Independence originated, were mere adventurers, who embarked in the cause as the only mode of retrieving their ruined fortunes.)
24.—The invasion of the Peninsula, the abdication of the Sovereign, and the occupation of Madrid by foreign troops, offered some prospect of an approaching Independence, which could not but be flattering to a Viceroy, who had but little else to hope.
25.—It is impossible not to shed tears on reflecting that the exalted patriotism displayed throughout New Spain upon that occasion, should have been so soon directed into a different channel. The Spanish monarchy will never possess more loyal citizens than all its inhabitants then were;—they loved, they adored their King,—and the vehement effusion of their sentiments was the best proof of their sincerity.
26.—But fate decreed that, at that moment, a few restless spirits, ("hombres discolos, o' preocupados,") should dream of Independence, (the very name and idea of which had been, till then, happily unknown to their countrymen,) and that their projects should be countenanced by a body, respectable in itself, amongst whose members many connived at proposals which could have no other object. The worst, too, was, that these schemes were, to a certain point, favoured by measures on the part of the Government, which, if they had not been cut short, would have been of themselves sufficient to revolutionise the country.
27.—Thus, the extraordinary pretensions of the Ayuntamiento of Mexico, with regard to the new appointment of Government officers, and the oaths to be taken by them, as well as the creation of Provisional Juntas in the capital, and in other parts of the kingdom,—pretensions favoured by the tortuous and inconsistent policy of the Viceroy,—had a direct tendency towards the establishment of the Independence.
28.—If your Majesty calls to mind the events which took place in this city between the 29th of July and the 15th of September of 1808, it will be evident how much was done, in so short a time, in order to separate it from the Mother-country. This Tribunal had the honour of informing the Regency, at the
