ber knew how to profit by the advantages which I acquired
for them.

ir 1810, 1 was simply a subaltern officer; a lieutenant in
vincial regiment of Valladolid, my- native city. It is well known,
e individuals who serve in those troops receive no pay. The mili-
tary profession was not the principal object of my pursuit. I possessed an
■•• and attended to the improvement of my property, without

'• mind with the de I obtaining public employments. I

in need of them, either tor the purpose of affording me a

of adding distinction to my name, as it pleased Providence

I in-' an honorable origin, which my forefathers have never stained,

and which down to my tune all my kinsmen have supported by their

cond

â–  n the revolution, sel on fool by Don Miguel Hidalgo, curate of

t, he offered me the rank of lieutenant-general. The

1 ' have tempted any young man without experience,

when his ambition might be excited. I declined it, howev-



POLK ADMINISTRATION. 61

prevailed throughout the laud. Iu 1828, Sauta
Anna, who was theu Governor of Vera Cruz, insti-
gated a revolt in the city of Mexico, and was, by

er, because I was satisfied that the plans of the curate were ill contrived,
and that they would produce only disorder, massacre, and devastation,
without accomplishing the object which he had in view. The result
demonstrated the truth of my predictions. Hidalgo, and those who fol-
lowed his example, desolated the country, destroyed private property, deep-
ened the hatred between the Americans and Europeans, sacrificed thou-
sands of victims, obstructed the fountains of public wealth, disorganized
the army, annihilated industry, rendered the condition of the Americans
worse than it was before, by exciting the Spaniards to a sense of the dan-
gers which threatened them ; they moreover corrupted the manners of the
people, and far from obtaining independence, increased the obstacles which
were opposed to it.

" If, therefore, I took up arms at that epoch, it was not to make war
against the Americans, but against a lawless band who harassed the coun-
try. The Mexican Congress, at a later period, proposed that statues
should be erected to the leaders of that insurrection, and that funeral
honors should be paid to the ashes of those who perished in it. I have
warred with those chiefs, and I should war with them again under similar
circumstances. The word insurrection in that instance did not mean in-
dependence and equal liberty ; its object was, not to reclaim the rights of
the nation, but to exterminate all the Europeans, to destroy their posses-
sions, and to trample on the laws of war, humanity, and religion. The
belligerent parties gave no quarter : disorder presided over the operations
on both sides, though it must be acknowledged, that one party are censu-
rable, not only for the evils which they caused, but also for having pro-
voked the other party to retaliate the atrocities which were perpetrated
by their enemies.

" About the month of October, in the year 1810, 1 was offered a safe
conduct for my father and family, together with assurances that his pro-
perty and mine should be exempted from conflagration and plunder, and
that the people attached to them should not be subject to assassination
(which was at that time a matter of ordinary occurrence), on the sole
condition that I should quit the standard of the king and remain neutral.
These propositions were made to me by the leaders of that disastrous in-
surrection, and are well known to the Mexicans. I was then at San
Felipe del Obraje, commanding a small detachment of infantry, and at a
distance of four leagues from me was Hidalgo with a considerable force.
I gave the same answers to these overtures, as to the propositions already



62 â– ' I STORY OF Til E

the I 3S of the Republic, proclaimed an out-

law. Even a1 that early period in his career, he
remarkable for his wily and subtle policy, and

mentioned. I always looked upon that man as criminal, who. in a
of political convulsions, sheltering himself in cowardly indolence, re-
mained a cold spectator of the evils which oppressed his country, and
made no effort to n .if ho could not. remove, the suff

fellow-citizens. I therefore kept the field, with a view equally to
â– lie king, the Spaniards, and the Mexicans.
•• 1 was in conseque d in several expeditions, and had the

good fortum ctory never desert the troops under my command,

• .in on,, inconsiderable occasion (in 1815), whim I made an

iro, a military point which was well fortified, and inaccessible from
ture of the ground. 1 then served under the orders of Llanos, a
ieral. He commanded me to attack the place ; delicai
bad.' me to offer any opposition to his mandate, though 1 was fully con-
vinced that the result could not be favorable. As soon as I was on the
march. 1 communicated my opinion to the o- C ncral by dispatch: I retreat-
d do. but 1 had the good fortune to pn
mj force, in an action in which f apprehended that I should
have losl the u I

■• I engaged with the enemy as often as he offered battle, or as I came

|U sntly with inferior number- on my part. I led the sieges

, From which I dislodged the enemy, and 1 ren-

them incapable of serving afterwards as asylums for the discon-

l I no other opponents than those of the cause which I defend-

r rivals than those who were envious of my success.

: Guanajuato and Valladolid, and the army

of the north, I ir my command ; but 1 resigned my office through

:y, and retired to pursue my natural disposition, in the

Tl â–  reason of my resignation was this: two

inhabit Q,uerataro, who were subsequently assisted by four or live

three of which c of the families of three

'it therefore t.> be r one, -.'nt a memorial

Many wen of which they ai

'.! not, however, find one witness to support their cb

I I .! for the purpo i. viii^- every obstacle to

ward, by taking away the motives of hope on the one

, 'bo other. The families of the countess dowager of

bj abandoning the accusation, that they

and i been deceived. The vice-



POLK ADMINISTRATION. 63

sustained by the gallant and ever-faithful citizens
of the province of Vera Cruz, he made a bold stand
against the authorities of the country. Alternately

roys, Calleja and Apodaca, took cognizance of the matter, and after hear-
ing the reports of the ayuntamientos, the curates, the political chiefs, the
commandants and military chiefs, and of all the most respectahle persons
in the two provinces, and the army (who not only made my cause their
own, but gave me tokens of their unqualified approbation), they affirmed
the dictamen of their auditor, and of the two civil ministers, declaring that
the accusation was false and calumnious in all its parts, that I had per-
mission to institute an action of damages against the slanderers, and that
I might return to discharge the functions of the office which I had re-
signed. 1 did not choose to resume the command, nor to exercise my
right of action, and I gave up the pay which I enjoyed.

" The ingratitude which I experienced from men had wounded my
feelings deeply ; their insincerity, to call it by no severer name, made me
shun every opportunity of again becoming the object of their attacks.
Besides, the anger of the contending parties having expended itself, and
the country having returned to a state of comparative tranquillity, T was
relieved from that sense of obligation which six years before had com-
pelled me to have recourse to arms. My country no longer stood in need
of my services, and without betraying my duty, I thought that I might
now rest from the toils »f the camp.

" In 1820 the constitution was re-established in Spain. The new order
of things, the ferment in which the Peninsula was placed, the machina-
tions of the discontented, the want of moderation amongst the supporters
of the new system, the vacillation of the authorities, and the conduct of
the Government and Cortes at Madrid„(who, from the decrees which they
issued, and the speeches which some of the deputies pronounced, a]>-
peared to have determined on alienating the colonies) , filled the heart of
every good patriot with the desire of independence, and excited amongst
the Spaniards established in the country, the apprehension that all the hor-
rors of the former insurrection were about to be repeated. Those v. ho
exercised the chief authority, and had the forces at their command, took
such precautions as fear naturally dictated ; and those persons who at the
former epoch had lived by disorder, made preparations for again turning it
to advantage. In such a state of things the richest and most bea tiful
part of America was about to become again the prey of contending fac-
tions. In every quarter clandestine meetings took place, for the purpose
of discussing the form of government which ought to be adopted. Among
the Europeans and their adherents, some wished for the establishment of



64 JI I 8 TO ET OF T II E

successful, and a refugee, he managed for several

years to create revolutions and counter-revolutions.

To repress the demonstrations under Santa

inish constitution. Tl ided in realizing their views to a

certain extent, but the system was badly understood, and the loose manner
in which it was obeyed, indicated the shortness of its duration. There
-une who conceived that it ought to undergo modifications, inas-
much as the constitution framed by the Cortes at Cadiz was inapplicable
w Spain. 1 Others there were who sighed after the old absolute
government, as the best support of their lucrative employments, which
sercised in a despotic manner, and by which they had gained a
oly. The privileged and powerful classes fomented these different
parties, attaching themselves to the one or the other, according to the ex-
tent of their political information, or the projects of aggrandizement which
their imaginations presented. The Americans wished for independence,
but they were not agreed as to the mode of effecting it, still less as to the
form of government which they should prefer. With respect to the for-
ij were of opinion that in the first place, all the Europeans
should be exterminated, and their property given up to confiscation. The
mguinary would have been contented with banishing them from the
country, thus reducing thousands of families to a state of orphanage.
The nun] rate party suggested only that they should be excluded from all
public offices, ami degraded to the condition in which they had kept the
of the country for three centuries. As to the form of govern-
me party proposed a monarchy, tempered by the Spanish, or some
on; a second party wished for a federative republic; a
third for a central republic; and the partisans of each system, full of
enthusiasm, were impatient for the accomplishment of their different
â– 

" I had friends in the principal towns, many of whom had been long

with my family; others I had known in my expeditions, and

ben I held my command. The army, I had reason to

i. .'!a< lied to me. All those who knew me did their

i i| ply me with information. I had visited the best provinces,

information as to the nature of the country and the

' the inhabitants, the points capable of being fortified, and the

pon which dependence might be placed. I saw new revolu-

I breaking out; my country was about to be drenched

eve that I had the power to save her, and I did

not I. ike so sacred a duty.

ny plan, known under the title of 'the plan of Iguala.'



POLK ADMINISTEATION. 65

Anna, Bustamente, then President of Mexico, dis-
patched General Calderon with an effective force,
who defeated Santa Anna on the 3d of March at

pamphlet, which I have seen, has asserted that that project was the work
of a club of serviles, who held their meeting at the profesa, a building
belonging to the congregation of St. Philip, in Mexico. Any person who
reads the document must be convinced, from its contents alone, that it
could not have been dictated by servilism ; I put out of the question the
opinions of those persons to whom it is attributed, and shall only say that
they are matters upon which the multitude is very commonly mistaken.
For me, I look upon those persons as men eminently respectable for their
virtues and their knowledge. After the plan had been drawn out, I con-
sulted upon it with distinguished individuals of different parties ; not one
of them disapproved of it ; it was not modified in any manner ; nothing
was added or erased.

" In tracing out this project, my aim was to give independence to my
country, because such was the general desire of the Americans ; a desire
founded on natural feelings, and on principles of justice. It was, besides,
the only means by which the interests of the two nations could be secured.
The Spaniards would not allow themselves to be convinced that their de-
cline began with their acquisition of the colonies, while the colonists were
fully persuaded that the time of their emancipation had arrived.

" The plan of Iguala guarantied the religion which we inherited from
our ancestors. To the reigning family of Spain, it held out the only pros-
pect which survived for preserving those extensive and fertile provinces.
To the Mexicans, it granted the right of enacting their own laws, and of
having their government established within their own territory. To the
Spaniards, it offered an asylum, which, if they had possessed any foresight,
they would not have despised. It secured the rights of equality, of pro-
perty, and of liberty, the knowledge of which is within the reach of every
one, and the possession of which, when once acquired, every man would
exert all his power to preserve. The plan of Iguala extinguished the
odious distinction of castes, offered to every stranger safety, convenience,
and hospitality ; it left the road to advancement open to merit ; conciliated
the good opinion of every reasonable man ; and opposed an impenetrable
barrier to the machinations of the discontented.

" The operation of putting the plan into execution was crowned with
the happy result which I had anticipated. Six months were sufficient to
untwist the entangled knot which had bound the two worlds. Without
bloodshed, without fire, robbery, devastation, without a tear, my country
was free, and transformed from a colony into an empire. In order to ren-
5



n I S T E Y OF Til I .

Talome, and besieged him in the city of Vera Cruz.

Fortune, however, did not Long desert him. Cal-

>n was forced 1" retreat. Bustamente resigned.

work conformable to received customs, only one additional circum-
stance was required — a treaty, which the diplomatists would add to the

Ltalogue of those which they already possess, and which commonly

turn out to he only so many proof's of the bad faith of men, as they are

Idom violated wh interest of one of the parties, and he

happens to be the strongest. Nevertheless, it is right to follow the laws

• 'in. < In the 24th of August, I had an interview with that most

worthy Spanish general, Don Juan de O'Donoju; and on the same day

stween us a treaty, which bears the name of the place

i il. and was sent off to his majesty, Ferdinand VIL, by

I I'Donoju's suit.

•■ The treaty of Cordova opened to me the gates of the capital, which

other, ! have forced. But it is always delightful tome to be

ssity of exposing my men, and of .shedding the blood of

a my companions in arms.

"T : pi rsons who raised questions on the treaty of Cordova,

my authority, as well as that of O' Donoju, to enter into a

compact upon a matter of so much delicacy. It would be easy to answer

them.: that in me was deposited the will of the .Mexican people

id; in the first place, because that which I signed in their

brmable to what they must have desired; and secondly,

• they had already given proofs of their sentiments; such as were

bear arms, by joining me, and others by assisting me in every way

lay in their pi wer. In every place through which I passed, I was

1 in i nthusiastic manner. Seeing that no one was forced

e demon trations, it is to be inferred that they approved ot

accorded with mine. With respi

O'Donoju, he was the principal authority furnished with creden-

1 even though lie might not have received

I particular case, the circumstances authorized

: be could for his country.

inded an army superior to mine, and pos-

ufficienl to enable him to carry on war against me. he

erly refused to sign the treaty of Cordova, without first

Mi hi- Government, and receiving its answer. I!ut

'•■ tb scarcelj a dozen officers, the whole country

"- hi m\ dverse to the sentiments of the

: 'â–  ,l1 " nti nee of the state of things, without any



POLK ADMINISTRATION. 67

the Presidency, and was succeeded by Pedraza. In
1833, Santa Anna himself was elected President of
Mexico. The dissolution of Congress by the Pre-

knowledge of the localities, shut up in a weak fortress, which was ex-
posed to our fire, with an army in front of him, and the few troops of the
king who had remained in Mexico, commanded by an intrusive chief ;
under such circumstances, let those persons who disapprove of the con-
duct of O'Donoju say what they would have done if they had been in his
place, or what they imagine he ought to have done ? He must have
signed the treaty of Cordova, or have become my prisoner, or have re-
turned to Spain ! he had no other alternative. If he had chosen either of
the latter, all his countrymen would have been compromised, and the
Government of Spain would have lost every hope of those advantages
which it then obtained ; advantages which it never would have acquired,
if I had not been in the command, and if O'Donoju had not been an able
politician as well as a faithful Spaniard.

" I entered Mexico on the 27th of September, 1821 ; on the same
day was installed the Junta of Government which is spoken of in the
plan of Iguala, and the treaty of Cordova. It was nominated by me, but not
according to my arbitrary choice ; for I wished to assemble together such
men of every party as enjoyed the highest reputation amongst their
friends. This was the only means which could be resorted to in such
extraordinary circumstances for consulting the public opinion.

" Up to this point my measures gained general approbation, and in no
instance were my hopes deceived. But as soon as the junta began to
exercise its functions, it perverted the powers which had been granted to
it ; and within a few days after its installation, I saw what was likely to
be the issue. From that moment I shuddered for the fate that awaited my
fellow-citizens. It was in my power to resume the whole authority, and
I asked myself, ought I not to resume it, if such a step be essential to
the safety of my country ? I considered, however, that it would have
been rash in me to resolve on undertaking such an enterprise, relying
solely on my own judgment. If I were to consult with others, my design
might transpire, and intentions, which had sprung solely from my love
for my country, and from a desire to promote its happiness, might be
attributed to ambitious views, and construed into a violation of my pro-
mise. Besides, even if I were to accomplish every thing which I pro-
posed, I could not have done it without infringing on the plan of Iguala,
which it was my great object to maintain, because I looked upon it as the
zegis of the public welfare. These were the true reasons which, to-
gether with others of less importance, restrained me from taking any de-



68 HISTORY OF THE

sidenl was quickly followed by a change in the
form of government. The State Legislatures were
dissolved, and a Central Government, whole and in-
cisive measures. They would have brought me into collision with the
favorite feelings of the cultivated nations of the world, and have rendered
me, for some time, an object of hatred to a set of men, who were infatu-
ated by chimerical ideas, and who had never learned, or had soon forgotten,
that the republic which was most jealous of its liberty, possessed also its
rs. I may add. that I have always endeavored to be consistent in
my principles ; and as 1 had proposed to form a junta, I fulfilled my pro-
luctant to undo the work of my own hands.
- There were al this time some deputies in Mexico who set little value
on the public happiness, when it is opposed to their private interest, and
who had acquired reputation by some actions that appeared generous to
those who were benefited by them without knowing the secret views by
which they had been prompted. They were well acquainted with the
mysteries of intrigue, ever ready to stoop to servility when they found it
expedient, and to assume insolence when their star was in the ascendant.
!i si iked me because I had hitherto been successful in my
i to foment those parties which were afterwards
known under the titles of Republicans and Bourbonists, and which,
er they differed on other points, were united in their opposition
to me.

â– â–  The republicans were hostile to me, because they well knew they

could never bring me to contribute to the establishment of a government,

which, whatever might be its attractions, did not suit the Mexicans.

produces nothing by sudden leaps; she operates by intermediate

The moral world follows the laws of the physical. To think

that v. • all at once from a state of debasement, such as that

nt slavery, and from a state of ignorance, such as had been inflicted upon

u- for three hundred years, during which we had neither books nor in-

irs, and the possession of knowledge had been thought a sufficient

ution ; to think that we could gain information and refine-

menl in a moment, as it by enchantment; that we could acquire every

virtue, forge) prejudices, and give up false pretensions, was a vain ex-

pectal only have entered into the visions of an enthusiast.

mists, on the other hand, wished for my fall, because, as

of the government of Madrid was made known,

throng the 13th of February, which was subsequently

transmitted by the minister for the colonics, and in which the conduct of

proved, the treaty of Cordova became null



POLK ADMISTISTKATION. 69

divisible, was established. This act produced re-
sistance upon the part of Coahuila, Texas, and
Zacatecas. The latter State was reduced to sub-

and void, as to that part of it which invited the Bourbons to the crown of
Mexico, and effective with respect to the nation's entering into the full
enjoyment of its right to elect as sovereign the individual whom it would
deem most worthy of that high office. The Bourbonists, therefore, no
longer expecting that a Bourbon would reign in Mexico, thought only of
our returning to our former state of dependence ; a retrogression which
was impossible, considering the impotence of the Spaniards, and the
determination of the Americans.

" Hence I became the object of attack to both these parties, because
as I had the public force at my command, and was the centre of general
opinion, it was necessary to the preponderance of either party that I
should cease to exist.

" The leaders of the factions spared no pains to gain proselytes ; and
certainly they found many to adhere to them. Some who were the least
experienced, suffered themselves to be easily led away ; because they saw
nothing more in the projects on foot than what was represented to them,
and there is no design of which different views may not be given ; some
hoped that by the subversion of the Government they might advance their
own fortunes ; and others, the natural enemies of established order, in
whatever system it prevails, were anxious only for a change. Among
the latter, one might be named who values himself on his literary accom-
plishments, and has made himself conspicuous in the revolution.*

" The first duty of the junta after its installation, was to frame the
convocatoria, or proclamation for the assemblage of a Congress, which
was to give a constitution to the monarchy. The j unta took more time
to perform this duty than the urgency of the case permitted, and com-
mitted several errors in framing the convocatoria. It was extremely de-
fective, but with all its imperfections it was accepted ; I could do no more
than perceive the evil, and lament it. The census of the provinces was
not consulted ; hence, for instance, one deputy was appointed for a pro-
vince containing a hundred thousand inhabitants, and four for a province
scarcely peopled by half that number. Nor did it at all enter into the
calculations of the junta, that the representatives ought to be in propor-