Page:Vol 5 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/658

638 merit, and add prestige to the government. He even condescended in the distribution to recognize the services of the mouldering Iturbide, Guerrero, and O'Donojú, while crushing Hidalgo, Morelos, and the rest with contemptuous disregard. Unfortunately, at the first public display of the order, as the members paraded in all their glittering insignia before the gaping masses, these, unable to grasp the solemn import of things esoteric, profaned the occasion by dubbing them huehuenches, a nickname passed round with boisterous hilarity, that found a persistent echo throughout the country. Even among the higher classes were men who manifested equal lack of appreciation. Chief Justice Ceballos, who after resigning the presidency had returned to the supreme bench, was honored by an offer of the third-class order. Either the degree was below his expectations, or he was sincere in declaring that his republican convictions opposed its acceptance; for he declined, as did his associate, Castañeda. Such unheard of independence in the midst of fawning adulation stung Santa Anna; and contrary to his stipulations and oaths, he ordered them both to be dismissed in the face of general though suppressed disapproval.

These and other puerilities were indulged in, regardless of the low condition of the treasury, and much time was wasted in discussing questions of social precedence and color of liveries, while depression