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who would gladly thwart his progress and abridge his usefulness by all means in their power; and if any such exposure of his arrangements and affairs were made, as the mention of his salary would necessarily cause, it was feared that some occasion might be devised for taking more effectual steps against him than any that had yet been attempted.

Whether this fear did indeed justify the concealment, I shall not undertake to decide. The motive for it at least was good.

As to the language in which his exertions are spoken of in two passages quoted from the Reports of the Society, I have to say, that at the time the first of them was written, he neither was receiving, nor had received, any salary at all. And the second, it should be observed, is not from the Report itself, but quoted from a Letter of Dr. Steinkopff. Doubtless the impression made on the warm and affectionate heart of that excellent man, by the sight of Leander Von Ess's operations, was such as he describes; nor do I see any thing in the mere fact of his receiving a salary (under the circumstances represented by Mr. Owen), which should make me believe that impression to have been delusive.

POLITICAL LIFE

OF

THE EX-EMPEROR OF MEXICO,

DON AUGUSTIN DE ITURBIDE,

WRITTEN BY HIMSELF, DURING HIS RESIDENCE AT LEGHORN,

AND DATED SEPTEMBER 27, 1823.

[Translated from the Spanish Ms. for THE PAMPHLeteer.]

INTRODUCTION.

In the present number of the Pamphleteer we are enabled to offer to our readers, the "Political Life of the Ex-Emperor of Mexico, Don Augustin Iturbide," purporting to be written by himself, during his residence near Leghorn, in 1823, and, as such, received from Mexico, in a Spanish Ms. form, through a channel of the highest respectability. The translation is a literal one; and the Memoir, besides containing a complete outline of the causes and events which led to Iturbide's elevation and downfall, never rightly understood in this country, possesses a peculiar interest, at the present moment, when a new question begins to arise in Europe respecting the stability of the Mexican Republic; or rather, when it becomes a subject of inquiry whether, from a variety of reasons, the extended, thinly populated and only yet half-civilised States of New Spain, are not more fitted for the establishment of a monarchy, than a republican and federative form of government. This paper is, besides, both curious and valuable, in another point of view. The only accounts we have of Iturbide's acts and views are from the pens of his enemies, and evidently filled with the grossest illiberality; nay, from the very style in which they are couched, it is more than presumable that they were dictated by party-spirit, and consequently, in many respects, devoid of truth. Iturbide, like most other men who, in times of revolution, have taken the lead in the military and political events of their country, and raised themselves to a rank infinitely beyond that of their companions and coadjutors, became

an object of attack, from the moment he was deserted by fortune; and, as usually happens, those were his bitterest enemies and loudest accusers, who had previously been promoted by his friendship, or fed on his bounty. Few men have had more reason to complain of ingratitude, and there are few whose actions have been more perverted; nevertheless, there must have been something great and dignified in the character of Iturbide, and some important advantages also gained by the Mexicans, through his services or bravery, otherwise he never could have secured a popularity so extensive, and, notwithstanding his last misfortune, retained it up to the present hour.

In saying thus much of one now no more, we cannot be suspected of a design to eulogise, or an intention to mislead. Every man who has held a post so elevated as Iturbide did, no matter how attained, or in what manner lost, has a right to be judged both by his contemporaries and posterity; and this can only be done fairly, by hearing what he had to say of himself, by comparing it with his enemies' accusations, and by then deliberately weighing the results. Memoirs of this class also add materially to our general mass of information respecting foreign countries, and, in a political point of view particularly, of none do we require it so much as of Mexico, a country in which we have now a large capital at stake, owing to the credulity and inconsiderate acts of our money-lenders.

Iturbide says, that his "only crime was having allowed himself to be raised to a throne which he himself had created for another, and being thereon seated, of having had the courage to oppose intrigues and disorders," It now turns out, that it was not an act of personal ambition which placed Iturbide on the Mexican throne. He had endeared himself to the people, by effecting their independence and total separation from Spain, a merit of which even his worst enemies cannot deprive him; but he was convinced from the very onset, and as were, and still are, the most enlightened of his countrymen, that Mexico can never exist, for any length of time, as a Republic; and that the only plan to insure the tranquillity of the country, and prevent it from being dismembered, as well as the only mode to give to the people a form of government, congenial to their wants, wishes and habits, was to raise it into a Monarchy. He was also of opinion, that the 70,000 Europeans established in the viceroyalty, with some exceptions, ought to be retained, as in their hands the chief wealth and industry were concentrated; and he was sensible that their expulsion would create a lamentable void in the society of the country, and materially diminish its resources. That, in this respect, he was right, is proved by the very same policy being now pursued by the Mexican government.

After having held the command of two provinces and the army

of the North, Iturbide had retired to his parental estates, and was there engaged in domestic pursuits, when, in 1820, the constitution of Spain was re-established in the whole of the South American provinces. This event, followed by the operation of the public press, had excited a general wish for independence; and almost every province, nay nearly every district, in Mexico, had its particular plan by which that independence was to be attained. Numerous revolu tions were on the eve of breaking out," says the Memoir," and the country was about to be inundated with blood." With a view to save it, Iturbide issued from the solitude in which he then was; but in no part of the provinces was there, at the time, a patriot army that could second his efforts, and serve as a point d'appui to an enterprise intended to overthrow the political power and supremacy of Spain.

As early as the 10th of January, 1821, Iturbide began to develope his views; and on the 24th of the ensuing February, he drew up what is called the Iguala plan, from the place in which it was signed, suggesting the formation of a provisional government, for the purpose of establishing the independence of the Mexican empire. This plan contained twenty-four articles: the most material of which were, that New Spain should be totally independent; that the govern ment should be a moderate monarchy, and that the emperor should be either Ferdinand VII., the Infante Don Carlos, Don Francisco de Paula, the Archduke Charles, or some other member of a reigning family; that the Cortes of the realm should be assembled; that all the inhabitants of New Spain, without any distinction of Europeans, Africans, and Indians, should be citizens, &c.

On this basis it was that Iturbide stepped forward as the assertor of his country's rights, and the champion of Mexican independence. His plan was generally approved of, and adopted. All classes of the people were ready to support him; and in a few weeks he found himself at the head of a considerable military force. The power of the Spanish viceroy, except in the capital, was soon little else than a mere shadow, and, consequently, he was thus deprived of all effective opposition. Most of the old commanders, of guerilla-parties and patriots joined Iturbide; and, in a word, as the Memoir distinctly states, "without bloodshed, conflagrations, robberies, or depredations-nay, without even a misfortune, a single sigh, or a tear, Mexico was rendered happy, and from a colony transformed into a great and independent empire."

Iturbide, preparatory to his advancing on the capital for the purpose of dislodging the viceroy, began to collect troops in that portion of the country called Bugio, where he had before commanded; and from that moment the public press, uncontrolled by the agents of Spain, seconded his efforts. The independent cause spread rapidly; nevertheless, there were still several strong bodies

of Spaniards in various positions throughout the country. These Iturbide resolved immediately to dislodge; and his troops were successful in Cordova, Tepeaca, Queretaro, la Fluerta, Azcapotzalco, and several other places. By the fall of Queretaro, a large, rich, and populous city, as well as the key to the interior provinces, the Spanish viceroy in the capital was driven to great shifts. The other large cities successively declared for Iturbide, who next advanced the main body of his army on the capital. In this state of things, General O'Donoju arrived from Spain with the appointment of viceroy; and Iturbide immediately proceeded to meet him in Cordova, where, on behalf of the Spanish government, the new viceroy, on the 24th Aug. (1821), signed a treaty with Iturbide, acknowledging the independence of Mexico, and agreeing to the Iguala plan. The effect of this treaty was, the opening of the gates of Mexico; and all the public functionaries and troops belonging to Spain were quietly sent away to the Havannah.

By this means was the independence of Mexico secured, and even confirmed, as far, at least, as the powers of a Spanish viceroy went. Spain afterwards disavowed the treaty; nevertheless, the main object was attained, and her future threats of no avail. These were the public claims to that popularity which afterwards placed Iturbide on the throne, evidently against his own will, as the Memoir very fully proves. As no sovereign could be obtained from Europe, this was universally considered as the best expedient to preserve the tranquillity of the country, and insure its future prosperity. In his elevation, most of those leaders and men of influence who afterwards became republicans heartily joined, and sent in their public felicitations on the occasion. They subsequently deserted their new sovereign, for reasons fully explained in the Memoir yet, to the very last, Iturbide was treated with every respect and consideration; and from the popularity and esteem which he at the time enjoyed, it is very clear that, if he had wished to uphold his authority by force, a civil war must have ensued, when it is very probable that he would have come out of the struggle triumphant. He was, however, anxious to avoid the effusion of human blood, and voluntarily agreed to expatriate himself, as the only means of removing the cause of all future fears and animosities. After the treatment he had received from the hands of his countrymen, it is, nevertheless, matter of astonishment how he should have resolved to return to the scene of action, however he might have been pressed by his friends. If the assertions respecting his disinterested and patriotic views, in his public conduct, as contained in the Memoir, are to be taken for granted, it is, however, presumable that, in the last and fatal act of his life, he thought he was about to render another service to his country, and that he was actuated by a hope that the popularity which he still

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