The political situation was not by any means a promising one. The man who was to hold the reins of government must look well before him. Armed reaction had been apparently vanquished, but there remained several disturbing elements which must be nullified, or at least kept in subordination before the victory could be called the precursor of a lasting peace.[1]
The government in the first flush of victory had ordered, on the 11th of January, 1861, all the leaders, aiders, and abetters of the reaction to be tried under the last law against conspirators, and shot on conviction. The first person brought under it was Miramon's minister, Isidro Diaz, who had been captured, as stated elsewhere. It seems that the order for his execution had been or was on the point of being issued, when Juarez commuted the sentence to five years' exile.[2] The liberal party became alarmed on learning of this action, as they, or at least the most radical wing of the party, maintained that it was rank injustice to show leniency toward those who had com-
- ↑ The troublesome elements were: First, the remaining portion of the force defeated at Calpulalpam; the garrison of the capital disbanded on the preceding christmas night; and the active men of the clerical party. Second, the constitutional army and the men who rose in arms to restore the constitution and enforce the reform laws — a very large element that must be prevailed upon to return quietly to their former social position and vocations. Third, the states, whose governments during the civil war had habituated themselves to the exercise of independent sovereignty, incompatible with subordination to the federal authority. They seemed to be well satisfied with this practice, and it was feared they were disposed to continue it. Fourth, the men with exaggerated theories on democracy who had been waiting for the triumph of the liberal arms to attempt putting their ideas into practice in the government. Fifth, the representatives of interests created by the reforms initiated in 1856, and which the Tacubaya faction had injured. Their number as well as their claims had become quite enlarged. Sixth, the foreign demands resulting from several international questions that had arisen during the last civil war. Seventh and last, the highwaymen and other malefactors, who, under the garb of guerrillas, and by favor of political barnacles, made public roads and small towns unsafe, and must be crushed out by the whole power of the government.
- ↑ The late Spanish ambassador, Pacheco, in a speech delivered Nov. 23d, before the senate at Madrid, accounted for it in a slurring manner. Miramon's wife, one of whose sisters was Diaz' betrothed, called on the president, and using Pacheco's own words, 'tales fueron sus instancias, y tales fueron sus súplicas, y tales fueron sus insultos, y tales fueron los argumentos y medios de que se valió,' that she obtained the commutation. Córtes, Diario Senado, i. no. 9, 78.
