Page:Vol 5 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/291

Rh the mails by opening private letters in quest of conspirators. Minister Baranda now hastened to Querétaro to confer with Santa Anna, and there it was decided to repeat the act which had proved so effective at the close of 1842 in sustaining the dictator.

The chambers met as usual on December 1st, but during a brief recess the doors were closed against the returning members by an armed force. They had no alternative but to submit, yet not without uniting to issue a solemn protest against the different arbitrary acts committed against them and the country. The ministry sought to counteract it by a proclamation, wherein they cast odium on the representatives for unpatriotic opposition to the measures of the administration. The dissolution was required for the prompt reëstablishment of order and the recovery of Texas, and would be maintained till these objects were accomplished. Under the direction of the constitutional president, Santa Anna, and his substitute, the government proposed to exercise all functions to this end, with particular attention to the financial, military, and foreign departments, yet without increasing. the contributions, or encroaching upon life and property or upon the proletariat. Specious pretexts like these, from such a source, 'deceived no one. hand of the despot was only too płainly seen in the very resemblance to former acts and arguments. Deputies and senators exposed them in their protests, and the people manifested their indignation in tumultuous gatherings and loud denunciation, wherein the assembly and ayuntamiento of Mexico joined, the former voluntarily suspending its sessions till the