Page:Vol 5 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/739

Rh on the ground that they were not in accordance with the convocation decree. It is a very remarkable circumstance that the government had looked with indifference upon the elections of members to the congress, and the result was that a majority of them proved to be men opposed to Comonfort's policy; hence, on arriving at the capital and being consulted on the coup d'état, they indignantly rejected the idea. The cabinet on the 15th of September resigned in a body, and the president being unable to replace them at once with men of his own choice, had to leave matters for a time in charge of the oficiales mayores, or chief clerks, there being no under-secretaries. Congress not having been installed before the 16th of September, and Comonfort's dictatorship being at an end on that date, the country was left in an alarming condition, rendered still more so by the absence of a responsible ministry at a time when insurrection prevailed everywhere. The excitement in the capital was so great that the business houses were closed, and troops patrolled the streets.

At last congress was installed on the 8th of October, when the customary ceremonials took place. In his speech at the installation Comonfort, in speaking of what he had done to secure the triumph of the laws and liberal institutions over antiquated errors and bastard interests, and of his determination to crush the revolution, hinted at the necessity of the government being clothed with ample powers. At subsequent conferences held at the palace the need of