XXVI.
MORELOS.
The Independents were not all destroyed. Before the end of the year which witnessed the execution of the three chiefs, the name of Morelos began to be noised abroad.
The father of Morelos was a carpenter living in Valladolid with his wife Juana Pavon. They were of low birth and poor. On the 30th of September Juana Pavon, on her way to the market-place, was obliged to enter a house on the corner of the street where she chanced to be, in order that her son should be born immediately. This house now has a stone inserted over the doorway thus inscribed:
The immortal
José M. Morelos was born in this house
on the 30th of September 1765.
16th of September 1881.
In 1801, this son, then a curate in the neighborhood, bought another house in the town, which he rebuilt and made comfortable. This house remains in the hands of the relatives of the hero, who also possess his portrait and a piece of the cloth with which his eyes were bandaged on the 22d of December, 1815. Over the door is inscribed:
Morelos the illustrious!
Immortal Hero.
In this house, honored by thy presence,
Salute you the grateful people of Morelia.
For the grateful people of his birthplace changed the time-honored name of their city to Morelia in honor of their patriotic citizen, thus paying a worthy tribute to his memory, although slighting that of the good viceroy who established its foundations.