not against the nation, but against the government. This announcement was intended, while soothing the masses, to strengthen the opposition to Bustamante; and not without success, for the federalists grew more confident as they saw the supreme authorities becoming involved. Pronunciamientos increased in every direction, under the wing of Guzman in Michoacan, under Olarte in the mountains of Puebla and adjoining provinces, breaking out with particular force in Tampico, and under Urrea in Sonora and the region southward;[1] besides which the Texan question came looming up again. Chiapas was threatened with a Guatemalan invasion,[2] and San Luis Potosí with military mob rule, due partly to an impoverished treasury that could not provide pay for the troops or means to execute the plans of the cabinet. The president had to ask permission to contract fresh loans for meeting the difficulty, and received special powers.[3] Orders were issued to strengthen the coast defences. Additional troops were levied and several volunteer corps formed,[4] but in so spasmodic and unsatisfactory a manner as to evoke an outcry from several quarters.[5] The government aimed rather at securing itself against the federalists and other opponents than at protecting the country. Comandante General Rincon of Vera Cruz, for instance, was directed to strengthen the fortress of San Juan de Ulúa, the so-
- ↑ For which see Hist. North Mex. States, ii., this series, and Hist. Cal., iii., for the similar movement in California.
- ↑ Which went so far at least as to promote a revolution under ex-Governor Gutierrez; but it was defeated. Bustamante, Gabinete Mex., i. 67-8.
- ↑ Decrees in Dublan and Lozano, Leg. Mex., iii. 512-34. A loan of $6,000,000 was twice enjoined, and an extra tax of $4,000,000. Details in Méx., Mem. Hac., 1838, 3 et seq.; Romero, Mem., 181-4, etc.
- ↑ Some known as juntas de honor, others as defenders of the country. Different classes combined into distinct organizations, such as the Commercial Regiment. Méx., Col. Ley. y Dec., 1839, 36-8, 90-105, 133-4, 161-3; Arrillaga, Recop., 1838, 536-9, 551-4. By decree of June 13th, the army was to be raised to 70,000 men. Id., 273-4. See also observations of Tornel, Carta, 7-25; Pap. Var., ccxix. pt. iv., concerning contract for arms. Tornel, Manifest., 1. A proposal to seize church property was defeated.
- ↑ Cárlos Bustamante, member of the poder conservador, or supreme council, and professed friend of the president, came out in more than one pamphlet. Ya es Tiempo, 1-4; Males y Males; also in Voz de la Patria, MS., xiv. 203-10.
