APPENDIX.
A.
The resources of the Royal Treasury being exhausted by the enormous expenditure which has lately been required, your Excellency, on assuming the reins of Government, was deprived of the means of providing for the safety of the provinces committed to your charge. The only mode of relieving the necessities of the country, appears to be to grant permission to the English merchants to introduce their manufactures into the town, and to re-export the produce of the Interior, by which the revenue will be at once increased, and an impulse given to industry and trade.
Your Excellency possesses powers sufficient for the adoption of any measures that the safety of the country may require, but a natural desire to ensure the result of these measures, by adapting them to the peculiar situation of the vice-royalty, induced your Excellency to consult the Cabildo of this city, and the Tribunal of the Real Consulado, before any definitive resolution was taken.
The intentions of your Excellency had barely transpired, when several of the merchants manifested their discontent and dissatisfaction. Groups of European shopkeepers were formed in all the public places, who, disguising their jealousy and personal apprehensions under the most specious pretences, affected to deplore, as a public calamity, the diminution of the profits, which they have hitherto derived from the contraband trade. At one time, with hypocritical warmth, they lamented the fatal blow which the interests of the Mother-country were about to receive, and at another, they predicted the ruin of the colony, and the total destruction of its commerce: others again announced the universal distress that the free exportation of the precious metals would bring upon us, and pretended to feel a lively interest in the fate of our native artisans (whom they have always hitherto despised), endeavouring to enlist in their cause the sacred name of religion, and the interests of morality.
Never, certainly, has America known a more critical state of affairs, and never was any European governor so well entitled as your Excellency to dispense at once with the maxims of past ages; for if, in less dangerous times, the laws have often been allowed to sleep, when their observance might have checked the free action of the Government, surely your Excellency cannot now be condemned for the adoption of a measure, by which alone the preservation of this part of the monarchy can be effected.
Those should be doomed to eternal infamy, who maintain that, under present circumstances, it would be injurious either to Spain, or to this country, to open a free intercourse with Great Britain. But even supposing the measure to be injurious, still it is a necessary evil, and one which, since it cannot be avoided, ought at least to be made use of for the general good, by endeavouring to derive every possible advantage from it, and thus to convert it into a means of ensuring the safety of the state.
Since the English first appeared on our coasts, in 1806, the merchants of that nation have not lost sight of the Rio de la Plata in their speculations. A series of commercial adventures has followed, which has provided almost entirely for the consumption of the country; and this great importation, carried on in defiance of laws and reiterated prohibitions, has met with no other obstacles than those necessary to deprive the Custom-house of its dues, and the country of those advantages which it might have derived from a free exportation of its own produce in return. The result of this system has been to put the English in the exclusive possession of the right of providing the country with all the foreign merchandize that it requires; while the Government has lost the immense revenues which the introduction of so large a proportion of foreign manufactures ought to have produced, from too scrupulous an observance of laws, which have never been more scandalously violated than at the moment when their observance was insisted upon by the merchants of the capital. For what, Sir, can be more glaringly absurd than to hear a merchant clamouring for the enforcement of the prohibitive laws, and the exclusion of foreign trade, at the very door of a shop filled with English goods, clandestinely imported?
To the advantages which the Government will derive from the open introduction of foreign goods, may be added those which must accrue to the country from the free exportation of its own produce.
Our vast plains produce annually a million of hides, without reckoning other skins, corn, or tallow, all of which are valuable, as articles of foreign trade. But the magazines of our resident merchants are full; there is no exportation; the capital usually invested in these speculations is already employed, and the immense residue of the produce, thrown back upon the hands of the landed-proprietors, or purchased at a price infinitely below its real value, has reduced them to the most deplorable state of wretchedness, and compelled them to abandon a labour which no longer repays them for the toil and expence with which it is attended.
The freedom of trade in America was not proscribed as a real evil, but because it was a sacrifice required of the colonies by the Mother-country. The events which led to the gradual increase of this exclusive commerce, till it became a monopoly of the Cadiz merchants, are well known.
Well informed men exclaimed in vain against a system so weak, so ruinous, and so ill judged; but inveterate evils are not to be cured at once. Minor reforms had paved the way for a system founded upon sounder principles, when the late extraordinary events, changing entirely the political state of Spain, destroyed by one unforeseen blow all the pretexts by which the prohibitory laws had been previously supported.—The new order of things which the Mother-country has proclaimed as the happy commencement of national prosperity, has completely changed the motives for the prohibitory system, and demonstrated, in their fullest extent, the advantages that must result to the country from a free trade. Good policy, therefore, and the natural wish to apply a remedy to pressing evils, are converted into a positive duty, which the first magistrate of the state cannot, in reason, or justice, neglect.
Is it just that the fruits of our agricultural labours should be lost, because the unfortunate provinces of Spain can no longer consume them? Is it just that the abundant productions of the country should rot in our magazines, because the navy of Spain is too weak to export them? Is it just that we should increase the distress of the Mother-country, by the tidings of our own critical and vacillating state, when the means are offered to us of consolidating our safety upon the firmest basis? Is it just, that, when the subjects of a friendly and generous nation present themselves in our ports, and offer us, at a cheap rate, the merchandize of which we are in want, and with which Spain cannot supply us, we should reject the proposal, and convert, by so doing, their good intentions to the exclusive advantage of a few European merchants, who, by means of a contraband trade, render themselves masters of the whole imports of the country? Is it just, that when we are intreated to sell our accumulated agricultural produce, we should, by refusing to do so, decree at the same time the ruin of our landed-proprietors, of the country, and of society together?
If your Excellency wishes to diminish the extraction of specie, which has taken place latterly to so great an extent, there is no other mode of effecting it than to open the ports to the English, and thus to enable them to extend their speculations to other objects. It is one of the fatal consequences of the contraband trade, that the importer is absolutely compelled to receive the value of his imports in the precious metals alone. His true interest, indeed, consists in exchanging them at once for articles that may become the objects of a new speculation; but the risks with which the extraction of bulky commodities must be attended, under a system of strict prohibition, induce him to sacrifice this advantage to the greater security which exports in specie afford, and to deprive himself of the hope of new profits, and the country of the sale of its most valuable produce.
Yet the Apoderado of the Cadiz monopolists maintains, "that a free trade will be the ruin of our agriculture." This luminous discovery is worthy of his penetration. The free exportation of the produce, is declared to be detrimental to the interests of the producer! What, then, is to be the mode of encouraging him in his labours? According to the principles laid down by our merchants, the agricultural produce should be allowed to accumulate,—purchasers are to be deterred from entering the market, by the difficulties of exporting the articles bought up, to countries where they might be consumed; and this system is to be persevered in until, after ruining the landholders by preventing them from disposing of the fruits of their labours, the superfluous produce itself is to be disposed of, in order to fill up the ditches and marshes in the vicinity of the town.
Yes, Sir, this is the deplorable state to which our agriculture has been reduced during the last few years. The marshes around the town have been actually filled up with wheat; and this miserable condition, which forms a subject of lamentation with all true friends to their country, and scandalizes the inhabitants of the whole district, is the natural fate of a province, in which, as soon as an inclination is shown to apply a remedy to these evils, men are found daring enough to assert, "that by giving value, or, in other words, a ready market, to the agricultural produce, agriculture will be ruined."Buenos Ayres, 30th September, 1809.
B. (1.)
REPRESENTATION OF THE AMERICAN DEPUTIES TO THE CORTES OF SPAIN, 1ST AUGUST, 1811.
Sir,
The Cortes being about to discuss the question of the pacification of the Americas, We, the undersigned Deputies, believe it to be our duty to lay before your Majesty whatever information we possess with regard to the best mode of effecting this most important point:—information which may tend, at the same time, to convey an exact idea of events which are much misrepresented before they reach the Peninsula. The knowledge of the evil ought to precede the inquiry as to the remedy. In order to extinguish the fire that is consuming the Americas, it is necessary to examine its origin. It appears, that all agree that the desire of Independence first excited amongst the Americans the flame of discord, when they saw that it was impossible that the Peninsula should employ force against them. The loss of power, on the part of the Mother-country, is, therefore, the first circumstance to be noted; but something more than this was required to occasion the explosion, since otherwise it would have taken place as soon as the obstacle was removed, and this has not been the case; the revolt of the colonies being effected in some places before others, and in none immediately on the arrival from Spain of the first fatal news of the occupation of Madrid.
In Caracas, the intelligence of the invasion of Andalusia by the French, and the dissolution of the Central Junta, caused the revolution, by which, on the 19th of April, 1810, the Authorities were deposed without bloodshed, and a Junta created, with the title of Supreme, for the government of the Province, "to preserve its existence, and provide for its safety," as it is expressed in the proclamation which was published upon the occasion.
The same news was communicated to Buenos Ayres by the Viceroy, Don Baltasar Cisneros, who permitted the people to assemble a Congress, in order to take the necessary precautions, and not to be involved in similar calamities. This produced, in May 1810, a Provisional Junta, which took the command, until a Congress could be formed of Deputies from all the Provinces.
The imprudent conduct of the Corregidor of El Socorro, in the new kingdom of Granada, in attacking with troops the unarmed people, who, by means of official representations, endeavoured to calm him, and to avoid a rupture, irritated the natives, and caused a revolution, on the 3d of July, 1810, the first effect of which was the imprisonment of the Corregidor himself, and his satellites.
In Santa Fè de Bogota, a still slighter cause led to the explosion. An individual was passing a small shop, when the European proprietor offended him by some words reflecting on the Americans in general. The Creoles, piqued with this, assembled in a body and attacked him, and those who hastened to his assistance. This trifle lighted the torch of dissension, and the irritation increased to such a degree, that a Junta was installed, July 20, 1810, which took the management of affairs in the Viceroyalty, excluding many of those who governed before.
In Carthagena another Junta was formed, the 18th of August of the same year, in consequence of the proceedings of the Governor, and the odious differences which he excited between the European Spaniards and the Americans.
In Chile, the violent attempts of the Captain-General, Don Francisco Carrasco, who was brought to trial by the Council for his conduct, caused such a sensation, and irritated the people so much, that he was obliged to resign. The Conde de la Conquista succeeded him. After this, a Provisional Junta was created, the 18th of September, 1810, following the example of the Junta of Cadiz, which approved the measure, in a proclamation addressed to the Americans. This Junta was recognized by, and received laws from, the Cortes.
In Mexico, the imprisonment of the Viceroy, Don José Yturrigaray, by a faction of Europeans, on the night of the 15th of September, 1808, created disputes between them and the Americans. This feeling, spreading gradually through the kingdom, and increasing from day to day, by the death of some and the imprisonment of others, (particularly of the Corregidor of Queretaro,) and the distinctions conferred by the new Viceroy, Don Francisco Venegas, upon the author and accomplices of the faction, caused an insurrection in the Interior, which began in the village of Dolores, the 16th of September, and extended itself in a most alarming manner.
Such are the circumstances which have occasioned the breaking out of the Revolution in the different parts of America; the pretext unanimously alleged, is the necessity of providing for their own safety, and their wish not to be given up to the French, or any other power, but preserved to Ferdinand VII., whom all have acknowledged, and proclaimed as their king. This being the case, to what, but to bad government, can the present differences be attributed? The daily increasing system of oppression banished from the hearts of the natives the hope of reform, and begot the desire of Independence, which was looked upon as the only remedy. An inflammable material has gone on accumulating, till at last it has ignited, with a very small spark, and the mine has burst. Oppression is, without doubt, the first link in the chain of causes which have produced this effect. Throughout the Colonies, the fear of being betrayed to the French was very great, and not entirely without foundation. To this circumstance, which was common to all the Provinces, and occasioned the Revolution in Caracas, may be added the conduct of the Viceroy in Buenos Ayres, who communicated the intelligence of the invasion of Andalusia as a decisive blow, allowed the people to form a Congress, and to choose a Junta which should govern them.
The bad conduct of the chiefs in Quito, Socorro, and Chile,—of individuals in Santa-Fè,—of both, as well as of the Government in Mexico, may be subjoined to the fatal news from Spain.
It is worthy of remark that the differences have everywhere commenced with an attack upon the Creoles, on the part of the Europeans. Nowhere has any American been known to insult a European, but the reverse. In every province, Americans were tried and thrown into prison, on pretence of being disaffected to Spain, and yet not one of the many Europeans who insulted the Americans, even in public places, was chastised. In them it was a crime only to show themselves well disposed towards the Creoles, or to commiserate their oppression. For this the most respectable men amongst them were arrested, and even a Viceroy himself deposed. Americans were continually sent to the Peninsula, where they were absolved, which proves the injustice with which they had been treated. In a word, the blood of the Creoles was profusely spilt, without one drop of the Europeans being shed, except in their defence, or by way of reprisals for the rivers which they caused to flow.
The streets of Callao, in the kingdom of New Granada, the fields of Cordova, in that of Buenos Ayres, the mountain of Las Cruces, the plains of Aculco, the bridge of Calderon, the city of Guanajuato, with a thousand other places in Mexico, were the scenes of these horrors; without relating what took place in Quito, over which, for the sake of humanity, we must draw a veil.
We shall therefore only add, that in Mexico the Government rewarded the authors of the faction who insulted the natives of the kingdom, and were the origin of the insurrections.
As to the pretexts assigned, in order to know whether they are really such, or whether there is some foundation for them, it is necessary to consider—1st, That they were the same in every place: 2dly, That they were original, i.e. that one province has not been the echo of another, but that each has assigned its own causes, without having any communication, or previous consultation, with the rest: 3dly, That these pretexts, if not true, are at least so plausible that it would be difficult to demonstrate their fallacy: And, 4thly, That they are conformable to the principles by which their conduct ought to be regulated, and for the neglect of which they might justly be condemned.
The supposition of French influence is unfounded, not because they have not endeavoured to obtain it, but because they have not been successful. Bonaparte has made use of several Spaniards as agents to conciliate the Americas, but these were unanimously deaf to his voice, and notwithstanding the flattering promises contained in his proclamations, they have burnt them by the hands of the common hangman, put to death the bearers, and uniformly expressed their detestation of the Government by which they were sent.
With regard to the English, it is evident that in the parts of America with which they hold no communication, as Mexico and Santa-Fe, they cannot have exercised an influence prejudicial to Spain; and we believe that they have not done so even in the countries which they are in the habit of frequenting; for there have been no disturbances in the Havana; unless indeed, it be assumed that no predisposition in favour of Independence existed there as in other places, in which case they may have encouraged, without absolutely exciting, the inhabitants to revolt. The English ambassador, in his note to our Government, in which he offers the mediation of Great Britan to effect a reconciliation with the Insurgents of America, endeavours to clear his Government from the imputation, and states that the only object of the communications into which England has entered with Caracas and Buenos Ayres, is the wish to be able to mediate between the two parties more effectually.
All may be resolved into the desire of Independence, which is the primum mobile. This, again, may be divided into two classes; Independence of the European Spaniards, and Independence of the Government of the Peninsula. We will suppose that the Creoles desire the last, as is affirmed in many of the papers of the day, and, I believe, by most people. Still, the great and principal cause of their criminal intentions will be found in the state of oppression in which they have lived for so many years. This impelled them to take advantage of the first opportunity to shake off the yoke. Without it, they would have acknowledged the Government, although regarding it as illegitimate, in order to conform with the rest of the nation. Bad Government alone has been the cause of the dissatisfaction of the Americans.
In order to form a just idea of the effects produced, and the system pursued, let us consider the Creoles as men, as individuals, and as members of a political community. As men, they believe themselves degraded by the Government, which regards them with contempt as colonists; i.e. as an inferior class, or species of men, who have never enjoyed the rights due to all. The consequence of this is, that the Creoles have been loaded with abusive terms, sarcasms, and opprobrious epithets, by those who fancy themselves superior, only because they are natives of a different soil. As individuals who, for food and raiment, are in want of the fruits of the earth, they complain of restrictions which prevent them from turning the advantages of their soil to account, and manufacturing what they require. As members of society, they lament to see themselves bowed beneath the cruel yoke of despotic governors, who are often sent out to oppress them.
The disturbances and commotions which have now commenced will not cease until the motives for discontent are removed. It would be acting contrary to nature to endeavour to put a stop to effects, while the causes which necessarily produce them are still in existence.
The flame might be extinguished in some of the Provinces, but it would appear in another; and while the remedy is applied to one, it would return to the other. It would not be sufficient even to destroy all the inhabitants of America, and convey a new population there, because the sons of those who must necessarily be born there, (it being impossible to send all the women to be confined in Europe,) would love their native soil, and be equally indignant at the oppression to which they would find themselves subjected.
Why is not this to be remedied, when your Majesty can do it with such trifling sacrifices, as we have shown? Is it possible that the wish to continue to regard the Americas as colonies, although the name has been abolished, should prevail against the philanthropy, the liberality, and knowledge of the National Congress?
This would be to act in such a way that the blame must fall upon the nation, which, till now, has been imputed only to the Government.
Cadiz, 1st August, 1811.
(Signed) Vicente Meraleo,
B. (2.)
REPRESENTATION ADDRESSED TO THE CORTES BY THE AUDIENCIA OF MEXICO.—DATED 18TH NOVEMBER, 1813.
This exposé, which consists of 270 paragraphs, is one of the most valuable of the state papers which the assiduity of Don Carlos Bustamante has rescued from oblivion. It is too long, and contains too many details of merely local interest, to be read with pleasure, in toto, by persons unacquainted with Mexico.
I have, therefore, preferred making a selection of the passages which throw most light upon the feelings of the country, and the effect produced by the introduction of the Constitution, to attempting a translation, which would have been too long to be inserted in the body of my work, and would hardly have been thought worthy of attention in the Appendix.
The Audiencia assigns as a reason for its interference:
Paragraph 3.—That the laws which recommended to the especial care of the Courts of Audience the preservation of their respective districts, have not been abolished by the Constitution; and that it is consequently the duty of the Tribunal to point out the effects with which the late change of institutions has been attended.—It then proceeds:—
8.—In these moments of calamity, the great Charter of the Spanish people, dear and respectable as it is to all its individuals, is not, and cannot be, carried into effect in New Spain.
9.—The article which concedes the liberty of the press, was only acted upon during two months, nor can it be so at present, without endangering the safety of the state.
2. The laws respecting elections of Ayuntamientos,—deputies, and members of Provincial Deputations, have likewise not been observed.
3. The regulations by which the security of the persons and goods of the citizens of towns is confided to the Alcaldes, and Municipal bodies, are also necessarily suspended.
10.—Such, Sire, have been in this country the consequences of the wisest Constitution of the world, and such it was to be foreseen that they would be.
11.—Your Majesty, in giving to Spain a Constitution, freed her from despotism and anarchy. Such was the object of the liberty of the press,—the elections, and other popular forms adopted in that Constitution; and this object was attained in the Peninsula, because the general desires of the people were in unison with those principles of justice which the Constitution sanctioned. Here, the result was exactly the reverse, because patriotism and public virtues were wanting; and because, if the will of the people, corrupted as it now is, prevails, the Independence of the country will be established also, in favour of which the great majority of the natives is undoubtedly decided.
12.—This last assertion may, perhaps, require some proofs, but, unfortunately, it is but too easy to adduce them.
No rebellion can prosper without it be countenanced by public opinion;—on this account, the French made no progress in Spain; but here, without any other protection or assistance, the rebels have sustained themselves for three years against the heroic valour and fidelity of the troops of the country, against the forces which have been sent from Spain, and against the efforts of many loyal Americans, and of all the European residents.
13.—This fact alone proves that the general wish here is the same as that which has been manifested in various other parts of America. It is confirmed by the spontaneous breaking out of the Revolution in the different Provinces, without any sort of compulsion being necessary in order to induce them to declare against the government; (although force has been hitherto applied in vain, in order to oblige them to return to their obedience,) by the conspiracies and disturbances in the Capital; and by the result of the elections, in particular, which were celebrated by the rebels, (as well they might be,) since they themselves could not have selected persons more after their own hearts.
14.—The Audiencia does not deny that many Americans of all classes, besides the troops, have given proofs of exalted loyalty; and it admits that, in many instances, it was impossible for defenceless towns and villages to attempt any resistance against an armed banditti; but it is not the less true that the majority of the people, and almost all the towns, are in favour of the rebellion; and that whereas, in Spain, although some few traitors have sided with the French, not a single village has declared in their favour; here, on the contrary, although many individuals have embraced the just cause. Provinces, towns, and villages, have all shown a disinclination to support it.
18.—Your Majesty has heard that the rebellion by which this, and other countries of America, are devastated, "was caused by Napoleon,—by the Council of Castile,—by the Junta of Seville, which, by means of its commissioners, threw all Mexico into confusion,—by the arrest of the Viceroy Iturrigaray,—by the fear of falling under the dominion of the French, or by the desire to continue subject to Spain." At other times, it has been said that the number of strangers admitted by Spain into her colonies has occasioned the loss of her sovereignty there; and that the improvement of the natives, has both taught them their rights, and made them impatient to recover them.—Others again have urged,—"the natural propensity of the Creoles to idle change;—their desire to obtain their share of honours, public employments, and full liberty,—their wish, in every thing, to vie with the Europeans,—the terrible inequality of their present lot,—the small proportion of American representatives,—the injustice with which the inhabitants have been treated, and their determination to put an end to a system of oppression, which began with the Conquest."
19.—The result will have convinced your Majesty of the fallacy of these assertions, each of which was, usually, accompanied by the recommendation of some particular measure, which was to serve as a remedy for the evil. The remedy has been tried,—one concession after another has been made; but the evil remains, and will remain, exactly in statu quo.
20.—Some other cause must, therefore, be assigned for the calamities which afflict New Spain, and it is as easy to point it out, as it is to affirm that it is the only one:—a King, who, although himself a sage, thought that he might disregard the practice of every other nation, abandoned this province to its fate, by withdrawing the Colonial (Presidial) garrison. From that moment it might have been foreseen that it would aspire to Independence as soon as it felt its own strength.—Such has been always the desire of colonies situated at a distance from the centre of government:—they have invariably preferred their own advantage, to the laws of justice.
(It is unnecessary to follow the exposé through the following paragraphs, in which the Audiencia attempts to prove that a colony can never cancel its debt of gratitude to the Mother-country, and that in Mexico those with whom the first idea of 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 time, of the reasons which induced it to oppose, at all hazards, the dangerous Juntas which were celebrated here on the 9th and 31st of August,—1st and 9th of September.
31.—It was in these days that a pamphlet was published by Fray Melchor de Talamantes (of Lima)—entitled "The National Congress of the Kingdom of New Spain,"—dedicated to the Ayuntamiento of Mexico, in which the Viceroy was solicited to assemble the Mexican Cortes, in spite of the opposition of the Audiencia, which might be neutralized by the opinion of the Ayuntamiento, and of twelve respectable lawyers.
33.—The project is avowed in the Insurgent paper, entitled, El Ilustrador Nacional, published in Sultepec, the 18th of April, 1812, in which, referring to the origin of the Civil War, it is said, "What could America do in order to check the progress of these evils, including the chance of seeing, by some intrigue or caprice of the Spanish Mandarins, this beautiful portion of the monarchy, subjected to the dominion of France?"—"To declare its Independence was its only resource; and to create a National Congress, wise, just, disinterested, and calculated to inspire the people with confidence in its measures:—this project was submitted to the Viceroy, Don José Iturrigaray, on conditions as reasonable, as they were advantageous to the Peninsula; but it was discovered by some evil-intentioned Gachupines,[1] who, in violation of all laws and justice, forestalled the measure, by seizing the person of the Viceroy, and imprisoning all those who had been privy to his plans."
34.—It was on this account that Don Carlos Bustamante, editor of the Juguetillo, who, after publishing this seditious paper in the capital, while the liberty of the press was established, has now joined the Insurgents,—calls the night of the 15th September,—"Noche infausta," "an unpropitious night!" and such it was to men like him, whose schemes of Independence it deranged.
35.—But these projects were soon revived under the government of a Viceroy, whose authority, although afterwards confirmed, was, at first, thought dubious:[2] advantage was taken of the inexperience of the Archbishop to induce him to prepare a vast force to resist Napoleon, as if it were possible for the armies of the tyrant to reach our coast, while Spain was in alliance with England. He was taught, too, to dread a design, on the part of the Europeans, to remove him, as they had done his predecessor; and to carry his suspicions so far that he planted cannons before the palace to defend himself against those who never dreamt of attacking him. Nor was this all: under the plea of taking precautions against the emissaries of France, the Viceroy's confidential advisers designated, under this odious name, all their own rivals, or opponents, marking out in particular a number of European Spaniards; and this conduct prepared the Indians, and mixed Castes, who had hitherto remained indifferent, to take an interest in the controversy, and to believe, one day, that the Gachupines were resolved to betray the kingdom to Napoleon. Thus was destroyed that moral force, which, since the discovery of these countries, had maintained their tranquillity; and with it was lost that, which it was most our interest to preserve. Information was received, both of the conspiracy of Valladolid, and of the machinations of Hidalgo himself, but no attention was paid to it; and people were thus taught, that, in Mexico, they might attempt every thing with impunity, since, whether they failed, or were successful, they were sure of pardon.
36.—The Audiencia succeeded to the Viceroyalty ad interim, and did, what in it lay, to remedy the evil; but its roots had already struck too deep: it was too late.
37.—Under these circumstances, the Viceroy appointed in 1810 arrived, and so opportunely that, but for him, all must have been lost. Hidalgo had already raised the standard of rebellion. This man, without honour or religious principle, had nevertheless sufficient knowledge of mankind to calculate not only upon the assistance of the troops whom he had seduced, but (as he himself said a little before,) upon the powerful aid of the ambition, the vices, and the ignorance of his countrymen. His war-cry was the proscription of the Europeans, who had been lulled into security by habitual confidence, and still more by the testimony of their own consciences: he was joined instantly by a host of curates, friars, and lawyers, all men of desperate fortunes, and all determined to seek in the public ruin the impunity of their own crimes. The great mass too of Indians, and mixed castes, which had taken no part till then in the affairs of the state, was roused at once into open rebellion against the Government; stimulated by the desire of indulging their vicious passions, concealed by the plea that the Europeans, against whom their enmity was directed, were agents of Napoleon, as stated in Paragraph thirty-five. In consequence of this, Hidalgo had in a few days whole towns and provinces at his devotion, and advanced upon the Capital with an army infinitely more numerous than that by which it was defended.
38.—The prudence and firmness of the Viceroy saved the state. The rebels were repulsed at Las Cruces, and defeated at Aculco, by a General, whose consummate skill converted into invincible soldiers men, who, under any other direction but his, would have turned against their General and their country. The same General drove them from Guanaxuato, and destroyed at last Hildalgo's whole force at the Puente de Calderon, while their chief expiated his crimes by the death which he had so well deserved in the Northern Provinces.
39.—But still the rebellion continues, has continued, and will continue, with no other change than the mere chances of war; and even should the force of the Cura Morelos, which is now the only formidable one, be destroyed, yet the day is far distant when we can hope to see security and order restored.
40.—Many wonder at the ferocious spirit that characterized Hidalgo's rebellion, exemplified in the Alhondiga of Guanaxnato, and in the ravines of Valladolid, Guadalajara, Tehuacan, and Sultepec.
41.—But Hidalgo knew perfectly all the peculiarities of his situation, and turned them to account. Without the riches of the Europeans, he could not pay his own debts, much less undertake an expensive war: without these same riches as a bait, he could not gratify that thirst for plunder which possessed the immense legions by which he was followed. Besides, it was as difficult to establish independence while the Europeans remained in power, as it was to prevent these vile and cruel traitors from giving loose to their rage against those who had from the first opposed its establishment.
42.—The flame which Hidalgo lighted in the little town of Dolores spread through the country with the rapidity of atmospheric pestilence. The clergy were the first to declare in favour of a liberty, unjust, premature, and the forerunner of a thousand calamities: they profaned the pulpit and the confessional by making them vehicles for disseminating doctrines subversive of all true religion and all submission to the constituted authorities. They even put themselves at the head of the rebellion, fancying that their sacred character would shield them from punishment, as, from the mistaken piety of our monarchs, has been but too often the case.
44.—Such were the circumstances under which our new political institutions were announced here, towards the establishment of which this tribunal has contributed by every means in its power. The result has proved how vain were the hopes that this change of system would produce any beneficial effect. Morelos, at the very moment of the publication of the Constitution, in return for this benefit, sacked the town of Orizava: every European who has since fallen into the hands of the rebels has been put to death, even at the very gates of the capital; nor has there been one example of a single individual belonging to the rebel armies having recognized your Majesty's authority, or laid down his arms out of respect for the Constitution. Yet they affirm in the twentieth Number of the Correo Americano del sur, of the 8th of July, 1813, that the Constitution has been violated; that it is for this that they are in arms; and that upon its strict observance depends the peace of America.
45.—But the effrontery with which they change their ground, in order to excuse their conduct, is scandalous.
46.—Your Majesty may judge of what they think of the Constitution by what they say of its authors.
47.—In the Correo, Number twenty-one, they affirm, "that the Cortes of Cadiz are composed of men so impious and immoral, that the very natives of Geneva (aun los Ginebrinos) would be ashamed of owning them as associates. They have abolished a tribunal which will one day judge them, and they are preparing to give a death-blow to Religious Orders, and to the treasures of the Church, at the same time."
49.—In the Correo, Number twenty-four, of the fifth of August, they return to the charge, and say, that "the Government of Cadiz is a barbarous, factious, and impious Government, more the enemy of Ferdinand than the French themselves."
51.—Your Majesty must not think that these Proteuses think more highly of the Constitution than those by whom it was framed; they wish, indeed, as well they may, that it should be established in those towns which they do not occupy, because of the assistance which it affords them in their projects; but far from adopting or desiring it for themselves, one of their principal chiefs, José Osorno, stated in a proclamation of the 26th of last December, "that he and all his followers would perish, or succeed in giving to Mexico a constitution which should ensure the happiness of her sons."
55.—The rebels have never desired a constitution from Spain, although it came down from Heaven: as to Independence, they repeat the term because it was used by Hidalgo, whose disciples they are; but this only proves that some men, better informed than the rest, invoke it because it suits their views. They know the difficulty of establishing it, in despite of the most constant nation in the world: they know, too, that the heterogeneous classes of which the population of New Spain consists, could never form a regular government. Their own interest is their only motive, as was proved by Hidalgo, when he fled to the United States with six millions of dollars.
57.—Nor has the Constitution been productive of better effects in those provinces, which, being occupied by our troops, are unable to follow their own vehement desires in favour of Independence. To them it is an Ægis, beneath which they not only conceal the perversity of their own wishes, but turn against their country the remedies that were intended to heal its wounds. 72.—Thus, when notwithstanding the opinion expressed against the measure by the Bishops of Puebla, Valladolid, Guadalajara, Monterey, Merida, and Mexico, together with the Intendants of Mexico, Oaxaca, San Luis Potosi, Guanaxuato, and Zacatecas, the liberty of the press was established; it left traces which more than justify the necessity of suspending it, in order to deprive the rebels of its support. In two months it completely perverted the public opinion, as it was foreseen that it must and would do.
74.—The military character of our chiefs was decried, and the Revolution indirectly defended by the use made of the name of Ferdinand, until the rebels threw off the mask, and declared in the letter addressed by the Revolutionary Junta to the Cura Morelos, "that Ferdinand was for them a supposititious being, whose name appeared to advantage in their projects, without any fear that he would ever claim the crown."
84.—The Pensador, equally bold and ignorant, ventured to assert "that the Viceroys had been here absolute sovereigns; that no civilized nation had ever been so ill governed as this; that despots and bad government were the real cause of the insurrection, and not the Cura Hidalgo; that the Spanish system had been a most pernicious one; that the door to preferment had been shut upon every native; and that an armistice ought to be concluded until the justice of their complaints could be inquired into."—Vide Nos. 5, 6.
(The Audiencia attempts to disprove the reality of these complaints by quoting the Reales Cedulas of the 12th March, 1697, the 21st February, 1725, and the 11th September, 1766; by which equality was conceded to the Creoles in all employments. It quotes likewise the order of the 23d August, 1796, respecting free trade; the encouragement given to silk manufactures, &c. and attributes to the natural indolence and imbecility of the natives the fact of their not having turned any of these beneficent provisions to account.)—Vide Paragraphs 84—122.
122.—Nor was the abuse of the liberty of the press confined to this. On the 25th of June, a decree had been published, directing military commandants to treat all ecclesiastics taken in arms, as they would the other Insurgents, without any regard to their sacred character.
123.—This decree was attacked by the clergy of Mexico, and by the author of the Juguetillo (No. 3.); and
129.—Public opinion was so completely corrupted by their artifices, that, in the mobs of the 29th and 30th of November, assembled under the plea of celebrating the election of the electors for the Constitutional Ayuntamiento of Mexico, there were Vivas in honour of the Creoles, of the Insurgents, and of Morelos; intermingled with cries of "Death to the Government,—to the King,—to Ferdinand VII." There were Vivas, too, for the authors of the Pensador and Juguetillo, and for the "Defender of the Mexican clergy." (Dr. Don Julio Garcia de Torres.)
136.—It thus became evident that no laws, however excellent in themselves, are applicable under all circumstances: and that the liberty of the press, which was intended to disseminate that general information which might have remedied the calamities of the country, only increased them by increasing the general corruption. The political writings of the day produced upon the natives the same effect that spirituous liquors cause amongst savages; nor could any restrictions or modifications prevent a law, most beneficent in itself, from being converted into an engine of destruction, by the protection which it afforded to those, whose only aim it was to prepare for a general explosion by inflaming the blackest passions of the multitude.
137.—Such was the unanimous opinion of the sixteen members of this court.
142.—In conformity to it the Viceroy suspended the liberty of the press:—a measure which was too unfavourable to the interests of the rebels, not to be received by them with loud disapprobation.
146.—The Indulto, granted almost by anticipation to traitors, has produced effects almost similar to the consequences of the liberty of the press.
147.—Even were the general opinion not what it is, men would find their interest to write seditious papers,—knowing that they will be well received, and better paid,—and to join the Insurgents afterwards, knowing that the Indulto will secure to them the enjoyment of whatever they may plunder while amongst them.
152.—The Consulado, which comprehends the majority of European residents, demanded passports for all its members in the event of the liberty of the press being re-established.
154.—But if it be impossible to execute, at present, the article of the Constitution which relates to this point; it is still more so to carry into effect those respecting popular elections.—The experiment, nevertheless, was made. In a country where a hundred persons cannot meet without some disturbance, seven millions of men were called together, with all the air and outward pomp of absolute sovereignty, in virtue of a law which could never have been intended to apply to such extraordinary circumstances.
157-8.—In the elections for Mexico a thousand intrigues and informalities occurred, which ought to have invalidated the whole proceeding.
159.—The result, however, was, that not a single European, or an American distinguished by his patriotism,[3] was returned as elector. On the contrary, men were chosen who were well known for their attachment to the Independent cause;—men who had opposed all loan or donative to the Mother-country; men who had voted for the Independent Juntas in 1808, or signed the representation of the clergy alluded to in Par. 41.
160.—The rebels had good reason to celebrate these elections, as they did, with salvos of artillery, and Te Deums, for they proved, (as they have themselves said,) "that Mexico, and the whole kingdom, were in their favour, and that resistance would be no longer possible, since the power was in the hands of Creoles, who would force the Audiencia to be silent, or hang the Oidores and all the Gachupines together."
171.—The Viceroy's attempt to calm the agitation of the public by conciliatory measures proved utterly fruitless.
172.—The elections were just what was to be expected from the character of the electors. The two Alcaldes, the two Syndics, and sixteen Regidores, of whom the Ayuntamiento of Mexico was composed, were all men either justly suspected, or notoriously addicted to the Independent cause, and even in actual correspondence with Insurgent chiefs.
174.—The result of the Parochial elections for the ultimate election of Deputies to the Cortes, was equally unfortunate. Out of 591 electors, every one was taken from the class of the disaffected.
176.—The Junta, which was composed, at last, of twenty-eight electors, (nineteen of the forty-one Partidos having sent no representatives,) contained only five Europeans, who came here to be the laughing-stock of the people: and of fourteen Deputies, and four Suplentes,—the Europeans and American patriots only obtained the sterile honour of a seat as Suplente.
181.—Such is the example held out to the other cities of this country, by the most excellent, noble, loyal and imperial city of Mexico!
182.—Between it, and the plan proposed in the name of the Insurgent Junta by one of its leaders. Dr. Cos, suggesting that the Europeans should resign the supreme authority, there is no other difference than that, what the rebels have merely established in theory, Mexico has put into practice. Nor can your Majesty entertain a doubt as to the persons to whom all Civil, Military, and Ecclesiastical employments would be confided, did it depend upon those, by whom the late elections have been made, to confer them.
183.—Not having been able as yet to attain that Independence for which they have so long sighed, (la suspirada Independencia,) they have shown the spirit by which they are animated, in excluding, by a species of Ostracism, from all elective charges, those patriotic citizens, who, if attention had been paid to the spirit of the Constitution, would have been more peculiarly called upon to fill them.
188.—The Constitution intended that the choice of the people in the elections should be determined by the love of their country.[4] In lieu of this, a love of Independence and anarchy has prevailed; and on this account the Ayuntamiento is composed of vile creatures, either positively committed in the rebellion, or at least, undistinguished by any pretensions to patriotism
193.—It is with deep concern that the undersigned American members of the tribunal observe, that out of 652 appointments made by the people in Mexico in different elections, not one has fallen upon an European!
194.—In like manner the European Oidores declare, that not one of the many Americans of known virtues and patriotism, who are the honour of this capital, was thought worthy of one of these appointments.
198.—The establishment of the Provincial Juntas only serves to impede the measures, which, in the present state of things, Government must often take; and, in common with all others, the election of the individuals who are to compose them, must be attended with the four following serious inconveniences:—First, The extreme difficulty of legally qualifying a real citizen.—Second, The more than probability that all Americans of real merit, and all Europeans, will be excluded.—Third, The well-founded fear that the choice of the people will fall upon men of suspicious character, or decided enemies to their country; and Fourth, The extreme and unavoidable danger of general meetings of the inhabitants.
214.—The change in the administration of justice has not been less disadvantageous. Since the establishment of the Jueces de Letras, in lieu of the old Alcaldes de Corte, y de Barrio,—all the impeachments on suspicion of treason, or disaffection, which the committee of public security so often brought before the Viceroy, or the criminal court, have ceased.
215.—This would be a happy event, if there were no delinquents; but, unfortunately, the activity of our magistrates has been paralyzed at the very moment when there are more traitors than ever. The sentinels in Mexico are fired at in the very centre of the town, nor can a soldier leave the gates without being lassoed.
232.—The sum of all that has been stated here is, that an error in policy, and the misfortunes of the Mother-country, first caused the idea of Independence to be conceived here: That this idea began to develope itself in 1808, in the claim preferred by the Ayuntamiento of Mexico, and countenanced by certain individuals,—to exercise sovereign authority; That this claim was preferred, and could be preferred, with no other object,—as is confessed by the rebels in their official papers:—That the Europeans checked the progress of these machinations, by deposing the Viceroy, who protected them, from whence proceeded the infernal hatred conceived by the rebels against them,—a hatred, of which they have given evidence, by the murders, and other atrocities, committed in the very outset of the rebellion, and which admit of no other explanation. That the second great error, was the not sending out instantly a Viceroy of energy, activity, and experience; in lieu of which, a weak and unjust government was allowed to exhaust the remains of that moral force, which had, till then, maintained the tranquillity of the country; and thus to afford room for the revival of the former projects:—That if the wisdom of the first Regency gave to Mexico a Viceroy of a very different character, it was no longer time to prevent an explosion, although it rendered its consequences less fatal:—That, as a necessary consequence, the rebels were forced to seek impunity for their crimes in a Revolution, the cause of which has constantly been the ambition of the few, and the immorality of the many:—That the Clergy have turned against the State that propensity to disorder, which has always characterized these natives, and have done so with impunity:—That a rebellion, founded upon such principles, and favoured by such powerful assistance, could not fail to make great progress, and must continue to do so, until recourse is had to the only measures capable of correcting it. That generosity and mildness will rather increase than diminish the evil; because they will be attributed to fear, or to weakness, on which account permanent Indultos, and forgetfulness of offences, have rather fed than quenched the flame:—That the most liberal institutions are thrown away upon such men as these; and that, as a necessary consequence of the above, the sacred Constitution itself is so likewise, it not being possible to execute some of its articles, while others have been necessarily infringed. 234.—In the Capital itself, the Viceroy has been forced to take precautions against revolt, and to fortify himself against the public spirit of the day, which has not only caused insurrections, but may repeat them, and consequently renders the presence of a considerable number of troops indispensable.
237-8.—By leaving crime unpunished, all moral force is lost, and society thrown into a state of disorganization: The general wish of the country foments, or openly protects the projects of the Independent party: The august assembly of the Cortes is not only not recognized by the rebels, but its most beneficent acts are turned into ridicule by the malevolent colouring which is given to them; while its views are defeated by others, who assist the schemes of the Insurgents, by an apparent submission to the decrees of the Congress, in as far as this can be reconciled with their common object. The old system is abolished; the new one not yet established; (en el aire): the Constitution, sometimes an object of ridicule, sometimes used as an instrument,—all elective employments, the prey of factious, ambitious, and faithless men;—the government without consideration, or even the necessary authority. Such is the state to which three years have reduced this lovely country, once the envy of the world.
239.—But what shall be the remedy for such transcendent evils? The rebels propose, as the only means of saving the country, those which will only serve to secure their triumph.
242.—The contempt with which all conciliatory measures have been received is the best proof of their inefficiency.
244.—The Audiencia will not omit to point out the only plan which it regards as likely to produce a radical cure.
245.—No doubt can be entertained as to the origin of the evil, which is, undoubtedly, a spirit of Independence now generalized throughout New Spain: This is the real cause of the discord and jealousy which prevail, fomented by the constant opposition of the loyal and patriotic Spanish residents to these ideas of Independence: The struggle would be at an end if they were capable of compromising with their loyalty and devotion to the cause of the Mother-country.
246.—They must, therefore, be supported by powers, of which, however extraordinary, the history of ancient and modern nations, under critical circumstances, affords many examples.
249.—The wisdom of the august Congress must prepare the way for the happiness which it is desirous to bestow upon this people, by removing, with a strong arm, the obstacles which their perversity has, hitherto, opposed to its introduction.
251.—Besides supplying a physical force sufficient to replace the moral force which has been lost, under circumstances of such extreme difficulty and distress, it is indispensably necessary to suspend all measures likely to diminish the new impulse that must be given to the Government, and, amongst others, the principal, and most beneficent of all,—the Constitution itself.
253.—The disaffected here have converted this Constitution into a mere tool for their perfidious designs: We repeat, once more, that sentiments of public good have no sort of influence over these men;—that gratitude is unknown to them, and that the majority, without a single political idea, have lent themselves with pleasure, and even with fury, to any and every change that afforded them the prospect of indulging their natural propensity to plunder and vice. The direction of a machine, moved by such springs as these, can neither be doubted, nor resisted:—Every thing must be sacrificed, therefore, or the application of the machine, for a time, given up.
254.—Yes, Sire;—Let those men, who, without faith or country, maintain in secret the same treasonable principles as the rebels themselves, declaim against the proposal; let them continue, under the mask of patriotism, to combat with arms only the more dangerous because they are more polished, that authority which the rebels openly defy; let them protest an attachment which they do not feel to the new institutions, and invoke the Constitution in order the better to destroy it, and their country together; let them endeavour, in fine, to ruin this tribunal, by undermining the credit of its members; still the Audiencia, firm alike in its loyalty and its principles, must state, with all respect to your Majesty, that, it being impossible to carry the Constitution into effect, in the midst of a permanent conspiracy, which is sapping the very foundations of the State, it appears to them absolutely necessary to suspend it as long as such a state of revolution and disorder continues. 255.—The sacrifice will be momentary: the return, the salvation of the present, and the felicity of future generations.
262.—The contest which the Viceroy is forced to sustain, compels him to exercise absolute authority in many parts of the kingdom. To invest him with powers to do so legally in all, would at once enable him to act with proper decision, as circumstances might require, and put an end to all uncertainty and murmurs. This, and a recommendation to carry into execution, as soon as possible, the Constitution,—but simultaneously, and in all its parts,—would put an end to a political chaos, the confusion of which is infinitely worse than the want of any rule at all.
263.—In this case the just and prudent observance of the law, which authorizes the Viceroy "to banish from the dominions of Ultramar those whose residence there might be injurious either to the service of God, or to the public peace and tranquillity,"—would save those rivers of Spanish blood, which are now flowing throughout New Spain.
269.—There is certainly no other mode of preserving the State from its approaching ruin. Unfortunate indeed will be the country, and this tribunal, should it have failed, in the opinion of the Cortes, in establishing the necessity of the measures proposed upon solid grounds. The unavoidable abuse of a Constitution, perfect in itself, will hasten the progress of this country towards Independence, which is not only the object, but the decided will of the majority of the inhabitants; and it will be in vain to oppose to this furious torrent the wishes of the real patriots, since we have to deal with men who will only submit to positive physical superiority: in the mean time, one excess leads, by a necessary consequence, to others, and confusion is now nearly at its height.
270.—Such, Sire, is a true picture of the state of affairs in New Spain: the decision of your Majesty will determine whether it is, or is not, any longer to exist as a country.
(Signed)
Thomas Gonzalez Calderon, José Mexia, Miguel Bataller, Manuel del Campo y Rivas, Juan Antonio de la Riva, Miguel Modet, Pedro de la Puente, Miguel Bachiller, Felipe Martinez, Manuel Martinez Mansilla, Ambrosio Lagarzurrieta.
Note of Editor.—(Don Carlos Bustamante.)
The Audiencia lost by the establishment of the Spanish Constitution, which was sworn in Mexico, the 30th October, 1812, the most lucrative part of its former privileges: The commissions, Conservadurias de Mayorazgos, the Judgment of Natives, the Assessorships of the Mines and Post-office, the Management of the Marquisate of the Valle de Oaxaca, the Auditorships of War, &c. its direct influence over the Viceroys by means of the Acuerdo, and its right of deciding in cases of appeal upon government measures. Hence its detestation of a system which it attacked under the pretence of zeal for the public welfare.
Hence, too, its hostility to Iturrigaray, whom it deposed, ignominiously, and whose condemnation to a fine of 284,241 dollars, under a sentence of Residencia, it ultimately effected.
Note of English Editor.
Bustamante is undoubtedly right in his opinion of the motives by which the Audiencia was actuated; but, at the same time, it must be confessed that this Tribunal appears to have had a very clear perception of the real state of Mexico. Its arguments with regard to the inapplicability of the Constitution to a country in a state of revolution, are unanswerable: it conceded too much, or too little: Spain had no choice but to retain her power, if she could, by the means which had enabled her, during three centuries, to support it, and to modify abuses, the existence of which she could not deny, when submission was restored; or to resign her authority at once into the hands of those, who would no longer acknowledge it, and to endeavour to make the best bargain she could for the cession of rights, which she could hardly hope to retain. The error lies in having thought that the first of these alternatives could be adopted with any prospect of success; and this error is the more inexcusable on the part of the Audiencia, from the conviction which it expresses, and appears to feel throughout the present Representation, that the sense of the majority of the nation was decidedly in favour of Independence. To conceive that, when once this idea had taken root, it could ever be eradicated,—to hope that in a country where it had spread in an instant from the highest to the lowest classes, "like atmospheric plague," and where its growth was fostered not only by every principle of reason and justice, but by feelings of personal interest and private animosity, the spirit could be stifled or crushed, was the height of folly; and dearly has Spain expiated it by the loss of those advantages, which, until within the last year, it was still in her power to secure.
C.
Most Excellent Sir,
By a private letter from Jalapa, I have received a manuscript copy of the Decree of our most beloved and desired Sovereign, dated Valencia, May 4th, 1814, by which his Majesty declares to be null the Constitution promulgated by the General and Extraordinary Cortes, and reassumes the exercise of that Sovereign power, of which the Congress had despoiled him.
My loyalty as a vassal,—my attachment to the King as a grateful subject,—and my conviction as a good Spaniard,—filled my heart, upon this occasion, with the purest satisfaction; and I instantly ordered the inclosed proclamation to be published, by which I announced to the kingdom at large the happy tidings, and swore, as first Chief of these dominions, in the name of the Sovereign of Spain, Don Ferdinand VII. my ready and sincere obedience to his Royal will.
(Precautions taken against the introduction of any Agents, or Decrees of the Cortes, &c.)
I regard it as a duty to lay before his Majesty a rapid sketch of the state of these countries, and of my own conduct since I assumed the reins of Government on the 4th March, 1813; and I entreat your Excellency to allow me to do this through your Excellency, in order that his Majesty may be enabled to take at once those measures which are necessary for the salvation of his Majesty's dominions here, in which rebellion has increased fearfully, in consequence of the road opened by the Constitution for the execution of its criminal projects.
This Constitution was sworn, and in part established, when I took the command of the country:—nothing could be more discouraging than the aspect of affairs; for the rebels, flushed with the advantages which they had already obtained, threatened the Capital, and were actually in possession of Oaxaca,—Acapulco,—a great part of the Western coast,—the capital of Texas, through which they drew supplies from the North Americans,—in short, of the largest portion of New Spain, as well as of innumerable towns, Haciendas, Mines, and roads.
Under such circumstances my situation was most critical. Compelled to make head against the attacks of an enemy disseminated over eight hundred leagues of country, and protected by the great majority of its inhabitants, with a very small military force at my disposal, and without hopes of succour from the Peninsula; surrounded by concealed enemies, who, under the shelter of the new Institutions, aided, directed, and encouraged the rebels, from this, and all the other principal towns in the kingdom, without my being able to counteract them, on account of the Constitution, and the decrees of the Cortes, which tied my hands;—deprived, too, of the support and assistance, which I might have derived from the principal Corporations, all of which had been filled by the popular elections with men interested in the ruin of the Spanish Government in this hemisphere,—I suffered the most cruel mental anguish, and despaired, at times, of being able to preserve for our beloved Sovereign this precious part of the possessions of the crown.
In vain I represented to the Regency, by every possible opportunity, that Mexico would be irrecoverably lost, unless a different system were adopted, and the Constitution suspended; my complaints were neither attended to, nor answered, and I was only charged publicly to adhere strictly to the new principles, which every day deprived me of the few means that I had left for curbing the Insurrection.
Happily, my military operations were so fortunate, that I succeeded in destroying the rebel Curate Morelos, whose success at one time seemed to menace the ruin of Spanish dominion here. I recovered Oaxaca, with the port and fortress of Acapulco, and succeeded in driving out of Texas the rebels, with their Anglo-American Allies; a number of the Insurgent chiefs were taken; some of their principal bands dispersed, whose vicinity to the Capital threatened us with a scarcity, by impeding the introduction of supplies; and the roads so far cleared, that but small escorts were required in order to keep up the communications with the Interior. If that with Vera Cruz be not yet established, it is principally the fault of the Governor of that district, who, notwithstanding my being responsible for the measures of the Government, has more than once alleged direct orders from the Regency as an excuse for disregarding mine, and thus deprived our operations of all unity of plan. This want of subordination in the local authorities has tended greatly to increase the general disorder, and to render fruitless, for want of co-operation, the prodigious efforts of the troops.
This, and other causes which I shall have the honour of pointing out to your Excellency as I proceed, have counterbalanced the decisive advantages which we have obtained in the field; and I am compelled to confess that, notwithstanding our victories, but little has been done against the spirit of the rebellion, the focus of which is in the great towns, and more particularly in this capital. On one side, the elections,—the fanatical elections,—destroyed, in a moment, the fruits of the labour, the efforts, the combinations of months;—and, on the other, the want of power to chastise those, who constantly corresponded with the rebels, and informed them of all the military preparations of the Government, prevented the execution of our plans. For your Excellency must take as the corner-stone of my whole argument the fact, that the great majority of the natives of this country is most decidedly in favour of the Insurrection, and of Independence; without their frequent invocation of the respectable name of our Sovereign, being any thing more than a veil, with which they endeavour to conceal their criminal projects, as your Excellency may perceive by thousands of papers which have been taken from the Insurgents, some of the most essential of which I will forward by the first opportunity.
This fact being once admitted, nothing could be more favourable to the ideas of the disaffected than the Constitution, since, besides securing the impunity of the traitors, either by paralizing the Viceroy, and preventing him from acting with energy and decision, or by taking advantage of the new judicial system, which affords but too many openings for criminals to elude the arm of the law, the elections have afforded them the means of throwing the whole power into the hands of the factious, and of reducing the Government to the circle of its immediate dependents, by depriving it of the confidence which it might have reposed in certain corporations, and compelling it rather to defend itself against their attacks, than to look to them for support. Such is the reason of the attachment which the Americans have displayed towards the new institutions: they have discovered that, under their safeguard, they advanced rapidly, and without any sort of risk, towards the great object of their wishes, the Independence of the country, and the proscription of all the Europeans, whom they detest.
Experience has convinced me of this truth. The Municipalities, the Provincial Deputations, and the Cortes themselves, in as far as the Provinces of Ultramar are concerned, are composed of nothing but Insurgents; and some of so decided and criminal a character, that, notwithstanding the restrictions imposed upon me by the decrees of the Cortes, I have been compelled to arrest them, even at the risk of exciting a popular disturbance, fomented by those in whose hands the power is now deposited. At this very moment, two of the most noted Insurgents are on their way to the Peninsula as Deputies to the Cortes, now happily abolished,—Don José Maria Alcala, and the Licenciado Don Manuel Cortasar. I cannot describe the bitterness of spirit with which I have seen two such pernicious individuals set out to prescribe laws to our noble Spaniards, and to exercise in the capital their share of an authority, which they will only use in order to prepare, and accelerate the ruin of America. At any other time, the data now in my possession would have authorized me to secure the persons of these men, and to proceed afterwards to adduce the proofs of their guilt: but as this was a necessary preliminary under the new system, I have been compelled to allow of the departure of criminals, who, under our old and more judicious order of things, would, certainly, not thus have triumphed over justice and the law.
Every measure which the Cortes have taken with regard to these countries, seems to have had no other object than to precipitate their ruin; and as the Insurgents here are in continual and close communication with their Deputies in the Peninsula, they receive information of every decree relative to America, and claim its immediate observance, in terms which have not even left me the option of suspending the execution of those which I regarded as most prejudicial.
In this singular, and most embarrassing situation, I had no means of saving my honour but by giving in my resignation, which I have frequently tendered: nor can I account for its not having been accepted, since I was not only known to be disaffected to the principles of the Constitution, but, in spite of express and repeated orders actually suspended, and refused to execute some of its provisions, which I saw must produce a positive dissolution of all government in this country.
Such was my conduct with regard to the liberty of the press, the appointment of the Jueces de Letras, the maintenance of a body destined to watch over the public security in the interior of the capital; and the declaration, that the authority of the Viceroy was superior to that of the Political Chiefs, and the Deputations of the several Provinces.
In the course of the two months, during which the liberty of the press was established under my immediate predecessor, it caused so general an irritation in the public mind, and produced such an extraordinary number of seditious, incendiary, and insulting papers, that an insurrection was on the point of breaking out in this Capital; the violence of the mob being first displayed on the celebration of the election of the new Municipality, which was, in fact, the first triumph of the rebels. On this occasion, the populace was infuriated by treasonable addresses, and led on by the example of a number of disaffected who mingled with the crowd. The streets were filled with bands of men who, at nightfall, carried lighted torches. There were Vivas in favour of Morelos, Independence, and the new Electors, all Americans, all men whose fidelity was suspected, and many of them positive rebels! Death was denounced against all Europeans, and their Governments. The doors of the cathedral were forced, and the mob had even the insolence to present itself before the palace, and to demand the artillery. The liberty of the press was suppressed in consequence of this event; and I refused to re-establish it, notwithstanding a second order from the Regency, directing me to carry the Constitutional law into effect, in spite of what had taken place.
The appointment of Jueces de Letras was likewise carried into effect against the express stipulations of a law, which reserved this faculty to the Regency. Had I not done this, the administration of justice, in a town of 150,000 inhabitants, would have been entrusted to two Constitutional Alcaldes, Civilians, and notoriously addicted to the Independent party.—By a necessary consequence, crimes would have remained unpunished, and the good exposed to the risk of falling victims to a conspiracy; and although the measure was disapproved of by the Ayuntamiento, which made representations against it both here, and at the Court, I have supported it with firmness, and explained to the Regency the absolute necessity of its adoption.
In order to maintain tranquillity in this populous capital, and to prevent, more particularly, the secret communications which were kept up with the Insurgents, by watching over the conventicles and private meetings of concealed traitors, a tribunal of police was established, which, under the superintendence of one of the members of the Audiencia, took cognizance of all cases of this description. On the receipt of the new law for the regulation of tribunals, this establishment was done away with, and the disaffected were on the point of seeing themselves at liberty to pursue their schemes without let or hindrance, the whole police of the town being confided to the two Constitutional Alcaldes. In this dilemma, the impossibility of leaving such a field open to the machinations of the disaffected, induced me to conciliate obedience to the law, with a proper regard for the public security, by allowing all the old employés in the police to retain their situations, under the orders of a person of distinction and confidence, who performed some of the duties of the situation as a commissioner, without any judicial authority.—His duties were to give passports to those who wished to leave the Capital,—to examine those who entered it,—to watch over clandestine Juntas, or meetings, and to arrest all suspicious persons, delivering them over to the competent judge within forty-eight hours after their detention, as provided by the law.—The Ayuntamiento could not brook a measure that threatened to derange those agreeable prospects, which the exclusive direction of the police opened to its bad faith;—and it took advantage of the letter of the Constitutional law, to protest, in a very high tone, against the new regulation,—not from any real zeal in support of the law, but because, by retaining in its own hands the police, and the investigation of crimes, in which not a few of its own members were implicated, it would have been easy for them to continue, without fear of interruption, their perfidious intrigues, and to prevent their friends and colleagues from being detected in similar crimes.—This measure I likewise sustained with equal firmness, and I represented to the Regency the impossibility of providing for the security and preservation of the country, while every day some new legal disqualification was added to those, which had already compelled me to abandon so many of those interesting and delicate points, for which I was nevertheless held responsible.
But the most serious and important point of all, was the establishment of the political superiority of the Viceroy throughout the kingdom, and the immediate dependence of the Provincial Deputations upon him. The most complete division and anarchy menaced these dominions, had I not fixed a central point in their common Chief; for without regarding the decrees of the Cortes respecting the powers of the Viceroy, every Political Chief believed himself endowed with independent powers in his province, and every Provincial Deputation, absolute in its own district, and without any obligation to contribute, by order of the Viceroy, towards the common support of the army. It was impossible in this way to attempt any farther resistance, or to prevent the provinces from falling into the hands of the Insurgents in detail. The discussion began to grow warm, and it was insinuated that the Viceroy was nothing more than a mere Captain-General of a province, not entitled, as such, to dispose, in any way, of the revenues of the State, which belonged exclusively to the Real Hacienda; and this error, originating in our new laws, and fomented by the factious, to whom nothing could have been more advantageous than such a division of power, was about to precipitate us into an abyss of misfortunes. I had foreseen these evils, and the point to which the Provincial Juntas would carry their pretensions; but the scandalous occurrences which took place in Yucatan, where the Provincial Deputation, after disembarrassing itself of the authority of the Captain-General, decreed, and actually carried into effect, a project of free trade, by throwing open all the ports to Foreigners, without taking into account its dependence, in all financial matters, upon this Viceroyalty,—confirmed my suspicions, and made me accelerate the declaration of the paramount authority of the Viceroy throughout the kingdom, and of the submission due to him by all the Deputations, supported by the opinion of a number of ministers, and lawyers, as will appear by the inclosed copy of the decree.
(Refusal of the Junta of Monterey, capital of New Leon, to acknowledge Don Joaquin Arredondo, as Military Commandant, and Gefe Politico, of the Internal Provinces, or to furnish him with necessary supplies.)
Such is the vacillating and depressed state to which I have seen myself reduced here:—without power, without authority, without representation, or dignity,—deprived of that assistance which the Audiencia has always afforded by its Dictamenes, and Acuerdos, to my predecessors;—subjected, in some measure, to the legal opinions of a Fiscal, and Auditor, and consequently unable to consult any one but them on the most critical occasions;—without a sufficient number of troops to extinguish the rebellion at once;—without money, or reliance upon the public corporations;—struggling, at the same time, with the armed bands of the rebels, and the machinations of secret traitors;—trying to restrain the insolent disobedience of the one, and the hardened fanaticism of the others; in the midst of a confusion of ideas with regard to the government, with which the good and the bad were equally infected;—resisting the fury of that political mania, the contagion of which seemed to have spread to all classes, drawing alike the merchant, the artizan, the clergyman, and the husbandman, out of their proper spheres, and making them politicians, or rather political dreamers, (febricitantes;)—trying, in every way, to conciliate the reciprocal hatred of the Europeans and the Americans; and witnessing, every hour, the danger with which the country was threatened by the effects of an ill-timed liberty, and a monstrous rebellion;—I leave it to your Excellency to imagine what must have been the anguish which I have often endured.
Happily I now see some end to the evils which have afflicted us: all will cease as soon as His Majesty deigns to turn his eyes to this much wounded portion of his kingdom. My unshaken loyalty has long sighed for the day, which has at length arrived, and henceforward no one shall venture with impunity to refuse obedience, while I am at the head of this Government, to the orders of the Sovereign of Spain, Ferdinand the desired!
But the disaffected are all in favour of the Constitution; not that they ever really and sincerely intend to adopt it, or to submit to the Mother-country on any terms, but because it affords them the means of attaining what they desire without risk, and with more facility than they could expect.
On this account they will doubtless be active on the present occasion, in fomenting discord, and encouraging rebellion, under the mask of liberty and patriotism, or of hatred to despotism and tyranny; words, of which a use has been made, of late, too dangerous to be tolerated any longer.
Some even of the Europeans have wrong views upon this subject, and will not see the danger to which they expose themselves by lending their countenance to ideas which can only lead from disaffection to rebellion: and it is the more necessary on this account to ascertain the depth to which the roots of the new system have struck, and to take advantage of this critical moment, in order to fix for ever the authority of His Majesty in this country, by changing the alimentary system altogether, and employing tonics, and actual cautery, to exterminate the cancer, by which the patient is consumed.
The insurrection is so deeply impressed and rooted in the heart of every American, that nothing but the most energetic measures, supported by an imposing force, can ever eradicate it; for it is to be observed, that even if the arms of the rebels prove unsuccessful, and their plots fruitless, still misery, and a growing consumption, will do that, which neither force nor intrigue may be able to effect.
It is to be hoped that with the troops which I command, the Insurgents will be beaten, as they have been till now, in whatever number they may present themselves; but it is no less certain that this is not sufficient to put an end to the rebellion, but rather tends to prolong its fatal effects.—It acts against us in two ways, by open force, and by increasing distress: the first will be always repelled, the second will reduce us gradually to death's door.
The military force now at my disposal is but just sufficient to garrison the capitals of the Provinces, and to cover the large towns: but, in the mean time, an infinity of smaller towns are left, unavoidably, at the mercy of the banditti: the roads are ours only as long as a division is passing over them; and the Insurgents, who are infinitely superior to us in number, are masters of the largest proportion of the cultivated lands: the consequence is that trade is at an end; agriculture languishes; the mines are abandoned; all our resources exhausted; the troops wearied out; the loyal discouraged; the rich in dismay; in short, misery increases daily, and the State is in danger.
As the armed bands of the rebels are constantly in motion, without any fixed place of residence, and are principally composed of men belonging to the Haciendas, the trapiches, and the mines, used to live in the open air, and on horseback, and accustomed to the transition from vicious indulgence, to frugality and want, they require no regular administration. Without plan or calculation they wander over the whole country, eating and drinking where they can, and robbing, plundering, and devastating all that falls in their way; now uniting in large masses, now dividing into insignificant parties, but always doing us incalculable mischief. It is the facility which this mode of life affords them for satisfying the wants of the moment, and consulting either the caprice of the hour, or the desire of vengeance, that endears to them this predatory existence: blood flows unceasingly: the war is perpetuated, and the fruit is never to be attained.
The continuation of such a contest is the worst evil that we can experience, and the effects of the ruin which it entails upon us will hardly be less felt in the Peninsula than here. The war, besides the fatal consequences with which it must always be attended, detains in this country the few Europeans who have any thing still to lose, and prevents them either from assisting the Government, or even subsisting, with comfort, themselves: the war dries up the very sources of our prosperity: it renders contributions a mere name, by destroying those branches of industry upon which they ought to be levied: it diminishes our population, and converts what still remains of it into robbers and assassins: the war teaches the insurgents, to our cost, the art of making it with success, and gives them but too good a knowledge of their advantages in point of number and resources.
The war strengthens and propagates the desire of Independence, holding out a constant hope of our destruction, a longing desire for which (I must again assure your Excellency) is general amongst all classes, and has penetrated into every corner of the kingdom.
The war affords the Insurgents an opportunity of knowing Foreign Powers, with whom they form connexions, and from whom they receive aid: the war, in fine, destroys, in detail, our little army, either by the fruitless fatigues of a campaign under the present system, or by exposing it to the influence of seduction, to which the apparent remoteness of our success gives but too much room, and the effects of which are felt even amongst the European soldiers, without its being possible for the Government either to replace them or the arms which they generally carry off.
The usual means of recruiting are useless amongst a people which detest the armies of the King; conscription is of no avail, on account of the want of order in the villages, and the opposition of the Ayuntamientos. Forced levies, which are sometimes attempted, only serve to swell the number of our regiments for the moment, and afterwards to strengthen the ranks of the enemy, while our small stock of military stores is exhausted by the arms and uniforms, which our deserters are enabled, by the general assistance that they meet with, to carry over to the rebels:—For, as six millions of inhabitants, decided in the cause of Independence, have no need of previous consultation or agreement, each one acts, according to his means and opportunities, in favour of the project common to all:—The Judge, and his dependents, by concealing or conniving at crimes:—the Clergy, by advocating the justice of the cause in the confessional, and even in the pulpit itself:—the writers, by corrupting public opinion:—the women, by employing their attractions to seduce the royal troops, and even prostituting themselves to them in order to induce them to go over to the insurgents:—the Government officer, by revealing, and thus paralyzing the plans of his superiors:—the youth, by taking arms:—the old man, by giving intelligence, and forwarding correspondence:—the public Corporations, by giving an example of eternal differences with the Europeans, not one of whom they will admit as a colleague,—by refusing any sort of assistance to the Government,—and by representing its conduct, and that of its faithful agents, in the most odious light, in protests, for which malice always finds a specious pretext; while the edifice of the State is thus sapped by all, under the shelter of the liberal institutions of the day!
An association has subsisted in this Capital for more than three years, under the name of "the Guadalupes," which corresponds with every part of the kingdom, and is composed of a number of men whose situation necessarily gives them a participation in the affairs of the Government. And yet it is by these men that the operations of the rebels have been directed, and that they have been encouraged and supported in their reverses.
From this club they received every species of information that could conduce either to their security, or to the success of their plans,—a diary of all that passed in the Capital,—statements of forces,—of money and stores issued by the Government,—accounts of its resources, wants, and necessities, and intelligence of every measure taken by the Viceroy, in order to meet the exigencies of the moment. Proofs of this treasonable correspondence have been acquired during the late severe checks that the Insurgents have received, and many of the principal criminals of this faction have been discovered: I should have already purged the country of the most dangerous of these traitors,—and, by so doing, deranged the schemes of the disaffected,—intimidated secret enemies, and strengthened the hands of the Government, if I had been able to act with freedom or energy. But the necessity of conforming to the laws which the Constitution had established, in order not too openly to set at defiance the will of the Mother-country, communicated always in the august name of the King our Master, compelled me to trust to the slow, and, under present circumstances, insidious course of a judicial inquiry, confided often to judges but little less criminal than the accused themselves, without deriving from the measure any other fruit than a confirmation of my suspicions, that the Government was undermined, without any possibility of avoiding the explosion.
In such a situation as this, no resource remains but to reanimate the authority of the Government, and to make a last effort to conclude the war, by crushing the rebellion at once. The re-establishment of the old laws will no longer suffice: There was a time when they were sufficient to keep up the ancient illusions of these people with regard to their chiefs and magistrates, and to inspire them with a proper respect, for their measures and decrees: But now,—decried, discredited, and even turned into ridicule, by the new system,—stigmatized as arbitrary and unjust,—attributed to an illegal origin, and held up to the scorn of the crowd,—they have lost their prestige, and even their respectability, and are no longer capable of reducing a people which has thrown off the yoke, or of communicating to them an impulse sufficiently powerful to compel them to return within the bounds of duty. When once this is effected, they may be governed again by the old Code, or by any other that his Majesty may think fit to adopt for his dominions of Ultramar.
But, at present, I see no other remedy for countries actually a prey to rebellion, than the establishment of martial law, until such time as the extermination of the disaffected, and the reduction of the rest of the inhabitants to order and obedience, entitle them again to enjoy the general laws of the monarchy, and the protecting goodness of the most worthy of Monarchs.
But as the efficiency of this heroic remedy depends principally upon its being supported by a sufficient force, it is absolutely indispensable that from six to eight thousand soldiers should be immediately sent over, as they must be, at all events, in order to avoid the loss of these dominions.
It is true, that this number of troops is not sufficient to complete the work; but if, in addition to them, arms and clothing were transmitted for twelve or fifteen thousand infantry, and six or eight thousand cavalry, I would fill the ranks with men of the country, which would not be a difficult task, as soon as a few examples of severity have struck terror into the minds of the disaffected, and counteracted, or entirely destroyed the pernicious influence of the Corporations.
For this first step the force already indicated will be sufficient, particularly if it be placed under the orders of officers of merit and discernment, who know something more than merely how to manœuvre their troops, and who, by a seasonable combination of justice with severity, energy with prudence, will inspire at once respect, love, and confidence.
It will then be easy to establish respectable detachments at all the principal points, and to employ flying divisions, in order to clear the roads, and to watch over the interests of the farmer, the miner, and the merchant. The villages will then be reduced to obedience; the thousands, who now live by plunder, will be forced again to seek, by their own labour, their daily bread. The muleteer would resume his former employment, which he has now exchanged for that of Insurgent, perhaps from necessity, or despair:—the same will occur with the miners, whose case is similar: capitals will be again invested: the receipts of the Treasury will increase: want will disappear, blood will cease to flow: many of our present opponents will come over to our side: The well-disposed will be encouraged, and the hopes of those fanatics stifled and destroyed, who profess loyalty only to undermine the monarchy with greater security. When I stated to your Excellency that no other mode than that which I have suggested, remained for putting an end to the rebellion, I did so because I have already tried every other method without effect. A constant Indulto has opened the way for a reconciliation with the Government ever since the first rising of Hidalgo. I have refused to act upon denunciation with a certain knowledge that my having done so was known to the persons implicated, in order to see whether generosity would move them. I have inclined the balance of justice to the side of mercy, in notorious cases of disaffection: I have endeavoured to convert the deluded by representing the evils which they would draw upon themselves by exhausting the patience of the Government: I have used menaces of positive rigour towards the most obstinate, which I have not always carried into effect, because I did not conceive that I had a force sufficient to bear me out in it; and I have employed reason and argument in order to destroy their errors. Nay, more: reflecting that since the Constitution was sworn, it was necessary to observe it, particularly since the natives had shown themselves so much attached to the cause, I made use of this Code in order to gain their good-will, and accommodated myself to the principles proclaimed by the Government which then ruled, fend which, whether good or bad, it was necessary to support, in order to avoid positive anarchy.
But all my hopes were vain, since they only liked the Constitution because it was a useful tool. A proclamation which I published on assuming the reins of government, expressing the political principles which I had resolved to pursue, produced no sort of effect; nor was a second manifesto, circulated in June last, more fortunate. It is impossible, therefore, to doubt the nature of the measures by which the rebellious spirit of the country must be quelled.
Notwithstanding the apprehensions which I have thought it my duty to express in the most unreserved manner, with regard to the state of this country, in order the better to enable his Majesty to take the requisite measures for its preservation, I have no hesitation in assuring your Excellency that, whatever changes may occur, Mexico shall not succeed in throwing off the yoke, and withdrawing her obedience to her lawful sovereign while I am charged with her preservation, although it should be necessary for me, as a last resource, (which, however, I do not think probable,) to put myself at the head of the whole army, and to lay waste the country with fire and sword, until I had destroyed our infamous opponents,and planted in every corner the standard of the Monarch of Spain.
I have extended this letter much beyond what I intended, but my profound loyalty, and my wish to preserve to my August Sovereign this precious part of his dominions, have compelled me to present to his Majesty, through the medium of your Excellency, a detailed account of the state of New Spain. I have done no more than furnish, at present, a mere sketch of the dangers of its position; but considering that this will be sufficient to enable his Majesty to take the most necessary steps at once, I shall reserve for the next opportunity a detailed history of the rebellion, which shall be accompanied by all the documents necessary to confirm what I have stated here, and shall be compelled to state hereafter, respecting the fatal disposition of the natives. In the mean time, I entreat your Excellency to examine my correspondence with the ministers of War, and of Grace and Justice, in which you will find the same ideas and principles which I have expressed in this letter respecting the new system, and my sad forebodings as to the effects which must be produced by its observance in this country.
It now only remains for me to solicit your Excellency to lay at His Majesty's feet the expression of my unspeakable joy at the happy succession of His Majesty to the Throne, and Sovereign rights of his August Predecessors: my eternal adherence to His Majesty's Royal person and rights, and my determination to sacrifice my life, as a soldier and a subject, in their defence, following as Viceroy the conduct which I observed, in the face of the world, at the beginning of the civil disturbances in the year 1810, when I quitted the command of San Luis Potosi, in order to take the field, and snatching from the bosom of the Insurrection those very men who would have been its most formidable support, but have, in fact, done most towards extinguishing it, I immortalized the brave and loyal warriors of the North by dissipating on the fields of Aculco, Guanajuato, and Calderon, the tempest which the apostate Curate, Miguel Hidalgo, had raised against the throne of Spain, and proved that the first wish of my heart was the defence of our adored Ferdinand, and the noble ambition of preserving for so worthy a monarch the rich possessions of which he is Lord in this vast continent. God preserve your Excellency, &c.
Mexico, 18th August, 1814.
PLAN OF IGUALA.
C.
Art.1. The Mexican nation is independent of the Spanish nation, and of every other, even on its own Continent,
Art.2. Its religion shall be the Catholic, which all its inhabitants profess.
Art.3. They shall be all united, without any distinction between Americans and Europeans.
Art.4. The government shall be a Constitutional Monarchy.
Art.5. A junta shall be named, consisting of individuals who enjoy the highest reputation in the different parties which have shown themselves.
Art.6. This junta shall be under the presidency of his Excellency the Conde del Venadito, the present Viceroy of Mexico.
Art.7. It shall govern in the name of the Nation, according to the laws now in force, and its principal business will be to convoke, according to such rules as it shall deem expedient, a congress for the formation of a constitution more suitable to the country.
Art.8. His Majesty Ferdinand VII. shall be invited to the throne of the empire, and in case of his refusal, the Infantes Don Carlos and Don Francisco de Paula.
Art.9. Should his Majesty Ferdinand VII. and his august brothers decline the invitation, the nation is at liberty to invite to the imperial throne any member of reigning families whom it may select. Art. 10. The formation of the constitution by the congress, and the oath of the Emperor to observe it, must precede his entry into the country.
Art. 11. The distinction of castes is abolished, which was made by the Spanish law, excluding them from the rights of citizenship. All the inhabitants of the country are citizens, and equal, and the door of advancement is open to virtue and merit.
Art. 12. An army shall be formed for the support of Religion, Independence, and Union, guaranteeing these three principles, and therefore it shall be called the army of the three Guarantees.
Art. 13. It shall solemnly swear to defend the fundamental bases of this plan.
Art. 14. It shall strictly observe the military ordinances now in force.
Art. 15. There shall be no other promotions than those which are due to seniority, or which shall be necessary for the good of the service.
Art. 16. This army shall be considered as of the line.
Art. 17. The old partisans of Independence who shall immediately adhere to this plan, shall be considered as individuals of this army.
Art. 18. The patriots and peasants who shall adhere to it hereafter, shall be considered as Provincial Militia-men.
Art. 19. The Secular and Regular priests shall be continued in the state in which they now are.
Art. 20. All the public functionaries, civil, ecclesiastical, political, and military, who adhere to the cause of Independence, shall be continued in their offices, without any distinction between Americans and Europeans,
Art. 21. Those functionaries, of whatever degree and condition, who dissent from the cause of Independence, shall be divested of their offices, and shall quit the territory of the empire, taking with them their families and their effects.
Art. 22. The military commandants shall regulate themselves according to the general instructions in conformity with this plan, which shall be transmitted to them. Art. 23. No accused person shall be condemned capitally by the military commandants. Those accused of treason against the nation, which is the next greatest crime after that of treason to the Divine Ruler, shall be conveyed to the fortress of Barrabas, where they shall remain until the Congress shall resolve on the punishment which ought to be inflicted on them.
Art. 24. It being indispensable to the country that this plan should be carried into effect, in as much as the welfare of that country is its object, every individual of the army shall maintain it, to the shedding (if it be necessary) of the last drop of his blood.
Town of Iguala,
24th February, 1821.
- ↑ Malos, necios, y atolondrados Gachupines. Evil-intentioned, ignorant, and perverse Gachupines
- ↑ The Archbishop to whom the reins of Government were confided after the arrest of Iturrigaray.
- ↑ Patriotism is, of course, used by the Audiencia to express devotion to the cause of Spain; as Patriotas were Royalist volunteers.
- ↑ I must again observe, that it is a body composed entirely of old Spaniards that writes, and consequently that the words "patriotism, and love of their country," mean love of the Peninsula, and not of Mexico.