Comonfort could not possibly save the government and overcome its many foes, with a constitution trammelling his every action, when he should be all-powerful to crush opposition. Riots continued in various parts, and were daily becoming more difficult to quell. In several cases there had been much bloodshed.[1]
A bad feature in the political struggle was the open declaration of the government organs that the new constitution could not go into operation till reglamentary laws were issued. This increased the ill-feeling between the civil and religious authorities.
With the expectation of a forthcoming coup d'état, the conservatives became more audacious; the churches were closed in some towns, and the state governors played the despot in many instances. The prelates, firm in their purpose to resist the government, refused the sacraments to those who would not take back their oath to support the constitution,[2] while the government, equally firm, demanded the oath from every functionary or official, from the highest to the lowest, without mental reservation, under the penalty of dismissal and forfeiture of political rights. From the time that the question of a coup d'état was brought out upon the arena, some advocated that it should prevent the meeting of congress by contriving to declare null two thirds of the credentials of members elect,
- ↑ Among the worst cases was that of Colima, Aug. 26th, when the comandante general was killed, and his remains, as El Pais of Guadalajara recorded it, treated most brutally by the parish priest. Rivera, Hist. Jalapa, iv. 805. In Puebla, Tlascala, Tamaulipas, San Luis Potosí, Zacatecas, and even at the capital itself, there were several disturbances. In Yucatan the reactionary element gained strength in Campeche. Not even Chiapas escaped the general conflagration. The tiger of Alica, Lozada of Tepic, routed all government forces sent after him and committed horrible cruelties. Hydra-headed revolution showed itself everywhere, and though in most encounters the government forces won victories, yet they were not decisive enough to insure permanent peace. El Estandarte Nac., July 17 to Sept. 22, 1857; El Eco Nac., Aug. 8 to Oct. 31, 1857; Diario de Avisos, July 8 to Oct. 29, 1857; El Tiempo, Aug. 3 to Nov. 2, 1857; La Cruz, v. 622; El Progreso, July 18, 1857; Buenrostro, Hist. Prim. Cong. Const., 97, 101-2, 109-10; Suarez, Informe, 26-8.
- ↑ Bishop Verea and the canons of Nuevo Leon were arrested, and the former was banished from his diocese. El Estandarte Nac., Sept. 26, 1857; Diario de Avisos, Sept. 25, 1857.
