at Puebla. Corro's government misconstrued the conciliatory purposes of its authors;[1] though it must be confessed that under the circumstances the plan was an impracticable one. The agitation was somewhat allayed by the return from exile of Anastasio Bustamante, on whom the people began to turn their eyes for their next president.
During Corro's administration in 1837 the pope recognized the independence of Mexico,[2] on the understanding that anti-ecclesiastical laws had been repealed, the pope promising to accredit an internuncio, as the poverty of the holy see did not permit of his sending an official of higher rank. The internuncio was to be comfortably supported by the Mexican government. Corro is said to have been greatly pleased by so much condescension on the part of the pope. The same year the admiral commanding the French forces in the Antilles visited Mexico to make reclamations, which if not grauted might have led to war.[3]
The financial affairs, like the political, were in the worst possible state. Money had to be borrowed on the most onerous terms. The army, not being paid with regularity, sought only promotion and honors, caring little for the country's good name or peace. The people, instead of progressing, were sinking deeper into the slough of ignorance and superstition. Such were the circumstances of the Mexican republic when Bustamante was elected president.[4] Corro
- ↑ The chief object was to promote the union of parties. The government said it was intended to form a new party to work against Santa Anna and the administration. Rivera, Hist. Jalapa, iii. 291-2; Bustamante, Voz de la Patria, MS., xi. 29-30.
- ↑ Manuel Diez de Bonilla, the Mexican minister of foreign relations, had been accredited as plenipotentiary to the papal court to make an arrangement on spiritual affairs. A copy of his letter from Rome, dated Nov. 30, 1836, to his department, gives details of his receptions by the pope, negotiations, etc. Mora, Obras Sueltas, i. p. cclxxxiv.-viii.; Arrillaja, Recop., 1837, 133-4; Bustamante, Voz de la Patria, MS., xiii. 84-96; Rivera, Hist. Jalapa, iii. 320, and others also furnish information on the subject.
- ↑ Corro's government published a pompous manifesto, but in their obsequiousness to the admiral showed that they were under the influence of fear. Rivera, Gob. de Méx., ii. 204.
- ↑ The electoral votes were as follows: for Bustamante, 57; for Gomez Pedraza, 6;
