by the manner in which his authority had been thrown off, and his dignity profaned by his countrymen; and they felt that the question was now, not one between their Sovereign and themselves as subjects, but between themselves, and their fellow-subjects, the European Spaniards, as to which should possess the right of representing the absent King.
The insolent manner in which this right was claimed, as exclusively their own, by the Europeans, encreased not a little the general irritation. The Ayuntamiento of Mexico was told by the Audiencia, in reply to some remonstrance in favour of the Viceroy, "that it possessed no authority, except over the leperos (lazzaroni), of the capital;" and it was a favourite maxim with the Oidor Bataller, "that while a Manchego mule, or a Castilian cobler remained in the Peninsula, he had a right to govern the Americas."
These sentiments were re-echoed by all the Europeans, both in the Capital, and in the principal towns of the Interior: they every where formed Patriotic associations for the defence of what they termed their rights, and armed themselves against the Natives, whose spirit these very precautions contributed to arouse. The Archbishop, whose moderation and conciliatory policy accorded but little with these views, was allowed to retain the reins of government but a short time. He was replaced, in 1809, by the Audiencia, to whom the supreme authority was entrusted by the Central Junta; and
