Page:Vol 5 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/747

Rh to make known to the troops in the interior his repentance, and willingness to surrender the executive office to the president of the supreme court. No man ever found himself in exactly such a plight. at one time of going into the interior to fight in person against the reaction; but was deterred by the fact, which he was well aware of, that he could not by force of arms combat ideas. He did not succeed in forming a ministry, because no combination was then possible. The question of releasing Juarez being broached, Comonfort assented, but still he was kept confined in a room of the palace, it being known that the coalition of states had resolved his recognition as president of the republic the moment he should present himself at any place within the territory under their control.

The hatred of the liberal party to Comonfort, great as it was for what he had done, was much increased when it became known that the archbishop and the bishop of Michoacan, approving the plan of Tacubaya, removed the bar of excommunication from all who should turn to its support. Comonfort could find no way to extricate himself, and the council acknowledged their inability to better the situation. Some advised him to make a frank retraction, and to attempt a complete change of policy. He still hoped for relief from General Zuloaga's friendship, which seems to have been sincere, but it availed nothing. García Conde, minister of war, was the only member of his last cabinet that continued despatching government affairs; his proposals were rejected from the interior. In one of them he had asked for a meeting of governors to bring about a general reconciliation. The alarm was very great. The constitutionalists lost no time. At a meeting of officers presided over by Comonfort they expressed regret at his not adopting any of the extremes; but then, as at all times, he firmly clung to his neutrality, refusing to take any course for or against He thought