257
PAPERS OF MIRABEAU BuoNAPARTE LAMAR
was a very bold undertaking, but stimulated by neQessity and love, he attempted it and came out victorious. In order to understand the location of San Francisco it will be sufficient to state that this convent and that of Santo Domingo were situated at opposite ends of the city, one on the east side and one on the west, so that Rincon, who was in possession of the city, could com- mand both convents. In spite of the obstacles, and without consider- ing the consequences, our hero left Santo Domingo with 250 men, skirted the city and reached the convent shortly after midnight with- out encountering any obstacle, and succeeded in entering it at the rear, taking with him a portion of his troops and leaving the remainder outside to forestall a surprise, as well as to prevent anyone on the inside from escaping. The first thing he did was to awaken the people in the convent and separate the men and women, placing the formel' in one cloister and the latter in another, but we do not know what object he had in doing this. As the principal purpose of this visit was to take possession of the convent's treasures, it was to be supposed that after obtaining his end l].e would have returned with all possible speed to Santo Domingo, taking with him not only his spoils, but also his sweetheart; but in- ~tead of this, he remained in the convent during the remainder of the night, and passed the hours happily in the company of his darling. At dawn he made some of his soldiers dress · as priests, placed them in conspicuous parts of the convent, and ordered the bells to ring before seven in the morning. The church was filled with people going to hear mass, among them many of Rincon's soldiers, and it is even said that Rincon himself was on the point of going. The doors were open in order that all might enter, but no one was permitted to leave. We cannot guess the motive of this foolhardiness unless it was to bring his adversary to the church and make him a prisoner. If this was not the reason, it was another of the peculiar and natural follies of Santa Anna. Rincon did not know that Santa Anna was in possession of San Francisco until one o'clock, when he was informed of it by· some boys who had noticed that none of those who had entered the church had come out. Nothing would have been easier than to capture Santa Anna at this moment, but Rincon, although he had three thousand men, instead of moving against him, was content to work on the defensive, making some trenches to assure himself against an attack from his adversary who did not have more than an insignificant force of 250 men with him. Santa Anna spent the day delightfully in the church among the women, but not without scandalizing some and offending many. At two o'clock in the morning he left the church, permitting the people to do likewise, and returned to Santo Domingo by a dif- ferent road from the one by which he had come, taking with him as fruits of his glorious exploit 200 ounces of gold, 500 pesos in silver, together with agates, diamonds, pearls and precious stones amounting to a vast sum. He dedicated the silver to the use of his soldiers, but retained the gold and jewels which he afterwards used as his own; notwithstanding this fact, at the end of the campaign he ordered every- thing to be paid for out of the public treasury, pretending that those
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