last that the seat of government should be in Mexico, and he entered therein on the 14th of November with an army of pintos. The filthiness and repeated acts of brutality of the pintos, who had quartered themselves in the central parts of the city, caused general disgust and alarm. This, together with reactionary intrigues, and the evident unfitness of Álvarez for the position he filled, led to the impression that ere long there would be a popular movement to place Comonfort in the executive chair.
General Uraga, who had presidential aspirations, was detected in a conspiracy at Guanajuato, and arrested; papers compromitting him and other prominent persons were found in his possession. Symptoms of sedition supposedly connected with this affair being discovered in Puebla and Querétaro, the comandantes generales of states were enjoined to the utmost vigilance, in a circular of November 21st,[1] which led to the arrest of Colonel Osollo and others.
The government thus far had not accomplished much; but friendly relations were now restored with forcign powers, and the ministers of war and treasury busied themselves, the former in organizing the national guards and correcting abuses in the regular army, and the latter in arranging the affairs of the treasury. The first step taken in the direction of reform was by Minister Juarez in the law of NoVember 23, 1855, on administration of justice and the organization of courts, which has since borne the name of ley Juarez. As by the articles 42 and 44 special courts were suppressed, the military and ecclesiastical being excluded from all cognizance of civil causes, the archbishop saw in it a direct attack against the rights of the church; and protesting against these articles and the regulation for the execution
- ↑ It spoke of the government's resolve to carry out its regenerating mission at all hazards, surmounting all obstacles, even at the cost of heavy sacrifices. To accomplish this, subordinate authorities must 'prestijiarlo y defenderlo con repetidos actos de prudencia y enerjía.' El Pensamiento Nac., 1855, Nov. 22; Méx., Legisl. Mej., 1855, 347-9.
