José L. Becerra and Servando T. de Mier, Cárlos M. Bustamante, Jimenez Mangino, Cabrera, Espinosa, Ibarra, and Paz.

The secretary of justice and ecclesiastical affairs, Pablo de la Llave, by order of the executive, moved on the 14th that the house should proceed at once to carry out the wishes of the people; and Ramos Arizpe, as president of the committee on constitution, promised to present within three days the draught of an organic law fulfilling that object, and which was to remain in force until a constitution could be framed and promulgated. Such is the history of the acta constitutiva,22 the draught of which was circulated to the authorities on the 22d of November, the discussion of it being formally begun on the 3d of December.

The main point to be determined was the system of government embodied in the fifth article,23 yet in the face of the provincial demands, it was made the subject of a warm discussion. Several deputies spoke against the plan of federation, and Doctor Mier, deputy from Nuevo Leon, on the 13th of December, expatiated on the evils that a separation of the till then united provinces would bring upon the country. The proposed acta constitutiva, he said, was but a translated copy of the constitution of the United States of America, which he contended was entirely unsuited to Mexico. The federating of her provinces would be equivalent to separating them-a policy that must necessarily entail upon them the very evils that the Anglo-Americans of the north endeavored to avert with their federation.24 It must be confessed 22 Mex. Acta Constit. (Mex. 1824), 1-12; Mex. Col. Dec. Sob. Cong. Mex., 145-6. Though not lengthy, the future institutions of the country depended upon it. It was as follows: 'The nation adopts the republican, federal, popular, representative form of government.' Mex. Col. Constituc., i. 2.

"He said that the United States had been separate provinces which federated to resist England's oppression. They suppressed the king's name from their constitution, and the instrument answered very well for their republic; whereas Mexico had as a whole suffered the yoke of an absolute monarch during 300 years. He therefore thought the difference between the two cases to be immense. Mier, Profecía Polit., 3-28; Bustamante, Cuad. Hist., MS., viii. 200.

that Doctor Mier's prophecy became nearly realized, the threatened evils actually covering a long period of years. However, article five was adopted and solemnly proclaimed; and when the discussion was ended, and the acta adopted on the 31st of January, 1824,25 both the executive and congress made known to the people the patriotic spirit that had presided at its formation, expressing hopes for the best results.

The adoption of the fifth article, so boisterously demanded, should have acted like oil upon troubled waters; but it did not. Revolutions followed one another with various intents, and arising from different causes. In the tierra caliente, and in Puebla, San Luis Potosí, Guadalajara, and Querétaro the government had to quell disturbances. The infamous mutilator of Spaniards, Vicente Gomez, el capador, was forced to sue for pardon, which was granted him on condition of his living in California.26 General Echávarri, who had given signs of hostility to the government in Puebla, was removed by force, and Gomez Pedraza sent there to hold the civil and military authority. Disorders in Cuernavaca and Cuautla obliged Guerrero to hasten thither in person. His presence sufficed to restore quiet in the south. The most serious trouble occurred in Mexico in the night of January 23, 1824. It was headed by General Lobato, and had for its pretext the same one advanced in Cuernavaca by Colonel Hernandez, namely, hostility to the Spaniards. The executive authority, now held by Michelena and Dominguez, found itself without other support than a small body of troops. The two triumviri repaired to the hall of congress and reported the alarming state of affairs. Santa Anna, who was then subject to prosecution for his acts at

25 Alaman, Hist. Méj., v. 776-7; Bustamante, Cuad. Hist., MS., viii, 22731; Id., Hist. Iturbide, 185-9, 199-230, 243, 270-7; Mex. Col. Leyes, Órd. y Dec., iii. 18-24; Actas del Cong. Constituy. iv.; Cong. Constituyente, Manif., 1-16; Mex. Col. Constituc., i. 1-15; Mex. Mem. Hacienda, 1870, 76-7.

26 More of him in Hist. Cal., iii.; Mex. Col. de Leyes, Órd. y Dec., iii. 53. 27 General Guerrero's report to the secretary of war, from Puebla, Jan. 6, 1824, at 11 P. M., in Gaceta Extraord. Gob. Sup. Mex., iii. Jan. 8th, 15–16.

San Luis Potosí, tendered his good offices as a mediator; but the congress energetically refused, at two o'clock in the morning of the 24th, to consider any representation of the rebels until they laid down their arms; and on the 26th stringently ordered all army officers that were not with the mutineers to hasten to the defence of the country and its constituted authorities. All officers failing to obey that order were declared traitors, and outlawed. The rebels, finding themselves unsupported and awed by the prestige of the authority vested in the executive and congress, and more so by their fear of Bravo, Guerrero, and Gomez Pedraza, who with their forces would soon be upon them, submitted to the government, with the exception only of the mounted grenadiers under Lieutenant-colonel Stáboli; but these were soon forced to surrender. Stáboli was tried and sentenced to suffer death; but the penalty was finally commuted to exile.23 The revolution was thus repressed; Lobato accusing Michelena and Santa Anna 2o of being the chief promoters.

29

The acta constitutiva having been published on the 31st of January, 1824, congress summoned the regular members of the executive to the discharge of their functions, and Michelena was given leave to retire. General Bravo obeyed the summons in March, and the executive was then represented by him with Dominguez and Guerrero, as Negrete, who had also returned, resigned his position under the pretext of ill health.

Disturbances soon broke out afresh in Guadalajara. The authorities had not only refused to recognize General José Joaquin de Herrera as comandante general, but also exhibited a marked partiality for

28 One of the reasons assigned was that his wife was a daughter of the sculptor Tolsa. Bustamante, Hist. Iturbide, 188-9; Id., Cuad. Hist., MS., viii. 218-26; Mex. Col. Leyes, Ord. y Dec., iii. 15-17; Alaman, Hist. Méj., v. 778; Suarez y Navarro, Hist. Méx., 51-72; Zavala, Revol. Mex., i. 267-72; Tornel, Breve Reseña Hist., 163-4; Liceaga, Adic. y Rect., 617-18.

* Santa Anna was acquitted. His course in Vera Cruz was declared meritorious, the nation having adopted the federal régime.

the enemies of the government, and began to exercise powers not vested in them under the acta constitutiva. Indeed, they manifested generally a spirit of insubordination to the national authority, and gave encouragement to the Iturbidist party. The government, therefore, again sent Bravo and Negrete to that part of the republic, which now bore the name of Jalisco, with a strong division. Victoria having by this time returned to the capital, took the place of Bravo in the triumvirate. Bravo and Negrete entered Guadalajara June 11th, without meeting with resistance, having made a convention with Quintanar and Bustamante. Herrera was installed as comandante general. A relative of Iturbide, named Eduardo García, and Baron de Rossemberg, a German whom Iturbide had made a lieutenant-colonel, attempted resistance in Tepic, but Colonel Luis Correa defeated them, and García, Rossemberg, and some others were executed. Quintanar and Bustamante were sent to Acapulco for the purpose of being shipped to South America, but the order of banishment was not carried out, and both were allowed to go unpunished.

30

These revolutionary movements placed the government and congress in so difficult a position that the extreme measure was contemplated of vesting the executive authority in a single member of the triumvirate, under the title of Supremo Director, with large though well defined powers. The executive, however, opposed the creation of this supreme magistrate, and circumstances being now changed, it became unnecessary. The termination of the attempted effort on behalf of Iturbide, followed shortly after by his death, gave the coup de grace to his party.31

After the Jalisco campaign General Bravo returned

30 Bravo was falsely accused by Zavala, Revol. Mex., i. 286-7, of bad faith; it is on record that every act of his was pursuant to orders from Mexico. All the occurrences in Guadalajara and Tepic appeared in the government gaceta for June and July. Bustamante, Cuad. Hist., MS., viii. 240–7, 262; Alaman, Hist. Méj., v. 787.

31 Bustamante, Cuad. Hist., MS., viii. 235-8; Id., Hist. Iturbide, 230, 235-6; Alaman, Hist. Méj., v. 787.

WORK ON THE CONSTITUTION.

15

to Mexico, and congress decreed that the executive should consist of Victoria, as president, Bravo, and Guerrero; the last named being authorized to retire if his health demanded it, in which event Dominguez was to replace him. From this time to the end of the provisional rule Victoria, Bravo, and Dominguez constituted the executive. Till then the minister of relations, Lúcas Alaman, and the minister of war, Manuel Mier y Teran, who were intimate friends and entertained the same views on public policy, had the chief influence in the administration of the government.32 Victoria's presence in the government caused a material change, which greatly influenced subsequent events. He caused Arrillaga to be dismissed, notwithstanding the opposition of Bravo and Dominguez, and of ministers Alaman and Mier y Teran; but Dominguez finally assenting, José Ignacio Esteva was placed in charge of the treasury. The new minister was an able, energetic, industrious man. He laid himself open to obloquy, however, by unduly interfering in the affairs of other departments; hence his differences with the minister of war.

33

Meanwhile the discussion of the federal constitution had been going on in congress since the first of April. The work progressed slowly, owing to the necessity of attending to much executive business, and it was only on the 1st of August that the first article was adopted. After that date, Iturbide hav

**Arrillaga attended exclusively to his department, the treasury; and Llave spent much of his time in scientific studies. Alaman, Hist. Méj., v. 807-8.

33 The following statesmen had the several portfolios between April 1, 1823, and October 10, 1824: Relations: José Ignacio García Illueca, April 2 to 15, 1823; Lúcas Alaman, April 16, 1823, to April 23, 1824; Pablo de la Llave (ad. int.), April 24 to May 14, 1824; Lúcas Alaman, May 15 to Sept. 21, 1824; Juan Guzman, chief clerk, Sept. 22d to Oct. 10, 1824. Justice: Illueca, April 2 to June 6, 1823; Llave, June 6, 1823, to Jan. 25, 1824; Gerónimo Torrescano, chief clerk, Jan. 26 to April 20, 1824; Llave, April 21 to October 10, 1824. Treasury: Illueca, April 1 to 30, 1823; Francisco de Arrillaga, May 2, 1823, to Aug. 8, 1824; José Ignacio Esteva, Aug. to Oct. 10, 1824. War: Illueca, April 2 to July 11, 1823; José Joaquin de Herrera, July 12, 1823, to March 11, 1824; Manuel Mier y Teran, March 12 to Oct. 10, 1824. Mex. Mem. Hacienda, 1870, 1027.