Page:Vol 5 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/158

138 of the situation he was deposed from his office of vice-president by the congress of 1835, General Barragan being called to succeed him. He left his country as an exile, and only returned in 1838, when he was received with the highest marks of esteem by his political friends. He then apparently kept himself on good terns with the government. His subsequent efforts in favor of the federal system subjected him again to persecution and imprisonment. The populace took him out of the prison. In 1840, had he been a sanguinary man, he could have put his enemies to death. He was afterward compelled to seek refuge in a foreign legation, and in September was again banished. In 1845 he was formally invited to return to Mexico. Gomez Farías was a man of strict moral principles, conscientious, and unselfish.

Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna was born in Jalapa on the 21st of February, 1795, his parents being Antouio Lopez de Santa Anna, who had been for many years the subdelegado of the province of Antigua Vera Cruz, and Manuela Perez de Lebron. His father wished him to become a merchant, and obtained for him a position in a first-class house of Vera Cruz, which he held only for a short time. His inclination to the military profession was so strong that he was entered as a cadet July 10, 1810, in the regiment Fijo de Vera Cruz, at an earlier age than the regulations required. From that time he saw much active service, and obtained promotion grade by grade. Below