Note I-38 — Chapter I · LAST DAYS OF SPANISH RULE. 1801-1818.

Marure, on the authority of the Gaceta de Guatemala, xiii. no. 112, and xiv. no. 191, assures us that nearly one and a half million dollars had been remitted by Central America to Spain, from donations and other sources, to cancel royal warrants. Bosq. Hist. Cent. Am., i. 18. This work, that I have occasion to quote so often, bears the title Bosquejo Histórico de las Revoluciones de Centro América desde 1811 hasta 1834. Its author, Alejandro Marure, who was a professor of history and geography in the university of Guatemala, and otherwise a prominent citizen, issued in Guatemala his 1st volume, sm. 4to, 295 pp., with designs on the frontispiece, in 1837; containing events to 1826 only. The publication of the other two volumes, it is understood, he was obliged to withhold by order of his government. Montúfar, Reseña, Hist. Cent. Am., i., preface pp. iii. and iv., tells us the circulation of the 2d vol. was not allowed; 'un solemne auto de fé devoró la edicion entera.' One copy escaped, however, from which another edition was printed in later years. It scathes the so-called conservative party, more properly entitled to the appellations of fanatical and servile, for the infamous acts of its men that for many years misgoverned the country. Its contents have been fully used by Montúfar. The 3d volume has not been published, and the author's heirs long refused to allow any one to see the manuscript. This work furnishes an interesting account of political affairs in Guatemala from the first attempt at separation from the mother country in 1811 to its accomplishment in 1821, from an American standpoint; the intrigues by which Central America was yoked to Iturbide's Mexican empire, and subsequent events culminating in the second and final enforcement of independence, followed by the organization of the federal government; rupture between Guatemala and the general government, and victory of the latter; church and military affairs; intrigues of parties; authorities being freely quoted to sustain statements. The author does not enter into much detail on military operations, but is quite full in his description of party workings, which affords a clear understanding of their antagonistic interests. Under the title of Efemérides de los hechos notables ... de Centro América, the same writer gave to the press at Guatemala, in 1844, a 12mo of 77 pp., furnishing a very brief synopsis of the chief events that occurred from 1821 to 1842, with tabular lists; quite useful as a chronology.