50 



ITURBIDE RETURNS TO MEXICO. 



what light a communication had been received, 

 addressed by him from London, under date of the 

 13th February, to the Mexican Congress, offering 

 his services as a simple military man, should the 

 nation deem them useful ; and that, for the further- 

 ance of this object, he had departed from Italy, in 

 the month of November 1823. 



He accordingly caused Lieutenant- Colonel Don 

 Charles Beneski to go to Soto la Marina and ob- 

 tain information, charging him particularly to ascer- 

 tain if General Don Felipe de la Garza was in that 

 province, as he had left him at his departure. This 

 general was the first who, while Iturbide was em- 

 peror in Mexico, proclaimed the republic in the 

 province of Santander ; but troops having marched 

 against him, he abandoned those who had followed 

 him, and presented himself to Iturbide, who par- 

 doned him, spared his life, and reinstated him in 

 his honours and employment. In return for this 

 generous action, Iturbide, no doubt, thought that 

 Garza would be grateful, and protect his landing, 

 and assist his subsequent operations. 



Beneski returned on the morning of the 1 6th of 

 July, without having discovered how much Itur- 

 bide was in danger, but rather bringing favourable 

 information, which, added to the knowledge that 

 Garza commanded in that quarter, made him de- 

 termined to land the same evening, attended only 

 by this officer. He instructed the other persons 

 who remained on board, attached to him, to hold 

 themselves in readiness to follow as soon as they 

 should be ordered to do so. They then proceeded 

 to the first town, where they were to take horses, 

 and Beneski set about procuring them. Iturbide 

 remained in the boat near the river side, with his 

 face covered to his nose with his handkerchief, a 

 disguise which he used, because he wished to pre- 

 sent himself before Garza by surprise, and, until 

 then, not to be recognised. This circumstance, 

 however, called the attention of the people, who 

 were struck with his appearance, and among those 

 who drew near to see him was a merchant of Du- 

 rango, who recognised him as he mounted his 

 horse. He immediately informed the Alcalde, who 

 sent four soldiers to follow Iturbide to a town 

 called Los Arroyos, where he intended to pass the 

 day, and thence proceed by night to Soto la Ma- 

 rina. The soldiers remained quiet and said nothing 

 in his presence. Several communications as to what 

 was going on had been sent to Garza, and on the 

 evening of the 16th, this general, with two adju- 

 tants and eight soldiers, arrived at the place where 

 Iturbide was. They embraced each other, and after 

 a secret conference, they all set out for the town of 

 Soto la Marina, where they arrived on the morning 

 of the 17th. 



Iturbide and Beneski were immediately put in 

 prison, and at twelve o'clock of that day one of 

 Garza's adjutants came to announce to them the 

 sentence of death, agreeably to the decree of pro- 

 scription which the Congress had passed on the 

 '2Sth of April, the very day on which they received 

 and read his exposition of the 13th of February. 

 The adjutant informed them that at three o'clock 

 that afternoon the sentence would be put in execu- 

 tion. Iturbide requested that three days might 

 be allowed him, to arrange his family and other 

 concerns, although, before he left the brig, he had 



made sonic dispositions, in the event of his dying 



before he could rejoin his friends. 



As Garza wished to save Iturbide's life, he de- 

 clared to the local authorities, that the law which 

 condemned him to death ought not to attaint him, 

 if he were totally ignorant, as he must have been, 

 of its existence ; and therefore ordered that they 

 should go to Padilla where the National Congress 

 was assembled, and where this circumstance would, 

 of course, be taken into consideration. The whole 

 party, therefore, set out with an escort of about 

 one hundred militia, no regular troops being there, 

 at three o'clock in the afternoon, and without stop- 

 ping they travelled until the morning of the 1 8th, 

 during which time Iturbide and Garza had fre- 

 quent and long conferences, the object of which no 

 doubt was, that Garza should call a meeting of 

 the officers, put them under the command of Itur- 

 bide, and harangue the troops, exhorting them to 

 follow the only person who could save the country 

 and make them happy. They all agreed to this, 

 and Garza returned to Soto la Marina, with the 

 intention of making the necessary arrangements 

 for the new operations. But on his arrival there, 

 he received letters from the inhabitants, disap- 

 proving of his conduct. This determined him to re- 

 turn immediately to the place where Iturbide was. 



Iturbide had proceeded towards Padilla, and on 

 his approach to that city sent an officer to the Presi- 

 dent of the Congress, begging him to call a meeting 

 of that body, and soliciting him, in the name of his 

 country, to listen to the reasons which had induced 

 him to return to Mexico ; assuring him, at the 

 same time, of his determination to obey the will 

 of the nation without any restriction whatsoever. \ 



While waiting for an answer to this communi- 

 cation, Garza, who had just returned, approached 

 him, and said it would be necessary for him to 

 enter as a prisoner, until he, Garza, could speak 

 to the Congress. To this Iturbide consented, and 

 at eight o'clock on the morning of the 19th they 

 all entered Padilla together. Here Iturbide was 

 put under a guard of twenty men and an officer, 

 and conducted to one of the first houses of the 

 town. Garza then Avent to the Congress, where he 

 found assembled the seven voters who then com- 

 posed that body. He immediately addressed them, 

 and dwelt with much force on the reasons which 

 ought to induce them to save Iturbide — stating as 

 the principal one, that on coming ashore he knew 

 nothing, and, indeed, could know nothing, of the 

 decree, which was the only one against him ; and, 

 therefore, that he ought to be allowed to embark 

 again with his family ; of course under the obliga- 

 tion of not returning to the territory of the Mexi- 

 can republic. 



But this body, composed of men not the most 

 enlightened in the world, and only lately placed in 

 such high stations, were unmoved by these argu- 

 ments, and would give no other decision but that 

 he must die forthwith, agreeably to the act of Con- 

 gress ; and imperiously ordered Garza to have 

 him shot on the same afternoon. 



While Garza was thus addressing the assembly 

 to so little purpose, Iturbide was busied in writing 

 a third exposition to the general Congress of 

 Mexico, in which he recapitulated the many ser- 

 vices he had rendered the nation, since he had 

 proclaimed the Independence at Iguala ; together 

 with a detailed examination of his public conduct, 

 in which he could not perceive what atrocious 

 crime he had committed to deserve the punishment 



