Chapter 8
part one chapter eight of christia marina by augustine firth this librivox recording is in the public domain according by maria teresa erbina eighteen fifty one to eighteen fifty three in the beginning of the year eighteen fifty one a rumour suddenly spread throughout the country that flores was going to attempt a fresh invasion after his defeat in spain he had gone to new york where he tried in vain to induce the united states to take up his cause he then went to lima and there organized a body of filibusters with the consent of the peruvian government and the help of certain rich capitalists who were devoted to the ex-president urbina seized the opportunity to denounce the peaceful noboa and all the conservative party as disguised partisans of flores in guayaquil especially this idea of treason excited the people beyond all bounds urbina then invited the two confiding noboa to come and quell the agitation in person garcia moreno and others suspecting some plot tried to dissuade the good old man from attempting the journey
but he full of confidence in urbina started with the large escort for guayaquil were triumphant arches by urbina's order were everywhere erected in his honour on the seventeenth of july the very day when noboa was to make his triumphant entry into the town three of urbina's generals villamel roblez and franco went to the barracks and distributed large sums of money among the soldiers to induce them to rise against naboa that slave of aristocrats conservatives and jesuits and proclaimed urbina president of the republic the plot was successful noboa found the steamer gaily decked with flags waiting for him at bebehoa where a guard of honor received him with every demonstration of respect but when he neared the quay of guayaquil the steamer suddenly changed its course and made for a sailing vessel which was waiting in the offing before noboa could ask the reason for this deviation in the course a captain of the guards put his hand on his shoulder and said president i am compelled to arrest you to arrest me exclaimed the stupefied old man by what possible right by the order of general urbina who has been elected the new and supreme head of the republic at the name of this new juldus iscariot noboa bowed his head as if thunderstruck and made no protest the indignation of his faithful followers was fruitless
he was quickly transferred to the sailing vessel which instantly raised its anchor and put out to sea for several months noboa was kept wandering over the ocean not even the members of his own family being allowed to know what had become of him at last urbina having nothing further to fear from a reaction allowed him to land in peru and there passed the time of his exile without losing a moment urbina went in triumph to the council-house and there swore fidelity to the nation a few days later he dispatched a body of troops into the interior to subdue the malcontents and having called together a convention composed chiefly of his own creatures began a reign of terror the first act of which was to repeal all the conservative laws which had been passed by the late government and to banish the jesuits the deputies voted their expulsion in a secret sitting in spite of the tears of the people and of innumerable petitions garcia moreno was at that moment unhappily laid up having been badly wounded in the lag by the discharge of a revolver in december of eighteen fifty two and to prevent any public manifestations of sympathy urbina ordered them to quit their houses immediately the police would not even let them take the things which were necessary for their journey
to avoid an explosion of indignation which would have been difficult to quell the poor fathers were not allowed to pass through the town but were dragged by desert paths towards the little port of naranjal where they were thrown into a wretched ship bound for panama from that moment ecuador was treated as a conquered country thus pillage sacrilege and murders became the order of the day the tauras a guard of mamelukes whom urbina called his cannons armed with daggers went up and down the country attacking inoffensive men insulting women and assassinating all who would not be robbed without a struggle urbina in the meanwhile gave himself up to every sort of excess exhausted the public treasury and then exacted fabulous sums from private individuals the smallest opposition or even remonstrance was met by imprisonment exile or death one man alone there was who could not remain silent and coldly watch the destruction of his country in a poem entitled an ode to fabius he exposed with merciless severity the whole public and private life of urbina no vice no crime is unknown to him he exclaimed treason perjury swindling brigandage savage cruelty perfidy nothing is wanting his ignoble life is written bit by bit in the penal code
after describing the effect of his rule on his miserable countrymen he concludes with the words i know well the fate which is reserved for me the chalice of suffering must be drunk to the dregs the ball of the villa will pierce my heart but if my country delivered from the horrible tyranny which crushes her to the earth be once more allowed to breathe freely joyfully will i go to my grave it is difficult to imagine the effect of this satire on the inflammable nations of ecuador often as we have seen had garcia moreno made use of his powerful pen to expose vice and incite to virtue but this time it was with the solemnity of a great judge pronouncing sentence on an infamous criminal urbino was furious but so great was the effect of the pamphlet that he did not dare at once provoke an insurrection by the exile or death of the patriot a month later garcia moreno started the weekly paper called la nacion the first number of which appeared on march eighth eighteen fifty three it is time he declared to tear down the veil and to show the people that under this radical government the constitution is a lure the sovereignty of the people a chimera and all legal guarantees ridiculous fictions
you talk of progress and civilization where is the social progress when misery devours the whole population and revolutionary cunning alone enriches the few what kind of civilization is that which tramples under foot all moral law and extinguishes the light of divine revelation urbina felt at once that la nacion would become a powerful weapon against this government he consequently informed garcia moreno that if he ventured to publish a second number of this paper he and his accomplices would be exiled which meant to be sent among the savages of napo or shot on the wave by the taras the commandant of quito was ordered to convey this ux to garcia moreno he replied tell your master that among the numberless reasons for continuing this paper will be added now the determination not to dishonour myself by yielding to his menaces the whole town was an affirmant on this subject on the appointed day appeared the second number of the nation more aggressive than the first as its life was to be short it was necessary to speak out plainly in an article entitled the political views of the cabinet every act of this nefarious government was criticised and exposed from the ruin of the people and the exhaustion of the treasury down to the brutal expulsion of the jesuits and the reign of terror which everywhere prevailed
garcia moreno had no allusions as to the results to himself of this proceeding with a devotion worthy of an ancient roman he sacrificed his life and his happiness for the love of his country he was only thirty-two years of age he had just married a young and beautiful wife to whom he was devotedly attached and who was worthy of him in every way the most brilliant future seemed to open itself before him yet he published the paper without a moment's hesitation and patiently awaited the consequence the nation appeared on march fifteenth eighteen fifty three two hours later urbina signed the order for the arrest of garcia moreno the president's irritation was at it tight but the people were equally excited worn by a friend of the order given to the police garcia moreno took leave of his wife left his house with the two friends who like himself were condemned to exile and went into the public square of the city so as to force the police to arrest them publicly in the face of the whole population this was done accordingly and the three prisoners who offered no resistance mounted their horses and left guita with their guards by the death-like silence which followed the scene by the indignation depicted on every face and the tears which fell from all eyes urbina realised how much he was feared but also how much he was detested
the hearts of all the people followed the great exile and simply waited for his return as their liberator chapter eight
