Page:Vol 5 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/113

Rh Pedraza had renounced his claim to the presidency. Sending 350 men to Perote, he himself made an excursion to Huatusco. His intention was to march against the capital and overthrow the new government, but he was abandoned by his men, the very troops that had served under him against the Spaniards. Whereupon Bustamante accredited two commissioners near him to confer on public affairs, and the result of the conference was that Santa Anna gave up his plan and proclaimed that inasmuch as Guerrero had abandoned his post, he felt compelled to recognize the lawful authority of Vice-president Bustamante.

Anastasio Bustamante y Oseguera was born in Jiquilpan, in the province of Michoacan, on the 27th of July, 1780, and passed his first years in Zapotlan el Grande. His parents, though not in favorable pecuniary circumstances, provided for him a good primary education; after which, at the age of fifteen, with the aid of friends, he entered the seminary of Guadalajara. His conduct there was all that could be desired; he showed remarkable talents as well as a disposition for study, which qualities with his modesty soon won for him the regard of his teachers and classmates. He next went to Mexico to study medicine, and after graduating as a licentiate fixed his residence in San Luis Potosí, where he soon acquired a high professional standing and a competency.