Page:Vol 4 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/38

22 of the year last named that the strife began, and which was marked by reprisals as vindictive and cold-blooded as the annals of any Christian nation can record, as we shall see. With these preliminary remarks on the political attitudes of the two classes, and on the origin of their divergence, I now proceed to narrate the historical events which preceded the final rupture.

The fifty-sixth viceroy of Mexico, Jose de Iturrigaray, arrived with his family at Guadalupe, and took charge of the government on the 4th of January, 1803. He held the rank of lieutenant-general in the royal army, as had nearly all those who filled this office during the rule of the house of Bourbon in Spain. A veteran soldier and sexagenarian, he still retained a youthful energy and vigor.

Iturrigaray was a native of Cádiz, descending from a genteel but not illustrious family. With an honorable record in the Spanish militia, he had served with some distinction as a colonel of carabineers in the campaign of Roussillon, at the beginning of the French revolution in 1792. His reputation, however, as a military commander was not of the best; and his elevation to the viceregal office was due to the favor of Godoy, the Prince of Peace, who still maintained influence over the weak and incompetent king. His reception at Guadalupe and in the capital was,