Page:Vol 4 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/735

Rh Apodaca's rule lasted nearly five years, and may be divided into three epochs. During the first, namely, from September 1816 to Mina's arrival, his policy was so wise that within a few months he succeeded in restoring peace, a result the more remarkable from the fact that he could have no perfect knowledge of the men he had to rely on or of the resources at his command. By the possession of a high order of talent, quick insight, and a most extraordinary activity and energy, all of which he brought into play, admirable results were obtained. The insurgents were everywhere defeated and their strongholds taken. Still more worthy of admiration, in a royalist point of view, was his conduct during the second epoch, in connection with Mina's invasion. The operations of that campaign were marked by vigor and activity. The blows struck by the royalist troops were decisive, and after Mina's destruction, the work of eliminating from the revolution any elements still in the field was a comparatively easy one. Indeed, the revolution was almost dead in the middle part of 1820. The third epoch presents a strong contrast with the preceding ones. It was one of inaction and apathy in military affairs, at the very time when the utmost energy was demanded by the newly developed circumstances. In the cases of Mina and Iturbide, both of whom had independence in view, the viceroy's course was exactly opposite. In the former it was one of relentless war, and when the leader was secured death was at once awarded him; whereas toward the latter he displayed a conciliatory spirit and a want of polemical action, which looked much like intentional neglect. So marked a difference in his line of conduct laid him open to the suspicion that he had become faithless to his trust; a suspicion strengthened by the fact that he regarded the constitutional regime as extremely prejudicial to the country, while it was an undeniable fact that no change could be effected so long as Mexico remained an appendage of Spain.