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PAPERS OF MIRABEAU BUONAPARTE LAMAR
It shows what a monster man becomes when he yields to fierce passions, and, unrestrained, Santa Anna could excuse himself of the villainy of his past conduct by the ordinary weaknesses of unprincipled men- such as hatred, ·vengeance, envy and covetuousness; but in joining a conspiracy against Guerrero he had none of these excuses-bad as they are-because there was no rivalry between him and Guer- rero. He had never harmed him, 11or was he in the way of his [Santa Anna's J ambitious desires. On the contrary, Guerrero was his chief protector; he had been his most faithful friend in adversity; he had always worked for his interest and had conferred honors upon him; and under these circumstances the conspiracy which he formed with Bustamante against his benefactor without the least political or per- sonal provocation presents human nature in its most horrible aspect, and makes Santa Anna out the most depraved and accursed man in all the earth. Although Guerrero took over the reins of power by unanimous ap- proval he could not defend himself from the attacks of the Centralists and the Aristocrats, who continued to persecute him with unceasing severity. He was a military commander of the highest rank in battle,. but he was without any experience in civil matters, and could not com- pete with his enemies in the war of intrigue, cunning and corruption which they constantly waged against him. Never, under any circum,- stances of life, did he desert his principles. He always defended them, even to the last. Mr. Zavala, in speaking of him, says that on grave questions on which he had fixed ideas and formed an opinion he was firmly perseverant and even obstinate. The cause of independence, the love of liberty, and the hatred of monarchy, the expulsion of the Span- iards, and the establishment of a Federal Government founded upon democratic and social equality formed his political code, and his obsti- nate adherence to these principles brought upon him the inveterate hatred of the aristocracy and made him a victim of its vengeance. The dismissal of the Minister Zavala and his friend Mr. Poinsett was a serious mistake. The Escoceses vociferated against these two individ- uals because they were Guerrero's best friends. They particularly hated Mr. Zavala, not only on account of the Acordada revolution, which e_le- vated Guerrero to the Presidency, but also on account of his well-known hostility toward the theocracy and his desire to remove the ancient abuses of government. He was the friend of wholesome reforms, and for that reason they desired his overthrow. Mr. Poinsett was also an object of persecution, because he had introduced the York lodge into the country, and it was supposed that he became involved in the affairs of the Republican party. We do not know if this be true, but the Escoceses, Royalists, Aristocrats or Centralists, for they are known by all of these names, instead of attacking Guerrero directly, concentrated their entire energy against these two individuals knowing that if they made him lose popularity and forced him to dismiss one of these men from the Capital and the other from the country, Guerrero would him- self fall shortly thereafter. They were not mistaken in their cal- culations. Guerrero was too blind to recognize a blow to his power in these attacks. Mr.. Poinsett had been Guerrero's friend, and both had be~ longed to the Yorlcinos which had elevated the latter to power, and
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