Page:Vol 5 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/823

Rh

 He then went to Mexico and took his degree as bachelor of arts, and return ing to Oajaca, graduated in theology at the convent of San Agustiu in 1800. In July 1801 he was admitted to the bar, and having been appointed relator de la audiencia of Guadalajara, his duties in criminal cases caused him so much pain that he soon resigned his position and returned to Mexico, where in the famous trial of Capt. Toribio del Mazo y Piña, accused of the murder of Lúcas de Galvez, capt.-gen. of Yucatan, he made so able a defence as to save the prisoner s life. For some years Bustamante pursued his profession, and gained great celebrity in several other important causes. In 1805 he be gan to publish the Diario de Mexico, having with difficulty obtained the per mission of Iturrigaray. The obstacles which he encountered in this under taking were numerous. When the war of independence broke out in 1810, Bustamante attached himself to the cause of the revolutionists, whom he aided indirectly as far as lay in his power. Availing himself of the liberty of the press, proclaimed in 1812, he published El Juguetillo, in which he attacked Calleja, and on the imprisonment of Lizardi, the author of the Pensador Mexicano, he escaped a similar fate by flight to Zacatlan, then occupied by Osorno. He thence proceeded to Oajaca, where, having been appointed a brigadier and inspector general of cavalry by Morelos, he organized a regiment. But the battle-field was not Bustamante s province; and when the congress of Chilpancingo was inaugurated, Morelos appointed him deputy to represent Mexico. On the flight and dispersion of congress, Bustamante experienced great hardships, and on several occasions narrowly escaped with his life. Twice he attempted to embark at Nautla and escape to the U. S., but on both occasions was frustrated; and he was finally driven to accept the indulto March 8, 1817, at Plan del Rio. Having removed to Vera Cruz, he deter mined to carry out his intention of emigrating, but having embarked on board an English brig, August 14th, the captain of the port went on board and took him prisoner, lodging him in the castle of San Juan de Ulúa. Proceedings were instituted against him for attempting to leave the country without the permission of the government, and he was condemned to eight years imprisonment. He remained in San Juan de Ulúa till February 1819, when the mariscal de carnpo, Pascual de Liñan, in command at Vera Cruz, released him and assigned that city as the place of his confinement. When the Spanish constitution was proclaimed in 1820, the criminal court included Bustamante in the amnesty proclaimed by the córtes. As soon as independence was achieved, he returned to the capital, where he arrived in Oct. 1821, after an absence of nine years. Bustamante then plunged deeper in politics than ever. When congress met in Feb. 1822, he took his seat as deputy for Oajaca, and was one of the members imprisoned by Iturbide. After the downfall of the empire he was again reëlected, and was a member in all succeeding congresses until his death, which occurred Sept. 21, 1848, the disasters of his country in the war with the U. S. having doubtless hastened it. Bustamante married Doña Manuela Villaseñor, who died in Aug. 1846, and shortly afterward he entered into a second marriage with a young person whom he had educated and treated as a daughter.

Cárlos Bustamante was a man of no ordinary talent; but so ill balanced was his mind that he was constantly going astray. His ardent imagination and uncurbed enthusiasm, together with a childlike credulity, made him too much the tool of designing demagogues. As a statesman he was unswerving in his patriotism, but his fixed views only embraced the two broad and general principles of independence and republicanism. In all other respects he was variable and inconstant, and would desert his party for trifling causes. In his enmities, as well as his friendships, he was more consistent. He never forgave Iturbide for his neglect of the old revolutionists. Simple-minded and disinterested, his line of conduct was never guided by selfish motives or by greed of gain. In spite of his many errors, it can never be denied that his in tentions were good.

The ruling passion of Bustamante was the publication of his works, for collecting material for which he had a mania. Archives were ransacked;