Page:Young Folks History Of Mexico.pdf/415



[1810 to 1821.] The first decisive blow for freedom was struck in the month of September, 1810. Don Miguel Hidalgo, cura, or parish priest, of the little town of Dolores, in the state of Guanajuato, was the one who first applied the firebrand to the combustible material that the past ten years had been accumulating. He was a well-educated man, a graduate of Saint Nicholas College in Valladolid, and had received sacred orders in Mexico in 1779. He was born in 1753, and was a man of great capacity, and well-instructed in agriculture and the industrial arts. He cultivated the vine and the mulberry in order to encourage his people in these labors, established small industries for their benefit, and by his labors for their good had entirely won their love and affection. This, in brief, was the man who placed himself at the head of the Mexican movement in 1810.

At the break of day, on the 15th of September, the patriot priest committed himself entirely to the cause of the people, and gave the watchword of Independence! It is known in history as the "Cry of Dolores." Thousands rallied about his banner; from mountains, from valleys,