MEXICO. 



491 



of any serious disturbance in the future. There 

 is only one insignificant rebellion in the moun- 

 tains of the State of Puebla, which will soon 

 be subdued and which gives no cause for alarm. 

 The financial situation is also satisfactory. 

 President Juarez is well and has great confi- 

 dence in the future." 



About the first of August, General Jesus 

 Gonzales Ortega was released from confine- 

 ment by order of the executive authority of 

 the General Government, and soon after pub- 

 lished a proclamation, by which, in view of the 

 general acquiescence of the people in the ex- 

 isting state of things, he resigns the "titles 

 and constitutional powers with which the vote 

 of the people " had invested him as "President 

 of the Supreme Court of Justice, and President 

 ad interim of the Republic." The following are 

 his closing words with which he took leave of 

 the stormy sphere in public life which he had 

 held so many years : 



I renounce these [titles and powers], and return 

 them unhurt and without stain to those same people, 

 as the power of the past and present events and the 

 peace of the country demand it. There is no embar- 

 rassment in returning to the obscurity of private life 

 accompanied by a calmness and tranquillity of my 

 conscience after this boisterous and lengthy struggle, 

 leaving no pretext for a civil war by submitting, as I 

 have submitted, in the character of a citizen only, to 

 the authorities and functionaries now in office, to the 

 end that from the semblance of the existing order of 

 things the patriotism of good Mexicans may be able 

 to establish the peace, liberty, progress, and well- 

 being of our toiling Eepublic. No unpatriotic caprice, 

 no ignoble or groundless ambition has caused me to 

 defend with the force of truth and reason and not by 

 the power of arms the embarrassed cause on whose side 

 I am found to-day. I have loyally defended that which 

 my oath of office required me to. The fulfilment of 

 my promises was made necessary to the national 

 honor. Besides, I have always seen in the depth of 

 my conscience that I have defended the best of causes; 

 I have abdicated it when the entire nation so exacts 

 by a multitude of events, which it has sanctioned. In 

 abdicating it I have adopted the means which appear 

 more in harmony with the public interest. 



Honest, patriotic and disinterested have been my 

 intentions ; honest, patriotic and disinterested they 

 are now. May the God of the universe know my 

 sincerity that they may contribute to ^ the happiness 

 of the beloved soil which gave me birth. I should 

 be ashamed if any ignoble passion were sheltered in 

 my heart, if therein room be given for any vulgar 

 sentiment against these men and their acts. And I 

 should be still more ashamed when I know that the 

 torrent of these latter almost always overthrows the 

 first by means that are unknown and even involun- 

 tary. Mexicans ! I swear to this my last official 

 word, I will omit no sacrifice, not even to look for a 

 foreign asylum or tomb, if it be necessary, in order 

 that the vows may be realized which I have this day 

 made in behalf of the peace of Mexico. No sacrifice 

 will be evaded if from such sacrifice there may result 

 to my country honor and prestige at home, honor and 

 prestige before the illustrious nations ^ of the globe, 

 tfonor and prestige in the present and in history. 

 JESUS GONZALES OKTEGA. 



SALTILLO, August 19, 1868. 



Another officer, formerly connected with 

 movements in opposition to the government 

 of Juarez, was released from prison at about 

 the same time with Ortega, and soon met 

 with a fate which created a profound sensation 



throughout the country. This was General 

 J. M. Patoni, who, on the 2d of August, only 

 one or two days after his release from prison, 

 was called from his bed at a hotel in Durango, 

 and shot by a platoon of soldiers, acting, as is 

 alleged, under the orders of General Canto, an 

 officer of the Republic and a member of the na- 

 tional Congress. This cold-blooded assassina- 

 tion, prompted as is supposed by revenge, crea- 

 ted great excitement in Durango, and the Legis- 

 lature of that State found it necessary to pub- 

 lish a proclamation, for the satisfaction of the 

 citizens, "representing to the people, the nation, 

 and the whole world, that none of the author- 

 ities of this State had the least participation in 

 this nefarious crime, nor the opportune knowl- 

 edge to have prevented it." It was also prom- 

 ised that when the criminals were discovered 

 they should be "delivered up to the arm of 

 justice, in order that upon them may be visit- 

 ed the full punishment of their crime." The 

 public was not long in fixing suspicion upon 

 General Canto, then in command in Durango, 

 and a delegation from the Legislature of the 

 State was sent up to the capital so'on after the 

 opening of Congress to prefer charges against 

 him before that body, as the laws of the coun- 

 try grant inviolability of person and property 

 to any member of Congress until his fellow- 

 members shall have examined into the charges 

 against him, and pronounced upon them. The 

 matter was before Congress until the close of 

 the year, and early in January, 1869, General 

 Canto was surrendered to the criminal court 

 of Durango for trial and punishment, and a 

 pension of $2,000 a year was settled on the 

 widow of Patoni. 



The Mexican Congress assembled on the 

 16th of September for its regular session, as 

 designated by the Constitution. In his address 

 to the deputies, President Juarez used the fol- 

 lowing language with reference to recent revo- 

 lutionary outbreaks : 



At the end of the last session of Congress there was 

 pending the campaign of the Sierra of Puebla, for the 

 suppression of those who had there rebelled against 

 the State authorities. For some time the Executive 



but finally, in compliance with his constitutional ob- 

 ligations, he aided actively the authorities of that 

 State. This rebellion was quickly surpressed by 

 the same happy means which were employed in com- 

 bating those who before rebelled against the local au- 

 thorities in other States. There have been but few 

 disturbances and but little to apprehend after a civil 

 and foreign war which has so profoundly and for so 

 long a time disturbed the nation. There now remains 

 only a band, not very numerous, which has rebelled 

 against the local governmen^ in Tamaulipas, and 

 which cannot possibly result in any danger to that 

 State where peace will be secured by ample forces of 

 the federation. All the States enjoy the fruits of con- 

 stitutional rule. The difficulties which took place in 

 Guerrero having been pacified, the people have been 

 called together that they may exercise full liberty in 

 the State elections. Tepic is jet kept as a military 

 district in consequence of special circumstances, but 

 it is to be hoped that very soon Congress will take 

 up the matter and decide what it considers most 

 proper. If the valor and loyalty of the military 

 forces of the Union deserve just praise for having put 



