the Presidency, and was succeeded by Pedraza. In 1833, Santa Anna himself was elected President of Mexico. The dissolution of Congress by the Pre

knowledge of the localities, shut up in a weak fortress, which was exposed to our fire, with an army in front of him, and the few troops of the king who had remained in Mexico, commanded by an intrusive chief; under such circumstances, let those persons who disapprove of the conduct of O'Donoju say what they would have done if they had been in his place, or what they imagine he ought to have done? He must have signed the treaty of Cordova, or have become my prisoner, or have returned to Spain! he had no other alternative. If he had chosen either of the latter, all his countrymen would have been compromised, and the Government of Spain would have lost every hope of those advantages which it then obtained; advantages which it never would have acquired, if I had not been in the command, and if O'Donoju had not been an able politician as well as a faithful Spaniard.

"I entered Mexico on the 27th of September, 1821; on the same day was installed the Junta of Government which is spoken of in the plan of Iguala, and the treaty of Cordova. It was nominated by me, but not according to my arbitrary choice; for I wished to assemble together such men of every party as enjoyed the highest reputation amongst their friends. This was the only means which could be resorted to in such extraordinary circumstances for consulting the public opinion.

"Up to this point my measures gained general approbation, and in no instance were my hopes deceived. But as soon as the junta began to exercise its functions, it perverted the powers which had been granted to it; and within a few days after its installation, I saw what was likely to be the issue. From that moment I shuddered for the fate that awaited my fellow-citizens. It was in my power to resume the whole authority, and I asked myself, ought I not to resume it, if such a step be essential to the safety of my country? I considered, however, that it would have been rash in me to resolve on undertaking such an enterprise, relying solely on my own judgment. If I were to consult with others, my design might transpire, and intentions, which had sprung solely from my love for my country, and from a desire to promote its happiness, might be attributed to ambitious views, and construed into a violation of my promise. Besides, even if I were to accomplish every thing which I proposed, I could not have done it without infringing on the plan of Iguala, which it was my great object to maintain, because I looked upon it as the ægis of the public welfare. These were the true reasons which, together with others of less importance, restrained me from taking any de

sident was quickly followed by a change in the form of government. The State Legislatures were dissolved, and a Central Government, whole and in

cisive measures. They would have brought me into collision with the favorite feelings of the cultivated nations of the world, and have rendered me, for some time, an object of hatred to a set of men, who were infatuated by chimerical ideas, and who had never learned, or had soon forgotten, that the republic which was most jealous of its liberty, possessed also its dictators. I may add, that I have always endeavored to be consistent in my principles; and as I had proposed to form a junta, I fulfilled my promise, and was reluctant to undo the work of my own hands.

"There were at this time some deputies in Mexico who set little value on the public happiness, when it is opposed to their private interest, and who had acquired reputation by some actions that appeared generous to those who were benefited by them without knowing the secret views by which they had been prompted. They were well acquainted with the mysteries of intrigue, ever ready to stoop to servility when they found it expedient, and to assume insolence when their star was in the ascendant. These men disliked me because I had hitherto been successful in my career, and they began to foment those parties which were afterwards known under the titles of Republicans and Bourbonists, and which, however they differed on other points, were united in their opposition

to me.

"The republicans were hostile to me, because they well knew they could never bring me to contribute to the establishment of a government, which, whatever might be its attractions, did not suit the Mexicans. Nature produces nothing by sudden leaps; she operates by intermediate degrees. The moral world follows the laws of the physical. To think that we could emerge all at once from a state of debasement, such as that of slavery, and from a state of ignorance, such as had been inflicted upon us for three hundred years, during which we had neither books nor instructors, and the possession of knowledge had been thought a sufficient cause for persecution; to think that we could gain information and refinement in a moment, as if by enchantment; that we could acquire every virtue, forget prejudices, and give up false pretensions, was a vain expectation, and could only have entered into the visions of an enthusiast.

"The Bourbonists, on the other hand, wished for my fall, because, as soon as the decision of the government of Madrid was made known, through its decree of the 13th of February, which was subsequently transmitted by the minister for the colonies, and in which the conduct of O'Donoju was formally disapproved, the treaty of Cordova became null

divisible, was established. This act produced resistance upon the part of Coahuila, Texas, and Zacatecas. The latter State was reduced to sub

and void, as to that part of it which invited the Bourbons to the crown of Mexico, and effective with respect to the nation's entering into the full enjoyment of its right to elect as sovereign the individual whom it would deem most worthy of that high office. The Bourbonists, therefore, no longer expecting that a Bourbon would reign in Mexico, thought only of our returning to our former state of dependence; a retrogression which was impossible, considering the impotence of the Spaniards, and the determination of the Americans.

"Hence I became the object of attack to both these parties, because as I had the public force at my command, and was the centre of general opinion, it was necessary to the preponderance of either party that I should cease to exist.

"The leaders of the factions spared no pains to gain proselytes; and certainly they found many to adhere to them. Some who were the least experienced, suffered themselves to be easily led away; because they saw nothing more in the projects on foot than what was represented to them, and there is no design of which different views may not be given; some hoped that by the subversion of the Government they might advance their own fortunes; and others, the natural enemies of established order, in whatever system it prevails, were anxious only for a change. Among the latter, one might be named who values himself on his literary accomplishments, and has made himself conspicuous in the revolution.*

"The first duty of the junta after its installation, was to frame the convocatoria, or proclamation for the assemblage of a Congress, which was to give a constitution to the monarchy. The junta took more time to perform this duty than the urgency of the case permitted, and committed several errors in framing the convocatoria. It was extremely defective, but with all its imperfections it was accepted; I could do no more than perceive the evil, and lament it. The census of the provinces was not consulted; hence, for instance, one deputy was appointed for a province containing a hundred thousand inhabitants, and four for a province scarcely peopled by half that number. Nor did it at all enter into the calculations of the junta, that the representatives ought to be in proportion to the civilization of the represented. Three or four individuals might be easily selected from among a hundred well-educated citizens, who might possess the qualifications necessary to constitute good deputies;

• The individual here referred to is probably Don Lucas Alaman.

mission by Santa Anna in person, while General Cos was dispatched for the purpose of forcing the Texans to yield. Thus violence and fraud pro

whilst among a thousand, who are without education, and are ignorant of the first rudiments, scarcely one mån can be met with of sufficient ability to know what is conducive to the public welfare-whose mind is sufficiently enlarged to take accurate views of public affairs, or at least to save him from extravagant errors respecting them; who has sufficient firmness of character to vote according to what he thinks best, and not to deviate from his opinion when once convinced of its truth; and whose experience enables him to perceive the grievances which afflict his province, as well as the remedy which they require. For, although that remedy might not always be within his reach, such experience would enable him, on hearing others proposed, to form a sound judgment upon them.

"These defects were quite sufficient to extinguish every hope, that any benefits would be derived from the convocatoria of the junta. It had many other faults which I have not mentioned, as I do not mean to comment upon them. But there is one which I cannot pass over in silence, that of having the deputies nominated at the will, not of a district (partido), for that would be of a majority of the citizens, but of the ayuntamientos of the principal towns. See the injury thus done to the country people at large! In the elections a vote was given by the junta, to the electors, chosen by the country people; and a voice was also given to the individuals who composed the ayuntamiento of the principal town of each department. But in electing the ayuntamientos, it was possible to get into them by a little management, as was in fact frequently done; because the wish of aspiring to the functions of these bodies, was not so general as the ambition of obtaining a seat in Congress. The ayuntamientos were, therefore, filled up at their own pleasure, and were consequently vitiated; and as all the members possessed a vote in the elections for deputies, the ayuntamientos became almost the only electors. This is evident to any one who knows how thinly the population is distributed over that country, and how great a disproportion exists between the number of inhabitants in a town, and in its dependencies.

"To render this clearer, let it be supposed that a principal town of a province contains four, eight, or ten thousand inhabitants, leaving out of the question the city of Mexico, the population of which exceeds one hundred and seventy thousand souls, and other cities densely inhabited. The ayuntamiento of such a town consists, perhaps, of fifty or sixty members; the departments which have to send electors to the principal town,

duced a radical change in the internal affairs of Mexico, and the sovereignties of the States were substituted by the establishment of a Central Gov

name no more than eight or ten. This small number, therefore, acting in conjunction with all the members of the ayuntamiento, is reduced to a cipher, and the election terminates according to the pleasure of that body. Thus the people were deceived by being told, that in them resided the sovereignity, which they were to delegate to the deputies whom they were about to name; when in fact there was no such nomination, except on the part of the ayuntamiento, or rather, indeed, of the directors of the junta, who, after the dissolution of that body, passed into the Congress, in order to continue their manœuvres.

“To this system, so framed, was added intrigue in the elections; the most worthy men were not sought for, nor even those who were decided for any particular party. It was quite sufficient if the candidate were my enemy, or so ignorant that he might easily be persuaded to become so. If he possessed either of these requisites, he was deemed competent to discharge the sacred functions which were to be intrusted to him.

"If the archives of state have not been spoliated, remonstrances may be found amongst them from almost all the provinces, pointing out the nullity of the powers conferred on the deputies. Several individuals were elected who had been accused of conduct notoriously scandalous; some had been prosecuted as criminals: others were men of broken fortunes, tumultuous demagogues, officers who had capitulated, and who, violating the laws of war and their paroles, had again taken up arms against the cause of liberty, and after suffering defeat had surrendered a second time. Some of the new deputies were obstinate anti-independents, and one was an apostate monk, although by law no member of the religious orders could have a seat in Congress. The authors of the remonstrances offered also to prove, that the rules for the conduct of the elections, as they were laid down in the convocatoria, had been infringed; and that the persons returned were not those whom the majority approved, but those who were the most skilful in intrigue. These documents were all sent to my department, when I was generalissimo and admiral-in-chief; when I became Emperor, I directed them to be transmitted to the department of the interior, for the purpose of being deposited in the archives. I did not wish to lay them before the Congress, because, even if justice were done, which could hardly be expected, I saw that they would be productive only of odium, and of legal prosecutions. I considered that time would be lost in new elections, as it would be necessary to have the most of them renewed, and I felt that our most important care was first to organize the govern