Page:Vol 3 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/513

Rh Guerrero and his companions during the administration of Branciforte.

The instigator and principals in this conspiracy were Europeans. Their plan was to surprise the commander of the plaza by night in the capital, and with threats against his life, force him to put at their disposal a force of a hundred and fifty men from one of the regiments of the garrison. This accomplished, the city prisons and the acordada building, the latter alone containing eight hundred prisoners, were to be thrown open; the archbishop and the authorities were then to be secured, after which the mint, treasury, and the wealthy merchants were to be plundered. The banner of liberty was then to be unfurled on the palace, and the Indians released from paying tribute. Guerrero thought he might then possess himself of Vera Cruz by merely sending to that place an envoy; the port was to be opened to the ships of all nations, without permitting any to depart, lest news of the state of affairs should reach Spain, though he did not greatly fear that troops would arrive, as the attention of the mother country was absorbed in European affairs.

This plan Guerrero communicated to the presbyter Juan Vara, chaplain of the regiment de Corona, in Mexico, whom he offered to make archbishop in case of success. But Vara must impart the news of his prospective exaltation to a countryman, who in turn made haste to betray his friend by reporting the matter to the authorities. Guerrero was imprisoned on the 15th of September, and all his companions soon shared the same fate. With the exception of the presbyter, who managed to escape from San Juan de Ulúa, the