Page:Vol 3 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/183

Rh of Mexico was removed from office, and summoned before that tribunal. Martin de Ursúa y Arizmendi, the governor elect, was appointed to replace Soberanis, and at once made preparations to avail himself of the opportunity to carry out his favorite project—the conquest of the Itzas.

Meanwhile, however, Soberanis, acquitted in Mexico, was restored to his government, and from this time to his death on September 25, 1699, made all possible opposition to the schemes of his successor, notwithstanding royal orders to the contrary. Ursúa's second term lasted from 1699 to the end of 1703, when he was deposed by the viceroy of Mexico, on a charge of implication in the murder of an alcalde of Valladolid. Ursúa went to Spain, where he not only justified his conduct, but obtained new distinctions, and was reinstated on June 6, 1706, holding office till the 15th of September 1708, when he was promoted to the presidency of Manila.

The services that he rendered in the expedition against the Itzas in 1697, and which have already been related, were probably the main reason for his preferment, for during that campaign he displayed all the qualities of a cautious and capable leader.