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PAPERS OF MIRABEAU BuoNAPARTE LAMAR
party in Spain, and consequently, friends of the Constitution. These, as it is supposed, could do no less than fight the plans of the Viceroy. The clergy was the dominant power of the nation. The first revo- lution had not been a success, and, although its motive force had been a priest, and many of its greatest luminaries, as Morelos, Matamoros, Dr. Cos and others, belonged to that body; still, it cannot be denied that the irifluence and power of the church were directed with great vigor against the fight for liberty, and were indeed the only obstacle in the way of the patriots' success. If it had not been for the oppo- sition of the Church the nation would have attained its independence almost without the necessity of resorting to arms. Which party, then, would the clergy decide to join in the second war? Would they join the Viceroy or the people? Fortunately for Mexico, there were prin- ciples in that Constitution which alarmed the friends of ignorance and superstition, and made them tremble for the ministerial power. This, together with the decrees of the Spanish Cortes, which confiscated much Church property and reformed the principal abuses of the Church, compelled the clergy to rise up against the mother country and to preach in favor of Mexico's independence as an indispensable measure for the preservation of the Catholic religion. But it should not be inferred from this that the priests had become the friends of liberty, or that they were interested in the happiness of the people. Far from that. As the friends of absolutism they were animated by no other motive than that of separating the country from the democracy of Spain, in order to keep it in perpetual despotism and to consolidate the power and dominion of the Church. Thus we shall see how different were the motives of the different classes which co- operated in this second conflict, for, while the people were fighting for independence and the establishment of a happy and illustrous free government, the religious community which assisted them in the cause of separation did so with the opposite purpose of relentlessly confining the country in the iron chains of tyranny and superstition. The spirit of liberty was everywhere manifest. Guerrero's forces immediately increased materially, and the nation rapidly prepared itself for a general eruption. However that may be, the Viceroy was not discouraged in the conflict. He had quietly and secretly recruited new troops to attain his ends; and, although the Royalists were divided and the Creoles united, and the clergy had joined the latter, he was, nevertheless, determined to maintain his Sovereign's cause at any cost. There was no time to lose, and he selected Iturbide to carry out his plans, believing that there was no person better suited than he for such a task. Augustin cle Iturbide was a native, born in Valladolid de 1'.Iichoacan in the year 1784, and at the beginning of the revolution he showed great devotion for the cause of independence; but not being able to attain at one jump the rank and honors to which he aspired, he de- serted the insurgents and enlisted under the King's flag. In this service he advanced rapidly. His activity, energy and cunning, com- bined with a perfect ln1owledge of the country, made him a formidable fighter, anc1 the untiring vigor and success with which he carried on the war against his countrymen made him one of the Viceroy's favor- ites, so that in a short time he attained an independent command and
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