Page:Mexico (1829) Volumes 1 and 2.djvu/160

 124 MEXICO. town : Hidalgo had neither the power, nor perhaps the incli- nation, to restrain them. He was aware that the contest in which he had engaged was one of a deadly nature, and was not averse to seeing his followers so deeply committed as to render any hope of future reconciliation impossible. This appears to me the simplest mode of accounting for his never having attempted to introduce any thing like discipline amongst his troops, (the possibiHty of which Morelos afterwards proved); for it cannot be attributed to any want of intelligence, or aic- tivity ; — qualities which he displayed, in all other respects, in no common degree. During his short stay at Guanajuato, he established a Mint there, with every thing necessary for coining money, and a foundery of cannon, in which he made use of the bells which had been found in the houses of the Europeans. I have been the more particular in detailing the occurrences which took place at Guanajuato, because it was to his suc- cessful attempt upon this town that Hidalgo owed his cele- brity. His name spread instantly through the different Pro- vinces, and with his name the nature of his enterprise. From every part of the country recruits flew to join him ; and, as all concurred in recognizing him as their chief, he distributed commissions and powers, by which his principles were dis- seminated, and his partizans augmented, in every quarter. The consternation which the news of the fall of Guana- jiiato created amongst the Spaniards in the Capital was very great ; but the new Viceroy, Don Francisco Xavier Vene- gas, who had been installed but two days before the insur- rection of Dolores broke out, displayed such firmness in all his measures, that the Creoles were compelled to conceal their exultation, and public tranquillity was not disturbed. Venegas, though at first misled by the representations of the Aiidiencia, and particularly of the Oidor Bateller, who assured him that the sound of a drum would alone be suffi- cient to terrify the Mexicans into submission, soon perceived