CHARACTER OF ITURBIDE. 



40 



one of the rights which she possesses over the 

 aforesaid colonies. 



" 3d, That government be charged to preserve, 

 by all possible means, and reinforce with all speed, 

 those points in the American provinces which still 

 remain united with the mother-country, obedient 

 to her authority, and opposed to the malcontents ; 

 proposing to the Cortes such resources as it may 

 require, and which it has not at its own disposal." 



This was undoubtedly what Iturbide, knowing 

 the temper of the court of Madrid, had expected. 

 The Mexican Congress, together with the inhabit- 

 ants and the troops, immediately decided, " That 

 by the foregoing declaration of Spain the Mexican 

 nation was freed from the obligations of the treaty 

 of Cordova, as far as Spain was concerned ; and 

 that as, by the third article, the constitutional 

 Congress were left at liberty, in such event, to 

 name an emperor — they thought fit, in conse- 

 quence, not only in persuance of their own opinion 

 but in accordance with the voice of the people, to 

 elect Don Augustin de Iturbide the First, consti- 

 tutional emperor of Mexico, on the basis pro- 

 claimed in the Plan of Iguala, which had already 

 been received throughout the empire." 



The Congress of Mexico issued a manifesto to 

 the people on the elevation of Iturbide to the 

 throne. Most of it consists of mere words and 

 declamation ; but there is one paragraph evidently 

 written from real feeling — at least it exactly defines 

 Iturbide's character, such as it was generally re- 

 presented in Mexico while I was in that country. 

 The passage is as follows : — 



" His love of liberty, his disinterestedness, his 

 dexterity, and political skill in uniting conflicting 

 interests, his capability in affairs of state, were so 

 many attractions to call forth your admiration, and 

 to excite the interest and affection which you have 

 professed for his person from the time he com- 

 menced his glorious career." 



The Emperor and the Congress did not long 

 agree. Conspiracies were formed amongst the 

 members ; arrests and trials took place, and vio- 

 lent resolutions were passed ; public business was 

 entirely neglected, and the Congress gave them- 

 selves up to personal squabbles and recriminations 

 against the Emperor. At length, on the 30th of 

 October 1 822, Iturbide dissolved the assembly by 

 force, and formed a new one, called the Instituent 

 Junta, consisting of forty -five members of the Con- 

 gress. An insurrection shortly afterwards broke 

 out, under an officer of the name of Santana, a 

 strenuous republican ; and a document, known by 

 the name of the " Act of Casa Mata," was pub- 

 lished on the 1st of February 1823 by the chiefs 

 of that insurrection. By this act, it was decided 

 that the Congress should be reassembled notwith- 

 standing their dissolution by the emperor ; but the 

 chiefs took upon them to proscribe certain depu- 

 ties, and directed the provinces to elect members 

 more suitable to their views. Iturbide, feeling 

 himself unequal to resist the tide of republicanism 

 which was setting against him, and not choosing 

 to hold his authority under these chiefs, reassem- 

 bled the Congress, abdicated the throne, and re- 

 quested permission to retire from the country. 

 His presence, as he states in his pamphlet, might 

 have proved prejudicial to the country, by exciting 

 the people to civil war. 



[PART II.] 



" There will not be wanting persons," says he, 

 " who will charge me with a want of foresight, 

 and with weakness in reinstating a congress, of 

 whose defects I was aware, and the members of 

 which will always continue to be my determined 

 enemies. My reason for so acting was this : I 

 wished to leave in existence some acknowledged 

 authority, knowing that the convocation of another 

 congress would have required time ; and circum- 

 stances did not admit of any delay. Had I taken 

 any other course, anarchy would inevitably have 

 ensued, upon the different parties showing them- 

 selves, and the result would have been the disso- 

 lution of the state. It was my wish to make this 

 last sacrifice for my country."* 



Iturbide, thus forced to leave Mexico, accord- 

 ingly went to Italy, where he resided till the end 

 of 1823, when he came over to England. On the 

 11th of May 1824, he again sailed for Mexico 

 from Southampton, having been urgently solicited 

 to do so by his countrymen, " who," to use his 

 own words, " considered his presence as necessary 

 to the establishment of unanimity there, and to 

 the existence of government, "f The result proved, 

 that Iturbide's decision was unwise : — that it was 

 patriotic and disinterested, I have not the smallest 

 doubt ; and as yet there has not appeared the 

 least reason for suspecting that his views had any 

 other object than the service of his native country, 

 Mexico, and of resistance to Spain, or any other 

 nation which might seek to reconquer that country. 



The following is the most distinct account which 

 I have been able to collect of Iturbide's proceed- 

 ings, up to their fatal termination : — 



Iturbide was called to London from Italy by 

 many reasons, which he considered important to 

 the Mexican nation ; he believed that his presence 

 in Mexico was the only means of uniting the many 

 divided opinions, and of organising an army which 

 could oppose the invasion which Spain would pro- 

 bably attempt as soon as Ferdinand VII. should 

 be re-established in the plenitude of his power, by 

 the assistance of France and other nations. Itur- 

 bide was of this opinion, in relation to the ex- 

 pected invasion, and being desirous of assisting his 

 country, even at the sacrifice of all that was dear 

 to him, he sent for his family, then at Leghorn, 

 and in the mean time busied himself in making the 

 necessary preparations for his voyage ; — such as 

 procuring a vessel, borrowing money, seeking for 

 a fit person to conduct him to Mexico, and other 

 arrangements. 



As soon as his family arrived, he placed his six 

 eldest sons at proper schools, and with his wife, his 

 two youngest sons, two chaplains, a nephew, two 

 strangers, (one of whom had before been in his ser- 

 vice in Mexico,) and four servants, he embarked 

 at Southampton in the brig Spring, ou the 1 1 th of 

 May 1824. 



On the 12th of July he arrived off the Bar of 

 Soto la Marina, at which time he was necessarily 

 ignorant of the decree of the Mexican government, 

 dated the 28th of April, since it was published only 

 thirteen days before he left England. By this de- 

 cree, he was declared to be " a traitor out of the 

 pale of the law, and liable to be instantly put to 

 death, if he should set foot on the territory of the 

 Mexican Federation." Neither was he aware in 



* Iturbide's Statement, p. 88, published in London. 



t Preface to Iturbide's Statement p. 15. 



