Page:Vol 4 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/68

52 opinion that his intention was ultimately to govern without dependence on the crown. The party opposed to him, therefore, determined to hasten their plans. There was organized against him what the viceroy would probably call a conspiracy. Those composing it were mostly European Spaniards, and were supported by the commercial class. Believing that the convocation of a national congress, determined upon by the viceroy, would bring to a conclusion Spanish rule in Mexico, they resolved to stifle all tendency to what they might call disloyalty to Spain, by the seizure of the viceroy and his principal supporters. Gabriel de Yermo, a native of Vizcaya, and warmly attached to the party of the oidores, was selected as their leader. Nor was the choice ill made. Courageous, energetic, possessed of ability and caution, Yermo was in every respect the man to take the lead. Moreover, he had at his command wealth, and the affection of liberated slaves and other dependents on his large estates. Though he considered that the condition of affairs required a desperate remedy, he did not immediately accept the invitation of the conspirators to put himself at their head. Having, however, consulted with his confessor, he at last expressed his willingness to act as their leader, and as no time was to be lost, he acted promptly. At a close meeting it was determined that the