SANTA ANNA. 73 
at prayer ; in the ball-room ; in the cock-pit, betting ; in the audience- 
room ; at the banquet ; and in private interviews of delicate diplomacy, 
when the political interests of the two nations were at stake. No one 
can easily forget him ; and I have delayed describing him until now be- 
cause I have been unwilling to deceive myself or others. According to 
public opinion, he is a riddle in character ; he surely is not so in appear. 
ance, and if his person and his manners are not, as with others, to be 
taken as a fair index of the man, he is either an arch-hypocrite, or a 
capital actor. 
In person, General Santa Anna is about six feet high, well made, and 
of graceful bearing, though he stumps along on an old-fashioned wooden 
peg, rejecting, as uncomfortable, all the "mock legs" with patent springs 
and self-moving inventions, which have been presented to him by his flat- 
terers from all parts of the world. His dress, as I have said before, is 
on all public occasions that of a high officer of the army ; and his breast 
is covered with richly-gemmed decorations. 
His brow, shaded with black hair somev/hat sprinkled with gray, is 
by no means lofty, but narrow and smooth. Although his whole head 
is rather small, and perhaps rather too long for its breadth, it has, how- 
ever, a marked and boldly-defined outline, indicating talent and resolu- 
tion. His nose is straight and well shaped, and his brows knit in a line 
over close and brilliant eyes, Avhich are said to flash with fire when 
aroused to passion. His complexion is dark and sallow, and his temper- 
ament evidently bilious. His mouth is the most remarkable feature. Its 
pron:iinent expression, when at rest, is that of mingled pain and anxiety. In 
perfect repose, you would think him looking on a dying friend, with whose 
sufferings he was deeply but helplessly sympathizing. His head and face 
are those of an attentive, thoughtful, melancholy but determined character. 
There is no ferocity, vindictiveness, or ill-temper in his expression ; and 
when his countenance is lighted up by pleasant conversation, in which he 
appears to enter eagerly though with a timid and subdued voice ; and when 
he puts on a sweetly wooing smile, which seems too tranquil ever to ripen 
into a laugh; you feel that you have before you a man. who would be 
singled from a thousand for his quiet refinement and serious temper ; one 
who would at once command your sympathy and your respect ; a well- 
bred gentleman, and a resolute soldier, who can win by the solicitation 
of an insinuating address, or rule by the authority of an imperious spirit. 
Such is a portrait of the man who, since the outbreak of the IMexican 
Revolution, has played a chief part in the drama of the time, and has 
fought and forced his way to eminence from the humblest rank. The 
destroyer and builder up of many systems and men, he has not always 
been on the side of republicanism, according to the liberal and enlight- 
ened notions of the North ; but it is sincerely to be hoped, that he is too 
deeply pledged as an old soldier and brave fightei in the cause of liberty, 
now to shrink back into the folly of despotism. 
