Gainza said to the diputacion at Leon, on the 22d of October, that neither they nor the junta consultiva, nor any other body of men then existing, could decide upon the future of the country; none had a legal right to declare for or against annexation to Mexico. This could be arrived at only by the representatives of the people in the general congress.[III-17] He appointed Colonel Sacasa comandante general of the forces in Nicaragua, and directed him to install in Granada a subordinate junta gubernativa of five members, clothed with the functions of a jefe político, and which was to continue in power till the status of the country should be fixed.[III-18] Sacasa frankly notified the rulers in Leon of what he was to do, and took steps to carry his orders into execution. But Saravia, with the bishop and the diputacion, determined that no such junta should be installed. The diputacion, on the 1st of December, by a special act, forbade its organization, declaring all attempts toward it subversive of good order and hostile to the Mexican empire, to which they owed allegiance; and warning all citizens to abstain from such efforts. [Sidenote: COSTA RICA NEUTRAL.] Sacasa had every right to expect that Gainza would support him against attacks from Leon, but he was disappointed. The captain-general wrote him, on the 22d of December, that it was doubtful if Central America could maintain a government separate from Mexico, many towns having already attached themselves to the empire; and that he had expressed the same opinion to Saravia. Whereupon Sacasa, though a republican, made no further opposition to the powers at Leon. * * * * * Costa Rica was privileged by distance to keep aloof from political troubles threatening the other provinces. She had seceded from Spain on the 27th of October, and set aside the governor, Juan Cañas; but when called upon to adopt the plan of the capital or that of Leon, she declined both, preferring a neutral attitude.[III-19] A meeting of notables confirmed the act of secession, and set up a provisional government entirely detached from that at Leon, which was to reside alternately in Cartago, San José, Heredia, and Alajuela. But this was found inconvenient, owing to rivalries between the two first-named towns; and finally it was decided, on the 27th of November, to place public affairs in the hands of Manuel Peralta, Rafael Osejo, and Hermenegildo Bonilla, who were to reside at the provincial capital, Cartago. Under this arrangement peace was preserved, and the province never was really under the imperial rule.[III-20]