Page:Vol 4 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/581

Rh the congress were practically a constitution, wherein he had framed everything according to his own fancy, making himself actual ruler wherever his arms might obtain sway, and sustaining that control by appointments at will. The congress, essentially his own creature, and easy to so maintain when kept under his eyes, was designated rather as an adjunct to himself, and its power could in any case be readily curtailed. Although crude and incomplete, the constitution sufficed to achieve the aim of its projector, which after all was not out of keeping with a personage of this period who so completely overshadowed all the other leaders of the party in military success and power. He cannot be said to have abused the trusts he outlined, and he sustained an assembly which might have been dissolved on the plausible ground that advancement of the cause required concentration of authority into one hand.

The men, however, who had hitherto figured as captain-generals with so little credit were retired, on the plea that their new sphere as deputies required undivided attention. The two provinces of Michoacan and Guanajuato lately controlled by them, together with Guadalajara, Zacatecas, and San Luis Potosí, were placed under the command of Manuel Muñiz, as lieutenant-general. The only other officer of this rank was Matamoros, who received charge of the more important region of Oajaca, Vera Cruz, Puebla, Tlascala, Mexico, and Tecpan. Additional control was exercised through the judges appointed in different provinces.