Page:Vol 4 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/88

72 the hostile demonstrations. In vain the use and sale of hand printing-presses were prohibited, and in vain rewards were offered for the detection of the authors of these treasonable acts.

In April 1809 news of reverses sustained by Spanish arms in the peninsula reached Mexico, and Garibay issued a proclamation on the 20th, exhorting the public to show their loyalty by contributions in aid of the mother country, by sentiments expressing a closer union in mind and heart, and above all, by refusing to be influenced by the secret operations of those who were endeavoring to seduce them from their allegiance. But this proclamation had no effect in arresting the steady advance of the revolutionary party. Its adherents were jubilant, and did not refrain from openly expressing their joy at the news. They greeted with delight the intelligence of disasters suffered by the Spanish forces; and while they exaggerated their defeats, they underrated and derided the advantages which they gained.

Day by day the government was losing its influence over the public mind, and becoming more and more an object of ridicule on the part of the disaffected. In the hope of changing the current, Garibay, or rather his advisers, established a junta consultiva, composed of three oidores, before which all cases of treason were to be tried instead of in the criminal court. This tribunal was formed in June