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PAPERS OJ<' MIRABEAU BuoNAPAilTE LAMAR
dent and Cabinet of the Republic of Texas relative to the political policy which should be adopted regarding General Santa Anna and other prisoners. The author at that time performed the duties of Sec- retary of War, in which office he gave more than one proof of his di- plomatic ability and patriotism, in that way beginning the brilliant political career which later elevated him to the Presidency. The letter is not only a proof of the firmness with which General Lamar has al- ways sustained his principles, and of his convictions of Santa Anna's crimes; but it is also a model of its kind in which severity of logic graciously entwined with rhetoric combine to make the author's genius sparkle as the light that shines through the windows of an illumined cathedral. The reader could do no less than appreciate the merit of the work in general and the resemblance to the characters which, delineated with accuracy and vigor,. appear in it; although he is surprised, as also are we, to realize that Santa Anna, by belonging to all political parties and employing calumny and treachery to satisfy his thirst for gold and tis desire for power, has ruled the destinies of l\Iexico for twenty years while that country, engulfed in ignominy and degradation, has not taken a single forward step on the road of improvement and progress. In the service of the Spanish monarch at one time, later under the flag of freedom, afterwards converted into a Centralist, a Democrat during the insurrections, a despot when he became President, without genius, education or military strategy, contrite in the Church today and draining the cup tomorrow, in the gaming house or in the brothel house, a coward and traitor always, General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna has more than once represented the beautiful country in which he enterecl the world', with the sword in one hand and the image of the martyr of Judea in the other, as the executioner of his brothers; he has obstructed the path of liberty with human hecatombs; he has scattered ignorance and fanaticism in turn; he has appropriated the public funds; he has sold offices and decorations at auction; he has imprinted his unclean lips upon helpless beauty; he has outraged the sanctity of matrimony; he has conspired to adorn his degraded brow with an imperial crown; he has demoralized the army by sacrificing the veteran commanders; and finally, he has permitted foreigners to devastate his country by taking possession of its provinces and by tear- ing down the flag of the Fatherland with profane hands. Sad, sad indeed would have been the fate of :Mexico, if the govern- ment of General Santa Anna had continued a few more years. To ask beneficent and wholesome measures for the nation o(his ·administration would have been to hope that the storm would respect the rose of sum- mer, or to pray that the pilferer would protect the white dove. For- tunately, despots fall at the impulse of an emboldened people, and it has not been very long since General Santa 'Anna, despite the fact that he has always maintained his government by the force of arms, has learned this truth, and, like the hyena which flees and hides in the intricate wood after he has trampled the beautiful, happy vales and spattered his pursuers with blood, is seeking refuge in another clime. Perhaps the day is not far distant when the beautiful Venus of Ana-
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