The second wife of General Santa Anna was very young when married. It is said that she had in her possession a valuable autobiography of her husband, which the family endeavored in vain to procure from her for publication. It is, presumably, a vindication of his career, and now, since the death of Madame Santa Anna, it will likely be obtained.
In her sprightly way Señora Castro related to me particulars of her family, which consists of two daughters and her son Augustin. Knowing it to be customary for married children to live in the house with parents, I innocently asked if her married daughters lived with her. Quickly she replied that "sons-in-law make poetry about their mothers-in-law when out of their houses; if in them, it was not possible to predict what their utterances might be." Their elegant home stands on the first square to the left in going from the Alameda to the Zocalo.
(From an Oil Portrait.)
The name of Santa Anna is more familiar to Americans, and particularly to Texans, than that of any other Mexican. With it is associated the story of the Alamo, the massacre of Goliad, and the triumph of General Sam Houston at San Jacinto.
When only twenty-three years old, Santa Anna entered the arena of politics by disrupting the empire established by Iturbide, and the career thus begun was consistently carried out. At an early age he had so mastered the arcana of scheming and revolution as to reflect credit on a veteran in the cause, demolishing and creating sovereignties, often grasping victory from defeat, and gathering strength when all seemed
