Page:Mexico in 1827 Vol 2.djvu/742

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MEXICO IN 1827.
722

exist as the object of a party in Mexico at the present day.

The Escoceses may more properly be assimilated to the "Federalists" of the United States, who, on the establishment of the Constitution in 1787, thought the Government founded upon it too weak, and were consequently reproached by their opponents, the "Democrats," with aristocratical notions, and a desire to convert the Republic into a monarchy. Yet General Washington was a Federalist, as was his successor, Mr. Adams, the father of the present President. In like manner, in Mexico, many of the most moderate and best-intentioned men in the country may be found amongst the Escoceses, upon whose interest General Bravo, (whose mild yet unvarying patriotism I have had occasion to dwell upon in the history of the Revolution,) came forward as a candidate for the Presidency in 1824. He was defeated by the superior influence of General Victoria; but next to Victoria's name, none stood so high as that of Bravo, and none had deserved more of his countrymen.

Up to 1825, the Yorkinos did not exist as a party. In the summer of that year, a number of individuals, not connected with the Escoceses, but not violently opposed to them before, were united as a rival sect, denominated "Yorkinos," because they derive their origin from the Masonic Lodge of New York, which transmitted, through Mr. Poinsett, the American Minister, the diplomas and insignia requisite for