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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 December 2015
The whole world is talking of a pamphlet written by Señor Gutierrez Estrada, which has just appeared and seems likely to cause a greater sensation in Mexico than the discovery of the gunpowder plot in England.
Frances Calderón de la Barca
Thus Did the wife of the first Spanish Minister to Mexico describe, in October, 1840, the reception given a letter written by José María Gutiérrez Estrada and published in pamphlet form together with an essay which amplified and clarified his position. The letter, addressed to President Anastasio Bustamante, carried the date August 25, 1840, whereas the pamphlet did not appear until October 18, 1840. The letter pointed to the necessity for a convention to seek a remedy for Mexico’s problems. The remedy advocated by Gutiérrez Estrada in the essay which amplified his position, and which caused such a sensation— was a constitutional monarchy.
1 El Presidente de la República a sus conciudadanos. October 24, 1840. See also La Hesperia, No. 62, October 28, 1840. The title of the pamphlet is: Carta dirigida al Escmo. Sr. Presidente de la República, sobre la necessidad de buscar en una Convención el possible remedio de los males que aquejan a la República; y opiniones del autor acerca del mismo asunto. (México, Impreso pro Ignacio Cumplido, 1840.)Google Scholar A modern edition may be found in Colin, José R., (Ed.), 1840-1850: Documentos de la Epoca, Vol. I: Colección de Documentos Político-Económicos (México: Editorial Rostra, 1948), pp. 49–114 Google Scholar. Cited hereafter as Gutiérrez Estrada, Carta.
2 Hidalgo, José Manuel, Un Hombre de Mundo escribe sus impresiones, Cartas de José Manuel Hidalgo y Esnaurrízar. Minister en Paris del Emperador Maximiliano. Recopilación, prólogo y notas de Sofia Vera de Bernal (México: Editorial Porrua, 1960), p. 15 Google Scholar note. Cited hereafter as Hidalgo, Cartas. Cf. also Diccionario Porrua de Historia, Biografía y Geografía de México. (México: Editorial Porrua, 1964), p. 666.
3 Life in Mexico: The Letters of Fanny Calderón de la Barca, eds., Fisher, Howard T. and Fisher, Marion Hall (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday & Co., 1966), p. 341.Google Scholar
4 Mora, José María Luis, Obras Sueltas, (México: Editorial Porrua, 1963), p. 163.Google Scholar
5 Ibid.
6 Gutiérrez Estrada to Bustamante, August 25, 1840 in Gutiérrez Estrada, Carta, p. 62.
7 Ibid.
8 Ibid., p. 64.
9 Ibid., p. 63.
10 Reed, Nelson, The Caste War of Yucatan (Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 1964), pp. 27–28 Google Scholar.
11 Bancroft, Hubert Howe, History of Mexico, 5 Vols. (San Francisco: A.L. Bancroft & Co., 1885), V, 220–222.Google Scholar
12 Life in Mexico: The Letters of Fanny Calderón de la Barca, p. 298.
13 Ibid.
14 Gutiérrez Estrada, Carta, p. 64.
15 de Zamacois, Niceto, Historia de Méjico, 22 vols. (Barcelona-Méjico: J.F. Parres y Comp., 1878-1902), XII, pp. 210–211 Google Scholar.
16 Gutiérrez Estrada to Mora, July 4, 1840, in García, Genaro Documentos inéditos o muy raros para la historia de México (México: Libreria de la Vda. de Ch. Bouret, 1905-1911), VI, 31–34 Google Scholar. (Cited hereafter as García, Documentos).
17 Many writers have made the mistake of stating that Gutiérrez Estrada’s letter to President Bustamante called for a monarchy. It did not, and perhaps this is why Bustamante saw nothing unusual in it. Only when it was published as if it were a preface to Gutierrez’s essay, which did advocate a monarchy, did trouble begin. In his proclamation to the people, Bustamante mentioned that the inclusion of the letter had been done without his permission. In fact, Gutierrez wrote a second letter to Bustamante on September 28, 1840, which re-iterated statements in his letter of August 25 and wished Bustamante peace and prosperity. Cf. Life in Mexico, p. 743, note 7.
18 Gutiérrez Estrada to Bustamante, August 25, 1840, in Gutiérrez Estrada, Carta, pp. 52-57.
19 Ibid., p. 57.
20 Ibid., p. 68.
21 Ibid., p. 70.
22 Ibid., p. 72.
23 Ibid.
24 Ibid.
25 Ibid., pp. 106-107.
26 Gutiérrez Estrada to Mora, July 4, 1840, Genaro García, Documentos, VI, pp. 31-34.
27 Gutiérrez Estrada, Caria, p. 73.
28 Ibid., p. 76.
29 Ibid.
30 Ibid.
31 Ibid., p. 77.
32 Ibid., p. 82.
33 Ibid.
34 Ibid., p. 85.
35 Ibid., p. 85.
36 Sierra, Justo, Evolúción Política del Pueblo Mexicano (México: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 1948), p. 222.Google Scholar
37 La Hesperia, October 28, 1840.
38 Delgado, Jaime, “España y el monarquismo en 1840,” Revista de Indias, XITI: 51 (eneromarzo, 1953), 71 Google Scholar.
39 Bustamante, Anastasio, October 23, 1840, in Papeles Varios, 29:8 Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, California Google Scholar.
40 El Presidente de la República, A Sus Conciudadanos, October 24, 1840.
41 Invitación que hace el impresor C. Ignacio Cumplido al Júez de letras de lo Criminal Licenciado D.J. Gabriel Gómez de la Peña, . . . como impresor del folleto que escribio D.J.M. Gutiérrez Estrada (México: Impreso por el Autor, 1841)Google Scholar.
42 Manifestación al publico del impresor ciudadano Ignacio Cumplido, con motivo de su prisión, verificada el 21 de Octubre (México: Imprenta de Cumplido, 1840), p. 7 Google Scholar.
43 Invitación que hace . . ., p. 28.
44 Ibid., p. 30.
45 Ibid., pp. 30-31.
46 Delgado, p. 74.
47 Ibid., Quoting Manifestación al público . . ., p. 15.
48 Ibid.
49 Cosmopolita, October 31, 1840.
50 La Hesperia, November 21, 1840.
51 Ibid.
52 La Hesperia, November 21, 1840.
53 Ibid., In distinguishing between liberals and conservatives from their respective critiques of Mexico’s Spanish heritage, one must be cautious. These traditions were important to both: the differences between them with respect to this heritage was often one of degree. Cf. Charles A, Hale “José María Luis Mora and the Structure of Mexican Liberalism,” HAHR, XLV, (May, 1965), 211.
54 Ibid.
55 Ibid.
56 Ibid.
57 Ibid.
58 Hale, “José María Luis Mora . . .”, HAHR, XLV, (May, 1965), 213.
59 Ibid., p. 214.
60 Ibid., quoted on p. 214.
61 Ibid., p. 218.
62 La Hesperia, November 21, 1840.
63 La Hesperia, December 16, 1840.
64 José María Tornel to Angel Calderón de la Barca, November 23, 1840, in Barceló, Javier Malagón, Lopézlira, Enriqueta, and Vergés, José Ataría Miquel i (eds.), Relaciones diplomáticas hispano-mexicanas. Documentos procedentes del Archivo de la Embajada de España en México: Despachos generales. 3 vols. (México: El Colegio de México, 1949-1966), I, pp. 169–171 Google Scholar. Cited hereafter as RDHM.
65 Calderón de la Barca to José Maria Tornel, Mexico, November 23, 1840, in RDHM, I, pp. 169-171.
66 Ibid.
67 Ibid.
68 Real Orden al Ministro Español, Angel Calderón de la Barca, Madrid, February 20, 1841, in RDHM, I, p. 171.
69 Life in Mexico: The Letters of Fanny Calderón de la Barca, pp. 208, 521.
70 Deffaudis to Thiers, August 27, 1836, in Villar, Ernesto de la Torre (ed.). Correspondencia Diplomática franco-mexicana, 1808-1839. (Mexico: El Colegio de México, 1957), p. 143 Google Scholar. (Cited hereafter as CDFM). José Maria Justo Gómez de la Cortina (1794–1860) had been Treasury Minister at one time.
71 Calderón de la Barca to First Secretary, October 17, 1840. RDHM, I, pp. 164-165.
72 Ibid.
73 Ibid.
74 Calderón to First Secretary, November 16, 1840. RDHM, I, pp. 167-168.
75 Ibid.
76 Calderón to First Secretary, Mexico, December 10, 1840. RDHM, I, p. 178.
77 Calderón to First Secretary, February 24, 1841. RDHM, I, pp. 183-184.
78 Real Orden de J. M. de Ferrer al Ministro de España, Angel Calderón de la Barca, Madrid, February 19, 1841. RDHM, I, pp. 168-169.
79 Raso, Antonio del, Refutación del proyecto-monártjuico-extrangero de don José María Gutiérrez Estrada (México: Impr. de Galván a cargo de M. Arevalo, 1840), p. 15 Google Scholar.
80 Ibid., p. 5.
81 Ibid., pp. 22-23.
82 de A., J. M. Impugnación a las cartas de D. J. M. Gutiérrez Estrada sobre El Proyecto de establecer en Méjico una monarquía moderada (Méjico: Impreso por Juan Ojeda, 1840), p. 11 Google Scholar.
83 Ibid., p 29.
84 Ibid., p 33.
85 Estrada, José María Gutiérrez, México y el Archiduque Vernando Maximiliano de Austria (México: Imprenta de Andrade y Escalante, 1863), pp. 10–11 Google Scholar.
86 Ibid.
87 Ibid., p. 11.
88 Ibid., p. 12.
89 Ibid.
90 Estrada, J.M. Gutiérrez, Mexico y Europa (Paris: Imprenta Appert, 1847)Google Scholar.
91 Estrada, J. M. Gutiérrez, Paris, May 30, 1862. Introduction to México y Europa Google Scholar. Extracts of the original were republished in 1862.
92 Ibid., p. 34.
93 Ibid., p. 35.
94 Ibid.
95 Ibid. pp. 36-37.
96 Estrada, José Maráa Gutiérrez, México en 1840 y en 1841. (Paris: Imprenta de LaCrampo Hijo, 1848), pp. 17–18 Google Scholar.
97 Ibid.
98 Gutiérrez Estrada, México y El Archiduque. See note 85.
99 Ibid., pp. 8-9.
100 Ibid., p. 15.
101 Ibid., p. 18.
