PITIABLE CONDITION OF THE STATE. 461 



I was in the Senate Chamber when the nltimatum 

 of Santa Ana was read. A smile of derision flitted 

 over the faces of senators, and it was manifest that 

 the terms would not be accepted, yet no man rose 

 to offer a declaration of independence. In the lob- 

 by, however, an open threat was made to proclaim 

 it viva voce in the plaza on the coming Sunday, and 

 at the mouth of the cannon. The condition of the 

 state was pitiable in the extreme. It was a melan- 

 choly comment upon republican government, and 

 the most melancholy feature was that this condition 

 did not proceed from the ignorant and uneducated 

 masses. The Indians were all quiet, and, though 

 doomed to fight the battles, knew nothing of the 

 questions involved. It is my firm conviction that 

 the constant and unceasing convulsions of the south- 

 ern republics more than from any other cause grow 

 out of the non-recognition or the violation of that 

 great saving principle known among us as state 

 rights. The general government aims constantly 

 at dominion over the states. Far removed by po- 

 sition, ignorant of the wants of the people, and re- 

 gardless of their feelings, it sends from the capital 

 its military commandant, places him above the local 

 authorities, cripples the strength of the state, and 

 drains its coffers to support a strong, consoHdated 

 power. Such were the circumstances which had 

 placed Yucatan in arras against the general govern- 

 ment, and such, ere this, might have been the condi- 

 tion of our own republic, but for the triumphant as- 



