Page:Vol 5 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/312

292 on the 15th Paredes proclaimed that he had assumed the task of reorganizing the republic, and of upholding the national rights which had been outraged by the United States. This pronunciamiento, it has been said, was promoted with the view of establishing a monarchical government. Whether it was so or not, it met with the support or indifference of those who wanted Herrera's administration overthrown, and was soon seconded or tolerated throughout the republic.

Amidst the confusion caused by these events, congress sat on the 28th of December, 1845, after a revolutionary movement initiated at the capital by the Celaya regiment had been quelled. The government could no longer offer any resistance to the hostile elements concentrated at the capital. The revolution was proclaimed in the Ciudadela early in the morning of the 30th by General Valencia. President Herrera surrendered the government on the same day, and retired to his house.

The revolutionary chief and his army entered the capital on the 2d of January, 1846, and on the same day called a meeting of general officers. In a brief address he made known his resolution to uphold the national liberties and personal rights, and then laid before the meeting a plan that in his opinion would put an end to the evils the nation was undergoing,