226
TEXAS STATE LIBRARY
to communicate. Thus Congress convened on the 3rd of April, and while it was busy discussing the propriety of ·~dmitting the Command- er-in-Chief to their Councils the Commander-in-Chief knocked at the door. He was permitted to enter in company with other members of the Regency for the purpose of avoiding a scandalous break which would result should he be repulsed. To the surprise of all, Ya.fies, one of the members of the regency in whose name the summons had been sent, arose and exclaimed: "For what has the assembly been con- vened? The regency ignores it. Iturbide has done it upon his own responsibility to carry out his ambitious plans. I protest, therefore, against this usurpation and denounce its motives." This brings to our mind the bold accusation which was made of Robespierre in the national convention of France when he asked: "Who dares to accuse me?" " 'I accuse you,' exclaimed the intrepid Tallien." At Yaiiez' energetic and unexpected attack the exasperated Commander-in-Chief answered: "You are a traitor to our country, and a personal enemy to me; and there are still others of the ~ame character in this body. "Name them ! Accuse them !" was heard to resound from various parts of the hall. "I will,'' answered Iturbide, "they are Fagoaga, Tagle, Odoardo, Carrasco and others." This produced a general commotion. The accused representatives immediately left the hall and shortly after- ward the regency retired, leaving the assembly in great confusion. Iturbide did not gain anything by this fight. He did not state the important matters which he had to communicate, and he only played the part of an accuser without being able to prove his charges. These light and unfounded things having taken place the representatives took their seats in the assembly on the following day. As a result of this incident there was a change in the regency. A few clays later new members were appointed, with the exception of Iturbide and Yaiiez, who remained in office, the former because of his influence in the army, ancl the latter, because he was not only friendly to the Commander-in-Chief, but also because it was known that he was a man of integrity and energy. We will state no more particulars of this fight. It ended with the bayonet. There remains no doubt that from the beginning Iturbide was determined to ascend the throne. As soon as the royal family of Spain refused the crown of Mexico he considered himself the legiti- mate monarch of the nation ancl resolved to obtain the diadem at any cost. He disdained to acquire it by force, thinking that he could ob- tain it by the popularity which he had acquired in liberating the coun- try. We believe that he deceived himself in this, although Mr. Zavala maintains the contrary. Conceding him all that we can in this par- ticular we do not yet waver in our belief that it is very doubtful whether he could have attained his end by the popular vote of the nation. The Spaniards would have preferred the ruin of the coun- try to his promotion, and the Creoles, although justly appreciative of his having realized their independence, would have preferred some one else than him to occupy the throne, in view of his past atrocities and crimes, which, though forgotten for the moment, were now being re- called to mind. We believe that Iturbide himself was convinced of this and also of the fact that his prestige was diminishing daily. Con-
Powered by FlippingBook