dressed and unarmed, only to find himself deserted. The next moment a dragoon had seized him.
The news spread rapidly, and from Mexico orders were sent throughout the country to celebrate the occurrence with ringing of bells, volleys, masses, and other demonstrations, in manifestation of delight. Orrantia was rewarded with a colonelcy in the regular army; the captor received money as well as promotion,[1] and the king testified his delight by dubbing Apodaca conde del Venadito, after the place where Mina was captured, a title which soon became to him an annoying nickname among the Mexicans.[2]
Mina was conducted in triumph to the camp of Liñan, where the officers endeavored by their attentions to compensate for the indignities he had so far suffered among them. For there had been the imposition of shackles, in allusion to which Mina said: "I shudder more to observe so barbarous a custom than to submit to it." With praiseworthy spirit he declined to make any revelations.[3] The viceroy re-
- ↑ The dragoon, José Miguel Cervantes of Nuevo Santander, received the prize money of $500, a special badge, and a corporalcy. The other soldiers obtained a general badge. Gaz. de Mex., 1818, ix. 134.
- ↑ And gave additional impulse to his request for a change, which was not granted. Bustamante, Cuad. Hist., iv. 443. For first news of the capture, with odes, etc., see Gaz. de Mex., 1817, viii. 1191, 1210-12.
- ↑ 'Sin haber querido hacer clase alguna de revelacion,'says Torrente, Hist. Rev., ii. 394, although Bustamante intimates that he answered certain questions. He made it a habit to destroy letters, keeping the information in cipher. Yet he is said to have written a letter to Liñan, declaring that if sometimes he seemed a less true Spaniard, it was an error, that the existence of the republican party meant ruin to the country, and offering, if his life were prolonged, to give advice for the speedy pacification of the provinces. Copy in Mendíbil, Resúmen Hist., 423, differs. Robinson, ii. 119-20, refuses to believe it authentic, and declares that he wrote about this time a letter to his comrade Erdozain, at Los Remedios, exhorting him to pursue a course marked by honor and consistency. Bustamante, Cuad. Hist., iv. 445-6, insists, however, that he has seen the autograph letter, and adds, that acting upon it Liñan wrote to the viceroy for instructions whether to spare Mina or not. Apodaca declared the offer of advice valueless, and ordered his execution. Mina certainly was somewhat disgusted with the revolutionists as he had found them, and Spanish pride was strong; so argues Ward, Mex., i. 255, among others. Yet we know that the authorities made it a rule to issue declarations over the name of almost every prominent captive, many of which are admitted to be doubtful or spurious; and we have royalist testimony to the fact that Mina refused to make any revelations. A number of men at Los Remedios offered to attempt a rescue, but Torres objected to it as a waste of life. Robinson, ii. 133; Revista Cien., ii. 164.
