255.—The sacrifice will be momentary: the return, the salvation of the present, and the felicity of future generations.
262.—The contest which the Viceroy is forced to sustain, compels him to exercise absolute authority in many parts of the kingdom. To invest him with powers to do so legally in all, would at once enable him to act with proper decision, as circumstances might require, and put an end to all uncertainty and murmurs. This, and a recommendation to carry into execution, as soon as possible, the Constitution,—but simultaneously, and in all its parts,—would put an end to a political chaos, the confusion of which is infinitely worse than the want of any rule at all.
263.—In this case the just and prudent observance of the law, which authorizes the Viceroy "to banish from the dominions of Ultramar those whose residence there might be injurious either to the service of God, or to the public peace and tranquillity,"—would save those rivers of Spanish blood, which are now flowing throughout New Spain.
269.—There is certainly no other mode of preserving the State from its approaching ruin. Unfortunate indeed will be the country, and this tribunal, should it have failed, in the opinion of the Cortes, in establishing the necessity of the measures proposed upon solid grounds. The unavoidable abuse of a Constitution, perfect in itself, will hasten the progress of this country towards Independence, which is not only the object, but the decided will of the majority of the inhabitants; and it will be in vain to oppose to this furious torrent the wishes of the real patriots, since we have to deal with men who will only submit to positive physical superiority: in the mean time, one excess leads, by a necessary consequence, to others, and confusion is now nearly at its height.
270.—Such, Sire, is a true picture of the state of affairs in New Spain: the decision of your Majesty will determine whether it is, or is not, any longer to exist as a country.
(Signed)
Thomas Gonzalez Calderon, José Mexia, Miguel Bataller, Manuel del Campo y Rivas, Juan Antonio de la Riva,
