Page:Vol 4 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/799

Rh Nevertheless, the accused were detained in custody. Their republican proclivities were too well known to allow their release. A few, however, were liberated at the end of the year, more as an act of grace at Christmas than as an admission of their innocence. The only demonstration of revolt occurred in Nuevo Santander, headed by Brigadier Felipe de la Garza, who sent in a representation to Iturbide signed by the ayuntamiento of Soto la Marina, the electors, military and other officers, protesting against the encroachment on the sovereignty of the nation, and demanding the release of the deputies. But the movement was a mere flash, no other provinces responding. Brigadier Fernandez, comandante of San Luis Potosí, was despatched against the disaffected district, and Garza having implored pardon, the affair ended.

After the imprisonment of the deputies the congress became more openly defiant, and united in selfdefence hitherto opposing parties. The question of right to appoint the supreme tribunal of justice was claimed with continued firmness. A proposal made by the government for the establishment of military courts in the city of Mexico and the provincial capitals, in order to expedite the administration of justice, was resolutely rejected, and the undisguised antagonism of the two powers made it evident that they could not long exist side by side. Iturbide, therefore, determined to reform the congress. On September 25th the deputy Lorenzo de Zavala, after classifying