 pesos, amounted to 716,346 pesos by the end of the year. ^[28] A few days after its publication the Spanish man-of-war San Justo arrived at the port of Vera Cruz in command of the marqués del Real Tesoro, who had been commissioned by the junta of Seville to obtain all the funds that could be raised in New Spain and other American colonies. At this time there were fourteen and a half millions pesos in the treasury, nine millions of which, together with two millions more contributed by wealthy individuals, were at once transported to Vera Cruz for shipment to Spain. ^[29] The new viceroy was no better than the old one. Had Spain specially desired to throw away Mexico, the appointment of Archbishop Lizana was the very thing to do. Old, sickly, as feeble in mind as in body, he was fitter for a hospital than for the viceregal palace. ^[30] In one sense he was too good for the place. Spain wanted there a mean man, a hypocritical, lying trickster; one who could be false to all the world except Spain—particularly one who would be false to Mexico. Now Lizana was none of these. He was passably honest. He had a good heart, and a benign disposition; he lacked altogether the force of will to hold down insubordination, or regulate contending factions. Yet it was a lucky choice for the cause of independence. The policy of such a ruler must necessarily be timid, and his purpose vacillating.^[31] Episcopal pastorals were employed where viceregal orders should have been presented on the point of the sword. Frank and sincere, he had no insight into human character, ^[32] and he allowed himself to be entirely swayed by the oidor Manuel de la Bodega and his cousin, the inquisitor Alfaro, to whose charge he committed the administration of his archiepiscopal government. Alfaro, spurred by ambition but blinded by his vanity, soon fell into the toils of the racionales caballeros; and Lizana, under his guidance, adopted administrative measures which, while they excited the spirit of rebellion, conduced even more directly to the advancement of the intriguers' designs.

Thus led bv the craft and machinations which were brought to bear upon his adviser, Alfaro, he entered upon a system of opposition to the Yermo party and the stanchest loyalists. Their dissatisfaction at his official action was so marked that the intriguers had no difficulty in persuading the guileless archbishop that a plot was hatching among the gachupines to capture or assassinate him; whereupon he fortified the viceregal palace with artillery and increased the guard. He placed all that portion of the city under martial law. The patrol force was augmented, and detachments were stationed at all important points. Orders were issued that the patrols should arrest after eleven o'clock at night all persons on whom arms were found; and should more than six men in one party be met, they were all to be arrested. ^[33] Military officials of unquestionable loyalty to the mother country were removed. Aguirre and other prominent Spaniards were threatened with banishment, ^[34] and Lizana, abhorring the Yermo party, and hoodwinked by the racionales caballeros, who about that time were loud in their protestations of loyalty, identified himself with the creole faction, which so eagerly had advocated the convocation of a national congress. He could not see that it was identical with the independents, and the partiality which he displayed, far from appeasing the spirit of discontent, only served to fan the flames by undesigned encouragement. It was as cunning a by-play as the age can boast, and most successful withal. ^[35] And all the while the good old prelate was thus unwittingly playing into the hands of independence, he was in truth intensely loyal to Spain. Money he sent without stint, and money was always Spain's most chronic desire. Besides obtaining large donations, he surrendered all the surplus funds of his ecclesiastical revenue, and even threw in his salary. ^[36]

On the 26th of July an Englishman, Andrew Cochrane, arrived in Mexico, the bearer of an order from the junta central of Spain for the sum of three million pesos, on behalf of the British government. The treasury was empty, and again the colonists were asked to give, give! ^[37] The viceroy appealed for a loan; the call was answered with astonishing promptness, and by the 7th of August $2,955,435 had been subscribed by the commercial class and other persons of wealth. The remainder was soon made up; and the commissioner, after being royally entertained, returned to his vessel, bearing with him the three million pesos, and a high appreciation of the wealth of Mexico ^[38] and the senseless stupidity of the people in thus spending their lives and substance to minister to the follies of Spain's licentious and imbecile rulers.

In regard to his government, the viceroy fully believed that his conciliatory policy toward the discontented would allay any spirit of revolt that might exist; nevertheless, he deemed it right to carry out the measure adopted by his predecessor for the maintenance of public tranquillity, and on the 21st of September, 1809, permanently established the court initiated by Garibay, under the name of junta consultiva. This court, which Lizana named the junta de seguridad y buen órden, was composed at first of three members of the audiencia and a fiscal, ^[39] and its jurisdiction extended to all cases of French tendencies and infidelity to the crown of Spain. ^[40]

Hitherto the independent party had formed no concerted plan of operation. The arguments, however, which had been employed by the partisans of Iturrigaray, and their opponents, suggested ideas which led to the belief in the possibility of independence. The former, in defending Iturrigaray's character from the aspersion of disloyalty, urged that had he established an independent nation, it could not long have continued as such. Whether Spanish or French arms prevailed, an invincible force would quickly be sent against the revolted colony. Their opponents in reply imprudently endeavored to prove that Mexico could well sustain her independence. The force of their arguments was such that the more eager of the

revolutionists decided to act, and in September a formal plot was laid at Valladolid in Michoacan for the overthrow of the government. ^[41] The principal persons in the scheme were José María Obeso, captain of the militia regiment of Valladolid; a Franciscan friar, Vicente de Santa María; Manuel Ruiz de Chavez, cura of Huango; José Maríano de Michelena, lieutenant of the Spanish infantry, and at this time engaged at Valladolid in recruiting for his regiment; his brother, the licentiate José Nicolás Michelena; Maríano Quevedo, lieutenant of the regiment of New Spain, also present on recruiting business; and the licentiate Soto Saldaña. These and some others met and discussed a plan of action. With great caution they endeavored to confine discussion to two questions: whether they would be able successfully to resist the French in case Spain succumbed, and thereby preserve the dominion for Fernando; and whether, such being their object, they ought to maintain their ground if opposed. Adherents to the cause were despatched to Pátzcuaro, Querétaro, Zitácuaro, and other places to promulgate the scheme; and by the middle of December their operations had been so successful, that the 21st of that month was appointed as the day on which to raise the standard of revolt; their intention being first to seize the asesor of the intendencia, José Alonso de Teran, and the comandant Lejarza, and then proclaim the revolution in the intendencia of Guanajuato. The regiment of native infantry, commanded by Obeso, could be relied upon, as also the detachments with Michelena and Quevedo; and it was confidently expected that with the promise of release from the payment of tribute, eighteen or twenty thousand Indians would immediately join their standard. Hitherto the plans of the revolutionists had been conducted with such caution that the government officials appear to have been wholly unaware of the movement; but on the 14th of December Francisco de la Concha, cura of the cathedral parish, warned Teran of the impending danger. One of the revolutionists, Luis Correa, had communicated particulars of the scheme to the cura of Celaya, who in turn revealed them in confidence to Concha. Teran acted with wariness and circumspection, and instead of proceeding to make arrests, was contented for the time silently to watch the persons accused. On the morning of the 21st, however, Concha again visited him and urged the necessity of immediate action; whereupon he caused the padre Santa María to be arrested. This was immediately known by the principal revolutionists, who met to plan his rescue, while Correa in alarm for his safety hurried to Teran and divulged all that he knew. Summoned by the comandante Lejarza to appear before him, the revolutionists, deeming it prudent to obey, were made prisoners. Soto Saldaña, who was not with the arrested party, rashly attempted to rouse the native population, but was discovered; he escaped, however, and hid himself. ^[42]

Teran now proceeded to prosecute the accused with activity, and with a vigor which eventually was the cause of his assassination. ^[43] But the viceroy, more inclined to mercy, and believing that severity would only fan the revolutionary flame, listened to the representations made to him in favor of the prisoners. ^[44] He ordered in January following the proceedings to be stopped. Obeso was sent to serve in the military camp at San Luis Potosí, and Michelena in that at Jalapa; the rest were released from prison, but confined to the limits of Valladolid and its suburbs. ^[45]

This affair thus nipped in the bud, in spite of the failure to prove its connection with Hidalgo's later in surrection, was in fact the initiation of active movements in the revolution. The views and intentions of the leaders had been widely spread; numbers of their associates having escaped zealously carried on the work, and in nine months after the failure at Valladolid the battle-cry of freedom was raised at Dolores.

In order to allay the excitement caused by the discovery of the affair at Valladolid, the viceroy, on the 22d of January, 1810, proclaimed that there was no reason for alarm, as the late occurrences had only arisen from a difference of opinions relative to the result of affairs in Spain. He himself was wholly free from anxiety, and the public were exhorted to rest without dread of popular commotion. ^[46] While thus blindly affording every encouragement to rebellion at home, Lizana took great precaution against the less imminent danger of foreign invasion. Out of the scattered companies formed by Iturrigaray in various towns, he organized battalions;^[47] the regiment of Vera Cruz was increased, and arms were ordered to be purchased in London and the United States. In the exhausted condition of the treasury, the viceroy once more appealed for money to pay for these weapons, and considerable sums were contributed. A cannon foundry was established in the capital, Francisco Dimas Rangel engaging to furnish the government weekly with one piece of artillery. The cost of the establishment was $8,000, which amount was contributed by the dean and chapter of Valladolid.^[48]

Meanwhile disaster attended the Spanish arms. After the battle of Talavera, Wellington had retired into Portugal, leaving the Spaniards to cope with the French as best they could; and Venegas, the future viceroy of New Spain, rashly giving battle at Almonacid was routed on the 9th of August, 1809. Then followed the defeat at Ocaña, and the retirement of the junta central from Seville to the island of Leon. The unpopularity of the junta was so great, however, that the members recognized the necessity of dissolving, and their last official act was the creation, on the 29th of January, 1810, of a regency composed of five members, the bishop of Orense, Pedro de Quevedo y Quintano, who had firmly opposed the projects of Napoleon at the congress of Bayonne; Francisco de Saavedra, president of the junta de Sevilla; Francisco Javier Castaño, the victor at Baylen; Antonio de Escaño, a distinguished naval officer; and Fernandez de Leon, a member of the council of the Indies. On the 14th of February this change in the government was communicated to the viceroy of New Spain, and on the 7th of May following the oath of allegiance to the regency was taken by Lizana and all the royal officials, the occasion being celebrated for three days in the usual manner.^[49] In the same decree by which the junta central appointed the regency, it was ordered that the members, when they took the oath of office, should also swear to convoke the córtes at the earliest opportunity. As the American colonies were for the first time represented in the córtes when they finally assembled, it will be necessary to give some account of the admission of colonial deputies into the legislature.

The critical position of Spain at the close of 1808 induced the junta central—which had been compelled to withdraw from Aranjuez to Seville—to consider by what means it might hope to secure the fidelity of the colonies. To admit them to a share in the national government appeared the most pacifying offer; and on the 22d of January, 1809, a decree was passed recognizing the Spanish dominions in America as no longer colonies but an integral part of the nation,^[50] and declaring their right to representation in the Spanish córtes. It is then ordered that the viceroys of New Spain, Perú, New Granada, Buenos Aires, and the captain-generals of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Chile, Venezuela, and the Philippines proceed to the election of one deputy for each of those dominions.^[51] On the 14th of April following, this regulation was proclaimed by Viceroy Garibay; but the concession had been granted grudgingly and under the pressure of circumstances, and the junta central was in no haste to see the córtes assembled. Although on the 22d of May following it proclaimed the establishment of the old form of representation, and convoked the córtes to meet on March 1, 1810, it took no preparatory steps for such an event.^[52]

When, however, the junta central was compelled to resign the affairs of the nation to the care of a regency, it required the new government, as already narrated, to convoke the córtes at the earliest opportunity. This could not be immediately accomplished, since there were difficulties which rendered it no easy matter to readopt the ancient mode of government, and assemble in one congressional body the córtes of the various kingdoms of Spain. While these kingdoms respectively retained their córtes, the general assembly of them for purposes of government had during the dynasty of the Bourbons been neglected, and they were seldom convoked except to do homage, or sanction a succession to the crown. The córtes formerly had been composed of three classes representing the nobility, church, and burghers; and the junta central had decided that the córtes convoked by them on the 22d of May should be divided into two houses, the one formed by the deputies popularly elected, and the other by the church and nobility. Just before its dissolution^[53] it modified its former decree relative to American representation, and for the speedy assembly of the córtes ordered that forty substitutes should be selected by lot from the number of American creoles resident in Spain, out of which number twenty-six were to be finally elected to the córtes, also by lot. This decree was not published, however, and the regency being in no greater haste to assemble the córtes than the junta central had been, published one on the 14th of February, 1810, ordering the election of American deputies to be proceeded with, and extending their number to representation of each district,^[54] instead of each dominion. But this increase was virtually no nearer an approach to equality in representation than the first concession had been, since the number of Spanish deputies was proportionately increased, by allowing a member for each fifty thousand souls. In fact, though both the junta central and the regency acknowledged equality of rights, they could not admit creoles to be represented in congress in the same ratio as the inhabitants of the peninsula. The unjust disparity again caused dissatisfaction in the colonies, which was still further excited by an order of the 28th of June limiting the total number of American representatives to twenty-eight, without designating how many should pertain to each province. The consequence was that in some districts no elections were held, while in other cases the formally elected deputies declined going to Spain in the expectation that some new order would exclude them from the córtes on their arrival.

Such treatment of the colonies did not tend to promote more loyal feelings toward the mother country, ^[55] in spite of the regency's proclamation that Spanish Americans were raised to the dignity of free men, and the extraordinary admission that hitherto they had been crushed by an oppressive yoke, regarded without consideration, and made the victims of avarice. ^[56] Eventually on the 24th of September, 1810, without waiting for the arrival of the American deputies, the córtes were installed in the theatre of the island of Leon, and in the list of members I find New Spain represented by seven substitutes. ^[57] But it is time to consider how affairs were progressing meanwhile in that country, and narrate the events which immediately preceded the revolution of independence.

Great as had been the sums of money contributed by the inhabitants of New Spain in the form of loans and donations for the support of the mother country, they seemed only to encourage further demands. On the 12th of March, 1809, the junta central issued a royal cédula for the negotiation of a loan in New Spain for twenty millions of pesos. This demand was published in Mexico on the 9th. of August following, at the very time when three millions were being so cheerfully contributed to meet the order presented by Cochrane. The colonists were disgusted at old Spain's avarice. This incessant drainage of specie was crippling commerce and impoverishing the people. They were neither able nor willing to respond.^[58] A second attempt to raise this amount made in 1810 by Viceroy Venegas was equally unsuccessful.^[59]

In addition to the discontent thus created, and naturally tending to independent thought and action, the defeats sustained by the Spanish forces at the close of 1809 still further influenced the colonists, who now regarded the cause of the mother country as lost. The news of these disasters was received at Vera Cruz on the 25th of April, 1810; and so fully convinced were the viceroy and oidores of the irretrievable prostration of Spain by France, that in secret sessions they discussed their future course of action, and had already decided to invite the infanta Doña Carlota Joaquina, previously mentioned, to assume the government as regent of her brother Fernando,^[60] when intelligence of the installation of the regency caused them to abandon their intention.

But the administration of Lizana was drawing to a close. The commercial class, thoroughly conservative in principles, and unyielding opponents of the creoles, was disgusted with his conciliatory system; and informed the junta of Cádiz,^[61] composed of leading merchants in accord with those of Mexico, of the direction affairs were taking under his management. The pressure brought to bear by this junta upon the regency caused that council to issue a decree on the 22d of February, 1810,^[62] relieving the archbishop, in consideration of his advanced age and failing health, from the labors of administration, and placing the audiencia in charge of the government until the arrival of a new viceroy. Lizana immediately obeyed the command, and on the 8th of May following surrendered the viceregal power to the audiencia, and retired to his archiepiscopal palace.^[63]

Though Lizana's rule tended to foster the revolutionary spirit, it was not owing to any infidelity on his part, but to a mistaken principle and a childlike trust in men. A few days before his retirement, he issued an exhortation to loyalty, denouncing a proclamation of Joseph Bonaparte which he publicly burned in the principal plaza of the capital.^[64] He recognized later some of his mistakes, and endeavored with the ecclesiastical weapons of excommunication and pastoral circulars to rectify the evil which he had unintentionally fomented. The Spanish regency decorated Lizana with the grand cross of Cárlos III., an honor conferred upon him a few months before his death, which occurred on the 6th of March, 1811.^[65]

The removal of Lizana in no way improved matters. There was want of harmony among the oidores; when unanimous accord was the only road to successful administration, the audiencia was divided into two factions. The regent Catani was influenced by the same ideas and the same advice which had so ill directed the archbishop, and was, moreover, at enmity with the oidor decano Aguirre. These members were the heads of the two parties, Aguirre being recognized as the enemy of the Creoles and Catani as their supporter.

On the 9th of May the audiencia organized its government, by declaring that to it as a body pertained the superior administration and the captain-generalship of the kingdom, while Regent Catani was invested with the presidency and superintendence of the royal treasury. The oidores Blaya and Calderon, in view of their increased duties, were removed from the junta de seguridad, and their places supplied by the governor and the two eldest alcaldes of the criminal court. The ordinary business in the different departments of the government was to be despatched by respective oidores commissioned for the purpose; a council of military chiefs was to supply all necessary information and advice relative to the condition of the army; and in all the more important cases of the tribunal de la Acordada the regent was to be consulted and his approval obtained for the execution of the heavier sentences.^[66]

 

During the administration of the audiencia, exhibitions of natural phenomena occurred, presaging disaster. On the 20th of May, the church of Nuestra Señora de los Remedios was struck by lightning; and a great portion of the edifice being destroyed, it was found necessary to remove to the cathedral the sacred image, which was greatly venerated by the native Mexicans. It was afterward borne in solemn procession to the different churches of the capital, and the demonstrations of devotion were noticed as being extraordinarily earnest. When on the 10th of August the image was returned to its sanctuary, it was accompanied by an immense concourse, who in tears chanted prayers for divine protection.^[67] But in the night which preceded this auspicious day, a furious hurricane had spread desolation in Acapulco, no less than 124 houses being torn down, while orchards and plantations were destroyed. On the 18th Vera Cruz was visited by a terrible storm which wrecked and damaged much shipping.^[68]

The discord in the audiencia was favorable to the development of revolution. Apart from the absence of secrecy which want of unity naturally entailed, the annoyance which each party experienced by the opposition of the other created a feeling of indifference, and a consciousness that efforts to arrest the public will would be unavailing. Consequently apathy and toleration marked the sluggish proceedings of the audiencia, affording anunwonted freedom of discussion on political topics. The spirit of revolt was further aggravated at this time by the unjust illiberality displayed by the regency in the matter of colonial representation at the forthcoming congress of the córtes. If the mother country in her apparent death agony refused to do justice to her American colonies — which in the past had so loyally aided her, and in which she seemed to rest her only hope for the future — no relief from her oppression could be expected in case her arms triumphed.^[69] Moreover, the continued proclamations of Joseph Bonaparte, and seditious papers issued by his agents, gave additional impetus in the direction of independence.^[70] On the 25th of August, 1810, the frigate Atocha dropped anchor in the port of Vera Cruz. The ves sel brought to the shores of New Spain her fifty-ninth viceroy, Francisco Javier de Venegas, knight of the order of Calatrava.^[71] Venegas was in no haste to reach the seat of his government, but journeying slowly from Vera Cruz to the capital, made himself conversant with the state of affairs, and formed friendly relations with persons whose services he considered useful. For Campillo, the bishop of Puebla, and Flon, the intendente of that city, he contracted a sincere attachment. On the 13th of September the audiencia surrendered the government to him at Guadalupe, and on the following day he made his public entry into the capital with the customary pomp and ceremonies.

Venegas, who had retired from the army with the rank of lieutenant-colonel, returned to active service in 1808, on the invasion of Spain by the French, and won distinction in the memorable battle of Baylen. Henceforth his promotion was rapid, and he soon obtained the grade of lieutenant-general. Although he suffered defeat at Almonacid^[72] by imprudent self-confidence, he enjoyed a high reputation in New Spain as a courageous military chief. Bustamante, in somewhat disparaging and ill-measured language, thus describes his personal, appearance: "Tall and robust of frame, the expression of his countenance was sour, and his glance angry and threatening; his lips were thick, and his head, which he held inclined over the left shoulder, was of enormous size. His whiskers were of the same cut and shape as those of the myrmidons of the acordada, desperadoes, and bull fighters; and his impetuous gait was similar to that of an ill-tempered corporal."^[73] Venegas was, however, honest and disinterested, an indefatigable worker, and energetic and quick in the despatch of business. Distrustful when in security, he was calm and self-possessed in danger, but displayed a sanguinary and cruel disposition.^[74]

On the 18th of September the new viceroy convoked an assembly composed of the audiencia, all the principal civil and military authorities, the dignitaries of the church, prelates of the regular orders, the nobility, and prominent land owners and members of the commercial class. To this numerous attendance a proclamation addressed by the regency to the Americans on the 5th of May was read. In it the condition of Spain was set forth, and an appeal made for still further contributions in order to continue the war. A list also of patriotic individuals on whom had been conferred titles of nobility and honors was also read. A plan for the collection of donations suggested by the fiscals was then discussed and approved, many of those present subscribing at once, the archbishop heading the list with thirty thousand pesos. Among the recipients of honors were Garibay and the archbishop, both of whom were decorated with the grand cross of Cárlos III., while Gabriel de Yermo, Diego de Agreda, Sebastian de las Heras Soto, and José Maríano Fagoaga were raised to the dignity of títulos de Castilla.^[75] Other honors were conferred upon a number of individuals corresponding to their positions and the services rendered by them, and it was observed that many of the recipients had been principal actors in the deposal of Iturrigaray.

Both the demands for money and the awards of honor were offensive to the Spanish Americans. The appeal to them for more gold and silver in the same breath that bestowed titles and distinctions upon their opponents was an insult, and their indignation drove them in still greater numbers to the ranks of the revolutionists who were already in the field.^[76] For Hidalgo had given the signal for revolt; the grito de Dolores was already echoing throughout the land, and thousands were rising in arms to do battle for liberty and the rights of man.

 

 

1. In 1811 the Mexican deputies to the Spanish córtes represented that the imprisonment of Iturrigaray had provoked the rivalry between the Spaniards and Creoles, 'difundiéndose sordamente por el Reyno, y creciendo de dia en dia.' Diputac., Amer. Rep., 1° de Agosto de 1811, 3.
2. 'Padecia una enfermedad de estómago. . .teniendo que apoyarse en un criado cuando salia á la calle.' Rivera, Gob. Mex., i. 545.
3. Bustamante states that he was over 80. Cavo, Tres Siglos, iii. 250. Alaman says, 'era un anciano de mas de setenta años.' Hist. Mej., i. 279. But as he entered his military career in 1742, the former's statement must be nearer the truth. He was unable from his infirmities to sign documents, and was compelled to use a stamp. Disposic. Varias, i. f. 134.
4. Alaman, Hist. Mej., i. 280.
5. 'Vió su exaltacion como un gran beneficio, y en los oidores unos protectores, cuyo titulo no les negaba en sus contestuciones secretas.' Bustamante, ut cit.
6. 'Era todo de ellos, y hacia precisamente lo que le mandaba Aguirre, capataz de la Audiencia.' Ib. 'Pero este era el hombre que convenia al Acuerdo y a sus miras.' Mora, Mej. y sus Rev., iii. 347.
7. Gaz. de Mex., xv. 687. Many persons had gold medals made, and wore them on their coat collars. Alaman possessed a collection of them, and states that they were of poor workmanship. Hist. Mej., i. 282.
8. Gaz. de Mex., xv. 699.
9. Id., 804. The order was given on the 15th of October. Hernandez y Dávalos, Col. Doc., i. 616-17.
10. England had made peace with Spain in July 1808.
11. Manuel Abad y Quêipo condemns this action of Garibay, stating that he did so 'por haber entendido que, entre algunos oficiales se hablaba con libertad sobre independencia, y por remediar este mal. . .incurrio en otro mayor, que fué poner en contacto á los milicianos con sus vecinos, sus parientes y amigos, en que es imposible que el contacto de los unos deje de contaminarse con los otros.' The bishop says that he ought to have punished these free-spoken officers, and placed others in command who could have been relied upon. Informe dirig. Al rey., in Zamacois, Hist. de Mej., ix. 8678.
12. A prominent personage now was the marqués de Rayas, who was a stanch adherent of Iturrigaray, and espoused the cause of independence after his fall. The proofs of disloyalty against him were so strong that he was sent prisoner to Spain, but was detained at Vera Cruz by sickness. In 1821 he returned to Mexico. Refutac. Artic, de Fondo, 19-21.
13. Their mode of operation was to work on the government so to act as to foment discontent. The efforts of this society were particularly successful with Viceroy Iturrigaray, according to Queipo, who states that by flattery and cajoling they so influenced him that 'lo hizo titubear en la fidelidad de tal modo, que su conducta ambigua hizo creer á los sediciosos que estaba decidido en su favor, y con esto arrojaron la máscara y atacaron cara descubierta los derechos de la monarquia.' Informe dirig. al rey., in Zamacois, Hist. Mej., ix. 802.
14. 'Pero no olvidando tampoco Napoleon el objeto interesante de las Américas, envió comisionados á seducir y comprar los virreyes, gobernadores y demas personas que por la fuerza ó por su influxo pudiesen dominar el pueblo.' Gaz. de Mex., xv. 933. In August 1808, among other seditious papers seized at Vera Cruz was a despatch from Champani, the French minister of foreign affairs, officially recommending a system of operations to promote rebellion. Arrillaga, Informe, in Cedulario, iv. f. 59, no. 1. The same year General Octaviano d'Alvimar, having been authorized to expend large sums of money with this object, entered Mexican territory from the U. S. He was arrested at Nacodoches, in Texas, in August 1808, and proceedings were instituted against him as an agent of Napoleon. Garibay sent him prisoner to Spain in 1809, and after the independence D'Alvimar attempted to recover damages for his imprisonment and loss of personal effects. Gaz. de Mex., ut sup.; Rivera, Gob. de Mex., i. 549; Bustamante, in Cavo, Tres Siglos, iii. 259-01. D'Alvimar, while being conducted to the capital, passed through Dolores, and had several interviews with Hidalgo, whom he earnestly encouraged, it is asserted, in revolutionary designs. Diaz Calvido. Sermon, 107-8. Hidalgo, however, at his trial asserted that his conversations with D'Alvimar had no political significance. Alaman, Hist. Mej., i. 359-60. Monsieur Desmolard was Joseph Bonaparte's agent at Baltimore, and the French usurper issued instructions to him which disclosed the plan to excite revolt in Spanish America. The main points were to declare to the Creoles that his imperial majesty had solely in view to give liberty to Spanish America, the only return expected being the friendship of the people and commerce with the country. To effect their independence, his majesty offered all necessary troops and stores. The emissaries were further instructed to point out the advantages which would accrue by suspending the heavy remittances to Spain, and by the acquirement of freedom from commercial and agricultural restrictions. The good-will of the ecclesiastics especially was to be gained, with the object that at the confessional they should urge the necessity of independence. The injustice to which the Creoles were subject in the disposal of public appointments was to be dwelt upon. At the same time the agents were to be careful not to declaim against the inquisition or the church, and on the insurrectional standards the motto 'Viva la Religion católica, apostólica y romana! Perezca el mal gobierno!' was to be inscribed. The servants of governors and high officials were to be won over, and subagents were to keep the principal agents duly informed of the progress made, and these in turn were to communicate with Joseph Bonaparte's envoy in the U. S. A copy of these instructions was found in Caracas, in the office of the secretary to the suprema junta, and forwarded by the junta to the English admiral at the Barbadoes station. Rev. in Span. Amer., 80-7; Walton's Esposé, app. 2-7; Calvo, Annales Hist., i. 43-5. The Spanish government warned the colonial authorities of Bonaparte's machinations. A royal address, dated May 10, 1809, exhorting the inhabitants of New Spain to maintain their loyalty, and be on guard against French intrigues, says 'para que haciendolo público,' that is, the address, 'en esos Dominios se precavan sus naturales de las impresiones siniestras que podrian causarles las maquinaciones é intriguas que nuestros feroces enemigos emplean ahora con mas arte que nunca.' Disposic. Varias, i. f. 141. Garibay on April 18, 1809, published a proclamation forbidding the landing of Frenchmen at the ports, whether they had passports or not. All French settlers also were ordered to appear within eight days before the alcaldes, by whom they were examined. If suspicion attached to any of them, such were to be imprisoned. Gaz. de Mex., xvi. 337-40.
15. On the 6th of October, 1808, Garibay published a decree with the object of suppressing these papers. Hernandez y Dávalos, Col. Doc., i. 608-9.
16. Garibay on the 19th of May, 1809, issued a proclamation offering 2,000 pesos for the discovery of the mutilators of the coins. He says: 'Pretenden vengar el mal éxîto de sus maquinaciones en el real busto de las monedas, de las que han llegado á mis manos varias piezas señaladas de modos diferentes, todos enormemente ofensivos á la magestad, y en odio de la dinastía reynante.' Gaz. de Mex., xvi. 423.
17. On the 27th of April, 1809, the viceroy published a proclamation ordering that all such presses should be delivered up to the judge of the tribunal de la Acordada within three days. Diario de Mex., x. 508. Yet on the 20th of May following he found it necessary to offer a reward of 2,000 pesos for the discovery of the persons who had scattered treasonable sheets in the churches during holy week. Gaz. de Mex., ut cit. These sheets were directed against the Spanish junta central, and invited the people to assert their independence. The junta central of Spain was recognized by the viceroy by decree of March 16, 1809. Hernandez y Dávalos, Cot. Doc., i. 680-3.
18. Gaz. de Mex., xvi. 365-8.
19. 'Olvidad desde ahora para siempre esos apodos de criolios y gachupines, de que haceis una aplicacion odiosa é ideal, supuesto que todoa los miembros de una nacion no deben ser conocidos sino por el nombre mismo que lleva la nacion de que son parte: ademas de que es tan ridículo como absurdo hacer mérito de una cosa que no está en nuestra mano: es decir de nacer aqui ó del lado-de allá del mar.' Id., 368.
20. Alaman attempted to trace the grounds for these reports, but could only discover the names of the following persons arrested: The Franciscan padre Sugasti, the silversmith José Luis Alconedo, charged with making a crown for Iturrigaray, the escribano Peimbert, Antonio Calleja, the cura Palacios, and the licentiates Vicente Acuña and Julian Castillejos, 'todos acusados y muchos convencidos de ser autores de papeles ó maquinaciones sediciosas.' Id. Compare Bustamante, in Cavo, Tres Siglos, iii. 253. Negrete agrees with Bustamante's statement that the jails were filled with prisoners. Mex. Siglo XIX., i. 181.
21. 'Los Europeos hicieron la mas alta burla de esta solicitud y su apoyo.' His pretensions were finally crushed by a poetical burlesque, one of the lines of which ran thus: 'Y treinta mil indios guerreros vestidos á su usanza—esto es cencueros,' etc. Cancelada, Verdad Sabida, xx. The whole story is denied in Lizarza, Discurso Vind. Iturr., 1617.
22. Bustamante furnishes a copy of a portion of the infanta's despatch, the tone of which is somewhat assuming. She thanks the members of the audiencia and the archbishop for their zeal and wachfulness in having saved the country; urges the viceroy to be vigilant in maintaining order and the prosperity of the country; and wishes to be supplied with an exact account of all notable events in the capital and kingdom, 'y si posible es de toda esa América Septentrional.' Bustamante remarks: 'Su Alteza sin duda estaba muy ociosa cuando escribió dicha carta, y al tenor de ella otras muchas; pudo haber, ocupado el tiempo en hacer calzeta para sus hijos.' Cavo, Tres Siglos, iii. 261-2. The letter is dated Rio de Janeiro, May 11, 1809.
23. Bustamante discredits any such idea on the part of Napoleon. 'La Junta de Sevilla'—he means the junta central, which had withdrawn to Sevilla—'tenia tan anchas tragaderas para engullir las mentiras mas absurdas, como las tenia Garibay y su Cousejo de Oidores;' but was confident that if the attempt had been made Cárlos would have triumphantly entered Mexico. Cavo, Tres Siglos, iii. 262-3.
24. Gaz. de Mex., xvi. 207, 205-70, 294-5; Disposlc. Varias, i. f. 135-6; Diario Mex., ix. 632. On April 5th the bishop of Oajaca delivered an oration in support of this recognition. Id., x. 451-5.
25. Manuel Abad y Queipo in March 1809 addressed the real acuerdo, urging the necessity of augmenting the military force in order to insure internal tranquillity and protection against invasion. With regard to the danger threatened by the prevailing discord, he remarks in a note that at the time when he wrote the representation 'no se podia entonces ponderar este peligro sin aumentarlo en realidad por cuya razon solamente lo indiqué, en concepto de que esto era bastante para unos majistrados sabios é ilustrados en el asunto.' Represent. al Real Acuerdo, in Mora, Obras Sueltas, i. 119-26, and Col. Escritos Import., 124-31.
26. Bustamante assisted in drawing up the 'instruccion, clamando por el justo castigo de unos oidores revoltosos que nos iban orillando á la revolucion.' Cavo, Tres Siglos, iii. 204.
27. Alaman, Hist. Mej., i. 301; Gaz. de Mex., 1810, i. 765.
28. By the end of June 1809 these donations reached the sum of 1,482,131 pesos. Id., xvi. 580.
29. Eight millions were put on board the San Justo, and the remaining three millions were shipped on two English frigates which entered the port at that time. Alaman, Hist. Mej., i. 286. Negrete makes no mention of the $2,000,000 contributed by private subscriptions. Mex. Siglo XIX., i. 156.
30. His state of health frequently compelled him to transact the public business in bed. Alaman, Hist. Mej., i. 303.
31. As already related, the archbishop was at first favorably disposed to the convocation of a general congress; but alarmed at the angry disputes on the question, he suddenly changed his opinions, and took part with the deposers of Iturrigaray. He as quickly, however, repented of his action, 'confesó á la Junta Central que habia sido engañado en la separacion de Iturrigaray, y que estaba arrepentido de haber cooperado á la ejecucion de tan horrenda maldad.' Bustamante, in Cavo, Tres Siglos, iii. 265, also 244. Henceforth he favored the party which had advocated the convocation of a general congress.
32. Bustamante describes him as 'candoroso como uno niño,' and Abad y Queipo says: 'Este virtuoso prelado era un hombre muy sencillo, que no conocia el corazon humano, ni tenia luces en materias políticas ni de gobierno.' Informe dirig. al rey., in Zamacois, ix. 863,
33. Ib. A copy of this brilliant órden de la plaza, dated November 3, 1809, is supplied by Martiñena and Hernandez y Dávalos, Col. Doc., i. 715-16. I copy the instructions given to the palace guard as indicating the extent to which the fears of Lizana had been worked upon. 'La guardia del arzobispado y casa de Moneda, no abrirán las puertas principales de la calle aun cuando oigan tiros de fusil ó cañon durante la noche, á menos que no vaya mandarlo personalmente uno do los ayudantes de S. E. I.' Rev., Verdadero Origen, no. 1, 78-9. Consult Guerra, Hist. Rev. N. Esp., i. 254. Mora, however, states that a formal plot against his government and person actually existed, the conspirators being of the Yermo faction, with Aguirre at their head. Mej. y sus Rev., iii. 364-5.
34. Aguirre was ordered to Puebla, and it was rumored that he would be sent to Spain. The excitement was so great that Lizana recalled him, and Aguirre returned to the capital in triumph, 'con gran discrédito del arzobispo, quien con esta facilidad en dictar providencias contrarias, daba a conocer que ó no meditaba debidamente lo que hacia, ó que despues de hecho no tenia firmeza para sostenerlo.' Alaman, Hist. Mej., i. 312; Bustamante, in Cavo, Tres Siglos, iii. 268-9.
35. Lizana was by no means a supporter of independence, except by accident, and without knowing it. 'Este prelado en ningun sentido podia llamarse amigo de la independencia; pero testigo de los escesos cometidos en muchos meses por los Españoles, aprensores de Iturrigaray, habia concebido por ellos una conocida aversion.' Mora, Mej. y sus Rev., iii. 303.
36. 'He cedido gustosamente para las urgencias de la corona el sobrante de mi renta episcopal; y cedo gustosisimo para el mismo efecto los sueldos del virreynato.' Gaz. de Mex., xvi. 700.
37. Cancelada, Tel. Mex., 32. Consult also Gaz. de Mex., xvi. 619-20, 703; Diario de Mex., xi. 119-20.
38. Gaz. de Mex., xvi. 761-4. Among the subscribers of large sums to the loan, I notice the names of Antonio Bassoco, $200,000, Domingo de Acha, $150,000, and Prior Francisco Alonso Teran and his brother Antonio, $200,000. The total, as given by Cancelada, Tel. Mex., 36, was $3,210,435. Cochrane was entertained with great hospitality. At Puebla he was presented with two valuable paintings by Murillo! Alaman, Hist. Mej., i. 304. This last author states that $400,000 of the above contribution were forcibly taken from the house of the duke of Terranova, marqués del Valle, and a descendant of Cortes. Id., 3056. Bustamante, however, informs us that Lizana had received orders to confiscate the property of Terranova, who had attached himself to the party of Joseph Bonaparte. The sum which was seized, as given by this author, was 700,000 pesos. Cavo, Tres Siglos, iii. 265-6. On March 23, 1809, the Spanish government ordered the confiscation of the property of French partisans. Gaz. Mex., xvi. 769-70; Disposic. Varias, i. f. 140. The repayment of these loans was commenced in the following September, a date earlier than that promised by the viceroy as the time for their liquidation. Gaz. de Mex., xvi. 826-7.
39. The members appointed by the viceroy were the regent of the audiencia, Pedro Catani, the oidor Tomás Gonzalez Calderon, the alcalde del crímen of the audiencia, Juan Collado, and the fiscal of the criminal court, Francisco Robledo. Gaz. de Mex., xvi. 867.
40. 'Sobre el delito de adhesion al partido frances, y sobre papeles, conversaciones, ó murmuraciones sediciosas ó seductivas con todas sus conexiones é incidencias.' Id., 868.
41. See Michelena's account of the influence which these arguments had upon the independent party. Hernandez y Dávalos, Col. Doc., ii. 5.
    HIST. HEX., VOL. IV. 6
42. This account has been mainly derived from Michelena's narrative, supplied by him to Bustamante, a copy of which is furnished by that author in his work Cuadro Hist., i. 12-16. Alaman, Hist. Mej., i. 314-17, has also been consulted, and his version of the denunciation been adopted.
43. His severity 'le atrajo el ódio publico, por lo que en la revolucion del año 1810 fué cruelmente asesinado. ' Bustamante, in Cavo, Tres Siglos, iii. 268.
44. Bustamante, counsel for the accused, pleaded for them personally with Lizana. 'El oidor Aguirre,' he said, 'opina que el dia que se ahorque el primer insurgente, España debe perder la esperanza de conservar esta America.' 'Yo soy de la inisma opinion,' replied the viceroy, 'vaya V. seguro de que mandaré sobreseer en esta causa.' Cuadro Hist., i. 17. Abad y Queipo represented to Lizana that 'este primer movimiento se debia tratar, ó con munho vigor, ó con mucho indulgencia,' but remarks, 'La enormidad del delito exigia la enormidad de la pena.' Informe dirig. al rey., in Zamacois, Hist. Mej., ix. 865-6.
45. When the revolution headed by Hidalgo broke out in September 1810, these conspirators were again placed under arrest, and their case continued by the junta de seguridad. No connection, however, between the Valladolid conspiracy and that at Dolores could be proved against them, and in 1813 they were released under the pardon granted to revolutionists by the Spanish córtes on the 15th of October, 1810. Copy of decree in Dublan and Lozano, Legis. Mex., i. 336. Michelena on the occasion of his second arrest was treated with great severity by Viceroy Venegas, who imprisoned him in the fortress of Ulúa. There he was cruelly dealt with, though suffering from rheumatism, and was finally shipped in a helpless condition to Spain where he served as a captain in the regiment of Burgos. Padre Santa María having escaped from the convent of S. Diego where he had been confined, died of fever at Acapulco, whither he had gone to join Morelos, who was besieging the castle. Obeso died soon afterward, having been imprisoned for more than two years. Few of these early patriots lived to see the day of independence. Michelena says: 'Casi todos murieron y solo vimos realizada la independencia D. Antonio Cumplido, D. Antonio Castro, D. José María Izazaga, D. José" María Abarca, D. Lorenzo Carrillo, yo, y no sé si alguno otro.' Bustamante, Cuad. Hist., i. 16. The same authority states that both Allende and Abasolo, so conspicuous at a later date as leaders in the revolution, were connected with this affair. Bustamante is of opinion that Iturbide was the informer, offended at not being given a high command by the revolutionists whose meetings he attended. Alaman, however, advances arguments to disprove this. Hist. Mej., i. 317-19.
46. 'Y pues vuestro virey está tranquilo, vivid vosotros tambien seguros.' Mex. Proc. del Virey, 12.
47. This was the origin of the battalions of Tula, Cuautitlan, Tulancingo, and others. Alaman, Hist. Mej., i. 321.
48. Gaz. de. Mex. , 1810, i. 247-8; Diario, Mex., xii. 535-6. The celebrated sculptor Manuel Tolsa was also engaged at this time in casting 100 cannon at the expense of the tribunal de mineria, the cost of which was $500,000. These cannon as already mentioned had been offered by that tribunal to Iturrigaray, and Tolsa commenced work at the close of Garibay's administration. Alaman, Hist. Mej., i. 300, 321.
49. Dispos. Varias, ii. f. 2; Diario de Mex., xii. 511-12; Gaz. de Mex., 1810, i. 378-84, The oath was also ordered to be taken in all other places of the kingdom. New Spain was the only Spanish colony which recognized the consejo de regencia. Rivera, Hist. Jal., i. 273.
50. Considerando que los vastos y preciosos dominios que España posee en las Indias no son propiamente colonias ó factorias como los de otros naciones, sino una parte esencial é integrante de la monarquia Española.' Gaz. de Mex., xvi. 326.
51. New Granada expostulated against this small concession, and Mier y Guerra comments upon such inadequate representation in the córtes, which would be composed of 36 European members, 9 American, and one from the Philippines. Rev. de N. Esp., i. 253, ii. 638-9. The election of an American deputy was to be thus conducted: The ayuntamiento of the capital town in each province of a viceregal kingdom was to nominate three competent persons, one of whom was then to be elected by casting lots as the representative of his province. When all such representatives were elected, the viceroy and real acuerdo were to select by vote three of them, from whom the deputy to Spain was finally appointed by lot. Gaz. de Mex., xvi. 325-8. In New Spain the ayuntamientos which sent up candidates to Mexico were those of Puebla, Vera Cruz, Mérida de Yucatan, Oajaca, Valladolid, Guanajuato, San Luis Potosi, Guadalajara, Zacatecas, Tabasco, Querétaro, Tlascala, Nuevo Leon, and Nuevo Santander. Id., 1810, i. 420.
52. This decree was published in Mexico on the 14th of August, 1809. Dispos. Varias, i. f. 139; Interfer. Brit. Gov., MS., in Mayer MS., no. 27, p. 2. On the 4th of October the deputy for New Spain was appointed, the lots having decided the election in favor of Miguel Lardizábal, a Creole of Tlascala resident in Spain. Gaz. de Mex., xvi. 901 (Gaz. Ex.); Alaman, Hist. Mej., i. 308. He was afterward appointed member of the regency for the American colonies in place of Fernandez de Leon, who suffered from ill health. Bustamante in Cavo, Tres Siglos, iii. 269; Córtes, Diario, 1810, i. 8.
53. On the 31st of January 1810, Alaman, Hist. Mej., i. 334. The regency was installed on the 2d of February. Gaz. de Mex., 1810, i. 380.
54. 'Estos diputados seran uno por cada capital cabeza de partido de estas diferentes provincias.' Id., 419. The decree was published in Mexico on the 16th of May following, and no less than 17 deputies elected, representing Mexico, Guadalajara, Valladolid, Puebla, Veracruz, Mérida, Guanajuato, San Luis Potosi, Zacatecas, Tabasco, Querétaro, Tlascala, Nuevo Leon, Oajaca, Sonora, Durango, and Coahuila. They were all natives of the districts in which they were elected with one exception, and were nearly all ecclesiastics. For a list of their names see Alaman, Hist Mej., i. app. 49-50.
55. Guerra, Hist. Rev. N. Esp., ii. 640. The regency had been stimulated to action by the representations of some provincial juntas which had assembled in Cádiz; and on the 18th of June a decree was issued to hasten the appointment of deputies, who were to meet in the island of Leon during the month of August, and hold sessions as soon as a sufficient number had assembled. Those provinces of Spain which were occupied by the French were represented by substitutes selected from natives of such districts resident in Cádiz, while 28 substitutes for the deputies of American and Asiatic colonies who could not arrive in time were also provided from American creoles residing in the same city. Ib.; Alaman, Hist. Mej., i. 336; Diario de Mex., xiii. 385-6.
56. 'Os veis elevados á la dignidad' are the words used in the regency's proclamation of the 14th of February. Gaz. de Mex., 1810, i. 418—'de hombres libres: no sois ya los mismos que antes encorbados baxo un yugo mucho mas duro mientras mas distantes estabais del centro del poder, mirados con indiferencia, vexados por la codicia, y destruidos por la ignorancia.'
57. Their names were Andrés Savariego, Francisco Munilla, José María Gutierrez de Teran, José María Couto, Salvador Samartin, Octaviano Obregon, and Máximo Maldonado. Córtes, Diario, 1810, i. 2. By decree of August 20, 1810, Indians and Spanish-Indian offspring were made eligible to the rank of deputies. Diario de Mex., xiii. 689.
58. Abad y Queipo pointed out to the viceroy the impracticability of effecting it, and suggested plans for the relief of the junta central by increasing the alcabala duty two per cent, and the price of tobacco from ten reals to twelve or even fourteen reals as the urgencies of the nation might call for. Col. Escritos Import., 132-48; Rivera, Hist. Jalapa, i. 272; Bustamante, in Cavo, Tres Siglos, iii. 266.
59. Gaz. de Mex., 1810, i. 797-801.
60. Alaman, Hist. Mej., i. 324-5, asserts that he derived this information from manuscript notes of his brother Dr Arechederreta, who was an intimate friend of the oidor Tomás Gonzalez Calderon, from whom Arechederreta must have heard these particulars, which were kept very secret.
61. This junta had been established by popular demand for the protection of the city; but its influence soon became greater than that of the regency. Id., 226-7; Junta Sup. de Cádiz, á la Amer. Esp., 3.
62. Hernandez y Dávalos, Col. Doc., ii. 21.
63. Gaz. de Mex., 1810, i. 391-2.
64. Proclama del Arzob. Virey, 24 de Abril de 1810; Bustamante, in Cavo, Tres Siglos, iii. 272; Diario de Mex., xii. 674; Hernandez y Dávalos, Col. Doc., ii. 28-32.
65. Sosa, Episcop. Mex., 206-13.
66. Gaz. de Mex., 1810, i. 411-13.
67. Bustamante, who was an eye-witness of these religious observances, wrote a detailed account of them bearing the title: Memoria piadosa que recordard á la posteridad, la piedad de los Mexicanos manifestada en la venida de Ntra Sra de los Remedios, y contiene dos partes. Cavo, Tres Siglos, iii. 274-5.
68. Gaz. de Mex., 1810, i. 686-7.
69. Mora, Mej. y sus Rev., iii. 372-4.
70. Bonaparte in 1809 openly announced: 'Que era ya llegado el tiempo de que las Americas españoles quedasen independientes, y que el gobierno frances no se opondria a este paso necesario.' Mora, Mej. y sus Rev., iii. 368. The inquisition in vain attempted to suppress the circulation of such sheets. In the months of April, June, and September, 1810, it published proclamations against King Joseph, and under threats of excommunication ordered all papers of the kind to be delivered up that they might be publicly burnt by the executioner. Diario Mex., xii. 463-8; Dispos. Varias, iii. f. 153, vi. f. 58, 60. French emissaries were a constant source of alarm, and measures to prevent their operations and destroy their influence were taken both in Spain and Mexico. For copies of instructions given to these agents, their proclamations, and descriptions of their intrigues, consult Gonzalez, Col. N. Leon, 153-8; Manifiesto contra las Instruc. Emperador; Calvilio, Discurso; and Diario Mex., xiii. 43-4.
71. For a list of his names, titles, and decorations, see Cedulario, i. f. 92, and Dispos. Varias, ii. f. 3. In the latter document appears his rúbrica.
72. Guerra states that he lost the army of the centre at the two battles of Tarancon and Ucles, 'que dió y perdió por su ineptitud, como consta del Manifesto del Duque del Infantado.' Cuesta went so far as to state that Venegas 'by gross ignorance, want of skill, envy, or malice, lost, perhaps forever, the only opportunity of saving Spain.' Hist. Rev. N. Esp., i. 296.
73. His dress and personal appearance were the subject of numerous pasquinades which were posted on the corners of the principal streets. One quoted by Bustamante was as follows: 'De patilla, botas y pantalon, hechura de Napoleon.' Cavo, Tres Siglos, iii. 277. Another which was posted on the palace gate aggravated the viceroy to make reply. It ran thus:
     

    Ni tu trage de virey,
    Dios ponga tiento en tus manos
    No destruyas nuestra ley.'

    Venegas caused the following lines to be posted in the same place:

    'Mi cara no es de excelencia,
    Ni mi trage de virey,
    Pero represento al rey,
    Y obtengo su real potencia.
    Esta sencilla advertencia
    Os hago, por lo que importe:
    La ley ha de ser el norte
    Que dirija mis acciones.
    ¡Cuidado con las traiciones
    Que se han hecho en esta Corte!

    Rivera, Gob. de Mex., i. 564.

74. Opinions with regard to the abilities of Venegas are diametrically opposite according as they are regarded by his friends or opponents. Abad y Queipo describes him as a talented, learned, and upright man, Informe, in Zamacois, Hist. Mej., ix. 867-8; while Zavala states that he possessed neither political nor military talent. Rev. Mex., i. 43. Consult Adalid, Causa, MS., i. 134-6.
75. Gaz. de Mex., 1810, i. 764-5, 776-86; Diario de Mex., xiii. 347-8. The titulo de Castilla was a title of nobility intermediate between those of the grandees and hidalgos of Spain. Salvá, Nuevo Dicc., 1054. Yermo and Fagoaga declined the honor. Alaman, Hist. Mej., i. 343-4.
76. The Mexican deputation to Spain stated in August 1811 that 'las gracias que Ilevó el Virey Don Francisco Venegas para los autores cómplices de la faccion' carried alarm through the country. Diputac. Amer. Rep., 3.