CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT.
THE ILLUSTRIOUS MORELOS.
Little more than twelve months after its first breaking out--that is,about the close of the year 1811--the Mexican revolution might have beencompared to one of those great fires of the American prairies, whosedestructive range has been checked by the hand of man. In vain theflames jet out on all sides, seeking fresh element. A wide space hasbeen cleared around them. Soon the crackling of the large trees, andthe hiss of the burning grass, cease to be heard; and the whole plainbecomes enveloped under a cloud of smoke rising upward from theblackened ashes.
Such was the fate of the insurrection stirred up by the priest Hidalgo.From the little hamlet of Delores it had spread like fire over all thevice-kingdom of New Spain; but very soon the leaders were almost to aman made captives and shot--the venerable Hidalgo himself undergoing thesame sad fate. A remnant of the insurgents, pressed on all sides by theroyalist troops under General Calleja, had taken refuge in the littletown of Zitacuaro, where they were commanded by the Mexican general, DonIgnacio Rayon. There they had established a _junta_, independent of thegovernment; and continued to launch forth their proclamations, powerlessas the glow of the prairie fire after its flames have been extinguished.
When such a fire, however, has been the work of men--when kindled byman's will and for man's purpose--and not the result of accident orspontaneity, then, indeed, the flames may be expected to burst forthanew at some other point of the prairie or the forest.
Just so was it with the Mexican revolution. Another champion ofindependence, of origin even more obscure than his predecessors--if thatwere possible--soon appeared upon the arena which they had quitted, andwith an _eclat_ likely to eclipse any of those who had preceded him.
This was the curate of Caracuaro, he whom historians designate as "_Elinsigne Morelos_" (the illustrious Morelos). The Mexican writers do notstate in what year Morelos was born. Judging from the portraits I haveseen of him, and comparing the different dates that have been assignedto his birth, he should have been about thirty-eight or forty years old,at the commencement of his career as a revolutionary leader. His nativeplace was Talmejo, a small hamlet near the town of Apatzingam, in thestate of Valladolid--now called _Morelia_, after the most illustrious ofits sons. The only patrimony of the future heir of the Mexicanindependence was a small _recua_ of pack-mules, left him by his father,who was a muleteer.
For a long time the son himself followed this humble and laboriouscalling; when, for some reason or other, the idea came into his head toenter holy orders. History does not say what was his motive for thisresolution; but certain it is that Morelos proceeded to carry it outwith that determined perseverance which was an essential trait in hischaracter.
Having sold off his mules, be consecrated his whole time to acquirethose branches of education, rigorously indispensable to the attainmentof his purpose--that is to say, the study of Latin and theology. Thecollege of Valladolid was the scene of his student life.
Having gone through the required course, orders were conferred upon him;but Valladolid offering to him no prospect of advancement, he retired tothe little _pueblo_ of Uruapam, where for a time he subsisted upon thescanty means supplied by giving lessons in Latin.
About this time the curacy of Caracuaro became vacant. Caracuaro is avillage as unhealthy as poor, where no one could be supposed to residefrom choice; and yet Morelos, lacking powerful friends, had greatdifficulty in getting appointed to the living.
In this miserable place had he resided in a state of obscure poverty, upto that hour, when, accidentally introduced to the reader, at thehacienda Las Palmas. Under the pretence of visiting the Bishop ofOajaca, but in reality for the purpose of fomenting the insurrection,Morelos had travelled through the province of that name; and at the timeof his visit to Las Palmas, he was on his way to offer his services toHidalgo, as chaplain of the insurgent army. The result of thatapplication was, that instead of a chaplaincy to his army, Hidalgobestowed upon the _cura_ of Caracuaro, a commission to capture thefortified seaport of Acapulco. It was in reality rather as a jest, andto disembarrass himself of the importunities of Morelos, that Hidalgobestowed this singular and important commission. How much Morelosmerited the honour will appear in the sequel.