assumed a firm attitude, charged the president with, obstinately seeking to injure the cause by creating dissension, and peremptorily commanded him to join the meeting at Chilpancingo and assist Liceaga, then under restraint, to do likewise. With the members against him, with his prestige shattered, and hardly an escort to sustain him, Rayon had to yield, although not without quibbling.[1]
Meanwhile, Morelos had been actively carrying out his plan, which required, foremost, that he should strengthen his position by completing the council with a fifth member[2] elected by the friendly citizens of Oajaca, as a compliment to them and the province. The choice fell on the able and patriotic intendente, José María Murguía,[3] esteemed no less by the royalists, and figuring prominently throughout this period. On September 13th took place the election of a deputy for Tecpan, the new province corresponding to the present Guerrero, and the same day a representative meeting of electors and officers was opened before whom Morelos read his views on the proposed congress and its labors, and stated that it should be composed in the first place of the council members, Rayon, Verdusco, Liceaga, and Murguía, representing respectively Nueva Galicia, Michoacan, Guanajuato, and Oajaca;
- ↑ He omitted for instance to sign the assent sent in, so as to defer the opening of the assembly. Morelos wrote another severe batch of letters, as late as Oct. 25th, insisting on his conformance, and threatening, though other wise polite enough, to issue direct orders to subordinate leaders in Michoacan and elsewhere. The correspondence may be consulted in Hernandez y Dávalos, Col. Doc., v. 99, 161, et seq.; Negrete, Mex. Siglo XIX., v. 367, etc.; Alaman, Hist. Méj., iii. ap. 10. Rayon set out from Tancítaro on October 7, 1813, arriving at Chilpancingo on November 2d, accompanied by his family and brothers Ramon and José María, as described in his Diario, 648-9.
- ↑ On this point his views had changed considerably. At one time he had been willing to let Rayon and his then friendly colleagues elect that member, who should be intrusted with administrative and judicial functions, leaving the others free for campaigns. Later he thought it well to court Oajaca by letting the members select a colleague from there. Rayon naturally objected to a Morelos man, and to gain time suggested Villaurrutia, the liberal elected at Mexico under the constitution of 1812.
- ↑ On Aug. 5th, Crespo and Bustamante receiving second and third place. Bustamante, Cuad. Hist., ii. 347. The order for the election is dated as early as April 29th. In a previous letter Morelos recommended that later con quered provinces should be accorded a similar representation in the council. Hernandez y Dávalos, Col. Doc., v. 5, 42; vi. 477-81.
