Mexico.
The Times, 1824-11-11T00:00:00

By the Tiger, from Vera 5Cruz, we last night received a file of the Mexican paper called the Sol, from the Slst of July to the 1Ith of September. The imiportance of their contents is not in proportion to their inass; but still they are not devoid of interestB The most curious part of their intelligence relatesto theunsuccessful enterpriseof Itturbide, the suppression of an insurrectionary movement in the province of Oajaca, the measures taken against the robber Gomnez, and some domestic occurrences in Mexico. Th'e general impression which the perusal of them leaves on tlhe ,ind, is, that the State of Mexico eibjoys general tranquil- lity, that tlhe laws are executed Wvith regularity and energy, and that the Goyernment is conisolidated rather than shaken by the menaces of Spaini and the attenpts of the late ex- Emperor. In successive niumnbers of the journal before us, ve find extracts from books antd reports of political trausac- tions, which show that a considerable craving for useful knowvledoe exists in its readers. We regret, sometimes, that this appetite is not fed with better viands. Thei luclabra- tions ofthe Abbetle Pradt, however, an(d Mr. Bentbam, may be more useful to America than to Europe. It is lucky for Mexico, thlat if the realters!of the 8ot are to have essays on tactics, it is oAyV the " tactics of political assemblies by the latter that they require." ITURBIDE. The arrival, arrest, and execution of this misguided in- lividiual had, when these papers came away, been spread throuighlout the iMexican Union, and ha(l everywhere pro- duced a considerable imlpression, thougli not much in his favour. 'T'he Governor of Tamaulipas, and General Garza, A-ere in general highly approved of for their con(luct in ap- prehending and executing a usurper who entered the coun- try with the torch of civil war il he found his countrymen indisposed to his sway, and( received that kind of praise which would be bestowed on the workers of a fire-engine, wbo, by the promptitutde of their movemenits, extinguished an incipient conflagration. 'The Congress of Luis de Potosi, a neighbouring province, had met at six o'clock in tle morning of the 293d July, to deliberate on the duties whicl the emergency tequired at their hands. Many patriotic speeches hadl been uttered, and many mieasures of precau- tion adhoeted, when the news of Iturbide's executtion arrived from Pdaailla. 'The anxiety of this body was of course in- stantly changedl into security-their alarms terminated in demonstratioms ofsatisfaction-and thelr precautionary ar- ranigements were abandoned for the expression of grateful feeling to the authorities who rendered themn unn1ecessary. The niews, it will be recollected, reachedl 4exico on thc 26thl or27th of July; but we find, that even with the despatches of G arza belore then, the pcople still doubted their truth till the 4th or 5th of August. They believed, itideed, that somc personi had been shot, but they cotuld not think that the ex-Enmperor couldl be thevictim. It was in vaini at first to point ouit to themn, that the officers attesting the execu- tion, were Gitierruz de Lara, who hadl been acquainted with the ex-Emiperor when a depu ty, and Garza, who knew himin as a soldier. Such increduli t,or ratlher such cre- dlulity, is not surprising in those whose lelief was strong in Itttrbide's judgeneit, or whose prej udices wvere engaged for his assurmed rank. rhe populace of Lisbon stil be- lieve that King Sebastian, wlho was kille(d in Africa 300 years ago, will still return victorious from1 h4is expeditioni against the Moors. The following account of the last mo- mentsof the unhappy adventurer, from the paper of the I itli of August, may be read with some interest4- Aldiouglb from the moment in wlhichi Iturbile was arrested by General Garza, lie must have foreseen that liis enterprise was frus- trated, he maintained great cahlness, and probably did not foresee lbe fete that awaited him. On the 19tih, at three in the afternoon, GeneTal Garza, from whose conduct duty had never excluded lumanity, notified to him by an officer, that lie must prepare to die hat very day. A profouid stupor was then succeedcd by the most arnest entreaties, that thc execution uf the sentence might be de. layedi till the Supreme Government received an accounlt of kis situa. ion. Gieneral Garza signified to hin, that suchi a delay was not in sis power, and that tie was unider the necessity of fulfilling the order ehich haid been imposed upon hin. Then lturbidepreparedi fordeath, ,onfessing himself to (lutiares, cne of the Deputies of that state. At ;ix in thie evening lie was led to the lpublic square, in the midstofwhici vere draws up 60 or 70 soldiers, who had come along with Oxeneral Garza. The groups of people who surrotindledi tihici observed tlIe icenein tlegreatestsilence. Senor Itturbiuleasked, a momentbefore his Ixecution, for a glass of water, and as soon as he had drank it, fall. ng on his knees before the troops, lie recommended to the,in obe. tience to their chiefls andl the fulfilment of their military duties: and esought thenm to consider his punishment, if ignonminhous, as ex- ending only to hiinse!f, and termninated by hWi death, without reaci- ng hid famiily: manifesting a desire that his death mIght be useful to the nation. When he had concluded this address, thie officer gave the troops the terrible signal, and Itturbido in- rtanitly fell to the earth a lifeless corpse, which was carried saoon atter to a building niear the parishi church, followed by the troops. On the following day he was interred! with all the decency whichi the small. ties, of the population would allow. whilst this catastrophe was gointg on in Padilla, the wife of Itur. bide, withi his two sont, attended by two priests, disemibarked at Sota la llarina. They carried oti shore witi them several trunks, con. taining a great numlber ot printed pfoclamuatio:n filled with ac- counts of expeditions to be tndertaken by tile Holy Al- li;nce, circulars to bishaop anid ecclesiastical councills, and other things or that sort, 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 Soto de la MIarina, the vessel in whichi they calne cut its cables, andsailed away. withall ttlosewito had remainted on board. The wife of Iturbide remained behind, witilout any cl1ange of linen, or a single real of money ; General Garza was thierefore obliged to provi(de her with every thing. STATE OF TIlE PROVINCES. It is mentioned in tie NSolof the 3d Aug., that DonlAn tonio Leon, who ha(l revolted against the general Government, hafl given up the post of Commanlarit-General to Colonel Gonez, but had retained the coi:n2ain(1 of' the troops with whiclh hehiad retired to Yanguitlan and EIuajuapais ; that the Congress of Oajaca hadl been dissolved ; anid that the Governor and( authorities ha(l fled. General Victoria, a memnber of the Executive, was in consequzence sent against the insurgents. In the paper of the 7th, it is stated, that this disobed'ient servant of tile public hatl been abaudoned by his troops and fled, after gaining by his exaction 2.5,000 dollars. In the paper of August 20, we find a despatch of General Victoria, dated from thc province of Oajaca, stating that Colonel Leoni and hiis brother liad surrendered without strikiing a blow or compouniding for terms. " I congratu- late myself on this success," says he, i which has not cost a single drop of blood, nor caused a single tear to bc shied, and will show to foreign lnations that the Mvexican Go- verninent knows how to respect anid to execute the laws of jtstice in the spirit of humanity." Thus endls the boasted insurrectioni in this province. A FANATICAlI ASSASSINATION. On tOle 29it of August, a native of Nortlh Asne- rica, by trade a shoemaker, wlho had some time be- fore arrived in Mlexico, was staniding at his shop- iloGr when the host passed. The people, as is usual in Roman Catholic countries, knelf,sceing the processsien. A man fell on his knees at -the door of the shoemaker, and the shoemaker himself knelt oni a chair in the interior. The man at the door called upon tlle shoemaker to kneel, like himself, on the ground, witlhout any regard to where lie stood at the time; and a dispute arising between them, the fanatic drew out his knife and killed the North American. The assassin made his escape, no doubt favoured by a populace as brttifiedl by superstition as himself. 'I'he MSIexican journal detcribes this murder with all the abhorrence whichl it oughst to excite; but we rhen- tion the circumstance rather for the subsequent act of the Government to which it gave rise, than for the unlcommon atrocity of the crime itself. Ve find in the paper of the 5th of September, a proclamation offering from the Go. vernmcnt a reward of two thousand dollars, for the appre- hension of the assassin, who the proelamation declares will be tried according to the laws. This sum is placed at the disposal of the American and English Consu[s, t6 be dis- tributed by them be weeni the informer and the person who apprehends the culprit. The Government coulR not do more to show that it did not partake in the fanatical feeling which prompted the criminal act of its subject. 118CEILLANEOUS. It is pleasilg to observe, that the General ('ongress is proceeding peaceably and regularly with th'e Constitutional Act. They hAve passed a law favourable to colonization on a part of the Mexican territory. On the 1st of August an earthquake was felt in MIexico, which continued several seconds. From the private letters brought by this conveyance, ve asertain that the provisional contract for raising a loan for the service of Mexico, which was entered into Last year bv an agent of the house of Barclay, Herring, Richardson, and Co.,was finally concluded and ratified by. the represen- tatives of that house and the Govermsent, in the city of Mexico, on the 2d of September last. The amount of the loan is 3,200,0001.-stock, bearing 6 per cent. interest. It is stipulated in this cozrtract,that one fourth of its proceeds shall be applied to the redemption of the loan made by ,Ur. Migonm with Messrs. B. A. Goldslch-nidt afid Co., and that the loan is not to be issued tll February -next; both these conditions being in contormity with Messrs. Gold. schmidt's contract. The associations formedain this couhtry-foif working the mines of Melxico are said to be proceeding favotnubly, not- withstanding numerous obstacles, arising fromn the difficult nature of the unidertaking. A letter we have seen states, that the expedition sent out by the Anglo-Mexican Mining Association had arrived at Guanacutato, the mining district, andi was occupied in erecting smelting houses, and other proceetlingspreparatory to the workiig ef the mines. Some curious facts relating to Iturbide have bcen dis- closed, by letters addressed to that adventurer in Mexico, on the supposition that liisdesign would succeed, and sub- mitted to the Government after his death. They have afforded, it is said, a, clue to his whole conduct when in England, and to the parties from whom he received assist- ance. There would arise no interest here from these dis- closures, on which- therefore it is unnecessary to dwell; but one circumstance we are bound to mention, inasmuch as it woultl imply that Iturbide had received lessons in go- vernmenlt from indlividuals here, which, had he succeeded, and nade them the rule of his coniduct, would have ren. dlered Mexico one scene of bbodshed. lW'e find it alleged in one of the private communications from Mexico, that a mcmber of the legal profession in this country, with whom Ituxbide (luring his stay was on a footingof intimacy,has ad- dressed to him a long letter, in which he recommends him, should he succeed in re-establishinf himself at the head of the Government, to put to deatl/ all trose wAko were opposed to Ihim in ti/at design, as thie only means of securing himself in power. Considering tIme great number of persons in Mexico known to be enemies of fturbide, by having formerly been instrumenttal to his banishment, we caa hardly conceive advice more diabolical, supposing it really to have been given. It adds, if true, amothier motive for congratulating that fine country oni the escape it has had from the domi- nion or a tyrant, and a still more coinplete justification, if any were watited, of the summary mode of his execution. WA)e trust, howev'er, that no Englishman, by whatever me- tives influenced of personal advantage, could have given such counsel. The contest for thie Presidency wvas goin- on at the date of thie letters, and the votes for Generals bravo and Vic- toria vere so nearly equal, that it was dloubtful in whose favour the scale would turii. A gentleman who came passenger in the Tiger, de- livered despatches yesterolay morning at the Foreign-office from the British Commissioner at Mexico. llIEXICO.