Page:Vol 4 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/163

Rh have supported it; but he could not countenance what he deemed a lawless movement, a movement whose origin was so humble, and whose agents were so ignoble. But we may well doubt, if the independence of Mexico had been left wholly to Spanish officials, the corrupt and mercenary minions of a corrupt and mercenary monarch, that it would ever have been achieved. New Spain was in no sense a confederation of states, like the English colonies in America, with men at the helm native-born and of independent thought and action. Conditions were different here, and the desired results must come through different means. I believe this uprising of the native and mixed races to have been one of the inexorable dispensations in the case. It was meet that a remnant of that people, who had suffered so gross and long-continued wrongs at the hands of Europeans, should be the first to rise in rebellion against them, when once opportunity offered a reasonable hope of success.

Riaño was a better man than the average Spanish official in America; but it was not at the individual the blow was aimed. We all recognize his simple and modest deportment, his kindness and accessibility to the poor, his pleasant companionship and literary attainments, which made him alike popular with high and low.

The death of the intendente carries confusion and disorder among the besieged. A dispute arises between Manuel Perez Valdés, asesor of the intendencia, and Major Berzábal, each claiming the right to the chief command. There is no time to settle it; the assault is continued with increased obstinacy, and for hours the fierce contest rages. Heavier falls the stone deluge, and fiercer is the rush at the barricades. All discipline is lost; as first one and then another