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TEXAS STATE LIBRARY
In_ this retirem~nt ?ur demon of discord _worked day and night, :Sendmg secret em1ssanes through all the nation, transmitting an in- finite n_u~ber of letters to the Clergy, to the officers of the Army, and to amb1t10us persons of all classes whom he supposed, with a hope of -compensation, might be his partizans. He preached a crusade against Congress as the great enemy of the nation who was undermining the foundation of their religion and destroying all the distinctions in soci- ety by raising the small and humbling the great. In his correspond- ence he sent a long letter to General Mejia asking him to join him in his enterprise to establish a theocratic-military government in the country, but Mejia, faithful to the Federation, replied that he would never, under any circumstances, betray the principles of liberty which he had defended all his life. This unexpected reply greatly alarmed :Santa Anna, who tried to destroy the effect of the aforesaid letter by stating in writing to Congress that he had news of its existence and that he desired that body to take some steps to discover its author. It is truly very strange that Congress should countenance such an im- pertinent and insulting communication. Congress, however, demanded the presentation of that letter and all recognized the letter and signa- ture at once. Santa Anna persisted in denying its authenticity until his subsequent operations made it unnecessary. The condition of the country favors Santa Anna's plans. Although the large masses of the people were republicans and friends of the fed- eration, as they had manifested during the campaign against Duran and Arista, and also in the war against Bustamante, they were, never- theless, ignorant in the-extreme and easily misguided. They not only lacked competent leaders to organize and direct them, but they were also too blind to see the machinations of their enemies, and too super- _:stitious to oppose the Church. Furthermore, they were tired of civil wars and longed for peace and repose. On the other hand, the Clergy, the officers and the aristocrats who composed the Centralist party were <Jrganized, active and bold, and worked without rest and in secret while the Federal leaders and the people slept in the arms of a false security as though no danger threatened them. It was not strange, then, that they should be the prisoners of an enemy who never slept. Finally, the traitor, having sufficiently perfected ·his plans and or- ganized his forces for the struggle, left for the Capital and commenced the war. As a writer of the Correo Atlantico states: The little Napo- leon of the comic opera leaves Egypt in a rage, returns to his Paris ( April 1844), puts the keys of the legislative halls in his pocket, casts away the public vote for the installation of the Council of Government prescribed by the Federal Constitution during the dissolution of Con- gress, usurps all powers, and gives the signal for a general insurrection." Before leaving his hacienda a feeble cry of insurrection had been raised in Orizaba, which was followed by a much more clamorous one in Cuernavaca on the 25th of l\1ay in which Santa Anna was implored to save the country from the ruinous legislation of Congress, ·to an- nul all the laws and decrees which that body had passed in its career of moral reforms, and likewise, to remove from public office all who had supported Congress in its measures. Santa Anna called this up- rising the voice of the nation and immediately (May 1844) dissolved Congress by military force, doing the same thing to the Council of
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