SANTA ANNA.
The story of Mexico becomes so confused after the fall of the Empire of Agustin I. that it is difficult to understand. "Plans," pronunciamentos, revolutions, restorations, followed each other in quick succession. Generals, dictators, presidents, sprang from the soil ready-made, to exercise for a few days their brief authority, and vanish as quickly.
A few prominent names constantly recur, clinging to the wheel of fortune, which turned at that time in Mexico with singular swiftness. Each of these went down one day and the next up. Still with pertinacity they held on, each rejoicing in his own turn at the top, not only on his own account, but in the satisfaction of seeing the others beneath him. In their wild merry-go-round they seem to have lost sight of the value of the position itself, which made the object of their revolutions. Was it a crown, a dictator's chair, the simple dignity of a president's wand of office, they heeded little. The thought of establishing a genuine republic was far enough from anybody's mind in the early days of the century. To guide us through the puzzling labyrinth at this period in Mexican affairs, we will follow the thread of one career—the life of a man who, without the highest characteristics of a real hero, was mixed up in every event which took place on the plateau of Anahuac, from the beginning of the struggle to the end.
Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna was born in Jalapa, Feb. 21, 1798, sixty-six years to a day after the birth of George Washington, whose footsteps, if he followed at all, it was in an erring manner. He first made his appearance in public, as we have seen, fighting in the war of independence; it was he who, in 1821, expelled the royalists from Vera Cruz, and took possession of the city. Yturbide thus owed to him, in part, his success, but it was no intention of Santa Anna's to make an emperor of him, and he applied the same vigor in pulling him down from the throne, that he had to smooth the way to it. This effected, he withdrew to his estates in Jalapa, accepting the federal government decreed by Congress the 4th of October, 1824.
This Constitution, wisely drawn up in accordance with the best models, provided an excellent system of government, if it could be adhered to. Don Felix Fernandez Victoria, an army general, called by the people Guadalupe Victoria, on account of the intervention in his favor against the Spanish, as they believed, of the patron saint of Mexico, Our Lady of Guadalupe, assumed office in 1824, and kept it for two years without any commotion. He is described by Madame Calderon as a plain, uneducated, well-intentioned man, brave and enduring. She gives an anecdote to his credit. When Yturbide, alone, fallen, and a prisoner, was banished from Mexico, General Bravo, who had the charge of conducting him to Vera Cruz, treated him with every species of indignity. Victoria, on the other hand, who had been the sworn foe of the Emperor during his prosperity, now, when orders were given him to see Yturbide embarked, surrounded him with respectful attentions; so that Yturbide himself, after expressing his warm esteem for the General's generous conduct, presented him with his watch, as a memorial of his gratitude.
During his term, the legislature decreed the expulsion of the Spanish from Mexico. Many military chiefs were violently anxious for this measure, and it became a law before the end of the year. In consequence of this arbitrary decision, worthy of an earlier century and of Philip III., who drove out of Spain the Moriscoes to the lasting injury of the country, many families left Mexico, taking with them their wealth, and the source of income caused by their requirements. It is said that a great many Spaniards settled in Bordeaux which thus increased in size and prosperity. Between two countries, of which neither claimed them, although to each they had a claim, these exiles are to be regarded as victims of the injudicious legislation of the first republican Congress of Mexico.
The close of Victoria's term was disturbed by one or two conspiracies, civil wars, pronunciamentos, and "Plans." The presidential election of 1828 was marked by formidable divisions. The extreme liberals and the conservatives formed two great political powers, which, with others representing every shade of possible opinion, kept the country in a state of disturbance. The unfortunate precedent of appealing to arms after an election, instead of submitting to the result of the ballot, became so established that the elections were little more than a farce. Pedraza, the conservative candidate, was chosen against Guerrero, liberal, by a majority of two. Santa Anna upon this pronounced in Perote, declaring the election of Guerrero valid. Attacked by the troops of the regular army, if such it may be called, he entrenched himself in Oaxaca, in the Convent of St. Domingo, where he defended himself with the greatest bravery and ingenuity, until events made it useless to contest him any longer, and he was released.
A mutiny broke out in the capital, Pedraza fled to Vera Cruz and thence to New Orleans; flames burst forth all over the city, threatening its destruction, while the populace ran about crying "Viva la Libertad!" The Parian, where great wealth of gold, jewels, and rich stuff were stored, was utterly destroyed. From December 3d for several days the town was given over to pillage, the doors of the warehouses were driven in, and every thing seized. The greatest confusion, anarchy in fact, reigned in the capital, beyond any effort on the part of the revolutionary leaders to restrain the disorder. For more than a month afterward stolen goods from the Parian were openly sold in the public squares. The desolation of the city on the night after the first outburst is described by one of the principal actors. The sack, which had begun in the morning of the 3d, had ceased for the night. Sepulchral silence reigned in the vast city. In the palace was General Victoria, alone, abandoned even by his servants. The shops and warehouses stood open and empty, with shattered doors, their contents carried off and strewn about the streets. Not a voice was to be heard but the sound of the hour announced by the sereno, from time to time breaking the silence which had fallen upon the inhabitants of the capital.
Thus closed the year 1828, and the government of the first President. During his term Texas was colonized by Austin, with three hundred families, an event to be remembered on account of its connection with the war of the United States. In the same year the government of the United States recognized the independence of Mexico.
Manuel Gomez Pedraza, by virtue of his majority of two, assumed the office of President. As an officer in the Spanish army he was distinguished for his severe discipline and strict moral conduct. He had supported Yturbide, who made him Commander-General of Mexico. He was Minister of War under Victoria, in which office he was distinguished for his great activity.