other states, declared himself in favor of the restoration of the constitutional president Pedraza, whom he had previously driven out of Mexico. As Bustamante advanced towards the coast his army melted away. The country was opposed to him. He was wise enough to perceive that his usurped power was lost; and prudently entered into a pacific convention with Santa Anna at Zavaleta in December, 1832. The successful insurgent immediately despatched a vessel for the banished Pedraza, and brought him back to the capital to serve out the remaining three months of his unexpired administration!
The object of Santa Anna in restoring Pedraza was not to sustain any one of the old parties which had now become strangely mingled and confused by the factions or ambitions of all the leaders. His main design was to secure the services and influence of the centralists, as far as they were yet available, in controlling his election to the presidency upon which he had fixed his heart. On the 16th of May, 1833, he reached the goal of his ambition.