enjoyed, might prevent his native land from falling into a state of anarchy and confusion. It is, however, well ascertained that he never intended to attempt to climb the giddy height again, although, in the character of a private individual, he felt disposed to make another sacrifice in behalf of his country, and regain the possession of his property, as well as the society of his friends and relatives. Enough has transpired since his death; indeed the Memoir itself establishes the fact, that Iturbide was a good and sincere patriot, anxious for the independence and welfare of his native land, and in no way connected with the despotic government of Spain, although he was desirous that the European population, settled in the country, should be turned to account. He was, nevertheless, accused of being a partisan of Ferdinand, notwithstanding he was the man, beyond all doubt, who put an end to the supremacy of the Castilian monarch in the best portion of his dominions in the New World. This, however, is an old and convenient expedient with South American libellers. When they have no proofs or substantial arguments to adduce against their enemies, they appeal to accusations, addressed to the feelings and not the judgment, in order to indulge their own personal resentment, or advance their private views.

In other respects, this Memoir will be read with interest. It is written in an extremely moderate tone, and devoid of personalities. It also conveys a pretty good idea of what a Mexican congress is, nearly similar, it may be presumed, to those assemblies of the same class, found in other parts of the South American continent, which have authorised such plenteous loans to be obtained for their use in England. It besides enables the reader to form his own opinion of the character of some of the leading Mexicans now in power, by which means his astonishment may perhaps cease at those numerous juggles played off on the British public, of which, it is to be feared, the late disgraceful transactions in the Mexican dividends in London will not be the last example.

The only appeal made by the writer to the feelings of his countrymen, at the close of the Memoir, is the following"Mexicans! This record will reach you. Its principal object is to manifest to you, that the best of your. friends never rendered himself unworthy of the affection and confidence which you once lavished on him. Fatal to me as was your choice, my gratitude will end only with my life. When you instruct your children in the history of your country, inspire them with love for the first commander of the army which obtained for you a triple guarantee to your independence; and if mine should ever require your aid and protection, remember that their father employed the best portion of his life in laboring to render you happy. Receive my last adieu, and may happiness attend you."

POLITICAL LIFE,

&c. &c.

I Do not write for the purpose of making a parade of learningI wish to be understood by all classes of the people. The period in which I have lived has been a critical one; and that is equally so, in which I am about to present to the world the picture of my political conduct. My name is sufficiently well-known, and my actions also are on public record; but, unfortunately, the prin cipal events of my life have received that coloring which suited the interests of those who transmitted them to distant regions. A great nation,' and many individuals in particular, considered themselves offended, and, on this account, endeavored to blacken my reputation. It is now my turn to state, with the frankness of a soldier, what I was, and what I am—what I did, and wherefore. Impartial minds will then be enabled to judge; although my chief appeal is to posterity. I know no other passion for gloryno other interest, than that of preserving my name in such a form as my children may not be ashamed to bear it.

It would be puerile, on my part, to spend any time in refuting the libels written against me. They seem conceived in such terms as are most likely to discredit the authors themselves. Inspired, as it were, by restless furies, their writings breathe nothing else than blood and vengeance. Hurried away by the basest passions, they had not time to reflect, or self-command enough to avoid the contradictions into which they have fallen. Miserable men! Yet where is the public character who labored for the welfare of his country, and was not persecuted by invidious enemies?

I gave freedom to mynative land, and had the condescendence,

The Spanish nation, notwithstanding that, at the time the cry of independence resounded in Iguala, it had been an example of the esteem in which a people ought to hold their civil freedom, condemned in the Mexicans what, as regarded itself, it considered as an immortal glory. Such is the effect of the human passions! We know our good; we wish it for ourselves; and we are mortified at seeing others seek the same, when its attainment is opposed to our real or apparent interests.

2 In Philadelphia and in Havannah, as well as in some of the public journals of Spain, portraits have been drawn of me in the blackest colors. Cruel, ambitious, and interested, are the leading features attributed to me.

or, as others may call it, weakness, to allow myself to be raised to a throne which I created by destining it for others; and, being thereon seated, I had the courage to oppose intrigues and disorders. These are my crimes-yet notwithstanding them, I should not now, or at any time hereafter, hesitate to appear before the Spaniards and their King with as serene a countenance as I could before the Mexicans themselves and their new leaders. To both parties I rendered the most important services; although neither knew how to avail themselves of the advantages I then procured for them. Faults which they themselves committed, they now seek to lay at my door.

In the year 1818, I held no other rank than that of a subaltern.' The revolution, projected by Don Miguel Hidalgo, curate of the town of Dolores, burst forth; and this chieftain offered me a Lieutenant-general's command." The offer was certainly a tempting one to a young man, devoid of experience, and at an age to be led away by ambitious pursuits. I nevertheless rejected it, because I was of opinion that the curate's plans were badly conceived, and could not fail to produce disorders, blood and destruction, without ever attaining the real object in view. Time proved the truth of my predictions. Hidalgo, and those who succeeded him, by following his example, desolated the country; destroyed private fortunes; spread odium between Europeans and Americans; sacrificed thousands of victims; dried up the sources of public wealth; disorganised the army; annihilated industry; rendered the situation of the Americans infinitely worse than it was before, by exciting the vigilance of the Spaniards, and putting them on their guard against the dangers by which they were threatened; demoralised the habits of the people, and, far from tending to any thing like independence, actually increased the obstacles opposed to its attainment. If I myself, at that period, took up arms, it was not to make war on the Americans ;

I served, with the rank of lieutenant, in the provincial regiment of Valladolid, the city of my birth. It is well known that the officers serving in this kind of corps do not receive pay. I did not receive any; and the military career was not my early profession. I was in the habit of taking care of my estates, and lived independent; nor did I trouble myself about obtaining public situations, of which I did not stand in need, either as a means of subsistence, or as an honor to my name, since Providence had given me an illustrious origin, which my ancestors never belied, and my relatives, of my own time, retained untarnished.

2 Don Antonio Labarrieta, in a report which he addressed to the viceroy against me, says that I should have obtained one of the first situations in that revolution, if I had wished to take part in it. Labarrieta was well aware of the proposals made to me.

VOL. XXVIII.

Pam.

NO. LVI.

2 C

but rather to put down the lawless bands by which the country was infested.

Towards October, in the same year, 1818, a safe conduct was offered to me for my father and family; and it was also pledged that his estates, as well as my own, should be exempted from plunder and destruction, and likewise that the servants and others employed on them should be free from assassination, (and what was the spirit of those times may be judged from this single fact !) on the sole condition of my withdrawing from the King's banners, and remaining neutral. This proposal met with the same reception as the preceding one. I always considered the indolent and cowardly man as guilty of a crime, who remains a quiet spectator of the misfortunes with which society is afflicted, without taking part in them, or endeavoring to alleviate the sufferings of his countrymen. I, therefore, went forth to the campaign, under a hope that I was about to serve the Mexicans, the King of Spain, and the Spaniards.

I was uniformly successful in war. Victory was the inseparable companion of the troops I commanded-nay, I never lost an action. I defeated all the enemies who appeared before me, or

The congress of Mexico deliberated on erecting statues to the memory of the leaders of the insurrection, and performing funeral obsequies to their ashes. Against these very same leaders did I myself serve, and would do so again, if we were to return to those times. In order that it may be ascertained who was in the right, the congress or myself, it must not be forgotten, that the term insurrection does not signify independence, or just freedom; nor was it the object of those revolutionists to vindicate the rights of the nation; but rather to exterminate every European, destroy property, rush into excesses, contemn the laws of war, of humanity, and even of religion. The belligerent parties then carried on a war of extermination, and disorders preceded the operations of both Americans and Europeans; but, it must be confessed, that the former were culpable, not only on account of the evils which they occasioned, but because they gave room to the second to practice the same atrocities which they saw in their enemies. If such men as these deserved statues, what is there held in reserve for men who do not deviate from the path of virtue?

This proposal, made to me by the leaders of the first insurrection, iş well known to the Mexicans. I was at the time, at the San Felipe manufactories, commanding a detachment of thirty-six soldiers, and at four leagues' distance from me, was Hidalgo's main force, amounting to 90,000 men. I expected no aid; and I should have died on the spot, if I had not received orders from the government to which I belonged to proceed to Toluca, rather than contribute to the ruin of my country.

3 I was only repulsed, and compelled to fall back in the year 1815, when I attacked Copero, an almost inaccessible and well-fortified military posi tion. I was then serving under the orders of the Spanish general, Llanos, who commanded me to attack, when my duty did not allow me to point out the difficulties of such an enterprise. I was well aware that the issue must necessarily be unsuccessful, and, whilst on my march, I mentioned

those I was able to find, often with inferior forces, in the proportion of one to eighteen and even twenty. I commanded in chief the sieges of fortified points; and from all I dislodged the enemy, and destroyed the asylums in which discord had taken refuge. I had no other adversaries than those who were opposed to the cause which I myself defended; nor did I know any rivals beyond those who, at a more remote period, were envious of my good luck, or not equally successful when running the same race: yet, when were either wanting to the fortunate?

In the year 1816, I commanded the provinces of Guanajuato and Valladolid, as well as the army of the North. All I renounced, through motives of delicacy; thus retiring from the public service, in order to live in a manner more suited to my natural inclinations, by attending to the cultivation of my estates. The ingratitude of man had wounded me to the very quick; and the bad faith which I had already experienced, led me to avoid all further opportunities of again becoming the victim of malevolence. On the other hand, the greatest number of the factious bands being then dispersed, and nearly all the provinces restored to a state of tranquillity, I saw myself freed from those engagements by which, six years before, I was bound. The country no longer required my services, and I was consequently enabled to seek repose, after the fatigues of the past campaigns, without being wanting to my duty.

In 1820, the Constitution of Spain was re-established. This new order of things; the state of fermentation in which the Peninsula was placed; the machinations of the disaffected; the want of moderation in the promoters of the new system; the indecision of the local authorities; the inconsiderate conduct of the Madrid government, and the madness of the Cortes, who appeared determined to lose the Mexican dominions, if one can judge from the decrees which they issued, in accordance with the ranting speeches pronounced by some of the deputies, were all causes which materially tended to excite in a people, again possessed of a country, an eagerness for independence; whilst the Spaniards, established among us, were terrified at the idea of a repetition of those horrid scenes of insubordination which they had already witnessed. Our governors soon assumed the attitude of men actuated by dread, yet still wielding power; at the same time that those who had hitherto lived on disorders, were preparing to continue their old pursuits. In such a state of things, the

the same to the general, through the medium of a dispatch. Things turned out as I expected; nevertheless, I saved four-fifths of my force, in an action in which the chances of losing the whole were against me.