th the cultivation of his garden, and the
preservation of entomological specimens--of which he possessed a
bountiful collection.

Nothing either in his speech or features, as in those of Captain
Castanos, recalled the _ex-militario_, who had borne a conspicuous part
in the long and bloody campaigns of the revolutionary war.

It is not necessary to give any details of the dinner--which was after
the fashion of the Mexican _cuisine_, and excellent of its kind.
Neither shall I repeat the conversation upon general topics; but enter
at once upon those scenes described by the ex-aide-de-camp of Morelos,
and that of which our drama has been constructed.

CHAPTER ONE.

THE GRITO OF HIDALGO.

The great revolutionary war of 1790 was not confined to France, nor yet
to Europe. Crossing the Atlantic, it equally affected the nations of
the New World--especially those who for three centuries had submitted to
the yoke of Spain. These, profiting by the example set them by the
English colonies in the north, had taken advantage of the confusion of
affairs in Europe, and declared their independence of the mother
country.

Of the Spanish-American vice-kingdoms, New Spain--or Mexico more
properly called--was the last to raise the standard of independence; and
perhaps had the wise measures of her viceroy, Iturrigaray, been endorsed
by the court of Madrid, the revolution might have been still further
delayed, if not altogether prevented.

Don Jose Iturrigaray, then vice-king of New Spain, on the eve of the
insurrection had deemed it wise policy to grant large political
concessions to the Creoles, or native white population of the country,
and confer upon them certain rights of citizenship hitherto withheld
from them.

These concessions might have satisfied the Creoles with the government
of the mother country, and perhaps rendered their loyalty permanent.
Mexico, like Cuba, might still have been a "precious jewel" in the
Spanish crown, had it not been that the decrees of Iturrigaray produced
dissatisfaction in another quarter--that is, among the pure Spaniards
themselves--the _Gachupinos_, or colonists from Old Spain, established
in Mexico; and who had up to this time managed the government of the
country, to the complete exclusion of the Creoles from every office of
honour or emolument.

These egoists, considering the acts of the viceroy ruinous to their
selfish interests, and the privileges they had hitherto enjoyed, seized