Diaz, master of Mexico . tion he had discovered an armedconspiracy of the monks of the great convent of SanFrancisco, whose establishment covered a large part ofthe City of Mexico. The next day he sent troops to theconvent, suppressed it, and cut two wide streets throughits grounds. Comonfort had been reelected to the presidencyand Juarez had, at the same time, been elected ChiefJustice of the Supreme Court, and thus became Con-stitutional successor to the President. The storm ofChurch hostility and the sudden activity of revolu-tionists, supplied with funds by the Church and led bydiscontente
Diaz, master of Mexico . tion he had discovered an armedconspiracy of the monks of the great convent of SanFrancisco, whose establishment covered a large part ofthe City of Mexico. The next day he sent troops to theconvent, suppressed it, and cut two wide streets throughits grounds. Comonfort had been reelected to the presidencyand Juarez had, at the same time, been elected ChiefJustice of the Supreme Court, and thus became Con-stitutional successor to the President. The storm ofChurch hostility and the sudden activity of revolu-tionists, supplied with funds by the Church and led bydiscontented military adventurers, shattered the nerveand confounded the judgment of Comonfort. In an hourof despair he surrendered to the Clerical party, aban-doned the new Constitution, dissolved Congress, and putJuarez in prison. There was constant fighting betweenthe Liberals and Clericals in the streets of the nationalcapital. Presently Comonfort changed his mind again,released Juarez, and attempted to restore order. But it 76. o DIAZS FIRST BAPTISM OF BLOOD was too late; the civil war had begun in earnest, andComonfort fled from the country on February 5, 1858. After the flight of Comonfort, Juarez became theConstitutional President of Mexico. Thereupon, the ene-mies of the republic declared Zuloaga President. TheLiberals were compelled to abandon the City of Mexico—which was occupied by the usurping Clerical govern-ment—and assembled in Queretaro, where Juarez wasregularly installed as Constitutional President on Janu-ary 10, 1858. Juarez moved to Guadalajara, where heorganized his government. But even in Guadalajarathere was war. The Liberals and Clericals fought sav-agely in the streets for possession of the city. Mexicoand Puebla were in the hands of Zuloago and his forces,but the rest of the country seemed to be true to Juarezand the Constitution. One of Juarezs officers, Colonel Landa, who hadbeen intrusted with the defense of the presidential palace,turned traitor. He mad
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