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 478 race of Indians to which he belonged, the Zapotecs, had never been wholly conquered by the Spaniards; more than once have these Indios de las Sierras,—"Indians of the hills"—marched down into the valleys, and dictated terms to their rulers. It was fit that the future deliverer of Mexico from the thraldom of three centuries should have been born of such stock.

We have not space to dwell upon the career of this remarkable man, but will note that, after having been a member of the city council of Oaxaca, a civil judge, and Secretary of State, he was elected by the people a deputy to the "General Constituent Congress," which met at the capital of the Republic in December, 1846. It was there he showed himself the friend of freedom and the uncompromising enemy to oppression that his later acts proved him to be.

In 1853, in the "Plan of Ayutla"—the announcement of principles for which they fought—Generals Alvarez and Comonfort sounded the death-knell of the Church. In