services to the junta. Rayon willingly received him, and henceforth Cos devoted heart and soul to the cause. Conscious of the power exercised by the press as an engine of defence against misrepresentation, and for the diffusion of enlightened ideas on the subject of independence, with infinite labor he fashioned out of wood with his own hands sufficient type to enable him to print five pages of matter, and for some months issued from Zitácuaro a weekly publication which he styled the Ilustrador Americano.[1] The effect produced by this sheet was soon felt by the steady emigration from the cities of young men of energy and ability, who joined the ranks of the revolutionists and aided the cause with sword or pen.
The perplexity of Veriegas increased daily; and so forlorn did his position appear to him that at times he even meditated opening communications with the rebel leaders to induce them to lay down their arms by offers of personal favors, and by concessions which would win back the multitude to their allegiance with out prejudice to the essential principle of Spanish domination. But such a step would be deeply humiliating to the dignity of the government, and doubly so in the event of failure. Sorely pressed though he was, he hesitated to adopt a plan so uncertain. It was therefore a relief to his mind when Manuel Ignacio Gonzalez del Campillo, bishop of Puebla,[2] offered
- ↑ Mora says: 'El Ilustrador Americano, se leia por todos partes con avidez y con aprecio, en las grandes ciudades sometidas á los Españoles, especialmente en Mejico, circulaba de mano en mano, y aunque el gobierno vireinal sabia el hecho, no podia dar con las personas que lo leian y tenian.' Mej. y sus Rev., iv. 197. See Bustamante, Cuad. Hist., i. 406. Somewhat later Cos obtained a quantity of type by the assistance of José Rebelo, an official in the printing office of Arizpe, in which the government printing was done. Rebelo purchased the type without suspicion, and it was conveyed at great risk through the gates of the capital packed in gourds, which to appearance contained fruit. Having joined the insurgents forthwith, Rebelo served for some years with great zeal for the cause. He was eventually captured by the royalists while conveying some revolutionary sheets from Zacatlan to Apazingan, and shot. Id., i. 407-9.
- ↑ Campillo, though a creole, had been appointed bishop of Puebla on account of eminent services rendered the church. Previous to his election he had frequently been engaged in disputes with the Spaniards and the government. Disagreements were then laid aside, and when the revolution broke out Campillo used his utmost efforts to promote the cause of Spain. His line
