Hidalgo

“ It is singular, that the great leaders of the independence should have been ecclesiastics; the Curate Hidalgo its prime mover, the Curates Morelos and Matamoros the principal chiefs. Hidalgo, it is said, had no plan, published no manifesto, declared no opinions; but rushed from city to city at the head of his men, displaying on his colours an image of the Virgin of Guadalupe, and inciting his troops to massacre the Spaniards. Morelos was an Indian, uneducated, but brave and enterprising, and considered the mildest and most merciful of these soldier priests! ”

“ Since the beginning in 1810 of Hidalgo's short career, he has been held in varying esteem, at different times and by different persons and classes. He has been placed in about every category of humanity, and adjudged to be of every order of being, every shade of quality, from an angel of light to a bloody-minded and revengeful monster. ”

“ 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 the vice-kingdom of New Spain; but very soon the leaders were almost to a man made captives and shot—the venerable Hidalgo himself undergoing the same sad fate. A remnant of the insurgents, pressed on all sides by the royalist troops under General Calleja, had taken refuge in the little town of Zitacuaro, where they were commanded by the Mexican general, Don Ignacio Rayon. ”

“ Hidalgo and Morelos, those sublime champions of liberty, had lost their lives in their generous attempts at emancipation; but their blood had not in vain bedewed that Mexican soil which the Spaniards fancied enslaved forever. Other chiefs, electrified by the heroic devotion of their predecessors, had risen in their turn, and, profiting by past errors, organized the revolt, and gradually, by their skilful and incessant guidance, the insurrection, at first timid and retired, extended, and eventually became a revolution. ”

“ There was at this time one man only who stood forth conspicuous among the revolutionists as an admitted chief, a leader round whom they might with some degree of confidence rally, a fit successor of Hidalgo; and somewhat strange to say, this new man was the friend and disciple of Hidalgo, like him an ecclesiastic, and like him a devoted lover of his country. His name was José María Morelos y Pavon. ”

“ Curumilla turned a little to the left, and guided the two men to a jacal of branches which served as the Spaniard's abode, and before which the noble hidalgo was at this moment seated on a stool, strumming his jarana furiously, and singing his eternal romance, while rolling his eyes in a most sentimental way. ”

“ Hidalgo put on a general's dress and marched at the head of the mob to Guanajuato. Every ranche and every hamlet on the way had furnished new recruits to join the wild shout,"Death to the gachupines and independence for Mexico!" Then Hidalgo arrested the gachupines. The whole city was in an uproar. The next morning he presented his cause to the people and carried all hearts before him. The citizens rose almost to a man and joined the insurgents. ”

“ Hidalgo's force was reduced to one half its previous number, thousands of his followers, who had been attracted by the prospect of sacking the capital, having returned to their homes. [17] But what is more significant of the waning star of the first leaders of the revolution is the disagreement which existed among themselves, and the growing jealousy which Allende and his friends, the Aldamas, began to entertain for Hidalgo. [18] Where there was so much fighting to be done, these military men did not like to be led by a priest ”

“ The cities were so infested with robbers that the streets were deserted at nightfall, and few rich men escaped being kidnapped for the heavy ransom extorted from their families. But men were thinking. The standard of liberty raised by Hidalgo had floated over the capital but sixty-six days, yet during that time the liberals had used the just-unfettered press to great advantage. Newspapers and handbills were scattered with a lavish hand, and truths were taught that burned in the hearts of men like smouldering fire, needing only one breath of free air to kindle into flame. ”

“ Thus mournfully opened the first chapter of Mexican independence.
[A. D. 1811.] Rallying his scattered forces Hidalgo awaited his foe again near Guadalajara. Near the bridge of Calderon, on the 17th of January, 1811, the decisive battle was fought. The patriot chief had nearly 80,000 men under his command, but they were unskilled in warfare and very poorly armed. Hidalgo and his men at first prevailed, but superior discipline again showed its superiority over disorganized masses, and the battle was turned into a massacre. ”

“ He longed to throw off the yoke, not only of an alien government, but of a haughty class. He wanted Mexico to be Mexico, and not a helpless dependency of a rapidly deteriorating Spain. Such dreams and ideas Hidalgo imparted to a few other persons, and they became plans. Those who talked these things fell under suspicion, and in Querétaro, an attempt was made to seize a small knot of such men. They were warned, and fled or concealed themselves. Hidalgo, hearing of this, instead of following their example, determined to delay no longer, but to declare independence at once. ”

“ Hidalgo was mild and moderate in all his actions and expressions. He could make allowances for the temper of the soldier, and for so good a soldier as Allende, and one engaged in so noble a cause; he could even forgive the unjust reproaches of a friend, but he could not forget the sad failure, the lost cause—no! it was not lost. As sure as the sun continued to rise and set, the grito de Dolores would never cease ringing throughout the land till Mexico was free!
The deposition of Abasolo displayed the character of that leader as one of the most pusillanimous. ”

“ We will take it for granted that the cause in which he engaged was just, that the impulses prompting to it were noble; for it is not necessary to say at this day that it is right to overthrow tyranny, to achieve liberty, to deliver one's country, or that his memory should be held in holy repute who lays down his life for these things.
Before embarking in his high enterprise, Hidalgo was an humble priest, of more than ordinary gentleness of nature, and refinement of intellect and culture. Some have sought to besmear his fair fame with charges of conduct not consistent with strict morality ”

“ In following the career of a great personage, we cannot but note how easily and naturally genius falls into any position, and adapts the man to the circumstances. So it was with Hidalgo: lately a humble priest, now at the head of a large army, fighting battles, making and unmaking rulers, and all with calmness and facility as if he had been accustomed to the work from his youth. ”

“ He even goes so far as to misconstrue the motives of Hidalgo and other leaders, even when facts presented by himself tend to purify them. He takes every opportunity, while accrediting the royalists with every virtue, to exhibit the rebels as inhuman robbers, and to deprive the early insurgent leaders of any credit in the revolution. All the merit of it he gives to Iturbide, to the regular army, and to Spaniards born in Spain. ”

“ The young man—a little bit of a muleteer, a little bit of a fisherman, and a good deal of a smuggler—intoxicated by the smell of gunpowder, and fascinated by the omnipotent influence Hidalgo exercised over all those who approached him, threw his gun over his shoulder, mounted the first horse he came across, and gaily followed the revolutionary band. ”

“ Bearing on their banners the slogan, "Long live Ferdinand VII and down with bad government," the undisciplined crowd, soon to number tens of thousands, aroused such terror by their behavior that the whites were compelled to unite in self-defense. It mattered not whether Hidalgo hoped to establish a republic or simply to secure for his followers relief from oppression: in either case the whites could expect only Indian domination. ”

“ Allende, a friend of Hidalgo, was the first to raise the standard of revolt in the little town of Dolores, on the 16th of September, 1810, where he seized and imprisoned seven Europeans, whose property he distributed among his followers. The Indians, under Hidalgo, now flew to arms; and being rëinforced by disaffected troops belonging to the government, Hidalgo marched to Guanaxuato, a wealthy town of eighty thousand inhabitants, of which, after a strenuous contest, he received the submission. ”

“ Yet both in their philosophizing would be probably theoretical, and their practice, as in most [326] instances, would be the result of temperament and impulse; for “every man calleth that which pleaseth, and is delightful to himself, good; and evil that which displeaseth him.” (Hobbes, Treatise on Human Nature, c. vii.)
XXXIV. “With old Hidalgo lavishment.”
Que un hidalgo no debe á otro que a Dios y al Rei nada.
(Mendoza, Lazarillo de Tormes.)
“An Hidalgo owes nothing, except to God and the King.” Such were the ideas of justice, which prevailed amongst the noble class in Old Spain. ”

“ It was accordingly decided that Allende and Aldama should meet there by different routes on the 1st of that month, and prepare matters for the proclamation of independence on a concerted day of the fair. Events, however, occurred which frustrated this design.
As the cura Hidalgo will presently become the principal leader and most prominent character in the early revolution, a better acquaintance will aid our purpose. His father, Cristóbal Hidalgo y Costilla, was a native of Tejupilco in the intendency of Mexico, and established himself in Pénjamo in the province of Guanajuato. ”

“ During the revolutionary struggles which followed Hidalgo's death the people began to see that their Spanish masters had no more faithful friends and allies than the Romish priesthood. Hidalgo's enthusiastic love for the Church was echoed by the first Mexican Congress, which met in 1812, the year after his death. They declared that the Catholic religion only should be recognized and allowed in the State, and that the press should be free except for the discussion of religious matters. ”

“ Occasionally the Latin race has produced a popular leader of the highest character and most devoted patriotism. There can be no doubt of the honesty and the single-minded devotion to the public good of a leader like Hidalgo but unfortunately he represents the exception; the rule has been found in such conscienceless demagogues as Santa Anna, Paredes, and Carranza, and the almost numberless leaders who have not hesitated to plunge the masses of the people into the profoundest misfortunes in order to gratify the selfish ambition and greed of themselves and their followers. ”

“ Hidalgo, meaning noble, is derived from ‘higo de albo’, son of somebody, and the people, whom the nobles call ‘higos de nade’, sons of nobody, often revenge themselves by calling the nobles hideputas, that is to say, sons of harlots. ”

“ 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. ”

“ If we condemn the massacres of one, we must those of the other. Even though Hidalgo fights for liberty and Calleja for tyranny, if we are disposed to overlook the barbarity of the former in letting loose his Indians on the Spaniards, we must not expect otherwise in regard to the latter than that he will retaliate as opportunity offers. Men are so made. ”

“ May Mexico, my adored country, following his noble example, yield a frank and prudent amnesty, and so conserve her future prosperity and welfare. On that day Hidalgo and Washington, rising above the shadows of the tomb, shall join hands together, and joy shall fill the hearts of a free people. Honor to the abolitionist of Slavery!
Alfonso Lancaster Jones, a Mexican citizen, grandson of the founder of the Lancasterian school system, next addressed the audience in Spanish, very eloquently and in a scholarly manner. ”

“ But let us now take our stand with Hidalgo, the warrior-priest of Mexico. The hand of Spain is still pressing on the country. The year 1810 has arrived and the father of Mexico's independence is uttering his famous cry, "Viva America! viva religion! death to bad government!" After the native place of Hidalgo this message—for such it rapidly became—was known as el grito de Dolores—"the call of Dolores." The time was ripe for the assertion of independence. Spain was invaded by Napoleon ”

“ Will you become Napoleon's slaves? or will you as patriots defend your religion and your rights?" "We will defend them!" shouted the people. "Viva Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, muera el mal gobierno, mueran los gachupines!" [55] "Live, then, and follow your cura, who has ever watched over your welfare," was Hidalgo's answer. The Grito de Dolores has gone forth! The poor and ignorant and down-trodden of this little Indian town proclaim the future independence of a great nation! ”

“ Thus the great project of independence was laid before them, and they were called upon to prove their devotion to their country. For the last time Hidalgo addressed his flock as cura of Dolores. Henceforth he would be their guide to liberty; they would fight for it; they would die for it; he would lead them himself to battle and to victory! "To-day," he continued, "we must act. The Spaniards are bad enough themselves, but now they are about to surrender us and our country to the French. Danger threatens our religion, and oppression our homes. ”