friar was caught in the trap and arrested. He stated in prison that the plot had been formed in Madrid, and that King Fernando VII. had sent out a comisario regio, who was already on Mexican territory. The royal commissioner's name was not divulged.[1] Another friar, a Dominican named Martinez, and two other men, Segura and David, were also arrested as accomplices,[2] and soon after, March 22d, orders were issued that generals Echávarri and Negrete should be taken as prisoners, the former to the castle of Perote, and the latter to that of Acapulco. General Gregorio Arana, and many other officers, the priests Torres, Hidalgo, and Friar José Amat, as well as a number of civilians, were implicated. All of them were 'old' Spaniards. Their trial was by court-martial, and Arenas, Martinez, Segura, David, Arana and others were sentenced to death.[3] Many officers were degraded or lost their commissions, and a number of the prisoners were sentenced to various penalties.[4] Generals Echávarri and Negrete, deprived of their rank, were sent into exile.[5]
- ↑ His name was afterward understood to be Eugenio Aviraneta, who entered the country in 1825, and worked in the office of the Veracruzano Libre. It was never known where he got his appointment, whether from Madrid or from the captain-general of Cuba, or only assumed it to give himself importance. Alaman, Hist. Méj., v. 827. Aviraneta escaped. The friendly reception given him in Cuba by the authorities, and his subsequent coming to Mexico with the rank of intendente de ejército of Barradas' expedition, tend to confirm the friar's statement.
- ↑ The men arrested as chief conspirators were mere agents, not the masters. The plan and other details may be seen in Suarez y Navarro, Hist. Méx., 390-5. This authority maintains that the conspiracy existed, and that the trials were perfectly in order.
- ↑ Arana to the end, and with his last breath, declared his innocence. Able and impartial lawyers could find in the evidence nothing to justify the penalty that was inflicted on him. Zavala, Revol. Mex., ii. 35; Antepara, Defensa legal, 1-77.
- ↑ Many cases were still pending August 29, 1829, when President Guerrero, in use of his extraordinary powers, ordered them closed, as they then were commuting the penalty of death, where it had appeared to be merited, for others that the courts should designate. Dublan and Lozano, Legis. Mex., ii. 153.
- ↑ Echavárri found refuge in the United States, where he eked out a support by giving Spanish lessons. He would have died in misery but for the assistance afforded him by Iturbide's widow. It is hard to believe that Echávarri threw away his past services to become a traitor to his adopted country. Spain always paid those who worked for the restoration of her sway in America. How is it, then, that Echávarri was not the recipient of her favors? Ne-
