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:secuted, imprisoned and dispersed by force, and who were now revested with power while he himself was begging ' at·-their feet. He tried to talk, but being confused and embarrassed he could only proffer a few words in confessing his errors, of which he considered the dissolving of that body the greatest. He had nothing else to do but to state that he was disposed to recognize their authority, to allow them to work without any restraint, and to renounce the throne in obedience to the will of the nation. Iturbide's great fault was that he did not wish to govern in the name of the people; that he wished to be stronger than they and to make his will the supreme law-a despotism which reason ·and justice contradicted and which can only be acquired by tyranny. It is no wonder, then, that when the clay of surrender arrived there were very few who sympathized with him in his loss of power. Calling the old Congress did no good. Deserted by his friends, attacked by his ene- mies, and hated by the nation, he was forced to tender his abdication to Congress which he did on the 19th of March, 1823. However, that ·body did not accept the resignation for the reason that it might be interpreted as the recognition of a right to the thing delivered. These were the events which had taken place when the liberating army entered the Capital on the 21th of March. The triumphant party called together the old Congress without referring to Iturbicle's call, and in the shadow of the army and with the approbation of the prov- inces continued working until the 8th of April, when that body put an e.nd to the question by issuing a decree declaring the coronation of Iturbide null and void; commanding the expulsion of that man from the country; and assigning him an annual pension of twenty- five thousand pesos during life and his family eight thousand pesos annually after his decease. In accordance with this decree he was ·-escorted by General Bravo to the coast where he embarked on the 11th of l\iay, 1823 for Liorna in a ship prepared by the Government for that purpose. The rest of Iturbide's history is melancholy and sad, and we will ·refer to it without devoting much time to it in writing. Stimulated by a natural desire to return to his native land, but more than all by the dreams of ambition and glory which traversed his imagination, on the 20th of April be embarked at Liorna for London, from where he returned to the coast of Mexico. Congress, informed of his move- ments, issued a decree of proscription on April 28, 1824, condemning him to death in the event that he should return to the country. Hur- lbide was already at sea when that decree was issued, and, consequently, ,did not know the fate which awaited him upon his arrival. His fatal :star directed him to Soto de la Marina where he was imprisoned by •General Garza, who was in command at that place. He was conducted to Padilla, and executed on July 10, 1824, ten days after his landing. Such is the life and death of this unfortunate commander whose early career was stained with the blood of his fellow countrymen and whose subsequent history was marked with a lawless ambition which greatly exceeded his talents. The gratitude which the people owed him as the liberator of the country he lost as a usurper. He secured the country's independence and then trampled upon its liberty wi,th profane feet. Now that the struggle is over, it would be well to learn the real
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