Money and possessions,
curiously enough, affected him little. Messrs. Rengger and Longchamps
vouch for it that, having once discovered that he was the possessor of
800 piastres, he thought this sum a great deal too much for a single
person, and he spent it. A remedy such as this seems simple enough for
an unusual complaint!
By the year 1813 all but the most powerful elements of the Junta had
been weeded out. The power was now confined to the two remaining
members--Dr. Francia and his colleague, Fulgencio Yegros. These were now
endowed with the titles of Consul. Two curule chairs were specially
manufactured for them. These classical seats were covered with leather.
On one was the name of Caesar, on the other that of Pompey. It is
possible that Francia had some faint smattering of Latin and of Roman
history; at all events, he is said to have pounced on the first and
eagerly to have taken possession of it. The two Consuls began their
reign by employing a vast amount of ceremony and form in order to
accomplish a few quite arbitrary acts. The majority of these were
directed against the Spaniards, who, suffering now from the swing of the
pendulum of fate, were as much oppressed as they had formerly oppressed.
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