until the Emperor's pleasure should be known. The Regidores and Alcaldes, who composed the Municipalities, (Ayuntamientos,) were originally elected by the inhabitants of each town; and though the institution was soon perverted, it was always looked up to with affection, and respect, by the people, who regarded the members of the Cabildo as their natural protectors: and such they almost invariably proved; for they were connected with them by a thousand ties, which the higher officers of state were forbidden to form; and by a community of interests, which could not exist between the Europeans, and any class of the Natives. At the commencement of the revolution, the Cabildos became, every where, the organs of the people, and the great advocates of their right to an Independent, Provisional government, during the absence of the King: indeed, it was the line which they took, in opposition to the Audiencias, which were devoted, of course, to the European interest, that first brought matters between the Creoles, and the Mother country to a crisis. It is remarkable that this spirit should have been so long preserved, amidst the changes of form to which the institutions had been subjected. In Mexico, until the establishment of the Constitution in Spain, in 1812, the privilege of election was merely nominal. The situations of Alcalde, and Regidor, were, in fact, put up to auction, and disposed of to the best bidder. In some parts of the country, they were even made use of as an inducement to engage people to
