285
PAPERS OF MIRABEAU Buo~APARTE LAMAR
honor, and lest he should have to compel him, made him prisoner and took him to the headquarters of the supposed enemies Duran and Unda with whom Arista united and worked. What corruption! And, moreover, what farce! This conduct on the part of Santa Anna sad- dened and sickened the heart of every patriot who saw that the glorious fruits of the last revolution against Bustamante were going to be de- stroyed and that the best hopes of the nation were fading under the treacherous ambition of a bold and wicked man. Santa Anna was taken to Cuautla de Amilpas where he was left in the custody of some of Duran's officers. When these events were learned in Toluca, the picket soldiers of the 16th Regiment attempted to declare in favor of Arista's plan, but the citizens rose up against them and attacked them with rocks, sticks, and whatever missiles they had at hand. Zavala was Governor of the State of Mexico at that time and he co-operated actively with Vice President Farias, who, on this occasion, displayed a firmness, energy and patriotism which were worthy of general praise and which increased his already eminent reputation for virtue. These two men were bosom friends, consecrated to the federation, and most efficient supporters of the reforms which claimed the attention of Congress. They well knew that Santa Anna was at the bottom of these movements and that the pretended revolu- tion was meant only to test public opinion, but without declaring their suspicions, they called on the people to fly to the defense of the Con- stitution and free the President from captivity believing that with their combined forces they would succeed in exciting such general indigna- tion and organize such a formidable resistance against the rebels that ,it could do no less than convince the captive President that it would be best for him to return to the Capital with the least possible delay. And such was done. His pretended flight took place on the 12th of J"une. He first went to Puebla, as though he were fleeing for his life, and gave an eloquent account of the dexterity and cunning with which he had effected his escape, saying that he had escaped from the prison (there never was any such prison), in which he was surrounded by guards, by means of a story which he had made up, and publicly de- clared that instead of availing himself of the revolution, he was dis- posed to oppose it with force, failing to meet with any sympathy from the inhabitants of that city who did not believe a word of his account, ·he prepared to go to Mexico where he arrived to find no disturbance at all and was hyperbolically extolled by the ecclesiastical press for his disinterested patriotism in preferring the federation to his own aggran- dizement. But not bv this means was he able to deceive Farias and Congress, who well ki{ew the motives and machinations of the impostor and traitor. While the patriots were encouraged by the general, spontaneous and enthusiastic demonstrations against the rebels, Santa Anna became dis- mayed to a very great degree. He saw that his movement had been premature, that the nation was not ready for a change of government · and that he would b.ave to postpone his elevation to the dictatorship 'until a more propitious time. Although he did not abandon his plan, · nor despair of accomplishing it, necessity absolutely compelled him to recede in the present attempt and to calm the tempest which it had
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