allowed him no leisure except for a ride occasionally in the afternoon. An able financier and ruler, he had generally managed to procure resources to meet the enormous expenses of the war, and to organize armies to oppose the insurgents wherever they appeared in force.
His resolution to enter the struggle with so many odds against him was certainly that of a man possessed of undaunted courage; and when he made preparations to resist Hidalgo and his host of 80,000 men, with a handful of soldiers in whom he could not then have much confidence, the most he might expect was an honorable death. Even certain weaknesses in his relations with the other sex, attributed to him, he made use of for the benefit of his cause—the insurgents of Mexico were always of the opinion that to female gossip he owed the discovery of the August conspiracy. The war allowed Venegas but little opportunity to attend to the duties of the viceregal office proper, but he did not neglect them entirely. It may be truthfully asserted that if peace had reigned during his incumbency he would have been one of the best viceroys New Spain ever had.[1] On his return to the mother country he was given the title of Marqués de la Reunion de Nueva España,[2] and was also treated with the utmost consideration in other respects.
- ↑ Bustamante, who shows little charity to Venegas' military record, uses this language, however, 'Creo que si le hubieran cavido tiempos pacificos, habria gobernado bien, pues amaba las ciencias.' Suplem., in Cavo, Tres Siglos, iv. 55. The same writer accuser the late viceroy of having 'un genio áspero,' and of being given to the use of profane language when angered, relating that upon one occasion on learning of a scanty supply of ammunition when he expected to find an abundance, ‘votó y juró como el mas renegado carromatero (segun tenia de costumbre y era su lenguage).' He also charges him with haughtiness toward the poor clerks who had to approach him, whom he would hardly look in the face. This is probably an exaggeration. Cuad. Hist., ii. 46-7. Venegas once slipped and fell on the steep staircase leading to his private apartments, for which reason he had it removed and a more suitable one erected. There were not wanting some to attribute the fall to drunkenness, which was unfounded, for he was noted for his sobriety. Alaman, Hist. Méj., iii. 380.
- ↑ Zamacois, Hist. Méj., ix. 37. Alaman has it 'Marqués de la Concordia de Nueva España.' Hist. Méj., iii. 380. Bustamante says: 'Conde de la Union,' adding that it was 'burlezco é insultante.' Supl., in Cavo, Tres Siglos, iv. 55.
