2S6 



MEXICAN 



classes ; and by a thousand other ingenious ma- 

 noeuvresj the people were gradually taught to as- 

 sociate their present freedom with Iturbide'^s cele- 

 brated Plan of Iguala, and thence, by an easy 

 transition, to look to him, individually, for their 

 future prosperity. 



The Mexican Cortes, or Sovereign Constituent 

 Congress, finally met on the 24th of February 

 1 822, and one of their first, if not their very first 

 act, was an edict, permitting all who chose it to 

 leave the country, and allowing the export of spe- 

 cie at a duty of only three and a half per cent. 

 This good faith, for it had been long before pro- 

 mised by Iturbide, gave great confidence to the 

 mercantile capitalists, and probably decided many 

 to remain in the country, who, had they been less 

 at liberty to go, would have felt less desirous of 

 remaining. 



A rumour was also circulated at this time, 

 that the Inquisition, which had been abolished, 

 by the Constitution before Ferdinand'^s release 

 from France, might probably be re-established, 

 — a prospect which was no less grateful to the 

 hopes of the clergy, than a free export of specie 



