Germs of independence, as I have said, were fostered in secret by the more intelligent, and slowly began to develop, the movement being hastened by a few enthusiasts who were blind to the foolhardiness of their attempt. The government tried all means to keep the people in ignorance of the state of affairs in Mexico and South America, and when unsuccessful, would represent the royalist army as victorious. Other more questionable devices were also resorted to.[I-26] Undue restraint and ill treatment, as practised under the stringent policy of Bustamante, soon began to produce effects. Restiveness and despair seized a portion of the people; the hopes for a government more consonant with the spirit of the age, which had been held out from Spain, evaporated. Men were unwilling to live longer under the heel of despotism; and the more high-spirited in Salvador and Nicaragua resolved to stake their fortunes upon a bold stroke for freedom. It was, indeed, a rash step, undertaken without concert, and almost without resources. It could but end as it did at every place where a revolutionary movement was initiated. Matías Delgado and Nicolás Aguilar, curates of San Salvador, Manuel and Vicente Aguilar, Juan Manuel Rodriguez, and Manuel José Arce were the first to strike the blow for Central American independence. Their plan was carried into execution on the 5th of November, 1811, by the capture of 3,000 new muskets, and upwards of $200,000 from the royal treasury at San Salvador. They were supported by a large portion of the people of the city, and in Metapan, Zacatecoluca, Usulutan, and Chalatenango. But other places in the province of Salvador, namely, San Miguel, Santa Ana, San Vicente, and Sonsonate, renewed their pledges of fealty to the government, declaring the movement for freedom a sacrilege.[I-27] The promoters of the revolt, which had been started in the king's name, became disheartened and gave up further effort, and with the dismissal of the intendente, Antonio Gutierrez Ulloa, and other officials, peace was soon restored. San Salvador had been quiet without other government than that of alcaldes during the disturbance. [Sidenote: AYCINENA IN SALVADOR.] Upon the receipt of the news of these occurrences, Bustamante despatched Colonel José de Aycinena with ample powers to take charge of the intendencia, and restore quiet. He had been getting troops ready to send down, but by the mediation of the ayuntamiento of Guatemala he had suspended preparations, and had adopted the former course. A member of that body, José María Peinado, was associated with Aycinena.[I-28] They reached San Salvador on the 3d of December, amid the acclamations of the fickle populace; their presence and the exhortations of the missionaries checked all revolutionary symptoms. The authors of the revolt were leniently treated under a general amnesty.[I-29] Peinado was a short time after appointed Aycinena's successor as acting intendente.[I-30]