# Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas and Yucatan/Chapter 11

CHAPTER XI.
THE PROVISOR—NEWS OF THE DAY, NOW PUBLISHED IN GUATIMALA—VISIT TO THE CONVENT OF LA CONCEPCION—THE FAREWELL OF THE NUN—CARRERA—SKETCH OF HIS LIFE—THE CHOLERA—INSURRECTIONS—CARRERA HEADS THE INSURGENTS—HIS APPEARANCE IN GUATIMALA—CAPTURE OF THE CITY—CARRERA TRIUMPHANT—ARRIVAL OF MORAZAN—HOSTILITIES—PURSUIT OF CARRERA—HIS DEFEAT—HE IS AGAIN UPPERMOST—INTERVIEW WITH CARRERA—HIS CHARACTER.
The next three or four days I passed in receiving and paying visits, and in making myself acquainted with the condition of the country. Among the most interesting visitors was the venerable Provisor, since the banishment of the archbishop the head of the church, who, by a late bull of the Pope, had been appointed bishop; but, owing to the troubled times, had not yet been installed. A friend in Baltimore had procured for me a letter from the Roman Catholic archbishop in that city, to whom I here acknowledge my obligations, recommending me to all his brother ecclesiastics in Central America. The venerable Provisor received this letter as from a brother in the Church, and upon the strength of it, afterwards, when I set out for Palenque, gave me a letter of recommendation to all the curas under his charge. During the day my time passed agreeably enough; but the evenings, in which I was obliged to keep within doors, were long and lonely. My house was so near the plaza that I could hear the sentinels' challenge, and from time to time the report of a musket. These reports, in the stillness of night, were always startling. For some time I did not know the cause; but at length learned that cows and mules straggled about the city, which, heard moving at a distance and not answering the challenge, were fired upon without ceremony.
There was but one paper in Guatimala, and that a weekly, and a mere chronicler of decrees and political movements. City news passed by word of mouth. Every morning everybody asked his neighbour what was the news. One day it was that an old deaf woman, who could not hear the sentinel's challenge, had been shot; another, that Asturias, a rich old citizen, had been stabbed; and another morning the report circulated that thirty-three nuns in the convent of Santa Teresa had been poisoned. This was a subject of excitement for several days, when the nuns all recovered, and it was ascertained that they had suffered from the unsentimental circumstance of eating food that did not agree with them.
On Friday, in company with my fair countrywoman, I visited the ​convent of La Concepcion for the purpose of embracing a nun, or rather the nun, who had taken the black veil. The room adjoining the parlatoria of the convent was crowded, and she was standing in the doorway with the crown on her head and a doll in her hand. It was the last time her friends could see her face; but this puerile exhibition of the doll detracted from the sentiment. It was an occasion that addressed itself particularly to ladies; some wondered that one so young should abandon a world to them beaming with bright and beautiful prospects; others, with whom the dreams of life had passed, looked upon her retirement as the part of wisdom. They embraced her, and retired to make room for others. Before our turn came there was an irruption of those objects of my detestation, the eternal soldiers, who, leaving their muskets at the door, forced their way through the crowd, and presenting themselves, though respectfully, for an embrace, retired. By her side was a black nun, with a veil so thick that not a lineament of her face could be seen, whom my countrywoman had known during her seclusion in the convent, and described as young, of exceeding beauty and loveliness, and around whom she threw a charm which almost awakened a spirit of romance. I would have made some sacrifice for one glimpse of her face. At length our turn came; my fair companion embraced her, and, after many farewell words, recommended me as her countryman. I never had much practice in embracing nuns; in fact, it was the first time I ever attempted such a thing; but it came as natural as if I had been brought up to it. My right arm encircled her neck, her right arm mine; I rested my head upon her shoulder, and she hers upon mine; but a friend's grandmother never received a more respectful embrace. "Stolen joys are always dearest;" there were too many looking on. The grating closed, and the face of the nun will never be seen again.
That afternoon Carrera returned to the city. I was extremely desirous to know him, and made an arrangement with Mr. Pavon to call upon him the next day. At ten o'clock the next morning Mr. Pavon called for me. I was told that this formidable chief was taken by external show, and put on the diplomatic coat, with a great profusion of buttons, which had produced such an effect at Copan, and which, by-the-way, owing to the abominable state of the country, I never had an opportunity of wearing afterwards, and the cost of which was a dead loss.
Carrera was living in a small house in a retired street. Sentinels were at the door, and eight or ten soldiers basking in the sun outside, part of a body-guard, who had been fitted out with red bombazet jackets and tartan plaid cape, and made a much better appearance than ​any of his soldiers I had before seen. Along the corridor was a row of muskets, bright and in good order. We entered a small room adjoining the sala, and saw Carrera sitting at a table counting money.
Ever since my arrival in the country this name of terror had been ringing in my ears. Mr. Montgomery, to whom I have before referred, and who arrived in Central America about a year before me, says, "An insurrection, I was told, had taken place among the Indians, who, under the directions of a man called Carrera, were ravaging the country and committing all kinds of excesses. Along the coast, and in some of the departments, tranquillity had not been disturbed; but in the interior there was no safety for the traveller, and every avenue to the capital was beset by parties of brigands, who showed no mercy to their victims, especially if they were foreigners;" and in referring to the posture of affairs at his departure he adds, "It is probable, however, that while this is being written, the active measures of General Morazan for putting down the insurrection have been successful, and that the career of this rebel hero has been brought to a close." But the career of the "rebel hero" was not brought to a close; the "man called Carrera" was now absolute master of Guatimala; and, if I am not deceived, he is destined to become more conspicuous than any other leader who has yet risen in the convulsions of Spanish America.
He is a native of one of the wards of Guatimala. His friends, in compliment, call him a mulatto; I, for the same reason, call him an Indian, considering that the better blood of the two. In 1829 he was a drummer-boy in Colonel Aycinena's regiment. When the Liberal or Democratic party prevailed, and General Morazan entered the city, Carrera broke his drum and retired to the village of Matasquintla. Here he entered into business as a pig-driver, and for several years continued in this respectable occupation, probably as free as one of his own pigs from any dreams of future greatness. The excesses of political parties, severe exactions for the support of government, encroachments upon the property of the Church, and innovations, particularly the introduction of the Livingston Code, establishing trial by jury, and making marriage a civil contract, created discontent throughout the country. The last gave great offence to the clergy, who exercised an unbounded influence over the minds of the Indians. In 1837 the cholera, which, in its destructive march over the habitable world, had hitherto spared this portion of the American continent, made its terrible appearance, and, besides strewing it with dead, proved the immediate cause of political convulsions. The priests persuaded the Indians that the foreigners had poisoned the waters. Galvez, who was at that time the chief of the state, sent medicines into all the villages, ​which being ignorantly administered, sometimes produced fatal consequences; and the priests, always opposed to the Liberal party, persuaded the Indians that the government was endeavouring to poison and destroy their race. The Indians became excited all over the country; and in Matasquintla they rose in mass, with Carrera at their head, crying "Viva la Religion, y muerte a los Estrangeros!" The first blow was struck by murdering the judges appointed under the Livingston Code. Galvez sent a commission, with detachments of cavalry and a white flag, to hear their complaints; but while conferring with the insurgents they were surrounded, and almost all of them cut to pieces. The number of the disaffected increased to more than 1,000, and Galvez sent against them 600 troops, who routed them, plundered and burned their villages, and, among other excesses, the last outrage was perpetrated upon Carrera's wife. Roused to fury by this personal wrong, he joined with several chiefs of villages, vowing never to lay down his arms while an officer of Morazan remained in the state. With a few infuriated followers he went from village to village, killing the judges and government officers, when pursued escaping to the mountains, begging tortillas at the haciendas for his men, and sparing and protecting all who assisted him. At this time he could neither read nor write; but, urged on and assisted by some priests, particularly one Padre Lobo, a notorious profligate, he issued a proclamation, having his name stamped at the foot of it, against strangers and the government, for attempting to poison the Indians, demanding the destruction of all foreigners excepting the Spaniards, the abolition of the Livingston Code, a recal of the archbishop and friars, the expulsion of heretics, and a restoration of the privileges of the Church and old usages and customs His fame spread as a highwayman and murderer; the roads about Guatimala were unsafe; all travelling was broken up; the merchants were thrown into consternation by intelligence that the whole of the goods sent to the fair at Esquipulas had fallen into his hands (which, however, proved untrue); and very soon he became so strong that he attacked villages and even towns.
The reader will bear in mind that this was in the State of Guatimala. The Liberal party was dominant, but at this critical moment a fatal division took place among its members; Barundia, a leading member, disappointed of a high office for a profligate relative, deserted the administration, and appeared in the Assembly at the head of the opposition. Party distraction and the rising of Carrera stirred up all who were dissatisfied with the government; and the citizens of the Antigua, about twenty-five miles distant, sent in a petition for a decree of amnesty for political offences, allowing exiles to return, and a redress of ​other grievances. A deputation of the Assembly was sent to confer with them, which returned unsuccessful, and the Antiguans threatened to march against Guatimala.
On Sunday, the 20th of February (1838), proclamations of the Antiguanos were found strewed in the streets, and there was a general alarm that the Antiguanos were on their march to attack the city. The troops of the general government (less than 500 in number) and the militia were mustered; cannon placed at the corners of the square, and sentinels in the streets; and General Prem published a bando, calling upon all citizens to take up arms. Galvez, the chief of the state, mounted his horse, and rode through the streets, endeavouring to rouse the citizens, and giving out that Morazan was on his march, and had defeated 300 of Carrera's gang. On Monday all business was suspended. Galvez, in great perplexity, reinstated some officers who had been dismissed, and appointed Mexia, a Spaniard, lieutenant-colonel; which gave such disgust that Prem and all the officers sent in their resignations. Galvez begged and implored them to continue, reconciling himself to each individually; and at length, on his revoking the commission of Mexia, they consented. At two o'clock it was rumoured that Carrera had joined the Antiguanos. Prem published a decree that all males from fourteen to sixty, except priests and persons labouring under physical imbecility, should take up arms. At nine o'clock at night there was an alarm that a party of Carrera's gang was at the Aycetuna. The square was garrisoned, and sentinels and cannons placed at the corners of the streets. To add to the excitement, during the night the Provisor died, and news was received that the Livingston Code had been publicly burned at Chiquimula, and that the town had declared against Galvez. On Wednesday morning fossés were commenced at the corners of the public square; but on Thursday the Marquis of Aycinena, the leader of the Central party, by a conference with the divided Liberals, succeeded in inducing a majority of deputies to sign a convention of amnesty, which gave general satisfaction, and the next day the city was perfectly quiet.
At mid-day this calm proved the forerunner of a dreadful storm. The troops of the Federal government, the only reliable force, revolted, and with bayonets fixed, colours flying, and cannon in front, left the barracks and marched into the plaza. They refused to ratify the convention by which, it was represented to them, Galvez was to be deposed, and Valenzuela, the vice-chief and a tool of Barundia, appointed in his stead. They refused to serve under any of the opposition, and said they could give protection, and had no occasion to ask it. Deputies were cited to attend a meeting of the Assembly, but ​they were afraid to convene. The officers had a conference with the soldiers; and Merino, a sergeant, drew up a document requiring the President Morazan to be sent for, and Galvez to remain chief until his arrival. This was assented to. Deputies were sent requesting Morazan to come to Guatimala, and also to the Antigua, to explain the circumstances of violating the convention; but they were unsuccessful, and the same night the alarm-bell announced the approach of 800 men to attack the city. The militia were called to arms, but only about forty appeared. At half-past five Galvez formed the government troops, and, accompanied by Prem, marched from the plaza to meet the rebels; but before he reached the gate a conspiracy broke out among the troops, and with the cry "Viva el General Merino, y muera el Gefe del Estado, quien nos ha vendido—fuego, muchachos!" "Live General Merino, and die the chief of the state, who has sold us—fire, boys!" the infantry fired upon the etat major. A ball passed through Prem's hat; Galvez was thrown from his horse, but escaped, and took refuge behind the altar of the Church of La Concepcion. Yañez succeeded in dispersing the troops with his cavalry, and returned to the square, leaving fifteen dead in the street. Merino, with about 120 men, took possession of the small field-piece of the battalion, and stationed himself in the square of Guadaloupe. Parties of the dispersed troops remained out all night, firing their muskets, and keeping the city in a state of alarm; but Yañez saved it from plunder by patrolling with his cavalry. In the morning Merino asked permission to march into the plaza. His number had increased by the return of straggling parties; and on forming in the plaza he and three or four of the ringleaders were ordered to leave the ranks, and sent to prison in the convent of San Domingo, where, on Monday afternoon, he was tied to a stake in his cell and shot. His grave at the foot of the stake, and blood spattered on the wall, were among the curiosities shown to me in Guatimala.
On Sunday morning the bells again sounded the alarm; the rebels were at the old gate, and commissioners were sent out to treat with them. They demanded an evacuation of the plaza by the soldiers; but the soldiers answered indignantly, that the rebels might come and take the square. Prem softened this into an answer that they could not surrender to rebels, and at about half-past twelve at night the attack commenced. The rebels scattered in the suburbs, wasting powder and bullets, and in the morning Yañez, with seventy cavalry, made a sally, and, routing 300 of them, returned into the plaza with lances reeking with blood. Probably, if he had been seconded by the citizens, he would have driven them all back to the Antigua. ​On Wednesday Carrera joined the rebels. He had sent his emissaries to the villages, rousing the Indians, and promising them the plunder of Guatimala; and on Thursday, with a tumultuous mass of half-naked savages, men, women, and children, estimated at 10,000 or 12,000, presented himself at the gate of the city. The Antiguanos themselves were struck with consternation, and the citizens of Guatimala were thrown into a state bordering on distraction. Commissioners were again sent out to treat with him, from whom he demanded the deposition of Galvez, the chief of the state, the evacuation of the plaza by the Federal troops, and a free passage into the city. Probably, even at this time, if the Federal troops had been supported by the citizens, they could have resisted the entry; but the consternation, and the fear of exasperating the rebellious hordes, were so great, that nothing was thought of but submission. The Assembly met in terror and distraction, and the result was an assent to all that was demanded.
At five o'clock the small band of government troops evacuated the plaza. The infantry, amounting to three hundred, marched out by the Calle Real, or Royal-street. The cavalry, seventy in number, exclusive of officers, on their march through another street, met an aid-de-camp of Carrera, who ordered them to lay down their arms. Yañez answered that he must first see his general; but the dragoons, suspecting some treachery on the part of Valenzuela, became panic-struck, and fled. Yañez, with thirty-five men, galloped through the city, and escaped by the road to Mixco; the rest rushed back into the plaza, threw down their lances in disgust, dismounted and disappeared, when not a single man was left under arms.
In the meantime Carrera's hordes were advancing. The commandant of the Antiguans asked him if he had his masses divided into squares or companies; Carrera answered, "No entiendo nada de esto. Todo es uno." "I don't understand anything of that. It is all the same." Among his leaders were Monreal and other known outlaws, criminals, robbers, and murderers. He himself was on horse-back, with a green bush in his hat, and hung round with pieces of dirty cotton cloth, covered with pictures of the saints. A gentleman who saw them from the roof of his house, and who was familiar with all the scenes of terror which had taken place in that unhappy city, told me that he never felt such consternation and horror as when he saw the entry of this immense mass of barbarians; choking up the streets, all with green bushes in their hats, seeming at a distance like a moving forest; armed with rusty muskets, old pistols, fowling-pieces, some with locks and some without; sticks formed into the shape of ​muskets; with tin-plate locks; clubs, machetes, and knives tied to the ends of long poles; and swelling the multitude were two or three thousand women, with sacks and alforjas for carrying away the plunder. Many, who had never left their villages before, looked wild at the sight of the houses and churches, and the magnificence of the city. They entered the plaza, vociferating, "Viva la religion, y muerte a los estrangeros!" Carrera himself, amazed at the immense ball he had set in motion, was so embarrassed that he could not guide his horse. He afterwards said that he was frightened at the difficulty of controlling this huge and disorderly mass. The traitor Barundia, the leader of the opposition, the Catiline of this rebellion, rode by his side on his entry into the plaza.
At sundown the whole multitude set up the Salve, or Hymn to the Virgin. The swell of human voices filled the air, and made the hearts of the inhabitants quake with fear. Carrera entered the Cathedral; the Indians, in mute astonishment at its magnificence, thronged in after him, and set up around the beautiful altar the uncouth images of their village saints. Monreal broke into the house of General Prem, and seized a uniform coat, richly embroidered with gold, into which Carrera slipped his arms, still wearing his straw hat with its green bush. A watch was brought him, but he did not know the use of it. Probably, since the invasion of Rome by Alaric and the Goths, no civilized city was ever visited by such an inundation of barbarians.
And Carrera alone had power to control the wild elements around him. As soon as possible some of the authorities sought him out, and in the most abject terms begged him to state on what conditions he would evacuate the city. He demanded the deposition of Galvez, the chief of the state, all the money, and all the arms the government could command. The priests were the only people who had any influence with him, and words cannot convey any idea of the awful state of suspense which the city suffered, dreading every moment to hear the signal given for general pillage and massacre. The inhabitants shut themselves up in their houses, which, being built of stone, with iron balconies to the windows, and doors several inches thick, resisted the assaults of straggling parties; but atrocities more than enough were committed, as it seemed, preliminary to a general sacking. The vice-president of the republic was murdered; the house of Flores, a deputy, sacked, his mother knocked down by a villain with the butt of a musket, and one of his daughters shot in the arm with two balls.
The house of Messrs. Klee, Skinner, and Co., the principal foreign merchants in Guatimala, which was reported to contain ammunition and arms, was several times attacked with great ferocity; having strong ​balconied windows, and the door being secured by bales of merchandise piled up within, it resisted the assaults of an undisciplined mob, armed only with dubs, muskets, knives, and machetes. The priests ran through the streets bearing the crucifix, in the name of the Virgin and saints restraining the lawless Indians, stilling the wildness of passion, and saving the terrified inhabitants. And I cannot help mentioning one whose name was in everybody's mouth, Mr. Charles Savage, at that time United States consul, who, in the midst of the most furious assault upon Mr. Klee's house, rushed down the street under a shower of bullets, knocking up bayonets and machetes, drove the mob back from the door, and, branding them as robbers and murderers, with his white hair streaming in the wind, poured out such a torrent of indignation and contempt, that the Indians, amazed at his audacity, desisted. After this, with an almost wanton exposure of life, he was seen in the midst of every mob. To the astonishment of everybody, he was not killed; and the foreign residents presented him a unanimous letter of thanks for his fearless and successful exertions in the protection of life and property.
Pending the negotiation, Carrera, dressed in Prem's uniform, endeavoured to restrain his tumultuous followers; but several times he said that he could not himself resist the temptation to sack Klee's house, and those of the other Ingleses. There was a strange dash of fanaticism in the character of this lawless chieftain. The battle-cry of his hordes was, "Viva la religion!" The palace of the archbishop had been suffered to be used as a theatre by the Liberals; Carrera demanded the keys, and, putting them in his pocket, declared that, to prevent any future pollution, it should not be opened again until the banished archbishop returned to occupy it.
At length the terms upon which he consented to withdraw were agreed upon, viz. eleven thousand dollars in silver; ten thousand to be distributed among his followers, and one thousand for his own share; a thousand muskets, and a commission as lieutenant-colonel for himself. The amount of money was small as the price of relief from such imminent danger, but it was an immense sum in the eyes of Carrera and his followers, few of whom were worth more than the rags on their backs, and the stolen arms in their hands; and it was not easily raised; the treasury was bankrupt, and the money was not very cheerfully contributed by the citizens. The madness of consenting to put in the hands of Carrera a thousand muskets was only equalled by the absurdity of making him a lieutenant-colonel.
On the afternoon of the third day the money was paid, the muskets delivered, and Carrera was invested with the command of the province ​of Mita, a district near Guatimala. The joy of the inhabitants at the prospect of his immediate departure was without bounds; but at the last moment an awful rumour spread, that the wild bands had evinced an uncontrollable eagerness, before leaving, to sack the city. A random discharge of muskets in the plaza confirmed this rumour, and the effect was dreadful. An hour of terrible suspense followed, but at five o'clock they filed off in straggling crowds from the plaza. At the Plaza de Toros they halted, and, firing their muskets in the air, created another panic. A rumour was revived that Carrera had demanded 4,000 dollars more, and that, unless he received it, he would return and take it by force. Carrera himself did actually return, and demanded a fieldpiece, which was given him; and at length, leaving behind him a document requiring the redress of certain grievances, to the unspeakable joy of all the inhabitants he left the city.
The delight of the citizens at being relieved from the pressure of immediate danger was indeed great, but there was no return of confidence, and, unhappily, no healing of political animosities. Valenzuela was appointed chief of the state; the Assembly renewed its distracted sessions; Barundia, as the head of the now ministerial party, proposed to abolish all the unconstitutional decrees of Galvez; money was wanted, and recourse had to the old system of forced loans. This exasperated the moneyed men; and in the midst of discord and confusion, news was received that Quezaltenango, one of the departments of Guatimala, had seceded, and declared itself a separate state. At this time, too, the government received a letter from Carrera, stating that he had been informed, since his arrival at Matasquintla, that people spoke ill of him in the capital, and if they continued to do so, he had 4,000 men, and would return and put things right. From time to time he sent a message to the same effect by some straggling Indian who happened to pass through his village. Afterward it was reported that his followers had renounced his authority, and commenced operations on their own account, threatening the city with another invasion, determined, according to their proclamations, to exterminate the whites, and establish a government of pardos libres, "free tigers," and enjoy in their own right the lands which had devolved upon them by their emancipation from the dominion of the whites. To the honour of Guatimala, a single spark of spirit broke forth, and men of all classes took up arms; but it was a single flash, and soon died away. Again intelligence arrived that Carrera himself had sent out his emissaries to summon his hordes for another march upon the city. Several families received private information and advice to seek safety in ​flight. Hundreds of people did so, and the roads were crowded with processions of mules, horses, and Indians loaded with luggage. On Sunday everybody was going, and early on Monday morning guards were placed at the barriers. Hundreds of passports were applied for, and refused. Again a decree was published that all should take up arms. The militia were again mustered. At ten o'clock on Tuesday night it was said that Carrera was at Palencia, at eleven that he had gone to suppress an insurrection of his own bandits, and on Wednesday night that he was at a place called Canales. On Sunday, the 4th of March, a review took place of about 700 men. The Antigua sent 350 muskets, and ammunition, which they did not consider it prudent to keep, as there had been cries of "muera Guatimala, y viva Carrera!" and placards bearing the same ominous words had been posted on the walls. At this time a letter was received from Carrera by the government, telling them to disband their troops, and assuring them that he was collecting forces only to destroy a party of 400 rebels, headed by one Galvez (the former chief of the state, whom he had deposed), and requesting two cannon and more ammunition. At another time, probably supposing that the government must be interested in his fortunes, he sent word that he had narrowly escaped being assassinated. Monreal had taken advantage of an opportunity, seduced his men, tied him to a tree, and was in the very act of having him shot, when his brother Laureano Carrera rushed in, and ran Monreal through with his bayonet. The government now conceived the project of inducing his followers, by the influence of the priests, to surrender their arms on paying them five dollars apiece; but very soon he was heard of stronger than ever, occupying all the roads, sending in imperious proclamations to the government, and at length the news came that he was actually marching upon the city.
At this time, to the unspeakable joy of the inhabitants. General Morazan, the president of the republic, arrived from San Salvador, with 1,500 men. But even yet party spirit was dominant. General Morazan encamped a few leagues from the city, hesitating to enter it or to employ the forces of the general government in putting down a revolution in the state except with the consent of the state government. The state government was jealous of the federal government, tenacious of prerogatives it had not the courage to defend, and demanded from the president a plan of his campaign; passed a decree offering Carrera and his followers fifteen days to lay down their arms, which General Morazan would not permit to be published at his headquarters; two days afterwards annulled it, and authorized the president of the republic to act as circumstances might require. ​During this time one of Morazan's piquets had been cut off and the officers murdered, which created a great excitement among his soldiers; but, anxious to avoid shedding more blood, he sent into the city for the Canonigo Castillo and Barundia, deputing them as commissioners to persuade the bandits to surrender their arms, even offering to pay fifteen dollars a head rather than come to extremities. The commissioners found Carrera at one of his old haunts among the mountains of Matasquintla surrounded by hordes of Indians living upon tortillas. The traitor Barundia had been received by Morazan's soldiers with groans; his poor jaded horse was tied up at Morazan's camp a day and a half without a blade of grass; and, as a farther reward of his treason, Carrera refused to meet him under a roof, because, as he said, he did not wish to plunge his new lance, a present from a priest, into Barundia's breast.
The meeting took place in the open air, and on the top of a mountain. Carrera refused to lay down his arms unless all his former demands were complied with, and unless also the Indian capitation tax was reduced to one-third of its amount; but he softened his asperity against foreigners to the demand that only those not married should be expelled the country, and that thereafter they should be permitted to traffic only, and not to radicate in it. The atrocious priest Padre Lobo, his constant friend and adviser, was with him. The arguments of the Canonigo Castillo, particularly in regard to the folly of charging the government with an attempt to poison the Indians, were listened to with much attention by them, but Carrera broke up the conference by asserting vehemently that the government had offered him twenty dollars a head for every Indian he poisoned.
All hope of compromise was now at an end, and General Morazan marched directly to Matasquintla; but before he reached it, Carrera's bands had disappeared among the mountains. He heard of them in another place, devastating the country, desolating villages and towns, and again, before his troops could reach them, the muskets were concealed, and the Indians either in the mountains or quietly working in the fields. Mr. Hall, the British vice-consul, received a letter from eleven British subjects at Salama, a distance of three days' journey, stating that they had been seized at night by a party of Carrera's troops, stripped of everything, confined two nights and a day without food, and sentenced to be shot, but finally ordered to leave the country, which they were then doing, destitute of everything, and begging their way to the port. A few nights after, at ten o'clock, the cannon of alarm was sounded in the city, and it was reported that Carrera was again at the gates. All this time party strife was as violent as ever; ​the Centralists trembling with apprehension, but in their hearts rejoicing at the distraction of the country under the administration of the Liberals, and that one had risen up capable of inspiring them with terror; and the divided Liberals hating each other with a more intense hate even than the Centralists bore to them; but the excitement became so great that all the parties drew up separate petitions to General Morazan, representing the deplorable state of insecurity in the city, and begging him to enter and provide for its safety. Separate sets of deputies hurried to anticipate each other at General Morazan's head-quarters, and pay court to him by being the first to ask his protection. General Morazan had become acquainted with the distracted condition of the city, and was in the act of mounting his horse when the deputies arrived. On Sunday he entered with an escort of 200 soldiers, amid the ringing of bells, firing of cannon, and other demonstrations of joy. The same day the merchants, with the Marquis of Aycinena and others of the Central party, presented a petition representing the dreadful state of public feeling, and requesting Morazan to depose the state authorities and assume the reins of government, and to convoke a Constituent Assembly, as the only means of saving Guatimala from utter ruin. In the evening deputies from the different branches of the Liberal party had long conferences with the president. Morazan answered all that he wished to act legally, would communicate with the Assembly the next day, and be governed by their decision. The proceedings in the Assembly are too afflicting and disgraceful to dwell upon. So far as I can understand the party strife of that time, after wading through papers and pamphlets emanating from both sides. General Morazan conducted himself with probity and honour. The Centralists made a desperate effort to attach him to them, but he would not accept the offered embrace, nor the sycophantic service of men who had always opposed him; nor would he sustain what he believed to be wrong in his own partisans.
In the mean time, Carrera was gaining ground; he had routed several detachments of the Federal troops, massacred men, and increased his stock of ammunition and arms. At length all agreed that something must be done; and at a final meeting of the Assembly, with a feeling of desperation, it was decreed without debate,
Amid these scenes within the city, and rumours of worse from without, on Sunday night a ball was given to Morazan; but the Centralists, displeased at his not acceding to their overtures, did not attend. ​Galvez, the chief deposed by Carrera, made his first appearance since his deposition, and danced the whole time.
Though Morazan was irresolute in the cabinet, he was all energy in the field; and being now invested with full power, sustained his high reputation as a skilful soldier. The bulletin of the army for May and June exhibits the track of Carrera, devastating villages and towns, and the close pursuit of the government troops, beating him wherever they found him, but never able to secure his person. In the mean time, party jealousies continued, and the state government was in a state of anarchy. The Assembly could not meet, because, the state party not attending, it was incumbent on the vice-chief to retire, and the oldest counsellor to take his place. But there was no such person; the term of the council had expired, and no new elections had been held; and while Morazan was dispersing the wild bands of Carrera, and relieving the Guatimalians from the danger which had brought them to their knees before him, the old jealousies revived, and incendiary publications were issued, charging him with exhausting the country in supporting idle soldiers, and keeping the city in subjection by bayonets.
About the first of July, General Morazan considered Guatimala relieved from all external danger, and returned to San Salvador, leaving troops in different towns under the command of Carvallo, and appointing Carlos Salazar commandant in the city. Carrera was supposed to be completely put down; and to bring things to a close, Carvallo published the following
"NOTICE. "The person or persons who may deliver the criminal Rafael Carrera, dead or alive (if he does not present himself voluntarily under the last pardon), shall receive a reward of fifteen hundred dollars and two cabellerias of land, and pardon for any crime he has committed.
"The General-in-chief,
"Guatimala, July 20, 1838."
J. N. Carvallo.
But the "criminal" Carrera, the proscribed outlaw, was not yet put down. One by one, he surprised the detachments of Federal troops; and while the city exhibited the fierceness of party spirit, forced loans, complaints of the expense of maintaining idle soldiers, plans to abolish the state government and form a provisional junta, its actual prostration, and the organizing of a Constituent Assembly with M. Rivera Paz at the head, Carrera with still increasing numbers, attacked Amatitan, took the Antigua, and barely waiting to sack a few houses, stripped it of cannon, muskets, and ammunition, and again marched against Guatimala, proclaiming his intention to raze every house to the ground, and murder every white inhabitant. ​The consternation in the city cannot be conceived. General Morazan was again solicited to come. A line in pencil was received from him by a man who carried it sewed up in the sleeve of his coat, urging the city to defend itself, and hold out for a few days; but the danger was too imminent; Salazar, at the head of the Federal troops (the idle soldiers complained of), marched out at two o'clock in the morning, and, aided by a thick fog, came upon Carrera suddenly at Villa Nueva, killed 450 of his men, and completely routed him, Carrera himself being badly wounded in the thigh. The city was saved from destruction, and, the day after, Morazan entered with 1,000 men. The shock of the immense danger they had escaped was not yet over; on the morrow it might return; party jealousies were scared away; all looked to General Morazan as the only man who could effectually save them from Carrera, and, in turn, begged him to accept the office of dictator.
About the same time Guzman, the general of Quezaltenango, arrived, with 700 men, and General Morazan made formidable arrangements to enclose and crush the Cachurecos. The result was the same as before: Carrera was constantly beaten, but as constantly escaped. His followers were scattered, his best men taken and shot, and he himself was penned up, and almost starved on the top of a mountain, with a cordon of soldiers around its base, and only escaped by the remissness of the guard. In three months, chased from place to place, his old haunts broken up, and hemmed in on every side, he entered into a treaty with Guzman, by which he agreed to deliver up 1,000 muskets, and disband his remaining followers. In executing the treaty, however, he delivered only 400 muskets, and those old and worthless; and this breach of the convention was winked at by Guzman, little dreaming of the terrible fate reserved for himself at Carrera's hands.
This over, Morazan deposed Rivera Paz, restored Salazar, and returned to San Salvador, first laying heavy contributions on the city to support the expense of the war, and taking with him all the soldiers of the Federal Government, belying one of the party cries against him, that he was attempting to retain an influence in the city by bayonets. Guzman returned to Quezaltenango, and the garrison consisted only of seventy men.
The contributions and the withdrawal of the troops from the city created great dissatisfaction with Morazan, and at this time the political horizon became cloudy throughout the republic. The Marquis of Aycinena, who had been banished by Morazan, and had resided several years in the United States, studying our institutions, by a series of ​articles which were widely circulated, purporting to illustrate our constitution and laws, hurried on the crisis; Honduras and Costa Rica declared their independence of the general government: all this came back upon Guatimala, and added fuel to the already flaming fire of dissension.
On the 24th of March, 1839, Carrera issued a bulletin from his old quarters in Matasquintla, in which, referring to the declaration of independence by the States, he says: "When those laws came to my hands, I read them, and returned to them very often; as a loving mother clasps in her arms an only son whom she believed lost, and presses him against her heart, so did I with the pamphlet that contained the declaration; for in it I found the principles that I sustain, and the reforms I desire." This was rather figurative, as Carrera could not at that time read; but it must have been quite new to him, and a satisfaction to find out what principles he sustained. Again he threatened to enter the city. All was anarchy and distraction in the councils, and on the 12th of April his hordes appeared before the gates. All were aghast, but there was no rising to repel him. Morazan was beyond the reach of their voice, and they who had been loudest in denouncing him for attempting to control the city by bayonets now denounced him for leaving them to the mercy of Carrera. All who could, hid away their treasures and fled; the rest shut themselves up in their houses, barring their doors and windows: at two o'clock in the morning, routing the guard, he entered with 1,500 men. Salazar, the commandant, fled, and Carrera, riding up to the house of Rivera Paz, knocked at the door, and reinstalled him chief of the state. His soldiers took up their quarters in the barracks, and Carrera established himself as the guardian of the city; and it is due to him to say that he acknowledged his own incompetency to govern, and placed men at the disposition of the municipality to preserve the peace. The Central party was thus restored to power. Carrera's fanaticism bound him to the Church party; he was flattered by his association and connexion with the aristocracy, was made brigadier-general, and presented with a handsome uniform; and, besides empty honours, he had the city barracks and pay for his men, which was better than Indian huts and foraging expeditions; the last, too, being a resource for pastime. The league had continued since the April preceding my arrival. The great bond of union was hatred of Morazan and the Liberals. The Centralists had their Constituent Assembly, abolished the laws made by the Liberals, revived old Spanish laws, and old names for the courts of justice and officers of government, and passed any laws they pleased so that they did not interfere ​with him. Their great difficulty was to keep him quiet. Unable to remain inactive in the city, he marched toward San Salvador, for the ostensible purpose of attacking General Morazan. The Centralists were in a state of great anxiety; Carrera's success or his defeat was alike dangerous to them. If defeated, Morazan might march directly upon the city, and take signal vengeance upon them; if successful, he might return with his barbarians so intoxicated by victory as to be utterly uncontrollable. A little circumstance shows the position of things. Carrera's mother, an old woman well known as a huckster on the plaza, died. Formerly it was the custom with the higher classes to bury in vaults constructed within the churches, but from the time of the cholera, all burials, without distinction, were forbidden in the churches, and even within the city, and a campo santo was established outside the town, in which all the principal families had vaults. Carrera signified his pleasure that his mother should be buried in the Cathedral! The government charged itself with the funeral, issued cards of invitation, and all the principal inhabitants followed in the procession. No efforts were spared to conciliate and keep him in good temper; but he was subject to violent bursts of passion, and, it was said, had cautioned the members of the government at such moments not to attempt to argue with him, but to let him have his own way. Such was Carrera, at the time of my visit, more absolute master of Guatimala than any king in Europe of his dominions, and by the fanatic Indians called el Hijo de Dios, (the Son of God,) and nuestro Señor, (our Lord).
When I entered the room he was sitting at a table counting sixpenny and shilling pieces. Colonel Monte Rosa, a dark Mestitzo, in a dashing uniform, was sitting by his side, and several other persons were in the room. He was about five feet six inches in height, with straight black hair, an Indian complexion and expression, without beard, and did not seem to be more than twenty-one years old. He wore a black bombazet roundabout jacket and pantaloons. He rose as we entered, pushed the money on one side of the table, and, probably out of respect to my coat, received me with courtesy, and gave me a chair at his side. My first remark was an expression of surprise at his extreme youth; he answered that he was but twenty-three years old; certainly he was not more than twenty-five; and then, as a man conscious that he was something extraordinary, and that I knew it, without waiting for any leading questions, he continued, that he had begun (he did not say what) with thirteen men armed with old muskets, which they were obliged to fire with cigars; pointed to eight places in which he had been wounded; and said that he had three balls then in his body. At this time ​he could hardly be recognised as the same man who, less than two years before, had entered Guatimala with a horde of wild Indians, proclaiming death to strangers. Indeed, in no particular had he changed more than in his opinion of foreigners, a happy illustration of the effect of personal intercourse in breaking down prejudices against individuals or classes. He had become personally acquainted with several, one of whom, an English doctor, had extracted a ball from his side; and his intercourse with all had been so satisfactory, that his feelings had undergone an entire revulsion; and he said that they were the only people who never deceived him. He had done, too, what I consider extraordinary in the intervals of his hurried life he had learned to write his name, and had thrown aside his stamp. I never had the fortune to be presented to any legitimate king, nor to any usurper of the prerogatives of royalty except Mohammed Ali. Old as he was, I gave him some good advice; and it grieves me that the old lion is now shorn of his mane. Considering Carrera a promising young man, I told him that he had a long career before him, and might do much good to his country; and he laid his hand upon his heart, and with a burst of feeling that I did not expect, said he was determined to sacrifice his life for his country. With all his faults and his crimes, none ever accused him of duplicity, or of saying what he did not mean; and, perhaps, as many self-deceiving men have done before him, he believes himself a patriot.
I considered that he was destined to exercise an important, if not a controlling influence on the affairs of Central America; and trusting that hopes of honourable and extended fame might have some effect upon his character, I told him that his name had already reached my country, and that I had seen in the newspapers an account of his last entry into Guatimala, with praises of his moderation and exertions to prevent atrocities. He expressed himself pleased that his name was known, and such mention made of him among strangers; and said he was not a robber and a murderer, as he was called by his enemies. He seemed intelligent and capable of improvement, and I told him that he ought to travel into other countries, and particularly, from its contiguity, into mine. He had a very indefinite notion as to where my country was; he knew it only as El Norte, or the North; inquired about the distance and facility for getting there, and said that when the wars were over, he would endeavour to make El Norte a visit. But he could not fix his thoughts upon anything except the wars and Morazan; in fact, he knew of nothing else. He was boyish in his manners and manner of speaking, but very grave; he never smiled, and conscious of power, was unostentatious in the ​exhibition of it, though he always spoke in the first person of what he had done and what he intended to do. One of the hangers-on, evidently to pay court to him, looked for a paper bearing his signature to show me as a specimen of his handwriting, but did not find one. My interview with him was much more interesting than I had expected; so young, so humble in his origin, so destitute of early advantages, with honest impulses, perhaps, but ignorant, fanatic, sanguinary, and the slave of violent passions, wielding absolutely the physical force of the country, and that force entertaining a natural hatred to the whites. At parting he accompanied me to the door, and in the presence of his villainous soldiers, made me a free offer of his services. I understood I had the good fortune to make a favourable impression; and afterward, but, unluckily during my absence, he called upon me in full dress and in state, which for him was an unusual thing.
At that time, as Don Manuel Pavon told me, he professed to consider himself a brigadier-general, subject to the orders of the government. He had no regular allowance for the maintenance of himself and troops; he did not like keeping accounts, and called for money when he wanted it; and, with this understanding, in eight months he had not required more than Morazan did in two. He really did not want money for himself, and as a matter of policy he paid the Indians but little. This operated powerfully with the aristocracy, upon whom the whole burden of raising money devolved. It may be a satisfaction to some of my friends to know that this lawless chief is under a dominion to which meeker men are loth to submit; his wife accompanies him on horseback in all his expeditions, influenced by a feeling which is said to proceed sometimes from excess of affection; and I have heard that it is no unimportant part of the business of the chief of the state to settle family jars.
As we were returning to my house, we met a gentleman who told Mr. Pavon that a party of soldiers was searching for a member of the Assembly who was lying under the displeasure of Carrera, but a personal friend of theirs; and as we passed on we saw a file of soldiers drawn up before his door, while others were inside searching the house. This was done by Carrera's orders, without any knowledge on the part of the government.
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