Page:The War with Mexico, Vol 1.djvu/79

50 in August, 1841, the British minister reported that the government, if left to itself, would soon expire of inanition. As for the nation, it was not merely in anarchy but in chaos. Even the conservatives admitted that the Seven Laws would not do.

This very month-rang the bell for the next scene. General Mariano Paredes, another important ﬁgure in the history of our war with Mexico, was a brave but rather besotted ofﬁcer, more honest but less clever than his leading contemporaries, On a mere pretext, though he owed much to Bustamante, he revolted; more or less in collusion with him Santa Anna pronounced as mediator; and General Valencia, correctly described by an American consul as "destitute of every principle of honor or honesty," treacherously getting hold of what was called the citadel at Mexico, rebelled on his own account: check from two knights and a castle, as Señora Calderón wittily described the situation Weary, disgusted, indifferent, cynical, men heard unmoved the "Quién vive?" and "Centinela alerte!" of the insurgents at the capital, and between two puffs of their cigarettes gossiped about the revolution as if it had occurred in Europe It was only a game of chess, and the public were spectators. They understood now that nearly all the pompous phrases of the politicians had meant, as Lara's Revista Política of 1840 put it, "Move, and let me have your place."

In this confusion Santa Anna, whom the conservatives had now decided to support instead of the inefficient Bustamante, came rapidly to the front. His triumph was soon foreseen, and the nation acquiesced. Most people knew he was a villain, but felt that at any rate he possessed energy. Probably he could keep order, they said, and perhaps, if entirely trusted, would act well. If not, one big rascal could not he so bad as many little ones; and at the very least any change must be an improvement. In reality this bold, cunning, hungry, sharp adventurer, who knew what he wanted and got it, dazzled the average Mexicans. They saw in him a fulfilment of themselves, and in letting him rule they had the feeling of success without the trouble.

For a While Bustamante, whose government practically faded out in September, 184], resisted with dignity though with no chance of survival; but at length, in a ﬁt of desperation, he