The Sun.
London, England, 1846-10-10 00:00:00

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PROCLAMATION of SANTA ANNA. tenance of that system ; or tbat, wearied by its str egg le
to conquer its liberty, the nation sighs for Euro pea n
Address of GENERAL ANTONIO LOPEZ DE
SANTA ANNA to his countrymen upon the subject masters, or for anything else than the peace which a lore .!
of the plan proclaimed for the real regeneration of the it wants. Erroneous, most erroneous is this idea. It i
the efforts of the nation to emancipate it-elf from the ‘
Republic. power of the few, who, in good or bad faith, have en: •
(Issued at Vera Cruz, Aug. 16, 1846.)
Mexicans,—Called by the people and the garrisons of deavoured to rule it in their own way, its democratic tan -
dencies have acquired such a degree of intensity and
the departments of Jalisco, Vera Cruz, and Sinaloa,
South Mexico, and other points of the Republic, I energy that to expose them, to attempt to destro7r the
quitted Havannah on the Bth instant, at nine ins,
the hopes to which they give birth, by a project such a s that
evening, with the sole object of coming to aid you in I advanced, would be to provoke a desperate measui •e ; to
endeavour to cure an evil by the means calculated to ex-
saving our country from its enemies, internal and ex-
ternal. Great has been my joy when, on arriving at asperate it. Fascinated by the example of a oat io.n not
thi3point, I learnt that the former had been overthrown yet a century old, and which under its own govern. ment
by your forces ; and that I was already proclaimed, on has attained a degree of prosperity and adventag es so
all sides, as General-in-Chief of the liberating army. A enjoyedlby those of the old world notwithstanding : their
proof of so much confidence will be met by me with the ut- antiquity, and the slow progress of their political sits
most loyalty ; but on accepting the plan proclaimed, al- tems, our repuhlic aspires only to the management c,f its
low :me to enter into some explanations, which Icon- own affairs, either by itself or through representatives
aider necessary, in order to dispel any suspicions founded in whom it has confidence, in order to develop the, vast
on a past, the recollections of which are so painful resources of power and wealth in its bosom.
This being therefore its dominant, its absorbiing idea,
to me.
Desiring to consolidate peace in the interior of the re- it would have resisted the other plan with all its i night ;
public, in order to make it flourish and prosper, and to and if an attempt had been made to change its direction
insure by that means the integrity of our immense terri- by the employment of foreign bayonets, it would
have
tory, I have devoted all my efforts in consequence of the flown to arms, and war would have burst forth throtigh-
events of 1804, to establish an Administration endowed out its immense territory, renewing even more dia. as-
with vigour and energy, and capable of keeping down trously the bloody scenes of 1820, and the succeeding
the spirit of turbulence and disorder. Without ever years. From such a state of things, the Anglo-Ameri-
going beyond Republican forms, I endeavoured for this can race would have derived great advantage for the
purpose to support myself on property, on high posi- progress of its ambitious scheme, or for forming a new
tions, on creeds, and even on the few historical memorials republic from our interior departments, by exciting their
existing in the country, hoping thus to moderate by the sympathies and gratitude for the services rendered them
inertia of Conservative instincts, the vehemence of po- in repelling a project no less injurious to itself. This
pular masses. But without ascendancy and prestige as tendency, which has been excited in some departments
I was, and the elements assembled by me being viewed by disappointment from not obtaining provincial liber-
with distrust, resistance was made on all sides, which I, ties, which they desired, would have become general
however, expected to overcome in time. I call God to throughout all ; and no force would have been able to
witness that in this I acted with patriotism, with since- restrain them from carrying such views into effect.
rity, and with good faith. On the other hand, the republic being composed for
After some years of trial I began to remark that the the most part of young men, who have no knowledge of
republic did not advance, that some departments showed the past, except from the sinister accounts of their
tendencies of separation from the others • and that the fathers, and who, educated with republican ideas, rely
public discontent was daily increasing. Wavering then with confidence on a Government eminently popular to
in my convictions, they afterwards lost all their power, lead their country to prosperity and greatness—where
when a part of the country had been occupied by
are the internal supports on which the monarchy pre-
strangers, and our national existence of the whole was rented as the means of our salvation can be founded ?
endangered, I called on the people to the rescue, and
That which was has disappeared. Habits of passive obe-
they answered me with threats as if any other misfor
- dience no longer exist ; and if there remains a sentiment
•
tune could have been preferable to that in which the of religion, time has undermined the political power of
country then was placed. Urged by the firm determi- the directors of consciences. An influential aristocracy,
nation that we should be a sovereign and independent so necessary for the permanence of monarchies such as
people, and knowing, on the other hand, the vast re- exist in old Europe, the only proper place for institu-
sources on nLleli wo ~,,,..1.1 ~Ply for support, I then be- tions of that class, is not to be found, nor can it ever be
came convinced that our Government, being organised in organised here. In Europe, the, misery of the
a manner by no•means conformable with the wishes of gtvet, mass of the overloaded population, which
the nation, and governed by a secondary Legislature not depends on its own letieut- be eneint what is
adapted for the advancement of its interests, the people strictly and merely necessary for its subsistence,
revenged themselves in that way by seeking for an oc- in the midst of an industry which is so severely
casion in which they should be called on to take care of tasked, allows no time to the people to think of their po-
their own good, and to organise their Government in the litical rights, nor means to free themselves from the
manner which they should consider most proper. tyranny of the patrician families, on which they depend,
In our time we have seen another nation, in a similar all the landed property being in their hands. But no
conflict, employ similar means to oblige its Government such state of things can be found in the republic ; in
to promise the representative system, which it was which all is uncultivated, virgin, rich, and fruitful, offer-
anxious to have established, and when that had been ob- ing to man, in the utmost abundance, and with the
tained, we have seen its moral apathy changed into greatest facility, all that he can ask for his labour, all
heroic enthusiasm, against the foreign invader who en- that can lead to that individual independence which
tleavoured to subjugate it. Is there anything, therefore, favours the development of democratic instincts.
strange in the idea that our people should, in this in- These difficulties being, therefore, of such a nature as
stance, do as much to recover the full enjoyment of their to render nearly impossible the establishment of monar-
sovereignty, acknowledged by all governments, though chy in our country, attempts have been made, in order
trodden under foot by all, in the practical administration to overcome them, to throw the affairs of the republic
of affairs ? On this point I owe to my country, in consi-
into the greatest disorder, preventing the organisation of
deration of the part which I have taken, to declare its Government within, and aggravating the most serious
question of our northern frontiers with another nation.
frankly and honestly, upon this critical and solemn occa-
sion, that it can be saved only by a return to first princi- In this manner the faction which fostered that para.-
pies, with entire submission of the minority to the cove- cidal project having attained the first of its endslby many
reign will of the majority of the nation. years of artifices and manceuvering, next proposed to
Upon proof so clear and peremptory, of the serious carry the second into effect, by provoking, in a manner
difficulty attending that which I had considered best cal- almost direct, the Government of the United States to
culated to secure to the republic respectability abroad, I aggrandise itself by taking our rich department of
found it right to recede, and to yield to public opinion, fexas, and then advancing into the very heart of our
and follow it with the same ardour and constancy with country. To involve our people in the evils of a fearful
which I had opposed it before comprehending it. To invasion has been the last resource, in order to force
discover the most effective means of raising the spirit of them to accept its painful alternative ; obliging them to
the public, and predisposing it to the war, with which we become the prey of Anglo-American ambition, or to fly,
are threatened on the north, was my employment ; and for the safety of their national existence, to monarchi-
I was beginning to develop the measures for that pur- cal forms under a European Prince.
pose, when the events of the 6th of December, 1844, oc- For this object it was that this party, having the con-
curred, and plunged the republic into the miserable situ-
trot of the Chambers of 1844-45, refused to the Govern-
ation in which you now see it. ment of that period the appropriations which it asked
Expatriated from that time for ever from the national for maintaining the integrity of the national territory,
already seriously jeopardised, It did more, it raised up
territory, with a prohibition to return to it under the
a revolution, in which the slender allowance made to the
hard penalty of death, the obstacle which I was Sup Government for that object, on its urgent demands, were
posed to present to the establishment of an administra-
unblushingly declared to be suppressed ; and on its
Live system, conformable with public exigencies, being
triumph, it scattered the means collected for the war, and
removed, I believed that the men who had succeeded in
hastened to recognise the independence of Texas. The
placing themselves in my stead, by calling public opinion
chief of this revolution, who has always acted under the
to their aid in effecting it, would respect that opinion,
influence of his own fatal inspirations, then appeared
and summon the nation to organise its government ac-
again in insurrection at San Luis Potosi, with the force
cording to its own wishes. Pained, as I was, not to be
destined for the defence of the frontier ; and withdraw-
allowed to take part in the real regeneration of the
ing that force to the capital of the republic, he there
country, I still most sincerely desired it, because I be-
lieved that, whilst our political horizon was daily becem• usurped the supreme power, and began to put in opera-
tion his scheme of European intervention in our interior
ing darker, no other means were left to save us.
My prayers for this were redoubled on seeing that, administration, whilst the hosts of Anglo-Americans
were advancing to take possession, even of the banks of
in consequence of the development of the invasive policy
of the United States, stimulated by the perfidy of the the Rio Bravo. Having at his die oral considerable
forces in the capital and the adjoining iithdeopuatrtrmeseintts, he
Cabinet of General Herrera on the serious question of
our northern frontiers, the European press began to in- allowed the enemy time to advance,
dieate the necessity of a foreign intervention in our through our territory, and at length—most tardityauclete,
sent to Matamoros a small body of troops, needy and
domestic concerns, in order to preserve us from the am-
bitious projects of the neighbouring republic. That, unprovided with anything necessary for conducting the
campaign with success. Who can fail to see, in these
however, which raised my uneasiness to the greatest
perfidious manceuvres, the bastard designs of attracting
height, was to see in a newspaper of credit and influ-
these forces of the enemy to our central territories, in
once, .published in the Old World, a proposition made
order there to propose to us, in the midst of the conflicts
in October last, to bring us back by force under the
of war, as the only means of safety, the subjection of the
yoke of our ancient masters. My conviction was, never •
republic to servitude, the ignominy of the country, the
theless, still strong, that no Mexican, however weak
revival of the plan of Iguain—in tine, to return to the
might be his feeling of attachment for his country, would
government of the viceroys.
dare to favour such ideas openly, and still less to recom- With this object, and for this fatal moment, which
mend them to the consideration of the people. every means was employed to hasten, was a Congress
Meanwhile, news reached me of a resolution projected -
assembled, chosen, for the purpose, composed only of
by General Paredes, which revived my hopes ; for
representatives of certain determined classes, forming
though he had been the determined enemy of every re-
even a sixth of our population, and elected in a manner,
presentative popular government, I supposed that he had
perfidiously arranged, to secure a number of voices suf-
altered his opinions, and I honoured himso far as to believe
ficient to place the seal of opprobrium on the nation.
him incapable of advancing schemes for European inter-
Leaving with scarcely a single representative the great
vention, in the interior administration of the republic.
majority of the nation, the eleven bishops of our dio-
He succeeded, and his manifesto declaring his adhesion
ceses were declared deputies, and our ecclesiastical Ca-
to the plan proposed by the troops quartered at San Luis
bildos were authorised to elect nine others on their parts,
Potosi, increased my uneasiness, because I clearly saw in
they might choose, to take their places in case the
giving to the'bishopsithe faculty of appointing such proxies
it a diatribe against the independence of the nation,
rather than the patriotic address of a Mexican General, as
seeking, in good faith, to remedy the evils of his country. should not find it convenient to attend in person. Does
not this prove abundantly that a decided endeavour was
His perverse designs were in fine fully revealed, as well
as by his summons (for the assemblage of a Congress) made to supplant the will of the nation, in order to give
of the 24th of last January, issued in consequence of some species of authority to this scheme for European
intervention in the settlement of internal affairs?
this revolution, as by the newspapers showing the ten-
dency of his administration to the establishment of a The protestations of republican sentiments, made by
monarchy under a foreign prince, in the republic. General Paredes, after these irrefragable proofs so fully
As one of the principal chiefs of the independence of condemning him, were only new acts of perfidy intended
our country, and founder of the republican system, I was to tranquillise the republic, to set its suspicions at rest,
then indignant at this endeavour of some of its sons to and to arrange the occasion for carrying into effect
deliver the nation up to the scoffs of the world, and to his base designs. He uttered these protestations in
carry it back to the ominous days of the conquest. I the middle of March last, when he saw the public
thereupon took the firm determination to come and aid discontent manifest itself against his power and
plans.
you to save our country from such a stain, and to avoid But what followed? Did he not continue to protect the
the hofrible consequences of a measure by which its Tiempo, a newspaper established in the capital itself, for
glorious destiny was to be reversed, carrying it back to the sole object of rendering republican forms odious, and
what it was, and to what it, never should be again. To recommending the necessity of a monarchy; advancing
execute this determination was to offer up my blood to every argument which could be supposed calculated to
lsveueamndemaasontnrosatyhwehtrhi
which
hp o
he
eu goodl
issuedasr e ns
e
an one, in case of failure, who might choose to shed it.of the nation? Did he con-
yio Congress?iso o
aDr
yi
,d p
lhsee i
or egtrtahcet
fateth ein compliance with the terms of the barbarous decree
which drove me from the republic ; but I preferred to
erish in this noble attempt, rather than appear p indiffe- of the nation at the mercy of the few men who remain
rent to the ignominy of my country, and see the countless among us of the old regime? Everything continue
din
the same way, and when the press was prohibited from
sacrifices made for our independence, and the right to
discussing forms of Government, it was in order to •
overn ourselves rendered illusory. give
g
an amnesty to the writers in favour of monarchy, who
Mexicans, the real objects of those who, while invoking
were then prosecuted by the judicial power, aad to en-
order and tranquillity, have constantly endeavoured to
courage them to continue their criminal publications
prevent the nation from organising its Government as it
while silence was imposed on the defenders of the re-
chose, have now been laid open; and the time is come
when all true republicans of all parties, the body of the publican system. Meanwhile he hastened by every
means in his power the assemblage of the Congress
pebple as well as the army, should unite their efforts
destined to carry into effect his monarchical plan; he con-
sincerely, in order to secure entirely the independence
centrated his forces in order to suppress all movements
of our country, and to place it at liberty to adopt the
form of Government most suitable to its wishes, each on the part of the people, alarmed by the near approach
. of such an unpropituous event; abandoning our frontier
sacrificing his own individual convictions to the will of
the majority. How, indeed, can the minority, however to the invaders, or rather surrendering them to the
foreign enemy, by the reverses which he had prepared
wise and opulent, and powerful they may be, pretend to
and arranged at Pala Alto and Resaca de la Palma.
assume to themselves the right to regulate the affairs of
No, Mexicans! let there be no compromises with a
the community, or to govern the majority, without an party whose conduct has been a tissue of cruel treachery
express delegation from the latter, given of their own towards our country ; have nothing to do with it, how-
accord, not presumed, nor still less extorted by force? ever flattering be its promises, and whatsoever the forms
This may be among people who are ignorant of their with which it may in future invest itself.
own rights, and whre the want of the means of bade- In the last convulsions of its agony, it sought to assure
pendent subsistence subjects the many to the few, who its safety by its accustomed manoeuvres. It proclaimed
have monopolised everything; but it is not to be effected principles which it detested. It allied itself with bastard
among us, in whom the democratic spirit in the midst of
republicans, and exhibited itself as the friend of liberty,
many favourable circumstances, has been developins, in order, by that means,,to avoid its just punishment, to
itself for thirty-six years, and now renders imperious maintain itself in power, and to continue to determine the
and decisive, the necessity of concentrating by practice edifice cemented by the illustrious blood of the Hidalgos
the political axiom of the sovereignty of the nation.
This most essential circumstance has been disregarded and Morelos.
and despised in all constitutions hitherto given to the The fraudulent schemes of the enemies of our country
-being thus unfolded, and the true source of, its mis-
country; and in the only one which has appeared most fortunes being laid open to all, the radical remedy of the
popular, the antagonism of the principles adopted has
rendered it ineffective ; so that democracy, which alone whole evil consists in putting an end for ever to the
ruinous control of minorities, by calling on the nation
can serve as a solid basis for our social edifice, has been
honestly to fix its own destiny, and to secure its terri-
unable to develop itself, and thus to afford the peace for
which is its instinctive law, and the other benefits in- ,its honour, and its welfare. Thus placed in
effable, which it produces. Hence the convulsions which entire liberty to act, as it should be, in the midst of the
discussions carried on by the press, in the tribune, and
have so long agitated us, and of which some European
even in the streets and squares, it will take into
writers have taken advantage, so far as to depreciate
consideration the evils which surround it, and seek the
our race ; opposing the liberty and independence
of the republic ; manifesting the necessity of inter- means of resisting them; and satisfied in its desired mi-
ference, in order to strengthen it against the febrile in- tress of its own ate, it will display the energy peculiar
to a free people, will prove equal to the conflicts in which
vasion of the United States ; and declaring, in fine,
it is to be engaged, and will come out of them, not only
that it would be as easy to conquer Mexico with a nor-
honourably, but, moreover, entirely regenerated. In
lion of the troops now quartered in the island of Cuba,
this way the administration established, resting on, and
as it was in the time of the native Mexican princes.
springing from public opinion, may display all its or-
My blood boils on seeing the contempt with which we
ganised forces to maintain its territory, instead of quar-
are thus treated, by men who either do not know us tering them in the central towns, as hitherto, under a
well, or who, interested in transplanting among us the
Government created by seditious movements, constantly
fruits of their old social system, and of the times ,in
at war with the nation, and occupied solely in endea-
which they originated, consider America in the same vouring to save itself, without regard for our external
state in which it was during the sixteenth century.
Silent,' any attempt be made, as indicated, to carry dangers.
Fellow countrymen, never has the situation of the re-
these mild plans into effect, all interests of race would public been so difficult as at present. Its national existence
be silenced, and but one voice would be heard through-threatened on one side, on the other an attempt has been
out the Continent. The one hemisphere would then be
made to subject it to the hardest of all lots, to European

seen arrayed against the other, and for the disasters
dominion. Such is the abyss to which we have been
which would fall on the rash agresscr who should thus brought by the endeavour to govern our young society ac-
attempt to interfere with the internal administration of
other nations, be alone would be responsible. carding to the system adopted in the old. This is the true
cause of the long struggle in which we have been engaged.
To pronounce thus against the many nations which our
form the great Hispano American family, to declare which has weakened
them incapable of enjoying repüblican institutions, is, rests of the majority
in not, to be ignorant of, or not to conceal, what iswith the wishes of
vagant pretensions of a small minority. This state of
things must be ended, in compliance .
proved by the test many of Chili, New Granada, and
Venezuela, in contradiction of such assertions. It' is to
attribute, no doubt with evil intentions, to men of a the Ration ; and, by opposing to the former the union of
republicans of true faith, the concert of the army and the
certain race, defects of administrative forms which, not people. By this union we shall conquer the independ-
being entirely democratic, have produced the bitter once of our country; thus united; we shall confirm it by
fruits of monarchical forms engrafted on them, without establishing peace on the solid basis of public liberty ;
adverting to the fatal influence of the latter on the lot of thus united, we shall preseric the integrity of our im-
the others, mense territory.
To expect, moreover, to strengthen the nation by But now, with regard to the plan proposed for the
stonarOy, under a foreign prince, is to suppose the ex. revolution, it is my honour and my duty to observe,
jaseacein it of elements for the establishment and main- that by limiting the Congress therein proclaimed