[III-11] In the Spanish córtes, March 29, 1813, was read and passed to a committee a petition of the ayuntamiento of Comayagua, objecting to the limited scope of the decree of May 24, 1812, which authorized the establishment of only two diputaciones in the whole of Guatemala, and asked for one in Comayagua with Omoa, Trujillo, and the partido of Tegucigalpa, and that of San Miguel in Salvador, within its jurisdiction, which would give the new diputacion a territory of 140 leagues from N. to S., and as many from E. to W. Córtes, Diario, 1813, xviii. 61. I have no evidence as to when Honduras was granted the diputacion, but the fact appears that it had such a corporation in September 1821. The province was larger than Nicaragua, and divided into the partidos of Comayagua and Tegucigalpa, and the nine sub-delegations of Gracias á Dios, San Pedro Zula, Tencoa, Yoro, Olanchito, Olancho Viejo, Tegucigalpa, Choluteca, and Trujillo, having within it the ports of Omoa, Puerto Caballos, Puerto Sal, Triunfo de la Cruz, Trujillo, and Cartago. The bishopric of Comayagua embraced the whole intendencia, with 35 parishes, one mission, and 145 churches. Mendez, Mem., 8, 21. In 1821 there lived in Trujillo about 2,500 Caribs, the original inhabitants of Saint Vincent, later occupying the island of Roatan, whence they removed to Trujillo. They were a rather industrious, honest people. Coggeshall's Voy., 2d ser., 161-3.
[III-12] Omoa by Captain Bernardo Caballero, P. Pedro Brito, and others, who seized and imprisoned the commandant, Antonio Prado. Marure, Bosq. Hist. Cent. Am., i. 35.
[III-13] The junta in Guatemala passed an act on the 11th of Dec. to reward the villa of Tegucigalpa, raising it to the rank of a city, and bestowing on its ayuntamiento the title of 'patriótico.' Marure, Bosq. Hist. Cent. Am., i. 35.
[III-14] As a matter of fact, ill feeling had always existed in the provinces against the capital. This hatred was intensified by the respective intendentes in forwarding their ambitious purposes. Mem. Rev. Cent. Am., 2. Lieut-col Miguel Gonzalez Saravia, son of the old lieut-gen. shot in Oajaca, was the gov.-intendente of Nicaragua since 1818. Naturally he hated the independents for his father's execution. Marure, Bosq. Hist. Cent. Am., i. 34; Ayon, Apuntes, 22; Juarros, Guat. (Lond. ed. 1823), 337-8.
[III-15] They would remain independent of the Spanish crown, they said, until the clouds disappeared. Mem. Rev. Cent. Am., 8; Marure, Bosq. Hist. Cent. Am., i. 34; Ayon, Apuntes, 22; Suarez y Navarro, Hist. Méj., 387; Bustamante, Cuad. Hist., vi., no. 187, 1-29; Alaman, Hist. Méj., v. 346-8; Wells' Hond., 468. Tomás Ayon, Apuntes sobre algunos de los acontecimientos políticos de Nicaragua, Leon, 1875, 8vo, 50 pp., gives a few important memoranda on the political events of Nicaragua in 1811-24, in a clear, concise, and apparently impartial manner.
[III-16] Saravia kept up a sort of underhanded war against Granada, obstructing her relations with Guatemala. Marure, Bosq. Hist. Cent. Am., i. 35. The extent of the province of Nicaragua was 85 leagues long by 75 wide; detaching Nicoya, there were four partidos, Leon, Realejo, Sutiaba, and Matagalpa, with 88 towns in all. Mendez, Mem., 7. According to Miguel G. Saravia, Bosquejo político estadístico de Nicaragua, its population in 1813 was of 149,751, a very imperfect census. Squier's States Cent. Am., 50. The bishopric of Leon comprised all the intendencia of Costa Rica, with 40 parishes, 3 missions, and 88 churches. Mendez, Mem., 20. A considerable military force had been, since 1796, kept at San Juan del Norte; and in 1821 additional defences were erected, by government order of May 2d. This force was expelled after the declaration of independence by the patriots. Squier's Trav., i. 83.
[III-17] On the 11th of Nov. he answered in similar terms the diputacion at Comayagua. Marure, Bosq. Hist. Cent. Am., i. 44-6.
[III-18] Its members were to be chosen by electors appointed by the ayuntamientos supporting the Granada régime. These members to choose every month from their own number the president. Perez, Biog. Sacasa, 5-6. Perez, Jerónimo, Biografía del coronel Don Crisanto Sacasa, 1875, fol., 18 pp., furnishes important data on the origin and life of a man who figured prominently and honorably in the affairs of Nicaragua from 1821 to his death in 1824. In connection with them appear several official letters on events during the period between secession from Spain and annexation to Mexico.
[III-19] The people acted prudently; they could but reap trouble from the political complications. Mem. Rev. Cent. Am., 2; Molina, Bosq. Costa Rica, 4-5, 17-18; Salv., Diario Ofic., May 23, 1875; Lond. Geog. Soc., vi. 135.
[III-20] It had, from the time of the conquest, a civil and military government of its own, but under dependence of the audiencia and captain-generalcy at Guatemala. In matters ecclesiastic and financial it had been under Leon. Molina, Bosq. Costa Rica, 92; Mem. Rev. Cent. Am., 2. The Spanish constitution gave it, together with Nicoya, a diputacion provincial. Astaburuaga, Cent. Am., 54. In 1812 the province had 22 towns—12 of Indians and 10 of white and black men—besides farms, large estates, etc. The extent in 1821 was 160 by 60 leagues. The cities were Cartago and Esparza; the villas, San José de Ujarráz, Villa Vieja, and Villa Hermosa; the villages, Espíritu Santo, Pueblo Nuevo, Escasu, Alajuela, Bagasses, Las Cañas, Barba, San Fernando, and the Indian towns and settlements; adding Nicoya and Guanacaste, there would be 27 towns. The population was computed at between 60,000 and 70,000, besides the three nations of heathen Indians in the mountains and northern coasts, and known respectively as indios de la Talamanca, indios del norte, and indios Mosquitos, all quite numerous. Córtes, Diario, 1813, xix. 404-5. In 1813 the deputy from Costa Rica in the Spanish córtes petitioned for a bishopric; but at the time of the separation the matter had not been acted on. Mendez, Mem., 7.