Page:Mexico in 1827 Vol 1.djvu/297

Rh, by the first Article of his plan, the Independence of the nation was declared; by the second, its religion fixed; and by the eighth, the crown offered to His Majesty Ferdinand VII., and, in case of his refusal, to the Infants Don Carlos and Don Francisco de Paula, provided any one of them would consent to occupy the throne in person. Such was the project, which was proclaimed on the 24th of February, 1821, at the little town of Igŭālă, (on the road to Acapulco,) where Iturbide had then his head-quarters. His whole force, at the time, did not exceed eight hundred men, and of these, though all, at first, took the oath of fidelity to the plan of Iguala, many deserted when they found that it was not received by the country at large with the enthusiasm that was expected. There was a moment when Iturbide's progress might, undoubtedly, have been checked; but it was lost by the indecision of the Viceroy, who hesitated to put himself at the head of a force, which he had concentrated for the defence of the Capital. The Europeans, alarmed at this delay, deposed him, (as they had done Iturrigaray, in 1808,) and placed Don Francisco Nŏvēllă, an officer of artillery, at the head of affairs: but the authority of the new Viceroy was not generally recognized, and Iturbide was enabled by this schism in the Capital, to prosecute his own plans without interruption in the Interior. After seizing a Conducta of a million of dollars, which had been sent to Acapulco by the Manilla Company, he effected a