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that you should have the _crown in spite of the people, even tho you should not desire it." Iturbide accepted this gross and bold flattery as though it were true and presented it to the world in justification of his not refusing the throne. Thus we see that he had at least three reasons to support his conduct. First, that all of the representatives were in favor of his appointment which has been shown to be false; second, that Herrera told him that the country would kill him if he refused it; third, that Santa Anna would have crowned him anyway whether he desired it or not. It is not strange that our hero should attain success by praising a man of such weak and childish intelligence. Assured of Iturbide's goodwill and friendship Santa Anna did not lose time in taking advantage of them, for very soon he asked and received of the Emperor, first, the command of Puebla, which he held only eight days, and, afterwards, his appointment as Governor of Vera- cruz. He went to the theater of his glorious deeds and resumed his natural vices of gambling, robbing and persecuting the Republicans whom he hated with all his heart. He was a most enthusiastic--eulo ist of Iturbide. whom he praised to the skies and praised the greates and best of the human race; and even called himself "one of the strongest columns of the new Empire." How quickly the scene changed ! And what a commentary on human frailty ! A few months pass and we see these two wise men, now such good friends, in mortal conflict with each othe'r. He who had been so active in the rise of Iturbide was the :first to turn his back upon him. The Jact that he dragged in personal resentment is conceded by all; and it seems that there is the same unanimity of opinion with regard to the fact that he was provoked by Iturbide's harshness to adopt the party with which he alligned himself. This last is an error. Mr. Poinsett says that Ituroide treated him very harshly and took away his office of Governor of Veracruz; and other authors state the same thing. That he took away his command at Veracruz is certain, and that his removal was justified is no less true in consideration of his many crimes which were deserving of the most condign punishment, as we shall see later. Santa Anna's declaration against Iturbide was born of the profound hatred which the former entertained for Echavarri, on account of the latter's superiority in rank, which was conferred, we believe, for the purpose of controlling Santa Anna's irregularities and insubordinate disposition. Be that as it may, Echavarri was the Commander-in- Chief of the province of Veracruz, and under his command Santa Anna ruled in the city. Santa Anna was not content with the position of subaltern and aspired to principal command. The controversy be- tween him and Echavarri ended as a break with the Emperor. In order that we may do Iturbide justice we shall allow him to state the matter, after which we shall do so. In his memoirs will be found the following explanation of which we believe the greater part to be true, although there are important omissions which we shall attempt to bring to light in order to fill those spaces. "Brigadier Don Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, under the command of Echavarri who was Captain General, governed the city and province of Veracruz. Both had in- structions relative to capturing Castillo and Ulua. This produced some misunderstanding between the two leaders on account of dis-
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