PAPERS OJ<' MmABEAU BUONAPARTE L.tMAR 267 palpable the necessity of some reform. This was equivalent to an open declaration of war against the President. Having no just reasons for attacking the man who had been his friend and benefactor, Santa Anna pretended that the Government had neglected him in the recent cam- paign-a poor and miserable pretext-not only an insufficient excuse for so despicable and audacious a step, but totally untrue, as was proved by the testimony of other commanders and officers, and also by the sums that he took from the military treasury and buried in that place of infamy-Mango de Clava. On the 4th of December Bustamante published his Plan, and never has there been a bolder conspiracy, or one encountering such weak re- sistance. Guerrero, recovered somewhat from his consternation,. placed himself, by means of the small amount of assistance which remained to him, at the head of the forces that he was able to unite, and on the • 19th of December entered the field. Congress, meanwhile, appointed Bocanegra to occupy the Presidency during his absence. A proclama- tion in favor of the movements of J alapa having been made, firing commenced in the City on the night of the 22nd. The Government officials immediately took refuge in the President's palace where a feeble resistance was made by forty of the militia, who were compelled to surrender to the triumphant faction which permitted the ministers to retire to their homes unmolested·. and appointed an ad interim executive power composed of Don Luis Quintana, Don Pedro Veter and the cruel Don Lucas Alaman whom Santa Anna had recommended to the confidence of Guerrero not long before. It is thought that if Guerrero, when he left Mexico with a force of 2,000 men, had advanced rapidly toward Puebla before the arrival of his enemy at that place, and when he was called there by 4,000 militia, he would have been able to raise an army in a short time sufficiently strong to destroy the opposing forces and maintain the Government. But to the astonishment of all, .instead of doing this, he suddenly abandoned the cause in despair and left the command of the army to General :Morea, who, embarrassed by so unexpected and extraordinary an event, surrendered to the rebels on the following day. Guerrero's friends do not know how to explain this strange conduct. :Mr. Zavala attributes it to the wound which he received in the town of Jalmo- longa from which he did not recover and from which he suffered dur- ing his entire ·life; but we have no doubt but that it was his repug- nance at entering a bloody contest for the purpose of retaining an office from which he had gained only trouble and misfortune. 'Bustamante enteI"ed the Capital on December thirty-first without en- countering any difficulty and took over the reins of government. He was supported by the military forces and the populace of the city. He delivered an address to Congress on the 1st of January, 1830. The Capital was surrounded by the armies which remained under arms for the purpose of silencing the people. Affairs quieted down and it • seemed that there was no other opposition to prevent Bustamante from occupying the presidential chair. · And what became of Guerrero? After leaving the army to the com- mand of :Morea he, with Colonel Francisco Victoria and a small escort, continued on his way to Acapulco where he flattered himself that he was beyond the reach of his enemies. There he renounced his preten-
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