Page:History of California, Volume 3 (Bancroft).djvu/102

84 from the south, and took the command. Herrera was now put under arrest in his own house.

Now followed the formal investigation and trial of the imprisoned leaders. It was carried on at Monterey and Santa Bárbara, by Zamorano, Pacheco, Lobato, and Pliego, under instructions from Echeandía, and extended from January to June. The testimony I have utilized in the preceding narrative, and it requires no further notice except in a single point. The evidence respecting the revolt was clear enough; but nearly all the troops were implicated; few men of any class had shown real opposition to the movement in the north; a rising of soldiers with the object of getting their pay was not a very serious offence from a military point of view; and pretty nearly everybody had been included in the various indultos offered. In fact, the criminal case was hardly strong enough to suit Echeandía's purposes respecting Herrera, the only one of the accused for whose fate he cared particularly. A more serious charge was needed, and grounds for it were easily found. After their defeat at Santa Bárbara, Solis and one or two of his men, wishing to gain the support of the padres, like drowning men clutching at straws, talked about raising the Spanish flag. It was easy to prove these ravings of the soldiers, and the foolish remarks of Padre Luis Martinez at San Luis Obispo. Particular attention was given to this phase of the matter in the investigation. A revolt in favor of Spain would sound very differently in Mexico from a rising of hungry soldiers against