440 SPAMISH AMERICA. 



took advantage of their dissensions, and in 

 the following December he dissolved the 

 Congress by force, vesting the supreme au- 

 thority in himself and two others. Their 

 power, however, did not last long. Calleja 

 was succeeded as Viceroy by Don Juan R. 

 de Apodaca, who adopted a policy which, 

 had it been generally acted upon by the 

 authorities of the mother-country in Spanish 

 America, might undoubtedly at different pe- 

 riods have been highly successful, — that of 

 conciliation, instead of establishing a reign 

 of terror ; and the consequence was, that in 

 Mexico the patriot cause lost ground. Ge- 

 neral Mina landed at Matagorda towards 

 the latter end of 1816, and obtained for a 

 time several advantages; but in 1819 the 

 efforts of the patriots had become very fee- 

 ble, and their hopes seemed to be nearly 

 extinguished. 



Apodaca, who still continued Viceroy, re- 

 ceived orders, about the middle of 1820, to 



