Star.
London, England, 1824-11-11 00:00:00

ITURBIDE.

The arrival, arrest, and execution of this misguided
individual had, when these papers came away, been
spread throughout the Mexican Union, and had every,
where produced a considerable impression, though not
much in his favour. The Governor of Tamaulipas,
and General Garza, were in general highly approved of
for their conduct in apprehending and executing a
usurper who entered the country with the torch of civil
war if he found his countrymen indisposed to his sway,
and received that kind of praise which would be be-
stowed on the workers of a fire-engine, who, by the
promptitude of their movements, extinguished an in-
cipient conflagration. The Congress of Luis de Potosi,
a neighbouring province, had met at six o'clock in the
morning of the 28i July, to deliberate on the duties
which the emergency required at their hands. • Many
patriotic speeches had been uttered, and many measures
of precaut ion adopted, when the news of lturbide's exe-
cution arrived from Padilla. The anxiety of this body
was of course instantly changed into security—their
alarms terminated in demonstrations of satisfaction—
and their precautionary measures were abandoned for
the expression of grateful feeling to the authorities who
rendered them unnecessary.• The news, it will be re-
collected, reached Mexico on the 26th or 27th of July:
but we find, that even with the dispatches of Garza
before them, the people still doubted their truth till the
4th or sth of August. They believed, indeed; That some
person had been shot, but they could not think that the
ez-mPeror could be the victim. It was in vain at first to
point out to them, that the officers attesting the execu-
tion were Gutierrez de Lara, who had been acquainted
with the ex-Emperor when a deputy, and Garza, who
knew him as a soldier. Suet, incredulity, or rather
such credulity, is not surprising in those whose belief
was strong in Iturbide's judgment, or whose prejudices
were engaged for his assumed rank. The populace of
Lisbon still believe that King Sebastian, who was killed
in Africa 300 years ago, will still return victorious from
his expedition against the Moors. The following ac-
count of the last moments of the unhappy adventurer,
from the paper of the 11th of August, may be read with
some interests
" Although from themnment in which Iturbide was
arrested by General Garza, he must have foreseen that
his enterprise was frustrated, he maintained great calm.
ness, and probably did not foresee the fate that awaited
him. On the 19th, at three in the afternoon, General
Garza, from whose conduct duty had never excluded
humanity, notified to him by an officer, that he must
prepare to die that very day. A profound stupor was
then succeeded by the most earnest entreaties, that the
execution of the sentence might be delayed till the Su-
preme Government received an account of his situation.
General Garza signified to him that such a delay was
not in his power, and that he was under the necessity of
fulfilling the order which had been imposed upon him.
Then Iturbide prepared for death, confessing himself
to Gutierrez, one of the Deputies to that State. At six
in the evening he was led to the public square, in the
midst of which were drawn up sixty or seventy soldiers,
who had come along with General Garza. The groups
of people who surrounded them observed the scene in
the greatest silence. Senor Iturbide asked, a moment be.
fore his execution, for a glass of water, and as soon as he
had drank it, falling on his knees befote the troops, he
recommended to them obedience to their chiefs and the
fulfilment of their military duties ; and besought them
to consider his punishment, if ignominious, as extend-
ing only to himself; and terminated by his death, with-
out reaching his family; manifesting a desire that his
death might be useful to the nation. When he had
concluded this address, the officer gave the troops the
terrible signal, and Iturbide fell to the earth a lifeless
corpse, which was carried soon after to a building near
the Parish Church, followed by the troops. On the fol-
lowing day he was interred with all the decency which
the smallness of the population would allow.
Whilst this catastrophe was going on in Padilla, the
wife of Iturbide, with his two sons, attended by two
Priests, disembarked at Sota la Marina. They carried
on shore with them several trunks, containing a gi eat
number of printed proclamations, filled with accounts
of expeditions to be undertaken by the Holy Alliance,
circulars to Bishops and EcclesiasticalCouncils,and other
things of that sot t, together with a magnificent imperial
mantle, uniforms, crosses, insignia, and other things of
the same kind. As soon as the account of the execution
reached Sota de la Marina, the vessel in which they came
cut its cables, and sailed away with all those who had
remained on board. The wife of Iturbide remained be.
hind, without any change of linen, or a single real of
money; General Garza was therefore obliged to provide
her with everything.