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560 for September, the small town of Chilpancingo, which was now raised to the rank of city, under the name of Nuestra Señora de la Asuncion.

A main object of the congress was to frame the long-mooted constitution; and to this Morelos also gave a certain direction by drawing up rules for the proceedings of the assembly, and determining a number of vital questions, one conferring on army officers the power to nominate from among the four captain-generals a generalissimo, in whom was to be vested the executive authority, with full powers. Under the circumstances, this was equivalent to appointing himself.

In these steps he had been guided greatly by the draft for a constitution prepared by Rayon early in 1812, and which aimed above all to perpetuate the actual council. According to Rayon's plan sovereignty, emanating from the people, stood vested in Fernando VII., but was to be exercised by a national American council of five members, elected by the provinces and gradually renewed by the change of one member yearly. For the present, vacancies were to be filled by elections made by the existing members. A congress chosen every three years by the municipalities should exercise legislative power, though subject to the decision of the council, which