Page:Vol 6 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/140

120 General Uraga succeeded him, and Iglesias, minister of justice, assumed charge also of the treasury, which had just been swelled with the proceeds from a forced loan in each of the three states of Zacatecas, Guanajuato, and San Luis Potosí, and from the sale of sequestrated imperialist property — a timely measure, since these provinces were now doomed. The day before abandoning San Luis Potosí, congress issued one of the usual exhortative and bombastic proclamations, the more needful to sustain the people in face of the cautious attitude of the adjoining republic, the extension of the gulf-coast blockade by French vessels, and the failure which soon became manifest of the leading campaign plan. This was to avoid encounters with the imperialist armies, yet to hover near enough for taking advantage of any neglect or weakness. Doblado's retreat had for an additional or main object to draw pursuit, while other forces united for a descent into the lake valley and upon the capital, chiefly for the purpose of distracting the enemy and giving a fresh impulse to the cause in a moral as well as material point of view. The effort of Uraga and his companions against Morelia was the opening of the latter movement, and its disastrous failure nipped the whole project. Doblado, nevertheless, continued his tactics, entering into negotiations with the enemy to gain time and to dispose of mining interests, yet ever keeping at a distance safe enough to escape a disadvantageous conflict, retiring before