Page:Vol 5 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/742

722 asked them to amend the constitution, evidence of his good intentions being the loyalty with which he had fulfilled the pledges made at Ayutla. He bound himself by oath to faithfully discharge the duties of president in accordance with the constitution, and to advance the welfare of the union. Thereupon he received the congratulations of the diplomatic corps and of the authorities. Soon after he asked congress to allow Juarez, La Fuente, and Cortés Esparza, members of the supreme court, to continue at the head of their respective departments in the cabinet.

Certain conferences held by Comonfort with commissioners from several states had a threatening aspect, and fears were entertained that the clergy would get the upper hand, which were all the more excited by a religious feast in the oratory of the president's palace at Tacubaya on the 13th of December. Congress became alarmed and held secret meetings. The chief officers of the brigade under Zuloaga had been for some time urging Comonfort to strike a blow. The state governors had been confidentially asked by persons from the capital to effect a political change on the ruins of the present system; that is to say, the federal congress and the state legislatures were to be suppressed, and Comonfort's dictatorship restored. Anastasio Parrodi, governor of Jalisco, declaring that the president wanted no change, urged the other governors to uphold the constitutional system. Minister Payno and General Zuloaga were accused of plotting against the constitution, which