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188 been expected; nevertheless, the military bands were present, and at six in the evening, their Excellencies Generals Bustamante and Valencia having presented themselves there, were received with vivas and universal joy.

"At night the chiefs and officers of the plana mayor gave a ball in the college of the Mineria; and the Theatre of New Mexico dedicated its entertainment to His Excellency the President. Nothing disturbed the joy of this day; one sentiment alone of union and cheerfulness overflowed in the capital, proving to those illustrious Generals the unanimous applause with which Mexicans see their country reward the distinguished services of their children who are so deserving of their love and gratitude."

Notwithstanding the ineffable joy which, according to the Diario, is generally felt on this occasion, there are many who doubt the policy of this celebration, at a time when the troops are unpaid; when the soldiers, wounded at the last pronunciamiento, are refused their pensions; while the widows and orphans of others are vainly suing for assistance. "At the best," say those who cavil on the subject, "it was a civil war, a war between brothers, a subject of regret and not of glory, of sadness and not of jubilee." As for General Valencia's congratulation to the President, in which he compares the "honorable troops" to the Supreme Being, the reestablishment of order in Mexico to the creation of the world from chaos, it is chiefly incomprehensible. Perhaps he is carried away by his joy and gratitude and personal affection for Bustamante—perhaps he has taken a leaf from a translation of Bombastes Furioso.