Page:Vol 4 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/295

Rh, he remained in the house of his friend Pedro Otero during the contest, and though he was present at the battle of Calderon, it was not with a willing heart, he said, and he was one of the first to flee!

His accusations against the leaders of the insurgents were villanous; he brought unjustly on Hidalgo's minister, Chico, a doom which otherwise he would have escaped. Between Abasolo's inherent baseness and the high-minded conduct of his wife. Dona María Manuda de Rojas y Taboada, his worthless life was spared to him. Of all the principal promoters of the revolution, he alone did not hesitate to crawl away from a death which posterity will forever proclaim glorious. His property was confiscated, his offspring was attainted, and he was condemned to ten years im prisonment. He was sent to Cádiz and incarcerated in the castle of Santa Catarina, where he ended his days, attended and consoled to the last by his faithful wife.

The trials were conducted with every possible despatch, and on the 10th of May three of the captives were led forth to execution. On the 11th two more met the same fate, and on the 6th of June five others, among whom was Maríano Hidalgo, brother of the general. Allende suffered on the 26th of the same month, in company with Jimenez, Juan Aldama, and Manuel Santa María, the governor of Monterey;