Page:Mexico (1829) Volumes 1 and 2.djvu/228

190 MEXICO. not intentionally, that he had done so and adds, " that he is convinced that the Independent party can never succeed in Mexico, and must occasion the ruin of the country." That such should have been Minas sentiments, after the experience which he had of the men, by whom the Insurgent cause was then supported, is perfectly natural. He knew not how deeply the love of independence was implanted in every Creole's heart, and, as I have already observed, he was pre- cluded by his position as a Spaniard from ever awakening those feelings in the mass of the people, which alone could have ensured him success. They watched his career with interest, and would gladly have availed themselves of his assistance; but the re-esta- blishment of a Constitution, from which no one expected to derive any good, was not calculated to awaken enthusiasm, or inspire confidence. Independence, as a Spaniard, he could not, and did not proclaim. Mina died in his twenty-eighth year. He was shot on a rock in sight of Los Remedios, and his fate contributed, not a little, to strike the garrison with discouragement. The siege was, however, protracted until the end of December, (a general assault made on the 16th of November having been successfully repulsed,) when, from the total want of ammunition, the evacuation of the town was resolved upon. The 1st of January, 1818, was fixed for the attempt, which was attended with much the same results as that of Sombrero. Indeed, it proved more generally fatal ; for the Spaniards, taught by experience, had raised immense piles of wood in every direction, which were fired on the first alarm, and ena.- bled the Royalist soldiers to follow their flying enemies through all the intricacies of the ravines around. With the exception of Padre Torres, and twelve of Mina's division, few or none of the fugitives escaped. The fate of the women, of whom there were great numbers in the fort, was too horrible to be mentioned. The wounded were not excepted from the