estate. The strongest reason for the withdrawal was undoubtedly the approaching reunion of the new congress,[1] with which was connected the election of a proprietary president. He preferred to play his game for that tempting prize in the background, where also a defeat would be less felt, under cover of an apparently voluntary surrender of power. For a first move he issued a plausible manifesto, explaining the manner in which he had used the extraordinary power conferred upon him in 1841, taking pains to place in the most favorable and absorbing light the several progressive measures of his rule and covering the rest with pleas for public necessity, national honor, the safety of religion, and so forth.[2] A second move was to include among the stanch members selected for the government council a proportion of men whose appointment would please the people and conciliate cliques. A third was to appoint, not a lukewarm adherent like Bravo, nor a strong man whose ambition might prove dangerous, but one who could be relied upon to act wholly and faithfully as a machine of the hidden ruler. The choice fell on Canalizo, comandante general of Mexico, formerly the loyal supporter of Bustamante, and therefore a less apparent partisan of Santa Anna, although now wholly devoted to him.[3] In addition all the vast political machinery
- ↑ Rules for election issued on June 19th, in Dublan and Lozano, Leg. Mex., iv. 461-4, 486.
- ↑ When the council of notables dissolved at the close of the year, its president replied sneeringly to the thanks of the government for its aid by saying, 'Aquella corporacion no habia sido la luz que guiara el gobicrno, pues éste habia hecho cuanto le habia venido en gana.' Bustamante, Hist. Santa Anna, 247.
- ↑ Un maniquí ó títere,' puppet, etc., is the term applied to him. Id., 245. 'Tonto é ignorante,' adds Arrangoiz, Méj., ii. 237. The decree of Oct. 2d appointing him cautiously divided the power between him and the four ministers, the latter removable by Santa Anna. Dublan and Lozano, Leg. Mex., iv. 609-10. A ridiculous position for a president, observes Rivera, Gob. de Méx., ii. 259. Valentin Canalizo, born at Monterey about 1797, became a cadet in the Celaya regiment in 1811, joined the independents under Iturbide in 1820, and after this served with credit in different engagements on the conservative or centralist side. For his share in the death of Guerrero he received the rank of general and the command of Oajaca. In 1841 he was promoted to a division, and subsequently he played a conspicuous part in the pronunciamiento against congress. Ib.; Perez, Dicc. Geog. Estad., iii. 173-80.
