Gorostiza and Texas

Abstract

WXC THEN THE north-bound diligence left Madrid on the morning of March 1, 1822, there Were among the passengers two men,1 strangers to each other, the threads of whose lives were destined to be strangely entangled by the acquaintanceship which ensued. One of these was Manuel Eduardo de Gorostiza, at that time the leading dramatist of Spain; the other was Lucas Alama'n, lately a deputy from Mexico to the Spanish Cortes, then preparing to return home. Gorostiza had been brought up in court circles, but after the re-establishment of constitutional government in 1820 he had taken an active part, as orator, journalist, and dramatist, in its support. So great had been his enthusiasm that he had cast caution to the winds; as a result, the royal attitude toward him made it desirable to absent himself from a scene that was becoming each day more menacing. Alaman, a member of a wealthy Mexican family but educated in Europe, was an extremely conservative politician who was interested in the Spanish government primarily as it concerned Mexico. The destination of both men was Paris. En route, as each made himself known to the other, Gorostiza mentioned casually that he was born in Mexico while his father was the governor of the province of Vera Cruz and inspector general of the army,2 and that both his parents had been so intimate with the bachelor viceroy, Juan Vicente GUemes Pacheco, Count of Revillagigedo, that when they visited the capital, where his father reviewed the troops, his mother was accorded almost viceregal honors,3 and later, when a widow, was bequeathed a large part of Revillagigedo's estate.4 As the * The author is a resident of Austin, Texas, who has long been a student of Mexican history. 'Lucas Alaman, Autobiografia. MS. in the Alamatn Papers. ILatin American Collection, University of Texas Library. Hereafter referred to as UT. 2 His birth certificate is published in J. M. Roa BArcena, Datos y apuntamientos para la biografia de Don Manuel Eduardo de Gorostiza (Mexico, 1876), p. 54. 8 Jose Gomez, Diario curioso de Mexico, in Documentos para la historic de Mexico, Ser. 1, VII (Mexico, 1854), 386, 396. 4 A certified copy of his will is in the Gorostiza Archives in Mexico City. Hereafter referred to as AG. When used by the writer, these papers were in the possession of Srtas. Lidia and Lucia Gorostiza, granddaughters of CGorostiza.