Page:Vol 5 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/62

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42
CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT.

Guerrero's partisans, anticipating defeat, had begun a revolution in the state of Vera Cruz, headed by Santa Anna, at Perote, on the ground that Pedraza had employed force, and taken advantage of his position to overrule public opinion.[1] This in the face of an order from the president to remove even the semblance of force, and of an assurance from the ministry that the public troops would not be used except to sustain the free action of the state. Gomez Pedraza had been constitutionally elected president, but the opposing party denied it, Guerrero making no effort to quiet the discord[2] The president resolved to uphold the constitution, and was seconded by the congress. Santa Anna and his followers were declared without the pale of the law if they did not lay down their arms.[3] That leader, having sustained a reverse, fled from Perote to Oajaca, pursued by the government forces, which closely besieged him on the 14th of November. His situation had become desperate, when the revolution of the ex-acordada in the federal capital on the 30th of that month saved him, the government having to recall its troops from Oajaca.

This new pronunciamiento was the work of Anastasio Zerecero, according to his own statement,[4] and Colonel Santiago García, commander of the Tres

    ii. 58–72, 76, 144; Cor. Fed. Mex., 1827, July 17 to Sept. 3; Arrillaga, Recop., 1830, 102; Tornel, Breve Reseña Hist., 101. Godoy was the superior in intellect. Muzquiz had rendered good service for Mexican freedom while Bustamante was still serving in the royalist ranks, but the latter having joined the yorkinos, the odium of his past record was thus wiped out. Guerrero had, it appears, recommended him.

  1. In Vera Cruz Governor Santa Anna and the ayuntamiento of Jalapa had been impeached before the legislature and suspended. Rivera, Hist. Jalapa, ii. 483-92. The privileged and wealthy were frantic in Pedraza's interest. Every bishop, chapter, vicar, etc., addressed pastoral letters to the people to stop the progress of the revolution. Most of the printed documents of that time were pastoral letters. Suarez y Navarro, Hist. Mex., 134.
  2. Revolutionary movements also took place in Michoacan, Costa Chica, and elsewhere. Robberies and murders became quite common in town and country. Cor. Fed. Mex., 1828, July 8, 17, 19; La Palanca, iii. no. 85.
  3. Sept. 17th. This outlawry was revoked March 17, 1829. Dublan and Lozano, Legis. Mex., ii. 79-80, 97-8.
  4. He afterward regretted it. 'Esta revolucion ó pronunciamiento lo combinó, dirigió, y llevó á cabo, el autor de estas memorias. Hizo muy mal, lo confiesa ante Dios y los hombres.' Zerecero, Revol. Mex. . 109.