PAPERS OF MIRABEAU BUONAPARTE LAMAR 201 of Madrid by )forat caused general indignation in Mexico, and none thought of availing themselves of the misfortunes and tumult in the Peninsula to shake off the colonial yoke and proclaim independence. On the contrary, there was universal enthusiasm for the mother coun- , try, and large sums were raised and sent to assist in the war which the Junta de Seville had declared against France. We do not give the Mexicans any credit for this mistaken devotion towards their oppres.: sors, but rather we believe that they deserve blame and censure for having adhered so long to a power which had cruelly trampled upon them when they should have turned their backs upon them two cen- turies earlier. We mention the act of adherence to that power only as an example of the blind infatuation of the creoles of that epoch. Loy- alty and submission from force of custom and habit had come to be second nature to them ; and, instead of vindicating their rights and aspiring to national independence, tl1ey forgot their own injuries in their noble resentment against those who fought against Spain. As a result of the ingratitude to which they were s~bjected, they awakened a short time afterwards from this misleading devotion. The events at Bayona filled Spain with confusion and anarchy. There was no firm or permanent government in the country. ,;Fer- nando VII, Murat, and the Supreme Junta de Seville all gave orders to the Colonies, and these orders were so contradictory in nature that it was impossible £or the Viceroy of Mexico to execute them, and very embarassing to him to know whom to obey. In this dilemma the Viceroy Iturrigaray, supported by the Council of Mexico and many of the most illustrious citizens of the Capital, proposed the formation of a provisional government in imitation of the mother country [to be] composed of representatives of the provinces, with a view to avoiding the horrors of anarchy which threatened the country. No one could doubt that [this government] was dominated by the purest motives, and that it had no desire to be disloyal to the mother country; but the measure, in spite of its usefulness, awakened the jealous opposition of the peninsular Spaniards in the Capital because the plan was popular and democratic in nature, and called together the Creoles and the Europeans in general council. This was offensive to the latter, not only because it placed the Spaniards and Creoles on a level, but even more so because it recognized the right of a people to look !l,fter themselves in time of danger. That the people should think and work for themselves under any circumstances was the greatest of all treason, and in order to drown such dangerous doctrine in its infancy and to punish those who v,:ished to introduce it into public affairs, the Spanish residents of the Capital seized the Viceroy, Don Jose lturrigaray, at midnight on the 15th of September, 1808, and sent him and his fam- ily as prisoners to Spain. This violent measure against a public official who had committed no crime other than that of respecting the natural rights of the Mexicans and of working for the good of the nation, could do no less than open the eyes of the Creoles with respect to the inveterate hate which the native Spaniards felt towards them; and Spain's approbation of the outrage of the subsequent treatment which was given the unfortunate Iturrigaray,-and the persecution of tl:iose who had favored the plan, together with the honors and presents which they lavished upon those
Powered by FlippingBook