he encountered Morelos, and defeated him in Valladolid. Morelos was subsequently captured through treachery, sent to Mexico for trial, and shot. Indomitable to the last, he expressed himself contented to die, since he had founded and left behind him the beginning of an independent government. He knelt before his executioners, saying, "Lord, if I have done well, thou knowest it; if ill, to Thy infinite mercy I commend my soul." Then the volley was fired, and this great and generous soul passed from earth.
[A. D. 1814.] Persecuted on all sides, driven from post to post, the first Mexican Congress yet found time to draft a constitution for the Mexican people, dated from the forest of Apantzingo, October 22, 1814. It was a year before the death of Morelos, which sad event occurred December 22, 1815. Calleja, that man of execrable memory, occupied the viceregal chair from 1813 to 1816, and lost no opportunity for the murder of the patriots.
Other chiefs, acting in unison with Morelos, deserve our notice, though space prevents more than mention of their names. These were Guerrero, Alvarez, Bravo, Victoria, Osorno, Mier y Teran, Rayon, and Matamoros, the latter of whom was shot in August, 1814. The names of all these men, most of whom fell martyrs to the cause, have been kept in remembrance by a grateful people. States, provinces, and towns are called by their names, in this country for which they fought so desperately to free from oppression.
Examples of individual bravery and magnanimity might be cited that would fill pages with the chronicles of their daring deeds. Let one suffice: The generous Bravo took the town of Palmar by storm, capturing three hundred prisoners. These he immediately offered to the viceroy in exchange for one man, his father. The offer was rejected,
