authority when the chief magistrate thus confidently exposed himself to public contempt.
No man who ever knew Guerrero could deny him the possession of good sense, or even of judgment which is all-sufficient in a constitutionally governed country;[1] and yet he never seemed to realize what the requirements and conditions of his high position were — its duties and rights, its resources and perils. His acts in the presidential chair lacked that firmness and constancy which spring from a conviction of the justice, usefulness, or expediency of any given measure. He neither possessed the qualifications to prevent the breaking-out of sedition, nor the vigor to repress it.[2] And yet there was in the man no littleness of soul, no imbecility. In grave questions, whenever he did fix his mind and form a judgment, he was firm, persevering, and even obstinate. His political principles were: national independence, the federal system, hatred of monarchical rule, a profound respect for the representatives of the people, expulsion of Spaniards, and the levelling of classes. All favoring these principles were deemed worthy of his confidence, which explains the origin of the intense antipathy felt toward him by those of a different way of thinking, as well as the bitter hostility rankling in his own bosom toward his opponents, who constituted the party controlled by the upper clergy.[3] Guerrero's private life
- ↑ The fact stands to confound those who make him out an ignoramus, that after the overthrow of the Spanish rule he had an influential share in organizing the government, and took part in its councils; political parties wanted him in their ranks. Even his foes deadly hatred is an evidence of their fear of his intellectual powers. Tornel, Breve Reseña Hist., 317. Alaman, one of Guerrero's bitterest enemies, assures us that he was so illiterate that he could barely write his name; and having associated many years with insurgents, ever distrustful of one another, suspicion and dissembling had become a second nature with him, and often in speaking he would utter the very reverse of his thoughts. Hist. Méj., v. 766.
- ↑ Zavala denies him the talent for directing great affairs, and the feeling of friendship and confidence in his friends which would permit their leading him. Thus he actually made a nonentity of himself. Revol. Mex., ii. 369-70.
- ↑ This party had sustained the viceroys; had banded with the leaders that dethroned Iturbide; then used Bravo and Barragan in the attempt to overthrow Victoria; failing in this, it clung to Gomez Pedraza; and when victorious at last, paraded the bloody heads of many a good citizen, and after the bloody scene at Cuilapa, inaugurated an era of perfect despotism.
