they had been forgiven the past, and Comonfort was a firm friend to them.
The reactionists were divided. Some advocated the federal system, others the famous seven laws, or centralist constitution, which had ere this gone out of mind. Fears were felt by many that there would be no congress, and that the nation must continue for an unlimited period in an abnormal condition. The government, however, hoped with God's favor and the aid of the people soon to reëstablish a constitutional régime.
Some prominent men were plotting in the capital; among them Haro y Tamariz, Francisco Pacheco, and Agustin Zires, and Comonfort decreed their expatriation. Other officers were scattered in distant places. An anonymous document found in Haro's house contained a plan to raise Agustin Iturbide to the throne of the 'Imperio de Anáhuac,' and if he refused acceptance, then Haro himself was to be emperor. The Roman catholic was the religion alone to be tolerated.[1]
Haro made his escape, and joining the rebels at Zacapoaxtla, was chosen their chief.[2] He denmanded the reëstablishment of the bases orgánicas of 1843. Meantime a congress should be convoked, and the government vested in a president, named by the chief of the movement, with ample powers.[3]
The revolutionary forces attacked Puebla on the 16th of January; the governor, having with him but a small garrison, had to parley, and was allowed to de-
- ↑ Comonfort had asked Haro to stop plotting, but he made light of the matter, and pursued his course, which brought on stringent measures. Minister Lafragua's circular of Jan. 8, 1856, in Archivo Mex., Col. Ley., i. 418-20.
- ↑ Seditious movements were now breaking out in many places, promoted by priests and soldiers. In Morelia there was a cry of 'mueran los impios! Viva Uraga!' Rivera, Hist. Jalapa, iv. 619-24; Id., Gob. de Méx., ii. 491-2; Santa Anna, Revol. contra, 276-7; La Bandera de Ayutla, Jan. 12, 1856; El Pensamiento Nac., March 5 to Apr. 25, 1856; Méx., Leyisl. Mej., 1856, Jan.-June, 357-8.
- ↑ The scheme went by the name of 'plan regenerador,' and was circulated over their signatures by Haro, Güitian, and Castillo. Haro á sus Comput., 1-20. Castillo's plea for defection was that it had been wrong 'to send the army against the army,' and that his forces had no supplies. Archivo Mex., Col. Ley., i. 468-76; Méx., Legisl. Mej., 1856. Jan.-June, 71.
