Continued Foreign. Intrigues and Tunnoil, 1813-1818
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being hatched in New Orleans, Philadelphia and Baltimore against the power of Spain in America. Mina spurned an offer from the Minister of the Indies to command an expeditionary force being readied to put down all resistance in the Spanish colonies. Instead, he fled to the mountains of Aragon, where he gathered his forces to lead a revolt against arbitrary government. Mina was soon forced to flee to France. Once more he was imprisoned at Bayonne, only to escape again. He went to England, where he was soon given a special pension by the English Government. There he met numerous refugees from the Spanish colonies. The intense concern in the schemes for liberating their respective countries displayed by the English merchants was prompted by the same sordid motives of cupidity as had influenced the New Orleans Associates. It was Father Servando Teresa de Mier, renowned Mexican Revolu- tionist, who converted Mina to the cause of the independence of New Spain. The schemers met in the stately home of Lord Holland with General Winfield Scott, who showed more than a passing interest in their plans. The General, who one day was to raise the flag of the United States over the palace of Chapultepec, gave Mina a letter of reference to Dr. William Thornton, head of the Patent Office in Washington and an ardent supporter of the movement for independence in the Spanish colonies. By May, 1816, Mina and his friends were ready to set out on their great adventure. With the financial assistance of the English merchants he purchased and equipped the Caled,mia, obtained an ample supply of muskets, nine cannon, a printing press, and a new uniform resplendent with the gold braid of a general. On June 20 he landed in Norfolk. Mina, Mier, and a Mr. Anderson hurried to Washington, where they met Dr. Pedro Gual, of Venezuela. It seems Mina saw General Scott again. Be that as it may, a large number of young army officers flocked to join the expedition. He next transferred his activities to Baltimore, where he also found many friends. He now sent a formal invitation to Simon Bolivar to help him liberate Mexico, promising that when the task was accomplished, he would return the favor by helping Bolivar complete the liberation of South America. Dennis and Alexander Smith, prominent business men of Baltimore, fitted out the Catypso and backed the expedition to the extent of more than $100,000. Joseph Bonaparte, who had recently arrived in Philadelphia, and against whom Mina had fought so desperately, now gave the plotters letters of credit on London for another $100,000. Preparations were carried on openly and in flagrant
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