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 MANIFESTO 
 
 OF 
 
 ; O 
 
 GENERAL COMONEOET, 
 
 IN DEFENCE QF HIS POLICY 
 
 DURING HIS ADxllNISTRATION 
 
 IN 
 
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 NEW-YORK : 
 
 S. Hallet, Printer, 107 Fulton Street. 
 1858. 
 
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POLICY OF 
 
 SENERAL COMONFORT 
 
 During Ms Administration in Mexico- 
 
 Thrown on a foreign shore by the pohtical storms of my native 
 country, far removed from the whirlwinds of passion now raging 
 in her, and an entire stranger to the contiicts of parties which are 
 rending her to pieces, the time has arrived when I should explain 
 to my fellow-countrymen and to the world at large the motives of 
 my conduct during my boisterous administration, the political idea 
 which at all times guided the acts of my government, and why the 
 efforts which I made to give peace and liberty to the Republic 
 were rendered fruitless. 
 
 When I left Mexico in February of the present year, I knew full 
 well, that I left behind me a spirit of party which would persecute 
 me with its calumnies even in a foreign land ; but I determined to 
 keep silent, hoping that in course of time the passions would be 
 calmed, and that at a more remote day when that agitation had 
 subsided, my voice would be listened to with less prejudice, and 
 my words would be better understood. 
 
 I have to this time kept my purpose, notwithstanding that the 
 attacks of my enemies have more than once tempted me to swerve 
 from it. But, as I perceive, that their malignities are incessant, 
 and that deceit and calumny continue with relentless tenacity to 
 throw their envenomed shafts against me, it is high time that I 
 should break a silence which has not served to protect me from 
 unjust accusations ; and which, moreover, may be unfavorably in- 
 terpreted. I believe, on the other hand, that the period of my 
 administration has been fruitful in wholesome lessons for my coun- 
 try, and that I should no longer hesitate in directing them to the 
 attention of my fellow-countrymen, inasmuch, as by performing 
 that duty, I defend the honor of my person and of my principles, 
 responding triumphantly to those who have taken pleasure in revil- 
 ing me. 
 
 1 might confide my defence to the contradictory criminations of 
 which I am the object, as the best justification I could give of my 
 policy — emanating as they do, from the persons who have caused 
 the misfortunes of my country. I might present myself before the 
 parties, covered with the anathemas of the factions — accused by 
 one of being a retrogradist, because I did not trample the social 
 elements under my feet ; persecuted by another as a demagogue, 
 because I held in my hand the banner of liberty : and I know full 
 well, that this would suflSce to induce the impartiality and good 
 
fuitb of public opinion to do me justice, and to silence my detrac- 
 tors with shame. I also might abstain from all explanation, and 
 nnswer with my silence the injustice of passion, if a personal vindi- 
 cation was the only thing at stake ; because, compared with the 
 misfortunes of a whole people, the sorrows of any individual of 
 them is of little value. 
 
 But this is not the only object; the object is to vindicate ideas, 
 M'hich are sustained by history, the lessons of experience, and the 
 march of centuries ; ideas which are the partial dogmas of the pre- 
 sent generation, and are to be the social condition of generations 
 to come. And it is my duty as a public man, and the duty of my 
 conscience as a citizen, to give the necessary explanations, that my 
 contemporaries, as well as posterity, may have a data by which to 
 judge me ; and that they may not consider as vain and sterile, be- 
 cause it has had the misfortune to fail in the first essay that has 
 been made of it, an idea which may save the Eepublic at a future 
 day. 
 
 In the national movement which commenced at Ayutla in 1854, 
 it was my lot to figure as one of its first leaders: that revolution 
 having triumphed in September of the following year, I had to act 
 an important part in the government which was then formed : and 
 at a later day, when the first leader of the revolution of Ayutla 
 saw that he could not arrest the storm which was gathering against 
 his administration, and that public opinion pointed to me as the 
 person to replace him, the weight of the supreme power fell upon 
 my shoulders. 
 
 My name being invoked at that time as a pledge of conciliation 
 for the parties ; of security for the cause of order and progress ; 
 and of tranquility for the whole Republic, my advent to power in 
 December of 1855, was a signal of pacification and concord: the 
 movements which had already been initiated against the preceding 
 administration, ceased at once ; those who had taken up arms and 
 raised the standard of rebellion, abandoned their hostile attitude; 
 the discontent which on all sides had began to spread, was calmed, 
 and the general'^uneasiness which existed, was converted into a 
 general hope. This was the first effect of my inauguration to the 
 Presidency, because a hope was entertained by the nation that my 
 government would not be the government of a faction, nor even of 
 a party, but a government independent of all parties, and iniiriical 
 to all factions. 
 
 Three different ways of action presented themselves to me : 
 
 1st. To leave things in the same state in which they w^re at the 
 time the revolution of Ayutla triumphed. 
 
2nd. To throw myself into the arras of the revolutionary 
 principle, and introduce all the innovations exacted by it. 
 
 3rd. To undertake in a prudent manner the reforms claimed by 
 a liberal opinion. 
 
 But the first of these three ways, was an absurdity and a crime : 
 the 2nd, was do less an absurdity and iniquity; and I could no 
 more act upon either of them, than a man can act against the evi- 
 dence of his own conscience, or the governor against the rights, 
 the interests, and the opinions of the governed. 
 
 To act upon the first plan, it would have been necessary to des- 
 troy what had already been done when I took the reins of govern- 
 ment in my hands ; and at that time the hberal revolutionary par- 
 ty had been converted into a government, and that government 
 had already advanced greatly in an entirely opposite direction to 
 the former dictatorship. Waiving for the present the immense dif- 
 ficulties which would have attended the undoing of what was done» 
 I would have destroyed my antecedents, and forfeited my word by 
 attempting it, and would have placed myself before my fellow-citi- 
 zens as the leader of a new revolution, without an excuse, being 
 without a cause and without an object. 
 
 By leaving things in the same state, I would have gratified the 
 men who had just lallen, but it would have been at the cost of be- 
 ing disgraced in the opinion of all parties, and pass for an infamous 
 Protheus, for whom an oath was but a vain word, and principles 
 but a mere chimera The Conservatives would have regarded me 
 only as the condnuator of a policy, which enhghtened men of that 
 party openly condemned ; because, by invoking their principles 1 
 would have inj ured them. By the Liberals I would have been looked 
 upon as a refractory, perfidious, disloyal man, staining with black 
 treason my opinions, my companions and my friends. In this manner 
 I would most assuredly have prolonged the civil war, because the 
 men of Ayutla finding themselves deceived, would have risen again, 
 to continue against the restorer of despotism that struggle in which 
 they had triumphed; the nation would have supported them as it 
 did before ; and the new despot could not have sustained himself 
 long, having against him the evidence of his own conscience and 
 the opinion of all honorable men. Tue result would have been to 
 delay the triumph of the liberal revolution, and to increase the 
 dangers of its being converted into a bloody and disastrous reac- 
 tion. I would have involved my country in new calamities, and 
 would have been covered with public disgrace ; this was an absurd- 
 ity and a crime, against which good sense and conscience revolt- 
 ed. 
 
To submit my policy to all the exigencies of the revolutionary 
 element, was a step which offered no less difficulties for my honor 
 and the peace of the Eepubhc than the former. To innovate 
 everything suddenly, without consideration to any right, to any 
 interest, to any opinion, nor to any class, it was necessary that I 
 should do what in other countries great popular commotions 
 during short but violent paroxisms had done, I would have 
 had to engage in a desperate struggle, not only with the classes 
 affected by the revolution, but with the whole people who are 
 interested in opposing such confusion. If I was to personify 
 the rash, inconsiderate blind passions of a violent innovating revo- 
 lutionary movement ; if I was to overthrow all that was ancient 
 without listening to the cries of those who adhered to them, re- 
 gardless of those who might be buried under the ruins, I would 
 have been obliged to do as these revolutions do, when, like a tor- 
 nado, they pass over a people — launch with one hand the revolu- 
 tionary battering-ram, and wield with the other the poignard of 
 the demagogue ; because those who destroy old and respected in- 
 stitutions, always encounter formidable resistance, and have to in- 
 crease the number of victims in proportion to the amount of ruins 
 they accumulate. "Well, then, governments which deserve the 
 name of government, never do such things ; it is never done by 
 men who are considered just. If the modern world owes anything 
 to these tremendous climaxes, executed by a thoughtless mob, 
 though they are at times the result of despair produced by oppres- 
 sive governments ; they have been, nevertheless, great iniquities, 
 nor can they in any case be adopted as a political system. If I had 
 acted thus, I would not only have raised against me the animad- 
 version of my country, openly opposing the sentiments of human- 
 ity, which forms its distinctive character, but would have thrown 
 a stain on the cause of liberty, for which I had fought, and for 
 whose benefit the power which I exercised had been given me. — 
 In any case, civil war would have been prolonged, and a wide door 
 opened for the most violent reaction to invade the Eepublic. 
 
 Between these two extremes, there was a prudent and just 
 means by which the country could attain its wishes, and this was 
 the adoption of a prudent reform, which, satisfying the just de- 
 mands of the liberal revolution, should not openly jar with the 
 good conservative principles, nor with the customs and religious 
 opinions of the people. 
 
 The principal mission of my government was to remove pretexts 
 for a reaction, and nothing was better calculated to effect this end 
 than to reform what already existed in order to preserve it, and to 
 
advance in the path of progress without precipitancy and without 
 violence. I thought then, as I always have thought, that the 
 cause of all conservative reactions has been the exaggeration of 
 the revolutionary principles, as all revolutionary reactions have 
 been produced by the exaggeration of the conservative principles. 
 Consequently neither of these two principles was to be admitted 
 in ray policy to rule in an exclusive and absolute manner, though 
 both were to be received in whatever was good in them, as repre- 
 sentatives of legitimate interests and respectable rights. It was 
 necessary that the spirit of progress should be presented as mea- 
 sured in its wishes, as temperate and just in its action, in order 
 that it might recover the consideration it had lost by the impa- 
 tient order of other times, and it was necessary also that the tra- 
 ditional spirit should not, as in other instances, degenerate into a 
 state of decay or retrogression, so that the friends of liberty might 
 agree to it and accept it. 
 
 Moreover, the basis of my policy were clearly pointed out by 
 the character of the occurrences which had just taken place, and 
 also by the state of the public mind at the time. The revolution 
 of Ayutla had triumphed, and the first government of Ayutla had 
 disappeared ; and these two facts had a meaning which I could 
 not misunderstand. The triumph of Ayutla was more indebted 
 to the force of public opinion than to the force of arms ; and this 
 I may assert without in the least detracting from the glory of my 
 valiant companions who struggled heroically in that noble under- 
 taking. Without the efficient support of public opinion, a poor 
 and weak revolution which at first inspired more fears than hopes, 
 could never have succeeded against a strong and rich government 
 which was supported by powerful classes. As regards the diffi- 
 culties raised against the first government of Ayutla, they like- 
 wise were the workings of public opinion, and were such difficul- 
 ties as the government, notwithstanding it could still dispose of 
 all the strength of the triumphant revolution, could not overcome. 
 Thus public opinion, sustaining the men of Ayutla against the 
 dictatorship of Santa Anna, had shown in an unequivocal manner, 
 that it was not in favor of a unitarian tyranny, nor an exaggera- 
 tion of order, nor ttie domination of any class, but was in favor of 
 liberty, of reform, of equality, and of free institutions ; and that 
 selfsame public opinion, by rejecting the pohcy of Gen. Alvarez, 
 rising up against it and taking up arms to overthrow it, had also 
 clearly shown that it was not in favor of demagogical tyranny, nor 
 for exaggeration of liberty, nor for the predominancy of any fac- 
 tion, but in favor of order, of the preservation of the good tradi- 
 
tional spirit, of good ancient institutions, and of good social ele- 
 ments. 
 
 Such were the occurrences that had just taken place, and such 
 the state of public opinion when I ascended to power. All the 
 desires of the public mind had been reduced to these two word? — 
 Order and Liberty. The country wanted order but not despot- 
 ism, liberty but not licentiousness, reform but not destruction, 
 progress but not violence; and by desiring this, and expressing 
 its will in the resolute manner in which it did, it had undoubtedly 
 iSxed the basis of the policy of the government. That policy, to 
 answer to those as^Dirations, had to be a comforter of all the past 
 misfortunes, conciliatory of the present interests, and protector of 
 all thcs future hopes ; and I adopted it, not only because these 
 were the general wishes of the nation, and these her hopes when 
 she selected me for her supreme ruler, but because this had al- 
 ways been my manner of thinking in political matters, having seen 
 in a pulpable manner the bitter fruits of the exaggerations in each 
 of the vicisitudes which until then had afflicted the republic. 
 
 The remarks thus made will appear unnecessary and even tire- 
 some to those who ignore what has passed in Mexico during the 
 last two years. It will appear incredible to them that a governor 
 should be under the necessity of exerting himself so much to prove 
 that he did right in not being either a retrogradist or a demagogue. 
 Nevertheless, the fact is, that for not having been a retrogradist, 
 a cruel war was carried on against me by those who called them- 
 selves partizans of order; and for not having been a demagogue 
 I was much calumniated by those who call themselves the friends 
 of hberty in ray unhappy country. This is the reason why I have 
 devoted so much time to these trivial reflections ; for being as they 
 are the explanation of my political opinion, they also explain the 
 difficulties of my government, the cruel war that was waged 
 against me by the factions, and the cause of my fall. These re- 
 marks show that having extended a friendly hand to the partizans 
 of liberty, and a protecting hand to their adversaries, the former 
 had 110 reason to raise obstacles in my way, nor the latter to at- 
 tack me with arms in their hands; and finally having raised in my 
 country a flag of conciliation between the parties wliich divides it, 
 no one will be able to see in the ranks of my accusers but exclu- 
 siveism, intolerance, and the sanguinary systems which are the 
 scourge of nations. But if the republic was not so deeply inter- 
 ested in this matter, the attacks and calumnies by which my ene- 
 mies would insult me, would not affect me so much, for it is not 
 an affront to me, but is the glory of my administration to have in- 
 
curred the odium of retrogradists and the hatred of demagogues. 
 
 Although- the circumstances of the times and the state of pub- 
 lic opinion clearly pointed out to me the path I should follow, still 
 this fact did not remove the diflSculties which I was to meet in it- 
 M}'- government received as an inheritance a sad legacy ; the na- 
 tion was drained by the dilapidations of dictatorships, and by the 
 ravages of war; relaxed by the maxims of despotism and by anar- 
 chical doctrines, and weakened by misery and discord. I there- 
 fore had to struffo-le without means against formidable enemies, 
 and that struggle was to be without a truce or cessation. I was 
 going to fulfill the promises of Ayutla, and the fulfillment of those 
 promises were reform, peace and legal order ; — the reform which 
 was opposed by all those who lived by abuses; the peace, which 
 did not answer the interests of those who prospered amid conten- 
 tions; legal order, which was rejected by the friends of revolu- 
 tions ; and the country was full of privileged classes, of disturb- 
 ers of the peace and revolutionary spirits. Therefore it is that the 
 life of my government was to be a life of contradictions and of 
 battles, from its first moment to its last breath. 
 
 If I had limited myself to the Hteral fulfillment of the promises 
 of Ayutla, the enemies of that revolution would have had no cause 
 to complain, neither would they have reason to thank me: but I 
 did much more than was my strict duty, and what I did beyond 
 ray duty will alv/ays be a reproach against those who were not 
 thankful for it. My principal duty was to fulfill the promises of 
 Ayutla, but it was not ray first care ; my first care was to moder- 
 ate the violence of the conquerors, and protect the vanquished, 
 because I did not wish that the cause of liberty should be stained 
 by revenge. That is the reason why I always proclaimed the 
 principle of tolenmce and respect towards all opinions, and that 
 was why one of my first acts was to bring to trial before the first 
 court of the nation the Dictator and his ministers, to allow them 
 all the means of defence they might require, that it should be jus- 
 tice and not passion that condemned them for the excesses which 
 public opinion accused them of. 
 
 I may be permitted to state that this is the first exauiple of mod- 
 eration presented in the history of our deplorable dissentions. In 
 Mexico a new government, emanating from a revolution furiously 
 attacked and harrassed, had never been seen engaged in protect- 
 ing its opponents with as much solicitude as that embarked in the 
 fulfillment of the ])rograrame of its friends. 
 
 Nevertheless, the spirit of party exerted itself to raise against 
 me both the clergy and the army, pretending that my adrainistra- 
 
8 
 
 tion was opposed to both those classes ; and although their efforts 
 failed in the attempt by reason of the good sense of those appeal- 
 ed to ; they succeeded nevertheless, to find some individuals among 
 them vs^ho proved to be most powerful instruments of their designs. 
 It seems to me unnecessary to show the absurdity involved in that 
 supposition, it being evident that a government who understood 
 the necessity of being supported by the religious sentiment and 
 the armed force of the country, to establish therein the benefits of 
 a pacific democracy, could not be an enemy of the clergy nor of 
 the army. But as in reality it was from these two classes that 
 the strongest attacks directed against my administration have pro- 
 ceeded, and as it was by their combined efforts that my idea of 
 putting a final end to the vortex of revolutions in the republic was 
 frustrated, I will examine this point in a brief manner, because an 
 explanation of the events which occurred during those two years 
 are found in it, and it is the key by which to decipher the enigma 
 offered by those occurrences. 
 
 That the influence of the clergy in political matters was a ne- 
 cessity in other times, and a benefit to society ; that the history of 
 the catholic clergy is the history of civilization, and that Mexico 
 owes great benefits to the Mexican clergy, are truths that cannot 
 be denied by those who have read history. But that the times 
 have changed ; that the nature of that influence has changed with 
 the times, and that public opinion has undergone a similar change 
 in regard to that influence, is also a fact that cannot conceal itself 
 from those who see the state of ideas in the present century and 
 the character of the revolutions in Mexico. The political influ- 
 ence of the clergy is considered there as pernicious both to reli- 
 gion and society ; and its wealth and privileges are causes of great 
 alarm, objects of great temptations and even pretexts for deep 
 hatred. New economical doctrines and new political maxims 
 have risen up against that accumulation of wealth and privileges 
 in a single class ; and though it is true that impiety wishes to im- 
 poverish the clergy and humble them, from hatred to religion, it 
 is also true that many, though good catholics, and some for the 
 very reason that they wish the advance of Catholicism, invoke the 
 principle of repealing the mortmain, (desamortizacion) and equal- 
 ity of justice in favor of ecclesiastical reform. 
 
 When I ascended to power, I found this opinion already formed 
 and powerful in regard to the clergy : it was a fact which neces- 
 .^arily would become complicated with my policy, because it was 
 the principal subject of public controversies, the battle horse of' 
 the parties, and the daily fuel to the passions. "What was I to do 
 
in the presence of this fact, more powerful luau ull the opposed 
 interests, than all the prejudices overcome, and more powerful than 
 the will of all the governments ? The revolution existed there, 
 terrible, threatening, ready to destroy what the government could 
 not reform. I had thus far succeeded to hold it in check, but I 
 could not answer for the results should I commit the imprudence 
 and the injustice to oppose its rational tendencies. It was, there- 
 fore, necessary to undertake the reforms relative to the clergy 
 with a view to satisfy great religious, social and political wants 
 and to satisfy as much as possible public opinion in order to 
 avoid a disastrous reaction. 
 
 This is not the proper place to prove the appropriateness of the 
 laws which were issued with this view, nor to reply to the attacks of 
 which they were the object. It suffices for my purpose to declare 
 that, considering the circumstances under which the republic was 
 then placed, those reforms would have saved religion from serious 
 dangers and society from great disasters, if those interested in 
 them had contrived to realize my intentions. The abolishing of 
 the privileges would have prevented the hatred which they pro- 
 duce from falling upon the privileged class ; the confiscation was 
 likely to become a remedy against the misery by which millions 
 of individuals in Mexico are suffering ; the law of parochial dues 
 would have restored to the clergy its title as father and consoler 
 to the unfortunate ; that of civil registry would have prevented 
 any inconsiderate authority from promoting for the future con- 
 flicts between the two powers. 
 
 Such, at least, was the end to which those laws were tending. 
 If I did not attain it, it w-as not my fault, but that of thos.j who, un- 
 der their pretext and sacrilegiously invoking religion, laid waste 
 the fields, set fire to the villages, and violated even the temples, 
 deluging the whole republic with blood and sorrow. 
 
 The government had obeyed an imperious necessity of circum- 
 stances by decreeing these reforms ; but, however, it did not neg- 
 lect a requisite which, by respectable opinions, was regarded as 
 necessary. It sent a Minister Plenipotentiary to Rome to settle 
 harmoniously with the Holy See, those extremely grave questions, 
 and by this act it triumphantly replied to the accusations raised 
 against it by its enemies, of being persecuting and anti-catholic ; 
 whilst the latter, by making all possible eff'orts to prevent the re- 
 ception of the Mexican Envoy in Rome, proved that they did not 
 want concord between their government and the chief of the 
 church, and that the religious question was in their mouths only 
 a pretext for continuing to envenom the political question. 
 
10 
 
 Heaven grant that these conflicting eleracsnts may not produce 
 hereafter the most dangerous consequences ! 1, for my part, did 
 all I could to avoid them, and my conscience is quiet, for I firmly 
 believe that if the catholic clergy has civilized the world, and if 
 the Mexican clergy has civilized Mexico, it was not because they 
 had privileges and property, and because this property consisted 
 of plantations or existed under any other form whatever, but be- 
 cause with or without privileges, with or without property, they 
 fulfilled in society a sublime mission as ministers of an eminently 
 beneficent and civilizing religion. With the above explanation let 
 history and the world pass their judgment. 
 
 But if the hostility shown towards me by some individuals of 
 the clergy was not based upon any justifiable grounds, the war 
 declared against me by a portion of the army is still less justifiable, 
 for there was no pretext for it. 
 
 The army had been the most constant supporter of the dictator- 
 ship, and the most docile executor of the frequent atrocious 
 measures of that government. For this reason there was in many 
 of the men of Ayutla a certain hostile disposition against the in - 
 dividuals belonging to the army, and even markedly hostile inten- 
 tions against the whole class ; and these tendencies were distinctly 
 manifested in the days of triumph, when the victors believed them- 
 selves to bo able to satisfy their anger against those who bad re- 
 tarded victory. The truth is, that a formal project of destroying 
 the army had been conceived and would have been carried into 
 execution but for ray interference while minister of war, to which 
 end I made incredible efforts, and succeeded at last in appeasing 
 the effervescence of the moment by promising that the institution 
 would be reformed according to the necessities and the spirit of 
 the times. 
 
 Afterwards, and being already charged with the Presidency of 
 the republic, I not only employed myself to remove that discord- 
 ance between the army and the liberals, I not only wished to 
 unite them in a close alliance, but I also exerted myself to form 
 them in one and the same cause. To this purpose I treated as 
 friends the notabilities of the army so much held in horror by the 
 revolutionists who had raised me to power, and I embraced as bro- 
 thers the men who most furiously had fought against it, and who 
 had the most signalized themselves by their zeal in favor of the 
 past tyrann}^ What did they do as a return for this generous 
 conduct ? They revolted against me, and exerted to my injury 
 the confidence I placed in them. 
 
 There is nothing more repugnant and scandalous than those 
 
11 
 
 traits of perfidy by which several oflacers of the army answered 
 my call. As chief of a revolution which had triumphed at the price 
 of a thousand sacrifices, and head of a government which had just 
 sprung up out of it, I opened ray arms and bestowed my confi- 
 dence upon the generals of the dictatorship, who had been our 
 mortal enemies. These men, still bespattered with the blood of 
 the battles in which they had fought against us, with the libels 
 they had launched upon us still on their lips, came into my presence, 
 astonished at a proceeding they did not expect, because they did 
 not understand it. I gave them soldiers, arms and money, in order 
 that they should pacify the republic. They accepted the mission 
 and the confidence, took leave of me with demonstrations of thank- 
 fulness, went out of the doors of the palace with the air of loyalty, 
 and were no sooner in the open field than they pronounced against 
 me, with the soldiers, arms and money I had given them for pur- 
 suing the other rebels. 
 
 This is what occurred, and thus was formed the first reaction of 
 Zacapoastla, which a little later planted its tents in Puebla, where 
 it was powerfully aided with money by the clergy of that diocese. 
 Over 5,000 men assembled there in February of 1856, under the 
 command of those chiefs, who could not rebel without being per- 
 fidious, and of others who could not act thus without being un- 
 grateful. 
 
 I marched against them at the head of the National Guard and 
 a part of the army which had remained faithful. Public opinion 
 supported our cause — God blessed our efi"orts and v/e conquered. 
 The rebels being in my power and at my discretion, in virtue of a 
 capitulation I granted them, my friends and companions who had 
 aided me in obtaining the victory, insisted upon an exemplary 
 punishment being inflicted on them ; but I replied to this clamor 
 by a decree which was more a threat than a chastisement, which 
 was abolished a few days afterwards, as I did not wish them to con- 
 sider themselves humiliated even by a threat. 
 
 What happened after that ? The principal chiefs of the revolu- 
 tion took refuge in the capital of the republic, and from amongst 
 them arose the chiefs of another reactionary movement, which in 
 October of that year broke out also in Puebla. 
 
 At that time the loyal troops were again victorious, and the 
 government accorded a capitulation to the conquered. Victory was 
 not soiled with blood ; for the victories of the government never 
 were stained with blood. The blood of the unfortunate Orihuela 
 will cry only against those who compromised him in a foolish en- 
 terprise, and against the horrible system adopted against me of 
 
12 
 
 violating without remorse the most solemn compacts. The chief 
 of the rebels fled from Puebla as though he feared to be protected 
 by the guarrantees of the capitulation ; surprised without said 
 guarrantees in his flight by a party of troops, he was shot before 
 the government had time to pardon him, and thus the country 
 beheld the first and only victim sacrificed by the law instead of the 
 multitude immolated to its rancor and its vengeance by the reac- 
 tionists. 
 
 What happened afterwards? The rebels again took refuge 
 in the capital, when another reactionary pronunciamiento broke 
 out in San Luis, and the government being again victorious at 
 Magdalen, showed to the conquered clemency and generosity. 
 The most rancorous fell into its hands ; and, not content with 
 pardoning them, acted towards them in a manner that had never 
 been witnessed in the civil wars of the republic, going even so far 
 as to efiace temporarily all hatred from their hearts. 
 
 What then had I done to the army that a portion of it perse- 
 cuted me with such unextinguishable hatred ? I restrained the 
 revolution, lest it might wreak its vengeance on it ; I honored the 
 class and the individuals as much as I could honor them ; I par- 
 doned those who had ofiended me, and treated them with such 
 consideration as to make my indulgence appear like imbecility ; I 
 wished to give the army splendor, credit and popularity, by mak- 
 ing it the hope of the nation and the support of her liberties. And 
 what was the result of all that ? The oprobium of the rebellions 
 I have just enumerated, the infamy of those conspiracies which 
 were always plotting, and lastly the defection of the 20th of Jan- 
 uary — the greatest of the disgraces which that epoch has witnessed. 
 
 Thus far I have spoken of my policy with regard to parties and 
 the classes of society which exercised the most influence on the 
 destiny of the country — a policy which might have been any other 
 than that which I have just indicated, according to the opinions 
 of the President, and according to his understanding and appre- 
 ciation of the circumstances of the republic, the state of pub- 
 lic opinion, and the character of existing ideas. It i-emains 
 now for me to speak of my policy as chief of a government which 
 had to fulfill the promises of Ayutla — a policy which had not been 
 left to the prudence or discretion of the Provisional President, but 
 which was to be religiously observed as referring to strict duties 
 which were expressly pointed out in the plan of that revolution. 
 By what I am going to say it will be seen, that while accomplish- 
 ing these duties I had always in view my design of conciliating 
 order with liberty, and that I never took a step that had not for 
 
its object the discovery of the solution of this most important 
 problem. The principal promise of Ayutla was to give a consti- 
 tution to the repubhc; consequently, the principal duty of my 
 government was to realize that promise. 
 
 Full of respect for the liberty of popular elections, the idea did 
 not for a moment occur to me to use influence in those for the 
 election of the constituent Congress in conformity to the edict 
 issued by my predecessor. The result was very soon revealed to 
 me that in that body there prevailed exaggerated elements which 
 could not be well reconciled with my temperament and conciliatory 
 policy. Nevertheless, I did everything in my power in order that 
 the deputies should meet in the capital ; I presided at the instal- 
 lation of the Assembly, and opened its session in February, 1856. 
 
 The project of a constitution, which was published in a few days, 
 came to confirm my fears of an evil result ; and these fears, which, 
 were those of all unprejudiced men of the liberal party, were so 
 many causes of joy and hope for the reaction, which foresaw, from 
 that moment, that it would find in the action of the constituent Con- 
 gress one of the most plausible pretexts it had ever possessed to 
 make war against the government of Ayutla. In despite of this, 
 I protected with all my power the liberty of discussion ; and the 
 voice of the government was not heard in that precinct except to 
 give wise counsels to the deputies, and to oppose with the prac- 
 tical knowledge which it had of the circumstances of the nation, 
 the innovating spirit which would compromise liberty with its 
 exaggerations. 
 
 The labors of the Congress came to light at length, and it was 
 seen that it was not what the country wished and stood in need 
 of That constitution which ought to have been the bow of peace 
 and the fountain of health, which ought to have settled all ques- 
 tions and ended all disturbances, tended to excite one of the great- 
 est political tempests that has ever afflicted Mexico. Under its 
 action the executive was left disarmed in presence of its enemies, 
 while they found in it a formidable pretext for attack on the gov- 
 ernment. Its observance was impossible ; its unpopularity was a 
 palpable fact ; the government which united its fate with it was 
 a lost government. And, nevertheless, I promulgated that consti- 
 tution because it was my duty to do so, although it did not meet 
 my views. The plan of Ayutla, which was the law of my gov- 
 ernment and the title of my authority, did not confer upon me the 
 power of impuning that code : it directed me simply to accept 
 and pubUsh it ; and this I did with the conviction that it did not 
 fill the purpose f^r which it was conceived, but with the hope that 
 
14 
 
 it would be reformed according to the demands of public opinion, 
 by the means which were pointed out in its provisions. 
 
 This step was the signal foi new troubles and new struggles. 
 The bishops protested against the constitution of 1857, prohibited 
 the faithful to swear allegiance to it, and launched escummunica- 
 tions against those who did so; the doors of the churches were 
 closed against the government in the capital, and in many other 
 places to the authorities ; the reactionary propaganda spread from 
 the sanctuary to the domestic home ; through the streets and 
 public squares, and it went to reinforce the almost extinct ranks 
 of rebellion which wandered through the country; and that reac- 
 tion which had been conquered in every place and in all former 
 combats, was seen to open a new field of action, and found itself 
 equipped with new arms, having succeeded in its object of finally 
 converting the political question into a religious one. 
 
 In the midst of so many difficulties, the government continued 
 to labor with faith and with constancy for the establishment of 
 constitutional order, notwithstanding that it saw that the reaction 
 had taken such gigantic proportions. More than once tempting 
 words were murmured in its hearing on the part of those who, in 
 such exhausted circumstances, should have undertaken to appease 
 the tempest which thundered over their heads, and which threat- 
 ened to submerge the hopes of the nation in a general shipwreck; 
 but the government turned a deaf ear to those suggestions, be- 
 cause it considered them the more dangerous the more they seemed 
 to flatter the interests of the authority which it exercised, and 
 which that constitution had cast to the ground. I thought that a 
 new revolution, consumated by the government itself would bring 
 upon the country greater misfortunes than those which afilicted it 
 at the time ; it appeared to me that legality, although it was no 
 more than a shadow, was better than a state of revolution, whose 
 first fruit could be no other than to destroy the influence of those 
 who cieated it ; to increase the confusion in which vre found our- 
 selves, and to exacerbate the passions which burned hke a volcano 
 throughout the republic. The country had already too often seen 
 its dictators extending their term of power, and breaking their 
 word under the pretext of guarranteeing public order ; no one 
 could ever believe in these pretexts so frequently brought forward 
 by ambition ; and as regards myself, I could never comprehend 
 that faithlessness and perjury would remedy the evils which we 
 suffered. For this reason, 1 always closed my ears to the intima- 
 tions which were made to me, to cut short, by a coup cVeLat, the 
 difficulties created by the constitution. 
 
15 
 
 Thus passed the greater part of the year 1857 : the reaction 
 gaining ground, the government struggling incessantly against it, 
 and naj^self making every exertion to save the republic by lawful 
 means. 
 
 In the meantime, the elections for the constitutional Presidency 
 had been held, and the nation had honored me with its suffrages 
 to occupy that position — giving with this an evident proof that my 
 policy was consonant with the public wish. The elections of depu- 
 ties to the first Congress were also made, and I had installed it 
 and opened its sessions, in accordance with the constitution. My 
 goverment had also abstained from using its influence in those 
 elections, and very little was done by the men who could have ex- 
 erted beneficial influences under the then existing circumstances 
 to carry them, and correct the errors of the constituent Congress. 
 The result was, that in the first Constitutional Congress there 
 prevailed, as in its predecessor, elements of irritation which could 
 not be favorable to my conciliatory intentions ; and this circum 
 stance diminished in a great measure the hopes wLich I had en- 
 tertained that the reforms in the fundamental law which public 
 opinion demanded would be made. 
 
 That assembly, nevertheless, had the most sincere desire of over- 
 coming the existing difliculties, subordinate always to the invaria- 
 ble idea of not departing one jot from lawful order ; and this 
 disposition was obviously manifested when, in acquiescence to 
 the indications of my government, it extended the power of the 
 Executive, suspending some of the articles of the Constitution. 
 
 The situation, however, was one of those that could not be saved 
 by good wishes ; and although the good wishes of Congress could 
 not have been more patriotic, inasmuch as in its opinion it could 
 not do more than to confer extraordinary power on the Executive, 
 yet this act was not suflicient in the state at which things had ar- 
 rived. That vote of confidence was a signal honor for me, and the 
 exiraordinary powers would have been sufficient to avert an extra- 
 ordinary danger, but the dangers of that time were more than ex- 
 traordinary — they were extreme ; and they could only have been 
 avoided by the union of the men of progress under a single will; 
 but, unfortunately, they were divided respecting the Constitution. 
 
 I determined in despite of everything, to sustain legality or suc- 
 cumb in the attempt so long as the salvation of the country did not 
 advise the adoption of other means, and I caused the initiative mea- 
 sures which were to be presented to Congress for the amendment of 
 the constitution, to be prepared. But public irritation had arrived at 
 its culminating point; as soon as the extraordinary powers were 
 
16 
 
 granted to me, the reactionary press let loose the bounds of its fu- 
 ry and loaded m6 with insults. Instead of finding in the progres- 
 sive press, a decided and frank defence, it remained a passive spec- 
 tator of those insults, and consented, that in the name of liberty I 
 should be reviled in incendiary publications, with more impudence 
 and more bitterness than in those of the reaction. The constitu- 
 tion was daily infringed by the State governments and by the le- 
 gislatures, some times because it was impossible to observe it, 
 and at others because there was an interest in infringing it. The 
 principal military chiefs, the authorities of most influence in the 
 capital and out of it, and the most prominent persons of all parties, 
 pointed out to me, incessantly, the critical state of the situation, 
 and the necessity of getting out of it by means of a decided mea- 
 sure. In the Constitutional Assembly there was being formed an 
 opposing phalanx, which not only placed difficulties in my way, but 
 on more than one occasion, poured forth, through their speakers, 
 the most violent outcries against my government and against my 
 person. The enemies of liberty d&ringly advanced against the 
 government, because it shared in the hatred which the constitution 
 had inspired, and the partizans of this code could give me no effi- 
 cient aid in that desperate struggle. In a word, the constitution 
 strengthened my enemies while it weakened my partizans, because 
 it had given arms to the reactionists, and had introduced disen- 
 tions in the ranks of the liberals. I thus found myself alone in the 
 capital of the republic, with the purpose of sustaining the order of 
 things which could no longer be saved by sterile wishes, but by 
 the employment of physical force only. I could only depend upon 
 one body of troops, the .Zuloaga brigade, which was attached to 
 me personally 
 
 The Zuloaga brigade, on the 17th of December, declared itself 
 against the Constitution of 1857. 
 
 From that day the situation was eventually unsustainable. Un- 
 til then, I had been able to justify on good grounds my wish to 
 sustain the constitution. The pledges given, the promises of 
 Ayutla, the fear of increasing confficts, the hope of remedying 
 them — all strengthened my resolution not to abandon legality ; but 
 from that day everything was changed in appearance, and my 
 efforts in favor of a fundamental law, which had already been 
 broken to pieces, would have been as useless as they would have 
 been dangerous. Until the 17th of December, I was not at liber- 
 ty to abandon my promises on this point, but from that day the 
 cause of Mexican liberty raised itself against them before me, and 
 I had to sacrifice to it my name, my fame, and the position which 
 
IT 
 
 my recent election to the Presidency of the Republic assured me. 
 The Zuloaga brigade annulled the constitution by its j!;rowwwc?a- 
 oniento^ and I was named chief of a new provisional government. 
 With the first step a revolution was made, which apparently was 
 the result of circumstances ; with the second, it showed that its 
 movement was not opposed to the principles of liberty, because the 
 brigade well knew that I would not come to terms with the reac- 
 tionists. The explicit protestations which the chiefs made to me, left 
 no doubt upon this point, which was fina.lly settled in the confe- 
 rences which they had with me, under the express condition that 
 no party should rule in the new position, and that the government 
 was not to abandon the path of a prudent reform, nor the concilia- 
 tory design by which it had been guided until then. Besides this, 
 I feared that the letrograde element of the new situation would 
 come into power if I refused to accept the position which was there 
 given to me. Anarchy lifted its head in every part, and behind 
 anarchy, I could see despotism beginning to appear, with its accom- 
 paniments of persecutions and vengeance, and with its intention of 
 making the reign of liberty always impossible in my country. At 
 the same time that I wished to avoid these calamities, it appeared 
 to me possible that the Plan of Tacubaya would serve as a better 
 aid to my political design than the past order of things ; to recon- 
 cile order with liberty would be an easier enterprise when the in- 
 tolerance and exclusiveness of the two reactionary elements should 
 have disappeared from the scene, before the advent of an order of 
 things as distant from the one as from the other extreme. 
 
 Impelled by these considerations, I accepted the revo'ution, and 
 was placed at the head of the new order of things. 
 
 The partisans of the reaction chaunted victory ; and its organs 
 of the press ridiculed the liberal party, believing it conquered. The 
 partisans of the constitution united themselves to defend it, believ- 
 ing that the Plan of Tacubaya was a reactionary plan. The one 
 and the other were deceived, because tney cast into oblivion my 
 antecedents and my principles. I proved it then, and I proved it 
 afterwards, in a manner so distinct, that not even the vestige of a 
 doubt could be left in the minds of those who were the least dis- 
 posed to do me justice. 
 
 The reaction had deceived itself in believing that I had realized 
 a change of policy in its favor ; and in the midst of the hatred 
 which it professed towards me, it had praises for me, while it be- 
 lieved rae to be disloyal and inconstant. It was convinced of its 
 error when the list of persons I named to form the Council of Go- 
 vernment was published ; and when it saw vctQ resolutely refuse its 
 
18 
 
 demands, it returned to its hostile position, and insulted me for 
 the error it had committed. 
 
 This attitude on my part, in presence of the reaction, which en- 
 deavored to possess itself of the public offices, was not a mystery 
 to my friends, the loyal partisans of the good liberal cause ; and 
 some States and military chiefs who had adhered to the pronuncia- 
 Tniento, because they saw in my adhesion a guarantee for that 
 cause, and who knew the difficulties of the former situation, re- 
 nounced it afterwards to return to the support of the constitution, 
 or to watch the unravelling of events in a prudent expectancy. 
 
 In regard to the coalition, the principal persons who figured in 
 it were likewise deceived in respect to my intentions : they believ- 
 ed that I had abandoned my principles and perfidiously sold my 
 fellow- partisans ; and in their papers, and in their official docu- 
 ments they painted me in colors which could only have been de- 
 served by treason. They had no reason for this ; and the hatred 
 of the reactionists ought to have been sufficient to justify me be- 
 fore the friends of liberty, if the excitement of those moments had 
 not blinded them. 
 
 Firm in my purpose to reconcile order with liberty, and to esta- 
 blish upon solid bases these two indispensable conditions to public 
 felicity, I could not enter into compacts of alliance with the reac- 
 tion, because the reaction was despotism with all its results ; 
 neither could I conscientiously recede and adjust my policy to 
 the tendencies of the alliance, because its fanaticism for the consti- 
 tution of 1857, was an unconquerable obstacle to the realization of 
 ray ideas. This could be better obtained by the Plan of Tacubaya, 
 whose spirit must necessarily be that of a spirit of pi^ogress, and 
 in no manner could it be otherwise while I was to figure in it. For 
 these reasons, I had formed the resolution of marching into the in- 
 terior of the Republic at the head of the troops that had proclaim- 
 ed that plan, and had already began to make the preparations for 
 this march, sure of finding a peaceful solution for the questions 
 which divided us, when a new occurrence suddenly came to give 
 another phase to the crisis which disturbed us. 
 
 The reaction had labored with an indefatigable ardor to convert 
 that crisis to its profit; and it had succeeded. The Zuloaga bri- 
 gade made a jiQVf 2^^onu7iciamiento on the 11th of January, dis- 
 claiming me, and exhibiting clearly the object they had in view. — 
 The insurgents possessed themse.ves of the citadel, of several bar- 
 racks, and of other important buildings ; they were joined by the 
 usual conspirators, the notabilities of the opposition for two ye .rs 
 past, the men of Zacapoaxtla, of Puebla, and of San Luis. Doubt 
 
19 
 
 was at an end ; it was the reaction in all its development raising 
 its head in the capital of the EepubHc, aided by disloyal soldiers, 
 who audaciously threatened the liberal government, now abandon- 
 ed by its partisans. 
 
 That occurrence was a new difficulty in the interminable series 
 of those that had embarrassed my steps; and yet it gave me re- 
 lief, as one who feels relieved of the pressure of a very heavy weight 
 which crushes him. My position from the iVth of December, had 
 been most distressing, not because I would ever have wavered in' 
 it, but because each one interpreting it according to his whim, and 
 the passions being so inflamed in those days, few interpretations 
 could be favorable to me. But from the 1 llh of January, m}^ position 
 was as clear as that of my enemies, because the 'pronunciamitnto^ 
 bringing each one to his camp, and delivering up his banner, had 
 given to each the part which belonged to him — to them to contend 
 for despotism, to me to defend liberty. By declaring war against 
 me, the reaction knew me better, and did me more justice than the 
 alliance; the first knew that my sentiments, my name, and my life 
 were identified with the cause of liberty, of progress and of reform ; 
 while the second insulted me, in supposing me capable of making 
 common cause with the partisans of tyranny, of abuses, and of re- 
 trogression. 
 
 With the part of the garrison that had remained faithful to its 
 duties, and some bodies of National Guards, I prepared for battle, 
 taking the proper measures of attack and defence. Some days 
 were passed in these preparations, during which I did as much as 
 lay in my power to avoid that fratricidal war; but nothing could 
 be done, because the antagonists did not wish to lend themselves 
 to any rational and just arrangement, but insisted that the reac- 
 tion was to triumph finally, and that the liberal cause was to ac- 
 knowledge itself defeated. In this manner they raised against 
 themselves the legal party they had abandoned; and I proposed to 
 return to it, and to deliver the supreme power to whom the law 
 designated, because the Plan of Tacubaya having been des- 
 troyed by its own authors, and the reactionary tendencies of the 
 new movement being already evident, it was a lesser evil to return 
 to the point of departure. I fixed upon this as the basis of all ar- 
 rangements, because it was then clear that if the republic had not 
 accepted the constitution of 1857, because liberty could not be es- 
 tablished on solid basis by it, much less could it accept the Plan 
 of the Citadel which enthroned despotism. With that plan there 
 remained no hope of liberty, while with the constitution it was not 
 impossible to secure order, since it could be reformed favorably 
 
20 
 
 •when tlie crisis had pnssed, and when the minds of men were un- 
 deceived as to its dangers. It was not then an inconsistency in 
 me to wish in those moments that the country might find some 
 hope from the constitution, instead of dehvering it into the hands 
 of the reaction which closed the door to hope ; and in order that 
 there should not remain even the least shadow of personal inter- 
 est, and that this might not serve as an obstacle to a satisfactory 
 arrangement, I not only offered to resign power, but to abandon 
 the country. 
 
 Here I may make a remark which may serve as an answer to 
 the report that there were views of personal interest in my con- 
 duct then. If paltry motives had impelled my course I would 
 have done at that time precisely the contrary of what I did. My 
 interest was united with the existence of the constitution, because 
 I had just been elected President of the republic by the almost 
 unanimous vote of the people, ani^ that constitution ensured me a 
 period of four years in the office of first magistrate, opening the 
 door for re-election for another term. Consequently my interest 
 would have counselled me not to accept the Plan of Tacubaya ; 
 and yet I accepted it. After the lYth of December nothing was 
 easier for me than to have satisfied my pergonal interest, by 
 satisfying the demands of the reaction so as to preserve myself 
 in the first post in the State; and, notwithstanding, I repelled 
 these pretensions. After the 1 1th of January it would have been 
 easy for me to return to constitutional order, and occupy the Pre- 
 sidency according to law, in which case the forces of the coalition 
 would have come to my aid ; and, notwithstanding this, I did not 
 do it. The truth is, that I sacrificed my personal interest, without 
 considering it ; and that, thinking only of the salvation of my 
 country and of my principles, I made the still dearer sacrifice, of 
 my peace, of my reputation, and of my glory. 
 
 Having lost the hope of preventing a rupture, I wished to save 
 the inhabitants of the capital from the horrors of a bloody strug- 
 gle, and with this object I proposed that the two belligerent forces 
 should proceed to take up their positions beyond a radius of seven 
 leagues distance from the city, to fight in the field, so that the 
 disasters of battle might not extend to the peaceful citizens. My 
 enemies absolutely rejected this pioposal. 
 
 Since I could not preserve the country from the evils of a war, 
 and the city from the spectacle of a battle in its streets, I endea- 
 vored at least to obtain an agreement that the rights of humanity 
 should be respected, and that the moral and material interests of 
 society should be preserved, as much as possible, while hostilities 
 
21 
 
 were carried on. With this view I proposed that the prisons of 
 the city, the hospitals and the cemeteries should be declared neu- 
 tral ground, so that the prisoners might be safely kept, that the 
 wounded might be attended to, and that those who might die in 
 the encounter should be buried ; but my enemies refused this also. 
 I could do no more, nor they could do no less in favor of afflicted 
 humanity and of ofiended society. 
 
 The 20th of January, 1857, which was to witness the last combat 
 of my government in support of the liberties of the country at length 
 arrived. I had mustered some 5,000 men of all arms, including 
 those who were in the capital the day of the pronunciamiento, 
 and various parties which had arrived from without. I had faith 
 in the result of the struggle, and the sorrowful and shameful event 
 which gave the victory to my enemies could never have entered 
 into my calculations. Those who had been the first to commence 
 hostilities a few days before were also the first to open fire next 
 day upon the positions of the government. I resisted and attack- 
 ed while I had men with whom to attack and resist ; but the hour 
 of a general defection had arrived, and it put a characteristic ter- 
 mination to the defections of two years. In the morning I had 
 at my orders more than 5,000 men ; at night there were not even 
 500; the rest had disappeared — some going to increase the ranks 
 of the revolters, and others dispersing about the streets. The 
 deeds of that day are not to b'^^ related in this place, neither is the 
 relation necessary for the understanding of that mournful catas- 
 trophe. On the other hand, I leave to others the task of judging 
 of my conduct as a soldier ; nevertheless, for the honor of my 
 cause and of my principles, I have made the preceding remarks, 
 in order that my conduct as a ruler may not be falsely judged. 
 
 While these events were passing, others occurred of the most 
 weighty importance in the scheme of our po^.icy. The President of 
 the Supreme Court had reassumed the supreme power in accord- 
 ance with the constitution; had established the government in Gua- 
 najuato, and had been recognized by the majority of the States of 
 the Republic. This had created a centre of union, round which 
 the partisans of liberty might perhaps be re-united, while it would 
 also be a hope of remedy for the evils of anarchy by which the 
 country was threatened ; and whatever might have been my opi- 
 nion in this particular, it was my duty to place no obstacles in the 
 way of that hope. I decided, then, to absent myself from the coun- 
 try for some time — accepting this sacrifice, which the circum- 
 stances of the time imposed upon me. 
 
22 
 
 My continuance in the Republic at that period could not have 
 been of any benefit — however strange this opinion naay at first sight 
 appear to those who know that in those moments, when liberty ran 
 such great dangers, it was precisely the time when the assistance 
 of all its partisans was more than necessary. It is true that I 
 could have gone on combatting the reaction enthroned in the ca- 
 pital, because there were- some that valued my name still, among 
 the just and unprejudiced men of the liberal party. But I could 
 not work in conjunction with the coalition; nor was it easy for it to 
 accept with good will the ofier of my services ; nor was it decor- 
 ous that I should work apart from it, and in m}'- own name. The 
 first was not possible, because, although the government of Gruana- 
 jiiato was the constitutional government, and although I could res- 
 pect the patriotic intentions of those who sustained it, I could ill 
 lend my aid in support of an order of things which had appeared 
 unsustainable to me but a few days before. The second was not 
 easy, because there prevailed in the coalition men, principles, and 
 tendencies which were decidedly hostile to me. These men had 
 been during twelve days simple spectators of my struggle with the 
 reaction in the capital, and they had not seen fit to aid me in that 
 deplorable struggle — an evident sign that I, a representative of 
 temperate liberty, of prudent reform, and of political toleration, 
 could not then offer them services which might have been accepta- 
 ble to them. The third was not decorous, for although I had no 
 faith in the constitution, nor did I profess conformity of ideas with 
 the men who defended it, I could not but remember that that go- 
 vernment was the lawful government; and considering this, I could 
 not without dishonor raise up a banner, and send forth armed men 
 on my own account, although I should do it in the character of 
 President, and although it was against a common enemy. I did 
 not wish to tarnish my name, defending as good that which had 
 appeared indefensible to me when accepting the Plan of Tacubaya. 
 I was not called upon to make a fruitless sacrifice, exposing ray- 
 self to a rebuff which would have been directed more against my 
 principles than against my person. I could not, in short, give to 
 my country the scandal of seeing me converted into a rebel. And 
 one of these three things would certainly have occurred, if I had 
 remained in the country after the unravelling of the occurrences of 
 the capital. My presence in it could have only served to increase 
 the elements of anarchy which were spread abroad on every side, 
 and I could not count upon sufficient forces to extirpate them. 
 
 For these reasons, and for many others which arise from them, 
 after having meditated on it well, and after a painful struggle with 
 
23 
 
 my feelings, as a friend, as a patriot, and as a soldier, I took the 
 mournful resolution of expatriating myself; and I am satisfied with 
 the conviction, that this was the only sacrifice which in those mo- 
 ments could be made for my unfortunate country. 
 
 I have set down the preceding facts which occurred during the 
 two years to which they refer, and which may prove beneficial 
 to the country if the lessons they contain are improved. By them 
 it will be seen that my constant solicitude in all the phases and 
 vicissitudes of my political life was the realization of a political de- 
 sign, which I hold to be the only salvation of the Republic since 
 it cannot be saved by the intolerance and exclusiveness of reaction- 
 ary factions. In vain will it be said that that policy did not satis- 
 fy any party, and that for that reason they all abandoned me, for 
 the truth is that this does not satisfactorily explain the bad fortune 
 of my design : if it failed, it was because I sowed it at a bad time 
 upon a soil made barren by passions, and it could not grow. But 
 the seed remains there; and some day it will give fruit, when 
 Grod shall be pleased to give to ray country a government more 
 successful than mine, which, advancing in the same path, will have 
 the good fortune to arrive at the end to which I aspired. 
 
 This hope consoles me when I behold the nation again involved 
 in the horrors of a civil war, tormented by the most fearful anar- 
 chy, and exposed to sufier anew the yoke of an implacable despot- 
 ism. Everything that has happened among us since the first day 
 of our independence seems to strengthen this consoling hope, 
 and goes to corroborate in a palpable manner the acts of the last 
 two years. The Mexican Republic does not desire despotism un- 
 der any form. Has it not been struggling incessantly nearly half 
 a century for the conquest of her liberty ? And why has she so 
 many times overthrown her governments but because some had ty- 
 rannized over her in the name of conservative principles, and others 
 in the name of revolutionary principles? And from whence have 
 those tyrannies come but from the diligent desire to make enemies 
 of ideas which should be sisters — order and liberty — tradition and 
 reform — the past and the future ? And if this has caused all our 
 misfortunes, and if for this so many victims have been sacrificed, 
 if there is no other motive which causes the republic to be left be- 
 hind when all the world is advancing in the path of progress, what 
 is to be the remedy for so many evils but to convert into allies 
 those ideas which the genious of evil has made enemies, and to 
 induce the men who in good faith serve under these two banners 
 unite like brothers ? 
 
 This was my design during my administration, and this design 
 
^ 
 
 24 
 
 can not but meet with sympathy in a civilized and christian land, 
 in which every humanizing tendency and every generous idea is 
 in accordance with the character, the sentiments, and the credence 
 of its people. They have tested all forms and proclaimed all prin- 
 ciples, in conformity to the advice of class interests, of party 
 spirit, &nd selfish ambition : I trust that they will some day em- 
 brace, with resolution and with faith, an idea which they have never 
 put to the test, because neither the classes, nor the parties, nor the 
 ambitious have ever inscribed it on their banners : to conciliate all 
 legitimate rights and interest by the means of tolerance, of frater- 
 nity and concord ; for if Mexico is to be saved, it must be by this 
 means, and not by hatred, persecution and blood. 
 
 I. COMONFORT. 
 
 Neio York, July, 1858.