Page:Vol 4 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/577

Rh again had to be guided in all important acts of government by a council of state composed of brigadiers and higher officers. Caste distinctions, slavery, and torture must be abolished, and the habeas corpus system introduced. Four military orders should be created, applicable also to civilians. Of the four captain-generals, embracing the three who were members of the council, one should in time of war be chosen temporary generalissimo, equivalent to dictator.

This draft had been submitted to Morelos, who, while recognizing therein the ideas of Hidalgo, objected to several points. Fernando should no longer be held up as a mask for independence. The council of state should be reduced to a fixed number of generals, and a generalissimo elected for life. The safety of religion demanded that foreigners be admitted at the furthest only to a few ports. This smacked strongly of the cura. Some of his objections acquired weight, for shortly after appeared the Spanish liberal constitution, which effectually eclipsed the other document in the eyes of its very projector, and caused him to withhold it. As Morelos revealed his own designs, Rayon became anxious to secure himself; and to this end he hastened to frame another constitution, which was submitted to the guadalupes at Mexico and others, and intended for publication before the congress should meet. Nothing came of this; for Morelos