{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_21430/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_21430","id":"gutenberg_21430","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/21430","summary":null,"tags":["Category: History - Other","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Category: Travel Writing","Mexico -- Description and travel","Mexico -- Religion"],"text":"Produced by Julia Miller and the Online Distributed\nProofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net\n\n\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: SANTA ANNA.]\n\n\n\nMEXICO AND ITS RELIGION;\n\nWITH\n\nINCIDENTS OF TRAVEL IN THAT COUNTRY\nDURING PARTS OF THE YEARS 1851-52-53-54,\n\nAND\n\nHISTORICAL NOTICES OF EVENTS\nCONNECTED WITH PLACES VISITED.\n\n\n\nBY\n\nROBERT A. WILSON.\n\n\n\nWITH ILLUSTRATIONS.\n\n\nNEW YORK:\nHARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS,\nFRANKLIN SQUARE.\n1855.\n\n\n\nEntered, according to Act of Congress, in the year\none thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, by\n\nHARPER & BROTHERS,\n\nIn the Clerk's Office for the Southern District of New York.\n\n\n\n\nTO\n\nTHE AMERICAN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES,\n\nTHE FOLLOWING PAGES\n\nAre Respectfully Dedicated.\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE.\n\n\nThe custom of mingling together historical events with the incidents of\ntravel, of amusement with instruction, is rather a Spanish than\nAmerican practice; and in adopting it, I must crave the indulgence of\nthose of my readers who read only for instruction, as well as of those\nwho read only for amusement.\n\nThe evidence that I have adduced to prove that the yellow fever is not\nan American, but an African disease, imported in slave-ships, and\nperiodically renewed from those cargoes of human rottenness and\nputrefaction, I hope will be duly considered.\n\nThe picture of inner convent life, and the inimitable gambling scene in\nthe convent of San Francis, I have not dared to present on my own\nresponsibility, nor even that of the old English black-letter edition\nof Friar Thomas, but I have reproduced it from the expurgated Spanish\nedition, which has passed the censors, and must therefore be considered\nofficial.\n\nI have presumed to follow the great Las Casas, who called all the\nhistorians of the Conquest of Mexico liars; and though his labored\nrefutation of their fictions has disappeared, yet, fortunately, the\nnatural evidences of their untruth still remain. Having before me the\nsurveys and the levels of our own engineers, I have presumed to doubt\nthat water ever ran up hill, that navigable canals were ever fed by\n\"back water,\" that pyramids (_teocalli_) could rest on a foundation of\nsoft earth, that a canal twelve feet broad by twelve feet deep, mostly\nbelow the water level, was ever dug by Indians with their rude\nimplements, that gardens ever floated in mud, or that brigantines ever\nsailed in a salt marsh, or even that 100,000 men ever entered the\nmud-built city of Mexico by a narrow causeway in the morning, and after\nfighting all day returned by the same path at night to their camp, or\nthat so large a besieging army as 150,000 men could be supported in a\nsalt-marsh valley, surrounded by high mountains.\n\nIn answer to the question why such fables have so long passed for\nhistory, I have the ready answer, that the Inquisition controlled every\nprinting-office in Spain and her colonies, and its censors took good\ncare that nothing should be printed against the fair fame of so good a\nChristian as Cortez, who had painted upon his banner an image of the\nImmaculate Virgin, and had bestowed upon her a large portion of his\nrobbery; who had gratified the national taste for holy wars by writing\none of the finest of Spanish romances of history; who had induced the\nEmperor to overlook his crime of levying war without a royal license by\nthe bestowal of rich presents and rich provinces; so that, by the favor\nof the Emperor and the favor of the Inquisition, a _filibustero_,\nwhose atrocities surpassed those of every other on record, has come\ndown to us as a Christian hero.\n\nThe innumerable little things about their Indian mounds force the\nconviction on the experienced eye of an American traveler that the\nAztecs were a horde of North American savages, who had precipitated\nthemselves first upon the table-land, and afterward, like the Goths\nfrom the table-lands of Spain, extended their conquests over the\nexpiring civilization of the coast country; and this idea is confirmed\nby the fact that the magnificent Toltec monuments of a remote\nantiquity, discovered in the tropical forests, were apparently unknown\nto the Aztecs. The conquest of Mexico, like our conquest of California,\nwas in itself a small affair; but both being immediately followed by\nextensive discoveries of the precious metals, Mexico rose as rapidly\ninto opulence as San Francisco has in our day.\n\nThe evidence that I have presented of the inexhaustible supplies of\nsilver in Northern Mexico, near the route of our proposed Pacific\nRailroad, may be interesting to legislators. These masses of silver lie\nas undisturbed by their present owners as did the Mexican discoveries\nof gold in California before the American conquest, from the inertness\nof the local population, and the want of facilities of communication\nwith the city of Mexico.\n\nThe notion that the Mormons are destined to overrun Mexico is, of\ncourse, only an inference drawn from the exact parallel that exists\nbetween the circumstances under which this delusion has arisen and\npropagated itself and the history of Mohammedanism from its rise until\nit overran the degenerated Christians of the Eastern empire.\n\nFrom want of space, I have been obliged to omit much valuable original\nmatter procured for me by officers of government at the palace of\nMexico, to whom, for the kind attention that I have upon all occasions\nreceived from them, I heartily return my most sincere thanks.\n\nR. A. WILSON.\n\nRochester, September 1st, 1855.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\nArrival at Vera Cruz.--Its appearance from the Steamer.--Getting\nAshore.--Within the City.--Throwing Stones at an Image.--Antiquity\nof Vera Cruz.--Its Commerce.--The great Norther of 1852.--A little\nSteamer rides out the Tempest.--The Vomito, or Yellow Fever.--Ravages\nof the Vomito.--The Vomito brought from Africa in Slave-ships.--A\ncurious old Book.--Our Monk arrives at Vera Cruz, and what befalls\nhim there.--Life in a Convent.--A nice young Prior.--Our Monk finds\nhimself in another World                                           15\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\nAn historical Sketch.--Truth seldom spoken of Santa Anna.--Santa\nAnna's early Life.--Causes of the Revolution.--The Virgin Mary's\nApproval of King Ferdinand.--The Inquisition imprisons the\nVice-King.--Santa Anna enters the King's Army.--The plan of\nIguala.--The War of the two Virgins.--Santa Anna pronounces for\nIndependence                                                       30\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\nIncidents of Travel.--The Great Road to the Interior.--Mexican\nDiligences.--The Priest was the first Passenger robbed.--The\nNational Bridge.--A Conducta of Silver.--Our Monk visits Old Vera\nCruz.--They grant to the Indians forty Years of Indulgence in\nreturn for their Hospitality.--The Artist among Robbers.--Mexican\nScholars in the United States.--Encerro                            39\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\nJalapa.--The extraordinary Beauty and Fertility of this\nSpot.--Jalap, Sarsaparilla, Myrtle, Vanilla, Cochineal, and Wood\nof Tobasco.--The charming Situation of Jalapa.--Its Flowers and\nits Fruits.--Magnificent Views.--The tradition that Jalapa was\nParadise.--A speck of War.--The Marriage of a Heretic.--A\ngambling Scene in a Convent                                        52\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\nThe War of the Secret Political Societies of Mexico.--The Scotch\nand the York Free-Masons.--Anti-Masons.--Rival Classes compose\nScotch Lodges.--The Yorkinos.--Men desert from the Scotch to the\nYork Lodges.--Law to suppress Secret Societies.--The Escoces, or\nScotch Masons, take up arms.--The Battle.--Their total Defeat      68\n\nCHAPTER VI.\n\nMexico becomes an Empire.--Santa Anna deposes the Emperor.--He\nproclaims a Republic.--He pronounces against the Election of\nPedraza, the second President.--His Situation in the Convent at\nOajaca.--He captures the Spanish Armada.--And is made General of\nDivision                                                           73\n\nCHAPTER VII.\n\nIn the Stage and out of the Stage.--Still climbing.--A moment's\nView of all the Kingdoms of the World.--Again in Obscurity.--The\nMaguey, or Century Plant.--The many uses of the Maguey.--The\nintoxicating juice of the Maguey.--Pulque.--Immense Consumption\nof Pulque.--City of Perote.--Castle of San Carlos de\nPerote.--Starlight upon the Table-land.--Tequisquita.--\"The Bad\nLand.\"--A very old Beggar.--Arrive at Puebla                       79\n\nCHAPTER VIII.\n\nPueblo.--The Miracle of the Angels.--A City of Priests.--Marianna\nin Bronze.--The Vega of Puebla.--First View of the Pyramid of\nCholula.--Modern Additions to it.--The View from its\nTop.--Quetzalcoatl.--Cholula and Tlascala.--Cholula without the\nPoetry.--Indian Relics                                             88\n\nCHAPTER IX.\n\nA Ride to Popocatapetl.--The Village of Atlizco.--The old Man\nof Atlizco and the Inquisition.--A novel Mode of Escape.--An\navenging Ghost.--The Vice-King Ravillagigedo.--The Court of the\nVice-King and the Inquisition.--Ascent of Popocatapetl.--How\na Party perished by Night.--The Crater and the House in\nit.--Descent into the Crater.--The Interior.--The Workmen in\nthe Volcano.--The View from Popocatapetl.--The first White that\nclimbed Popocatapetl.--The Story of Corchado.--Corchado converts\nthe Volcano into a Sulphur-mine                                   101\n\nCHAPTER X.\n\nTexas.--Battle of Madina.--First Introduction of Americans into\nTexas.--Usurpation of Bustamente.--Texas owed no Allegiance to\nthe Usurper.--The good Faith of the United States in the\nAcquisition of Louisiana and Texas.--Santa Anna pronounces\nagainst Bustamente.--Santa Anna in Texas.--A Mexican's\nDenunciation of the Texan War.--His Idea of our Revolution.--He\ncomplains of our grasping Spirit.--The right of the United States\nto occupy unsettled Territory.--A few more Pronunciamientos of\nSanta Anna.--The Adventures of Santa Anna to the present Date.    113\n\nCHAPTER XI.\n\nFrom Puebla to Mexico.--The Dread of Robbers.--The\nEscort.--Tlascala.--The Exaggerations of Cortez and Bernal\nDiaz.--The Truth about Tlascala.--The Advantages of Tlascala\nto Cortez.--Who was Bernal Diaz.--Who wrote his History.--First\nView of Mexico.                                                   122\n\nCHAPTER XII.\n\nAcapulco.--The Advantages of a Western Voyage to India.--The\ngreat annual Fair of Acapulco.--The Village and Harbor of\nAcapulco.--The War of Santa Anna and Alvarez.--The\nRetreat.--Traveling alone and unarmed.--The Peregrino\nPass.--Quiricua and Cretinism.--Chilpanzingo.--An ill-clad\nJudge.--Iguala.--Alpayaca.--Cuarnavaca.                           132\n\nCHAPTER XIII.\n\nCalifornia.--Pearl Fisheries.--Missions.--Indian\nMarriages.--Villages.--Precious Metals.--The Conquest of\nCalifornia compared with that of Mexico.--Upper California under\nthe Spaniards.--Mexican Conquest of California in 1825.--The\nMarch.--The Conquest.--California under the Mexicans.--American\nConquest.--Sinews of foreign Wars.--A Protestant and religious\nWar.--Early Settlers compared.--Mexico in the Heyday of\nProsperity.--Rich Costume of the Women.--Superstitious\nWorship.--When I first saw California.--Lawyers without Laws.--A\nprimitive Court.--A Territorial Judge in San Francisco.--Mistaken\nPhilanthropy.--Mexican Side of the Picture.--Great Alms.--City of\nMexico overwhelmed by a Water-spout.--The Superiority of\nCalifornians.                                                     142\n\nCHAPTER XIV.\n\nFirst Sight of the Valley of Mexico.--A Venice in a mountain\nValley.--An Emperor waiting his Murderers.--Cortez mowing down\nunarmed Indians.--A new kind of Piety.--Capture of an\nEmperor.--Torturing an Emperor to Death.--The Children paying the\nPenalty of their Fathers' Crimes.--The Aztecs and other\nIndians.--The Difference is in the Historians.--The Superstitions\nof the Indians.--The Valley of Mexico.--An American Survey of the\nValley.--A topographical View.--The Ponds Chalco, Xochimulco, and\nTezcuco were never Lakes.                                         167\n\nCHAPTER XV.\n\nThe Two Valleys.--The lake with a leaky Bottom.--The Water could\nnot have been higher.--Nor could the Lagunas or Ponds have been\nmuch deeper.--The Brigantines only flat-bottomed Boats.--The\nCauseway Canals fix the size of the Brigantines.--The Street\nCanals.--Stagnant Water unfit for Canals.--The probable\nDimensions of the City Canals.--Difficulties of disproving a\nFiction.--A Dike or Levee.--The Canal of Huehuetoca.--The Map of\nCortez.--Wise Provision of Providence.--The Fiction about the\nnumerous Cities in and about the Lake                             176\n\nCHAPTER XVI.\n\nThe Chinampas or Water Gardens.--Laws of Nature not set\naside.--Mud will not float.--The present Chinampas.--They never\ncould have been floating Gardens.--Relations of the Chinampas to\nthe ancient State of the Lake in the Valley                       186\n\nCHAPTER XVII.\n\nThe gambling Festival of San Augustine.--Suppressed by\nGovernment.--The Losses of the Saint by the Suppression of\nGambling.--How Travelers live in the Interior.--A Visit to the\nPalace                                                            192\n\nCHAPTER XVIII.\n\nVisit to Contreras and San Angel.--The End of a brave Soldier.--A\nPlace of Skulls.--A New England Dinner.--An Adventure with\nRobbers--doubtful.--Reasons for revisiting Mexico.--The Battle\nat the Mountain of Crosses.--A peculiar Variety of the\nCactus.--Three Men gibbeted for robbing a Bishop.--A Court upon\nHorseback.--The retreat of Cortez to Otumba.--A venerable Cypress\nGrove.--Unexpectedly comfortable Quarters.--An English Dinner at\nTezcuco.--Pleasures unknown to the Kings of Tezcuco.--Relics of\nTezcuco.--The Appearance of the Virgin Mary at Tezcuco.--The\nCauseways of Mexico                                               196\n\nCHAPTER XIX.\n\nThe Streets of Tacuba.--The Spaniards and the Indian Women.--The\nRetreat of Cortez.--The Aqueducts of Mexico.--The English and\nAmerican Burying-grounds.--The Protestant President.--The\nrival Virgins.--An Image out of Favor.--The Aztecs and the\nSpaniards                                                         208\n\nCHAPTER XX.\n\nThe Paseo at Evening.--Ride to Chapultepec.--The old Cypresses\nof Chapultepec.--The Capture of Chapultepec.--Molina del\nRey.--Tacubaya.--Don Manuel Escandon.--The Tobacco Monopoly.--The\nPalace of Escandon.--The \"Desierto.\"--Hermits.--Monks in the\nConflict with Satan.--Our Lady of Carmel                          219\n\nCHAPTER XXI.\n\nWalk to Guadalupe.--Our Embassador kneeling to the Host.--An\nEmbassador with, and one without Lace.--First sight of Santa\nAnna.--Indian Dance in Church.--Juan Diego not Saint Thomas.--The\nMiracle proved at Rome.--The Story of Juan Diego.--The holy Well\nof Guadalupe.--The Temple of the Virgin.--Public Worship\ninterdicted by the Archbishop.--Refuses to revoke his\nInterdict.--He fled to Guadalupe and took Sanctuary.--Refused to\nleave the Altar.--The Arrest at the Altar                         229\n\nCHAPTER XXII.\n\nThe old Indian City of Mexico.--The Mosques.--Probable Extent of\nCivilization.--Aztecs acquired Arts of the Toltecs.--Toltec\nCivilization, ancient and original.--The Pyramid of\nPapantla.--The Plunder of Civilization.--Mexico as described by\nCortez.--Montezuma's Court.--The eight Months that Cortez held\nMontezuma.--What happened for the next ten Months.--The Siege of\nMexico by Cortez.--Aztecs conquered by Famine and Thirst.--Heroes\non Paper and Victories without Bloodshed.--Cortez and Morgan      242\n\nCHAPTER XXIII.\n\nThe new City of Mexico.--The Discoveries of Gold.--Ruins at\nMexico.--The Monks, and what Cortez gained by his Piety.--The\nCity of Mexico again rebuilt.--The City under Ravillagigedo.--The\nNational Palace.--The Cathedral.--A whole Museum turned\nSaints.--All kneel together.--The San Carlos Academy of\nArts.--Reign of Carlos III.--The Mineria                          259\n\nCHAPTER XXIV.\n\nThe National Museum.--Marianna and Cortez.--The small Value of\nthis Collection.--The Botanic Garden.--The Market of Santa\nAnna.--The Acordada Prison.--The unfortunate Prisoner.--The\nCauses of that Night of Terror.--The Sacking of the City.--The\nParian.--The Causes of the Ruin of the Parian.--Change in the\nStandard of Color.--The Ashes of Cortez                           271\n\nCHAPTER XXV.\n\nThe Priests gainers by the Independence.--Improved Condition of\nthe Peons.--Mexican Mechanics.--The Oppression they suffer.--Low\nstate of the Mechanic Arts.--The Story of the Portress.--Charity\nof the Poor.--The Whites not superior to Meztizos.--License and\nWoman's Rights at Mexico.--The probable Future of\nMexico.--Mormonism impending over Mexico.--Mormonism and\nMohammedanism                                                     280\n\nCHAPTER XXVI.\n\nThe Plaza of the Inquisition.--The two Modes of human\nSacrifice, the Aztec and the Spanish.--Threefold Power of the\nInquisition.--Visit to the House of the Inquisition.--The\nPrison and Place of Torture.--The Story of William Lamport.--The\nlittle and the big _Auto da Fe_.--The Inquisition the real\nGovernment.--Ruin of Spanish Nationality.--The political Uses of\ntheInquisition.--Political Causes of the Bigotry of Philip II.--His\neldest Son dies mysteriously.--The Dominion of Priests continues\ntillthe French Invasion                                           292\n\nCHAPTER XXVII.\n\nMiracles and Earthquakes.--The Saints in Times of Ignorance.--The\nEruption of Jorullo.--The Curse of the Capuchins.--The\nConsequences of the Curse.--The unfulfilled Curse.--The\nPopulation of the Republic.--Depopulation from 1810 to 1840.--The\nMixture of Whites and Indians not prolific.--The pure\nIndians.--The Meztizos.--The White Population.--Negroes and\nZambos.--The Jew and the Law of Generation.--The same Law applies\nto Cattle.--It governs the Generation of Plants.--Intemperance\nand Generation.--Meztizo Plants short-lived.--Mexico can not be\nresuscitated.--She can not recover her Northern Provinces         304\n\nCHAPTER XXVIII.\n\nThe Church of Mexico.--Its present Condition and Power.--The Number\nof the \"Religios.\"--The Wealth of the Church.--The Money-power\nof the Church.--The Power of Assassination.--Educating the\nPeople robs the Priest.--Making and adoring Images.--The Progress\ndownward                                                          319\n\nCHAPTER XXIX.\n\nCauses that have diminished the Religios--The Provincials and\nSuperiors of Convents.--The perfect Organization.--The\nMonks.--San Franciscans.--Dominicans.--Carmelites.--The\nwell-reputed Orders.--The Jesuits.--The Nuns.--How Novices are\nprocured.--Contrasted with a Quaker Prison.--The poor deluded\nNun.--A good old Quaker Woman not a Saint.--Protestantism felt\nin Mexico                                                         330\n\nCHAPTER XXX.\n\nThe Necessity of large Capitals in Mexico.--The Finances and\nRevenue.--The impoverished Creditors of the State.--Princely\nWealth of Individuals                                             348\n\nCHAPTER XXXI.\n\nVisit to Pachuca and Real del Monte.--Otumba and Tulanzingo.--The\ngrand Canal of Huehuetoca.--The Silver Mines of Pachuca.--Hakal\nSilver Mines.--Real del Monte Mines.--The Anglo-Mexican Mining\nFever.--My Equipment to descend a Mine.--The great\nSteam-pump.--Descending the great Shaft.--Galleries and Veins of\nOre.--Among the Miners one thousand Feet under Ground.--The\nBarrel Process of refining Silver.--Another refining\nEstablishment                                                     352\n\nCHAPTER XXXII.\n\nA Visit to the Refining-mills.--The Falls and basaltic Columns of\nRegla.--How a Title is acquired to Silver Mines.--The Story of\nPeter Terreros, Count of Regla.--The most successful of\nMiners.--Silver obtained by fusing the Ore.--Silver \"benefited\"\nupon the Patio.--The Tester of the Patio.--The chemical Processes\nemployed.--The Heirs of the Count of Regla.--The Ruin caused by\nCivil War.--The History of the English Company                    362\n\nCHAPTER XXXIII.\n\nToluca.--Queretaro, Guanajuato, and\nZacatecas.--Fresnillo.--\"Romancing.\"--A lucky Priest.--San Luis\nPotosi.--The Valenciana at Guanajuato.--Under-mining.--A Name of\nBlasphemy.--The Los Rayas.--Immense Sums taken from Los\nRayas.--Warlike Indians in Zacatecas.                             372\n\nCHAPTER XXXIV.\n\nSonora and Sonora Land Speculators seeking Annexation.--Sonora\nand its Attractions.--The Abundance and Purity of Silver in\nSonora.--Silver found in large Masses.--The Jesus Maria, Refugio,\nand Eulalia Mines.--A Creation of Silver at Arizpa.--The Pacific\nRailroad.--Sonora now valueless for want of personal Security.--The\nHopes of replenishing the Spanish Finances from Sonora blasted by\nWar.--Report of the Mineria.--Sonora.--Chihuahua                  382\n\nAPPENDIX.\n\nA. Mineria Report on the Mineral Riches of Sonora                 391\n\nB. Report on the Mineral Riches of Chihuahua                      398\n\nC. Report on the Mineral Riches of Coahuila                       400\n\nD. Report on the Mineral Riches of Lower California               402\n\nE. The Remains of Cortez                                          405\n\n\n\n\nMEXICO AND ITS RELIGION.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\nArrival at Vera Cruz.--Its appearance from the Steamer.--Getting\nAshore.--Within the City.--Throwing Stones at an Image.--Antiquity of\nVera Cruz.--Its Commerce.--The great Norther of 1852.--A little Steamer\nrides out the Tempest.--The Vomito, or Yellow Fever.--Ravages of the\nVomito.--The Vomito brought from Africa in Slave-ships.--A curious old\nBook.--Our Monk arrives at Vera Cruz, and what befalls him there.--Life\nin a Convent.--A nice young Prior.--Our Monk finds himself in another\nWorld.\n\n\nIt was a stormy evening in the month of November, 1853, when the noble\nsteamship _Texas_ cast anchor in the open roadstead of Vera Cruz,\nunder the lee of the low island on which stands the famous fortress of\nSan Juan de Ulua. Hard by lay a British vessel ready to steam out into\nthe teeth of the storm, as soon as the officers should receive from us\na budget of newspapers. We were too late to obtain a permit to land\nthat evening, so that we lay tossing at our anchors all night, and\nuntil the sun and the shore-boats appeared together on the morning\nfollowing.\n\n\nVERA CRUZ.\n\nThe finest view of Vera Cruz is from the harbor; and the best time to\nlook upon it is when a bright sun, just risen above a watery horizon,\nis reflected back from the antiquated domes and houses, which are\nvisible above the old massive city wall.\n\nSoon we were in one of the canoes alongside, and were quickly\ntransported to the mole, on which we landed, among bales of cotton and\nbundles of freight that encumbered it. The iron gate of the city was\nnow opened, and we passed through it, mixed up in the crowd of\nbare-footed \"cargadores\" or porters, who were carrying upon their backs\nbales of cotton, and depositing them in various piles in front of the\ncustom-house. How quietly and quickly these cargadores do their work!\nand what great power of muscle they have acquired by long application\nat this laborious calling!\n\n[Illustration: VERA CRUZ.]\n\nWhat a contrast does this city present to New Orleans, which we had\nleft only four days before! Instead of the noise and bustle of a\ncommercial emporium, all here is as quiet and as cleanly as a\nchurch-yard. Even the chiming of bells for the dying and the dead,\nwhich so incessantly disturbs the living by night and day in the season\nof the \"vomito\" or yellow fever, is no longer heard, for it is the\nhealthy season--the season of \"Northers.\" The only noise is the little\nbells upon the necks of the donkeys, that are carrying about kegs of\nwater for family use. The chain-gang have completed their morning task\nof cleansing the streets and gutters, and as they are led away to their\nbreakfast, a clank now and then of their chain reminds the traveler\nthat crime has been as busy here as in more bustling cities. Morning\nmass is over, and bonnetless women of low and high degree are returning\nto their homes; some wearing mantillas of satin, black and shining as\ntheir raven hair, which are pinned by a jeweled pin upon the top of\ntheir heads; others, more modern in their tastes, sport India shawls;\nwhile the common class still cling to the \"rebosa,\" which they so\ningeniously twirl around their heads and chests as to include in its\nnarrow folds their arms, and all above the waist except the face.\nPriests appear in black gowns, and fur hats with such ample brims that\nthey lap and are fastened together upon the top of their heads. The\narmed patrol, in dirty cotton uniforms, and soldiers in broadcloth, are\nreturning from morning muster; for in this hot climate the burden of\nthe day's duties is discharged before breakfast. Under the arches\n(_portales_), and in the open market-place, men and women are driving a\nbrisk trade, in the most quiet way, in meats, and vegetables, and\nhuxter's wares. Nature has denied to the butcher of hot climates the\nprivilege of salting meat, but he makes amends for this defect by\ncutting his tough beef into strips, which he rubs over with salt, and\noffers to sell to you by the yard. Vera Cruz is now as venerable a\nlooking town as when I was here before, although the houses, and the\nplastered walls, and tops of the stone churches seem to have had a new\ncoating of Spanish white within a few months. But the malaria from the\nswamps in the time of the vomito, or the salt atmosphere driven upon it\nby the Northers, soon replaces the familiar dingy hue. The battered\nface of the stone image, at the side of the deserted church, has\nreceived a few more bruises since I was last here; for the marriageable\nyoung misses still most religiously believe that a stone thrown by a\nfair hand that shall hit the image full in the face, will obtain for\nthe thrower a husband, and an advantageous settlement for life. This is\na small city, or the poor image could not have endured this kind of\nbruising for two hundred years.\n\nThe first Spaniard that landed here was Grijalva,[1] in 1518, in a\ntrading expedition fitted out by Valasquez, Governor of Cuba. He was so\nsuccessful in his traffic with the natives, as to obtain, in exchange\nfor a few trinkets, $14,000 worth of gold dust. His success so\nencouraged Valasquez, that he fitted out a much larger expedition the\nfollowing year, the command of which he gave to Hernando Cortez, of\nwhom we shall have occasion to speak more at large hereafter. Cortez,\nat first, landed on the island of Ulua, in front of the site of the\npresent city. But when he commenced his conquest he transported his\nboats to the mouth of the river Antigua, where he founded his intended\ncity, a little way below the place where the national bridge now\nstands, and gave it the name of the Rich City of the True Cross (Villa\nRica de Vera Cruz); and there it was where he destroyed his little\nvessels. Ninety years after the conquest of Mexico, the Marquis De\nMonterey removed the port back to Ulua, and founded the present city of\nVera Cruz. It was at first built of wood, but having been several times\nburned down, it was at length built of its present material--a porous\nstone full of animal remains, obtained from the bottom of the harbor.\nThis stone, when laid in and covered over with cement, forms a very\ndurable building-material. The castle, which stands upon the island of\nUlua, is now fast going to decay.\n\n\nCOMMERCE OF VERA CRUZ.\n\nAs a fortification it is no longer of great value,[2] although it is\ncomputed that more than $16,000,000 was expended in its erection. In\nfact, its only present practical advantage is derived from the\nlight-house which stands upon one of its towers.\n\nThis town, although it has been the terror of seafaring men for the\nlast three hundred years, has, for a like period of time, enjoyed an\nenviable commerce. Nearly three-fourths of all the silver that has been\nshipped to Europe from America during that long period has been sent\nfrom this port, besides the other productions of the country, such as\ncochineal, vanilla, wood of Tobasco, sarsaparilla, and jalap. To all\nthis we must add that all the trade of Spain with Japan, China, and the\nPhilipine Islands, was carried across Mexico from Acapulco, on the\nPacific, to be shipped from Vera Cruz to Spain. During the long period\nwe have named, this was the only port on the Atlantic side where\nforeign commerce was allowed; and this was restricted to Spain alone,\nand to a single fleet of merchant ships that came and went annually,\nuntil about fifty years before the Mexican independence, when free\ncommerce was allowed with all the Spanish world. From a history of the\ncommerce of Vera Cruz, just published at Mexico, I find that its annual\naverage did not vary greatly from $12,000,000 importations against\n$18,000,000 exportations. The extra $6,000,000 being about the annual\naverage of the royal revenue derived from New Spain, as this country\nwas then called. Silver constituted the bulk of this $18,000,000, both\nin weight and in value. During the last fifty years of Spanish\ndominion, this commerce, extended, as we have said, to all Spanish\npossessions, was monopolized by a company of merchants styled the\nConsulado of Vera Cruz. Under the management of this company it\naveraged as high as $22,000,000. The revolution broke up this monopoly,\nand almost annihilated the commerce of this port, but it rapidly\nrevived after the Spaniards were driven out of the castle, and from\nthis time it has gone on increasing, until now it amounts to\n$26,000,000; the imports and exports being equal, as there is now no\nKing's revenue. This commerce is now carried on principally with the\nUnited States, since the establishment of a line of steamers to New\nOrleans. The most important article of importation is raw cotton, for\nthe supply of the great manufactories in the interior of Mexico. The\nsilver goes principally to England, and is drawn again in favor of the\ncotton purchaser. There is also a large import trade in agricultural\nimplements, steam-machinery for the sugar-mills and the silver mines,\nbesides heavy importation of silks and wines from France and Spain.\nWith this hasty notice we are compelled to quit a subject which is the\ntheme of a most interesting volume.\n\n\nA NORTHER.\n\nThe first time I saw Vera Cruz was during the great Norther of 1852. I\nwas then returning homeward from the city of Mexico. A fierce Norther\nwas blowing, and the harbor was filled with shipping that could not\nbear up against such a tornado. I stood among the anxious multitude,\nwatching the symptoms of the rising storm. We looked intently at the\nheavens as they gathered blackness, and saw far off toward the horizon\nthe clouds and the waves mingling together into one great vaporous\nmass. Now and then we were tantalized by brief intervals of bright\nskies; but they were again quickly overcast and shrouded in by more\nintense darkness, while the temperature fell to a degree of chilliness\nunusual in this latitude. The howling of the wind was terrific. Where\nwe stood we were near enough to see, or at least to catch glimpses of\nwhat was taking place on board the shipping. All extra anchors that\ncould be got out were soon thrown into the sea. But to little purpose;\nfor a coral bottom is but a poor holding-ground in a Norther. One after\nanother the vessels began to drag toward the shore; and even the castle\nitself seemed at times as though it would be torn from its rocky\nfoundations and dashed upon the town, so violent was the tempest. The\nterror of those on land was hardly describable as they saw the shipping\ndragging around toward apparent destruction to both vessels and crews.\nNow and then a vessel held a little by some new obstacle that the\nanchor had caught hold of, but soon the resistance gave way, and then\nit moved on again, approaching the shore, whither all now were tending,\nexcept a few that occupied a good holding-ground in the lee of the\ncastle and island. All did not drag at once, or drag together; but one\nby one their power of endurance gave out, and one by one they came\ndragging on, when they had no longer any help, and little hope, if the\nstorm continued. \"It can not last long,\" the spectators would mutter,\nrather in hope than expectation, for the only chance for the safety of\nthe vessels was in the lulling of the tempest. Yet it did continue\nagainst the constant predictions of all, and momentarily increased in\nviolence. Hope seemed to give way to despair as vessel after vessel\napproached the land; and as they were dashed into pieces men held their\nbreath, while the hardy seamen were struggling in the waves toward the\nbeach. One staunch vessel, without cargo, was carried broadside on, and\nher crew leaped out of her, and ran off in safety. Many single\nshipwrecks have caused greater destruction of property, and immensely\ngreater loss of life; but here was the individual struggle of each\nseparate mariner, made in the very sight of those who could render no\nassistance, but must stand idle spectators. Here strong swimmers were\nrendered powerless by the tempest, and were perishing from exhaustion\nin vain efforts to swim ashore.\n\nFrom this scene of disaster we turned to look back upon a more equal\ncontest going on between two of the elements: a small steamer--a little\ncrazy thing, it seemed, almost ready to be blown to pieces; but it was\ngallantly facing the tempest, and riding out bravely against the\ncombined force of wind and waves. But she mounted the waves, one after\nanother, without any difficulty, though held by but a single anchor, as\nthe strain on her cable was eased away by the action of her\npaddle-wheels, which were kept in motion by an engine of the smallest\nclass ever put into a river boat. This was said to be the most violent\nNorther that had visited Vera Cruz in a century. It destroyed sixteen\nvessels, and caused the loss of thirteen lives; and yet so small an\namount of steam-power was fully able to bear up against the dreaded\nfury of a Norther, and to insure the safety of the vessel.\n\n\nTHE BUCCANEERS.\n\nVera Cruz, like almost every other Spanish American seaport town, has\nits traditional tales of the horrors committed by the buccaneers, or\nfilibusters. The history of the buccaneers, their origin, their fearful\nexploits of blood, the terror that their name even now inspires in the\nminds of all Spanish Americans, are too well known to demand a\nrepetition here, though we may give the substance of their story, by\nsaying that they had their origin in a laudable effort to avenge the\ngross wrongs inflicted by the Spaniards upon the honest traders of\nother nations, while trafficking with the native inhabitants of\nAmerica, within the region which the Pope, as the representative of the\nAlmighty, had bestowed upon the King of Spain, to conquer and subdue\nfor the benefit of the Church. Elizabeth of England raised the question\nof the validity of the title of the King of Spain derived from so\nquestionable a source, and insisted that he had no rights in America\nbeyond those acquired by discovery, followed up by possession. But the\nKing of Spain was too good a Catholic to have his right called in\nquestion, and when a heretic ship was caught among the West Indies, the\navarice of priests and officials, and their holy horror at the approach\nof heresy to these regions, were exhibited in their dealings with the\ncargo and the unhappy crew. The inhuman treatment that the Spaniards\ninflicted upon honest traders aroused men to reprisals; and all ships\nventuring into these seas went fully armed. Private war was the natural\nconsequence of Spanish cruelty and injustice; and the superior prowess\nof the Dutch and English soon made sad havoc with the plunder which the\nSpaniards had wrung from the natives for a hundred years and more.\n\nThe filibusters finally degenerated into pirates and robbers, and the\ntreasure ships (\"galleons\") of Spain, and the towns upon her American\ncoasts, were the victims of their depredations. The fury of the\nbuccaneers was mainly directed against the monks, and when they sacked\na town, they never failed to pay an especial visitation to the\nconvents. When Vera Cruz was sacked they showed their contempt for the\nclergy by compelling the monks and nuns to carry the plunder of the\ntown to their private boats; thereby grieving these \"holy men\" most of\nall, if we may believe the old chronicles, because they could have no\nshare in the rich plunder loaded upon their own backs.\n\nThe second day after our arrival in Vera Cruz a fellow-passenger, who\nhad been sick all the voyage, died of the yellow fever, which he had\ncontracted at New Orleans, or on the Mississippi; which was probably\nthe first time that a person ever died in Vera Cruz of vomito that had\nbeen contracted in the United States.\n\n\nTHE VOMITO.\n\nThis is a fitting place to speak of this disease and of its ravages,\nwhich we witnessed before leaving New Orleans. It was the time for the\nfrosts to make their appearance when I left New York, and with the\nexpectation of seeing the ground covered with this antidote to the\nfever, crowds were returning from the north, though the marks of the\npestilence were still visible along our route. It had followed the main\nstream of travel far northward, and now, as we ventured upon its track,\nit seemed like traversing the valley of the shadow of death. Terror had\ncommitted greater ravages than the pestilence; the villages and cities\non our route were half deserted; stagnation was visible in all\ncommercial places; and when we reached New Orleans this strange state\nof things was doubly intensified: it looked more like a city of the\ndead, or a city depopulated, than the emporium of the Mississippi\nvalley. A stranger might have supposed that a great funeral service had\njust been performed, in which all of the inhabitants remaining in town\nhad acted the part of mourners. The city itself had been so thoroughly\ncleansed, that it might challenge comparison with one of the most\ncleanly villages of Holland, while its footways seemed almost too pure\nto be trod upon. Nothing appears half so gloomy as such a place when\ndeserted of its principal inhabitants.\n\nThis disease was unknown in America until the opening of the African\nslave-trade. It is an African disease, intensified and aggravated by\nthe rottenness and filthy habits of the human cargoes that brought it\nto America. It was entirely unknown at Vera Cruz until brought there in\nthe slave-ship of 1699.[3] In like manner it was carried to all the\nWest India islands. When the negro insurrection in San Domingo drove\nthe white population into exile, the disease was carried by the\nimmigrants to all the cities of the United States, and even to the most\nhealthy localities in the interior of Massachusetts. Old people still\nremember when New York was so completely deserted that its principal\nstreets were boarded up, and watchmen went their rounds of silent\nstreets by day as well as by night. The fever of the present year can\nbe traced directly to this accursed traffic. Slaves had been smuggled\ninto Rio Janeiro, who brought the disease in its most virulent form\nfrom Africa. In that city it was carrying its hundreds to the grave,\nwhen a vessel cleared for New Orleans, having the disease on board.\nThis vessel disseminated it in the upper wards of the city, while at\nthe same time there arrived from Cuba another vessel which, from a like\ncause, had caught the vomito at Havana, and from this second vessel the\ndisease was disseminated in the lower wards of New Orleans. It was the\nmeeting of these two independent currents of the fever in the centre of\nthe city, on Canal Street, that caused that fatal day on which three\nhundred victims went to their long homes. Such were the fruits of this\noffspring of an inhuman trade in a single city, in a single day.\n\n\nFRIAR PAGE.\n\nI learn from the preface of a book in the Spanish language, which I\npurchased at Mexico, entitled \"The Voyages of Thomas Page,\" that a\nDominican monk of that name, the brother of the Royalist Governor of\nOxford under Charles I., was smuggled into Mexico by his Dominican\nbrethren, against the King's order, which prohibited the entry of\nEnglishmen into that country. As a missionary monk he resided in\nMexico, or New Spain, as it was then called, eighteen years. On his\nreturn to England he published an account of the country which he\nvisited, under the title of \"A Survey of the West Indies.\" This being\nthe first and last book ever written by a resident of New Spain that\nhad not been submitted to the most rigid censorship by the Inquisition,\nit produced so profound a sensation, that, by order of the great\nColbert, French Minister of State, it was expurgated and translated\ninto French by an Irish Catholic of the name of O'Neil. From this\nexpurgated French edition the Spanish copy now before me was\ntranslated. From this Spanish edition I had made the several\ntranslations that are found in this, and the following chapters. I have\nsince found a black letter copy of the original, printed at London, in\n1677; but I have concluded to use the translations, as furnishing a\nmore official character to the picture therein drawn of the grossly\nimmoral state of the clergy, and of the religious orders. As it is from\nactual observation, and has the sanction of the censorship, it must be\nof more value to my readers than any account of personal observations\nthat I might write. This is my apology for copying the most interesting\nportions of a long forgotten book.\n\n\"When we came to land,\" says our author, \"we saw all the inhabitants of\nthe city (Vera Cruz) had congregated in the Plaza (public square) to\nreceive us. The communities of monks were also there, each one preceded\nby a large crucifix. The Dominicans, the San Franciscans, the\nMercedarios, and the Jesuits, in order to conduct the Virey (the\nViceroy) of Mexico as far as the Cathedral. The Jesuits and friars from\nthe ships leaped upon the shore more expeditiously than did the Virey,\nthe Marquis Seralvo, and his wife. Many of them (the monks) on stepping\non shore kissed it, considering that it was a holy cause that brought\nthem here--the conversion of the Indians, who had before adored and\nsacrificed to demons; others kneeled down and gave thanks to the Virgin\nMary and other saints of their devotion, and then all the monks\nhastened to incorporate themselves with their respective orders in the\nplace in which they severally stood. The procession, as soon as formed,\ndirected itself to the Cathedral, where the consecrated wafer[4] was\nexposed upon the high altar, and to which all kneeled as they\nentered.... The services ended, the Virey was conducted to his lodgings\nby the first Alcalde, the magistrates of the town, and judges, who had\ndescended from the capitol to receive him, besides the soldiers of the\ngarrison and the ships. Those of the religious orders who had just\narrived were conducted to their respective convents, crosses, as\nbefore, being carried at the head of each community. Friar John\npresented (us) his missionaries to the Prior of the Convent of San\nDomingo, who received us kindly, and directed sweetmeats to be given to\nus, and also there was given to each of us a cup of that Indian\nbeverage which the Indians call chocolate.\n\n\"This first little act of kindness was only a prelude to a greater one.\nThat is to say, it was the introduction to a sumptuous dinner, composed\nof flesh and fish of every description, in which there was no lack of\nturkeys and capons. All set out with the intent of manifesting to us\nthe abundance of the country, and not for the purpose of worldly\nostentation.\n\n\nA NICE YOUNG PRIOR.\n\n\"The Prior of Vera Cruz was neither old nor severe, as the men selected\nto govern communities of youthful _religious_ are accustomed to be. On\nthe contrary, he was in the flower of his age, and had all the manner\nof a joyful and diverting youth. His fathership, as they told us, had\nacquired the priory by means of a gift of a thousand ducats, which he\nhad sent to the Father Provincial. After dinner he invited some of us\nto visit his cell, and there it was we came to know the levity of his\nlife. It exhibited little of the appearance of a life of penance and\nself-mortification. We expected to find in the habitation of a prelate\nof such an establishment a most magnificent library, which would\nfurnish an index of his learning and of his taste for letters. But we\nsaw nothing more than a dozen old books lying in a corner, and covered\nwith dust and cobwebs, as if they had hid themselves for shame at the\nneglect with which the treasures they contained had been treated, and\nthat a guitar should be preferred to them.\n\n\"The cell of the Prior was richly tapestried and adorned with feathers\nof birds of Michoacan; the walls were hung with various pictures of\nmerit; rich rugs of silk covered the tables; porcelain of China filled\nthe cupboards and sideboards; and there were vases and bowls containing\npreserved fruits and most delicate sweetmeats. Our enthusiastic\ncompanions did not fail to be scandalized at such an exhibition, which\nthey looked upon as a manifestation of worldly vanity, so foreign to\nthe poverty of a begging friar. But those among us that had sailed from\nSpain with the intent of living at their ease, and of enjoying the\npleasures which riches would produce, exulted at the sight of such\ngreat opulence, and they desired to establish themselves in a country\nwhere they could so quickly win fortunes so secure and abundant.[5] The\nholy Prior talked to us only of his ancestry, of his good parts, of the\ninfluence which he had with the Father Provincial, of the love which\nthe principal ladies and the wives of the richest merchants manifested\nto him, of his beautiful voice, of his consummate skill in music. In\nfact, that we might not doubt him in this last particular, he took the\nguitar and sung a sonnet which he had composed to a certain _Amaryllis_.\nThis was a new scandal to our newly-arrived _religious_, which\nafflicted some of them to see such libertinage in a prelate, who ought,\non the contrary, to have set an example of penance and self-mortification,\nand should shine like a mirror in his conduct and words.\n\n\"When we had satiated our ears with the delicacy of music, our eyes\nwith the beauty of such rich stuffs of cotton, of silk, and of\nfeathers, then our reverend Prior directed us to take from his\ndispensaries a prodigious quantity of every species of dainties to\nallure the taste or satisfy the appetite. Truly we seemed in another\nworld, by being transported from Europe to America. Our senses had been\nchanged from what they had been the night and day before, while\nlistening to the hoarse sounds of the mariners, when the abyss of the\nsea was at our feet, and when we drank fetid water, and inhaled the\nstench of pitch. In the Prior's cell of the Convent of Vera Cruz, we\nlistened to a melodious voice accompanied with an harmonious\ninstrument, we saw treasures and riches, we ate exquisite\nconfectioneries, we breathed amber and musk, with which he had perfumed\nhis sirups and conserves. O, that delicious Prior!\"\n\n      [1] Apuntes Historicos de Vera Cruz, p. 102.\n\n      [2] Esterior Comercio de Mexico. M. M. Lerdo de Tegido. Mexico,\n      1853.\n\n      [3] Apuntes Historicos de Vera Cruz, p. 129.\n\n      [4] Called, in the Spanish translation, \"The most holy\n      Sacrament;\" but in the English original, \"The bread God.\"\n\n      [5] These missionary monks were on their way to Manilla and the\n      Spanish East Indies by the road across Mexico.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\nAn historical Sketch.--Truth seldom spoken of Santa Anna.--Santa Anna's\nearly Life.--Causes of the Revolution.--The Virgin Mary's Approval of\nKing Ferdinand.--The Inquisition imprisons the Vice-King.--Santa Anna\nenters the King's Army.--The plan of Iguala.--The War of the two\nVirgins.--Santa Anna pronounces for Independence.\n\n\nBefore commencing our journey to the interior, we must break the thread\nof our narrative by a brief biographical sketch: for this town is the\nbirth-place, and here began the public career of that man whose life\nhas become the history of his country. With him the Mexican Republic\nbegan, and with him it has been terminated. In 1822 he was first to\nproclaim a Republic in the Plaza of Vera Cruz; and when I stood in the\nPlaza of the city of Mexico, in the winter of 1854, I heard him\nproclaimed absolute ruler of a state which had already ceased to be a\nRepublic. This was not the first time that he had been raised to\nabsolute authority in Mexico, but the third time that this had occurred\nin his checkered career--a career that resembles more the vicissitudes\nin the life of a hero of Spanish romance than the memoirs of a living\npolitician.\n\n\nSANTA ANNA.\n\nSanta Anna is a man of whom the truth has seldom been spoken; for no\nman can raise himself from a humble position to be the embodiment of\nall the powers of the state without creating a host of enemies; nor can\na man be long in possession of absolute authority without raising up a\ntribe of flatterers. To the one, he is every thing that is shocking to\nhumanity; while to the other he is the perfection of all the moral\nqualities. This scurrilous manner in which all political discussions\nare carried on in Mexico, has always furnished a ready apology for the\nsuppression of liberty of speech, and for the enforcement of the\nMexican law of ostracism in turn by every party in power.\n\nAs we Americans have nothing to hope from his friendship, and nothing\nto fear from the displeasure of Santa Anna, we are able to take a\ncorrect view of his character from the records, and to affirm that he\nis neither a saint, as represented by one party, nor a monster, as\nrepresented by the other; and as greatness is a comparative term, and\ngoodness is often used in a comparative sense, we may also add that he\nis the first of Mexican statesmen, and as good as the best of his\nrivals. He has suffered unnumbered and overwhelming defeats, which have\nso exhibited his recuperative talents as to attract the admiration of\nforeigners. Other aspirants have risen to popular favor, and then\nfallen, one after the other, and have disappeared. But Santa Anna's\nfalls have ever been a prelude to his rising again to a greater\nelevation; and there is no point of elevation to which he has risen\nfrom which he has not been ignominiously hurled. He is a politician\nwhose course reminds us of a skillful swimmer in the breakers; half the\ntime he rides the waves and half the time he is submerged, yet never\nsinks so deep but that he rises again to the surface. When Santa Anna\nis in authority the fickle multitude cry out against him, and when he\nis in exile no suffering innocent can compare with him; and the books\nthat at such times sell best in Mexico are those that vindicate his\npast career. Of such a man something must be said, and to render that\nsomething intelligible, a brief account of the social and political\nchanges of his times must be rendered.\n\nSanta Anna was born at Vera Cruz, in the year 1796, in the most\nprosperous era of the colonial government of the vice-kingdom of New\nSpain, while Ravillagigedo was Virey. The new and liberal code,\nregulating mines and mining, was yielding its legitimate fruits in the\nimmensely increased production of silver and gold, while the\nnewly-granted privilege of unrestricted trade with Spain and her other\ncolonies was followed by considerable shipments of grain from the\ntable-lands of Mexico to the West India Islands. The profound peace\nthat had reigned uninterruptedly for two hundred and seventy-five years\nwas still unbroken. Not a word of disloyalty was breathed; while the\nInquisition of Mexico watched with the utmost care for the least\nappearance of rebellion against God or the king. Such was the religious\nand political stagnation at the time Santa Anna was born; and so it\ncontinued for the first twelve years of his life. But his youth was not\nto be passed in a period of national repose.\n\n\nTHE MEXICAN REVOLUTION.\n\nIt was the year 1808 that the news arrived in Mexico of the\nimprisonment of Charles IV. and Ferdinand VII., the dotard and\nsimpleton who then disputed the Spanish throne, and who had rendered\nthemselves the laughing stock of all Europe by going, each one in\nperson, to advocate his side of a family quarrel before a common enemy,\nthe French Emperor, by whom both had thus been caught like mice in a\ncage, and compelled to abdicate. At this news a feeling of indignation\nran through the vice-kingdom, while all Europe laughed at the strange\ncombination of knave and fool exhibited in the characters of the two\nSpanish kings. The people of New Spain saw in them only the guardians\nof the Church in the power of the infidels, and at once forgot the\nunnatural crimes of their two kings. They thought only of their piety,\nand with joy the news was carried throughout New Spain, that one of\ntheir previous kings had consecrated his imprisonment to embroidering a\npetticoat for the Virgin Mary; and when this announcement was followed\nby another, a little more apocryphal, that the most holy image had, by\na nod, signified her acceptance of the present, there could no longer\nbe a doubt of his title of Most Catholic King, which might from that\ntime onward be interpreted Most Catholic Mantua-maker. The world might\nnow laugh at him, and hold him up to ridicule. All its ridicule\nmattered nothing to the Mexicans. It made no difference to them. To\nrevere the king and render him a blind obedience was at all times a\npart of their religion. Whether either of the two were fit to be kings\nwas not a question for the people to determine; and if the Virgin Mary\nhad not nodded her approval, the solution of this question of\ncompetency would still be reserved for the tribunals of God and the\nInquisition. It was sufficient for the people to know that both father\nand son had been compelled to abdicate, and that they no longer were\nkings of Spain, and that the brother of the French Emperor occupied the\nvacant throne, which the Inquisition had associated, in their\nsuperstition, with the throne of God itself. God and the king were\ninseparable words in the mouth of a citizen of New Spain, and he that\ndared to separate them was thought worthy of Inquisitorial fires. They\nowed the same reverence which the Aztecs rendered to their emperor\nbefore the conquest.\n\nNext to God and the king was the vice-king. Yet they had seen their\nbeloved viceroy, Iturrigaray, deposed by a conspiracy of Spanish\nshop-keepers, which had organized itself in that focus of Mexican\ntrade, the Parian. All this was bewildering to the nation. All New\nSpain was astonished to see a power sufficiently potent to arrest the\nvice-king emanate from such a quarter. And not only had they witnessed\nthis, but they had also seen this same officer, whose person was so\nsacred in their eyes, cast into the prison of the Inquisition among\n\"heretics, and accursed of God, and despised of Christian men,\" because\nhe had not discriminated in favor of the Spanish-born in his appeal to\nthe patriotism of the people.\n\nBefore they had escaped from this bewildering of all their ideas of\ngovernment, they were suddenly called upon to take sides in a war of\nraces that had sprung up in determining the question, who constituted\nthe people, among the divers races that composed the population of\nMexico? The Cortes of Spain had just proclaimed the sovereignty of the\npeople. But who were the people? The solution of this question excited\none of the most cruel and envenomed wars on record. The handful of\nwhites who had been born in Spain, and who enjoyed a monopoly of the\nlucrative offices in Church and in State, as well as a monopoly in\ntrade, claimed it as their exclusive privilege to be considered the\npeople, and they it was who imprisoned the vice-king, because he\nappeared to have more enlarged views than themselves. The Creoles, as\nthose of pure white blood born in America are called, who were excluded\nfrom all places of honor or profit, held the balance of power, and it\nwas doubtful for a long time to which side the Creole soldiers would\nincline. But they were not long in suspense; for when fired upon by an\nundisciplined rabble, rather than an army, of Indians, they returned\nthe fire, and there, in sight of the city of Mexico, settled the\ncharacter of a contest which was, from that time forward, to shake the\nwhole social organization of the vice-kingdom--in which plantations\nwere destroyed, and villages and cities sacked and burned, and the most\nunheard-of cruelties practiced by one party or the other on the\ndefenseless, until the final triumph of the Creole, or white troops, in\nthe time of the viceroy, Apaduer, over the insurgents, composed chiefly\nof Indians and those of mixed blood.\n\n\nRISE OF SANTA ANNA.\n\nWhile this war was raging in all its fury, Santa Anna arrived at an age\nto choose an occupation for life; and with the ardor of youth he\nentered the king's service as a Creole officer, a cadet in the _Fijo\nde Vera Cruz_. In this fratricidal war he soon distinguished himself\nby that activity in the performance of the duties of a subaltern which,\nin more mature years, distinguished him as a leader and a politician.\nHe was at that time in the unhappy dilemma of every man born in Spanish\nAmerica; he was compelled to choose between two evils--either to join\nthe king's cause, and fight for the Spaniards who oppressed his\ncountry, or to run the hazard of seeing re-enacted in Mexico the bloody\ntragedy of San Domingo, if the colored races should conquer in a\ncontest with the Spaniards. A few Creoles had chosen the side of the\ninsurgents; but they were few; as the Spanish cause could not have been\nsustained for a day, if it had not been for the want of confidence in\nthe leaders of the insurrection. But it was not in contests with his\nown countrymen that Santa Anna first won distinction; it was in a\nbattle with the filibustering invaders while yet Mexico was a colony of\nSpain: it was in the bloody battle of the river Madina, in Texas, where\nan army of three thousand men (according to Mexican accounts), on their\nway to join the Mexican insurgents, were totally routed by Aridondo.\n\nThe zeal which Santa Anna continually exhibited in almost daily\ncontests with guerillas outside of the walls of Vera Cruz, so long as\nthe contest was confined to a war of races, soon won him distinction.\nBut now he is called to play the part of a military politician; for\nwhen the news arrived in Mexico of the new constitutional revolution of\n1820 in Spain itself, all the higher classes of society in the\nvice-kingdom were in terror. Ten years of bloodshed and civil disorder\nhad been the fruits to Mexico of the first revolution of Spain--an\ninsurrection that had not been effectually put down until Spain herself\nhad returned to despotism, and now the newly-restored peace was\nthreatened with a more bloody insurrection than the former, unless\nthere was an entire separation of the two countries. Experience had\nfully demonstrated that the Spanish colonial system was compatible only\nwith Spanish despotism. All native-born races desired to be free from\nthe political disorders consequent upon the military revolutions of\nSpain herself. In this desire they were joined by that class who then\nruled over the consciences of all men in Mexico, the clergy; for that\npowerful body preferred to sacrifice the allegiance they owed to the\nking, from whom they had received their preferments, rather than run\nthe risk of losing their privileges.\n\n\nTHE PLAN OF IGUALA.\n\nThat which was the thought of all Mexicans capable of thinking, was not\nlong in receiving a definite shape and form. The _pronunciamiento_\nof Colonel Iturbide, at the city of Iguala, on the 24th of February\n1821, united all the conflicting elements of Mexican society; for all\ncould agree upon a plan that proposed a separation from Spain, while it\ngave guarantees to property, to the army, and to the church. Men who\nhad been educated under the fatherly care of the Inquisition, had no\nidea of religious toleration; toleration for heresy was no part of\ntheir creed; nor had their long civil wars produced that alienation\nfrom the priesthood which had arisen from this cause in the other\nSpanish American states. One reason for this was that the first\ninsurrection was headed by the parish priest, Hidalgo; and because the\nmost prominent leaders in it were priests; while the watchword of the\ninsurgents was, \"_Viva_ Our Lady of Guadalupe!\" who is the patron\nsaint of the colored races of Mexico. The insurrection of Iguala was\nentirely distinct in its character from the popular insurrection of\n1810; for that was an insurrection of the oppressed races against the\ndespotism that was grinding them in the dust. It was a peasant war; but\nthe cry of Iguala rose from the soldiers of the government. It was the\nfirst of that long list of military insurrections that have afflicted\nMexico. It was an insurrection of the Creole supporters of the\ngovernment, and rendered the government powerless at once. Colonel\nIturbide had distinguished himself, as a Creole soldier, by his\ncourage, and by the cruelty which he exercised toward the first\ninsurgents.\n\nWhen an officer in the service of the king in the first insurrection\nobtained a victory, he went to make his offering, not at the shrine of\nthe Virgin of Guadalupe, but at the shrine of the Virgin of Remedies,\nso that as long as the Spanish cause prospered, the shrine of Guadalupe\nremained in obscurity; but as soon, however, as Iturbide and the\nCreoles deserted the cause of the king and joined the national\nstandard, the Lady of Guadalupe was made the national patroness, and\nthe order of Guadalupe was established as the first and only order of\nthe empire, while Our Lady of Remedies sank into obscurity. This gave\noccasion to an unbelieving Mexican to remark that the revolution was a\nwar between the Blessed Virgins, and that she of Guadalupe had\ntriumphed over her that had taken shelter in the plant.\n\nAs soon as the tidings of the plan of Iguala reached Vera Cruz, Santa\nAnna hastened to give in his adhesion to the cause now truly national,\nwhich guaranteed equal rights to all under the united leadership of\nIturbide and of General Guerrero, the only remaining Creole leader of\nthe first insurrection still in arms. On the 18th day of March, 1821,\nhe was the first to proclaim the plan of Iguala in the Plaza of Vera\nCruz. This promptness of Santa Anna in proclaiming the independence\ndetermined many who were hesitating in dread of a bombardment from\nSpanish forces in the Castle of San Juan de Ulua; and this important\nstep it was which first brought him prominently into notice. As a\nconsequence of this political movement, Santa Anna was appointed second\nin command in Vera Cruz.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\nIncidents of Travel.--The Great Road to the Interior.--Mexican\nDiligences.--The Priest was the first Passenger robbed.--The National\nBridge.--A Conducta of Silver.--Our Monk visits Old Vera Cruz.--They\ngrant to the Indians Forty Years of Indulgence in return for their\nHospitality.--The Artist among Robbers.--Mexican Scholars in the United\nStates.--Encerro.\n\n\nA railroad eleven miles in length, crossing the morass, connects Vera\nCruz with the great National Road to the table-land of the interior.\nThe coach in which the journey to Mexico is made is placed on a\nrailroad track and pushed on before a crazy locomotive, while behind\nthe engine is a long line of freight wagons. At every cow-path that\ncrossed our track stood a flagman waving his little red flag to the\ntrain as it passed, apparently in burlesque imitation of a regular\nroad.\n\n\nTHE NATIONAL BRIDGE.\n\nThe famous National Bridge carries the National Road over the river\nAntigua, at the mouth of which, a little way below, Cortez built his\nVera Cruz (Villa Rica de Vera Cruz), and where he caused his vessels to\nbe sunk before commencing his expedition to the interior. Little has\never been known in our country of that magnificent whole, of which this\nand other bridges of solid masonry are but parts. The National Road of\nMexico was conceived and executed by a company of merchants known as\nthe Consulado of Vera Cruz. It is about ninety miles in length, and\ncost $3,000,000. From Vera Cruz it runs northward, often within sight\nof the Gulf, till it nearly reaches the Cerro Gordo, where it turns\ninland, and passing upward through that celebrated gorge to Jalapa, a\ndistance of sixty miles from Vera Cruz, and at an elevation of 4264\nfeet above the sea; thence, for the remaining thirty miles, it is\ncarried over the famous mountain, Perote, to the great table-land of\nMexico. It is a work of extraordinary character for the period in which\nit was built, and the method of its construction; and reminds the\ntraveler of a Roman road of antiquity, though no Roman road ever passed\nover a mountain 10,000 feet in height. The ruin into which it has\nfallen in many places during the last thirty years of civil war, serves\nto keep up the illusion, though it falls far short of those ancient\nroads in the material of which it is constructed, being of small rough\nstones, covered over with a durable cement.\n\n[Illustration: THE NATIONAL BRIDGE.]\n\nThe system of stage-coaches between Vera Cruz and Mexico is as nearly\nperfect as any system of traveling dependent on weather can be.\nComfortable hotels are established at convenient distances along the\nroad; and if the passenger desires it, he can have endorsed upon his\nticket a permission to tarry upon the road as long as he may desire.\nSix, and sometimes eight horses drag the coach along at a hazardous\nspeed. Twice, out of three times that I have passed over this road, I\nhave been overturned. Once, while riding on the top, a heavy iron axle\nbroke like a pipe-stem, throwing me off upon the rough stones, with the\nadditional misfortune of having a heavy Frenchman fall upon me. But no\nbones were broken, and I still live to tell the story.\n\nThe neighborhood of the National Bridge is a favorite haunt of the\nknights of the road. Though very pious in their way, they have no\nscruples in relieving any priest who may fall into their hands of such\nworldly possessions as he happens to have about him. In fact, they seem\nto take a special delight in plundering these holy men, giving them the\nprecedence in relieving their wants. Out of respect to the cloth, they\nomit the ceremony of searching, to which the other passengers are\nsubjected; nor do they compel him to lie down like the others. But with\nmock solemnity a robber approaches the sacred personage, and dropping\non one knee, presents his hat for alms, which the priest understands to\nbe a reverential mode of demanding all the valuables that he carries\nabout him: his reverence having been disposed of, the women are\nsearched; afterward the men, one by one, are ordered to rise up to\nundergo a like ceremony; and, lastly, the baggage is ransacked, and\nthen all are suffered to go on their way in peace, if no shots have\nbeen fired from the stage. In former times the robbers used to divide\ntheir plunder with the Virgin Mary, but now things are altered; the\nrobber takes all, and even visits the churches occasionally, not to\nworship, but for plunder. If two or three priests take passage in a\nsingle coach, people shake their heads and say, \"That coach will\ncertainly be robbed;\" and so it often happens.\n\nThe stage ordinarily passes this bridge in the night, when there is no\nopportunity to look at the magnificent scenery around. I saw it once by\ndaylight; and long shall I remember the impression produced. I lingered\nabout the spot to the last moment that \"Jim,\" or as he is here called\n\"San Diego,\" the driver, would permit. We reluctantly took our places\nin the coach, and when the hostler let slip the rope that held the\nheads of the leaders, our eight wild horses dashed off at a furious\nrate over a roughly paved road, to the no small disturbance of the\nreflections which such a spot awakens.\n\nWe tried to think of the stirring events that had here so often taken\nplace in times of civil war, when Gomez practiced such cruelties in the\nname of liberty; when robberies and murders were committed here in\nbroad daylight; when the frowning battery that crowns the cliff,\nstopped the passage of armies. But it was of no use to try to think;\nthe wheels would strike fire upon the boulders lying in the road,\ntumbling us about until all romance and recollection were pounded out\nof us.\n\nGladly we halted at Plan del Rio to take a little chocolate and look at\nthe ruins of a stone bridge blown up by gunpowder, while new horses\nwere being brought out to drag us up the Cerro Gordo pass.\n\nHere we met a small body of soldiers conducting eight freight wagons\nthat carried loads of coined silver, and were drawn by twelve horses\neach, on their way to the coast--a common sight to the people of these\nparts, as was evident from the indifference with which they regarded\nsuch cargoes of money; yet it was calculated to make an American stare,\nthough he had been accustomed to look upon treasures of California in\nher palmiest days. But a few millions in silver make a most imposing\nshow.\n\n\nFRIAR PAGE AT VERA CRUZ.\n\nOur monk, on his journey to this point, had kept along the shore,\ncrossing the Antigua near its mouth, visiting old Vera Cruz. He thus\ndescribes what he there saw:\n\n\"The first Indians whom we encountered in our journey were at old Vera\nCruz, which is on the sea-shore, where, as we have already said, the\nSpaniards first designed to establish themselves on undertaking the\nconquest of the country, but which they had to abandon on account of\nthe little protection it afforded against the north winds. Here we\nbegan to note the power which the clergy and friars have among the poor\nIndians; how they rule them, and the respect and veneration which are\npaid them. The Prior of Vera Cruz having written, the morning of our\ndeparture, advertising them of the day of our arrival, he commanded\nthem to come and receive us, and to serve us during our transit through\ntheir territory. The poor Indians obeyed with the greatest promptitude\nthe orders of the Prior, and at a league from their village twenty of\ntheir principal men encountered us upon horseback, and handed a wreath\nof flowers to each one of us. Then they set out on their return in\nfront of our caravan, and at a bow-shot distance, and in this manner we\nproceeded until we came up with others on foot, with trumpets and\nflutes, which were played very agreeably before our whole cavalcade.\nThose who had come out were the employees of the churches and the\nchiefs of the fraternities, all of whom presented us a garland of\nflowers. Then followed others--the priests' assistants, acolitos, and\nthe young people of the choir, who went singing a _Te Deum\nlaudamus_, until we arrived at the market-place. There is always a\nPlaza in the midst of the village, and here it was adorned by two great\nand most beautiful elms: between these there had been constructed an\nimmense arbor, in which was a table covered with jars and dishes of\nconserves, and other kinds of sweetmeats and biscuits for eating with\nthe chocolate. While they were preparing the chocolate, heating the\nwater, and adding the sugar, the principal Indians and the authorities\nof the village came and knelt down, and kissed our hands, and gave us\ntheir address, saying that our arrival was a happy event for their\ncountry, and that they gave us a thousand thanks because we had left\nour native country, our parents, and our firesides, in order to go to\nregions so remote to labor for the salvation of souls; and that they\nhonored us as gods upon earth, and as the apostles or Jesus Christ; and\nthey said so many, many things, that only the chocolate put an end to\ntheir eloquence. We remained an hour, and manifested our gratification\nfor the demonstration of affection and bounty with which they had\nfavored us, assuring them that there was not any thing in the world\nmore dear to us than their salvation, and that to procure it we had not\nfeared to expose ourselves to all the perils with which we were\nthreatened by sea and land; nor even the barbarous cruelty of other\nIndians who did not know the true God, in whose service we had resolved\nto sacrifice even life.\n\n\"With this we departed from them, making gifts to the chiefs of\nrosaries, medals, little metal crosses, 'the Lamb of God' (_Agnus\nDei_), relics which we brought from Spain; and we conceded to each\none forty years of indulgence, in virtue of the powers which we had\nreceived from the Pope for distributing them, where, when, and to whom\nwe pleased. On our going out from the shade of the arbor for mounting\nour mules, we saw the market-place full of men and women on their\nknees, almost adoring us, and asking us to give them our blessing. We\nraised the hand on passing, and gave it to them by making the sign of\nthe cross. The submission of the poor Indians, and the vanity excited\nby a reception so ceremonious, and with such public homage, turned the\nheads of our young friars, who began to believe themselves superior to\nthe bishops of Europe; and even our illustrious superiors were not far\nfrom pride, but exhibited excessive haughtiness, now that they had seen\ntheir vanity flattered with such great acclamations in their sight as\nwere lavished upon us that day, although we were only some simple\nfriars. The flutes and the trumpets began to resound again at the head\nof our procession, and the chiefs of the people accompanied us as far\nas half a league, and afterward they retired to their homes.\"\n\nSlowly has the stage been moving up the pass. The rattle of the wheels\nhas ceased, the sun has made his appearance, and the awakened\npassengers are disposed to listen to tales of wild adventures. The\nloquacious are ready with an abundant supply. The best of these is the\ntale of \"The Artist among the Robbers.\"\n\n\nTHE ARTIST AMONG THE ROBBERS.\n\n\"Four years ago,\" began the artist who made some sketches for this\nwork, \"while I was making a pedestrian journey over this road, I seated\nmyself, weak and hungry, upon a stone by the roadside, not a little\ntired of life and evil fortune. The remains of the yellow fever were\nstill upon me, and only a single dollar burdened my pocket; for I did\nnot learn, until too late, how poor a place for an artist from abroad\nis this country, where the San Carlos is creating the native article by\nscores. I had not sat long in my gloomy mood before I had company\nenough; for as I looked up I saw, trooping down the side of the hill, a\nband of men, who I thought would soon put an end to my troubles. I took\nthe thing coolly, for I cared little for the result; and had I cared,\nthere was no helping it now. So I patiently waited their arrival. To\nthe questions of the only one who could talk English I answered\nbriefly, as I supposed they would soon end my troubles. When I told him\nthat I cared little if he did kill me, the whole party laughed\nuproariously. The leader now came up, and having searched me, found my\nstory to be true. I then drew an outline of a picture with my pencil,\nand gave it to him. This so pleased him that he wrote me a memorandum,\nand with verbal directions as to the way I was to go if I wished for\nlodgings for the night, he bade me adieu, and the party disappeared up\nthe side of the woody hill, and I set out on my journey.\"\n\nThe leagues were very long, but the landmarks were unmistakable; and\nwithout difficulty the artist reached the house and presented his paper\nto the old woman that appeared at the door. This paper procured him a\ngood supper, and comfortable quarters for the night; for his fine open\ncountenance and yellow hair seemed to have touched the heart of this\nold Mexican matron--a class of persons, by-the-way, who are the kindest\nmortals in the world. The good cheer disposed of, he gathered up his\nfeet upon his mat for the night, and slept as men do who have nothing\nto fear from robbers. When in the morning he awoke, he found the old\ndame astir, preparing for him an early breakfast, which was of a\nquality unexpected in so unpretending a mansion. When breakfast was\nprepared, and after he had finished eating it, the old woman made him\nunderstand by signs that he was to go into the adjoining room and there\nreplenish his dilapidated wardrobe. She supplied him with a new suit\nfrom head to heel, and then urged him to tie around his waist a small\nsheep's entrail filled with brandy, according to the custom of Mexican\nIndians. Thus had our transient friend had his inner and outer man\nsupplied in this out-of-the-way hut, at the robbers' charges, after\nwhich, being shown the direction in which to reach the Jalapa road, he\nbade the kind old matron _adios_, and traveled on to Encerro with\na lighter heart than he had borne the day before.\n\n\nENCERRO.\n\nAt Encerro we left four of our fellow-passengers. They were the son and\nthree daughters of the widow who kept the inn. They had been through a\nfull course of studies in one of the Roman Catholic boarding-schools in\nthe United States, and were now returned, having fully mastered the\nEnglish language--the great desideratum of the Spanish-American people,\nand one of the sources from which the Catholic schools and colleges in\nthe United States derive their support.\n\nWhat a beautiful spot is Encerro, the country residence of Santa Anna!\nIt may not be as productive as his estate of Manga de Clavo, in the hot\ncountry, near Vera Cruz; but it is more salubrious and delightful. In\nthe civil wars he had often made a stand here, and had learned to\nappreciate the beauty of the spot long before he was rich enough to\nmake the purchase--for the pay received by officers of the highest rank\nin Mexico, is not sufficient to enable them to accumulate a fortune\ntill far advanced in life. Politicians in Mexico, as in all other\ncountries, are not unwilling to hazard their private fortunes in their\npolitical contests, and though the estates of the unsuccessful parties\nare not confiscated in a revolution, one reason may be that they are\nnot ordinarily of great value.\n\nThe stage-coach has been forgotten in story-telling while slowly\nclimbing up the pass, but as soon as we had overcome this impediment we\nstarted off again upon an unrepaired road, at our former neck-breaking\nspeed, which we kept up until we reached Encerro, where for a little\nway we had an earthen road. Yet it was only a short breathing before we\nwere upon the rough stones again. We had been gradually passing through\ndifferent strata of atmosphere in our journey upward, the changes in\nthe character of the vegetation kept pace with the change of the\nclimate.\n\n\"Whose is that estate inclosed by such an antiquated looking stone\nwall?\" I inquired, of a fellow-traveler.\n\n\"That belongs to Don Isidoro; and it extends some thirty leagues,\" was\nthe reply. \"You see that ridge of hills. That is its northern boundary.\nThis wall separates it from the estate of Santa Anna. In fact it is\nsurrounded by a continuous and substantial stone-wall, sufficient to\nkeep in cattle. This spot of land sufficiently large for a county, with\na soil the richest in the world, and a climate like that of Jalapa, is\ngiven up to be a range for thousands of cattle.\"\n\n\nA TROPICAL FOREST.\n\nWe must hasten to our journey's end, which, for the present, is Jalapa.\nWhile here, we can sum up the story of our eighteen hours' ride. From\nVera Cruz we passed through a tropical marsh, presenting a striking\ncontrast to what we had witnessed about that town. In place of being\nsurrounded by hot, shifting hillocks of sand, we were in the midst of\ntropical vegetation. Trees not only bore their own natural burdens, but\nwere borne down with creepers, vines, and parasitic plants; forming one\nstrange mass of foliage of very many distinct kinds matted together and\nmingled into one. Plantations of vanilla, of coffee, of cocoa, or of\nsugar-cane, nowhere approached our road; nor were the cocoa-nut, the\nbanana, and the plantain, so familiar in all tropical climates, often\nvisible. Upon the whole route there were little evidences of labor,\nexcept those furnished by the road itself. It was all wilderness. Yet\nthe graceful features of the creepers, hanging from branch to branch of\nthe sycamores, and the shady arbors formed by their dense foliage,\nlooked as though a gardener's hand could be traced in so much\nregularity; yet it was only Nature's own gardening, where the wild\nbirds might build their nests, and breed, and sing without fear of\ndisturbance. How often have I dismounted, while riding along such a\nforest, by the side of some running brook, and while my horse was\nfeeding I have almost fallen asleep under the soothing influence which\nsuch an atmosphere produces upon a traveler, heated by fast riding\nunder a vertical sun. It is one of those happy sensations that can not\nwell be described, nor can it be appreciated by those who have not\nexperienced it. Poets have exhausted their power in painting the\nbeauties of scenes where all the senses are satiated with enjoyment.\nYet this voluptuous gratification is soon alloyed by the evils that\nremind us that Paradise is not to be found upon this earth. Here is\nseen the whole animal kingdom busily laboring for the destruction of\nits kind. Reptiles prey upon each other; parasitic plants fix\nthemselves upon trees and suck up the sap of their existence; and man,\nwhile he enjoys to a surfeit these bounties of nature, must watch\nnarrowly against the venom and the poison that comes to mar his\npleasure, and teach him the wholesome lesson that true happiness is\nonly found in Heaven. We are now at our journey's end.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\nJalapa.--The extraordinary Beauty and Fertility of this Spot.--Jalap,\nSarsaparilla, Myrtle, Vanilla, Cochineal, and Wood of Tobasco.--The\ncharming Situation of Jalapa.--Its Flowers and its Fruits.--Magnificent\nViews.--The tradition that Jalapa was Paradise.--A speck of War.--The\nMarriage of a Heretic.--A gambling Scene in a Convent.\n\n\nByron's lines, in the opening of \"The Bride of Abydos\" are gorgeous\nenough:\n\n    \"Know ye the land of the cedar and vine,\n    Where the flowers ever blossom, the beams ever shine;\n    Where the light wings of Zephyr, oppress'd with perfume,\n    Wax faint o'er the gardens of Gull in their bloom;\n    Where the citron and olive are fairest of fruit,\n    And the voice of the nightingale never is mute.\"\n\nBut the poet would have given them a still more luxuriant coloring had\nhe ever ascended the table-land of the tropics, and visited Jalapa, the\nspot which the natives insist was the site of the original Paradise.\nParadise, jalapa, and myrtle, sound well enough together, and do not\nclash with the native tradition in relation to this delightful spot.\n\n\nPRODUCTIONS OF THE VALLEYS.\n\nWe were now more than four thousand feet above the sea, on an extensive\nplateau, half-way up the mountain. The beautiful _convolvulus jalapa_\ndoes not flourish here, but is brought from the Indian villages of\nColipa and Maqautla, situated in the valleys that run among the hills.\nThe _myrtle_, whose grain is the spice of Tobasco, is produced in the\nforests by the river Boriderus; the _smilax_, whose root is the true\nsarsaparilla, grows deep down in the humid and umbrageous ravines of\nthe Cordilleras; and cocoa comes from Acayucan. From the ever-green\nforests of Papantla and Nautla comes the _epidendrum vanilla_, whose\nodoriferous fruit is used as a perfume. Thus these characteristic\nproductions of the country come from the mysterious valleys of the\nneighboring mountain, where, nearly a thousand years before any of the\npresent generation was born, flourished an unknown race of men as\ncivilized as were the people of Palmyra or of Egypt, as vast ruins in\nthe forests of Misantla and Papantla clearly indicate: a race unknown\nto the degenerate Indians, who now wander about the ruined edifices and\nisolated pyramids of these cities, lost in the forest, as they are to\nus. A thousand years have passed away--their history has perished\nforever. The old books say that the delicate little scarlet insect,\ncochineal, was once a product of this district, and Jalapa was its\nproper market, and the mart of all the other peculiar productions of\nthe neighboring region, because it was the town on the high land\nnearest to the sea-port.\n\n[Illustration: JALAPA.]\n\nJalapa early became an important position to which foreign goods were\nbrought to be exchanged for silver and gold, jalap, sarsaparilla,\nvanilla, spice of Tobasco, cocoa, cochineal, and woods of various\ncolors.\n\nIt is the beauty of the place itself, and the unsurpassed magnificence\nof its mountain-scenery, that throws such a charm around Jalapa. The\ntransparency of its atmosphere makes the snow-crowned Orizaba and\nPerote, in the coast range of mountains, appear close at hand, with\ntheir dense forests of perpetual foliage, moistened incessantly by the\nclouds driven upon them from the ocean. High up in the region of\nperpetual moisture, Jalapa has a soil intensely luxuriant, and is\nbeyond the reach of those parasitic plants of the low lands, that fix\nthemselves upon other plants and trees, and eat out their very life, as\nthe malarias do that of the human being. Roses of the most choice\nvarieties grow spontaneously by the roadside, or creep over the walls.\nNature, the parent of architects, has here shaped all her trees upon\nthe most exquisite models. The very twig planted in a hedge, if left to\nitself, grows up into a tree which gracefully inclines its head like a\nweeping willow; while a mammoth white bell, or trumpet flower, hangs\npendent from the extremity of every limb, each flower larger and more\nbeautiful than our favorite house lily, and giving forth a richer odor\nthan the rose. From the exquisite delicacy and richness of the fruit\nwhich this plant (the chirimoya) bears, and the danger arising from\neating of it too freely, it is not unfrequently called the tree of the\nforbidden fruit; sometimes also it is called the custard plant.\n\n\nTHE PARADISE OF JALAPA.\n\nAmong the pleasing sights which we beheld was an orange orchard, in\nwhich I did not see a single tree that was not delicately and\ngracefully formed. In this profusion of nature I saw our own favorite\nflowers. A tiny crimson rose was creeping about in every place, while\nthe large pink rose, which grew so rank, was clinging to an old wall\nand in full blossom; and many other varieties of crimson, white,\nyellow, and scarlet roses grow here without care; the morning-glory and\nhoney-suckle are wild flowers here; the sweet-william, the\nlady-slipper, and all the flowers that we cultivate in summer, appear\nhere to be spontaneous productions of nature. Even that sweetest and\nmost beautiful of flowers, the passion-flower, with its mystical cross\nand five protruding seeds, was running over a frame, and yielding a\nprofusion of blossoms, and a fruit--the granada--which almost equals in\nrichness and delicacy the fruit of the chirimoya. But all the natural\nwonders of this town are not yet enumerated; for the fruits as well as\nthe flowers of every climate flourish in Jalapa. There are\nstrawberries, of the largest size, growing beside a coffee-tree the\ntree being filled with coffee-berries. Peach-trees were in full blossom\nin November, beside apricots and chirimoyas, while potatoes flourish\namong the bulbous productions of a tropical climate. The people of the\ntown take a pride in its natural beauty; and there are no filthy\nalleys, no squalid poverty, or uncleanly hovels. Every house appears to\nbe of stone; the walls neatly whitewashed, and bordered with pink, red,\nblue, green, or yellow; and the streets are fashioned to suit the\ngrounds, without regard to checker-board regularity.\n\nI stood in an upper story of the house of a Mr. Todd, on the opposite\nside of the little stream that runs in front of the town, and looked\nout from that favored position. The sun had just escaped from the folds\nof an imprisoning cloud, and was shining full upon the beautiful town\nand hill. The unabsorbed moisture on the leaves gave them an additional\nlustre. The green peering up every where amidst the whitened walls; the\ngraceful form of the trees, where their outline could be traced; the\ncuriously shaped roofs of the old stone churches, with buttresses and\ntowers; the college of San Francisco, a curiously fashioned pile of\nbuildings, standing out above all others; the hill behind the town, the\nlofty mountain of Perote, on its left flank, on whose top the sky\nseemed to rest--all combined to give credibility to that which has been\nsaid of the beauty of Jalapa by an old Spanish author--that Jalapa was\n\"a piece of heaven let down to earth.\" This figure was afterward\napplied to Naples, and the remark was added--\"See Naples, and die.\" But\nthe Jalapanos say, \"See Jalapa, and pray for immortality, that you may\nenjoy it forever.\" It is the boast of the Indian, that \"Jalapa is\nParadise.\"\n\nOne is almost tempted to agree with them; for here grow all plants that\nare pleasant to the eye, or good for food. Adam and Eve were not placed\nin the garden to plant and to sow, but to prune and dress the plants\nthat grew of themselves. Here grow an abundance of broad-leaved plants,\nand for thread there is the fibre of the _maguey_, or century plant;\nwhile the thorns of the cactus are the needles used among the natives;\nso that all the materials were at ready hand for making their garments,\nas soon as our first parents had their eyes opened--by taking Jalap, I\nsuppose--and so discovering that they were naked. It is a curious\nconceit, that the sin of Adam, in introducing a parasite into Eden,\nentailed a curse on this medicinal plant, which from that day, the\nstory goes, has for very shame hid its face by day, and only by night\nopened its pretty scarlet flowers, which close again as the morning\nlight appears.\n\nIn favor of the notion that Jalapa was the ancient Paradise, the\nargument is, that Paradise must have been in the tropics, in a region\nelevated far above the baleful heat and malaria of the low lands, in a\nclimate where plants could grow to the utmost perfection. And there is\nno such place in the world except Jalapa. Here, too, when the daily\nshower, which is requisite to bring all vegetable nature to perfection,\nrendered garments of wool necessary to protect humanity from\nrheumatism, nature had provided the needles and thread needed to\nfashion them. So that, taken all together, this Indian theory is more\nprobable than many of the unnumbered traditions of this country, where\ntraditions and miracles appear to grow as spontaneously as wild\nflowers.\n\nIn such a spot as this, where all the powers of nature seem to have\ncombined to form an earthly Paradise, and where the surrounding\nmountain-scenery is unsurpassed on the earth's surface, we might look\nfor enlarged notions of the power, the majesty, and wisdom of that God\nwho created it all. But images, like dolls, tricked out in the tawdry\nfinery, are the objects which this people adore, and to whom they\nattribute more miraculous powers than were ever ascribed to the gods of\ntheir heathen ancestors. Humboldt says, \"This people have changed their\nceremonies, but not their religious dogmas.\"[6]\n\n\nA REVOLUTION.\n\nBut let us take a look at the interior of this town. It is a little\ndisturbed now, as there was a revolution yesterday--a revolution and a\ncounter-revolution in fact, all in one day.\n\nThe Governor and Legislature of the State of Vera Cruz, which meets in\nthis place, were taken prisoners in the forenoon, for imposing a tax\nupon the retail trade; but in the afternoon their friends rallied, and\nthe Governor and Legislature were released, and the rebels driven from\nthe town. In this double battle one man, at least, lost his life, for\nthe funeral took place as we entered. War is a terrible calamity at any\ntime; but when it is carried to that foolish extent of shedding blood,\nit becomes an intolerable evil, and prudent men show their wisdom by\nrunning from it: at least they did so at Jalapa.\n\nJalapa, it may be here remarked, is built on the site of an old Indian\nvillage, which was one of the first to enter into alliance with Cortez.\nFor the benefit of the original inhabitants, that Franciscan Convent\nwas built by the conqueror. It is now converted into a college. Its\nsteeple is worth a visit, and well rewards the labor of climbing; for\nfrom it another view, even more splendid than that I have described, is\nto be obtained. From this point the snow-covered Orizaba is added to\nthe already imposing prospect; both it and Perote, with the intervening\nmountain and valleys, can all be embraced at a single glance. The\nposition of the valleys, which produce the different plants that have\nbeen enumerated, are here pointed out; and from this spot, they show\nthe place where the mountain has been pierced in search of the precious\nmetals, while a little way off is the road to the extensive\ncopper-mines.\n\n\nTHE HERETIC AND THE JALAPINA.\n\nThere is a curious story about the first marriage that took place\nbetween a heretic and a Jalapina. The hero held the important position\nof agent of the English _Real del Monte_ Company at Jalapa. In one\nof the families that had been greatly reduced in their worldly\ncircumstances by the ruin of the _Consulado_ of Vera Cruz, was a\ndark beauty with whom he became deeply enamored. But how to make her\nhis wife was the difficulty. The lady was willing--was more than\nwilling; \"for when the fires of Spanish love are kindled, they burn\nunextinguishably,\" says the proverb. Or, in the poetical language of\nthe Indians, \"it burns as did the fires of Mount Orizaba in its\nyouth--fires that only went out when its head was coated with silver\ngray.\" The mother was willing; and no one but the Church had aught to\nsay why they should not be united. How could the holy sacrament of\nmatrimony be profaned by administering it to a heretic? It never had\nbeen, it never must be, in the Republic. He might take the woman if he\nchose, and live with her; but to marry them would be a sin. So said the\nPadre of the parish, and so said every dignitary of the Church up to\nthe Bishop of Puebla, then the only remaining bishop in the Republic.\nThe intercession of political authorities was invoked. The matter\nbecame serious, and a council was held at Puebla to dispose of the\ncase. From this holy council came the intimation to the lover that a\nbribe of $2000 might be of service. But John Bull by this time had\nbecome stubborn. He had spent money enough; he would spend no more; he\nwould get a chaplain from a man-of-war then at Vera Cruz; or better\nstill, he would take his intended bride to New Orleans; for he would be\nmarried and not mated, as is the case of those who can not raise the\nfee claimed by the priest. He would not be ranked with that\npoverty-stricken set that are unmarried, or, as the phrase is, are\n\"married behind the Church.\" He was no _peon_. It was contrary to an\nEnglishman's ideas to have a wife unmarried; and as no English chaplain\ncame along, he wrote to the Roman Catholic Bishop of New Orleans,\ngiving an account of his difficulties, and inquired if he would marry\nhim under the circumstances. With a liberality that ever distinguishes\nCatholic functionaries in Protestant countries, he promptly replied\nthat he would marry them personally, if the parties would come to New\nOrleans, or, if he should chance to be unavoidably engaged, then his\nchaplain should perform the ceremony. Whereupon our hero and his\nlady-love started for New Orleans; and being there united in holy\nmatrimony by the bishop, spent the happy month, so long deferred, in\nfestivities, and then returned home, supposing that their troubles were\nnow all at an end.\n\nBut this foreign marriage proved to be only the beginning of evil to\nthem. They had committed an unpardonable sin; they had defrauded the\npriest of his fee, and had set a bad example, which others might follow\nfor the very economy of the thing.\n\nHardly had our newly-wedded pair found themselves located in their own\nhouse, and finished receiving the usual round of congratulations, when\nthe wife was summoned to appear before the priest. She at once\ncomplied, accompanied by her husband. The priest inquired why the\nhusband came, as he had not been sent for; he had only sent for the\nwife. The husband gave him an Englishman's answer--that she was his\nwife, and where she went, there it was his place to go. The priest's\nreply to this opened the cause. The marriage was not lawful, and he\nmust detain her, and send her on to Puebla, and have her placed in a\nconvent. Such was the order he had received, and which he exhibited;\nand the two soldiers at the door were stationed there to carry the\norder into execution.\n\nAt this point in the affair the Englishman drew two arguments from\nunder his coat, and leveling one of them at the head of the padre,\nsuggested to him the propriety of not interposing any obstacle to the\nreturn of himself and wife to their home. This was a poser; an act of\nopen impiety; a Kentucky argument. But there was no remedy. The\nInquisition was not now in authority; its instruments of torture had\nbeen destroyed; its fires had been extinguished; and so the Englishman\ngot the best of the argument, and retired peaceably to his own home.\n\nAt his house the Englishman was waited upon by the Alcalde, who\ninformed him that he had been ordered to take the wife, and that he\ndared not disobey. But he suggested a method by which the order might\nbe evaded. This was to send the wife every day, at a certain hour, into\na neighbor's house, and at that hour the officers would come and search\nhis dwelling, and would accordingly report \"Not found.\" This farce\ncontinued to be enacted daily for nearly three months, when the\nhusband, becoming tired of it, wrote to the Bishop of New Orleans an\naccount of the manner in which his house had been besieged, and in due\ntime received a reply from that excellent ecclesiastic, stating that he\nwould satisfactorily arrange the business; at the same time expressing\nhis regrets that he had not before been informed of the condition of\naffairs.\n\nIn the mean time, another priest in the town chanced to be discussing\nthe all-absorbing question of the day, the heretic marriage, and\nunfortunately happened to remark that a marriage by an American priest\nwas not a lawful marriage. This was too much for our Englishman, and he\nanswered it--as an Englishman is accustomed to answer insulting remarks\nin relation to the affairs of his household--not by a single blow, but\nby such a pommeling as never a priest had sustained since the Conquest.\nYet there was no earthquake on the occasion, and Orizaba was not\ndiscomposed at witnessing such a shocking act of impiety.\n\nTime moved on, and with it came the parish priest to validate the\nmarriage. But our Englishman would not be _validated_. No, not he; and\nwhen the priest began to mutter and to move his hands, the Englishman's\nblood was up, and so was his foot, and this ceremony was terminated\naccording to a formula not laid down in any prayer-book now extant.\nThis was the end of the war. The pair had passed through many\ntribulations in order to consummate their union; yet both declare that\nthe prize was worth the contest.\n\n\nTHE MONK AT JALAPA.\n\nOur good monk, with whom we parted at Vera Cruz, visited the convent at\nJalapa, on his journey, and thus records what he saw:\n\n\"The night of our arrival at Jalapa we were entertained at the convent\nof San Francisco, where we passed the day following, as it was Sunday.\nThe income of this convent is great, notwithstanding the community is\ncomposed of only six _religios_, though it might well maintain more\nthan a score of them. The guardian of Jalapa is no less vain than the\nprior of Vera Cruz; but he received us with much kindness, and treated\nus magnificently, although we were of another order.\n\n\"In this town, as in all others, we observed that the lives and customs\nof the clergy, both seculars and regulars (monks), were greatly\nrelaxed, and that their conduct completely gave the lie to their vows\nand their professions. The order of San Francisco, besides the vows\ncommon to the other orders; that is to say, chastity and obedience,\nexacts that the vow of poverty shall be observed more scrupulously than\nthe other mendicants enforce it. Their dress should be of coarse cloth,\nand of a color to which they have given a name [monk's gray]; their\ngirdles, or cordons, of rope, and their shirts of wool, if they can\nbear them. They are to go without stockings; and, finally, it is not\nlawful for them to use shoes, but to wear sandals. Not only are they\nprohibited having money, but they ought not even to touch it; neither\nto possess any thing as their own. In their journeys it is forbidden\nthem to mount a horse, although they should fall by the way from\nfatigue. It is necessary that they should go afoot with sorrow and\nfatigue; esteeming the infraction of any of these precepts a mortal\nsin, which merits excommunication and hell. But they neglect all the\nobligations which the rigorous observance of these rules imposes upon\nthem--to the neglect of all discipline, and to the disregard of the\npenalties. Those that have been transported to this country live in a\nmanner which does not in any thing show that they have made a vow to\nGod of even trifling privations. Their lives are so free and immodest\nthat it might be suspected, with reason, that they had renounced only\nthat which they could not, or were unable to attain.\n\n\nMONKISH GAMBLING.\n\n\"We were surprised and even scandalized at the extraordinary sight of a\nSan Franciscan of Jalapa, riding most beautiful mule, with a groom, or\nrather lackey, behind him, while only going to the end of the village\nto confess a sick man. His reverence, as he went along, had his\ngarments tucked up from beneath, which exhibited a stocking of\norange-color; a shoe of the most exquisite morocco; small clothes of\nHolland linen; with knots and braids of four fingers in width. Such a\nspectacle made us observe with more attention the conduct of that\nfriar, and that of others beneath whose broad sleeves were exhibited a\njacket embroidered with silk. They also wore shirts of Holland; and\nhand-ruffs inclosed their hands. But we did not discover, either in\ntheir garments or in their table, any thing that indicated\nmortification; on the contrary, every thing exhibited the same vanity\nwhich was noted in the people of the world.\n\n[Illustration: GAMBLING IN A CONVENT.]\n\n\"After supper some of them began to speak of cards and dice, and they\ninvited us to play, in order to contribute to the entertainment of\ntheir guests, one hand at a rubber. Almost all of our party excused\nthemselves; some for want of money, others from not knowing the play.\nAt length they found two of our _religious_ that would place themselves\nhand to hand with other two Franciscans. The party being arranged, they\ncommenced playing with admirable dexterity. A little was put down at\nfirst; it was doubled. The loss vexed the one, the gain stimulated the\nother. At the end of a quarter of an hour the convent of the Angelic\nOrder[7] of our father of San Francisco had converted itself into a\ngaming house, and the poor _religious_ (friars) into profane\nworldlings. We, who were simply spectators, had occasion to observe\nwhat passed in the play, and to acquire matter for reflection upon such\na life. As the game went on engrossing in interest, the scandal\ncontinued to increase. The draughts of liquor were repeated with much\nfrequency; the tongue unloosed itself; oaths mingled themselves with\njests, while loud laughter made the edifice to tremble. The vow of\npoverty did not escape from the sacrilegious mirth. One of the San\nFranciscans, who had often touched money with his fingers and placed it\non the table, when he gained any considerable sum, in order to divert\nthe company, opened his broad sleeve, and with the hem he swept the\ntable of all the stakes, amounting sometimes to more than twenty gold\nounces, into his other sleeve; saying, at the same time, \"Take care of\nit thou that canst, I have made a vow not to touch it.\" It was\nimpossible for me to listen to such imprecations, and to witness such\nscandalous lives, without being moved; more than once I was on the\npoint of reproving them, but I considered that I was a stranger, a\npassing guest, and besides, what I should say to them would be like\npreaching to the desert. I therefore rose up without making any noise\nand went to my sleeping-place, leaving the profane crowd; who continued\nwith their diversions until the dawn. The next day the friar who had\nlaved his part with so much facetiousness, with more of the manner of a\nbrigand than a _religious_, more suitable for the school of\nSardanapalus or of Epicurus than for the life of a cloister, said that\nhe had lost more than eighty doubloons, or gold ounces--it appearing\nthat his sleeve refused to protect that which he had made a vow of\nnever possessing.\n\n\nMORALS OF THE MONKS.\n\n\"This was the first lesson which the Franciscans gave us of the New\nWorld. It clearly appeared that the cause of so many friars and Jesuits\npassing from Spain to regions so distant, was libertinage rather than\nlove of preaching the gospel, or zeal for the conversion of souls. If\nthat love, if that zeal, were the motives of their conduct, they might\noffer their own depravity as an argument in favor of the truths of the\ngospel. Wantonness, licentiousness, avarice, and the other vices which\nstained their conduct, discovered their secret intentions. Their\nanxiety for enriching themselves, their vanity, the authority which\nthey exercised over the poor Indians, are the motives which actuate\nthem, and not the love of God or the propagating of the faith.\"\n\n      [6] Essai Politique.\n\n      [7] This is the title of this order of friars.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\nThe War of the Secret Political Societies of Mexico.--The Scotch and\nthe York Free-Masons.--Anti-Masons.--Rival classes compose Scotch\nLodges.--The Yorkinos.--Men desert from the Scotch to the York\nLodges.--Law to suppress Secret Societies.--The Escoces, or Scotch\nMasons, take up arms.--The Battle.--Their total Defeat.\n\n\nAs Jalapa is a pleasant resting-place in a journey to the interior, we\nwill stop here to discuss national affairs for a little while. The\nfirst political subject in order is the furious contest that for ten\nyears was carried on between two political societies, known as the\n_Escoces_ and _Yorkinos_--or, as we should call them, Scotch\nFree-Masons and York Free-Masons--whose secret organizations were\nemployed for political purposes by two rival political parties.\n\n\nMASONS AND ANTI-MASONS.\n\nAt the time of the restoration of the Constitutional Government of\nSpain in 1820, Free-Masonry was introduced into Mexico; and as it was\nderived from the Scotch branch of that order, it was called, after the\nname of the people of Scotland, _Escoces_. Into this institution\nwere initiated many of the old Spaniards still remaining in the\ncountry, the Creole aristocracy, and the privileged classes--parties\nthat could ill endure the elevation of a Creole colonel, Iturbide, to\nthe Imperial throne. When Mr. Poinsett was sent out as Embassador to\nMexico, he carried with him the charter for a Grand Lodge from the\nAmerican, or York order of Free-Masons in the United States. Into this\nnew order the leaders of the Democratic party were initiated. The\nbitter rivalry that sprung up between these two branches of the Masonic\nbody, kept the country in a ferment for ten years, and resulted finally\nin the formation of a party whose motto was opposition to all secret\nsocieties, and who derived their name of Anti-Masons from the party of\nthe same name then flourishing in the United States.\n\nWhen the Escoces had so far lost ground in popular favor, as to be in\nthe greatest apprehension from their prosperous but imbittered rivals,\nthe Yorkinos, as a last resort, to save themselves, and to ruin the\nhated organization, they _pronounced_ against all secret societies.\nSuerez y Navarro, in his \"Life of Santa Anna,\" thus relates the history\nof these Secret Political Societies:\n\n\"After the lodges had been established, crowds ran to initiate\nthemselves into the mysteries of Free-Masonry; persons of all\nconditions, from the opulent magnates down to the humblest artisans. In\nthe Scotch lodges were the Spaniards who were disaffected toward the\nindependence; Mexicans who had taken up arms against the original\ninsurgents through error or ignorance; those who obstinately declared\nthemselves in favor of calling the Spanish Bourbons to the Imperial\nthrone of Mexico; those who disliked the Federal system; the partisans\nof the ancient regime; the enemies of all reform, even when reforms\nwere necessary, as the consequence of the independence. To this party\n(after the overthrow of the Empire) also belonged the partisans of\nIturbide; those who were passionately devoted to monarchy; and the\nprivileged classes.\n\n\"In the assemblages of the Yorkinos were united all who were\nrepublicans from conviction, and those who followed the popular\ncurrent--the mass of the people having devoted themselves to this\norganization. It is enough to say, in order to mark the position of\nboth parties, that among the Yorkinos figured, in great numbers, those\nthat believed the name of _republican_ was not a mere imagination.\n\n\"Some individuals of both associations had the same object and the same\nidentical end, and only differed in the modes of making their\nprinciples triumphant. A great number of persons, who co-operated in\nthe creation of the new order, had belonged to the Scotch order, and\nhad labored for the overthrow of Iturbide. They knew the secrets of the\nScotch party, their projects, their tendencies; and the desertion of\nsuch furnished a thousand elements to the new order to make war upon\nthe party they had abandoned. When parties were fully organized and\nassailing each other, the contest became terrible, and its consequences\nfearfully disastrous. Actions the most harmless, and questions purely\npersonal, were matters for the contests of parties. The press was the\norgan of mutual accusations--now against particular individuals, and\nnow against parties in conjunction. The Escoces multiplied their\nattacks until they lost all influence in affairs. Generals, Senators,\nDeputies, and Ministers abandoned their standard, as time increased the\npower of their rival with every class of individuals that embraced the\nnew order. In the nature of things there was desertion and fear,\nbecause, as a writer, who was initiated into both orders, remarks: 'A\ngeneral enthusiasm had taken possession of men's minds, who thought\nthey saw in the new order the establishment of future prosperity.'\n\n\"The seekers for office found ready access in these lodges to those who\nhad office to dispense. The liberal found in the York lodges the strong\nsupport of liberty and liberal institutions. The high functionaries of\ngovernment found aid and support in the strength of opinions; and the\npeople, ever in search of novelty, united themselves to this\nassociation, in order to form one mass which sooner or later would\nsuppress the privileged classes.\n\n\nINTRIGUES.\n\n\"No intrigue, nor any effort, was able to check the progress of the\nYork lodges. This induced their enemies to present the project of a law\nin the Senate, where the Escoces had a majority, to suppress secret\nsocieties by severe penalties against those who adhered to such\nassociations. For the better insuring of success, the Escoces assumed\nthe language of morality; and, confounding their own affair with that\nof their native country, clamored hypocritically against the pernicious\ninfluence which clandestine meetings exercised in public affairs.\nAccording to them the cry of the nation was against secret societies.\nThe bill passed the Senate after prolonged discussion, being supported\nby those persons who knew it was intended to satisfy an offended party,\nwhose prestige diminished day by day. If the factions had not\noriginated in secret societies, they might have extirpated the evil by\nproscribing masonry. When have the ravages of the hurricane been found\nto content themselves with logical and pleasant words? At what time,\nand in what country, has a law been enforced, where those who were to\nexecute it found an insuperable obstacle in their own sentiments?\nIndeed, it was impossible to destroy the political fanaticism of the\nday by the mere dash of a pen! The evil had gone to its utmost limit,\nand could not be cured by rigor or persecution.\n\n\"The demoralization was so great that it extended to the armed force,\nbecause the greater part of the chiefs and officers had joined one or\nthe other of the societies. Besides the seductive influences of the\nlodges, two generals, distinguished for their services in the first\ninsurrectionary war, brought with them a number of soldiers to the\nparty to which each severally belonged. General Nicholas Bravo was the\nhead of the Escoces, and Don Vincente Guerrero was the leader of the\nYorkinos. Both derived support from the names and prestige of these two\npersonages, and from the popularity which each enjoyed with his\ncompanions-in-arms. The Scotch party feared the day would come, in\nwhich the deputies--the majority of whom were their enemies--would\ndecree the total proscription of all those persons who were hostile, or\nsuspected of being hostile, to the Yorkinos, as the Chambers had fallen\ninto the practice of submitting to the caprices of the dominant order.\nThey therefore appealed to arms, having exhausted the right of\npetition.\n\n\"General Bravo, Vice-President of Mexico, and leader of the Escoces,\nhaving issued his proclamation, declaring that, as a last resort, he\nappealed to arms to rid the republic of that pest--secret societies,\nand that he would not give up the contest until he had rooted them out,\nroot and branch, took up his position at Tulansingo--a village about\nthirty miles north of the City of Mexico. Here, at about daylight on\nthe morning of the 7th January, 1828, he was assailed by General\nGuerrero, the leader of the Yorkinos, and commander of the forces of\ngovernment.\"\n\nAfter a slight skirmish, in which eight men were killed and six\nwounded, General Bravo and his party were made prisoners; and thus\nperished forever the party of the Escoces. This victory was so complete\nas to prove a real disaster to the Yorkinos. The want of outside\npressure led to internal dissensions; so that when two of its own\nmembers, Guerrero and Pedraza, became rival candidates for the\npresidency, the election was determined by a resort to arms, which\nbrought about the terrible insurrection of the Acordada.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI.\n\nMexico becomes an Empire.--Santa Anna deposes the Emperor.--He\nproclaims a Republic.--He pronounces against the Election of Pedraza,\nthe second President.--His situation in the Convent at Oajaca.--He\ncaptures the Spanish Armada.--And is made General of Division.\n\n\nWe left Santa Anna at Vera Cruz, having just completed the first of\nthose politico-military insurrections which fill up the history of his\ntimes. He had added the city of Vera Cruz to the national cause, by a\ntimely insurrection. Iturbide had rewarded him for this important\nservice by bestowing upon him the ribbon of the order of Guadalupe,\nmaking him second in command at Vera Cruz. The chief command of the\ndepartment was bestowed upon an old insurrectionary leader, who was\nknown by the assumed name of Guadalupe Victoria. He was a good-natured,\nhonest, inefficient old man, whose great merit consisted in having\nlived for two years in a dense forest, far beyond the habitations of\nmen. While thus hiding himself from a host of pursuers, he acquired\nthat habit, supposed to be peculiar to wild beasts, of passing several\ndays without food, and then eating inordinate quantities--a habit which\nhe found impossible to change in after-life, when he had become\nPresident of Mexico. The story of this man's sojourn among wild beasts\nhad been told all over Mexico, and had given him a great popularity,\nwhich he brought to the support of the national cause.\n\nIn 1822 the Mexican nation was still in its swaddling clothes. Its\nbirth had hardly cost a pang; but its infancy, its childhood, and its\nyouth, were to be attended with a series of convulsions, the fruits of\nthe vicious seeds sown in the conception of the new State. By the\n_pronunciamiento_ of a part of a regiment of the King's Creole\ntroops the connection between Spain and Mexico was severed forever, and\nthe colonel of these troops became the Emperor of Mexico. In this\nrevolution the nation acquiesced, and thus discovered to the soldiery\ntheir unlimited power when their arms are turned against their own\ngovernment. From that time onward Mexico, like every other country\nwhere the Spanish language is spoken, became the victim of her own\nsoldiery. This liberation of Mexico was by no means the result of the\noutburst of national patriotism, but the consequence of the utter\nincapacity of Spain longer to hold the reins of her colonial\ngovernments. She indeed sent out a new vice-king to Mexico after the\nbreaking out of the insurrection; but the best that he could do was to\nsanction what had been done by a treaty at Cordova, in which it was\nstipulated that Iturbide and the new viceroy, O'Donoghue, should be\nassociated with others in a regency, until Spain should send out one of\nthe Spanish Bourbon princes to occupy the imperial throne of Mexico.\n\nThe Spanish parliament refused to sanction the treaty of Cordova;\nO'Donoghue died, and Iturbide was left in possession of executive\npower, without a defined office, while an insane opposition sprung up\nagainst him in the new Congress which he had called together. This\nunlooked-for opposition soon convinced him that the tearing away of a\nnation from its traditional ideas was like the letting out of waters,\nand that he must either ride upon the wave or be overborne by the\ntempest. A resolution of Congress, to take from him the command of the\narmy, brought matters to a crisis. Accordingly, on the night of the\n18th of March, 1821, he caused himself to be proclaimed Emperor by his\npartisans; and the next day this new revolutionary act was confirmed by\nCongress, under the intimidation of military force, and the nation\nagain acquiesced.\n\nITURBIDE DEPOSED.\n\nThe revolution had caused a stagnation in all the departments of\ncommerce and of revenue. Iturbide had inaugurated his insurrection by\nseizing, at Iguala, a million of dollars belonging to the Manilla\nCompany, on its way to Acapulco. He made another like seizure at\nPerote; but these high-handed measures, while they proved but a drop in\nthe bucket toward sustaining his government, increased his\nembarrassments, by destroying all confidence; so that his new authority\nhad stamped upon it the unmistakable marks of dissolution. He was an\nemperor without traditional associations; he had an empire without a\nrevenue; a large standing army without pay. The fickle multitude, who\nsupposed that independence was to prove an antidote for every evil,\nbegan to murmur; while a host of demagogues, who envied the good\nfortune of Iturbide, were all beginning to clamor for a republic. The\nblow, however, came from an unexpected quarter. Santa Anna had\nquarreled with a superior officer, General Echevarri, and Iturbide had\nrecalled him from his command. But Santa Anna thought it most advisable\nto disobey the Emperor; and in the Plaza of Vera Cruz, surrounded by\nthe garrison, he proclaimed a republic, on the 2d of December, 1822. He\njoined in his insurrection the name and the influence of Victoria, yet\nboth were insufficient to save him from a complete route at the hands\nof Echevarri. At the critical moment in the affairs of Santa Anna, the\nGrand Lodge of the Ecosces decreed the overthrow of Iturbide, and sent\norders to General Echevarri, who was a member of the order, to unite\nhis forces to those of Santa Anna in overturning the empire. This was a\nbitter pill for that general to swallow, but he swallowed it; and the\ntwo leaders together swallowed the empire.\n\nIturbide, being unable to stem the torrent of insurrection, had\nabdicated; a Republic had been established upon the ruins of the\nempire, and Victoria, the \"wild man of the woods,\" was elected first\nPresident. He served out his time; but the last year of his government\nwas disturbed by the terrible insurrection of the Acordada, which had\narisen out of the election of Pedraza as his successor. Santa Anna was,\nat the time of this election, at Jalapa, discharging the duties of\nVice-Governor of Vera Cruz, when the people of the town surrounded his\nhouse and called upon him to pronounce against the election. Thus\nbecoming implicated, he was forced to make a new insurrection. This\nthird _pronunciamiento_ of Santa Anna, was on the 5th of September,\n1828.\n\nHe made his first stand at the Castle of Perote; but finding this too\nisolated a position, he marched to Oajaca, in the extreme southwest of\nthe Republic, and took up his quarters in the Dominican convent of that\ncity. As he was closely hemmed in by an active enemy, provisions grew\nscarce, and he was forced to resort to a novel method of supplying\nhimself. On a feast-day, at the San Franciscan church, he dressed a\nparty of his soldiers in the garb of monks, and, having placed them in\na convenient position, he made prisoners of the whole assembled\ncongregation, and then proceeded to divest them of all ready cash on\nhand, and then emptied the contribution-box of the money destined for\nthe poor saints[8] at Jerusalem, and retired and ended the war; for the\nsuccessful termination of the insurrection of the Acordada in the city\nof Mexico accomplished the object for which Santa Anna took up\narms--the declaration by Congress, that General Guerrero, a man of\nmixed blood was the real President elect, instead of Pedraza, a white\nman, and the candidate of the aristocracy.\n\n\nCAPTURE OF THE ARMADA.\n\nWhen King Ferdinand had regained his despotic authority, in 1825, by\nthe aid of French bayonets, he bethought himself of Mexico, the most\nproductive of his lost colonial possessions in America, which had\nyielded, to his predecessors, the total sum of $2,040,048,426,[9] or\nrather an annual revenue in silver dollars of $6,800,000 during a\nperiod of three hundred years. He was also incited by his impoverished\n_noblesse_, who could no longer obtain colonial appointments for\ntheir sons. The Spanish merchants also complained of the loss of their\nmonopolies. But what at last aroused him to activity was the expulsion\nof the Spaniards from Mexico, in consequence of the ascendancy of the\ndemocratic party. Those of mixed and Indian blood were now truly\nenfranchised; and they were heard to utter strange voices, which had\nuntil then been suppressed by the combined power of a spiritual and\ntemporal despotism: so that the bones of Cortez, the benefactor of the\nKings of Spain, were no longer safe in the convent of San Francisco,\nwhere they had lain for three hundred years.[10] They were in such\nimminent danger of being dragged out and scattered to the winds by the\nmob, as those of \"the accursed\" enslaver of their race, that they were\nremoved by stealth, and for a time deposited in the most sacred shrine\nin Mexico: afterward they were secretly removed to Europe, where they\ncried to the Spanish king for vengeance on the sacrilegious nation. An\nArmada was at last fitted out, and landed at Tampico; and now all\nMexicans, from the President down to the humblest _peon_, watched\nthe result with the deepest anxiety, as they saw Santa Anna undertaking\nthe defense of the country with untried soldiers. For on the issue of\nthe struggle depended the question whether the whole nation should be\nagain reduced to servitude, or whether they should be left in the\nenjoyment of their newly-acquired liberty. The contest was one of\nseveral days' continuance: when at last it was terminated by a\ncapitulation, all Mexico rang with rejoicing; and Santa Anna, then not\nthirty-five years of age, received the military rank which he now\nholds--General of Division.\n\n       [8] Breva Resena Historica, p. 280.\n\n       [9] See King's Proclamation, printed at Havana, 6th September,\n       1831.\n\n      [10] See note 1.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII.\n\nIn the Stage and out of the Stage.--Still climbing.--A moment's View\nof all the Kingdoms of the World.--Again in obscurity.--The Maguey,\nor Century Plant.--The many uses of the Maguey.--The intoxicating\njuice of the Maguey.--Pulque.--Immense Consumption of Pulque.--City\nof Perote.--Castle of San Carlos de Perote.--Starlight upon the\nTable-land.--Tequisquita.--\"The Bad Land.\"--A very old Beggar.--Arrive\nat Puebla.\n\n\nThe time allotted for my visit to Jalapa had come to a close. I took\nout the ticket, endorsed _Escala donde le convengo_, which I\ntranslated--\"Let him stop when, where, and as long as he pleases,\" and\nonce more took my seat in the stage, which, on a fine afternoon, was\nstarting for Perote upon the table-land. This short journey lay across\nthe mountain of Perote, passing over an elevation of 10,400 feet, the\nhighest elevation that a stage-coach has yet reached, and one from\nwhich the traveler can oftentimes enjoy a view of all the vegetable\n\"kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.\" I took my seat upon the\ntop of the coach, above the driver, that I might enjoy a last lingering\nlook at this Nature's paradise, before the mountain-ridge should\nintervene between the world I had left behind, and the great salt\ndesert that we were soon to traverse.\n\nThe prospect from the coach-top, as we traveled onward, was even more\nbeautiful than that I have already described. For several miles beyond\nJalapa we were descending and passing through one of those valleys of\nwhich the Spanish poets so often sing, where the roadside is covered\nwith a profusion of the flowers and vegetation that flourish only in\nthe most luxuriant soil. The valley was soon passed, and we began to\nascend so rapidly, that before an hour had passed we could mark the\nchanging vegetation, and observe the products of a colder climate; for\nthis changing vegetation is a barometer, which, in Mexico, marks the\nascent and descent as regularly as the most nicely-adjusted artificial\ninstrument. So accurately are the stratas of vegetation adjusted to the\nstratas of the atmosphere which they inhabit, as to lead the traveler\nto imagine that a gardener's hand had laid out the different fields\nwhich here rise one above another upon the side of the mountain that\nconstitutes the eastern inclosure of the table-land. The fertility of\nthe soil did not seem to diminish; it was only the character of the\nvegetation that changed step by step, as we wound our way up toward the\nsummit of the Perote.\n\n\nMOUNTAIN VIEW.\n\nWe changed horses at La Hoya, a place memorable in the annals of civil\nwar, as the spot where General Rincon blocked up the pass when Santa\nAnna was retiring in 1845, a fugitive from the country. Here the road\nbecomes so steep as to induce the traveler to walk a little, for the\nbetter opportunities he can thus have of surveying the novel sights\nthat present themselves at every turn of the road. When he is fatigued\nwith climbing, and breathing the peculiar air of this altitude, he can\nseat himself by the roadside to wait the arrival of the coach, and to\ncatch momentary glimpses, among floating clouds, of the country through\nwhich he has passed in his ascent from the coast. He can see a long\ndistance through such a rarified atmosphere; but it is only a\nbird's-eye view, as the mass that is heaped together is more than his\nvision can fully take in, before a cloud, ragged and torn, has passed\nacross the picture. The eye is delighted more with the details of a\nscene, than with this mass of all the excellences of all the climates.\nStill he has time to divide into sections the world below him; and as\nhe thus contemplates in part, he at length realizes as a whole the\nscene that is presented. The art of man never has, and never can,\nproduce such a combination in the arrangement of the courses of\nvegetation. As the traveler stands at an elevation where pine-trees\ncrow in the tropics, where a post-and-board fence incloses a field of\ngrain, and where a storm of snow and sleet had fallen only a few hours\nbefore, he can look down upon hills and plains, one below another, each\none, in the descending scale, exhibiting more and more of tropical\nproductions, until the regions of cocoa-nuts, and bananas, and\nsarsaparilla, and palms, and jalap, and vanilla, are reached in his\nperspective. This is a specimen chart, where all the climates and\nproductions of the world are embraced within the scope of a single\nglance.\n\nIt is time to re-enter the coach, and close all openings, for a dense\nfog is coming up from the sea, and has thrown so thick a curtain over\nthe prospect, that the eye can not penetrate it. The long line of\nfreight-wagons, that have served to mark the route that we have come,\ndisappear, one after another: we ourselves are soon enveloped in\ndarkness. With the fog has come a chill and piercing air, and the\npleasure of our mountain ride is now over. Still we move on and up with\nlittle hindrance, as the road on this side of the \"divide\" is in good\nrepair. But as we go down on the other side, we are impeded by\nfreight-wagons held fast in the mud, and unable to move down-hill--it\nbeing easier to drag a wagon up an ascent than to draw it down-hill\nthrough stiff mud. An entirely different world now presents itself. We\nare in a fine grain-growing country. Well-cultivated fields stretch out\nas far as the eye can reach, with farm-houses scattered here and there,\nthat strikingly remind the traveler of his northern home at this season\nof the year.\n\n\nTHE MAGUEY.--PULQUE.\n\nThe fences here are chiefly formed by rows of the _maguey_ or _century\nplant_, growing at the side of a ditch. Here it reaches its greatest\nperfection, and adds materially to the fine appearance of the fields,\nand is seen every where upon the table-land. It grows wild upon the\nmountains, and springs up in uncultivated places, as a weed. It is\ncultivated, as a domestic plant, in little patches, and is also planted\nin fields of leagues in extent. It grows luxuriantly in the richest\nsoils, and shows itself in those desert plains, where nothing else,\nexcept a few spears of stinted grass and chaparral can exist.\n\nThe uses to which the maguey is applied are more numerous than the\nmethods of its cultivation. When its immense leaf is pounded into a\npulp, it forms a substitute for both cloth and paper. The fibre of the\nleaf, when beaten and spun, forms a beautiful thread, resembling silk\nin its glossy texture, but which, when woven into a fabric, more\nresembles linen than silk. This thread is now, and ever has been, the\nsewing thread of the country. The leaf of the maguey, when crudely\ndressed and spun into a coarse thread, is woven into sail-cloth and\nsacking; and from it is made the bagging in common use. The ropes made\nfrom it are of that kind called Manilla hemp. It is the best material\nin use for wrapping paper. When cut into coarse straws, it forms the\nbrooms and whitewash-brushes of the country; and, as a substitute for\nbristles, it is made into scrub-brushes; and, finally, it supplies the\nplace of hair-combs among the common people.\n\nThe great value of the maguey plant arises from the amount of\nintoxicating liquid which it produces, which is the chief source of\nintoxication among the common people of the table-land. There are two\nspecies of this plant cultivated. One of them flourishes in the desert\nportions of the country, from which an abominable liquor is distilled,\ncalled _mescal_, or _mejical_. The other is the flowering maguey, or\ncentury plant, of which so many fabulous stories are told in the United\nStates. This is one of the wonders of the vegetable world. Until the\nplant has reached its tenth year, or thereabouts, there is no trace of\na flower. In its fifteenth year, or thereabout, there are certain\nappearances which indicate that the central stem, or _hampe_, which\nsustains the flower, is about to form in the centre of the plant. If\npersons are not on the watch to cut out the heart at the proper time,\nthe _hampe_ shoots out, and grows to about the height of a telegraph\npost--for which I have often mistaken it--absorbing in its development\nthe sap, which, when fermented, forms the intoxicating drink called\n_pulque_. The sprouting of the stalk takes place in November or\nDecember; but the beautiful cluster of flowers, for which it is so much\nadmired, does not form at its top till February. In this last month,\nthe monster leaf that envelops the _hampe_ begins gradually to unfold\nitself, exposing to view a slender stalk, higher than a man on\nhorseback, with arms extended. On this stalk grow the flowers. Such is\nthe century plant--in botanical language, the _Agava Americana_.\n\nThe juice of the maguey, in its unfermented state, is called\n_honey-water_. It is gathered from the central basin by cutting off a\nside-leaf and cutting out the heart, just before the sprouting of the\n_hampe_, for whose sustenance this juice is destined. The basin, thus\nformed, yields every day from four to seven quarts--according to the\nsize and thriftiness of the plant--for a period of two or three months.\nThe process of taking it out of the plant is a little curious. Into the\nend of a long gourd is inserted a cow's horn, bored at the point;\nthrough this horn and into the gourd the juice is sucked up by applying\nthe mouth to a hole in the opposite side of the gourd. From the\ngourd-shell the juice is emptied into a bottle formed from the skin of\na hog, which still retains much of the form of the animal. To form this\nbottle of honey-water into _pulque_, all that is necessary is to put\ninto it a little of the same material which has been laid aside till it\nbecame sour, which operates like yeast, causing the honey-water to\nferment.\n\nAs soon as the maguey juice in the hog-skin has fermented, it is\n_pulque_; and is readily sold for eight, and sometimes as high as\ntwenty-five cents a quart, producing a very large revenue upon the cost\nof the plant. It is not ordinarily sold at wholesale; but each maguey\nestate has its retail shops in town, from which the whole product of\nthe estate is retailed out. One man, who has five of these shops in the\ncity of Mexico, keeps his carriage; and is reckoned, among the magnates\nof the land, deriving from this source alone, it is said, $25,000 a\nyear. The excise which Government derives from the sale of this liquor,\nwhich, in taste, resembles sour butter-milk, amounted to $817,739 in\nthe year 1793.\n\n\nPEROTE.\n\nThe traveler from the coast always arrives at Perote at a late hour;\nand as he leaves it again at an early hour next morning, he recollects\nnothing of it but its chilly night air, and the good supper which he\nwas too cold to enjoy. But on his return from Mexico, he usually has an\nhour of daylight, which he can improve in a survey of this small and\ncleanly town. Here the freight-wagons, with their twenty horses apiece,\nstop to recruit; and the cargo-mules, that take this route, are\ngathered in the immense stable-yards, which give to the place the\nappearance of a collection of caravansaries. The whitewash-brush has\nbeen industriously applied to the outside of the houses; and though\nthey are chiefly built of that frail material, dried mud, they present\na very neat and tidy appearance, giving one a very correct idea of what\nmay have been the appearance of one of the first class of Indian towns\nin the times of Cortez.\n\nA few rods to the north of the town stands the castle of San Carlos--a\nsquare fort, with a moat and glacis. It is built in the best style of\nfortifications of the last century, having been designed as a\ndepository for silver, when, in consequence of the wars of Spain with\nmaritime nations, it was not deemed prudent to send it forward to the\ncoast: it was much used for this purpose when the road below was\nblocked up, in the times of the insurrection, that began in the year\n1810. At one time the accumulation here was so great that it is said\nto have amounted to 40,000,000 of silver dollars; weighing about 1300\ntons, or a little short of the whole silver export of two years. This\ncastle is now in a fine state of repair. It has a large garrison of\nlancers, and at the time of my visit was daily in expectation of the\narrival of Santa Anna. From this castle Santa Anna, in 1828, issued his\n_pronunciamiento_ against Pedraza. In this castle he was imprisoned by\nRincon, in 1845, after his capture at Xico. From this castle he was\nbanished by decree of the Mexican Congress; and to it he was now\nreturning to hold the supreme power in the State.\n\nAt two o'clock in the morning we were aroused from our comfortable beds\nto take our places in the stage; and soon we were again upon the road.\nThere is something exceedingly attractive in the appearance of the\nskies upon this elevated table-land, 7692 feet above the ocean. The\nmorning star-light is very beautiful. It is so much clearer, and the\nstars are therefore so much brighter here than in the dense atmosphere\nwhere we inhabit, that the traveler, half chilled and sleeping, rouses\nhimself to contemplate the brilliant sights above him. The brightest\nstars that he has watched from childhood up, are brighter now than\never. New stars have filled the voids in his celestial chart, and\nsatellites are dancing round well-known planets. The North Star is\nstill visible, now 19 deg. above the horizon. The Dipper has dipped far\ndown to the northward. The Southern Cross--that mysterious combination\nof five stars, that emblem of the faith of Southern America, which only\nreaches full meridian at midnight prayers--is here 25 deg. above the\nhorizon, shining brilliantly. And then there are so many unknown\nsouthern stars, and so many unfamiliar constellations, that the short\nhours of night are well spent upon the driver's box.\n\nWe have been gradually descending into what appears to have once been\nthe bottom of a salt lake. The ground is partially incrusted with a\ncompound salt called _tequisquita_, is composed of equal proportions of\nmuriate of soda, carbonate of soda, and insoluble metal (common earth):\nthis compound is used by the Mexican bakers and soap-boilers as a\nsubstitute for salt and soda. A stinted grass is here and there\nscattered in patches over the _bad land_, as these barren plains are\ncalled; but the dry earth, which is rarely moistened for six months\ntogether, is covered with drifting sand, which is driven about by the\nhot winds of this desert.\n\nHow great was the change from what we had passed! The celestial chart,\nthat we had been admiring with so much rapture, had gradually rolled\nitself up, and as the sun came out, we had a view of the dreariness\naround us. It was truly a _bad land_--a land of evil--even a land\nfor wolves to prowl in, and where vultures watch for the carcasses of\ndying mules, and where robbers ply their calling with little fear of\ndetection. Here, in the midst of all this dreariness, we saw a pretty\nlake, and beautiful scenery around it, that looked for a little while\nlike an enchanted scene, and then vanished into air. We passed the\nhostelry of Tepeyagualco, where water is drawn from a fabulous depth,\nand soon came to that most celebrated spring of fresh water, situated\nupon the boundary-line of the two departments of Vera Cruz and Puebla,\nand bearing the poetical name of \"The Eye of Waters.\" But we were\nfollowed by a driving storm of sand all the way to Nopaluca, where we\nbreakfasted at twelve o'clock.\n\n\nAGED BEGGAR.\n\nAs we came out from breakfast we encountered an old beggar, whom I had\noften seen before at this place. He was so old that Time seemed to have\nforgotten him, and he too had forgotten Time. He could only reach his\nage by approximation: he recollected that his third son was earning\nday-wages when the decree came (in 1767) for the expulsion of the\nJesuits. This would make the old beggar 130 years of age, if we call\nthe son eighteen, and the father twenty-five at the time of his birth.\nPoor old man! how much he has suffered from outliving his own kindred.\nOne after another he has followed to the grave his children and his\nchildren's children, to the third and fourth generation, till now the\nlad that leads him by the hand, the only link that binds him to the\nrace of the living, is of the sixth generation.\n\nToward evening, after we had passed the storm of dust, we came to the\nlarge village of Amosoque, which is the only town of any magnitude\nbetween Perote and Puebla. It is noted for its excellent spurs; and was\nformerly much more noted as a haunt of robbers. From this village we\nwere driven in a little more than an hour to the city of Puebla.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII.\n\nPuebla.--The Miracle of the Angels.--A City of Priests.--Marianna\nin Bronze.--The Vega of Puebla.--First View of the Pyramid of\nCholula.--Modern Additions to it.--The View from its\nTop.--Quetzalcoatl.--Cholula and Tlascala.--Cholula without the\nPoetry.--Indian Relics.\n\n\n_Pueblo de los Angelos_--the \"Village of the Angels\"--derives its\nname from a miracle that occurred during the building of its celebrated\nCathedral. While its walls were going up, angels are said to have come\ndown from heaven nightly, and laid on the walls the same amount of\nstone and mortar that the masons laid the day previous. It is, of\ncourse, a sacred city. Its people, particularly the women, are the most\ndevout in all Mexico; and, of course, the most profligate, as we shall\nshow presently. It is a city of priests, and monks, and nuns, and\nfriars, of every order, white and gray, black and greasy. As in all\nSpanish-American towns, the fronts of the houses are plastered and\npainted in fresco; but the fresco painting has gone too long without\nrenewing, and the town looks now, as it did two years ago, gray,\nstreaked, and inhospitable. The unwashed houses are filled with\nunwashed people; and the streets swarm with filthy beggars, and monks\nasking for alms in the name of the most blessed Virgin. The streets,\nthanks to the male and female chain-gangs, are kept quite clean. But\nall else is dirty. If the angels, when they finished their work on the\nCathedral, had left a whitewash brush behind them, they would have done\nthe city a real service. The houses, inside and out, and occupants too,\nand the reputation of its men from olden time, all need whitewashing.\n\n\nCHARACTER OF THE POBLANAS.\n\nPerhaps I could not present a more deplorable picture of the moral\ncondition of the ladies of Puebla, who are celebrated for being so very\ndevout, \"but not very virtuous,\" than by copying the following from\nMadame Calderon de la Barca's \"Life in Mexico:\"\n\n\"Yesterday (Sunday), a great day here for visiting after mass is over.\nWe had a concourse of Spaniards, all of whom seemed anxious to know\nwhether or not I intended to wear a Poblana dress at the fancy ball,\nand seemed wonderfully interested about it. Two young ladies or women\nof Puebla, introduced by Senor ----, came to proffer their services in\ngiving me all the necessary particulars, and dressed the hair of\nJosefa, a little Mexican girl, to show me how it should be arranged;\nmentioned several things still wanting, and told me that every one was\nmuch pleased at the idea of my going in a Poblana dress. I was rather\nsurprised that _every one_ should trouble themselves about it. About\ntwelve o'clock the President, in full uniform, attended by his\naids-de-camp, paid me a visit, and sat about half an hour, very amiable\nas usual. Shortly after came more visits, and just as we had supposed\nthey were all concluded, and we were going to dinner, we were told that\nthe Secretary of State, the Ministers of War and of the Interior, and\nothers, were in the drawing-room. And what do you think was the purport\nof their visit? To adjure me by all that was most alarming, to discard\nthe idea of making my appearance in a Poblana dress! They assured us\nthat Poblanas generally were _femmes de rien_, that they wore no\nstockings, and that the wife of the Spanish Minister should by no means\nassume, even for one evening, such a costume. I brought in my dresses,\nshowed their length and their propriety, but in vain; and, in fact, as\nto their being in the right, there could be no doubt, and nothing but a\nkind motive could have induced them to take this trouble; so I yielded\nwith a good grace, and thanked the cabinet council for their timely\nwarning, though fearing that, in this land of procrastination, it would\nbe difficult to procure another dress for the fancy ball.\n\n[Illustration: ECCLESIASTICAL COSTUMES.]\n\n\"They had scarcely gone, when Senor ---- brought a message from several\nof the principal ladies here, whom we do not even know, and who had\nrequested that, as a stranger, I should be informed of the reasons\nwhich rendered the Poblana dress objectionable in this country,\nespecially on any public occasion like this ball. I was really thankful\nfor my escape.\n\n\"Just as I was dressing for dinner, a note was brought, marked\n_reservada_ (private), the contents of which appeared to me more odd\nthan pleasant. I have since heard, however, that the writer, Don Jose\nArnaiz, is an old man, and a sort of privileged character, who\ninterferes in every thing, whether it concerns him or not. I translate\nit for your benefit:\n\n\"The dress of a Poblana is that of a woman of no character. The lady of\nthe Spanish minister is a _lady_ in every sense of the word. However\nmuch she may have compromised herself, she ought neither to go as a\nPoblana, nor in any other character but her own. So says to the Senor\nde C----n, Jose Arnaiz, who esteems him as much as possible.\"\n\nIf priests were angels, the town would be rightly named, for it is a\ncity of priests and _religious_ men who have consecrated their lives\nto begging, and count it a merit with God to live on charity. Convents\nof male and female _religious_ abound, and, as the books tell us,\n$40,000,000, in the form of mortgages upon the fairest lands of the\nVega of Puebla, is consecrated to their support, under the supervision\nof the bishop. That smoking mountain, that outlet to infernal fires, is\nso lose at hand as to suggest the idea that this whole mass of impurity\nand moral rottenness may have been vomited up from the bottomless pit,\nor that the fallen angels, in their way thitherward, tarried here to\nfound a sacred city, see its Cathedral finished, and then led the way\ndown the inclined plane to that brimstone convent where friars \"most do\ncongregate.\"\n\n\nMARIANNA IN BRONZE.\n\nIn this city of dirty houses and dirty faces there is, nevertheless,\nsome public spirit. Since I was last here a bronze equestrian statue\nhas been set up in the Grand Plaza. It is a bronze woman, sitting\nquietly and easily upon a furious bronze horse. The horse is in a\nterrible state of excitement, but the woman is not alarmed in the\nleast; for she seems to be well aware that it is only make-believe\npassion, badly executed in bronze. Who could this woman be but\nMalinche, or Marianna, the Indian mistress of Cortez--a fit patroness\nof the women of Puebla. She was the first convert that Cortez ever made\nto Christianity; and her sort of Christianity is not unusual in Mexico.\nThat beautiful cone that rises so majestically out of the plain between\nPuebla and Tlascala bears the name of Malinche; but as this name was\napplied to her paramour as well as to herself, an additional\ntestimonial, in the form of a bronze statue, was deemed requisite; for\nshe is considered here as almost a saint, and would be altogether such\nif she had not been the mother of children, and ended her career by\ngetting married. That act of getting married--not her former\nlife--rendered her unfit for a saint; for how could an honest housewife\nbe a saint? She might have been the best of mothers and the best of\nwives, and have performed scrupulously the duties that God had assigned\nto her upon earth; but she was lacking in romance, in those aerial\nmaterials from which saints are made. Saints are made in damp, cold\nprison-cells, where, in the midst of self-inflicted misery, they see\nvisions, dream dreams, and perform cures upon crowds as deluded as\nthemselves.\n\nIt was a delightful afternoon when I mounted my horse for a ride to\nCholula. The wind of the day before had driven away every vapor from\nthis exceedingly transparent atmosphere, excepting only the cloud that\nwas resting upon Popocatapetl, a little below its snow-covered summit.\nIt was such weather as we have at \"harvest home,\" and it was truly a\n\"harvest home\" throughout the whole Vega. Men were working in gangs in\nthe different fields, gathering stalks, or husking corn, or cutting\ngrain, or plowing with a dozen plows in company, or harrowing, or\nputting in seed. It was harvest-time and seed-time together. The full\ngreen blade and the ripened grain stood in adjoining fields in this\nregion of perpetual sunshine. As I rode along between carefully\ncultivated estates, I did not fail to catch the enthusiasm which groups\nof cheerful field-laborers always inspire in one whose happiest\nrecollections run back to the labors of the farm. Such are the\nvarieties this country affords: three days ago I was enjoying the most\ndelicate tropical fruits, which I plucked fresh from the trees;\nyesterday I was traversing a salt desert covered with clouds of\ndrifting sand; and I was now among grain-farms of a cold climate.\n\n\nPYRAMID OF CHOLULA.\n\nRight before me, as I rode along, was a mass of trees, of ever-green\nfoliage, presenting indistinctly the outline of a pyramid, which ran up\nto the height of about two hundred feet, and was crowned by an old\nstone church, and surmounted by a tall steeple. It was the most\nattractive object in the plain; it had such a look of uncultivated\nnature in the midst of grain-fields. It would have lost half its\nattractiveness had it been the stiff and clumsy thing which the\npictures represent it to be. I had admired it in pictures from my\nchildhood for what it was not; but I now admired it for what it really\nwas--the finest Indian mound on this continent; where the Indians\nburied the bravest of their braves, with bows and arrows, and a\ndrinking cup, that they might not be unprovided for when they should\narrive at the hunting-grounds of the Great Spirit. A little digging, a\nfew years ago,[11] has furnished the evidence on which I base this\nassertion. This digging has destroyed the old monkish fiction to\nreinstate the truly Indian idea of the dead, and of the necessity of\nmounds for their burial.\n\nBy going round to the north side, I obtained a fine view of the modern\nimprovements which have been constructed upon this Indian mound. I rode\nup a paved carriage-way into the church-yard that now occupies the top,\nand giving my horse to a squalid Indian imp who came out of the vestry,\nI went in and took a survey of the tawdry images through which God is\nnow worshiped by the baptized descendants of the builders of this\nmound. My curiosity was soon gratified, and I returned to my place in\nthe saddle.\n\n[Illustration: PYRAMID OF CHOLULA.]\n\nI followed the wall around the church-yard, stopping from point to\npoint to look upon the vast map spread around on every side. Orizaba,\nwhich I first saw when 150 miles out at sea as a mammoth sugar-loaf\nsitting upon a cloud, had at Jalapa, and at \"the eye of waters,\"\ndifferent forms, while here it appeared to be joined with the Perote,\nforming the limit of the horizon toward the east. On the west were\nPopocatapetl, Iztaccihuatl, and Malinche; while smaller mountains and\nhills seemed to complete the line of circumvallation, which gave to the\nelevated plain of Puebla the aspect of the bed of an exhausted lake,\nand to the isolated hills, rising here and there upon its surface, the\nappearance of having been islands when the waters covered the face of\nthe land.\n\nThe cloud was still resting upon Popocatapetl; but its crest, far above\nthe clouds, was in that region where, in the tropics, ice and snow lie\nundisturbed forever. The marks which it bore of having once been the\nsmoke-pipe of one of Nature's furnaces, furnished us with the\ntranslation of its name--\"The mountain with a smoking mouth.\" But that\nlake of fire has long since ceased to burn, and when the mountain had\nlast emitted smoke was unknown to the oldest inhabitant. And that other\nmountain, Iztaccihuatl, or the \"White Woman,\" lying so quietly and\nsnug, in her covering of perpetual snow, at the side of the volcano,\ncalled up in the minds of the Indians the strange conceit of man and\nwife. There were forests on the mountain sides and trees along the\nrivers covered with green, but all else looked dry and parched. Seldom,\nindeed, has the eye of man ever rested on a finer farming country than\nthe great plain of Puebla, and seldom are lands seen better cultivated.\n\n\nCHOLULA.\n\nCholula was of old sacred to Quetzalcoatl, the \"God of the Air,\" who,\nduring his abode upon earth, taught mankind the use of metals, the\npractice of agriculture, and the arts of government. Translating myth\ninto history, we may call him the great Aztec reformer. He is\nrepresented as a man of fair complexion with curling hair and flowing\nbeard, very different from the type of the Aztecs. On his way from\nMexico to the coast he remained for a while at Cholula, where a mound\nand temple was raised to his honor.\n\nThis tradition made Cholula the Mecca of the Indian world; and with the\nmerchants who came to attend the annual fair held at the base of the\nmound came also hosts of pilgrims, to offer sacrifice to the memory of\nthat god who introduced flowers into the native worship, and\ndiscouraged cruelties and human sacrifices.\n\nAt Cholula I was so fortunate as to procure one of the images of\nQuetzalcoatl, cut in stone, with curled hair and Caucasian features. I\nafterward verified the same by comparison with the great image found at\nMexico, not without strong suspicions that both were counterfeits; for\nin this country even the most sacred records are open to suspicion.\nPopular tradition and the most approved authors will have it, that some\nstray white man had found his way among the Mexicans, and taught them\nempirically the calculations and divisions of time, and a very few of\nthe arts of civilized life unknown to our Indians, and they venerated\nhim as a god. But the probabilities are that the whole story is a myth,\nand for once the Inquisition was right in suppressing speculation in\nrelation to him, whether he was Saint Thomas or not.\n\nAt the base of this pyramid, three hundred years ago, flourished the\nrich and opulent city of Cholula, which, according to Cortez,[12]\ncontained 40,000 houses. He says that he counted from this spot 400\nmosques,[13] and 400 towers of other mosques--that the \"exterior of this\ncity is more beautiful than any in Spain.\" That is, as he and all other\nhistorians of the Conquest agree in representing it, it was at the same\ntime not only the Mecca and the commercial centre, but the centre of\nlearning and refinement of Mexico. Here Indian philosophers met upon a\ncommon footing with Indian merchants. Its government, too, was\nrepublican; and upon these very plains, three hundred years ago and\nmore, flourished two powerful republics, Tlascala and Cholula. The\nfirst was the Lacedaemon, the second the Athens of the Indian world, and\nwhen united they had successfully resisted the armies of Montezuma and\nhis Aztecs. But Aztec intrigue was too powerful for the American\nAthens, and the polished city of Cholula having been subdued by the\nsame arts by which Philip of Macedon had won the sovereignty of\nAthens--a combination of intrigue and of arms--Tlascala was left alone\nto resist the whole force of the Aztec empire, now aided by the\nfaithless Cholulans. Yet Tlascala was undismayed by the new combination\nbrought to bear against her, and did not readily listen to the proposed\nalliance of Cortez. It was only after three terrible battles with\nCortez, that Tlascala learned to appreciate the value of his\nalliance--an alliance which has conferred upon her perpetual freedom\nand a distinct political organization to the present time.\n\nThis is the poetry of the thing. Let us give it a little matter-of-fact\nexamination.\n\nThe spot on which I stand, instead of being what it has often been\nrepresented to be, is but a shapeless mass of earth 205 feet high,\noccupying a village square of 1310 feet. It is sufficiently wasted by\ntime to give full scope to the imagination to fill out or restore it to\nalmost any form. One hundred years ago, some rich citizen constructed\nsteps up its side, and protected the sides of his steps from falling\nearth by walls of adobe, or mud-brick; and on the west side some adobe\nbuttresses have been placed to keep the loose earth out of the village\nstreet. This is all of man's labor that is visible, except the work of\nthe Indians in shaving away the hill which constitutes this pyramid. As\nfor the great city of Cholula, it never had an existence; for if there\nhad been, only three hundred years ago, such a city here, composed of\n40,000 houses, with 400 towers, besides the 400 mosques, then some\nvestige or fragment of a fallen wall or a ruined tower would still be\nvisible. But I searched in vain for the slightest evidence of former\nmagnificence, and was driven to the unwelcome conclusion that the whole\ncity was fabricated out of some miserable Indian village, inferior,\nperhaps, to the present town of one-story, whitewashed mud huts.\n\nMy contemplations were broken in upon by a swarm of squalid women and\nchildren from the church vestry, importuning me to buy relics in clay,\nwhich might answer the double purpose of images of saints or of heathen\ngods, according to the taste of the purchaser. But when they found me\nimpracticable, they brought out their greatest curiosity--a flint\narrow-head, such as used to be plowed up in scores near the place where\nI was born. Thoroughly disgusted with the sight of this Acropolis, with\nthis ancient Athens of mud, I turned my horse's head toward Puebla; and\nas I rode on, I met scores of these modern Athenians trotting homeward,\nbare-headed and bare-footed, carrying \"papooses\" on their backs, while\ntheir faces, forms, and hair, and ragged dress, were the very\ncounterpart of the Indians of North America.\n\nThe Indians of Puebla have long enjoyed the distinguished honor of\nbeing the governing men, while the white inhabitants were ineligible to\na seat in the city councils. This city was formerly an Indian village,\nbearing the indigestible name of Cuetlaxcapen, or \"Snake in the Water;\"\nbut, in 1530, the Vice-King Mendoza established here a Spanish colony,\nbut left the original government unchanged; so that, down to the\nindependence, the city administration was conducted by an Indian\nalcalde, assisted by a council of four Indians. Notwithstanding the\nanomalous form of its government, Puebla has ever been a great\nmanufacturing town, and at this day consumes a quantity of cotton equal\nto some of our large manufacturing cities.\n\n      [11] The living witnesses of the result of this excavation are\n      still at Cholula, and the fact is mentioned in several American\n      works; my inference from the fact is the only novelty in the\n      matter.\n\n      [12] Cortez's \"Letters,\" Folsom's translation, p. 71.\n\n      [13] This word mosques Cortez constantly makes use of, apparently\n      to keep before the people of Spain the idea that he Was\n      conducting a holy war.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IX.\n\nA Ride to Popocatapetl.--The Village of Atlizco.--The old Man of\nAtlizco and the Inquisition.--A novel Mode of Escape.--An avenging\nGhost.--The Vice-King Ravillagigedo.--The Court of the Vice-King\nand the Inquisition.--Ascent of Popocatapetl.--How a Party perished\nby Night.--The Crater and the House in it.--Descent into the\nCrater.--The Interior.--The Workmen in the Volcano.--The View from\nPopocatapetl.--The first White that climbed Popocatapetl.--The Story\nof Corchado.--Corchado converts the Volcano into a Sulphur-mine.\n\n\nOne of the first objects of interest in Mexico is the volcano of\nPopocatapetl. A stage runs from Puebla to Atlizco, but beyond that\nvillage the visitor must travel upon horseback. Atlizco is worthy of a\nspecial notice from its situation in a most fertile valley, and its\npeculiar location at the base of a conical hill. This hill, like every\nattractive locality in Mexico, is the scene of romantic traditions of\nthe common people. From many, I select one illustration of the state of\nsociety in the times of the vice-kings.\n\nThere once was, the tradition runs in this village, an old _hidalgo_\nwho possessed a plantation in the immediate neighborhood of the town.\nHis family consisted of himself and two daughters; and he was rich.\nUpon a certain time, one of those strolling monks, with whom the\ncountry abounds, chanced to offer an indignity to one of the daughters,\nand the old man chanced to return the indignity by inflicting upon the\nmonk such a beating as never poor friar had yet received in the\nvice-kingdom--such a one as the feelings of an outraged father alone\ncould justify. This was not the end of the matter; it was only the\nbeginning of evil to the old man, as he well knew, for he had laid his\nhands upon one of the consecrated--one who had received the sacrament\nof \"Holy Orders;\" and, above all, he was rich enough to tempt the\ncupidity of the Inquisition, which always watched with jealous care\nover the orthodoxy of those whose estates, when confiscated, would add\nto \"the greater glory of God,\" that is, to the treasury of the \"Holy\nOffice.\"\n\nGuilty or not guilty, the old man had but one mode of escape, and that\nwas by avoiding an arrest. To effect this object he resorted to a novel\nexpedient. As soon as he heard that his accuser had started for Mexico,\nit was given out that the old man had suddenly died. A circumstance by\nno means thought remarkable, when it became known that he had assaulted\na priest. As he had not yet been accused, his neighbors ventured to\ncome to his funeral; and a coffin, with his name and age marked upon\nit, was decently buried in holy ground. The funeral fees, too, were\nsecured before the estate was pounced upon by the familiars of the\nInquisition. The daughters put on the deepest mourning, and hid\nthemselves from the public gaze, among their relatives; for they had\nnot only to endure the loss of home and estates, but were to be shunned\nas the accursed of God--the children of one dying while under the\naccusation of sacrilege. As for the Inquisition, its officials did not\ncare to investigate the question of the decease, for it had reaped all\nthe benefit it might hope for from his conviction--\"The Holy Office\"\nhad become his heir.\n\n\nTHE OLD MAN OF ATLIZCO.\n\nStrange appearances and stranger noises after a time were heard about\nthe cave that is said to be in the top of the hill of Atlizco, and\nsometimes a ghost had been seen wandering about the hill by certain\nbenighted villagers; and one time, when the accusing monk was returning\nrather later than usual from a drunken revel, this ghost who had now\nbecome the town-talk, chanced to fall in with him, and to give him such\na beating as few living men could inflict, and then disappeared. Still\nthere was no earthquake, and the sun rose and set as though no injury\nhad been done to a priest.\n\nTime wore its slow course along, without any important incident\noccurring in this matter, until the reputation of the new Virey,\nRavillagigedo, reached Atlizco. Shortly thereafter there appeared at\nthe vice-royal palace in the city of Mexico an old man, who related in\na private audience the story of his griefs and of his misfortunes, and\ninsisted that, in striking \"the Lord's priest,\" he had no intention of\ncommitting an act of impiety, but that the feelings of a father had\novercome him in an unguarded moment, and induced him to avenge an\nattempt made to dishonor his daughter. The story of the old man touched\nthe Virey, who had a manly heart wrapped up in a forbidding exterior.\nBut it was a delicate undertaking even for a vice-king to attempt to\nwrest a rich estate out of the clutches of the \"Holy Office\" without\nhimself being suspected of heresy, or of disloyalty to the Church. Yet\nRavillagigedo was never at a loss for expedients when justice was to be\ndone or the oppressed relieved. The best advice, however, that he could\ngive the old man was to hide himself again, and to send his daughters\nto Mexico to accuse the monk.\n\nUpon a set day, the vice-king was found arrayed in state, surrounded by\na council of Inquisitors, before whom the daughters, in the deepest\nmourning, presented themselves as the accusers of the profligate monk.\nThey stated, with an artless simplicity which could not fail to\nconvince, the story of the wrongs the monk had done them. The\nInquisitors, sitting in the presence of the incorruptible Virey, could\nnot, for very shame, do otherwise than declare unanimously that the\nmonk, and not the old man, was worthy of the censure of the Church.\n\n\"Then let us wipe away the stain that rests upon the fair fame of these\nladies as daughters of one dying suspected, by decreeing their father's\ninnocence,\" said the Virey.\n\nThis being assented to, the record of the old man's innocence was made\nup, and, when duly attested by the Inquisitors, was handed to the\ndaughters. A door was at this moment opened, and there entered into the\naugust presence a gray-headed old man, to whom the daughters presented\nthe record. The old man, when he had received the record, advanced,\nand, bowing humbly, made confession of his fault. It was a bitter pill\nfor the \"Holy Office\" thus to be tricked into the performance of a\ncommon act of justice, and in this way to lose a valuable estate. From\nthis time onward, it is said that Inquisitors were never known to hold\ncourt with a Virey.\n\n\nASCENT OF POPOCATAPETL.\n\nAt Atlizco horses must be procured for the journey up the mountain, for\nbeyond this point there is no carriage-road. I here follow the verbal\nnarrative of Mr. Frank Kellott, the artist of whom I have already made\nmention, as I dared not venture where bleeding of the lungs is produced\nby the rarity of the atmosphere and by the fatigue.\n\n\"The company consisted of Mr. Corchado, the proprietor, Mr. Munez, a\nneighboring gentleman, three ladies, and myself, all on horseback.\nSixteen Indians had been sent forward on foot early in the morning,\nwith all the conveniences to make the trip a safe and agreeable one.\nThe party went cheerfully up the mule-road that leads to the mountain\nrancho of Zacopalco, one of the highest inhabited points upon our\nglobe. The soil upon the mountain, composed of volcanic mud, yields\nsuch rich grasses, that almost at the upper edge of the timber there is\na milk-house (_lecheria_), where a cattleherd, if caught out at night,\nmay find a shelter. The inner man being well cared, for at the rancho,\nwe journeyed on, following the path that led us through a tangled mass\nof trees and plants, and among _barrancas_ whose sides were covered\nwith pines. The timber grew shorter and more stunted as we proceeded,\nuntil, at the height of 12,544 feet, the pines entirely disappeared. A\nlittle farther on, at an elevation of 12,692 feet, we were at the limit\nof vegetation. After journeying a league or so over the yielding sand\nmixed with sharp stones, twelve of our Indians and our horses gave out.\nFrom this point for a little way farther, our party proceeded on foot,\nwith the four remaining servants.\n\n\"We had gone only a little way farther when two of our fair companions\nalso gave out, and we sent them back to the rancho with the returning\nhorses and the fatigued servants, for there was now no time for delay,\nif we intended to reach the summit that day. The third lady went\nbravely on, and would probably have enjoyed the honor of being the\nfirst woman that had ever ascended Popocatapetl, had it not been for\nthe unfortunate arrangement she had made in her wardrobe. Instead of\nputting on the pantaloons, or _bloomers_, she had added extra skirts by\nway of precaution against the cold; so that when she had climbed about\n3000 feet over volcanic sand and loose stones, she gave out from\nfatigue and the bruises she had received in her numerous falls. It was\na painful effort even for those of us who had no _skirts_ to impede\nus to get on; and it was imprudent for her to proceed farther, for the\nicicles would be in her way as much as the sand and stones; for these\nicicles were like spikes projecting upward from the rocks, and between\nwhich we should have to place our feet and pick our way as best we\ncould without falling upon them. In this state of things there was no\nalternative, and we were reluctantly obliged to dissuade her from\nfarther effort, and to consign her over to the kind attentions of three\nmore of our Indians, who had given out, to conduct her down the\nmountain.\n\n\"Unfortunately, one of the last three Indians sent back had in his\npocket all the chocolate, an article almost indispensable to the\ncomfort of a party climbing a high mountain, and, unconscious of our\nloss, we continued our way until it was too late to remedy this loss.\nThe basaltic rock which we had now reached was covered with the icicles\nwhich I have described, and we found no little difficulty in placing\nour feet between them, and guiding ourselves with the iron-pointed\nsticks which had been furnished us; while the dizziness caused by\nlooking back upon the world we had left behind added to our troubles.\n\n\"Mr. Corchado, to draw off our attention from our own hardships,\nrelated to us the story of the death of six of his workmen, who\nundertook to make the journey down the mountain by night. Each of them\nhad a load of stolen brimstone on his head. The day after this rash and\ncriminal attempt, their dead bodies were found in such a situation as\nto indicate plainly the manner of their death. Stiffened with the\nintense cold, and impeded by their heavy burdens, they had stumbled in\nthe darkness, and had fallen upon the sharp ice. One had his cheek\npierced, and the others had divers wounds and bruises marked upon them\nas they lay frozen in death. The story of these unfortunates was not\ncalculated to inspire us with very pleasant reflections, in case the\nweather should change while we were on the mountain.\n\n\nA NIGHT UPON THE SUMMIT.\n\n\"We climbed on, having reached the basaltic rock at an elevation of\n16,805 feet, and with exhausting labor we traveled upon it until toward\nevening, when we came to that immense yawning abyss, the crater. The\nmouth was about three miles in circumference, of a very irregular form.\nInto this we entered, and soon arrived at the house which was to be our\nlodging for the night. This house was a curiosity in its way; as it was\nnot built like any other house, and could not be, on account of the\nrarity of the atmosphere at this elevation of 17,125 feet, and the\nimpossibility of obtaining sufficient oxygen, in a closed room, to feed\ncombustion. It was therefore built in the form of a miniature volcano.\nThere was an outside and an inside wall, of a circular form, the\noutside wall sloping inwardly, and the inside wall, which rested on\npillars, sloping outwardly, until it met the outside wall. The fire was\nbuilt in the open court, in the centre of the building, and the party\nsat under the arches and warmed themselves. The night that we were\nthere, the perverse smoke took the same direction as the heated air,\nand filled the whole inside to suffocation, so that our condition was\nmost disagreeable, notwithstanding the arrangements that Mr. Corchado\nhad made in his own apartment for the comfort of his guests, for the\nreflection of the sun on the snow had thrown a film over our eyes, in\nspite of our green vails. Our stomachs were nauseated at this giddy\nheight, and, though we had almost every other kind of eatable and\ndrinkable, our appetites craved only chocolate, which we could not\nobtain. Our heads were dizzy, and our limbs were weary, and we lay down\nin a dense smoke to try to sleep.\n\n\nDESCENT INTO THE CRATER.\n\n\"Morning came to our relief, and with it the film had passed from our\neyes. We looked up to the top of the mountain above us, and then down\ninto that fearful abyss into which we were soon to descend. We could\neat no breakfast, and could drink no coffee, and so we were soon ready\nfor our day's journey. We followed a narrow footpath until we reached a\nshelf, where we were seated in a skid, and let down by a windlass 500\nfeet or so, to a landing-place, from which we clambered downward to a\nsecond windlass and a second skid, which was the most fearful of all,\nbecause we were dangling about without any thing to steady ourselves,\nas we descended before the mouth of one of those yawning caverns, which\nare called the 'breathing-holes' of the crater. They are so called from\nthe fresh air and horrid sounds that continually issue from them. But\nwe shut our eyes and clung fast to the rope, as we whirled round and\nround in mid air, until we reached another landing-place about 500 feet\nlower. From this point we clambered down, as best we could, until we\ncame among the men digging up cinders, from which sulphur, in the form\nof brimstone, is made.\n\n\"We took no measurements within the crater, and heights and distances\nhere can only be given by approximation. We only know that all things\nare on a scale so vast that old Pluto might here have forged new\nthunder-bolts, and Milton's Satan might have here found the material\nfor his sulphurous bed. All was strange, and wild, and frightful.\n\n\"We crawled into several of the 'breathing holes,' but nothing was\nthere except darkness visible. The sides and bottom were, for the most\npart, polished by the molten mass, which had cooled in passing through\nthem; and if it had not been for the ropes around our waist, we should\nhave slipped and fallen we knew not whither. We almost fancied that, in\nthe moving currents of air, we heard the wailings of the lost in the\ngreat sulphurous lake below. The stones we threw in were lost to sound\nunless they hit upon a projecting rock, and fell from shelf to shelf.\nThe deep darkness was fearful to contemplate. The abyss looked as\nthough it might be the mouth of the bottomless pit. What must have been\nthe effect when each one of these 'breathing holes' was vomiting liquid\nfire and sulphur into the basin in which we stood? How immeasurable\nmust be that lake whose overflowings fill such cavities as this! It is\nwhen standing in such a place that we get the full force of the figures\nused by the Scriptures in illustrating the condition of the souls that\nhave perished forever.\n\n\"Let us turn from great to smaller things--to witness the labors of the\nmen who work, and eat, and often sleep in the volcano. Some are digging\nsulphur and placing it in baskets, while others are waiting to carry it\nupon their heads up the side of the crater. Others, again, out of our\nsight far up the mountain, are working at the oven, when the weather is\nclear, and there is no cloud between them and the sun, as it is only in\nthe finest weather that men can work upon the top, or carry burdens to\nthe hacienda. When the weather is fine, all the works are in full\noperation, and good profits are realized by furnishing brimstone for\nthe manufacture of sulphuric acid.\n\n\"We are at the top once more; and now that our eyesight, which we lost\nin climbing the mountain, is restored to us, we will take a view of the\nlower world. Looking toward the west, every object glows in the\nbrightness of the rising sun, except where the mountain casts its vast\nshadow even across the valley of Toluca. How strangely diminished now\nare all familiar objects that are visible! The pureness of the medium\nthrough which things are seen presents distant objects with great\ndistinctness, but it will not present them in their natural size, for\nit can not change the angle of vision. The villages upon the table-land\nwere apparently pigmy villages, inhabited by pigmy men and pigmy women,\nsurrounded with pigmy cattle, and garrisoned by pigmy soldiery. It is,\nby an optical illusion, Liliput in real life. Had the English satirist\nplaced himself where we now stood, he would have more than realized the\npicture which his fancy painted. He might have seen the marshaled hosts\nof Liliput marching to the beat of drum, in the proud array of war.\n\n\"If you wish to see all the sights, you must walk around the mountain,\nand look down its steepest side, where there is no table-land, into the\n'hot country.' The distance is so vast, the descent so steep, that an\ninexperienced climber suffers from dizziness. If you climb to the very\nsummit, 250 feet above the mouth of the crater, you will find more\nsurface about you. But it is a point where few can desire to remain\nlong, or to visit it a second time.\"\n\n\nTHE SULPHUR MINE.\n\nIn Cortez's letters to the Emperor we read as follows: \"As for sulphur,\nI have already made mention to your Majesty of a mountain in this\nprovince from which, smoke issues; out of it sulphur has been taken by\na Spaniard, who descended seventy or eighty fathoms by means of a rope\nattached to his body below his arms; from which source we have been\nenabled to obtain sufficient supplies, although it is attended with\ndanger. It is hoped that it will not be necessary for us to resort\n[again] to this means of procuring it.\" ... \"As the Indians told us\nthat it was dangerous to ascend, and fatal to those who made the\nattempt, I caused several Spaniards to undertake it, and examine the\ncharacter of the summit. At the time they went up, so much smoke\nproceeded from it, accompanied by noises, that they were either unable\nor afraid to reach its mouth. Afterward I sent up some other Spaniards,\nwho made two attempts, and finally reached the aperture of the mountain\nwhence the smoke issued, which was two bow-shots wide, and about three\nfourths of a league in circumference, where they discovered some\nsulphur which the smoke deposited.\"[14] (Bernal Diaz says that the\ncrater was perfectly round, a mile in diameter.--Vol. i. p. 186.)\nDuring one of their visits they heard a tremendous noise, followed by\nsmoke, when they made haste to descend; but before they reached the\nmiddle of the mountain there fell around them a heavy shower of stones,\nfrom which they were in no little danger.\n\nIn or about the year 1850, Corchado, an active and enterprising white\nman, had become a favorite with the Indians at the foot of the\nmountain, who proposed to him that he should accompany them when they\nagain undertook one of their expeditions into the volcano, which of\nlate had been very frequent. This was a proposition that exactly\naccorded with his adventurous character. Accordingly, on an appointed\nday, he appeared at the rendezvous, with a rope, a piece of sail-cloth,\nand an iron bar. Thus provided, the party, which was a large one,\nstarted up the mountain, but one by one they gave out, until only\nCorchado and a single Indian arrived at the mouth of the crater. Here,\nunfortunately, Corchado fainted from the loss of blood and fatigue; and\nthe Indian, not knowing what better to do, covered him with the\nsail-cloth, and then started down the mountain for assistance. In a\nshort time he revived under the sail-cloth, and from his dangerous\nposition he drew himself into the volcano, that he might not perish\nfrom cold outside. He descended as far as the shelf, and, looking over\ninto the abyss, he found himself so refreshed by the atmosphere of the\nvolcano that he brought down the bar, sail-cloth, and rope, determining\nto pass the approaching night at the bottom of the volcano. When he had\nfixed his bar and rope, the relieving party arrived, and all descended,\none by one, upon the rope to a point where they passed the night in\nsafety.\n\nCorchado, on his return, gathered up some of the scoria and carried it\nto Puebla, when it was found to contain so large a percentage of\nsulphur as to warrant its 'denouncement' as a sulphur-mine. Capital was\nprocured at Puebla sufficient to set up the rude apparatus we have\nalready described, by means of which a very handsome profit on the\nadventure was realized. But, owing to a lawsuit, in which the affair\nwas at that time (1852) involved, no effort had yet been made to pierce\nthe mountain, or to explore a passage through some vent or fissure. A\ngood path had been made up the mountain, and in the month of May it was\nconsidered quite a safe undertaking to visit these sulphur-works.\n\n      [14] This must have been the great fissure, and not the crater. I\n      see no objection to this statement; for in this Cortez had no\n      motive to falsify, and it is the ordinary appearance of an active\n      volcano.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER X.\n\nTexas.--Battle of Madina.--First Introduction of Americans into\nTexas.--Usurpation of Bustamente.--Texas owed no Allegiance to the\nUsurper.--The good Faith of the United States in the Acquisition of\nLouisiana and Texas.--Santa Anna pronounces against Bustamente.--Santa\nAnna in Texas.--A Mexican's Denunciation of the Texan War.--His Idea\nof our Revolution,--He complains of our grasping Spirit.--The right\nof the United States to occupy unsettled Territory.--A few more\nPronunciamientos of Santa Anna.--The Adventures of Santa Anna to the\npresent Date.\n\n\nWe must resume again the narrative of historical events, in order\nbetter to set forth the condition of the country through which we are\ntraveling.\n\nTexas is a turning-point in the history of Mexico. Captain Don Alonzo\nde Leon, in the year 1689,[15] by command of the Vice-King of New Spain,\ntook formal possession of Texas, in the name of His Most Catholic\nMajesty of Spain. Afterward a few military and missionary settlements\nwere commenced, with indifferent success, as the Indians were of a less\ndocile character than those of the southern provinces. They were ever\nrestive under the yoke of spiritual taskmasters, so that the feeble\nmissions and presidios had only a sickly existence down to the time of\nthe breaking out of the civil wars of Mexico.\n\nWe have already noticed the statement that, in the year 1819, a Mexican\ngeneral routed at the River Madina a party of 3000 men, who were on\ntheir way to join the Mexican insurgents. The above number is somewhat\nimprobable; say there were 500, which would be about as many as could\nwell be mustered at that early period for a filibustering expedition at\nNew Orleans.\n\nIn 1820 Moses Austin applied to the Spanish authorities, and obtained\nfrom them the right to settle a certain number of families in Texas. He\ndied soon after, and his son Stephen obtained a confirmation of the\ngrant, or, rather, a new grant, from the authorities established at\nMexico under the Federal Constitution of 1824. Under that constitution\nTexas was annexed to Coahuila, and, together with it, was formed into\nthe united state of Coahuila and Texas. From the authorities of this\nstate divers other Americans obtained grants of land under the\nprovisions of the colonization law of the Mexican Congress of the year\n1824. From this time all things went smoothly on, and the grantees were\nbusily engaged in introducing the number of families which were\nstipulated for in the said law, and in the grants made under it, when\nthe Spanish armada landed at Tampico.\n\n\nDOWNFALL OF BUSTAMENTE.\n\nIn consequence of the great dangers threatening the country, Congress\nhad conferred dictatorial powers upon the President of the Republic,\nVincente Guerrero. By virtue of his dictatorship, he had invested the\nVice-president of the Republic, Bustamente, with the command of an army\nof reserve, which he established at Jalapa. As soon as the Spanish army\nhad capitulated to Santa Anna, Bustamente put forth a _pronunciamiento_,\nand, marching to the city of Mexico, he deposed the President, whom he\nafterward caused to be cruelly put to death. Having now, by means of a\nsuccessful military insurrection, possessed himself of the executive\npower, he proceeded by violent means to overturn, one by one, the\ngovernments of the individual states. In this war against the states he\nwas also successful, except in the most distant one, that of Coahuila\nand Texas.\n\nTexas clearly owed no allegiance to the usurper Bustamente. It was an\nindependent state in all respects, excepting those powers it had\nconceded to the general government by adopting the Federal\nConstitution. The subversion of this Constitution reinstated Texas as\nan independent republic. It owed no farther allegiance to Mexico. Texas\nmight at once have applied for admission into our Union, or have asked\nto be annexed to any other foreign state, pleading not only her\ninherent right to do so, but the excessive cruelties that Bustamente\ninflicted on those state authorities that opposed his usurpations.\n\nThe learned and eloquent General Tornel, distinguished alike as a\nstatesman and a soldier, from whose popular history we have below made\na brief extract, in pleading the cause of his country, charges bad\nfaith against the United States in the acquisition of both Louisiana\nand Texas, but in both arguments he fails to make out a case. By the\ntreaty of San Ildefonso in 1800, France acquired an imperfect title to\nLouisiana; by the treaty of Paris in 1803, she conveyed all her title\nto the United States. But, before the United States would pay over any\nmoney on account of the treaty of 1803, she required Spain to confirm\nthe treaty of San Ildefonso by putting France into the actual\npossession of Louisiana. This being done, and not till it was done, did\nthe United States pay over the $15,000,000 stipulated as the purchase\nmoney. The dispute with Spain about boundaries was settled by the\ntreaty for the acquisition of Florida, in 1819, which established\nboundaries that were confirmed in a subsequent treaty with Mexico. Thus\nfar, certainly, there was no breach of faith.\n\nOn the night of January 3d, 1832, the garrison of Vera Cruz _pronounced_\nagainst the usurping government of Bustamente, which was then suffering\ndreadfully from the want of funds. A delegation was sent the same night\nto Santa Anna, who had been in retirement at his estate of _Manga de\nClavo_ since the murder of his friend, President Guerrero. This fourth\ninsurrection was prosecuted with varying success for several months,\nbut was finally terminated by the capitulation of Bustamente at Puebla,\nand the recalling of Pedraza from banishment in the United States, to\nserve out the few months that remained of his term of office as\nPresident.\n\nIn 1832 Santa Anna was elected successor to Pedraza as President of the\nFederal Republic of Mexico. Texas had now of right the option of\nreturning into the family of Mexican States, or of maintaining her\nseparate existence; but she was under no obligation to return, for, the\nconfederacy having been once broken up, it was optional with the only\nmember that had not submitted to the usurper to re-enter this\nunreliable family, or to continue outside. This election was not long\nopen; for, by the _pronunciamiento_ of Toluca (1835), the Federal\nConstitution was again abolished, and Santa Anna became dictator in\nfact, if not in name. The clergy were at the bottom of this last\nrevolution, and they demanded, as the price of their support, the\nextirpation of heresy from the territory of the Republic. This meant\nthe indiscriminate slaughter of all Texans. Santa Anna, who, in all his\nprevious wars, had never shown a disposition to be cruel to the\nvanquished, was so dazzled with the prospects before him as to be\nwilling to make the slaughter of the Alamo and of Fannin's division an\noffering to a priesthood who were plotting for the restoration of the\nInquisition. The battle of San Jacinto was, in its consequences, more\ndisastrous to the designs of the ecclesiastical party than even to\nSanta Anna himself.\n\n\nMEXICAN VIEW OF THE ANGLO-SAXONS.\n\nLet me stop in my narrative of events to translate a Mexican's eloquent\ndenunciation of the Anglo-Saxon race. It is from the pen of General\nTornel, a most uncompromising enemy of that race and of its religion.\nThus he opens his account of the Texan difficulty:\n\n\"In order to understand what we to-day (1852) are, and what we to-day\nvalue, it is indispensable to discover, and to perpetuate the history\nof one of the greatest scandals of the age--all of its antecedents, all\nof its consequences, all that can aid in coming to knowledge of this\ngreatest act of injustice of which the Mexican nation has been the\nvictim.\n\n\"Those who cross the sea change their skies, but not their nature. The\nAnglo-Saxons abandoned their country from physical and moral\nnecessities, and on account of their political and religious quarrels.\nTransporting themselves to the virgin forests of America, they brought\nwith them the characteristics of Northmen; they were distinguished for\nsobriety, laboriousness, and industry; for ardor in their enterprises;\nfor constancy, and for that spirit of adventure which subjugates all by\nthe right of conquest. They leveled all obstacles by the vigor of their\narm and the sweat of their brow, and from their successes has arisen\nthe hope of acquiring every thing by the inspiration of their talents\nand the force of their genius.\n\n\"The English, of whom John Cabot was a compatriot, came by the northern\nroute [to America], and discovered an immense country, whose rivers are\nthe grandest, whose forests appear to be antediluvian, whose lakes\nwould be called seas in Europe; with harbors on an extensive coast\nwhich rival the greatest in the world. It has a soil suited to every\npurpose of agriculture. In short, it has facilities for all\nenterprises, and for raising the material of a productive commerce\nsufficient to establish advantageous relations with the Old World, and\nfor creating an independent society; for supplying its necessities; for\nmaking its condition enviable; for rivaling the power, the influence,\nand the destinies of its parent country.\n\n\"The country which they discovered they found scarcely inhabited,\nalthough here and there wandered some tribes without social\norganization, without government, without the power of concentration,\neven to the extent which numbers give to savages. They [the colonists]\nearly learned that they could establish their dominion without\nresistance, and that they could extend it as far as they could open the\ncountry with the ax of the active colonist, who considered himself the\nheir of undiscovered wealth, which would result from an inevitable\ndestiny. The colonies which were established along the coast, and those\nwhich were formed in the interior, increased, as increases the gentle\nrill in its onward course by uniting with other rills and with rivers,\nuntil, becoming one vast torrent, it precipitates itself into the\nocean. The colonies of Tyre, of Carthage, or Rome were never comparable\nwith the Anglo-American colonies, who appropriated to themselves, in\nless than a century, regions more extended than the half of Europe.\n\n\"The observer of the providential destiny of the Anglo-Saxon race in\nAmerica notices that the emancipation of the thirteen American\ncolonies, which constituted so many states and an independent nation,\ninstead of being the result of the alleged political grievances, was\nrather the impulsive force of expansion, which encountered insuperable\nobstacles while the states were colonies subordinate to a European\nnation. They were retarded in their advances by relations and\ncompromises with other nations. The Anglo-Saxon, when translated to the\nwilds of America, needed only a stopping-place in order to found a\npeculiar and exclusive polity, which should enable him to march ever\nonward in his aggressions and usurping institutions.\n\n\"The United States of America lost no time in making themselves\npowerful; a nation rich in its industry, enviable in its commerce,\nrespectable in its social organization, which are so favorable to the\nadvancement of the condition of man. When the government had regulated,\nwith great prudence and wisdom, the interior system of the states, it\nplaced itself upon the watch for the compromised circumstances of\nembarrassed European states that possessed colonies on the American\ncontinent. Some of these colonies were contiguous to the limits which\nthe United States had acquired definitely by the treaty of peace of\n1783. In order to augment, at the expense of her neighbors, her\npossessions, already immense, and not yet well populated, she set about\nacquiring territory by astuteness, by cunning, by violence, and also by\njustifiable means, when such were available. Spain first, and Mexico\nafterward, have been her victims; and to-day these rich and powerful\nstates display the spoils, for such they are in reality, which they\nhave wrested from us. Such are the people that already rival those\nnations of Europe whose territories are the most extensive, and whose\ncommerce is spread over all the seas.\"\n\n\nWEAKNESS OF THE SPANISH TITLE.\n\nMy limits will not permit me to follow General Tornel through his\nstatement of the manner in which Louisiana, Florida, and Texas were\nacquired, and to notice his complaints of the injustice committed by\nthe Americans in all these acquisitions. He loses sight of the fact\nthat Spain had no title to her possessions in America but that of\ndiscovery, and that very doubtful claim had not, in a period of 300\nyears, been strengthened by actual settlement. Three or four\ndilapidated mud forts, and as many more feeble missions, constituted\nthe sum total of the Spanish possession of Texas; and settlements\nscarcely worthy of the name in the other northern departments\nconstituted all the title that Spain could put forth to those\ncountries; while the right of Mexico was as much weaker, as Mexico was\na weaker power than Spain, and morally incapable of settling the\ndisputed territory. The claim of the United States was the necessity\nfor land in which to settle her population, which was so rapidly\naugmenting by foreign immigration. Once in ten years she requires a\nportion of the wild land nominally belonging to Mexico, and once in ten\nyears she must take it.\n\n\nSANTA ANNA.\n\nIn 1836, while Santa Anna was a prisoner in Texas, Bustamente, then in\nbanishment in Europe, was elected President by the same party that had\nchosen Santa Anna as Dictator. In 1838, the government having incurred\nthe hostility of France, Vera Cruz was blockaded for several months,\nduring which time a night foray was made into the town by a party of\nFrench sailors, headed by the Prince de Joinville. On their return,\nthey were pursued by Santa Anna to the Mole, where they stopped farther\npursuit by discharging a cannon, which deprived Santa Anna of one of\nhis legs, and effectually wiped out the recollections of his\nunfortunate Texan campaign. In 1841, the government being no longer\nable to raise funds at two per cent. a month, the Minister of War,\nValencia, pronounced against Bustamente in the citadel of Mexico. The\nresult was, that Santa Anna was again elevated to supreme power,\naccording to the plan of Tacubaya, and the interpretation he put on\nthat plan. In 1843 a slight change was made in the Constitution, but he\nremained in power until 1845, when, having left the capital to put down\nthe insurrection of Paredes, Congress declared against him. Herrera was\nappointed President, and Santa Anna was imprisoned for a while in the\ncastle of Perote, and finally banished from the country. In 1847 he was\nrecalled by the Federal party, with the consent of President Polk, and\nbecame the chief support of the war, notwithstanding his totally\ninadequate means for organizing a successful defense. When the defense\ncould no longer be protracted, he left the city by night, and retired\nto the West Indies, and afterward to Carthagena, where he remained\nuntil he was recalled in 1852, and again restored to supreme authority.\n\nWe may sum up the politico-military life of Santa Anna by saying that\nhe has been engaged in eight _pronunciamientos_. Five of these have\nbeen made by himself; three by others, for his benefit. Twice he has\nbeen chosen President by the Federal party of the Federal Republic of\nMexico. Three times he has been made President by the Central, or\nEcclesiastical party. He has been twice banished from Mexico, and each\ntime recalled again and placed at the head of affairs. He has twice\nbeen taken prisoner, when his captors held long consultations upon the\npropriety of putting him to death. He has, in turn, been the candidate\nof all parties, and has served all parties faithfully in turn, but most\nfaithfully of all he has served himself. Actively engaged through life\nas a politician and a soldier, he has found time to readjust the whole\ncomplicated system of Mexican laws, and, in a series of volumes of\nautocratic decrees, he has drawn from that chaotic mass a new system of\njurisprudence, that will stand as a monument of his genius as long as\nthe Mexican nation shall continue.\n\n      [15] _Breva Resena Historica_, by Gen. Tornel. Mexico, 1852.\n      p. 135.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XI.\n\nFrom Puebla to Mexico.--The Dread of Robbers.--The Escort--Tlascala.--The\nExaggerations of Cortez and Bernal Diaz.--The Truth about Tlascala.--The\nAdvantages of Tlascala to Cortez.--Who was Bernal Diaz.--Who wrote his\nHistory.--First View of Mexico.\n\n\nAt early twilight, two stage-loads of passengers, drawn rapidly by\ntwelve wild horses through the now deserted streets of Puebla,\napproached the gate that opened out upon the road to Mexico. The rattle\nof the wheels and the clatter of so many hoofs had awakened the\ngatekeeper, and at our approach the ponderous portals that inclosed the\ncity by night flew open, and away we whirled out into the beautiful\nvega of Puebla.\n\nIn times of civil disorder, this is a fine field for robbers to ply\ntheir vocation in; and even now, when all was quiet, there was no\nlittle apprehension of a visit from these sovereigns of the road. The\npassengers had noticed my unmistakable Anglo-Saxon name, as it was\ncalled at the stage-door, and, when I had taken my seat, an elegant,\nlong Colt's revolver was passed to me by a passenger in full uniform.\nSuch is one of the advantages that a traveler enjoys who belongs to a\nrace of men of acknowledged courage--an advantage that enabled we to\ntravel alone across the continent without encumbering myself with a\nweapon; for, where all supposed me fully armed, and skilled in the use\nof weapons by instinct, I found it convenient to go unarmed. Upon the\npresent occasion, I did not wish to raise a smile of incredulity by\nprotesting that I had never fired a pistol in my life, so I quietly\nconsented to play the part of hero.\n\nBy displaying my weapon carelessly in my hand when we stopped to take\ncoffee at Saint Martin's, I procured a seat upon the outside, which had\nbeen refused me at Puebla.\n\nOur escort consisted of a body of six lancers, who, standing at the\nroadside, saluted us as we passed, and then rode after us at the top of\ntheir speed. Poor fellows! they found it hard riding to keep up with\nthe coach. It was some consolation for them to see a man seated on the\ntop of the stage with a Colt's pistol, even if he did not know how to\nuse it, and for once they rode out their beat without getting\nfrightened at their shadows. As the robbers were as great cowards as\nthemselves, whether the man on the box was really a fire-eater or not,\nit answered the same purpose. These stage-guards are heroes in their\nway; they always come when the road appears the safest, and never fail\nto ask for charity, but invariably leave you just as the coach\napproaches a thicket. A few days ago, this guard caught a fellow on the\nroad whom they believed to be a robber, and hung him with a\npocket-handkerchief.\n\n\nREPUBLIC OF TLASCALA.\n\nWe are now passing the borders of that famous Indian republic, of the\nhigh table-land, which shut out despotism by a lofty wall,[16] and was\nso completely isolated in the times of Montezuma that its people could\nobtain no foreign products, not even cotton or salt;[17] whose food was\nthe maize which they cultivated, and the game which they caught upon\nthe snow-capped mountains; whose clothing was made from the maguey, and\nfrom skins of animals taken in the chase; a people whose government was\na council of elders, which was presided over by an hereditary chief;\nwhose political institutions have been the study and admiration of the\nlearned of many lands. That is, in plain English, they were an ordinary\ntribe of North American savages, obtaining their living, as other\nIndians did then and do now, by the cultivation of Indian corn and\nhunting, having the same crude form of government that is common to all\nthe savage tribes of North America. They gloried in their savage\nnotions of independence, and submitted only to the merest shadow of\nauthority. They had not yet reached that point of social organization\nat which the loose government of savages gives way to the despotism of\nthe next stage of advancement, which we shall call _barbarism_. The\ndifference between the Tlascalans and the Aztecs was the same\ndifference that exists between the North American savages, who live in\nunderground wigwams,[18] and the barbarous tribes of the interior of\nAfrica, that live in cities of mud huts above the ground, and who yield\na slavish obedience to a half-naked emperor, who sits or squats upon an\nox-hide in a mud palace, exercising the power of life and death,\naccording to his momentary caprice, upon thousands of trembling slaves.\nThe concentrated power and wealth of a whole tribe is in single hands,\nand is made available for conquest and for the sensual enjoyment of a\nsingle individual. Savages can only act in concert when all are agreed,\nhence councils are their governing power, and the orator has as much\ninfluence among them as the successful warrior; but when they have\nadvanced a step, and power has become concentrated, the orator becomes\nsilent, and the war-chief is the government.\n\nI had read with avidity the histories of Mexico, and gave to them\nimplicit credence, until I stood upon the Indian mound of Cholula, and\nsearched in vain for the least vestige of that magnificent city of\n40,000 houses, which, only 300 years ago, was in the height of its\nprosperity; and though it is not in the power of man, in the space of a\nthousand years, wholly to obliterate the traces of a great city, yet\nnot a vestige of the Cholula of Cortez can now be found. As I followed\nup the investigation, I soon discovered that not a vestige of any of\nthe cities that entered into the alliance with Cortez can now be found.\nNot a vestige exists even of the old city of Mexico, except the\ncalendar and sacrificial stones, of which I shall speak hereafter.\n\n\nCORTEZ AND BERNAL DIAZ.\n\nCortez says that a dry stone wall, nine feet high, inclosed Tlascala\nfrom mountain to mountain, through which he entered between overlapping\nsemicircles of the wall. He says that he was attacked first by an army\nof 6000 Indians, then by an army of 100,000 on one day, and on the next\nby 149,000. He says farther, \"I attacked another place, which was so\nlarge that it contained, according to an examination I caused to be\nmade, more than 20,000 houses.\" Of the capital of Tlascala, he says,\n\"It is larger than Granada, and much stronger, and contains as many\nfine houses and a much larger population than that city did at the time\nof its capture.\"\n\nA comparison of the statements of Bernal Diaz and those of Cortez will\ncast some discredit upon the narrative of the former. The stout old\nchronicler cuts down the 100,000 Indians in the second battle to\n50,000, and makes no mention of the third great action, in which\n149,000 Indians were said by Cortez to have been engaged. Here is\nanother comparison:\n\n\"There is,\" says Cortez, \"in this city [Tlascala], a market, in which\nevery day 30,000 people are engaged in buying and selling, besides many\nother merchants who are scattered about the city. The market contains a\ngreat variety of articles, both of food and clothing, and all kinds of\nshoes for the feet, jewels of gold, and silver, and precious stones,\nand ornaments of feathers; all as well arranged as they possibly can be\nfound in any public square in the world.\"[19]\n\nNow see the difference between this great Munchausen and his professed\napologist and companion, the writer of Bernal Diaz, who was familiar\nwith the suppressed manuscript of Las Casas, and makes quotations from\nit. \"The elder Xicotencotl,\" says Bernal Diaz, \"now informed Cortez\nthat it was the general wish of the inhabitants to make him a present,\nif agreeable to him. Cortez answered that he should at all times be\nmost happy to receive one; they accordingly spread some mats on the\nfloor, and over them a few cloaks, upon which they arranged five or six\npieces of gold, a few articles of trifling value, and several parcels\nof manufactured _nequen_--altogether a poor present, and not worth\ntwenty pesos (dollars). The caziques, on presenting these things to\nCortez, said to him, 'Malinche! we can easily imagine that you will\nnot exactly experience much joy on receiving a present of such\nwretched things as these; but we have told you before that we are\npoor--possessing neither gold nor other riches, as the deceitful\nMexicans, with their present monarch, Montezuma, have, by degrees,\ndespoiled us of every thing we had. Do not look to the small value of\nthese things, but accept them in all kindness, and as coming from your\nfaithful friends and servants.' These presents were, at the same time,\naccompanied by a quantity of provisions.\"[20]\n\n\nTHE TRUTH ABOUT TLASCALA.\n\nThus, according to Cortez, the Tlascalans dwelt in cities rivaling the\nmost polished and commercial cities of Europe; according to Diaz, they\nwere so poor that they were unable to make a present worth twenty\ndollars! Cortez gives a view of \"a large wall of dry stone, about nine\nfeet in height, which extends across the valley from one mountain to\nthe other: it was twenty feet in thickness, surmounted throughout its\nwhole extent by a breastwork a foot and a half thick, to enable them to\nfight from the top of the wall.\" Diaz says, \"We came to an enormous\nintrenchment, built so strongly of stone, lime, and a kind of hard\nbitumen, that it would only have been possible to break it down by\nmeans of pick-axes.\"[21] Such a wall, or the vestiges of it, would last\nfor thousands of years; for it is not in the destructive power of man\nwholly to obliterate it, and yet I have been utterly unable to find\neven a ruin, and I verily believe the whole of this Chinese wall is a\nfiction.\n\nTlascala is an Indian reservation of an oval shape, sixty-nine miles\nlong by forty-two miles wide. Its climate is cold. Its soil is not\nremarkably good. It has had its independent government since the time\nof Cortez. Its means of subsistence have been increased, and extensive\nmanufactories have been established. The only enumeration ever made of\nits inhabitants was in 1793, when it was found to contain 51,177 souls.\nIn the extravagant official estimate of last year, its population is\nset down at 80,171.[22] Cortez says that Tlascala contained a population\nof 500,000 inhabitants, according to a report made by his orders. We\nhave here our historians within metes and bounds, between mountains and\nstone walls; a perfect non-intercourse established with all the world;\nall foreign means of supply cut off, and the Indians dependent for\nsubsistence upon their own rude cultivation of maize. My readers may\ncall me extravagant if I should say that Tlascala probably contained\nabout 10,000 inhabitants in the time of Cortez, and could therefore, in\nan emergency, produce 1000 warriors. A greater number than this would\nbe contrary to the laws of population. I might here stop and call hard\nnames, but it is not my purpose to \"bring a railing accusation\" against\nany. My only duty is to place evidence before the reader, and then let\nhim judge how much reliance is to be placed upon any historical\nstatements that have been trimmed and modified to suit the purposes of\nthe Spanish Inquisition.\n\nThe quick wit of Cortez early discovered that Tlascala was a great\nnatural fortress, and that he could make it the centre and base of his\noperations in the wars he was contemplating against the different\nIndian tribes of the table-land. The hatred borne against the Mexicans\nby the Tlascalans assured him of their co-operation against Montezuma.\nHence the Tlascalans were especially favored. They shared with him in\nall the perils of his enterprise, and in the plunder gathered from the\nconquered tribes; for with them rested the question whether he should\nsucceed, and be hailed as the hero of a holy war, or should be branded\nas a buccaneer, robber, and enslaver. And when, in course of time, the\nIndian element became the ruling power, curses loud and deep were\nmuttered against the enslaver of the Indians, and the Tlascalans came\nin for their share of imprecations.\n\n\nCENSORSHIP OF HISTORICAL BOOKS.\n\nBut who was Bernal Diaz? This would be a strange question to ask in a\ncountry where there was liberty of speech and liberty of the press, but\nin Spain the censorship was not only repressive, but it was\n\"suggestive.\" It not only suppressed the writings of authors, but\ncompelled them to father productions that were the very opposite of\nthose they wished to publish. Take the case of poor Sahagun, who wrote\na refutation of the historian of the conquest, under the pretense of\ngiving the Indian account of that event: when his book was finally\nallowed to see the light, after a delay of many years, it was found\nthat his own account of the conquest had been suppressed, and the\nregular Spanish account had been substituted. Of Las Casas's \"Apology\nfor the Indians,\"[23] which had occupied thirty-two years of his life,\nthat part only was allowed to appear which treated of Saint Domingo.\nBut his refutation of the histories of the conquest of Mexico is wholly\nsuppressed. To have proved the Conquistadors a gang of unprincipled\nbuccaneers would have spoiled a Holy War, which was just what the\nInquisition would not allow to go before the world. To the little work\nof Boturini on Mexico there are appended, 1. The declaration of his\nfaith in the Roman Catholic Church in the most unequivocal terms. 2.\nThe license of the Jesuit father. 3. The license of an Inquisitor. 4.\nThe license of the Judge of the Supreme Council of the Indias. 5. The\nlicense of the Royal Council of the Indias. 6. The approbation of the\n\"qualificator\" of the Inquisition, who was a bare-footed Carmelite\nmonk. 7. The license of the Royal Council of Castile. Beyond all this,\nthe writer must be a person in holy orders, and be a person of\nsufficient influence to obtain the favorable notice of all these\nbodies, who were instinctively hostile to the diffusion of all\ninformation, particularly in regard to the New World. Nor was this the\nend of the difficulty; the license of any one of these officials could\nbe revoked at pleasure, and, when republished, the work had to be\nre-\"_vised_.\" Even as late as the year 1825, a Spanish standard author\ncould not be republished without expurgation.[24] With such facts\nbefore us, it is safe to declare that not a single statement of fact\nthat affected either the interests of the king or the Church was ever\npublished in Spain or her colonies during the three hundred years of\nthe existence of the Inquisition; but every thing published was\nmodified to suit the wishes of the censors, without any regard to the\nsentiments of the putative author.\n\nBut who was Bernal Diaz? How came he to be familiar with the writings\nof Las Casas that never saw the light? Had he access to the secret\narchives of the convent? He refers to the account of Las Casas as\nfollows:\n\n\"These [the slaughters at Cholula] are, among others, those abominable\nmonstrosities which the Bishop of Chiapas, Las Casas, can find no end\nin enumerating. But he is wrong when he asserts that we gave the\nCholulans the above-mentioned chastisement without any provocation, and\nmerely for pastime.\"[25] The history of Diaz is among the standard\nliterary productions of that age, and is a very picture of candor and\nsimplicity. On every page there are such evident efforts at\ntruthfulness as to raise a suspicion that something more than, a simple\nnarrative was the object of writing this book fifty years after the\nconquest. By supposing the author to be only sixteen years old when he\ncame to America, Lockhart makes him only seventy years of age when he\nwrote the work. But if we suppose him to have been of a reasonable age\nwhen he began his adventures, he must have been between eighty and\nninety years old when this book is alleged to have been written. Gomara\nhad overdone the matter in the superhuman achievements which he had\nascribed to Cortez, while Las Casas had proved the conqueror and his\nparty to have been a gang of cruel monsters. Now, something had to be\ndone to avert the odium that was beginning to attach to this crusade\nagainst the enemies of the Church. In Spain, where a padlock was upon\nevery man's mouth, and where each one buried his suspicions in the most\nsecret recesses of his heart, and trembled lest, even in his dreams, a\nthought of impiety might reach the ear of a familiar, history could\nalways be made to conform to the interests of the Church.\n\nSince the records of the Spanish Inquisition have become the property\nof the public, and the manner in which the facts of history were\ntrifled with is now understood, it is a question more easily asked than\nanswered, Who wrote such and such a book?\n\n\nWHO WROTE BERNAL DIAZ?\n\nWho, then, wrote the history of Bernal Diaz? We have seen that it cuts\ndown the monstrous exaggerations of Cortez more than a half, yet we\nshall see that the statements of Diaz are still incredible. It is a\nvery religious book, as the Spaniards understand the word religion, and\nreflects great credit on the Church. But, with the slight evidence we\nhave presented, no one would charge the work with being altogether a\nfiction, and Bernal Diaz a myth. All that can be said is, that we are\nleft in that state of uncertainty in which every one finds himself who\nlooks into a record that was within the control of the Inquisitorial\ncensors.\n\nOur stage-ride has been forgotten in discussing historical questions;\nand while we have been dwelling upon Cortez and Bernal Diaz, we have\ncrossed the plain, and been climbing the heights of Rio Frio, and now\nwe begin to catch glances of the valley and of the city of Mexico--a\ncity and valley so renowned in history and tradition, that it seems\nmore like a city of the Old World than a town in the interior of the\ncontinent that Columbus discovered. Truly it is an old city. It was an\nold city before Columbus was born--an old city in a new world. It is\none of the links that binds the present age to ages long past and\nalmost forgotten--a city where the present and the past are strangely\nmingled together. In its streets are \"penitents,\" wandering, in\nsackcloth and sandals, with a downcast look and a rope for\nself-castigation, among soldiers in new French uniforms and ladies in\nthe latest Paris fashions. This is not the time for a favorable view of\nthe valley from this point. To see it in its full glory, we must look\nupon it at sunrise.\n\n      [16] Folsom's _Letters of Cortez_, p. 49.\n\n      [17] _Bernal Diaz._ Lockhart's translation. London, 1844.\n      Vol. i. p. 157.\n\n      [18] \"We buried our dead in one of the subterranean\n      dwellings.\"--_Diaz_, vol. i. p. 152.\n\n      [19] _Letters_, p. 61.\n\n      [20] _Bernal Diaz_, vol. i. p. 179.\n\n      [21] Vol. i. p. 144.\n\n      [22] _Colleccion de Leyes_, 1853, p. 184.\n\n      [23] _Lord Kingsborough_, vol. vi. p. 265.\n\n      [24] _A Year in Spain, by an American._\n\n      [25] _Bernal Diaz_, vol. i. p. 207.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XII.\n\nAcapulco.--The Advantages of a Western Voyage to India.--The great\nannual Fair of Acapulco.--The Village and Harbor of Acapulco.--The\nWar of Santa Anna and Alvarez.--The Retreat.--Traveling alone and\nunarmed.--The Peregrino Pass.--Quiricua and Cretinism.--Chilpanzingo.--An\nill-clad Judge.--Iguala.--Alpayaca.--Cuarnavaca.\n\n\nLet us now make a journey in another direction--from Acapulco northward\nto the city of Mexico--the route that the East India trade used to\nfollow. But, first of all, let us discourse a little time about this\nport of Acapulco, once so famous upon the South Seas. It was not\ndiscovered when Cortez built, in Colima, the vessels that went to\nsearch for a northwest passage; but when they had returned from their\nfruitless search, they anchored in the mountain-girt harbor of\nAcapulco. The discoveries of the celebrated navigator, Magellan, fixed\nthe commercial character and importance of this sea-port. He had sailed\nthrough the straits that bear his name, and coasted northwardly as far\nas the trades. From this port he bore away to the Spice Islands,\ndiscovering on the voyage the Philippine Islands, where the city of\nManilla was founded. By this voyage he demonstrated that the advantages\nof a route across the Pacific were so superior to a voyage around Cape\nHorn, as to justify the expense of a land transit from Acapulco to Vera\nCruz, and reshipment to Spain. Now that the Panama Railroad is made,\nthis demonstration may prove advantageous to other nations.\n\n\nACAPULCO.\n\nThe practical advantage of this discovery was the establishment of the\nannual Manilla galleon, in which was sent out 1,000,000 silver dollars\nto purchase Oriental products for the consumption of Spain and all her\nAmerican colonies. In this galleon sailed the friars that went forth to\nthe spiritual conquest of India. In it sailed Spanish soldiers, who\nfollowed hard after the priests, to add the temporal to the spiritual\nsubjugation of Oriental empires. To this harbor the galleon returned,\nfreighted with the rich merchandise of China, Japan, and the Spice\nIslands. When the arrival of the galleon was announced, traders\nhastened from every quarter of New Spain to attend the annual fair.\nLittle vessels from down the coast came to get their share of the\nmammoth cargo. The king's officers came to look after the royal\nrevenue; and caravans of mules were summoned to transport the Spanish\nportion of the freight to Vera Cruz. Thus, for a short time, the\npopulation of this village was swollen, from 4000 to 9000, which fell\noff again when the galleon took her departure.\n\n[Illustration: ACAPULCO.]\n\nSuch was the commercial condition of the town of Acapulco down to the\ntime of the independence. From this time it was lost to commerce, until\nit was made a half-way house on the voyage to California. The town lies\nupon the narrow intervale between the hills and the harbor. It is built\nof the frailest material, and is destroyed about once in ten years by\nan earthquake.\n\nThe castle of San Diego stands upon the high bank, and, though\ncommanding the entrance to the harbor, is itself commanded by the\nsurrounding high lands, and has so often been taken by assault during\nthe last thirty years as to be considered untenable. The harbor appears\nlike a nest scooped out of the mountains, into and out of which the\ntide ebbs and flows through a double channel riven by an earthquake in\nthe solid rock. Tradition says it once had another entrance, but that\nan earthquake closed it up and opened the present channel. There is\nstill another opening in the sharp mountain ridge that incloses it from\nthe sea, but this opening, dug by the labor of man, at a point opposite\nthe entrance of the harbor, was to let the cool sea-breeze in upon one\nof the hottest and most unhealthy places upon the continent. Such, in\nsubstance, is and was the little city of Acapulco, the seat and focus\nof the Oriental commerce of New Spain and of all the Spanish empire.\n\n\nWAR OF SANTA ANNA AND ALVAREZ.\n\nSanta Anna and Alvarez are the only remaining insurrectionary chiefs in\nMexico. When I was last in the capital, Santa Anna was reigning supreme\nin the vice-royal palace, and Alvarez was supreme at Iztla, the capital\nof the Department of Guerrero, of which Acapulco is the sea-port town.\nThe two chiefs had been long hostile to each other, but a gold mine,\ndiscovered upon the bank of the River Mescala, was \"the straw that\nbroke the camel's back.\" Alvarez had not been consulted in the\ndisposition made of it. Santa Anna felt himself powerful in his\nnewly-equipped army of 23,000 men, the finest army that had ever been\nseen in Mexico--an army which he was maintaining at a daily cost of\n$23,000. Alvarez was equally strong in his mountain fastnesses, in the\naffections of the _Pintos_, or \"Spotted People,\" and, above all,\nin the poverty of his country. Santa Anna took the initiative by\nsending 2000 men to garrison Acapulco, and Alvarez committed the first\nopen hostility, by closing the passes against them. Then the campaign\nbegan. Santa Anna traveled at the head of his grand army. During his\nunobstructed march to Acapulco there occurred a great many victories,\nfor victories are indigenous products of Mexico. The siege of the\ncastle of San Diego de Acapulco was the first of the long list of\nunsuccessful sieges that distinguished the year 1854. The besiegers\ndared not risk an assault, and they had not sufficient material for\nconducting a regular siege. For some weeks the opposing forces remained\nlooking at each other, while almost the only blood spilled was by the\nclouds of musquitoes that hovered over the camp of the grand army, and\nby the swarms of fleas that infested the castle. It might well be\ncalled a bloody war, for few escaped without bearing the scars of\nwounds and bloodletting.\n\nWhile the besieging army was itself thus almost devoured, and had\ndevoured all the eatables of the Pintos, symptoms of rebellion showed\nthemselves at Mexico, to suppress which required the presence of Santa\nAnna. The generals of his army thought that they also might render more\nimportant services to the country in the streets of Mexico than in this\ninglorious war with bloody insects! A retreat was therefore sounded,\nand the country of the Pintos was evacuated. Thereupon rushed forth the\nlittle garrison from the clutches of the devouring insects, and issued\na heroic proclamation, which was enough to frighten a whole army.\n\nIt is time to commence my itinerary across the mountains northward to\nthe city of Mexico. My journey was by the same mule-path that Oriental\nmerchants have climbed for centuries, as is shown by the vestiges of\nthat strange race of which Humboldt speaks--an inter-mixture of\nManillamen and Chinamen with the native race.\n\nMy traveling companion, who had a pistol, left me and went back at the\nfirst _venta_, or station-house, four leagues from Acapulco. At\nLemones, the second station-house, four leagues farther, I passed the\nnight sleeping upon a table on the veranda. This is the common\nlodging-place for solitary travelers in Mexico. Here I formed my first\nacquaintance with the _venta_ pig, who considers himself the peculiar\nfriend of the traveling public. All the advances made by my new\nacquaintance at this first interview were occasional tugs at the\nblanket during the night, and divers unsuccessful attempts to turn the\ntable over. At Alta, two stages farther on, the pig ensconced himself\non a mat with the children, while he gave me no farther annoyance than\nan occasional visit, and thrusting of his nose into the hammock where I\nslept.\n\nIt was still dark when I left Alta in order to clear the Peregrino Pass\nand reach Tierra Colorado that day. In a few hours I gained the top of\nthe pass, and sat down to take a survey of the zigzag way up which my\nold horse had climbed, and of the extensive region of hill and mountain\ncountry before me. It is difficult to believe that over this slight\nmule-path all the Spanish commerce of India has passed, and cargoes of\nsilver dollars, amounting to hundreds of millions, during a period of\nthree hundred years. Over this pass armies have continued to advance\nand to retreat with one uniform result: if the army is a large one, it\nis starved out of the country; if it is a small one, it is destroyed.\nHunger devours the large armies; the Pintos devour the little ones. All\naround was now as quiet and solitary as the grave. There were no signs\nto indicate that this spot had been the scene of so much life and\ncontention. The prospect was a delightful one, and I could have enjoyed\nit much longer had I not been assailed by that common enemy, that has\nassailed every general and colonel that has crossed this pass--an empty\nstomach; so that I and my old horse did our very best to reach the ford\nof the Papagalla, where there was a presumptive possibility that\neatables might be found. I found entertainment for beast at the ford,\nbut no food for his rider until we reached Tierra Colorado.\n\nHere prevails not only that harmless cutaneous affection, the _Quiricua_,\nwhich causes people to appear spotted or painted (_Pintos_), but also\n_Cretinism_, the much more formidable disease so prevalent among the\nmountains of Switzerland.\n\nThis town is also remembered as the scene of a bloody battle. General\nGaray, who had lost his way the day before, had here come up, and we\njogged along together; but as a Mexican general and escort are a\ndoubtful protection to an unarmed man, if there is any real danger on\nthe road, a prudent traveler will shake them off and travel on alone.\n\nWe passed Buena Vista, the fine sugar estate of M. Comonfort, and\nAquaguisotla, and slept at Mazatlan, and the next day arrived at the\nfamous city of Chilpanzingo, or City of the Bravos, the centre and\nfocus of the insurrection in the southern provinces. Here, in the\npublic square or plaza, in front of a church built by Cortez, there was\na grand bull-fight, or rather ox-fight, in which great efforts were\nmade to infuse some life into a dozen stupid cattle. These efforts were\nattended with very indifferent success. A deep _barranca_ extends\nto the Mescala, the largest river in Southern Mexico, across which we\npassed on a raft of gourds, propelled by two naked Indians, who swam\nacross, each holding in his right hand a corner of the raft.\n\n\nAN ILL-CLAD JUDGE.\n\nThe next night, after dark, I arrived at a little village, and turned\ninto an open caravansary. The old man of the establishment was very\nkind, and offered me a mat to lie on, but he had no corn for my horse.\nAfter making some inquiries that were a little unpleasant for a man who\nwas traveling without a passport to answer, he said he would procure\nfor me some corn from the alcalde. This village magistrate, who, in the\nabsence of the \"Judge of First Instance,\" is _ex officio_ a judge,\nwas an enormous negro, over six feet in height, whose dignity was not\ncertainly dependent upon his official robes, for a single napkin\nconstituted his whole apparel. He sat upon an ox-skin, which did duty\nfor the wool-sack--the very personification of the majesty of the law,\nwith curled wig, and hide as black as the gown of the Lord Chief\nJustice, with the advantage that both were natural. This was the second\nnegro I had yet seen in the country. The other held a commission as\ncaptain in the army, and was in the escort of General Garay.\n\nI had a hard day's ride to reach the city of Iguala in time to witness\nthe celebration of the independence, which was proclaimed here in 1821.\nThe celebration, for the most part, consisted in eating and drinking\nfrom booths placed around the central square of the town. As I had\nlittle time to spare, I hurried on, and soon came to the Puente de\nIztla, the carriage-road, that is finished thus far southward from the\ncity of Mexico.\n\nI started early next morning upon my journey. During the greater part\nof the day the road led through a continuous corn-field, and toward\nevening we came to the pretty Indian village of Alpayuca, so neat and\nwell-ordered that it might have passed for one of the missionary Indian\nvillages of our northern Indians, were it not for the fine old Catholic\nchurch, which must have cost in its construction, centuries ago, fifty\ntimes the value of the present village, without including the cost of\nthe bronze railing, brought from China in the prosperous days of the\nManilla Company.\n\n\nCUARNAVACA.\n\nNot stopping to examine the ruins of great antiquity near this place, I\nrode on six leagues farther, when I arrived at the venerable city of\nCuarnavaca, the place selected by Cortez as the finest spot in all New\nSpain. This was bestowed upon him, at his own request, by the Emperor\nCharles V. as a residence. It merits to this day the distinction that\nhas been given to it as one of the finest spots on earth. It stands\nclose under the shadow of the huge mountains that shield it from the\nnorthern blast, and it is at the same time protected from the extreme\nheat of the tropics by its elevation of 3000 feet. The immense church\nedifices here proclaim the munificence of Cortez, while the garden of\nLaborde, open to the world, shows with what elegant taste he squandered\nhis three several fortunes accumulated in mining. The combination of a\nfine day in a voluptuous climate, the beautiful scenery, and the happy\nfaces of the people celebrating New Year's day in the shade of the\norange-trees, made an impression upon a traveler not easily forgotten.\n\nI was too near the city of Mexico to remain long here, and I rode on,\nup the zigzag way that leads over the mountain rim of the Valley of\nMexico. I was not fortunate enough to accomplish the journey from city\nto city in a single day, and, from necessity, had to pass the night at\nthe half-way house, upon the summit of the mountain, 10,000 feet above\nthe sea. A poor Hungarian, who had been detained here like myself, came\nand laid his blankets with mine, and then we lay down, and chattered\nand shivered together until the morning. Such a night as this detracts\nsomewhat from the enjoyments of this otherwise pleasant journey; but\nwhen I got a morning view of the valley and city of Mexico from the\nCross of the \"Marquis of the Valley,\" the sufferings of the chilly\nnight were soon forgotten.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIII.\n\nCalifornia.--Pearl Fisheries.--Missions.--Indian\nMarriages.--Villages.--Precious Metals.--The Conquest of\nCalifornia compared with that of Mexico.--Upper California\nunder the Spaniards.--Mexican Conquest of California in 1825.--The\nMarch.--The Conquest.--California under the Mexicans.--American\nConquest.--Sinews of foreign Wars.--A Protestant and religious\nWar.--Early Settlers compared.--Mexico in the Heyday of\nProsperity.--Rich Costume of the Women.--Superstitious Worship.--When\nI first saw California.--Lawyers without Laws.--A primitive\nCourt.--A Territorial Judge in San Francisco.--Mistaken\nPhilanthropy.--Mexican Side of the Picture.--Great Alms.--City\nof Mexico overwhelmed by a Water-spout.--The Superiority of\nCalifornians.\n\n\nI can not enter the valley of Mexico, and there discuss the various\nsubjects that present themselves, without first gathering from\nCalifornia the data that will elucidate the condition of a country\nabounding in precious metals.\n\n\nMEXICAN CALIFORNIA.\n\nThere is a striking dissimilarity between the two Californias. The\nAmerican State of California is as celebrated for its fertility as for\nits mineral wealth. Peninsular California, on the other hand, is not\ndistinguished for its minerals, nor remarkable for its fertility. With\nthe sea washing it on either side, it is a country of drought and\nbarrenness. It is like a neutral ground between the two rainy seasons.\nTo the north of it, the winter is the season of abundant rains, with\ndry summers. To the south of it, the summer rains are heavy and\ncontinuous, without any showers in winter. Thus, lying between the\nopposite climates, it rarely enjoys the refreshing rains of either. Its\nback-bone is not a continuation of the rich Sierra Nevada, but of the\ncoast range, which is poor in minerals. The Mexican estimates set down\nthe population as amounting to 12,000,[26] but an American, who has\ncarefully examined the country, going down the whole length of the\npeninsula on the one side, and returning by the other, fixes it at\n4000. The inhabitants are an imbecile race of mixed bloods and Indians,\ndwelling in the few small villages which the country contains, and upon\nthe ranchos and haciendas.\n\n\nCALIFORNIAN PEARL-FISHERY.\n\nCattle thrive where water is to be found, and many of the natives are\nexcellent herdsmen. Fish are abundant, but the Californians lack the\nnecessary energy to become successful fishermen upon a large scale. The\npearl fisheries have for centuries brought strangers to this shore of\nthe Gulf, and many of the inhabitants have served as divers with\nsuccess. The production of pearls in the Sea of Cortez, or Gulf of\nCalifornia, has been so great during the last three centuries, that\nMexico has become the greatest country for pearls yet known. Every\nfemale above the rank of a peasant must have at least one pearl to\nornament the pin that fastens her shawl or mantilla upon the top of her\nhead. Most of these pearls are of small value, on account of their\nimperfection in shape or color; but their abundance is one of the first\nthings that strike a stranger on entering Mexico. With a change of\nfashions, the foreign demand for pearls fell off so much that, for the\nlast half century, these fisheries have been almost discontinued; but\nwith the reviving demand for pearls, the fisheries have again risen to\nimportance. For a more detailed account of these pearl-fisheries, I\nmust refer to the following note.[27]\n\nIn the year 1600 the Jesuits first undertook the establishment of a\nmission at Loretto, on the Gulf coast, which has ever since been the\ncapital of the Peninsula. From the time of their first establishment\nhere down to the time of the expulsion of the Jesuits from all the\ndominions of Spain, in 1767, they continued to cultivate this field,\nthough it proved more than a match for their wonted perseverance. In a\nfew places, the soil was made to yield its increase by the skillful\napplication of the waters that sprung up among the mountains and rocks.\nWherever irrigation was possible at small expense, there an oasis made\nits appearance, which was in striking contrast to the general\nbarrenness that prevailed.\n\nThe manner in which conversions were effected by the Spanish priests\nmay seem a little strange to the \"voluntaries\" of our day. The idea of\nrunning down a convert with dogs may seem to be rather an original\nmethod of proselyting, and has been severely commented upon by Forbes,\nand other Americans who have visited the Missions. But then such men\nshould bear in mind that Catholics are not voluntaries, and never rely\nupon persuasion to make converts when they have the power to use a\nstronger argument. If this same class of missionaries used dogs to\nconvert the Waldenses in Italy, there is a greater reason for using\nthem among the half-brutish Indians of California. With such a race,\nmoral suasion has no force; and to adduce arguments to convince a man\nwhose only rule of action is the gratification of his sensual\nappetites, would be labor thrown away.\n\nThe good fathers took a more sensible view of the case. Having once\nobtained the consent of an Indian to receive Christian baptism, they\ntook good care that he should not fall back from his profession, but\nretained him a prisoner of the cross. They used as much mildness as is\ncompatible with their system, and only compelled their converts to\nlabor as much as was necessary to the success of the mission, the rest\nof the time being devoted to their spiritual edification; that is, they\nwere employed in repeating Latin prayers and a Spanish catechism, after\nan old Indian who acted as prompter. Sometimes it was necessary to\nallow the Indians to go abroad for a time, but then their return was\nprovided for by retaining the squaws and papooses as hostages, in the\nsame manner as they provided for the return of the plantation bulls, by\nshutting up the cows and calves in the _corral_.\n\nThe system pursued by the Jesuits, and, after their expulsion, by the\nDominicans, was to treat the Indians as though they were half human and\nthe other half bestial. Abstractly considered, this was very wrong; but\nit was practically the only system of treatment that gave any promise\nof improving their condition. Though in many respects they were treated\nas slaves, yet the missionaries had generally at heart the best\ninterests of the Indians. With them it was a settled rule, that when an\nIndian was to be married, his kindred should be carefully inquired\nafter, and that among them he was to marry, or not at all; for long\nexperience had taught the fathers that certain diseases, hereditary\namong them, were checked by each marrying into his own clan, while they\nwere aggravated by intermarriage with a stranger.\n\nWe may sum up the whole story of the combined missionary and\ngovernmental efforts at colonization in Lower Peninsular California,\nduring a period of two hundred and fifty years, by saying that they\njointly succeeded in establishing a poverty-stricken village of mud\nhuts, called San Josef, at Cape San Lucas, where the Manilla galleon,\non its voyage to Acapulco, could procure a supply of fresh vegetables\nto stay the ravages of the scurvy among its crew. They also established\na less important village at La Paz, which, with Loretto, and divers\nsmall hamlets and ranches, constitutes all there is of this parched\npeninsula.\n\nUpper California comes to my aid in illustration of the early condition\nof Mexico, for, without this assistance, many phenomena that are\nwitnessed in Mexico would be inexplicable. The effects of sudden\nwealth, the great accumulations of precious metals in few hands, the\ngross immoralities to which such a state of things gives rise, the\nalmost fabulous state of society that arises when, by delays in its\nexport, the accumulations become burdensome to the possessors, are no\nlonger novelties in our day, and they now serve to illustrate the\nromance of the history of other times.\n\nWhen, in the year 1847, a party of American settlers and trappers\nhoisted the bear-flag in Upper California, their situation was\nstrikingly similar to that of Cortez and his party. Numbers were about\nequal in each case. The Territory of California was equal to the whole\nempire of Montezuma. The hunters and trappers had a more formidable\nenemy to contend with than Cortez had; but they proved themselves more\nthan a match for all antagonists. Like Cortez, they found numerous\nvillages of mud huts and a country governed by priests, but immensely\nsuperior in civilization and in arms to the Aztecs.\n\n\nMISSIONS IN CALIFORNIA.\n\nIn 1776, the monks of the angelic order of San Francis had established\nmissions along the coast. Adopting in this fertile country the practice\nof enforcing the labor of the Indians, the missions became vast grazing\nfarms, where the priest, like the patriarchs of old, was the spiritual\nand temporal head of the establishment, and had flocks and herds\ninnumerable. Villages (_pueblos_) had been established by the aid of\nthe royal government, and mud forts (_presidios_) were founded as a\nprotection to both mission and pueblo; and ranges (_ranchos_) for\ncattle were granted to individuals.\n\nSuch was California when it submitted to the \"Plan of Iguala.\" It was\nreported to have had 75,000 Indians in connection with its missions,\nand a large white and mixed population. But, according to our custom,\nwe must deduct two thirds from all Spanish enumerations, and estimate\nthe population of every class at only 25,000 at most.\n\nThe priests of the missions had quietly acquiesced in the usurpation of\nIturbide, and acknowledged his empire; but when Santa Anna proclaimed a\nrepublic, they were struck with horror. The idea of conferring civil\nrights upon Indians was monstrous. The very existence of the missions\ndepended on keeping these poor creatures in servitude. And as for\nrepublicanism, that was incompatible with the government of the Church;\nand, as good Catholics and priests, they solemnly protested against it.\nHad these missionaries been as poor as the apostles, they probably\nwould not have been disturbed for their want of republicanism. But\ntheir wealth proved their ruin, and the ruin of Upper California.\n\nThe new republic was at peace, and the surplus soldiery had to be got\nrid of. It was not safe to disband them at home, where they might take\nto the roads and become successful robbers; but 1500 of the worst were\nselected for a distant expedition--the conquest of the far-off\nterritory of California. And then a general was found who was in all\nrespects worthy of his soldiery. He was pre-eminently the greatest\ncoward in the Mexican army--so great a coward, that he subsequently,\nwithout striking a blow, surrendered a fort, with a garrison of 500\nmen, unconditionally, to a party of 50 foreigners.\n\n\nMEXICAN CONQUEST OF CALIFORNIA.\n\nSuch was the great General Echandrea, the Mexican conqueror of\nCalifornia; and such was the army that he led to the conquest of\nunarmed priests and an unarmed province. It was a perilous\nexpedition--perilous, not to the soldiers, but to the villagers upon\ntheir route. All dreaded their approach and rejoiced at their\ndeparture, for their march through their own country was a continued\ntriumph, if one may judge from the amount of plunder they took from\ntheir friends upon the road. It was an expedition that Falstaff would\nhave rejoiced to command, and his regiment would have distinguished\nthemselves in such a war. Dry and dusty were the desert plains over\nwhich they marched, and dry and dusty were the throats of the army, for\n_cigaritos_ were scarce, and _muscal_ could seldom be found. But the\ntoils of the long marches were relieved by frequent _fandangoes_, for\nthe wives that followed the expedition equaled the men in numbers and\ncourage.\n\nThis long journey, and these days of perilous marching and nights of\ndancing, at length came to an end by their arrival at the enemy's\nfrontier--the frontier of California, which, to their joy, they found\nunguarded; nor was there any found to dispute their passage or \"to make\nthem afraid;\" for, had there been fifty resolute persons to oppose\nthem, this valiant army would have absconded, and California would have\nremained an appanage of the crown of Spain. But Providence had ordered\nit otherwise; and this horde of vagabonds (_leperos_) came rushing\non, with their wives and children, until they reached the cattle-yards\n(_corrals_), and then was displayed their valor and their capacity\nfor beef, and in the name of \"God and Liberty\" they gratified their\nappetite for plunder. The priests, on their part, stood up manfully,\nand witnessed a good confession. They refused to accept this phantom of\nliberty which a party of vagabonds brought to them. The conquerors,\nhowever, could afford to be magnanimous in the midst of so much good\neating, and no vengeance was inflicted upon unarmed men. But when the\nprefect of the missions was shipped off to Manilla, the war was at an\nend, for there was no means of defense, or, rather, it was changed from\na war against priests to one against the cattle.\n\nThus was California conquered and annexed to the United States of\nMexico in the year 1825, and the laws and constitution of that republic\nextended over it. But it is an abuse of words to say that any law\nexisted from that time onward. The confusion produced by the irruption\nof this horde of vagabonds continued uninterrupted, and it involved, in\none chaotic mass, law, order, and every public and private right. The\nhistory of the country is inexplicable, and its public archives are a\nmass of such gross irregularities, and show such a total disregard of\nall law, that they are little better than the Sibylline leaves.\n\n\nAMERICAN CONQUEST OF CALIFORNIA.\n\nThe party that raised the \"bear flag\" met with no opposition. The party\nthat landed from the shipping, and took possession of Monterey and San\nFrancisco, were alike successful. But when a small party of American\nsoldiers, under General Kearney, entered the country from the west, the\n_rancheros_ took the alarm, and rushed forth on their fleet horses to\ndefend their private property from spoliation, for they had no idea of\nregular soldiers disconnected from robbery and cattle-stealing! The\nCalifornians fought bravely, and hemmed in the little army of Americans\nuntil they were in a suffering condition for provisions, and until the\ndreaded hunters and trappers, and draughts from the shipping, routed\nthe herdsmen and released the beleaguered force. This is all there was\nthat looked like war in the American acquisition of this most valuable\nterritory.\n\nNot only was there this similarity in respect to the inadequate means\nby which Mexico and California were acquired, but there is also a\nstriking similarity in the fact of the immediate discovery of\ninexhaustible mines of precious metals, that gave importance to an\notherwise comparatively insignificant conquest. Though so many\ncenturies apart, each produced the same effect upon the political\naffairs of nations by suddenly furnishing the world with an abundant\nsupply of the precious metals. The mines of Mexico, with some small\nsupplies from South America, furnished the sinews of those religious\nwars that desolated Europe after the Reformation, and enabled Spain to\nmaintain her vast armaments in the Spanish peninsula, and in her\nItalian kingdoms and principalities, and in her Belgian provinces.\nSpain was able to subsidize the armies of the Catholic League in\nFrance, and the forces of the Catholic Princes of Germany, and to turn\nback the tide of the Protestant Reformation after it had entered Italy,\noverrun Navarre, and reached her own frontier. The gold of California\nand Australia has furnished England the sinews by which she has set on\nfoot armies, and subsidized nations in the present crusade against\nRussia.\n\nAt the time of the Reformation, all the precious metals were poured\ninto the lap of a fanatical Catholic government; now they are in\nProtestant hands, and all, at last, find their resting-place, even\nthose of Mexico, in the London market; while out of English\nProtestantism has our republic arisen, which is still united to her by\na common language, a common religion, and commercial relations, so that\nthe London market regulates the value of our stocks and the price of\nthe food we eat. But our common Protestantism is not the Protestantism\nof the Reformation: that was the Protestantism of princes, and every\nwhere rested for support upon state patronage, the people, in that\nepoch, having no political existence. Protestantism was then a state\ninstitution, and soon lost its vitality in such an unnatural alliance.\nThe Protestantism of our day is the Protestantism of dissent, which\nrejects state support, yet has shown itself more powerful than\ngovernments. It has restored peace to Ireland, and made its proselytes\nthere by tens of thousands after the last British regiment was\nwithdrawn. It has rent in twain the Church of Scotland, and is fast\nrevolutionizing the Church of England, by driving to Rome those who\nprefer superstition to democracy, while it draws the remainder of the\nnation to itself. In the United States it is the ruling power, though\nit has here no political authority. It has penetrated the most obscure\nhamlets of France and Spain, and made thousands of converts in Italy\nitself. And where its preachers could not penetrate, there the written\nWord has found its way.\n\n\nMEXICO TWO CENTURIES AGO.\n\nThe letters of Cortez show that he, like his master, was above the\nsuperstitions of the Spanish race; yet both, skillful diplomatists,\nknew well how to avail themselves of the superstitions of others. The\nearly Spanish adventurers to Mexico were a good illustration of the\ndoctrine of total depravity, and the priests, that held them in\nleading-strings, were as depraved as themselves. \"Like priests, like\npeople.\" Our first settlers in California had learned self-government\nand self-control in the school of Protestantism; and when they took\npossession of that part of the country beyond the limit of Spanish\nsettlements, where there were no laws and no written code, they were a\nlaw unto themselves, and the Spanish Americans that gathered about them\nfound more perfect protection to life and property than they had ever\nbefore enjoyed. The Spanish adventurers at Mexico lavished the wealth\nwhich they had acquired by the forced labor of the Indians in the mines\nupon priests and monks, who amused them with lying miracles. They also\ngave money as an atonement for the criminal lives they led, and to\nshield themselves from the vengeance of the Inquisition, where they\nwere suspected of being rich. The religion of the Californians was a\nsimple veneration for the truths of Scripture. In some it amounted to\ndevotion, but it was devotion sanctioned by reason and the\nunderstanding. They all alike despised superstition and abhorred\ndespotism. In conclusion, I may add, that, had such a race of men as I\nsaw in the mountains and villages of California at an early period of\nits settlement existed at the time of the conquest of Mexico, they\nwould have revolutionized the world.\n\nWe have heard much of the immorality, excessive extravagance and luxury\nof the cities of California; but the following picture of the state of\nthe city of Mexico in the heyday of its prosperity, five years before\nit was destroyed by an inundation, is from the black-letter volume of\nThomas Gage, of which I have already availed myself.\n\n\"Almost all Mexico is now built with very fair and spacious houses,\nwith gardens of recreation. The streets are very broad; in the\nnarrowest of them three coaches may go, and in the broadest of them six\nmay go in the breadth of them, which makes the city seem a great deal\nbigger than it is. In my time it was thought to be of between thirty\nand forty thousand inhabitants, Spaniards, who are so proud and rich,\nthat half the city was judged to keep coaches; for it was a most\ncredible report that in Mexico there were about 15,000 coaches.\n\n\"It is a by-word that at Mexico there are four things fair; that is to\nsay, the women, the apparel, the horses, and the streets. But to this I\nmay add the beauty of some of the coaches of the gentry, which do\nexceed in cost the best of the court of Madrid, and other parts of\nChristendom, for they spare no silver, nor gold, nor precious stones,\nnor cloth of gold, nor the best silks from China, to enrich them; and\nto the gallantry of their horses the pride of some doth add the cost of\nbridles and shoes of silver. The streets of Christendom must not\ncompare with those in breadth and cleanness, but especially in the\nriches of the shops which do adorn them. Above all, the goldsmith's\nshops and works are to be admired. The [East] Indians, and the people\nof China, that have been made Christians, and every year come thither,\nhave perfected the Spaniards in that trade. There is in the cloister of\nthe Dominicans a lamp hanging in the Church, with three hundred\nbranches wrought in silver, to hold so many candles, besides a hundred\nlittle lamps for oil set in it, every one being made with several\nworkmanship so exquisitely that it is valued to be worth four hundred\nthousand ducats; and with such like curious works are many streets made\nmore rich and beautiful from the shops of goldsmiths.\n\n\"To the by-word touching the beauty of the women I must add the liberty\nthey enjoy for gaming, which is such that the day and night is too\nshort for them to end a _primera_ when once it is begun; nay, gaming is\nso common to them, that they invite gentlemen to their houses for no\nother end. To myself it happened that, passing along the streets in\ncompany with a friar that came with me the year before from Spain, a\ngentlewoman of great birth, knowing us to be new-comers, from her\nwindow called unto us, and, after two or three slight questions\nconcerning Spain, asked us if we would come in and play with her a game\nat _primera_. Both men and women are excessive in their apparel, using\nmore silks than stuffs and cloth. Precious stones and pearls farther\nmuch this vain ostentation. A hatband and rose made of diamonds in a\ngentleman's hat is common, and a hatband of pearls is ordinary in a\ntradesman; nay, a blackamore, or tawney young maid and slave, will make\nhard shift but she will be in fashion with her neck-chain and Bracelets\nof pearls, and her ear-bobs of considerable jewels.\n\n[Illustration: MEXICAN COSTUMES.]\n\n\"Their clothing is a petticoat of silk or cloth, with many silver or\ngolden laces, with a very double ribbon of some light color, with long\nsilver or golden tags hanging down in front the whole length of their\npetticoat to the ground, and the like behind; their waistcoats made\nlike bodies, with skirts, laced likewise with gold and silver, without\nsleeves, and a girdle about their waist of great price, stuck with\npearls and knobs of gold. Their sleeves are broad and open at the end,\nof Holland or fine China linen, wrought, some with colored silks, some\nwith silk and gold, some with silk and silver, hanging down almost to\nthe ground; the locks of their heads are covered with some wrought\nquoif, and over it another of net-work of silk, bound with a fair silk,\nor silver, or golden ribbon, which crosses the upper part of their\nforeheads, and hath commonly worked out in letters some light and\nfoolish love posie; their bare, black, and tawney breasts, are covered\nwith bobs hanging from their chains of pearls. And when they go abroad,\nthey use a white mantle of lawn or cambric, rounded with a broad lace,\nwhich some put over their heads, the breadth reaching only to their\nmiddles behind, that their girdle and ribbons may be seen, and the two\nends before reaching to the ground almost; others cast their mantles\nonly upon their shoulders; and swaggerers like to cast the one end over\nthe left shoulder, while with their right arm they support the lower\npart of it, more like roaring boys than honest civil maids. Their shoes\nare high and of many soles, the outside whereof of the profaner sort\nare plated over with a lift of silver, which is fastened with small\nnails with broad silver heads. Most of these are or have been slaves,\nthough love have set them loose at liberty to enslave souls to sin and\nSatan; and for the looseness of their lives, and public scandals\ncommitted by them and the better sort of the Spaniards, I have heard\nthem say often, who possessed more religion and fear of God, they\nverily thought God would destroy that city, and give up the country\ninto the power of some other nation.\n\n\"And I doubt not but the flourishing of Mexico in coaches, horses,\nstreets, women, and apparel, is very slippery, and will make those\nproud inhabitants slip and fall into the power and dominion of some\nother prince of this world, and hereafter, in the world to come, into\nthe powerful hands of an angry Judge, who is the King of kings and Lord\nof lords, which Paul saith (Heb. x. 31) is a fearful thing. For this\ncity doth not only flourish in the ways aforesaid, but also in the\nsuperstitious worshiping of God and the saints they exceed Rome itself,\nand all other places of Christendom. And it is a thing which I have\nvery much and carefully observed in all my travels, both in Europe and\nAmerica, that in those cities wherein there is most lewd licentiousness\nof life, there is also most cost in the temples, and most public\nsuperstitious worship of God and the saints.\"\n\nSo much for worthy Thomas Gage, and his estimate of the Mexicans of his\nday.\n\n\nAMERICANS IN CALIFORNIA.\n\nI arrived at San Francisco in the midst of the gold excitement. The\ntown was crowded with rough-looking muscular men in red shirts, slouch\nhats, and trowsers over which were drawn high-topped boots. A Colt's\nrevolver, a belt filled with gold, and an unshaven visage completed the\n_tout ensemble_ of a crowd who were purchasing supplies for their\ncompanions in the mines. They strode along, conscious that they\nbelonged to the Anglo-Saxon race and the aristocracy of labor. As they\nturned into the temporary houses or booths which then constituted the\ntown, or threaded their way among the piles of merchandise that\nencumbered the streets, the effeminate natives instinctively shrunk\nback, conscious of their own imbecility; the Spanish Americans were\noverawed by their presence; and even Sidney convicts thought it most\nprofitable to turn their thoughts to honest labor.\n\nThe miner had his vices too as well as his virtues. If you will follow\nhim as he opens right and left a crowd that surrounds a table heaped\nwith lumps of gold and silver coin, you will see how carelessly he\nthrows down a piece of metal, looking sharply into the eye of the\ncunning dealer of the monte cards. If he detects a false move, he cocks\nhis weapon, and draws the gold back into his bag and strides away.\n\nSuch were the men who knew no fear, and dreaded no labor or fatigue,\nand who have made California in five short years a state more powerful\nthan the Republic of Mexico.\n\nIn an interior town I was called to practice as an attorney. My first\nclient was the driver of an ox-team, who was suing for extra services\nin addition to his regular wages of five hundred dollars a month and\nboard (Doe _vs._ Pickett). My office was a space of four feet by six,\npartitioned off by two cotton sheets, in the corner of a canvas store.\nThe ground was for a while the floor; yet I paid in advance the monthly\nrent of two ounces of gold, and never had occasion to regret the\noutlay. The heavy winter rains at length compelled my landlord to lay a\nfloor of rough boards, which cost him seven hundred dollars for a\nthousand feet.\n\nBefore the establishment of the state government, there was a judiciary\ncreated by an autocratical edict of General Riley; and a pamphlet,\nextracted and translated from the Mexican Constitutional laws of 1836,\nconstituted the _Corpus Juris Civilis_ of the Territory of California.\nThe remainder of the law was made up of the judge's ideas of equity,\nand of the law he had read before leaving home. Inartificial and rude\nas was this system, still it was wonderfully efficient; and it was well\nfor the people of California that it was so, for an unparalleled\nimmigration had brought with it an unparalleled amount of litigation.\n\nWith the daily occurring causes of litigation, crowds assembled at the\nschool-house on the Plaza, where from morning to night sat a judge\ndispensing off-hand justice. In front of him sat three or four clerks\nconducting the business. The crowds of lawyers, litigants, and\nwitnesses that surrounded the court were not idle spectators, but\nrepresented the ordinary accumulation of business for the day, which\nwas to be disposed of before the adjournment of the court. Speedy\njustice was more desirable than exact justice, where labor was valued\nat a gold ounce a day; and none were more desirous of speed than the\nlawyers, whose prospects of compensation depended much upon the\npromptitude with which judgment was rendered.\n\nThe moving spirit of the whole scene, Judge A----, watched from behind\nthe desk all that was said or done, seldom withdrawing his attention\nunless to administer an oath for the consideration of one dollar, or to\nsign an order for the consideration of two dollars. Sometimes he would\nchange his position; but, whether warming his uncovered feet at the\nfire-place, or drawing on his boots, or replenishing his stock of\ntobacco, there was the same unalterable attention on his part. As soon\nas he comprehended a case, his authoritative voice was heard, closing\nthe discussion, and dictating to a clerk the exact number of dollars\nand cents for which he should enter up a judgment. And then another,\nand another case was called up, and submitted to this summary process,\nuntil about nine o'clock at night, when the day's work terminated. All\norders asked for by a responsible attorney were granted _ex parte_, the\njudge remarking that if the order was not a proper one, the other party\nwould soon appear, and then he could ascertain the real merits of the\ncase. The grand feature of this court was the facility with which an\ninjunction could be obtained, and the rapidity with which it could be\nset aside.\n\n\nCALIFORNIAN COURTS.\n\nCrime was almost unknown until we got a state government and a code of\nlaws, which, with misplaced philanthropy, had made the legal practice\nso easy upon criminals that a conviction was next to impossible. Then\nit was that crime stalked abroad in the face of day, and Sidney\nconvicts plied their trade in San Francisco after it had become a city.\nShops were entered and robbed in business hours; and by night, men were\nmurdered in the streets; and thefts escaped punishment. Then it was\nthat men, caught in the commission of crime, were hanged in the open\nstreets, and combinations were formed for self-defense. But when a new\nLegislature gave efficiency to the laws, the community yielded a\nwilling obedience to the magistrate. From an early day there had been\n\"miners' courts,\" which, with their alcaldes, had conciliated\ndifferences. But when magistrates were elected, these courts\ndisappeared. This was a change from bad to worse, for no condition is\nso deplorable as that of a people whose magistracy are powerless.\n\nSuch is a fair picture of California in its worst estate, when the\nworst and the best of all nations were there congregated, and kept in\nsubjection by the law-abiding spirit of an Anglo-Saxon immigration--a\nstate of society in the first year of its existence, yet infinitely\nsuperior to that existing in the city of Mexico a hundred years after\nthe discovery of the mines of Haxal and Pachuca. But we may complete\nthe contrast by adding the more deplorable part of the picture which\nFriar Thomas Gage has drawn.\n\n\"It seems,\" says he, \"that religion teaches that all wickedness is\nallowable, so that the churches and clergy flourish. Nay, while the\npurse is open to lasciviousness, if it be likewise open to enrich the\ntemple walls and roofs, this is better than any holy water, or water to\nwash away the filth of the other. Rome is held to be the head of\nsuperstition; and what stately churches, chapels, and cloisters are in\nit! What fastings, what processions, what appearances of devotion! And,\non the other side, what liberty, what profaneness, what whoredoms, nay,\nwhat sins of Sodom are committed in it, insomuch that it could be the\nsaying of a friar to myself, while I was in it, that he verily thought\nthere was no one city in the world wherein were more Atheists than in\nRome. I might show this much in Madrid, Seville, Valladolid, and other\nfamous cities in Spain and in Italy; in Milan, Genoa, and Naples;\nrelating many instances of scandals committed in those places, and yet\nthe temples are mightily enriched by those who have thought their alms\na sufficient warrant to free them from hell and purgatory. But I must\nreturn to Mexico, which furnishes a thousand witnesses of this\ntruth--sin and wickedness abounding in it--and yet no such people in\nthe world toward the Church and clergy. In their lifetime they strive\nto excel one another in their gifts to the cloisters of nuns and\nfriars, some erecting altars to their best-devoted saints, worth many\nthousand ducats, others presenting crowns of gold to the pictures of\nMary, others lamps, others golden chains, others building cloisters at\ntheir own charge, others repairing them, others, at their death,\nleaving to them two or three thousand ducats for an annual stipend.\n\n\nMEXICO TWO CENTURIES AGO.\n\n\"Among these great benefactors to the churches of that city, I should\nwrong my history if I should forget one that lived in my time, called\nAlonzo Cuellar, who was reported to have a closet in his house laid\nwith bars of gold instead of brick; though indeed it was not so, but\nonly reported for his abundant riches and store of bars of gold, which\nhe had in one chest, standing in a closet distant from another, where\nhe had a chest full of wedges of silver. This man alone built a nunnery\nfor Franciscan nuns, which stood him in above 30,000 ducats, and left\nunto it, for the maintenance of the nuns, 2000 ducats yearly, with\nobligation of some masses to be said in the church every year for his\nsoul after his decease. And yet this man's life was so scandalous, that\ncommonly, in the night, with two servants, he would go round the city\nvisiting such scandalous persons, whose attire before hath been\ndescribed, carrying his beads in his hands, and at every house letting\nfall a bead, and tying a false knot, that when he came home in the\nmorning, toward break of the day, he might number by his beads the\nuncivil stations he had walked and visited that night.\n\n\"Great alms and liberality toward religious houses in that city\ncommonly are coupled with great and scandalous wickedness. They wallow\nin the bed of riches and wealth, and make their alms the coverlet to\ncover their loose and lascivious lives. From hence are the churches so\nfairly built and adorned. There are not above fifty churches and\nchapels, cloisters and nunneries, and parish churches in the city; but\nthose that are there are the fairest that ever my eyes beheld, the\nroofs and beams being, in many of them, all daubed with gold, and many\naltars with sundry marble pillars, and others with Brazil-wood stays\nstanding one above another, with tabernacles for several saints, richly\nwrought with golden colors, so that twenty thousand ducats is a common\nprice of many of them. These cause admiration in the common sort of\npeople, and admiration brings on daily adoration in them to those\nglorious spectacles and images of saints; so Satan shows Christ all the\nglory of the kingdoms to entice him to admiration, and then he said,\n'_All these things will I give thee if thou wilt fall down and worship\nme_' (Matthew, iv. 8, 9). The devil will give all the world to be\nadored.\n\n\"Besides these beautiful buildings, the inward riches belonging to the\naltars are infinite in price and value, such as copes, canopies,\nhangings, altar-cloths, candlesticks, jewels belonging to the saints,\nand crowns of gold and silver, and tabernacles of gold and crystal to\ncarry about their sacrament [the Saviour of the world in the form of a\nwafer] in procession, all of which would mount to the worth of a\nreasonable mine of silver, and would be a rich prey for any nation that\ncould make better use of wealth and riches. I will not speak much of\nthe lives of the friars and nuns of this city, but only that they there\nenjoy more liberty than in Europe--where they have too much--and that\nsurely the scandals committed by them do cry up to Heaven for\nvengeance, judgment, destruction.\n\n\"It is ordinary for the friars to visit their devoted nuns, and to\nspend whole days with them, hearing their music, feeding on their\nsweetmeats; and for this purpose they have many chambers, which they\ncall _loquatories_, to talk in, with wooden bars between the nuns and\nthem; and in these chambers are tables for the friars to dine at, and\nwhile they dine the nuns recreate them with their voices. Gentlemen and\ncitizens give their daughters to be brought up in these nunneries,\nwhere they are taught to make all sorts of conserves and preserves, all\nsorts of music, which is so exquisite in that city that I dare be bold\nto say that the people are drawn to churches more for the delight of\nthe music than for any delight in the service of God. More, they teach\nthese young children to act like players; and, to entice the people to\nthe churches, they make these children act short dialogues in their\nchoirs, richly attiring them with men and women's apparel, especially\nupon Midsummer's day and the eight days before their Christmas, which\nis so gallantly performed that many factious strifes and single combats\nhave been, and some were in my time, for defending which of these\nnunneries most excelled in music and in the training up of children.\"\n\nSuch is a picture drawn by a candid writer of one of the most devout\nCatholic cities in the world, where licentiousness and papacy went hand\nin hand until they reached that extreme point of corruption, that, as\nin the case of Sodom, God overthrew the city by a judgment from heaven;\nnot by fire and brimstone, but by a water-spout, which, in the space of\nthe five years that it lay upon the town three feet deep, loosened the\nfoundations of all buildings and impoverished the inhabitants. And when\nat length the earth opened and swallowed up these waters, the city had\nto be rebuilt. The misery and distress that this flood inflicted upon\nthe lower orders of the inhabitants was great in the extreme.\n\nIt was on Sunday morning that the cause of the moral superiority of the\nAmerican miners over those of Mexico was visible. Then the noise and\nbustle about my residence was hushed. The most immoral seemed to be\noverawed by a sense of respect for the religious opinions of others;\nand when the sound of a ship-bell, hung on the limb of a tree, was\nheard, all except the baser sort repaired to the shade of an oak, so\nlarge and venerable that it might have shielded the whole household of\nAbraham while engaged in family worship. A portable seraphine gave\nforth a familiar tune, in which all joined in singing with a zest which\nis only realized by those whom it carries back in recollection to\ndistant home. Then the voice of the preacher was heard invoking the\nblessing of God upon the assembled worshipers, and his pardon of their\noffenses; and then followed his exhortation to seek from God the pardon\nof their many sins; and as he, with heartfelt earnestness, \"reasoned of\nrighteousness, temperance, and a judgment to come,\" many a\nstern-visaged miner trembled for his condition, and went away a better\nand a more honest man--ten thousand times more improved than if he had\npresented a crown of gold to the Virgin Mary.\n\nWe are now prepared to enter the valley of Mexico, and examine the\nobjects that there present themselves.\n\n      [26] _Colleccion de Leyes_, p. 180.\n\n      [27] \"The whole Pacific coast produces pearls, but the most\n      extensive pearl-fisheries, at the present time, are in the Gulf\n      of California, where, among an inexhaustible supply of little\n      pearls, there are produced some of the very finest quality. The\n      pearls of the Countess de Regla, those of the Marquesa de\n      Gudalupe, and Madame Velasco, are from these fisheries, and are\n      remarkable for their great size and value. The great pearl\n      presented to General Victoria, while he was President, was from\n      the same locality.\" (WARD, vol. ii. p. 293.)\n\n      \"The pearls of this gulf are considered of excellent water, but\n      their rather irregular figure somewhat reduces their value. The\n      manner of obtaining pearls is not without interest. The vessels\n      employed in the fisheries are from fifteen to thirty tons burden.\n      They are usually fitted out by private individuals. The armador\n      or owner commands them. Crews are shipped to work them, and from\n      forty to fifty Indians, called Busos, to dive for the oyster. A\n      stock of provisions and spirits, a small sum of money to advance\n      the people during the cruise, a limited supply of calaboose\n      furniture, a sufficient number of hammocks to sleep in, and a\n      quantity of ballast, constitute nearly all the cargo outward\n      bound.\n\n      \"Thus arranged, they sail into the Gulf; and, having arrived at\n      the oyster banks, cast anchor and commence business. The divers\n      are first called to duty. They plunge to the bottom in four or\n      five fathom water, dig up with sharpened sticks as many oysters\n      as they are able, rise to the surface, and deposit them in sacks\n      hung to receive them at the vessel's side. And thus they continue\n      to do till the sacks are filled, or the hours allotted to this\n      part of the labor are ended.\n\n      \"When the diving of the day is done, all come on board and place\n      themselves in a circle around the armador, who divides what they\n      have obtained in the following manner: two oysters for himself,\n      the same number for the Busos, or divers, and one for the\n      government. This division having been concluded, they next\n      proceed, without moving from their places, to open the oysters\n      which have fallen to the lot of the armador. During this\n      operation, that dignitary has to watch the Busos with the\n      greatest scrutiny, to prevent them from swallowing the pearls\n      with the oysters, a trick which they perform with so much\n      dexterity as to almost defy detection, and by means of which they\n      often manage to secrete the most valuable pearls.\n\n      \"The government portion is next opened with the same precautions,\n      and taken into possession by the armador. And, last of all, the\n      Busos open theirs, and sell them to the armador in liquidation of\n      debts incurred for their outfits, or of moneys advanced during\n      the voyage. They usually reserve a few to sell to dealers on\n      shore, who always accompany these expeditions with spirituous\n      liquors, chocolate, sugar, cigars, and other articles of which\n      Indian divers are especially fond. Since the Mexicans obtained\n      their independence, another mode of division has been adopted.\n      Every time the Busos come up, the largest oyster which he has\n      obtained is taken by the armador, and laid aside for the use of\n      the Virgin Mary. The rest are thrown in a pile; and, when the\n      day's diving is ended, eight oysters are laid out for the\n      armador, eight for the Busos, and two for the government.\n\n      \"In the year 1831, one vessel with seventy Busos, another with\n      fifty, and two with thirty each, and two boats with ten each,\n      from the coast of Sonora, engaged in this fishery. The one\n      brought in forty ounces of pearls, valued at $6500; another,\n      twenty-one ounces, valued at $3000; another, twelve ounces,\n      valued at $2000, and the two boats a proportionate quantity.\n      There were, in the same season, ten or twelve other vessels, from\n      other parts, employed in the same trade, which, if equally\n      successful, swelled the value of pearls taken in that year to the\n      sum of more than forty thousand dollars.\"--FARNHAM'S _Scenes in\n      the Pacific_, p. 307.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIV.\n\nFirst Sight of the Valley of Mexico.--A Venice in a mountain\nValley.--An Emperor waiting his Murderers.--Cortez mowing down\nunarmed Indians.--A new kind of Piety.--Capture of an\nEmperor.--Torturing an Emperor to Death.--The Children paying\nthe Penalty of their Fathers' Crimes.--The Aztecs and other\nIndians.--The Difference is in the Historians.--The Superstitions\nof the Indians.--The Valley of Mexico.--An American Survey of the\nValley.--A topographical View.--The Ponds Chalco, Xochimulco, and\nTezcuco were never Lakes.\n\n\nMy first view of the Valley of Mexico was from the point where the\nAcapulco road passes the Cross of the \"Marquis of the Valley.\" I had\nread with eagerness the History of the Conquest, and of the adventures\nof the noble _Conquistador_. Not a shadow of a doubt had then crossed\nmy mind in regard to the truth of all that had been so elegantly\nwritten. Beautiful composition had supplied the place of evidence, and\nthat practice of writing romances of history which the Spaniards had\ninherited from the Moors had completely captivated me, as it had\nthousands of others. The aspect of the valley was all that my fancy had\npainted it. The sun was in the right quarter to produce the greatest\npossible effect. The unnumbered pools of surface-water that abound in\nthe valley appeared at that distance like so many lakelets supplied by\ncrystal fountains, as each one reflected the bright sun from its\nmirror-like surface; these all were inclosed in the richest setting of\nnature's green.\n\nIt was such a scene as would justify the extravagant language which\nSpaniards have employed in describing it. While I recalled its\ntraditional history, I was tempted to exclaim as a native would have\ndone, and to give credence to the fables of which this valley has been\nthe scene. Here, as the story ran, amid floating gardens of rarest\nflowers and richest fruits, lay, in olden time, another Venice--a\nVenice in an inland mountain valley--a Venice upon whose Rialto never\nwalked a Shylock with his money-bags; for in this market-place the most\ndelicious fruits the world produces, the loveliest flowers, rich stuffs\nresplendent with Tyrian dyes, and princely mantles of feather-work,\nwere bought with pretty shells, and such money as the sea produces. It\nwas a Venice with its street of waters and its central basin, where\njostled the gondolas of the Aztec nobles and the light canoes of birch\nbark among the vessels of commerce which came laden with slaves and\nother merchandise from the surrounding villages--a basin that\ndisappeared the same day that the Indian empire fell.\n\n\nGUATEMOZIN.\n\nThis basin was the last vestige of Aztec dominion; and when there no\nlonger was any safe shelter upon the land, Guatemozin retired to his\ncanoe and took shelter here, and calmly waited till his time should\ncome to be murdered. He could not flee. He could not capitulate, for he\nwas an emperor. As he sat here waiting for death, what must have been\nhis reflections! What thoughts did not the very boat he occupied call\nup! How often had it carried him out upon the lake to the floating\ngardens and volcanic islands, where he had witnessed so many times the\ngorgeous reflections of an evening sun upon the snow-capped\nPopocatapetl, in whose bowels \"the god of fire\" had his dwelling! And\nthen the lake itself, how much it had perplexed his thoughts, that in\none part its waters should be fresh, with islands teeming with the\nrichest vegetation, and in another part salt and bitter, with utter\nbarrenness resting upon its shores! How he used to meet his brother of\nTezcuco in the after part of the day, to exchange congratulations and\ntalk over affairs of interest to both the royal families! Now all these\npleasures were terminated forever. His brother of Tezcuco was in the\nranks of his enemies, seeking his destruction.\n\nThus sat the emperor, surrounded by a numerous fleet of canoes, whose\noccupants were without hope of escape or strength to fight; but, with\nIndian stoicism, all sat waiting their inevitable doom from freebooters\nwhom they had disappointed of their prey. As the emperor and his nobles\nsat here witnessing the destruction of their pumice-stone palaces and\nmud-built huts, and the filling up of their canals, they consoled\nthemselves with the reflection that their gold and their wealth were\nall at the bottom of these canals, and that the Spaniards, in their hot\nhaste to enjoy the spoils of the city, were unwittingly burying forever\nthe prize for which they were contending. Such were the thoughts of\nthese Aztecs as they sat in their canoes, longing for death to relieve\nthem from agony of suspense, enduring all the torments of the extremest\nthirst, which they vainly sought to quench by draughts of the brackish\nwater of the lake. They had not long to wait; for, by the express\ncommands of Cortez, his followers were mowing down unresisting\ncitizens, because the emperor, over whom they had no control, would not\nsurrender himself.\n\nWho can stand for the first time upon the mountain rim that incloses\nthis valley, and not have his thoughts carried back to some such scene\nas this? The recollection is not easily eradicated that the remnant of\na once powerful tribe of Indians, partially emerged from barbarism,\nhere received their death, in cold blood, at the hands of a party of\nwhite murderers. The good Archbishop Loranzana commends the piety of\nCortez in never neglecting to attend mass before going out to his daily\nwork of slaughter. It was a pious act, no doubt, that on the last\nmorning of the siege he stopped and listened to a mass--that pantomime\nwhich set forth the death of the Redeemer of the world--preparatory to\nconsummating the butchery of Indians incapable of resistance.\n\nGarci Holguin, the master of a brigantine, or rather flat-boat, bolder\nthan the rest, drove through the fleet of canoes that occupied the\nbasin, until he encountered in the centre a canoe containing the person\nof the emperor, whom he made prisoner and brought to Cortez, whereupon\nthe slaughter ceased.\n\nNeither the horrid sight which the city presented, nor the fallen\nfortunes of a brave enemy, could move the soul of Cortez. A brigand\nknows no remorse and feels no pity. Gold had been the object of his\npious mission, and when he found not gold enough to satisfy the\ncravings of his gang, he soaked the fallen emperor's feet in oil, and\nthen burned them at a slow fire, to extort from him a confession of the\nplace of concealment of his supposed treasure; and when, in after\nyears, he was tired of the burden of such a prisoner, he wantonly\nhanged him up by the heels to die in a distant forest.\n\nIn this very city where Cortez tortured Guatemozin was a son of Cortez,\nwho inherited the spoils of his father's atrocities, put to the torture\nby one of the Vice-kings, while the children's children of the\nConquistadors paid for the wealth they inherited in the terrible\npenalties inflicted upon them by the buccaneers, that ravaged their\ncoasts for two hundred years. Have not the sins of the fathers been\nvisited upon the children?\n\nThe Aztecs, their empire, and their city, have long since disappeared;\ntheir crimes, and the despotism which they exercised over the tribes\nthey had conquered, are all forgotten in the terrible catastrophe that\nextinguished their national existence. Three hundred years of servitude\nin the indiscriminate mass of Indian serfs has blotted out every\nfeeling of nationality. A few vagabonds among them still claim royal\ndescent, and, by virtue of their blood or their imposture, pretend to\nexercise, in obscure villages, an undefined jurisdiction over Indians\nas oppressed as themselves. But the characteristics of the North\nAmerican Indians are still visible; they still exhibit the\ncontradictory traits of Indian character--cruelty and kindness, shyness\nand self-possession; enduring the greatest trials without a murmur, and\nsuffering oppression without complaint; delighting as much as their\nnorthern brethren in tawdry exhibitions, in traditions of the\nmarvelous, they seem to carry hidden in their inmost soul an idea that\nthe time will come when they may take vengeance of the despoilers of\ntheir race. They have the Indian's love of adventure and want of\ncourage. They delight rather in a successful stratagem than in open\nhostility, and deem no act of treachery dishonorable by which they can\ngain an advantage. Still, they have less romance in their composition\nthan the unenslaved northern Indians, into whose souls the iron of\ndespotism has never entered.\n\n\nTHE AZTECS AND THEIR HISTORIANS.\n\nThe great difference between what is recorded of the North American\nIndian and the Aztec is owing less to any difference in themselves than\nto the character of the historians who have written of them. The\nnorthern writers were not carried away by the romance of Indian life;\nthey were matter-of-fact men, and they drew only matter-of-fact\npictures. Spanish historians, and all early Spanish writers upon New\nSpain, except the two brigands, Cortez and Diaz, were priests. With\nthem, truth was not an essential part of history. By the law of all\ncountries, the Conquistadors had outlawed themselves by levying\nunlicensed war; but as they bore a painting of the Virgin Mary on one\nof their standards and the cross on the other, it would be impiety to\nplace their conduct in its true light. Las Casas was an exception, and\nendured persecution for speaking the truth. \"He had powerful enemies,\"\nwas all that his apologist dare say, \"because he spake the truth.\" And\nif we add to this the sevenfold censorship already described, my reader\nwill agree with me that it is absurd to place confidence in records\nover which the Inquisition exercised a surveillance.\n\nThe fabled Aztec empire has almost passed from the traditions of the\nMexican Indians. The name of only one of their chiefs, Montezuma,\nremains among them, and this name is affixed to almost every thing that\nhas an ancient look and is in a dilapidated condition. In my wanderings\namong them, I never rejected their proffers of rude hospitality, and I\nhave listened with pleasure to their wild traditions. I soon found\nthat, like other Indians, they draw from a supernatural \"dream-world\"\nthe fortitude that enables them to bear without a murmur their hard lot\nin the present. They readily embraced the superstitions of the\nSpaniards, and rendered to the virgin of Guadalupe the adoration they\nhad formerly bestowed upon their own gods. Their conversion may be\nsummed up in the words of Humboldt: \"Dogma has not succeeded to dogma,\nbut ceremony to ceremony. The natives know nothing of religion but the\nexternal forms of worship. Fond of whatever is connected with a\nprescribed order of ceremonies, they find in the Christian religion\nparticular enjoyment. The festivals of the Church, the fire-works with\nwhich they are accompanied, the processions mingled with whimsical\ndisguises, are a most fertile source of amusement to the lower Indians.\"\n\n\nTHE VALLEY OF MEXICO.\n\nThere has been a great deal of poetry and very little plain prose\nwritten about the valley of Mexico. At an early morning hour I stood\nupon the heights of Rio Frio; at another morning, as already said, at\nthe Cross of the Marquis; again, upon the highest peak of the Tepeyaca,\nbehind Guadalupe, I saw a tropical morning sun disengage itself from\nthe snowy mountains. From these three favored spots I have looked upon\nthe valley, where dry land and pools of water seemed equally to compose\nthe magnificent panorama. Immense mirrors of every conceivable shape\nand form were reflecting back the rays of the sun, while the green\nshores in which they were set enhanced the effect. The white walls, and\ndomes, and spires of the distant city heightened the effect of a\npicture that can only be fully appreciated by those who have looked\ndownward through the pure atmosphere of such a lofty position; but when\nI came down to the common level, the charm was broken. Instead of\nlakelets and crystal springs, I found only pools of surface-water which\nthe rains had left; and the canals were but the ditches from which, on\neither side, the dirt had been taken to build the causeway through the\nmarsh, and were now covered with a coat of green. These lakes have no\noutlet, and as evaporation only takes up pure water, all the animal,\nvegetable, and mineral matter that is carried in is left to stagnate\nand putrefy in the ponds and ditches.\n\nA practical \"man of the times,\" with more common sense than poetry in\nhis composition, must grieve as he looks at the great advantages here\npossessed for drainage and irrigation which are unimproved. There is\nnot a spot in the whole valley that is not capable of the most perfect\ndrainage,[28] while basins have been formed by nature in the highest\npoints, from which irrigation could be supplied to the whole valley;\nbut decay and neglect--fitting types of the social condition of the\npeople--every where exhibit themselves. Water stands in all the narrow\ncanals or ditches that occupy the middle of the streets, for the want\nsimply of a sewer to draw it down to the level of the Tezcuco. Once a\nyear the flags are taken off from the covered ditches, and the mud is\ndipped out, while a bundle of hay, tied to the tail of a dirt-cart, is\ndaily dragged through the open ones.\n\nI have spoken only of the lower division of this valley--the valley in\nwhich the city stands. If we consider the two partly separated valleys\nas one, the whole will constitute an oval basin 75 miles long from\nnorth to south, with an average width from east to west of 20 miles.\nTwo thirds of the southern valley is a marsh, and might well be called\nthe \"Montezuma Marsh,\" it so strikingly resembles the marsh of that\nname in the State of New York, though the whole body of ponds and\nmarshes of this valley contains much less water than its northern\nnamesake. The stage-road from Vera Cruz crosses this marsh for fourteen\nmiles, and has a great number of small stone bridges, beneath which the\nwater runs with considerable current toward the north, on account of\nthe difference of level between the southern fresh-water ponds and the\nlower salt-water ponds, as in the days of Cortez. There are occasional\ndry spots, and now and then there is open water; but the greater\nportion is filled with marsh grass, and furnishes good feeding for the\ndroves of cattle that daily frequent it for that purpose. The ancient\nvillage of Mexicalzingo, or \"Little Mexico,\" the traditional home of\nthe Aztecs before they built Mexico, is situated on one of the dry\nspots, slightly elevated above the level of the fresh water; and on\nanother dry spot or island, six miles distant, stands the famous city\nof Mexico itself, resting on piles driven into a foundation of soft\nearth. The canal of Chalco commences at the northerly extremity of the\nXochimulco, and, passing by Mexicalzingo and the floating gardens,\ncontinues along the eastern front of the city, and empties itself into\nthe salt (_tequisquite_) pond of Tezcuco, having received as a\ntributary the canal of Tacubaya, which passes along the southern\nboundary of the city.\n\n\nTHE LAKES OF THE VALLEY.\n\nThe highest water of the valley of the city of Mexico is the pond of\nChalco, in the extreme southeast, being 4-8/12 feet above the level of\nthe Grand Plaza of the city, and 20 miles distant therefrom, and\n11-2/12 feet above Tezcuco;[29] but its volume being small for the last\n400 years, the slight impediments of long grass and a few Indian dikes\nhave prevented any injury to the city by a too rapid flow to the\nnorthward. Xochimulco is the pond, or open space in the marsh, that\nextends from the Chalco to near Mexicalzingo. Tezcuco is the lowest\nwater in the valley, being 6-1/2 feet below the Grand Plaza of the\ncity.[30] It receives the surplus of the waters that have not already\nbeen evaporated in the other ponds. At this great elevation, 7500 feet,\nevaporation does its work rapidly all over the valley, but it is in\nTezcuco that the residuum of the waters is deposited.\n\n      [28] Report of M. L. Smith, Lieutenant of Topographical\n      Engineers, United States Army.\n\n      [29] Lieut. Smith's Report.\n\n      [30] Ibid.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XV.\n\nThe two Valleys.--The Lake with a leaky Bottom.--The Water could not\nhave been higher.--Nor could the Lagunas or Ponds have been much\ndeeper.--The Brigantines only flat-bottomed Boats.--The Causeway\nCanals fix the size of the Brigantines.--The Street Canals.--Stagnant\nWater unfit for Canals.--The probable Dimensions of the City\nCanals.--Difficulties of disproving a Fiction.--A Dike or Levee.--The\nCanal of Huehuetoca.--The Map of Cortez.--Wise Provision of\nProvidence.--The Fiction about the numerous Cities in and about the\nLake.\n\n\nIt may be well here to repeat that, strictly speaking, there are two\nvalleys of Mexico--the upper northern valley, and the valley of the\ncity of Mexico; the first extends in an oval form to the north of the\nhills of Tepeyaca, some sixty miles, and communicates with the plains\nof Otumba and Apam. In this valley are the two ponds, or _lagunas_, of\nZumpango and San Cristobal, the highest waters of Mexico; and in it\nalso is the half of the Tezcuco, which is the lowest laguna of the\nvalleys. It is a country of fine farming lands, and was probably\ninhabited long before the time of the arrival of the Aztecs in the\nlower valley, as I infer from its proximity to the extensive ruins of\nTeotihuican, that have come down from a remote and highly-civilized\nantiquity.\n\n\nTHE ANCIENT LAKES.\n\nThe valley of the city of Mexico, which lies to the south of these\nhills, is also of an oval shape, but is not more than twenty miles in\nextent. The surface-water with which it is saturated is in part fresh,\nand in other parts _tequisquite_; that is, where the waters have a\ncurrent, they are fresh; but where they remain from year to year\ndischarging their volume only by evaporation, then they become infused\nwith the saline properties of the soil,[31] and all about them is marked\nwith barrenness. If the process of evaporation was less intense than it\nis,[32] all vegetation would die from the extreme humidity of the soil;\nas the gardener's phrase is, it would rot. Even in the city of Mexico\nitself, a couple of feet of digging in its alluvial foundation brings\nyou to the water-level in the dry season, and seventy or eighty yards\nof boring does not carry you beyond the perceptible influence of\n_tequisquite_.[33] The effects of this law of evaporation puzzled the\nAztecs, who were, of course, ignorant of all philosophical principles,\nand could only account for the disappearance of the immense mass of\nwater that fell in the valley in the wet season, upon the hypothesis\nthat the Tezcuco had a leaky bottom, or that there was a hole in the\nlake--an idea that thousands in Mexico credit to the present day. This\nwas the origin of that absurd story which Cortez repeats in his\nletters, that this lake communicated with the sea, and had its daily\ntides.\n\nThere could not have been a much greater volume of water in this marshy\nvalley in the time of Cortez than at present, if the whole\naccumulations of each year were to be carried off by evaporation alone\nfrom so small a surface as is here presented for the sun to act upon.\nBut as the volume of water is the turning-point in the history or fable\nof the conquest, I must adduce the proofs and arguments that are at\nhand to establish this statement. The level of the water could not have\nbeen higher, it is clear, for in that case neither Mexico,\nMexicalzingo, or Iztapalapan could have been inhabited.\n\nCortez's account of deep waters has often been made plausible by adding\nthe hypothesis that the accumulating mud of centuries has filled up the\nlakes, so that they now are only shallow ponds. But this by no means\nremoves the difficulty, for then, as now, the waters of the southern\nlaguna flowed into Tezcuco, conveying with them the infinitesimal\ninfusion of _tequisquite_ that had instilled itself into the Chalco.\nHad the volume of Chalco and Xochimulco been increased several feet,\nthen the slight Indian barriers and the long grass would no longer have\nbeen able to retard the progress of the water till evaporation had\ndiminished its quantity, but, precipitating itself in a mass into the\nTezcuco, it would have overwhelmed the town of Tezcuco and all other\nvillages upon the shores, and established an equilibrium of surface in\nthe two ponds.\n\nAll the lagunas, canals, and ditches that have been described are\nnavigated by small scows that draw but a few inches of water, which are\nthe medium of an extensive internal commerce. Through the lagunas and\ncanal of Chalco come from Cuatla all the supplies of the products of\nthe hot country for the city and surrounding region. This commerce\nexceeds the whole foreign trade of the republic.[34] This kind of boat\nwas probably introduced by Cortez, and in this convenient form his\nthirteen brigantines were probably made; for, had his brigantines been\nof a larger draught of water, they could not have navigated canals\nintended only for Indian canoes. One of these vessels, when supplied\nwith a sail, a cannon, and a movable keel or side-board, would be a\nformidable auxiliary in an assault upon the city at the present day.\nAnd if one such scow was placed in the ditch on each side of the\nsouthern causeway, as Cortez alleges, it would enable an assailing\nenemy to present just so much more front as the additional width of two\nboats would give him.\n\n\nTHE CAUSEWAYS AND CANALS.\n\nWriters have expressed their surprise at the existence of two navigable\ncanals to each causeway, one on either side, as an immense expenditure\nof unnecessary labor. The explanation of this is found in the fact that\nin the construction of a pathway (for Cortez says that it was only 30\nfeet in width) through wet and marshy ground, a broad ditch is\nordinarily made on either side to obtain earth for the embankment, and\nto keep the water-level permanently below the top of the pathway. So it\nis, and so it must always have been at Mexico, in order to keep these\nfoot-paths in traveling condition. In the dry season, which is the\nwinter, these broad ditches are covered with floating islands of green\n\"scum;\" but in the rainy season, which is the summer, they may be\nnavigated by the shallow Mexican scows. A pathway of earth thirty feet\nin width could not endure the winds and waves of a navigable lake, or\nthe wear and \"swash\" of a canal twelve feet deep on either side; and\nthe fact that Cortez navigated the ditches in the rainy season\nestablishes the insignificant size of his famous brigantines.\n\nAs the level of the surface of the land and the surface of the water at\nMexicalzingo, at Mexico, and at the village Tezcuco, does not\nmaterially vary now from what it was in the time of Cortez, if we can\ntake for data the foundations of the church built by the Conquistadors\nat these several places, we shall have to look to another quarter for a\nsupply of water for the city canals, which were sufficiently capacious\nfor canoe navigation. This supply we readily obtain by allowing the\nwaters of the canals Tacubaya and Chalco to pass through the streets of\nthe city in ditches sufficiently large for canoes, instead of passing\nalong the south and east fronts outside. By this hypothesis we obtain a\ncurrent, a prerequisite to the very idea of a canal, particularly in\nthe streets of a city.\n\nThe _savans_ of Europe have shown their profound ignorance of the first\nprinciples of canal navigation in taking it for granted that the canals\nof Mexico were filled with stagnant water, that had \"set back\" from the\nstagnant pond of Tezcuco; and that the level of the pond must at all\ntimes have been so high as to fill the canals, thus keeping the city in\nconstant danger from any sudden rise in the laguna. But, aside from the\nrules of canal construction, there is an important sanitary question\ninvolved. The present ditches in the middle of the streets, though they\nhave a perceptible current, and a slight infusion of _tequisquite_,\nare an intolerable nuisance, and have a deleterious effect upon the\npublic health. How much more so must they have been when, from the\nuncleanly habits of the Indians, they were the common receptacle of all\nkinds of filth, and were constantly stirred up to their very bottoms by\nthe setting-poles of the navigators? The system of canalling is a\nsystem of slack-water navigation, but abhors stagnant water.\n\nWe come next to the question of the dimensions of these street canals.\nWe know that they were intended only for the navigation of Indian\ncanoes; that two of them, which intersected the causeway of the night\nretreat, Cortez crossed with his army, all of them climbing down into\nthe canal, wading across, and then climbing up on the other side while\nloaded with their armor, and fighting all the time against a superior\nforce of the Aztecs; and that Alvarado actually leaped across one of\nthe openings, shows conclusively that the canals could not have more\nthan equaled in breadth the present canal of Chalco. On the hypothesis\nthat Cortez used scows that drew no more water than the scows that at\npresent navigate the canals, his story becomes credible, so far, at\nleast, as the possibility of making the circuit of the city in large\nboats in a season of rains.\n\n\nTRUTH AGAINST FICTION.\n\nIt is an ungracious task to sift truth from fables. One man is\ndispleased at seeing held up as a fiction a narrative which he has been\naccustomed to read with pleasure, and to take for truth, because it was\nelegantly written; and he requires an accumulation of proofs and\narguments before he will abandon a belief which he has adopted without\nevidence. Another man, who deals only in matters of fact, is easily\nconvinced, and is annoyed at an accumulation of proofs and arguments\nwhere one is sufficient. The superstitious man can not, of course, be\nconvinced, for his belief does not rest upon evidence; and he is\nindignant that an attempt should be made to detract from the glory\nobtained by the Virgin Mary and the Church in this victory over the\ninfidels. Had I attempted to prove that the feather which is now\npreserved with so much care in the Church of _San Juan de Lateran_ at\nRome did not fall from the wing of the angel Gabriel when he came to\nannounce to Mary her conception, and that the whole history of that\nfeather was a fable, notwithstanding it has received the attestations\nof so many of the Holy Fathers, I should be cursed for my impiety no\nmore than I shall be for raising the question of the authenticity of\nthe histories of the Conquest. With all these difficulties before me, I\nwill venture to add one or two more reasons that have induced me to\ndoubt the existence of those famous brigantines, which required a depth\nof twelve feet of water.\n\nIn support of the hypothesis that the street ditches, called canals,\nwere independent of the Tezcuco for their supply, we have still the\nremains of an old Indian dike, which extended from near Iztapalapan,\nalong the east part of the city, to Guadalupe or Tepeyaca, which must\nhave been intended to shut off the Tezcuco when the water was high, and\nwhen it receded they probably opened a weir at the northern extremity,\nthrough which the waters of the city that had been discharged upon the\nflats of San Lazaro found an outlet.\n\nThe waters of the valley are now distributed in the best possible\nmanner to favor evaporation; and yet so completely is this power taxed,\nthat when, in 1629, a water-spout, bursting over the small river\nGuautitlan, had forced the waters of Zumpango over its barriers into\nthe San Cristobal, and that again into the Tezcuco, the city was\ninundated to the depth of about three feet. Evaporation was unable to\nremove or materially lessen this new volume of water in a period of\nfive years. This fully demonstrates that the average annual fall of\nwater is equal to the full capacity of evaporation. The valley of\nMexico is a very small one over which to dispose of the mass of water\nthat the mountain-torrents in summer and the tropical rains pour into\nit, and with the small margin of six and a half feet for rising and\nfalling, the city must have been in constant jeopardy. Still the floods\nhave been much less frequent than would have been supposed, fully\ndemonstrating the great uniformity in the fall of water in the Mexican\nseason of rain. When a water-spout occurred in the Chalco in 1446, in\nthe time of the Aztec kings, there was a flood, which probably ran off\ninto the Tezcuco. Under the Spaniards the following floods are\nenumerated: the first in 1553; the second in 1580; the third in 1604;\nthe fourth in 1607; the fifth in 1629.\n\nAfter the flood of 1607, the tunnel of Huehuetoca was undertaken, and\nconstructed in eleven months, for the purpose of letting out of the\nvalley the waters of the River Guautitlan, so as to prevent it from\nfalling into Tezcuco or flooding the city. For those times it was a\ngreat work, but we should say now that it was poorly engineered and\nbadly managed, and not worthy the notice it has received in books on\nMexico. Since that time, the great inundation of 1629 occurred while\nthe mouth of the tunnel was closed. After that time, the Spaniards,\ninstead of building inside of the tunnel an elliptical tube, actually,\nby a hundred years of misapplied labor, turned the tunnel into an open\ncut.\n\n\nTHE MAP OF CORTEZ.\n\nCortez furnished a map to illustrate his description. This map has the\nsame defect as his narrative; that is, it was untrue at the time he\nmade it. In order to bring Tezcuco about the city, he places the\nvillage of that name due east of Mexico, although he well knew that it\nwas nearly north, as the two towns are distinctly in sight, although at\na distance of about six leagues. Now, if we carry the village of\nTezcuco and the shore of the lake with it to its correct position, we\nshall have the Laguna of Tezcuco in about its present form and size.\nThe apology for his defeat at Iztapalapan, by the breaking open of the\ndike and letting in the salt water, is, of course, inadequate, as the\ndike could not have supported a head of water sufficient to drown his\nmen, nor could so great a head of salt water be obtained at that point.\n\nIn this survey of the ponds of Mexico, I have drawn upon the experience\nwhich has been acquired in the process of evaporation at the extensive\nsalt manufactories of Syracuse and the surrounding villages in Western\nNew York, and also the experience of our engineers Upon the Erie Canal,\nand the engineers upon the dikes or levees at Sacramento, where the\nnature of the soil resembles that of Mexico. And I may now conclude\nthis long survey of the canals and lagunas of Mexico, by saying that it\nis a wise provision of Providence that all bodies of water that have no\noutlet are found to contain a considerable infusion of salt, otherwise\ntheir accumulations of decaying matter would be such that mankind could\nnot live in their vicinity. This valley is an illustration of that\ntruth. Tezcuco, surrounded by barrenness, is not deleterious to life,\nwhile the fresh-water lagunas, though continually changing their\nvolume, render Mexico unhealthy in summer by the gases which they\nexhale from decaying vegetation.\n\n\nANCIENT POPULATION OF THE VALLEY.\n\nI have pretty thoroughly described this small valley, and have also\nstated how large a portion of it is flooded with surface-water, and how\nlarge a portion of this water is infused with salt. In the vicinity of\nTacubaya the land is remarkably fertile, and there is good tillable\nland as the mountains are approached, especially about Chalco on the\nsoutheast; but under Indian cultivation, the whole of this valley could\nhave produced sustenance for only an extremely limited population, if\nthe product of the floating gardens and the ducks caught upon the pond\nshould be added. It is totally inadequate to feed the population of\nMexico under the vice-kings, 400,000, or its present population of say\n300,000; nor could the valley itself be made to sustain one third of\nthis. This valley, it must be recollected, is inclosed on all sides\nexcept the north by mountains that exceed 10,000 feet in height, while\nthe commissariat capacity of barbaric tribes is not such as to provide\nextensive supplies from a distance. Under such circumstances, we should\nlook for an extremely limited population. Yet the most surprising part\nof the story of the conquest is the enormous population assigned to the\nnumerous large cities which they allege the valley contained. Diaz\nsays, \"A series of large towns stretched themselves along the banks of\nthe lake, out of which [the lake] still larger ones rose magnificently\nabove the water.\" Cortez says that Iztapalapan contained \"10,000\nfamilies,\" which would give the town 50,000 inhabitants; \"Amaqueruca,\n20,000 inhabitants;\" \"Mexicalzingo, 3000 families,\" or 15,000\ninhabitants; \"Ayciaca more than 6000 families;\" \"Huchilohuchico, 5000\nor 6000.\" The population of Chalco he does not give, nor the population\nof the very numerous villages whose names he mentions. At the present\nday there are a few mud huts in nearly every locality named, but not\nenough in any one instance to merit the name of a village. And this, I\nam inclined to believe, was the real condition of things in the time of\nCortez. The city of Mexico alone would have exhausted the limited\nresources of the valley. Old Thomas Gage was as much puzzled two\nhundred years ago to account for this astonishing disappearance of the\nnumerous Indian cities of this valley as we are, and also for the\nsupposed filling up of the lakes, never appearing to suspect that the\nstory of Cortez was a fiction.\n\n      [31] There has been much speculation in regard to the origin of\n      the saline properties of this water; but the Artesian borings\n      going on while I was in Mexico, I think, sufficiently demonstrate\n      that the earthy bottom of the valley, for hundreds of feet,\n      contains an infusion of carbonate and muriate of soda.\n\n      [32] The atmosphere of Mexico is so intensely dry, that the\n      hygrometer of Deluc frequently descends to 15 deg..--HUMBOLDT'S\n      _Essai Politique_, vol. ii. p. 110.\n\n      [33] When the Artesian well, in process of construction near my\n      residence, had reached a depth of seventy yards, the water that\n      came up was slightly impregnated with this salt.\n\n      [34] _Comercio de Mexico_, 1852.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVI.\n\nThe Chinampas or Water Gardens.--Laws of Nature not set aside.--Mud\nwill not float.--The present Chinampas.--They never could have been\nfloating Gardens.--Relations of the Chinampas to the ancient State of\nthe Lake in the Valley.\n\n\nAll the world has heard of the floating gardens (_chinampas_) of\nMexico, but all the world has not seen them. I have not seen any\nfloating gardens, nor, on diligent inquiry, have I been able to find a\nman, woman, or child that ever has seen them, nor do I believe that\nsuch a thing as a floating garden ever existed at Mexico. Humboldt\nadmits that they do exist; says that he has seen floating earthy masses\nof great size in the tropical rivers, and then describes the manner of\nthe construction of the chinampas, but in such a way as to satisfy the\ncareful reader that he does not intend to say that he saw them himself,\nand evidently makes his statement upon hearsay; and takes it up as an\nadmitted fact, without having his mind called to the physical\nimpossibilities of floating a mass of earth that was of a greater\nspecific gravity than water.\n\n\nFAITH AND TESTIMONY.\n\nWhen the historians of the Conquest wrote their marvelous narratives of\nalleged adventures and of the new empire, it was a question for the\nEmperor and the Inquisition solely, whether their writings should pass\nfor history or be condemned as fabulous. With this question the people\nhad nothing to do but to believe as it suited those in authority. The\nquestion being settled that the publication of the letters of Cortez as\na verity would redound to the glory of the Church and the king, then it\nwas also settled that there should be no contradiction published; and\nas these marvelous tales were spread abroad throughout Europe, with the\nmasses of silver from the newly-discovered mines, men were prepared to\nbelieve almost any thing--even that rich vegetable mould, when\nsaturated with water, could float.\n\nIt not being lawful to promulgate the facts of the Conquest, the memory\nof events that really transpired ultimately passed from the\nrecollections of men, so that the letters of Cortez were taken for\ntruth, even in their most minute details; so that, in a subsequent\ncentury, we find a vice-king employing an engineer to search for and\nclean out the hole in the bottom of the Tezcuco! for, from the\nvice-king down to the most insignificant official, all assumed that the\nletters of Cortez gave a correct picture of affairs at that time; and\nall showed the greatest embarrassment in accounting for the magnitude\nof the changes that are supposed to have occurred without a\nsufficiently adequate cause. It is a common difficulty in all purely\nCatholic countries, for there the rule of evidence is an unnatural one.\nThe people have been taught to believe from their infancy that the laws\nof nature can be set aside upon every trifling occasion, at the\nmomentary caprice of any one of the multitude of saints \"who are to\ngovern the world;\" and on proof that any mortal has set aside the laws\nof nature or wrought a miracle, he at once becomes a saint. With these\n\"dutiful children of the Church\" there can be no fixed laws of\nevidence; the only ground of belief is, and ever must be, Has the\nstatement been sanctioned by the highest authority? If so, it is true;\nif not, it is to be doubted, however positive the proofs may be. A\ndifficulty that the traveler every where encounters is that he can\nbelieve nothing that he hears, even on the most trifling subject,\nwithout careful examination and weighing of testimony. As he can not\nexamine every thing himself, he is constantly liable to be imposed upon\nby taking for granted that which is every where affirmed. Humboldt for\nonce, with all his caution, seems to have fallen into the common trap,\nand credited, without examination, the story of the floating gardens.\n\n\nTHE CHINAMPAS.\n\nThe chinampas are formed on the fresh-water mud on each side of the\ncanal of Chalco, from the southeast corner of the city to a point near\nthe ancient village of Mexicalzingo, and for a part of the way they are\non both sides of that beautiful but now neglected _paseo_, Las Vegas;\nthere are also a small number near the causeway of Tacubaya, and in\nother parts of the marsh; their number might be extended without limit\nif it was not regulated by the demands of the vegetable market of\nMexico. Chinampas are formed by laying upon the soft mud a very thick\ncoating of reeds, or rather rushes, in the form and about the size of\none of our largest canal scows. Between two chinampas a space of about\nhalf the width of one is left, and from this open space the mud is\ndipped up and poured upon the bed of dry rushes, where it dries, and\nforms a rich \"muck\" soil, which constitutes the garden. As the specific\ngravity of this garden is much greater than that of the water, or of\nthe substratum of mud and water combined, it gradually sinks down into\nits muddy foundation; and in a few years it has to be rebuilt by laying\nupon the top of the garden a new coating of rushes and another covering\nof mud. Thus they have been going on for centuries, one garden being\nplaced upon the top of another, and a third placed over all, so soon as\nthe second gives signs of being swallowed up in the all-devouring mud.\n\nThe gardeners navigate the open space between their islands with light\nboats; and during the short hours of the morning, the market-boat\nalongside each island is loaded with a cargo of vegetables, fruits, and\nflowers, which are to be displayed in the great market of Santa Anna.\nMore pleasing than a drive on the _paseo_ is a boat-ride down the canal\nof Chalco at eventide, when the proprietor of each of these little\nestates is seen standing in the canal alongside, and throwing upon his\nthirsty plants a plentiful supply of the tepid canal water, which, from\nevery leaf and flower, reflects back the rays of a setting sun, that\nhave penetrated the long shadows of the trees of Las Vegas. Some of the\nchinampas have small huts upon them, where a gardener lives, who\nwatches over two or three of these little properties. Sometimes also\nshrubs, and even trees, are planted along the edges, which yield both\nfruits and flowers, and serve to keep the dry earth from falling into\nthe water. When looking at one of the largest and best cared for\nchinampas, the beholder can hardly divest himself of the idea that it\nis a floating island, and might well have been the residence of\nCalypso.\n\nThis is the whole of the story of the chinampas, the most fertile and\nbeautiful little gardens upon the face of the earth. A correct picture\nof them would be poetry enough, without the addition of falsehood; for\nwhether it is the rainy season or the dry season, it is always the same\nto them. They know no exclusive seed-time, and have no especial season\nfor harvest; but blossoms and ripe fruits grow side by side, and\nflowers flourish at all seasons. As market gardens they are unrivaled,\nand to them Mexico is indebted for its abundant supplies.\n\nThe evidence that Humboldt[35] produces in favor of floating gardens,\nviz., that he saw floating islands of some 30 feet in length in the\nmidst of the current of rivers, amounts to little in this case; for\nevery one that has traveled extensively in tropical lowlands has seen\nvegetation spring up upon floating masses of brush-wood. Where earth\ntorn from the river bank is so bound together by living roots as to\nform a raft, it will always float for a little while upon the current,\nprovided that its specific gravity does not materially exceed that of\nthe water; and those grasses that flourish best in water will spring up\nand grow upon these islands. Peat, too, in bogs, will float and form\nislands, for the simple reason that it is of less specific gravity than\nwater; and vegetation will also spring up on these peat islands. But\nall this furnishes no evidence that the invariable law of nature, which\ncarries to the bottom the heaviest body, has been suspended at Mexico.\nHad the floating gardens been built in large boats made water-tight,\nthey might have floated. But, unfortunately, the Indians had not the\nmeans for constructing such boats. Even timber-rafts would have become\nsaturated in time, and sunk, as rafts of logs do if kept too long in\nthe \"mill-pond,\" waiting to be sawed into lumber.\n\nThere is another law of nature, which must not be lost sight of, which\nis at war with the idea of a garden floating on a bed of rushes; and\nthat is capillary attraction, which would raise particles of water, one\nby one, among the fibres of the rushes until the frail raft on which\nthe earth rested was saturated; and still pressing upward, the busy\ndrops would penetrate the superincumbent earth, moistening and adding\nto the specific gravity of the garden by filling the porous earth until\nit became too heavy to float, if it ever had floated.\n\nNearly three hundred years had passed away before men ventured to\nquestion the truth of the statement that the gardens along the canal of\nChalco ever floated, and then it seemed like temerity to raise the\nquestion, even if it were only a popular fallacy. It has therefore been\ntreated by all modern writers as a well-established matter, and one of\nnot sufficient importance to justify its minute investigation. With me\nthe question was a far different one. I had, after careful inquiry and\nobservation, come to the conclusion that the marshes of the valley of\nMexico were, in the time of Cortez, substantially in the condition in\nwhich we find them at the present day; that the filling up they had\nundergone in that time was counterbalanced by the relief they had\ngained by the canal of Huehuetoca. The chinampas constitute an\nimportant link in the chain of proofs to establish this fact. If I have\nsucceeded in showing that these gardens of the Aztecs, instead of\nfloating upon the water, rested upon the muddy bottom, it follows as a\nmatter of course that the depth of the water in the laguna could not,\nin the day of the Aztecs, have been materially greater than it now is.\n\n      [35] _Essai Politique_, vol. ii. p. 61.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVII.\n\nThe gambling Festival of San Augustine.--Suppressed by Government.--The\nLosses of the Saint by the Suppression of Gambling.--How Travelers live\nin the Interior.--A Visit to the Palace.\n\n\nGAMBLING AT TLALPAN.\n\nI have already said that my first entry into the valley of Mexico was\nfrom the south, through the suburban city of Tlalpan, where in good old\ntimes was held the great gambling festival of San Augustine. The\nadvancing morality of our day has put an extinguisher on this noted\nfestival, which was one of the most noted days in the Mexican calendar.\nCrowds flocked to it to gamble, to dance, and to adore the most holy\nSaint Augustine. To a looker-on it was hard to say whether it was the\ndevil or the saint whom the people had come to worship. The chief\nbusiness of high-born dames seemed to be to make a display of their\ntaste in dress, and to set off the whole contents of their wardrobe;\nfor five times in each day was their entire wardrobe changed, and so\noften did they appear in a new set of jewels. To this festival came\nalso noblemen and highway robbers, to gamble and to rob each other, and\nto be robbed by the women at the _monte_ table. In honor of the saint,\nthe city was crowded with monks, and thieves, and Magdalens, and the\ndignitaries of the Church and state. The rich and the poor came\ntogether to enjoy the saturnalia in honor of the most blessed Saint\nAugustine. Gambling was here duly sanctified by the participation of\nthe priests, who were here, as they are every where in Mexico, the most\nexpert gamblers at the tables. While this festival continued, money\nchanged hands more rapidly than in California in her worst days. Five\ndances a day were the pastime; but at the monte table was the solid\nsport. This was the great attraction that had called all the crowd\ntogether. It was an exciting scene to see the ounces piled up as men\ngot excited in the game. What is there left of woman's virtue, when\nthe highest ladies of the court stake their ounces at a public\ngaming-table, and poorer ones eagerly throw down their last piece of\nsilver? Woman's rights have not yet reached that point with us that she\nmay gamble and get drunk without losing caste; and God grant they never\nmay.\n\nIt is a consolation to be able to add that the late government of the\nState of Mexico had sufficient firmness to suppress this abominable\nfestival of the Church, much to the pecuniary disadvantage of the saint\nand his priesthood. Indeed, there is now no public gambling, not even\nin the city of Mexico, except the lottery of the Academy of Fine Arts,\nand the lottery which is monthly drawn to promote the adoration of our\nLady of Guadalupe. This last is one of the most corrupting of all\nlotteries. Tickets for as small a price as a Spanish shilling are\nhawked about the street, and by the exhibition of a splendid scheme the\npoor Indians are tempted to venture their last _real_ in the hopes of\nwinning a rich prize, through the kind interposition of the Virgin, to\nwhom they are taught to pray for that purpose. It is true that a mass\nis performed for the benefit of all losers, but this mass has never had\nthe power of restoring to the poor Indian his lost shilling.\n\nLet us now go from this place, where gambling used annually to have its\nfestival, or, rather, harvest of victims, into the cathedral church of\nSan Augustine, to whom the lucky gamblers were accustomed to dedicate a\npart of their winnings, that thus they might sanctify their unrighteous\ncalling by bringing robbery to the saint for an offering. Poor saint!\nhow much he and his priests have suffered by this wanton interference\nof the civil government in Church affairs--this prohibition of\nmonte-playing in honor of the festival of San Augustine! There was much\nin this church to admire, and much of that gold displayed which\ngamblers are accustomed to lavish upon their idols. It seemed like\nanother worship and another religion from that which I had been\naccustomed to witness in the humble chapels of the Pintos, in whose\ncountry I had so long been wandering.\n\nAgain I was in the saddle, and soon upon that noted causeway by which\nCortez entered the city of Mexico. It has lost none of its attractions\nin the course of centuries, but has been kept in fine repair as a\ncarriage-road, while the venerable trees that line it on either side\nlook as old as the time of the Conquistadors. This noble carriage-way,\nthrough the marshy ground of the valley of Mexico, is an enlargement of\nthe old causeway of the Indians, or, rather, it has been built over and\naround it, that having been less than thirty feet in width. I soon\narrived at Churubusco, the scene of one of the bloody battles of the\nAmerican campaign in this valley. There was little here to look at, and\nI hurried on and entered the south gate of the city, and soon arrived\nat the _Hotel de Paris_, to which I had been directed. My poor old\nmustang here ended a twelve days' journey, over mountains and plains of\n_pedregal_, without a shoe to his hoofs.\n\nA party of Californians, who had been stopping here for some weeks, had\nleft the day before, and I was ushered into French society, in which to\nform my first impressions of Mexico. Still, there was an exquisite\npleasure in once more getting clean, and eating food cooked after a\ncivilized manner. Not that I had in any wise become tired of drinking\nporridge, extracted from corn, called _atola_, or dissatisfied with\neating bits of fowl, which the maid of honor to General Garay so\ningeniously served up with her fingers, after having it well flavored\nwith Cayenne or Chili pepper! He that does not love Chili must keep out\nof Spanish America. And he will prove a poor traveler who can not sit\ndown with a good appetite to a supper of small black beans (_frijoles_),\nand a dozen Indian cakes (_tortillas_), as thin and as tough as a\ndrum-head, which serve the double purpose of spoon and plate.\n\n\nABODE IN MEXICO.\n\nMy room was on the roof, and when my inner and outer man was fully in\norder, I used to walk till a late hour of the day upon the paved\nhouse-top, now leaning against the parapet and looking up to the\nsnow-covered mountains, whose shadowy forms could be made out even by\nmoonlight, and upon the shadowy towers and domes of the city. Thus\npleasant days and weeks flew on. Sometimes I rode about the valley,\ncarefully searching after the relics of times past, and at other times\nsurveying the curiosities of the city. Once this order was broken in\nupon, in order to accompany that noble-hearted man and excellent\nembassador, Governor Letcher, to the palace, where I had an interview\nwith Arista, then the President of Mexico, who strikingly resembled our\nown President of that day, Millard Fillmore.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVIII.\n\nVisit to Contreras and San Angel.--The End of a brave Soldier.--A\nPlace of Skulls.--A New England Dinner.--An Adventure with\nRobbers--doubtful.--Reasons for revisiting Mexico.--The Battle at\nthe Mountain of Crosses.--A peculiar Variety of the Cactus.--Three\nMen gibbeted for robbing a Bishop.---A Court upon Horseback.--The\nretreat of Cortez to Otumba.--A venerable Cypress Grove.--Unexpectedly\ncomfortable Quarters.--An English Dinner at Tezcuco.--Pleasures\nunknown to the Kings of Tezcuco.--Relics of Tezcuco.--The Appearance\nof the Virgin Mary at Tezcuco.--The Causeways of Mexico.\n\n\nA RIDE TO SAN ANGEL.\n\nThe ride to San Angel has this advantage over all others out of Mexico,\nthat the road is nearly all the way upon dry land, thus presenting a\npleasant contrast to the gloominess of all the others, except the\nTacuba road. There is less of stagnant water, and little appearance of\n_tequisquite_. It is lined with fields of corn and maguey. Contreras is\nupon this road--the point where Santa Anna's line of defenses was first\nbroken, and broken in the same way as at Cerro Gordo, and by the same\nofficer, the late General Riley. It was the defect of all Mexican\nmilitary operations, that they were not sufficiently on the look-out\nfor night attacks. In the night Riley had been allowed to get behind\nthe position of his adversary at Cerro Gordo; and here again he got\nbehind and above him, by crawling up a ravine in a foggy night, from\nwhich point he charged Valencia in reverse. That successful charge of\nthe brave old soldier raised him to the brevet rank of Major General,\nand sealed the fate of the city.\n\nWhat sort of a victory has it proved to the hero of this battle? He had\nspent the best portion of his life in the Indian territory, arranging\ndifficulties, appeasing strifes, overawing the turbulent, and\nrestraining the lawlessness of white intruders. And now he had become\nan old man, with the rank only of Major, as he had no kind friend at\ncourt. But the Mexican war opened to him the prospect of winning a\n\"sash\" or of being brought home in a coffin. The sash was won, but the\ncoffin was near at hand; for, while he was gaining his laurels, he\ncontracted a cancer, which in a short time after his return from a\ndistant command, consigned him to the home prepared for all living.\nForty long years had he followed the profession of arms, and endured\nits hardships without a murmur; yet, when he laid down his sword to\ndie, he had nothing to leave to his children but the commissions\nCongress had awarded him on his California revenues. War is a hard\ntrade for the bravest of the brave, and with very few prizes except to\npolitical favorites, who with high-sounding titles, but without\nmilitary experience, ride by the side of some brave subaltern, gather\nhis laurels, and enjoy the fruits of his experience.\n\nA slight breastwork and a heap of bones and skulls mark the site of\nthis gallant exploit of General Riley. And we fancied that we could\nselect the American skulls from the common mass, as they clearly\nbelonged to two distinct races of men; one set of skulls being thin and\nfirm, while the other was thick and porous. We rode on, and soon came\nto San Angel, where were many pleasant places for suburban residences,\nand an immense convent garden celebrated for its fruits. But now all\nwas parched and dry, for it was midwinter, which is here the middle of\nthe dry season, and it was not yet the time for the new foliage to\nappear upon the trees, for that does not take place till February.\n\nThe occasion of our ride was an invitation to dine with an American\nfamily at the paper-mill of Mr. M'Intosh, the English banker. This was\nthe greatest treat that I had yet met with in Mexico. Though I have had\nthe honor of dining in more distinguished places, both in Mexico and in\nthe United States, I never attended a dinner-party that I enjoyed so\nmuch. It was a thrifty family, and a charming old-fashioned New England\nhousewife had prepared the dinner. Perhaps this is saying enough to\nenable the reader to fill out the picture, for he will be sure to guess\nthat pumpkin-pies were not forgotten; for what would a down-east\nthanksgiving dinner be without this national dish? The dinner was a\ncharm in itself, while the attendant circumstances gave it a double\nrelish. To complete the pleasure of the visit, we made our way into\n\"the Yankee's\" kitchen, and there had the pleasure of seeing a\ncooking-stove, and cooking-furniture of tin, copper, and iron,\ndisplayed after the most approved fashion. Verily this universal Yankee\nnation preserves its distinctive characteristics every where!\n\n\nAN ADVENTURE.\n\nOn our way home we must needs have an adventure. But whether the party\nthat overtook us on the road were really robbers, or only\npleasure-seekers hurrying to escape from the rain, I have my doubts to\nthe present day. But my ministerial companion, who was more experienced\nin such matters, having been kept here a long time by our government to\nlook after the unburied American dead, insisted that it was a genuine\ncase of attempted robbery. All I can say in the premises is, that eight\nCalifornia robbers would not have run off in that style without first\nascertaining whether that old revolver had any powder in it or not.\nWhen we squared up for a fight, they might have known that it was\nbecause my old mustang would not move; and they could have had all our\navailables for the asking; but it was saving time in them to run when\nthey heard us call out in that hated \"Yankee language,\" and they did\nscamper off most expeditiously.\n\nWe got back to the city, without a wetting and without a chance of\ngetting frightened, where the faithful old mustang and I parted company\nforever. Ten Mexican dollars was the market value of horse, saddle, and\nbridle--less than the cost of his city eating, which he had enjoyed\nwith a gusto; and we took diverse ways at parting. The faithful old\nfellow went to the silver mines, and I returned to the United States,\nafter an absence of three years and more, in which I had been through\nperils by land and perils by water, but not sufficient to satisfy my\ntaste for adventure.\n\nUp to this time I was a firm believer in the story of Cortez. But when\nI had retired from active duties, I began to think of writing a book. I\ndid what no other foreign writer on Mexico has yet done--I made a\njourney to the country _at my own charges_. I was not in the employment\nof any company or any government; I was under no obligation to praise\nany man who did not deserve it, and not disposed to speak unnecessary\nevil of any, whether they deserved it or not. My advantages above most\nwriters upon Mexico were these: my independent position, and my\nintimate knowledge of the character of the North American Indians,\nacquired before I had gained any preconceived notions from the writings\nof others. My father, who had lived among the Iroquois, or Six Nations,\nin the family of Joseph Brandt, and went through the usual forms of\nadoption in place of some Indian who had died, gave me my first lessons\non Indian character; and a taste so early acquired I followed up in\nafter life. My ancestors for several generations dwelt near the Indian\nagency at Cherry Valley, on \"Wilson's Patent,\" and in a neighboring\nvillage was I born, but removed early in life to a part of the country\nthat had belonged to the Senecas, where I enjoyed a good opportunity of\nstudying Indian character.\n\nIt was the feast-day of the kings, _los Reyes_, when after my return to\nMexico, I was again in the saddle, riding out from Mexico toward the\nvillage of Tezcuco. I had to take a by-way to avoid the Guadalupe road,\nwhich was blocked up in consequence of the holiday. In doing so, I had\nto leap a ditch or canal, in which both I and my horse came near\nclosing our pilgrimage in a quagmire; but in time we were again upon\nthe road. It is a dreary place about the hill of Tepeyaca, or\nGuadalupe, and if the Virgin had not smiled upon the barren hill and\nmade roses grow out of it, it would be as uninviting as one of the\nhills of the valley of Sodom. This hill is now called the \"Mountain of\nCrosses,\" for upon it, in 1810, the first insurgent, Hidalgo, the\npriest of Dolores, won a battle against the royal troops, which should\nhave been followed up by an entry into Mexico; but Providence ordered\nit otherwise, and the forest of crosses that once covered it proclaimed\na bloody slaughter without any results.\n\nThe shores of Tezcuco approach the hill in the wet season, leaving but\na narrow margin for the road, but in the dry season this margin is\ngreatly enlarged. I have already explained the composition of\n_tequisquite_, and the manner of its production; here it was lying in\ncourses, or spots, as it had been left by the receding and drying up of\nthe water during the present dry season. Little piles of it had been\ngathered up here and there to be taken to town for use, probably by the\nbakers or soap-boilers, who are said to pay fourteen shillings an\n_aroba_ for it. Besides a little stunted grass, there was here no sign\nof vegetable life except a peculiar species of the cactus family, which\nresembled a mammoth beet without leaves, but bearing upon its top an\narray of vegetable knives that surrounded a most exquisite scarlet\nflower.\n\n\nFATE OF ROBBERS.\n\nThere was another sight by the road side more in keeping with the\ngloomy thoughts which this desert plain excites: it was the dead bodies\nof three men, who had been condemned by a military commission for\nrobbing a bishop. They were shot, and their bodies were placed on three\ngibbets as a warning to others. The bishop said he would have pardoned\nthe robbery, but when they went to that extreme limit of depravity of\nsearching within his shirt of sackcloth for concealed doubloons, it was\nmore than a bishop could endure. The worthy ecclesiastic had renounced\nthe world and all its vanities, and had put on the badges of poverty\nand self-mortification for $50,000 a year, and he wore the disguises\nthat ought to have shielded him from the suspicion of being rich!\n\nThese military commissions are no new invention in Mexico, for that\nfamous Count de Galvez, the Vice-king who built the castle of\nChapultepec and deposed the Archbishop of Mexico, had a traveling\nmilitary court, with chaplain and all spiritual aids, to accompany the\ndragoons that scoured the road in search of robbers. When a fellow was\ncaught, court, chaplains, and dragoons made rapid work in dismissing\nhim to his long resting-place, and saying a cheap mass for the repose\nof his soul, and then again they were ready for another enterprise. In\nthis way the roads were made safe in the times of that Viceroy.\n\nHad I known the real distance to Tezcuco, I ought to have abandoned the\njourney on account of the lameness of my horse. But either the Virgin\nMary, or, more probably, the extreme purity of the atmosphere on these\nelevated plains, had deprived me of the power of measuring distance by\nthe eye. This is excessively annoying to a traveler. He sees the object\nhe is attempting to approach at an apparently moderate distance, plain\nin sight, and as he rides along, hour after hour, there it stands, just\nwhere it seemed to be when he first got sight of it. I finally reached\nmy destination in good time for a dinner, and for as good a night's\n\"entertainment for man and beast\" as could be found in all the Republic\nof Mexico.\n\nWhen I turned the head of the lake, I was close upon the track which\nCortez and his retreating band followed into the plains of Otumba. Poor\nwretches! what a time they must have had of it in this disconsolate\nretreat--wounded, jaded, like tigers bereft of their prey! They mourned\nfor their companions slain, but most of all for the booty they had lost.\n\n    \"They grieved for those that went down in the cutter,\n    And also for the biscuits and the butter:\"\n\nand hobbled on, as best they could, while the natives pursued them with\nhootings and volleys of inefficient weapons. Passing this point and\nturning to the north-east, they entered the plains of Otumba, where\nthey encountered the whole undisciplined rabble of the Aztecs, and\nscattered them like chaff before the wind.\n\n\nA NIGHT AT TEZCUCO.\n\nSoon after I had passed the head of the lake and turned southward, I\nentered a cultivated country between tilled grounds and little mud\nvillages along the road. These were the representatives of the\nmagnificent cities enumerated by Cortez. That fine grove of cypresses\nwhich had been a landmark all day was now close at hand, and I could\nform some idea of its great antiquity. But the day was passing away,\nand it was still uncertain whether I could find safe quarters for the\nnight, where my horse, and the silver plates on my bridle, and the\nsilver mountings of my saddle would be safe. I never own such fancy\ntrifles, but they were on the horse given me at the stable.\n\nA good dinner and a clean bed I did not expect to find, nor could I\nhave found them a year earlier. But the new and enterprising company of\nEscandon and Co., who now have the possession of the Real del Monte\nsilver mines, of which I shall speak hereafter, had just completed the\n\"Grand House\" (_Casa Grande_) in connection with the salt manufacture,\nwhich they carry on here solely for the use of that single mine. It was\na neat, one-story residence of dried mud (_adobe_), and worthy the\noccupancy of the proudest king of Tezcuco. Though the flagging of the\ninterior court was not all completed, yet the managing partner had\ntaken possession, and it was fitted up according to the most approved\nstyle of an Anglo-Saxon residence. As horse and rider passed into the\nouter court, there stood ready a groom to lead the former into the\ninner court, where were the stables for the horses, and I entered the\nhouse to enjoy the unlooked-for pleasures of English hospitality in\nthis out-of-the-way Indian village.\n\nThe resident partner was an Englishman. His connection with the Real\ndel Monte Company extended only to the manufacture of salt. But even\nthis was an extensive affair, and had already absorbed an investment of\n$100,000, in order to provide the salt used in only one branch of the\nprocess of refining silver at that mine. The gentleman was now absent,\nbut his excellent English wife and her brother knew full well how to\ndischarge the duties of host even to an unknown stranger. The dinner\nwas of the best, and there was no lack of appetite after a hard day's\nride on a trotting horse. So we all had the prime elements of\nenjoyment. Entertainment for man and beast is among the highest\nluxuries to be found by the wayside. It was an equal luxury to my hosts\nin their isolated residence to receive a visit from one whose only\nrecommendation was that the English language was his native tongue, so\nthat when we retired from the dining-room we had become old\nacquaintances.\n\n\nREMAINS OF TEZCUCO.\n\nThe King of Tezcuco never knew what it was, on a raw winter's evening,\nto sit before a bright wood fire, in a fire-place, with feet on fender\nand tongs in hand, listening to an animated conversation so mixed up of\ntwo languages that it was hard to tell which predominated. Not all the\nstateliness to be found in Mexican palaces, where, in a lordly\ntapestried halls, men and women sit and shiver over a protracted\ndinner, can yield pleasures like those grouped around an English\nfireside. The evening was not half long enough to say all that was to\nbe discussed. As we sat and chatted, and drank our tea with a gusto we\nhad never known before, we forgot altogether that we were indulging in\nplebeian enjoyments upon the spot where a king's palace had probably\nstood. Instead of such plebeian things as a wood floor and Brussels\ncarpet, his half-clad majesty had here squatted upon a mat, and dealt\nout justice or injustice, according to his caprice, to trembling crowds\nof dirty Indians, whose royal rags and feathers made them princely.\nDignity and majesty are truly parts of Indian character, but a good\ndinner and a clean bed are luxuries that an Indian, even though he were\nan emperor, never knew.\n\nMy business here was to search for relics, and as soon as daylight\nappeared I was astir. But no relics could be found except some stone\nimages so rudely cut as to be a burlesque upon Indian stone-cutting.\nThere was a sacrificial stone and a calendar stone built into the steps\nof the church of San Francisco, which were so badly done that the use\nto which they had been applied could just be made out. Here, too, was a\nrude stone wall, that had been built over the grave of Don Fernando,\nthe first Christian king of Tezcuco, who had been converted to\nChristianity by Cortez. There is also here one of those little chapels\nwhich Cortez built, which indicate extremely limited means in the\nbuilder.\n\nAt the distance of a bow-shot from this is the site of the \"slip\"\n(canal) which Cortez says he caused to be dug, twelve feet wide and\ntwelve feet deep, in order to float his brigantines. Near by, the\nIndians were digging a new canal for the little steam-boat which now\nplies on the laguna. When they reached a point less than three feet\nfrom the surface, they were stopped by the water. How could Cortez,\nunder greater disadvantages, dig to the depth of twelve feet, without\neven iron shovels?\n\nI returned to the _hacienda_ and inquired if there were no other\nrelics. The proprietor assured me that he had been unable to find any\nexcept the Indian mounds which he showed me, and some stone cellar\nsteps that he had found in digging. And this is all that now remains of\nthe great and magnificent city of Tezcuco, which had entered into\nalliance with Cortez, and which, for more than a hundred years after\nthe Conquest, was under the especial care of a Superintendent sent from\nSpain, as an Indian Reservation.\n\nThere are here eight Franciscan monks and a convent; seven of these\nmonks I was assured were living at home with their families and\nchildren, but the eighth, who happened to be a cripple, lived in the\nconvent. A major in the guard was pointed out to me, who, having\ncommitted a murder, took sanctuary in the church, where he remained\nseveral days, when--and we have his own word for it--the Virgin Mary\nappeared to him and freely forgave him. On this news getting abroad,\nthere was great rejoicing in Tezcuco that the Virgin had at last\nvisited them. From being stigmatized as a murderer, the object of this\nvisit was almost adored as a saint, and became one of the principal men\nof the village, and was created a major in the new corps.\n\nAfter I had surveyed the salt-works and the glassworks, I turned my\nhorse's head toward Mexico by the road along the eastern shore, so that\nI made the complete circuit of Lake Tezcuco.\n\nThus far my visit to the royal city of Tezcuco had been perfectly\nsuccessful, except in the attempts made to convince the young\nEnglishman that I was not a dead-shot with the rifle; and I started\nhome with a slight shade upon my veracity for denying my ability to\npierce the centre of the bull's-eye. But otherwise it was a\ndisagreeable parting to all of us. As I returned by the east side of\nthe lake, the splendid high farming-lands that extend from the shore to\nthe foot of the mountain were strikingly in contrast with the flatness\nand barrenness of the plain on the water-side, which is so slightly\nelevated above the level of the salt water that a few inches of rise in\nthe laguna spreads out an immense sheet of saline water, and yet there\nis not a solitary evaporating vat where there is an unlimited demand\nfor the evaporated article at fourteen shillings the _aroba_.\n\nCortez speaks of the fine fields of corn on the east side of the lake.\nBut they could not have been finer in his day than they are at present,\nthough they furnished him with the supplies that supported his army. I\nreached the head of Tezcuco at noontide, where the heavy water of the\nsalt lake was driving up toward the fresh water, as described by\nCortez, but it was under the pressure of a strong north wind.\n\n\nTHE AZTEC CAUSEWAYS.\n\nNow that I am on the new causeway, broad and spacious like all the\nothers, it may be well to conclude the discussion of the physical\ncondition of this valley by determining the size of the old Aztec\ncauseways.\n\nAn island embosomed in a marsh has always formed a favorite retreat for\nan Indian tribe, whether among the everglades of Florida, or the\nwild-rice swamps of north-western Canada. Such a retreat is still more\ndesirable when, in addition to the security it affords from an enemy,\nit is likewise a resort for wild ducks, as was and is the case with the\nlaguna of the Mexican valley. Hence, probably, the Aztecs selected this\nplace as the site of their village; and to reach it, it was necessary\nto make one or more footpaths across the marsh. As the Aztecs had no\nbeasts of burden, this must have been a task of no little magnitude. To\nhave made it thirty feet wide would not only have been a work of\nimmense difficulty, but would have destroyed the defensive character of\ntheir position. Still, we can, upon this occasion, afford to be a\nlittle liberal with the statements of Cortez, as we have had to cut his\nhundreds of thousands of warriors down to a few thousand of\nmiserably-armed Indians, and reduce his magnificent cities to small\nIndian villages. In order to make the island of Mexico at all\ninhabitable, we have had to reduce his lakes from navigable basins of\ntwelve feet or more in depth to mere evaporating ponds. His floating\nislands have been transformed into garden-beds built upon the mud; and\nhis canals have sunk to mere ditches. Now I propose to be liberal to\nthe old Conquistador in the matter of his famous causeways, and will\ntherefore admit that they might have been twelve feet in width--as\nbroad as the tow-path of the Erie Canal.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIX.\n\nThe Street of Tacuba.--The Spaniards and the Indian Women.--The\nRetreat of Cortez.--The Aqueducts of Mexico.--The English and\nAmerican Burying-grounds.--The Protestant President.--The rival\nVirgins.--An Image out of Favor.--The Aztecs and the Spaniards.\n\n\nAs I rode along the street to the gate and causeway of Tacuba, over\nwhich Cortez retreated on the \"sorrowful night\" (_triste noche_),\nI naturally fell into reflections upon the righteous retribution that\novertook a portion of the Spanish robbers on that night, and upon the\nmysterious ways of Providence in allowing Cortez and a remnant to\nescape being burned alive by the Indians after the infamous lives\nwhich, by their own admissions, they had been leading in the city. The\nIndians had made a feeble resistance when Alvarado murdered their\nchiefs, and had cringed into submission when Cortez returned. But now\ntheir wrongs had reached that point where even Aztecs could endure no\nmore. Their cup of iniquity seemed full, when Cortez, who had left a\nwife in Cuba, sent to the little village of Tacuba, called by Diaz\nTlacupa, to fetch thence some \"women of his _household_, among whom was\nthe daughter of Montezuma [he had already one daughter of Montezuma in\nhis power] whom he had given in charge of the King of Tlacupa, her\nrelative, when he marched against Narvaez.\"[36] The women being\nrescued, Cortez afterward sent Ordaz, with four hundred men, which\nbrought on hostilities that ended in this night retreat.\n\n\nTHE HOUSEHOLD OF CORTEZ.\n\nCortez was worse than the Mormon governor of Utah, who is said to have\nthirty-six wives in his household. But they are, at least, voluntary\ninmates of his harem, while the \"household\" of Cortez had been taken by\nviolence. It is one of the prominent traits of Indian character that,\nwhile they are inhuman to their female captives, they guard with the\nutmost jealousy the virtue of their wives. Even among the debased\nIndians of California, female infidelity is punished with death; and I\nhave seen the whole population of an Indian village on the Upper\nSacramento thrown into the utmost confusion--the women howling, and the\nmen brandishing their weapons--because a base Indian had sold his wife\nto a still baser white man. \"Such a thing was never,\" they said, \"done\nin the tribe before.\" And here we have Cortez, in contempt of even\nIndian notions of virtue, sending to bring to his harem, by violence,\nanother daughter of Montezuma.\n\nAs Bernal Diaz goes more into detail than Cortez, he now and then drops\nan expression that furnishes a clew to many an enigma otherwise\nunexplainable. In speaking of the avarice of the officers, he lets fall\nthe following confession of his own infamy:\n\n\"This was a good hint to us in future, so that afterward, when we had\ncaptured any beautiful Indian females, we concealed them, and gave out\nthat they had escaped. As soon as it was come to the marking day, or,\nif any one of us stood in favor with Cortez, he got them secretly\nmarked [viz., branded with a red-hot iron] during the night-time, and\npaid a fifth of their value to him. In a short time we possessed a\ngreat number of such slaves.\"[37]\n\nNever was there a band of Anglo-Saxon outlaws, cut-throats, pirates, or\nbuccaneers that reached that point of human depravity that they could\nbrand, as cattle are branded, with a red-hot iron, swarms of women\ntaken by violence, in order that they might not make any mistakes in\nrecognizing their numberless wives! None but Spanish heroes of a \"holy\nwar\" ever exhibited such a picture of total depravity.\n\nWhen the Aztecs were thus roused to action by the brutal lust of\nCortez, they assailed him with phrensy rather than with courage, until\nhis quarters in the city became untenable, and then this night retreat\nwas undertaken, in which all the gold, if there really was any, and all\nother treasures, and two sons and one daughter of Montezuma, were lost\nin the confused rush of such a multitude over this foot-path. The\nIndian story is that Cortez slew the children of Montezuma when he\nfound himself unable to carry them off. Perhaps he did, but the\nprobability is that they perished by chance, or, rather, it seems to\nhave been by chance that Cortez or any of his gang escaped and came\nsafe to Tacuba.\n\nWe must now give up history to talk of things by the road-side.\n\nThe \"hard water\" from the springs on the south side of Chapultepec is\ncarried over stone arches upon the causeway of Tacubaya to the gate of\nBelin. But at Santa Fe, several leagues distant from the city, is a\nstream of soft water, which is brought to the powder-mill (_Molina\ndel Rey_), where it turns a wheel. Thence the aqueduct, passing by\nthe north side of Chapultepec, is carried along the highway to the\ncauseway of San Cosmo. It passes the gate of San Cosmo, enters the\ncity, and terminates in the street of Tacuba. By these two gates, and\nby the side of these two parallel aqueducts, the American army entered\nthe city of Mexico.\n\nThe objects of interest by the road-side, after I had passed the city\ngate, were, first, the French Academy, which is well worthy of a visit\nfor its pretty grounds, if nothing more. When we had got farther on,\nthe land rose a little above the water-level of the swamp. Here a\nbranch-road and the aqueduct turned off to Chapultepec, and in the\nangle thus formed by the two roads is the English burying-ground or\ncemetery. In this resting-place of the dead there is not a spot that\ncan not be irrigated at all seasons of the year, while the art of man\nhas been busy in improving the advantages that nature has so lavishly\nbestowed.\n\nJust before my first arrival in Mexico, public attention had been\nparticularly directed to this quiet spot, from its having been chosen\nas the place for depositing the ashes of the last President of Mexico,\nat whose burial no holy water had been wasted and no candles had been\nburned, and for the repose of whose soul no masses had ever been said,\nor other religious rites performed, and yet he slept as quietly as\nthose who had gone to their burial with the pomp and circumstance of a\nstate funeral. No priest had shrived his soul, his lips had not been\ntouched with the anointing oil, nor was incense burned at his funeral;\nyet he died in peace, declaring in his last hours that he had made his\nconfession to God, and trusted in him for the pardon of his sins, and\nrefused all the proffered aid of priests in facilitating his journey to\nheaven. Thus died, and here was privately buried, the first and last\nProtestant President of Mexico, the only really good man that ever\noccupied that exalted station, and probably the only native Mexican who\never had the moral courage to denounce the religion of his fathers upon\nhis dying bed.\n\n\nTHE AMERICAN CEMETERY.\n\nAdjoining the English cemetery on the south side is the American\nburying-ground, which has been established since the war, where have\nbeen collected the remains of 750 Americans, that died or were killed\nat Mexico, and a neat monument has been erected over them. Here\nAmericans that die henceforth in that city can be buried. An\nappropriation of $500 a year would make this more attractive than the\nEnglish cemetery, but the place has been wholly neglected by Congress\nsince that worthy man, the Rev. G. G. Goss, completed his labors. There\nis a pleasure in observing the natural affinities which, in foreign\ncountries, draw close together these two branches of the Anglo-Saxon\nfamily. A common language and a common religion overmaster political\ndifferences, and the English and American dead are laid side by side to\nrest until the judgment. At the south of the American cemetery is a\nvacant lot, which the King of Prussia should purchase, so that the\nGermans may no longer be dependent on Americans for a burying-place,\nand that the three great Protestant powers of the world may here, as\nthey every where should, be drawn close together.\n\n[Illustration: MONUMENT TO THE AMERICANS.]\n\nTacuba is a very small village, and is not in any wise noted except for\nan immense cypress-tree, that must have been a wonder even in the time\nof Cortez. Tacuba has the historical notoriety of being the place where\nhostilities first broke out between the Aztecs and the Spaniards, and\nthe spot where the night retreat of the latter terminated. Here the\nland is quite fertile, and a little way from the village are several\nwater-mills, where the grain raised in this part of the valley is\nground into flour.\n\n\nTHE VIRGIN OF REMEDIES.\n\nA little way beyond Tacuba is the hill and temple of the Virgin of\nRemedies. It was upon this hill, within the inclosure of an Indian\nmound, that the retreating party of Cortez made their first bivouac,\nand built fires and dressed their wounds. Hence they gave to the hill\nthe name of _Remedios_, and the church afterward erected was dedicated\nto our Lady of Remedies. Diaz tells us that it became very celebrated\nin his time. The story about Cortez finding a broken-nosed image in the\nknapsack of one of his soldiers is not mentioned either by himself or\nBernal Diaz, and must therefore be an afterthought, to give\nplausibility to a subsequent imposition. From this point Cortez and his\nparty, without their women or treasures, trudged along to the foot of\nthe hills to Tepeac, or Guadalupe, and thence around the foot of\nTezcuco to the plains of Otumba.\n\nThe story is, that while Cortez and his men were resting here, a\nsoldier took from his knapsack an image, with nose broken and an eye\nwanting, which Cortez made the patron saint of the expedition, and held\nit up to their adoration, and that this little incident so encouraged\nthe men that they started off with renewed vigor. The whole of this\nstory is probably a very silly modern invention. The bulk of the forces\nof Cortez was most probably composed of that class of reprobates that\nto this day can be found about almost any of the West India sea-ports,\nready for any enterprise, however hazardous. They have no religion;\nthey are not even superstitious, but yield a nominal acquiescence to\nthe forms of the Catholic religion. Cortez speaks often of his efforts\nto effect the conversion of the Indians, but it is in such a business\nsort of way as to lead to the impression, that it was all done to make\nan impression at home, but was really a matter that he did not care\nmuch about. The famous image, according to the current story,\ndisappeared soon after the Conquest, but was found about 150 years\nafterward in a maguey plant, and was as much dilapidated as if it had\nbeen exposed to the weather for the whole of that century and a half.\n\nSuch, in substance, is the tradition of the Virgin of Remedies, who for\na century divided with the Virgin of Guadalupe the adoration of the\npeople in the most amicable manner. But when the insurrection of 1810\nbroke out, these two virgins parted company. \"_Viva_ the Virgin of\nGuadalupe!\" became the war-cry of the unsuccessful rebels, while\n\"_Viva_ the Lady of Remedies!\" was shouted back by the conquering\nforces of the king. The Lady of Guadalupe became suspected of\ninsurrectionary propensities, while all honors were lavished upon the\nLady of Remedies by those who wished to make protestations of their\nloyalty. Pearls, money, and jewels were bestowed upon her by the\nnobility and the Spanish merchants; and as one insurrectionary leader\nafter another was totally defeated, the conquering generals returned to\nlay their trophies at the feet of the Lady of Remedies, to whose\ninterposition the victory was ascribed. They carried her in triumphant\nprocession through the streets of Mexico, singing a _laudamus_. Then it\nwas that the Lady of Remedies was at the zenith of her glory. Her\nperson was refulgent with a blaze of jewels, and her temple was like\nthat of Diana of Ephesus, and all about the hill on which it stood bore\nmarks of the greatest prosperity.\n\n\nRISE AND FALL OF THE VIRGIN.\n\nHer healing powers were then unrivaled, and the list of cures which she\nis claimed to have effected surpasses that of all the patent medicines\nof our day. She was an infallible healer, alike of the diseases of the\nmind and of the body. A glimpse of her broken nose and battered face\ninstantaneously cured men of democracy and unbelief. Heretics stood\nconfounded in her presence, while the halt, the lame, and the leprous\nhung up their crutches, their bandages, and their filthy rags, as\ntrophies of her healing power, among the flags and other trophies of\nher victories over the rebels. Nothing was beyond her skill; from\nmending a leaky boat to securing a prize in the lottery; from giving\neyes to the blind, feet to the lame, mending a broken or a paralyzed\nlimb, or a broken heart, to putting the baby to sleep. Her votaries\nesteemed her omnipotent, and carried her in procession in times of\ndrought, as the goddess of rain; and when pestilence raged in the city,\nshe was borne through the infected streets. Such was she in the times\nof her glory.\n\nNow all is changed. She is still a goddess, but her glory is eclipsed.\nShe, like many a virgin in social life, neglected to make her market\nwhile all knees were bowing to her, and now, in the sear and yellow\nleaf, she is a virgin still. Her temple is dilapidated, her garlands\nare faded, her gilding is tarnished, the buildings about her Court are\nfalling to decay, while the bleak hill which her temple crowns looks\ntenfold more uninviting than if it never had been occupied. When I\nentered this neglected temple of a neglected image, an old,\nsuperannuated priest was saying mass, and three or four old crones were\nkneeling before her altar. Such are the effects that followed the\nrevolution of Iguala. Not only was her hated rival of Guadalupe\nelevated from her long obscurity to be the national saint, but the\nanimosity against this dilapidated image of Remedies was carried to\nthat extreme of cruelty that, when the Spaniards were expelled from\nMexico, the passports of the \"Lady of Remedios\" were made out, and she\nwas ordered to leave the country. Poor thing!\n\nThe porter's eye glistened at the now unwonted sight of a silver\ndollar, and he soon had me through the most secret recesses of the\nsanctuary. The only things I saw worthy of admiration were some\npictures, made from down or the feathers of the humming-bird, by which\na richness of color was imparted to the pictures that could not be\nobtained from paints.\n\nAt last we came to the back of the great altar, and the curtain of\ndamask silk being drawn up by a little string, we saw sitting in a\nmetallic maguey plant a bright new Paris doll, dressed in the gaudy\nodds and ends of silk that make such a thing an attractive Christmas\npresent for the nursery. Paste supplied the place of jewels, and a\nconstellation of false pearls were at the back of her shoulders. The\nman kept his gravity, and did reverence to the poor doll, while I\nburned with indignation at being imposed upon by a counterfeit\n\"universal remedy for all diseases.\" I had often read in the\napothecaries' advertisements cautions against counterfeits, and rewards\nfor their detection, and I always noticed, from these printed\nevidences, that the counterfeits were exactly in proportion to the\nworthlessness of the genuine article, and that medicine which was\nutterly valueless itself suffered most from the abundance of\ncounterfeits. So it was with the Lady of Remedios; after she had fallen\nbelow the dignity of a humbug, and no man was found so poor as to do\nher reverence, she was spirited away to the Cathedral of the city of\nMexico, in order to save her three jeweled petticoats from being\nstolen, and a child's doll, covered with paste jewels, now personified\nthe great patron saint of the vice-kingdom of New Spain.\n\n\nAZTEC AND ROMISH IMAGES.\n\nI again mounted my horse, angry at being cheated. Though the day was a\nmost lovely one, I rode home in fit humor to contrast the system of\npaganism which Cortez introduced with the more poetical system which\npreceded it, and to compare these cast-off child's dolls with the\nallegorical images of the Aztecs. My landlord had two boxes of such\nimages, collected when they were cleaning out one of the old city\ncanals. By way of parlor ornaments, we had an Aztec god of baked earth.\nHe was sitting in a chair; around his navel was coiled a serpent; his\nright hand rested upon the head of another serpent. This, according to\nthe laws of interpreting allegories, we should understand to signify\nthat the god had been renowned for his wisdom; that with the wisdom of\nthe serpent he had executed judgment; and that his meditations were the\nprofundity of wisdom. And yet this allegorical worship, defective as it\nmay have been, was forcibly superseded by the adoration of a child's\ndoll--one that had very possibly been worn out and thrown from a\nnursery, and perhaps picked up by some passing monk, was made the\ngoddess of New Spain, and clothed with three petticoats, one adorned\nwith pearls, one with rubies, and one with diamonds, at an estimated\ncost of $3,000,000. Which was the least objectionable superstition?\n\nWe have been taught to look upon the worship of the Aztecs as\nmonstrous; but the witnesses against them were themselves monsters, who\nwere seeking for a pretense to excuse their own brutality in reducing\nthe Indians to the most debasing slavery, while they appropriated to\ntheir own use the best looking of the squaws, and kept such swarms of\nsupernumerary wives that each Spaniard had to brand them with a red-hot\niron in order to know his own family. The fathers of the present\nmixed-breed population of Mexico tell us that the Aztecs offered human\nsacrifices, and feasted upon human flesh. They hope, by dwelling upon\nthe enormities of the Indians, to excuse their own still more\ndetestable crimes. For three centuries their stories were\nuncontradicted, and they have been received as historical verities. But\nthe character of the witnesses warrants us in receiving their\nstatements with some incredulity.\n\n      [36] _Bernal Diaz_, vol. i. p. 338.\n\n      [37] _Bernal Diaz_, vol. i. p. 31, 32.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XX.\n\nThe Paseo at Evening.--Ride to Chapultepec.--The old Cypresses\nof Chapultepec.--The Capture of Chapultepec.--Molina del\nRey.--Tacubaya.--Don Manuel Escandon.--The Tobacco Monopoly.--The\nPalace of Escandon.--The \"Desierto.\"--Hermits.--Monks in the Conflict\nwith Satan.--Our Lady of Carmel.\n\n\nMy residence was near the _Paseo Nuevo_, and at evening, while the sun\nhad yet an hour of his daily task to finish, I habitually sauntered\nforth for a walk up and down the Paseo, to look at the crowd of\ncoaches, with tops thrown back, so that the bare-headed ladies, in full\ndress for dinner, might enjoy the evening air, acquire an appetite, and\nsalute their friends by presenting the backs of their hands, while they\ntwirled their fingers at them with a hearty smile. Gentlemen on\nrichly-caparisoned horses dashed along between the rows of advancing\nand returning carriages, stopping now and then by the side of a\nwell-known carriage to exchange salutations, or, by an exhibition of a\nwell-timed embarrassment, proclaim the favored object of their\nevening's ride. Crowds of foot-passengers sauntered along the\nroad-side, looking at the rich display made by the aristocracy and\nnobility of the republic. At the entrance of the Paseo, in front of the\namphitheatre, where on Sundays bulls are tortured to death as a popular\namusement, is the equestrian bronze statue of Carlos IV., the work of\nTolsa, who, as artist and architect, has won for himself undying renown\nat Mexico. The garden of Tolsa, the College of Mines, and the bronze\nhorse, testify to the greatness of his genius. Half way down the Paseo\nis a fountain, around which two semicircles of coaches place themselves\nfor a little time, to look on the passing current of carriages and\nhorsemen. They soon disappear as the sun shows symptoms of descending\nbehind the mountains. On Sundays the scene is more animated, and then\nthe President, with his body-guard of lancers, and attendants in\nscarlet livery, is seen to dash into the Paseo, ride down and return\nthrough the Alameda, among whose trees and fountains the Sabbath crowds\nmost do congregate.\n\nOne morning when all was quiet in this place of display, I rode down\nthe street of San Francisco, and turned up the Paseo between the prison\nof the Acordado and the bronze horse. There was nothing to disturb the\nmonotony that now reigned but cabs or omnibuses on their way to or\nreturning from Tacubaya. Passing through the open gate of Belin, I rode\nalong at the side of the aqueduct to the rock of Chapultepec.\n\n\nCYPRESSES OF CHAPULTEPEC.\n\nIt calls up singular reflections to look upon a living thing that has\nexisted for a thousand years, though it be only a tree. Though so many\ncenturies have rolled over the venerable cypresses of Chapultepec, yet\nthey still are sound and vigorous. The extensive springs of pure water\nthat issue from beneath this immense rock have kept them flourishing in\nthe midst of a _tequisquite_ valley. Long gray threads of Spanish moss\nhang pendent from the extremity of their limbs and cover the lower\nleaves. These trees are the only living links that unite modern and\nancient American civilization; for they were in being while that\nmysterious race, the Toltecs, were still upon the table-lands of\nMexico--a race that has left behind, not only at Teotihuacan, but in\nthe hot country, the imperishable memorials of a civilization like that\nof Egypt; and from them the Aztecs acquired an imperfect knowledge of a\nfew simple arts.[38]\n\nThese trees had long been standing, when a body of Aztecs, wandering\naway from their tribe in search of game, fixed themselves upon the\nislands of this marsh, first about the rock of Chapultepec, then at\nMexicalzingo and Iztapalapan, and finally at Mexico. These trees were\nundisturbed by the Spaniards when Cortez took the city, and the\nAmericans respected their great antiquity, so that during all the wars\nand battles that have taken place around and above them, they have\npassed unharmed.\n\nNot only unnumbered generations, but whole races have appeared and\ndisappeared, while these trees have quietly flourished amid the strife\nof the elements and the contentions of men, taking no heed of the\npassing events of which they were spectators. The Toltecs, of whom we\nmust speak more fully hereafter, were the first of these races that\ndisappeared from the table-land--the victims of wars, and of that\nplague of the Indian races, the _matlazhuatl_. As the Aztecs rose\ninto importance by their success in war and by the multitude of their\ncaptives, Indian princes made the springs near Chapultepec their\nfavorite bathing-place, and spread their mats under these trees, and in\ntheir shadow enjoyed their noontide slumbers. Then the pale-faces came,\nand peopled the valley with a race of mixed blood, and vice-kings\noccupied the place that had been the sacred retreat of the Aztec\nchiefs.\n\nThese trees had added many rings to their already enlarged\ncircumference before the vice-kings disappeared, and an emperor sat in\nthe shade which had been their favorite retreat; and the Aztec eagle\nfloated again upon the standard that waved over Chapultepec; but it was\nonly the galvanized corpse of that brave bird, and the emperor was only\na victim prepared for the sacrifice. Since that time much bad gunpowder\nhas been burned over the heads of the trees, and the roots have been\nshaken by the discharge of the cannon of the castle at every change of\nrulers, as one ephemeral government succeeded another, but these\ncypresses still remain unharmed, and may outlive many other dynasties.\n\n\n\nCHAPULTEPEC AND MOLINA DEL REY.\n\nThe Americans captured Chapultepec by a _coup de main_. Having made\nseveral breaches through the stone wall behind the cypresses, they\nrushed through under those trees and up the side of the hill next to\nthem, not allowing themselves to be delayed by the turnings of the\nroad. The general in command, the late General Bravo, was a man of\ntried courage, and not deficient in military sagacity. He sent most\nurgent requests to Santa Anna for reinforcements, urging that General\nScott was too prudent a soldier to attack the city before carrying the\ncastle, and that the garrison was inadequate for its defense. But Santa\nAnna was completely paralyzed, as Scott designed he should be, by the\nlarge force, under General Smith, which was threatening the south front\nof the city. When it was too late, Santa Anna discovered that this was\nonly a feint.\n\n[Illustration: CHAPULTEPEC.]\n\nThe King's Mill (_Molina del Rey_) is an old powder-mill, standing\non elevated ground in the rear of Chapultepec. It has nothing about it\nto give it notoriety except the slaughter of the American troops that\nhere took place from a masked battery, manned by a body of volunteers\nfrom the work-shops of the city. The whole affair was a military\nmistake. Its capture was not necessary to insure the capture of\nChapultepec, for, as soon as that fortress, which commanded the mill,\nshould be in our power, the mill would be untenable. But repeated\nsuccesses had made the American officers imprudent, so that without\nfirst battering down its walls, the division of General Worth rushed\nup, regardless of a flank fire of the castle, to carry this old\nbuilding by assault. After the sacrifice of about 700 lives, cannon\nwere brought out and the breach made, and then the difficulty was at an\nend.\n\nA mile or so by the road leading south and west from Chapultepec is\nTacubaya, where are the suburban residences of the Archbishop, the\nPresident, and of divers city bankers; and where the English banker,\nMr. Jimmerson, has introduced English gardening, and, in a Mexican\nclimate, enjoys the pleasure of an English country residence.\n\n\nDON MANUEL ESCANDON.\n\nThe most attractive establishment of Tacubaya is the new palace of Don\nManuel Escandon, a native-born, self-made Mexican millionaire; a man\nwhose capital has so enormously accumulated before he has even reached\nmiddle life, that he was able to propose to discount a bill for\n$7,000,000 as an ordinary business transaction, though ultimately\ngovernment divided the bid with another house. This most remarkable\ninstance of accumulation of wealth in modern times is deserving of a\npassing notice, which I give on the authority of my landlord, who had a\npersonal knowledge of his history.\n\nDon Manuel enjoyed, in addition to an intimate knowledge of his own\ncountrymen, the advantages of a foreign education, which had extended\nto an examination of those arts and improvements that elevate Europeans\nabove the semi-barbarous people of Spanish America. The first\nenterprise that brought him prominently forward was the establishment\nof that vast and most perfect system of stage-coaches, of which I have\nalready spoken, on an original capital of $250,000. The wretched\ncondition of the roads, and the heavy losses that at first always\nattend enterprises of that magnitude, disheartened his partners, who\nwere glad to sell out to him $150,000 of the capital stock at a\ndiscount of 50 per cent. Afterward the late Zurutusa bought into the\nscheme, and ultimately became the owner of all the property, having,\nbefore his death, more than realized the highest anticipations of\nhimself or Escandon. A hundred thousand dollars, or thereabouts, were\nthe profits to Escandon by this establishment of a series of hotels and\nstages quite across the continent. By the successful running of a\nblockade of the coast, he realized nearly another hundred thousand\ndollars. The numerous enterprises open to men of superior sagacity, who\nfully understand the wants of a country in a state of chaos, and are\nfamiliar with the improvements of other countries, were readily\nembraced by him, until he found himself possessed of sufficient capital\nto become the principal purchaser of the extensive silver mines of\n_Real del Monte_, of which the salt-works of Tezcuco are but an outside\nappendage.\n\nThe tobacco monopoly had yielded to the King of Spain an average return\nof nearly a million annually. Under the Republic the consumption of the\nweed had greatly increased, but, from the prevalence of disorder in\nevery branch of the administration, this important branch of the\nrevenue was almost entirely absorbed by the officials through whose\nhands it passed, so that the sum realized by government in the most\nunproductive year fell off to $25,000, but finally reached $45,000, the\namount at which it was farmed out by Escandon and Company. Since that\ntime the return to government has gone on increasing, until it was\nadvertised to be let the last year at the round sum of $1,200,000. How\nmuch more the partners realized during the years that they held the\ncontract is, of course, known only to themselves.\n\nThe new house which Don Manuel has built at Tacubaya is decidedly the\nfinest palace in the republic. The position is well chosen, and the sum\nof $300,000 has been laid out upon the house and grounds. It is a\ncombination of an Italian villa, with the comforts and conveniences of\nEnglish life. London, Paris, and New York have alike contributed to its\nfurniture. I was told that $50,000 was invested in pictures alone. When\nI looked at the perfection to which the house, the grounds, and the\nornamental works had been carried, my only wonder was that $300,000\ncould have paid for such a combination of elegance and good taste. The\nfamily, which consists only of Don Manuel and his widowed sisters, had\nleft on account of the cholera then prevailing in Tacubaya, but the\nsteward readily opened every door to my companion; and thus, without\nintruding upon the privacy of a family, or even having the honor of\ntheir acquaintance, I obtained access to one of the finest private\nresidences that I have ever yet seen, either in this country or any\nother. In this house it was that the Gadsden treaty was proposed, at a\ndinner-party at which Mr. Gadsden and Santa Anna were present.\n\n\nTHE DESIERTO.\n\nThere was nothing to detain me longer at Tacubaya; but a ride upon the\nTacubaya road is not well finished without being extended to the\n_Desierto_, a place now as attractive in its ruins as it was in its\nprosperity.\n\nA description of what it once was I copy from old Thomas Gage: \"But\nmore north [south] westward, three leagues from Mexico, is the\npleasantest place of all that are about Mexico, called the _Solidad_,\nor _Desierto_, 'the Solitary Place' or 'Wilderness.' Were all\nwildernesses like it, to live in a wilderness would be better than to\nlive in a city. This hath been a device of bare-footed Carmelites, to\nmake show of their apparent godliness, and who would be thought to live\nlike hermits, retired from the world, that they may draw the world unto\nthem. They have built them a stately cloister, which, being upon a hill\nand among rocks, makes it to be most admired. About the cloister they\nhave fashioned out many holes and caves, in, under, and among the\nrocks, like hermits' lodgings, with a room to lie in, and an oratory\nto pray in, with pictures, and images, and rare devices for\nself-mortification, as scourges of wire, rods of iron, haircloth\ngirdles with sharp wire points, to gird about their bare flesh, and\nmany such like toys, which hang about their oratories, to make people\nadmire their mortified and holy lives.\n\n\"All these hermits' holes and caves, which are some ten in all, are\nwithin the bounds and compass of the cloister, and among orchards and\ngardens, which are full of fruits and flowers, which may take two miles\nin compass; and here among the rocks are many springs of water, which,\nwith the shade of the plantain and other trees, are most cool and\npleasant to the hermits. They have also the sweet smell of the rose and\nthe jessamine, which is a little flower, but the sweetest of all\nothers; and there is not any flower to be found that is rare and\nexquisite in that country which is not in that wilderness, to delight\nthe senses of those mortified hermits.\n\n\"They are weekly changed from the cloister, and when their week is\nended others are sent, and they return into their cloisters; they carry\nwith them their bottles of wine, sweetmeats, and other provisions. As\nfor fruits, the trees do drop them into their mouths. It is wonderful\nto see the strange devices of fountains of water which are about the\ngardens; but much more strange and wonderful to see the resort thither\nof coaches, and gallants, and ladies, and citizens from Mexico, to walk\nand make merry in those desert pleasures, and to see those hypocrites,\nwhom they look upon as living saints, and so think nothing too good for\nthem to cherish them in their desert conflicts with Satan.\n\n\"None goes to them but carries some sweetmeats or some other dainty\ndish to nourish and feed them withal, whose prayers they likewise\nearnestly solicit, leaving them great alms of money for their masses;\nand, above all, offering to a picture in their church, called our Lady\nof Carmel, treasures of diamonds, pearls, golden chains, and crowns,\nand gowns of cloth of gold and silver. Before this picture did hang, in\nmy time, twenty lamps of silver, the poorest of them being worth a\nhundred pounds. Truly Satan hath given them what he offered unto Christ\nin the desert.\n\n\"All the dainties and all the riches of America hath he given unto them\nin that desert, because they daily fall down and worship him. In the\nway to this place is another town, called Tacubaya, where is a rich\ncloister of Franciscans, and also many gardens and orchards; but it is,\nabove all, much resorted to for the music in that church, wherein the\nfriars have made the Indians so skillful that they dare compare with\nthe Cathedral Church of Mexico.\"\n\n      [38] \"The Toltecs appeared first in the year 648, the Chicimecs\n      in 1170, the Nahualtecs 1178, the Atolhues and Aztecs in 1196.\n      The Toltecs introduced the cultivation of maize and cotton; they\n      built cities, made roads, and constructed those great pyramids\n      which are yet admired, and of which the faces are very accurately\n      laid out. They knew the use of hieroglyphical paintings; they\n      could work metals, and cut the hardest stones; and they had a\n      solar year more perfect than that of the Greeks and Romans. The\n      form of their government indicated that they were the descendants\n      of a people who had experienced great vicissitudes in their\n      social state. But where is the source of that cultivation? Where\n      is the country from which the Toltecs and Mexicans\n      issued?\"--HUMBOLDT, _Essay Politique_, vol. i. p. 100.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXI.\n\nWalk to Guadalupe.--Our Embassador kneeling to the Host.--An\nEmbassador with, and one without Lace.--First sight of Santa\nAnna.--Indian Dance in Church.--Juan Diego not Saint Thomas.--The\nMiracle proved at Rome.--The Story of Juan Diego.--The holy Well of\nGuadalupe.--The Temple of the Virgin.--Public Worship interdicted\nby the Archbishop.--Refuses to revoke his Interdict.--He fled to\nGuadalupe and took Sanctuary.--Refused to leave the Altar.--The\nArrest at the Altar.\n\n\n\"_Placuit pinturas in ecclesia esse non debere, ne quod colitur vel\nadoratur, in parietibus pingatur_--Pictures ought not to be in the\nchurches, nor should any that are reverenced or adored be painted upon\nthe walls.\" So say the canons of the Council of Toledo.\n\nI was one of a vast crowd that, on a Sunday of December, 1853, were\nhurrying out of the city by the old gate and causeway of Tepeac to the\nsuburban village of Guadalupe Hidalgo, once Tepeac, but now consecrated\nto the Virgin Mary, who, tradition says, appeared there in a bodily\nform to an Indian _peon_. Juan Diego was the name of the Indian, and\n1531 is the date assigned to the incident. I shall hereafter take\noccasion to relate the story as given by the veracious Juan, and duly\nattested by authority which ought to be competent to settle the\nquestion, if any thing can do so. I hope that my readers will do their\nbest to believe it. If they honestly endeavor to do so, and do not\nsucceed, I trust they will not suffer on account of their lack of\nfaith.\n\nThe occasion that was drawing the multitude together was the\nconsecration of the bishop-elect of Michoican, which was to be\ncelebrated with great pomp at this most sacred shrine of the patron\ngoddess of the Republic. The State and the Church were duly represented\nupon the platform by the President, the nuncio, and the archbishop.\nBeneath the platform, and within the silver railing, were the official\nrepresentatives of foreign nations, who were easily distinguished by a\nstrip of gold or silver lace upon the collars and lapels of their\ncoats. To this uniformity of dress there was a single exception in the\nperson of the new American embassador, Mr. Gadsden, whose plain black\ndress and clerical appearance would have conveyed the impression that\nhe was a Methodist preacher, had he not been engaged, with all the\nawkwardness of a novice, upon his knees, in crossing himself.\n\nThis was the first occasion on which I had ever seen Santa Anna. If\nlooks have any weight determining a man's character, then truly he was\nentitled to his position, for he was, by all odds, the most imposing in\nappearance of any person in that assemblage, or any other I have yet\nseen in Mexico. His part in the performance was that of godfather to\nthe bishop. Surrounded by kneeling aids-de-camp, he alone stood up, in\nthe rich uniform of a general of division, seeming the perfection of\nmilitary elegance and dignity. Each badge of prelatical rank, before it\nwas put upon the new bishop, was handed to Santa Anna, who kissed it,\nand then returned it. He stood without apparent fatigue during the\nwhole of that long ceremony. I have often seen Santa Anna since that\ntime, but never have I seen him appear to such advantage as upon this\noccasion.\n\n\nTHE BIBLE IN MEXICO.\n\nOn the next Sabbath I attended the Indian celebration of the appearance\nof the most blessed Virgin. During the Christmas holidays in the\ncountry of the Pintos, I had seen Indians dressed up in whimsical\nattire, enacting plays, and singing and dancing; but this was the first\ntime that I had ever seen, in a house dedicated to the worship of God,\nor, rather, in a temple consecrated to the adoration of the Virgin,\nfantastic dances performed by Indians under the supervision of priests\nand bishops. When I found out what the entertainment was, I was\nheartily vexed that I should be at such a place on the Sabbath day. The\ndancing and singing was bad enough, but the climax was reached when the\npriest came down from the altar, with an array of attendants having\nimmense candles, to the side door, where the procession stopped to\nwitness the discharge, at mid-day, of a large amount of fire-works in\nhonor of the most blessed Virgin Mary.\n\nI hurried home from this profanation of the Lord's day, and sat down\nand contemplated the old Aztec god, who had been deified for his\nwisdom, and could not but regret the change that had been imposed upon\nthese imbecile Indians. The next Sabbath after this was the national\nanniversary of the miraculous apparition; but, having seen enough of\nthis sort of thing, I concluded that my Sabbaths would be better spent\nin staying at home and reading a Spanish Testament, which had been\nbrought into the country in violation of the law. When I was first at\nthe city of Mexico, Governor Letcher related to me the stratagem by\nwhich he contrived to smuggle an American Bible agent out of the\ncountry when the police were after him, on an accusation of selling\nprohibited books! for in such a country as this, the Word of God is a\nprohibited book.\n\nJuan Diego, upon whose veracity rests the story of the miraculous\nappearance of the Virgin, was an Indian _peon_; and though, like the\nrest of his race, he probably was an habitual liar, yet when he bears\ntestimony to a miracle he is presumed to speak the truth. He lived in a\nmud hut somewhere about the barren hill now consecrated to the Virgin\nof Guadalupe. The attempt to make out that it was Saint Thomas, or the\nWandering Jew who here had an interview with the Virgin Mary, and that\nthe old rag on which the picture is painted is really a part of the\ncloak of Saint Thomas, is, by a very verbose proclamation of the\nArchbishop of Mexico, dated 25th March, 1795, pronounced a damnable\nheresy. I have in my possession a copy of this precious document,\nbearing the signature of Don Alonzo Nunez de Haro y Peralto.\n\nAs I learn from the said proclamation that \"the adoration of this holy\nimage\" [picture] exists not only in Mexico, but in South America and\nSpain, and that it has propagated itself in Italy, Flanders, Germany,\nAustria, Bohemia, Poland, Ireland, and Transylvania, I shall be excused\nfor giving the substance of this miraculous apparition, since it is now\nan article of belief of all good Catholics, having been proved before\nthe Congregation of Rites at Rome to have been a miraculous appearance\nof the Mother of God upon earth, in the year and at the place\naforesaid. And the proclamation farther informs us that his holiness,\nBenedict XIV., was so fully persuaded of the truth of the tradition,\nthat he made \"cordial devotion to our Lady of Guadalupe, and conceded\nthe proper mass and ritual of devotion. He also made mention of it in\nthe lesson of the second _nocturnal_..., declaring from the high throne\nof the Vatican that Mary, most holy, _non fecit taliter omni nationi_.\"\n\n\nSTORY OF JUAN DIEGO.\n\nJuan Diego had a sick father, and, like a good and pious son, he\nstarted for the medicine-man. He was stopped by the Virgin at the spot\nwhere the round house on the extreme right of the picture is situated.\nShe reproached him with the slowness of the Indians in embracing the\nnew religion, and at the same time she announced to him the important\nfact that she was to be the patron of the Indians, and also charged him\nto go and report the same to Zumarraga, who then enjoyed the lucrative\noffice of Bishop of Mexico. Juan obeyed the heavenly messenger, but\nfound himself turned out of doors as a lying Indian. The second time he\nwent for the medicine-man he took another path, but was again stopped\non the way at the spot where the second round house now stands. She now\nrequired him to go a second time to the bishop, and, in order to\nconvince him of the truth of the story, she directed the Indian to\nclimb to the top of the rock, where he would find a bunch of roses\ngrowing out of the smooth porphyry. The Indian did as he was commanded,\nand finding the roses in the place named, he gathered them in his\n_tilma_, and carried them to the bishop. The spot is marked by a small\nchapel. On opening his _tilma_ before the bishop and a company of\ngentlemen assembled for that purpose, it was found that the roses had\nimprinted themselves around a very coarse picture of the Virgin. This\nis the story of the miraculous appearance of our Lady of Guadalupe.\n\n[Illustration: TEMPLE OF THE VIRGIN OF GUADALUPE.]\n\nThe bishop was hard to convince at first, but when he considered that\nthe Indian could not himself paint, and had no money with which to pay\nan artist, and, above all, as there was a fair chance of making money\nby the transaction, he finally yielded to conviction. His example was\nsoon followed by the whole nation; and then the several buildings, one\nafter another, began to make their appearance. There was some\ndifficulty at first in identifying the place of the first appearance of\nthe Virgin, but this difficulty was removed by the Virgin herself, for\nshe again appeared and stamped her foot upon the spot, whereupon there\ngushed forth a spring of mineral water.[39] This has proved an\ninfallible cure for all diseases of body and mind, and to it the\nIndians resort to drink, and wash, and drink again, until it would seem\nthat they must soon exhaust the fountain, so great is the multitude\nthat resort to this spring of the Virgin.\n\nThe Collegiate Church--for there can not be two Cathedrals in one\ndiocese--is the principal building in the picture. It is not large, but\nit surpasses any thing I have yet seen for its immense accumulation of\ntreasure, excepting always the Cathedral. A railing formed of plates of\npure silver incloses both the choir and the altar of the Virgin. These\nare joined together by a passageway, which is inclosed by a portion of\nthe same precious railing. The golden candlesticks, the golden shields,\nand other ornaments of gold, dazzle the eyes of the beholder, while the\nthree rows of jewels, one of pearls, one of emeralds, and one of\ndiamonds, encircling \"the holy image,\" produce an impression not easily\nerased. The contrast that is presented between these hoards of wealth\nand the extreme poverty of the multitude that here congregate is most\nstriking.\n\nThe religion of Mexico is a religion of priestly miracles, and when the\nordinary rules of evidence are applied to them, they and the religion\nthat rests upon them fall together; hence the necessity of exacting at\nthe start a blind submission to authority, and an abnegation of the\nreasoning faculties the moment the subject of religion is approached.\nWe have applied the ordinary rules of evidence to the romance of the\nConquest, and we find that it will not stand the test of an\nexamination. But if we doubt the history of the Conquest, we must doubt\nthe history of all the miracles of the Church, for all of them rest on\nthe like untenable grounds. I did not wonder at finding the country\nabounding in unbelief. Now that the fires of the Inquisition have\nceased to burn, the priesthood are made the butt and laughing-stock of\nthose who are educated. Still, the national mind does not run toward\nthe pure Gospel, which is here unknown and prohibited, but to\ninfidelity and socialism. A sincere Protestant can have no sympathy\nwith either side.\n\n\nAN INTERDICT.\n\nThe following is Thomas Gage's account of an affair that took place in\nthis temple in his time:\n\n\"Don Alonzo de Zerna, the archbishop, who had always opposed Don Pedro\nMexia and the Virey, to please the people, granted to them to\nexcommunicate Don Pedro, and so sent out bills of excommunication, to\nbe fixed upon all the church doors, against Don Pedro, who, not\nregarding the excommunication, and keeping close at home, and still\nselling his wheat at a higher price than before, the archbishop raised\nhis censure higher against him, by adding to it a bill of _cessatio a\ndivinis_, that is, a cessation of all divine service. This censure is\nso great with them that it is never used except for some great man's\nsake, who is contumacious and stubborn in his ways, contemning the\npower of the Church. Then are all the church doors shut up, let the\ncity be never so great; no masses are said; no prayers are used; no\npreaching permitted; no meetings allowed for any public devotion; no\ncalling upon God. The Church mourns, as it were, and makes no show of\nspiritual joy and comfort, nor of any communion of prayers one with\nanother, so long as the party remains stubborn and rebellious in his\nsin and scandal, and in not yielding to the Church's censure.\n\n\"And whereas, by this cessation _a divinis_, many churches, especially\ncloisters, suffer in the means of their livelihood, who live upon what\nis daily given for the masses they say, and in a cloister where thirty\nor forty priests say mass, so many pieces of eight [dollars] do daily\ncome in, therefore this censure is inflicted upon the whole Church,\nthat the party offending or scandalizing, for whose sake this curse is\nlaid upon all, is bound to satisfy all priests and cloisters, which, in\nthe way aforesaid, suffer, and to allow them so much out of his means\nas they might have daily got by selling away their masses for so many\ndollars for their daily livelihood. To this would the archbishop have\nbrought Don Pedro, to have emptied out his purse, nearly a thousand\ndollars daily, toward the maintenance of about a thousand priests, so\nmany there may be in Mexico, who from the altar sell away their bread\ngod [sacrament][40] to satisfy with bread and food their hungry\nstomachs. And secondly, by the people suffering in their spiritual\ncomfort, and in their communion of prayers and worship, thought to make\nDon Pedro odious to the people. Don Pedro, perceiving the spiteful\nintent of the archbishop, and hearing the outcries of the people\nagainst him, and their cries for the use of their churches, secretly\nretired to the palace of the Virey, begging his favor and protection,\nfor whose sake he suffered.\n\n\"The viceroy immediately sent out his orders commanding the bills of\nexcommunication and _cessatio a divinis_ to be pulled down from the\nchurch doors; and to all the superiors of the cloisters to set open\ntheir churches, and to celebrate their services and masses as formerly\nthey had done. But they disobeyed the vice-king through blind obedience\nto their archbishop. The viceroy commanded the arch-prelate to revoke\nhis censures; but his answer was, that what he had done had been justly\ndone against a public offender and great oppressor of the poor, whose\ncries had moved him to commiserate their suffering condition, and that\nthe offender's contempt of his first excommunication had deserved the\nrigor of the second censure, neither of which he would nor could revoke\nuntil Don Pedro Mexia had submitted himself to the Church and to a\npublic absolution, and had satisfied the priests and the cloisters who\nsuffered for him, and had disclaimed that unlawful and unconscionable\nmonopoly wherewith he wronged the whole commonwealth, and especially\nthe poorer sort therein.\n\n\nARREST OF AN ARCHBISHOP.\n\n\"The viceroy, not brooking this saucy answer from a priest, commanded\nhim presently to be apprehended, and to be taken under guard to San\nJuan de Ulua, and then to be shipped to Spain. The archbishop, having\nnotice of this resolution of the viceroy, retired to Guadalupe, with\nmany of his priests and prebends, leaving a bill of excommunication\nagainst the viceroy himself upon the church doors, intending privately\nto fly to Spain, there to give an account of his carriage and behavior.\nBut he could not escape the care and vigilance of the viceroy, who,\nwith his sergeant and officers, pursued him to Guadalupe, which the\narchbishop understanding, he betook himself to the sanctuary of the\nchurch, and there caused the candles to be lighted upon the altar, and\nthe sacrament of his bread god to be taken out of the tabernacle, and\nattiring himself with his pontifical vestments, with his mitre on his\nhead, his crosier in one hand, in the other he took his god of bread,\nand thus, with his train of priests about him at the altar, he waited\nfor the coming of the sergeant and officers, whom he thought, with his\ngod in his hand, and with a Here I am, to astonish and amaze, and to\nmake them, as did Christ the Jews in the garden, to fall backward, and\ndisable them from laying hands on him.\n\n\nBANISHMENT OF THE ARCHBISHOP.\n\n\"The officers, coming into the church, went toward the altar where the\nbishop stood, and, kneeling down first to worship their _god_, made\nshort prayers; which being ended, they propounded unto the bishop, with\ncourteous and fair words, the cause of their coming to that place,\nrequiring him to lay down the sacrament [the consecrated wafer], and to\ncome out of the church, and to hear the notification of what orders\nthey brought unto him in the king's name. To whom the archbishop\nreplied, that whereas their master the viceroy was excommunicated, he\nlooked upon him as one out of the pale of the Church, and one without\nany power or authority to command him in the house of God, and so\nrequired them, as they regarded the good of their souls, to depart\npeaceably, and not to infringe the privileges and immunities of the\nChurch by exercising in it any legal act of secular power and command;\nand that he would not go out of the church unless they durst take him\nand the sacrament together. With this the head officer, named Tiroll,\nstood up and notified unto him an order, in the king's name, to\napprehend his person in what place soever he should find him, and to\nguard him to the port of San Juan de Ulua, and there to deliver him to\nwhom by farther order he should be directed thereto, to be shipped to\nSpain as a traitor to the king's crown, a troubler of the common peace,\nand an author and mover of sedition in the commonwealth.\n\n\"The archbishop, smiling to Tiroll, answered him, 'Thy master useth too\nhigh terms and words, which do better agree unto himself, for I know no\nmutiny or sedition like to trouble the commonwealth, unless it be by\nhis and Don Pedro Mexia his oppressing of the poor. And as for thy\nguarding me to San Juan de Ulua, I conjure thee by Jesus Christ, whom\nthou knowest I hold in my hands, not to use here any violence in God's\nhouse, from whose altar I am resolved not to depart; take heed God\npunish you not, as he did Jeroboam for stretching forth his hand at the\naltar against the prophet; let his withered hand remind thee of thy\nduty.' But Tiroll suffered him not to squander away the time and ravel\nit out with farther preaching, but called to the altar a priest, whom\nhe had brought for the purpose, and commanded him, in the king's name,\nto take the sacrament [wafer] out of the archbishop's hand; which the\npriest doing, the archbishop, unvesting himself of his pontificals,\nyielded himself unto Tiroll; and, taking his leave of all his prebends,\nrequiring them to be witnesses of what had been done, he went prisoner\nto San Juan de Ulua, where he was delivered to the custody of the\ngovernor of the castle, and, not many days after, was sent in a ship\nprepared for that purpose to Spain, to the king in council, with a full\ncharge of all his carriages and misdemeanors.\"\n\n      [39] This water is impregnated with carbonic acid, sulphate of\n      lime, and soda.\n\n      [40] It is difficult to convey to Protestant readers the idea\n      which the Spaniards attach to the sacramental bread or wafer\n      after the priest has pronounced the words of consecration. They\n      call it both God and Jesus Christ, and claim for it divine\n      worship.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXII.\n\nThe old Indian City of Mexico.--The Mosques.--Probable Extent of\nCivilization.--Aztecs acquired Arts of the Toltecs.--Toltec\nCivilization, ancient and original.--The Pyramid of Papantla.--The\nPlunder of Civilization.--Mexico as described by Cortez.--Montezuma's\nCourt.--The eight Months that Cortez held Montezuma.--What happened\nfor the next ten Months.--The Siege of Mexico by Cortez.--Aztecs\nconquered by Famine and Thirst.--Heroes on Paper and Victories\nwithout Bloodshed.--Cortez and Morgan.\n\n\nAs we have carefully surveyed the suburbs, and all the valley of\nMexico, it is time to take a survey of the city itself, and examine its\ncondition at different periods of its history.\n\n\nTHE MEXICO OF THE AZTECS.\n\nThe Aztec city of Mexico perished with its conquest by the Spaniards.\nDay by day, as the siege went on, the Indians that followed the\nsoldiers pulled the houses down, when the latter had passed, and threw\nthe rubbish into the canals; so that, on the day on which the conquest\nwas effected, the city ceased to exist. Many times has that old city\nbeen restored, in the imagination of enthusiasts, with its forty\npyramids (_teocallis_) and unnumbered palaces, adorned with all the\nluxury and magnificence of the most refined civilization, united with\nbarbaric grandeur and inhumanity in so strange a combination as to\ndistract our feelings between hate and admiration.\n\nIt was easy to build an Indian city that would present a most imposing\nappearance, for the climate was well fitted for drying mud thoroughly.\nBesides, there was an inexhaustible supply of pumice-stone\n(_tepetate_), and an exceedingly soft, gray quarry stone, for caps and\nlintels, with an excellent quality of cement, and material for\n\"_fresco_ painting\" of the walls, abundant and cheap. All these\narticles are combined in the building of the modern city, and give it\nits present appearance of elegance and great durability. But in the old\ncity, one-story palaces of dried mud, plastered and frescoed, with\nlarge interior courts like that I have described at Tezcuco, must have\nbeen among the most imposing structures. If _tepetate_ was employed\nin the construction of the royal palaces, it would not have added\nmaterially to the weight resting upon the earthy foundations; for when\nthe water in the ditches occupied half the street,[41] the foundations\nmust have been so much softer than at present, that structures of the\nlightest material only could be borne.\n\nIn his anxiety to keep up a resemblance between his conquests and that\nof Granada, Cortez calls the _teocallis_, or Indian mounds which he\nfound, _mosques_, and speaks of \"forty towers, the largest of which\nhas fifty steps leading to its main body, and is higher than the tower\nof the principal church in Seville.\"[42] Bernal Diaz says there were\n\"115 steps to the summit.\"[43] I must reduce the size of this great\npyramid to the size of the isolated rock that the Cathedral is said to\noccupy. The difficulty of getting rid of the earth that composed these\nforty artificial mountains does not seem to have troubled historians so\nmuch as it would a contractor. I have often thought that those hillocks\nof earth on the north side of the town were once small artificial\nmounds on which the Indians offered their worship, for in the canal\nnear by was found that collection of clay divinities of which I have\nalready spoken.\n\nThe difficulty in the way of forming a correct idea of that old city,\nis owing to the defective character of our witnesses. The one confesses\nto the habitual practice of falsehood for the purpose of deceiving the\nIndians; the other acknowledges practices that render the character of\nboth infamous, and would make their testimony of no weight in a court\nof justice unless corroborated. We must therefore feel our way as best\nwe can.\n\nWith the rude implements of the Indians, houses of the driest blocks of\nmud, though covered with cement and painted with colored wash, could\neasily have been thrown down; but gunpowder or iron bars would have\nbeen necessary to overturn a wall composed either of stone or\n_tepetate_ and cement. Villages built of dried mud are often imposing\nin their appearance, and are yet most perishable; for the first\noverflow of waters, that shall cover but a few inches of the walls of\nthe houses, will in a few hours reduce a whole village to a mass of\nruins. Again, the dry wall that has fallen becomes saturated, and\ndissolves itself into soft mud. My hypothesis is, therefore, not\nwithout its difficulty, for at every inundation of the city in the\ntimes of the Aztecs we have to suppose it totally destroyed; an evil\nthat could not be remedied until the water had entirely subsided, and\nnew mud had been formed into blocks and dried in the sun, and a new\nvillage or city built every twenty-five years.\n\nTo sum up my theory of Aztec civilization: they had earthen gods,\nearthen cooking utensils, and earthen aqueducts; their temples were\nsmall buildings, upon moderately-sized Indian burial mounds, and their\npalaces and sacred inclosures were of dried mud, and of a single story\nin height.\n\n\nTHE TOLTECS.\n\nWith this solution, the difficulty that occurred to Humboldt is in part\nremoved, viz., that the allotted time--one hundred and seventy\nyears--was too short a period in which to transform a tribe of North\nAmerican Indians into a settled community. The remainder of the\ndifficulty is explained by an event taking place in our own days. It is\nhardly thirty years since the Apache Indians began the systematic\nplunder of the northern states of Mexico, and now even these nomades\nbegin to show the first glimmerings of civilization. Their captives\nteach them the use of much of the plunder they have brought to their\nown villages. Though their treatment of female captives is inhuman, yet\nit is not an uncommon thing for a captive to become a wife, and to\nintroduce into her wigwam, and to inculcate upon the minds of her\nchildren, a few of the primary ideas of civilization. It is the\ncommonly received notion that the Toltecs abandoned the table-land\nabout the time of the arrival of the Aztecs, but continued to flourish\nin the region of the Gulf coast and in other parts of the hot country;\nthat the vast ruins which abound in those regions were inhabited cities\ntill within a few generations of the coming of the Spaniards; and that\nin Yucatan, the part most distant from Mexico, that civilization\ncontinued quite down to that period; that for a great portion of the\none hundred and seventy years of their national existence, the Aztecs\nkept up predatory excursions into the Toltec region, and out of its\ndense population derived an inexhaustible supply of slaves and the\nplunder of civilization, included in which may have been the best\nwrought of the stone idols that are still preserved. So that the Aztec\ncivilization resolves itself into the very ancient civilization of the\nToltecs.\n\n\nPYRAMID OF PAPANTLA.\n\nWe have removed to a greater antiquity, but have not got rid of the\nquestion of the origin of Mexican civilization. The year 600, named by\nHumboldt, may be considered as the time of their appearance on the\ntable-land; out many of the ruins in the hot country might claim a\nthousand years earlier antiquity. These massive remains must have\nstood, abandoned as they are now, in the midst of the forest, for a\nlong time before the Conquest, as their very existence was unknown to\nthe Spaniards until near the close of the last century. The close\nresemblance between the apparently most ancient of these works, and\nthose of the Egyptianss and other Eastern civilizations, does not\ninvolve the idea of a common origin or of intercourse, but only leads\nto the suggestion that the human race, in its progress, naturally\nfollows the same path, whether upon the eastern or western continent,\nand that it is separated by a cycle of thousands of years from the\ncivilization of our day. As a specimen of the works of the Toltecs, I\ninsert a sketch of the pyramid of Papantla.\n\n[Illustration: PYRAMID OF PAPANTLA.]\n\n\"The pyramid of Papantla,\" says Humboldt,[44] \"is not constructed like\nthe pyramids of Cholula and Mexico. The only materials employed are\nimmense stones. Mortar is distinguished in the seams. The edifice,\nhowever, is not so remarkable for its size as for its symmetry, the\npolish of the stones, and the great regularity of their cut. The base\nof the pyramid is an exact square, each side being eighty-two feet in\nlength. The perpendicular height appears not to be more than from\nfifty-two to sixty-five feet. This monument, like all the Mexican\n_teocallis_, is composed of several stages. Six are still\ndistinguishable, and a seventh appears to be concealed by the\nvegetation with which the sides of the pyramid are covered. A great\nstairway of fifty-seven steps conducts to the truncated top of the\n_teocalli_, where the human victims were sacrificed. On each side of\nthe great stairs is a flight of small stairs. The facing of the stories\nis adorned with hieroglyphics, in which serpents and crocodiles, carved\nin relievo, are discernible. Each story contains a great number of\nsquare niches, symmetrically distributed. In the first story we reckon\ntwenty-four on each side, in the second twenty, and in the third\nsixteen. The number of these niches in the body of the pyramid is three\nhundred and sixty-six, and there are twelve in the stairs toward the\neast. The Abbe Marquez supposes that this number of three hundred and\nseventy-eight niches has some allusion to a calendar of the Mexicans,\nand he even believes that in each of them one of the twenty figures was\nrepeated, which, in the hieroglyphical language of the Toltecs, served\nas a symbol for marking the days of the common year, and the\nintercalated days at the end of the cycles. The year being composed of\neighteen months of twenty days, there would then be three hundred and\nsixty days, to which, agreeable to the Egyptian practice, five\ncomplementary days were added.... This pyramid was visited by M. Dupe,\na captain in the service of the King of Spain. He possesses the bust,\nin basalt, of a Mexican, which I employed M. Massard to engrave, and\nwhich bears great resemblance to the _calautica_ of the heads of Isis.\"\n\nI prefer in this way to copy from an author of unquestionable authority\nan important historical fact, rather than to search for less accessible\nsources of evidence on which I rest the theory, that what of this kind\nwe have seen at the city of Mexico are but fragments from the wreck\nthat befell the American civilization of antiquity, which had succumbed\nbefore the inroads of northern savages. This is sufficient inquiry into\nantiquities till we come to the museum.\n\n\nMEXICO ACCORDING TO CORTEZ.\n\nIt is but justice to add the substance of Cortez's account of this\nancient city, which is embodied in the following paragraphs:\n\n\"This noble city contains many fine and magnificent houses, which may\nbe accounted for from the fact that all the nobility of the country,\nwho are the vassals of Montezuma, have houses in the city, in which\nthey reside a certain part of the year; and, besides, there are\nnumerous wealthy citizens who also possess fine houses. All these\npersons, in addition to the large and spacious apartments for ordinary\npurposes, have others, both upper and lower, that contain\nconservatories of flowers. Along one of the causeways [the Chapultepec]\nthat lead into the city are laid two [water] pipes, constructed of\nmasonry, each of which is two paces in width, and about five feet in\nheight.... The inhabitants of this city pay greater regard to the style\nof their mode of living, and are more attentive to elegance of dress\nand politeness of manners than those of other provinces and cities,\nsince, as the cacique Montezuma has his residence in the capital, and\nall the nobility, his vassals, are in the constant habit of meeting\nthere, a general courtesy of demeanor necessarily prevails.... For, as\nI have already stated, what can be more wonderful than that a barbarous\nmonarch, as he is, should have every object found in his dominions\nimitated in gold, silver, precious stones, and feathers, the gold and\nsilver being wrought so naturally as not to be surpassed by any smith\nin the world, the stone-work executed with such perfection that it is\ndifficult to conceive what instruments could have been used, and the\nfeather-work superior to the finest production in wax and\nembroidery?... He possessed out of the city as well as within numerous\nvillas, each of which had its peculiar sources of amusement, and all\nwere constructed in the best possible manner for the use of a great\nprince or lord. Within the city, his palaces were so wonderful that it\nis hardly possible to describe their beauty and extent. I can only say\nthat in Spain there is nothing equal to them. There was one palace\nsomewhat inferior to the rest, attached to which was a beautiful\ngarden, with balconies extending over it, supported by marble columns,\nand having a floor formed of jasper elegantly inlaid. There were\napartments in this palace sufficient to lodge two princes of the\nhighest rank with their retinues.... The emperor has another beautiful\npalace, with a large court-yard paved with handsome flags in the style\nof a chess-board.\n\n\"Every day, as soon as it was light, six hundred nobles and men of rank\nwere in attendance at the palace, who either sat or walked about the\nhalls and galleries, and passed their time in conversation, but without\nentering the apartments where his person was.... Daily his larder and\nwine-cellar[45] were open to all who wished to eat and drink. The meals\nwere served by three hundred youths, who brought on an infinite variety\nof dishes; indeed, whenever he dined or supped, the table was loaded\nwith every kind of flesh, fish, and vegetables that the country\nproduced. The meals were served in a large hall, in which Montezuma was\naccustomed to eat, and the dishes quite filled the room, which was\ncovered with mats, and kept very clean. He sat on a small cushion\ncuriously wrought of leather.[46] He is also dressed four times every\nday in four different suits entirely new, which he never wears a second\ntime. None of the caciques who enter his palace have their feet\ncovered, and when those for whom he sends enter his presence, they\nincline their heads and look down, bending their bodies; and when they\naddress him, they do not look him in the face; this arises from\nexcessive modesty and reverence....[47] No sultan or other infidel lord,\nof whom any knowledge now exists, ever had so much ceremonial in his\ncourt.\"\n\n\nPROCEEDINGS OF THE SPANIARDS.\n\nIt was in the spring of 1519 that Cortez and his company had landed at\nVera Cruz. From that point they had marched toward Mexico without\nopposition, except the skirmishes with the Tlascalans, and without\nopposition they had entered the city of Mexico on the 5th of November,\n1519. Here they had been received with every mark of hospitality and\ntreated with every kindness. But this did not prevent their\ntreacherously seizing the person of their host, and making him a\nprisoner in their quarters. In his name they had governed his tribe,\nand ransacked his dominions in search of the treasures collected by the\ngold-washers, and had even interfered in the religious worship of a\nsuperstitious people, and murdered, in cold blood, a party of their\nchiefs celebrating an Indian feast. Still there had been no war, until\nOrdaz was sent, with his four hundred men, to recapture the concubines\nof Cortez, who had been rescued, as already mentioned. This was in July\nof the following year, eight months after their first entry into\nMexico, and on the 10th of July, 1520, the licentious rule of the\nSpaniards at Mexico was terminated by the events of the _triste noche_.\n\nThe mere handful that had at first entered the city had been increased\nby the army of Narvaez, so that when the news reached Cortez that\nAlvarado and the eighty odd men that had been left with him in the city\nwere threatened with difficulty, he marched a well-appointed army of\nfourteen hundred men, besides two hundred Tlascalans, to his relief.\nTheir retreat to Tlascala has already been described, the character of\nthe brigantines has been discussed, as well as the absurd story of his\nhaving dug a slip or launching canal at Tezcuco, twelve feet broad and\ntwelve feet deep. We have seen that the towns and villages said to have\nbeen built in the lake, and the still greater number of large towns on\nthe main land, could only have been petty Indian hamlets, and that the\ncentral portions of the valley of Mexico would not have been habitable\nif the lakes of Mexico had been any thing more than evaporation ponds.\nAnd, lest I should venture too far, I will conclude this remark by\nadverting to the testimony of Diaz, which concedes that when his book\nwas written the face of the country was substantially as it now is, and\nas I have already described it to be. But he endeavors to save the\nstory of the Conquest by the shallow pretense that, during the few\nyears that intervened between that event and the date of his history,\nthe whole face of the country had completely changed.[48]\n\nThe great mystery is why so large a body of Spaniards, if they really\namounted to the number claimed by Cortez, should have retreated from\nthe city at all, as they do not complain of being short of provisions.\nThey had the great _teocalli_ for a fortress, on which they might have\nplanted their cannon, and leveled the city in a few days, if not in a\nfew hours, and the great Plaza in which to manoeuvre their cavalry\nand protect the Indians while leveling the rubbish of the broken walls.\nBut a panic having seized them, and having escaped from the city by a\nbadly-managed night retreat, ten months elapsed before the Spaniards,\non the 13th of May, 1521, laid siege to the city. And with varying\nsuccess the siege was continued just three months, until Guatemozin was\ntaken prisoner, on the 13th of August, 1521, so that the siege was\ncarried on in the midst of the rainy season, when the flats must have\nbeen covered with water, and the ditches well filled. No difficulty was\nexperienced in bringing up his flat-boats to the sides of the muddy\ncauseways, or in cutting off the supplies of provisions by water, or in\nbreaking down the earthen aqueduct of Chapultepec, so that the Indians\nwere finally subdued by the combined forces of hunger and thirst. When,\nthe Aztecs were so enfeebled by want that they could no longer offer\nresistance, the Spaniards rushed into the town, seized the unresisting\nGuatemozin, and shouted victory.\n\n\nINDIAN WARFARE.\n\nIt requires a familiarity with Spanish character, and the Moorish,\nOriental origin of their literature, in order to read Spanish-American\nmilitary annals understandingly, as much so as it does a knowledge of\nIndian character in order to sift out the truth from accounts of Indian\nwars. The superstitious dread which the Aztecs at all times evinced for\nthe Spanish horses and horsemen is common to all savages.[49] The\nappearance of two or three horses, kept ready for that purpose, was\nsufficient to restore the battle after the Spaniards had taken to their\nheels. And while the facts of the siege amount to little more than\nkeeping possession of the narrow causeways, by aid of superior\nimplements of war, until famine and thirst had done their work, yet the\nSpanish histories of the Conquest make it to surpass in interest, and\nin the magnitude of forces engaged, almost any siege on record. And so\nplausibly is the narrative written, that the reader drinks it in with\nbreathless anxiety, without once stopping to ask himself how so many\nhundreds of thousands of Indians could be fed in a salt valley,\ninclosed by high mountains, without the aid of a regularly organized\ncommissariat department, or how such masses of undisciplined Indians\ncould be manoeuvred upon a narrow causeway, where numbers add no\nstrength, but only tend to augment the confusion--where, as in this\ncase, there had to be a daily advance and retreat in presence of an\nactive enemy.\n\n\nIMPROBABILITY OF CORTEZ'S ACCOUNT.\n\nThe interesting note which we have copied describes an event within the\nmemory of the present generation. And it is well recollected what\ntrepidation was caused in that colony of the British Empire by the\napproach to the frontier of a nation of barbarians who despised fear,\nwhose religion was war, and who knew no sin like that of turning the\nback to any enemy. Yet a hundred horsemen, with firearms, from a\nmissionary village, unaccustomed to war, were sufficient to turn back\nthis mighty host of brave savages. It can not be claimed that the\nAztecs were superior to these Mantatees, or that the force of Cortez\nwas inferior in equipment to the hundred unwarlike Griquas whose\n\"thunder and lightning\" (as they termed the musketry) drove them back.\nThe missionary was a Protestant, a man of truth, and had no glory to\nwin, and therefore told only the simple truth. Cortez, out of a much\ninferior affair, has fabricated a romance, with such verisimilitude\nthat he has astonished the world by an account of achievements which he\nnever performed. To write well is nine tenths of a hero; and in the\ntime of Cortez, as it is even now at Mexico, it was the easiest thing\nimaginable to manufacture an astonishing victory out of the very\nsmallest amount of material. If no lives were lost in the battle, so\nmuch more astounding is the victory. This practice of sacrificing human\nlife is only a modification of cannibalism, and the very mission on\nwhich the Spaniards came to Mexico was to extinguish that crime, so\nthat they would jeopardize their title to the country should they\npresume to shed the blood of each other in their interminable wars. And\nso long as only women, and children, and Indians are the sufferers,\nthey do no violence to the rules of warfare which Cortez and the\nConquistadors introduced. The armies of Mexico have never been\ndeficient in good writers; a specimen of the capacity of one of them I\nhave already given in the chapter on Texas; so that their stately and\ndignified histories of the national squabbles of the last thirty years\nare equal to Cortez in gross exaggeration, and not a whit behind him in\nelegance of composition.\n\n\nMORGAN AND CORTEZ.\n\nA hundred years after the conquest of Mexico, there sailed out of the\nharbor of Port Royal, now Kingston, in Jamaica, an unlawful military\nenterprise, about equal in force to that with which Cortez first landed\nat Vera Cruz, but immensely inferior to the panic-stricken host that\nfled by night from the city of Mexico. The fitting out of this unlawful\nexpedition, like that of Cortez, had the connivance of the local\nauthorities. The difference between the two was, that Morgan did not\nunderstand the Spanish Oriental style of proclaiming his own heroism,\nand furthermore, his expedition was not directed against a\nmiserably-armed rabble of Indians, but against the fortified city of\nPanama, held by a garrison of royal troops.\n\nMooring his little fleet in the harbor of Chagres, Morgan marched his\nsmall force across the Isthmus, which then presented greater\ndifficulties to his passage with cannon and munitions of war than\nCortez encountered in his march to Mexico. Like Cortez in his first\nexpedition, Morgan met with no opposition in his first visit to Panama,\nbut, with his men, lived at free quarters in rioting and debauchery,\ncommitting those atrocities that pirates alone can commit, until, their\nappetites and their passions being satiated, they returned to the Gulf\ncoast, taking with them the plunder of a city which was then the\ndepository of the treasures drawn from South America. They returned a\nsecond time to Panama, as Cortez did to Mexico. This time they met with\nresistance, but they carried the town by assault, and devoted it to\nutter destruction. Their efforts were seconded by a terrible\nearthquake, from which the people fled, and built a new city at a\ndistance of a few miles from the ruins.\n\nFor more than two hundred years the rank vegetation of a tropical\nforest has been driving its massive roots beneath its foundations, and\nyet the ruins of Panama still bear the marks of having once been a city\nof much magnificence. Two massive stone bridges, a pavement, diverse\nbroken walls, and a solid tower standing up above the tops of the tall\nforest-trees, proclaim the incontrovertible fact that the traces of a\nlarge city can not be altogether blotted out in the course of a few\ncenturies.\n\nMorgan has never gratified the world with a narrative of his\nadventures, nor has any of his gang enlightened us with a history of\nthe conquest of Panama, nor has any Saxon bishop Lorenzana yet been\nfound so lost to all moral sense as to commend the piety of such\ninfamous men. And yet, in the boldness of his enterprise, in the\ncourage of its execution, in the amount of plunder realized, in\nmilitary talent and prowess, Morgan the pirate was incalculably\nsuperior to Cortez the hero.\n\n      [41] CORTEZ, _Letters_, p. 111.\n\n      [42] Ibid.\n\n      [43] _Diaz_, p. 247.\n\n      [44] _Essai Politique_, vol. ii. p. 172.\n\n      [45] This is a little too strong a statement, considering that\n      there never was and never could be a cellar at Mexico.\n\n      [46] The naked negro alcalde mentioned in Chapter XII. was also\n      seated on a leather cushion.\n\n      [47] This is not all fancy. No people in the world show more\n      profound reverence to the aged or deference to their chiefs than\n      the North American Indians.\n\n      [48] \"Iztapalapan was at that time a town of considerable\n      magnitude, built half in the water and half on dry land. The spot\n      where it stood is at present all dry land; and where vessels once\n      sailed up and down, seeds are sown and harvests gathered. In\n      fact, the whole face of the country is so completely changed,\n      that he who had not seen these parts previously would scarcely\n      believe that waves had ever rolled over the spot where now\n      fertile corn-plantations extend themselves to all sides, so\n      wonderfully have all things changed here in a short space of\n      time.\"--BERNAL DIAZ, vol. i. p. 220.\n\n      [49] Moffatt's Southern Africa, page 242, furnishes the following\n      complete illustration of the effect produced by horsemen and\n      fire-arms upon savage warriors. \"The commando approached within\n      150 yards with a view to beckon some one to come out. On this,\n      the enemy commenced their terrible howl, and at once discharged\n      their clubs and javelins. Their black, dismal appearance and\n      savage fury, with their hoarse and stentorian voices, were\n      calculated to daunt; and the Griquas [horsemen], on their first\n      attack, wisely retreated to a short distance, and then drew up.\n      Waterboer, the chief, commenced firing, and leveled one of their\n      warriors to the ground; several more instantly shared the same\n      fate. It was confidently expected that their courage would be\n      daunted when they saw their warriors fall by an invisible weapon,\n      and it was hoped they would be humbled and alarmed, that thus\n      further bloodshed might be prevented. Though they beheld with\n      astonishment the dead and the stricken warriors writhing in the\n      dust, they looked with lion-like fierceness at the horsemen, and\n      yelled vengeance, violently wrenching the weapons from the hands\n      of their dying companions to supply the place of those they had\n      discharged at their antagonists. Sufficient intervals were\n      afforded, and every encouragement held out for them to make\n      proposals, but all was ineffectual. They sallied forth with\n      increased vigor, so as to oblige the Griquas to retreat, though\n      only to a short distance, for they never attempted to pursue\n      above 200 yards from their camp. The firing, though without any\n      order, was very destructive, as each took a steady aim. Many of\n      their chief men fell victims to their own temerity, after\n      manifesting undaunted spirit. Again and again the chiefs and Mr.\n      Melville met to deliberate on how to act to prevent bloodshed\n      among a people who determined to die rather than flee, which they\n      could easily have done.\n\n      \"Soon after the battle commenced, the Bechuanas came up, and\n      united in playing on the enemy with poisoned arrows, but they\n      were soon driven back; half a dozen of the fierce Mantatees [the\n      enemy] made the whole body scamper off in wild disorder. After\n      two hours and a half's combat, the Griquas, finding their\n      ammunition fast diminishing, at the almost certain risk of loss\n      of life, began to storm [charge], when the enemy gave way, taking\n      a westerly direction. The horsemen, however, intercepted them,\n      when they immediately descended toward the ravine, as if\n      determined not to return by the way they came, which they\n      crossed, but were again intercepted. On turning round they seemed\n      desperate, but were again soon repulsed. Great confusion now\n      prevailed, the ground being very stony, which rendered it\n      difficult to manage the horses. At this moment an awful scene was\n      presented to the view. The undulating country around was covered\n      with warriors all in motion, so that it was difficult to say who\n      were enemies or who were friends. Clouds of dust were rising from\n      the immense masses, who appeared flying with terror or pursuing\n      with fear. To the alarming confusion was added the bellowing of\n      oxen, the vociferations of the yet unvanquished warriors, mingled\n      with the groans of the dying, and the widows' piercing wail, and\n      the cries from infant voices. The enemy again directed their\n      course toward a town which was in possession of a tribe of the\n      same people still more numerous. Here again another desperate\n      struggle ensued, when they appeared determined to inclose the\n      horsemen within the smoke and flames of the houses, through which\n      they were slowly passing, giving the enemy time to escape. At\n      last, seized with despair, they fled precipitately. It had been\n      observed during the fight that some women went backward and\n      forward to the town, only about half a mile distant, apparently\n      with the most perfect indifference to their fearful situation.\n      While the commando was struggling between hope and despair of\n      being able to rout the enemy, information was brought that the\n      half of the enemy, under Choane, were reposing in the town,\n      within sound of the guns, perfectly regardless of the fate of the\n      other division, under the command of Karagauye. It was supposed\n      they possessed entire confidence in the yet invincible army of\n      the latter, being the more warlike of the two. Humanly speaking,\n      had both parties been together, the day would have been lost,\n      when they would with perfect ease have carried devastation into\n      the centre of the colony [of the Cape]. When both parties were\n      united, they set fire to all parts of the town, and appeared to\n      be taking their departure, proceeding in an immense body toward\n      the north. If their number may be calculated by the space of\n      ground occupied by the entire body, it must have amounted to\n      upward of 40,000. The Griquas pursued them about eight miles; and\n      though they continued desperate, they seemed filled with terror\n      at the enemies by whom they had been overcome.... As fighting was\n      not my province, I avoided discharging a single shot, though, at\n      the request of Mr. Melville and the chiefs, I remained with the\n      commando as the only means of safety. Seeing the savage ferocity\n      of the Bechuanas in killing the inoffensive women and children\n      for the sake of a few paltry rings, or to boast that they had\n      killed some of the Mantatees, I turned my attention to these\n      objects of pity, who were flying in consternation in all\n      directions. By my galloping in among them, many of the Bechuanas\n      were deterred from their barbarous purpose. Shortly after they\n      began to retreat, the women, seeing that mercy was shown them,\n      instead of flying, generally sat down, and, baring their bosoms,\n      exclaimed, 'I am a woman. I am a woman.' It seemed impossible for\n      the men to yield. There were several instances of wounded men\n      being surrounded by fifty Bechuanas, but it was not till life was\n      almost extinct that a single one would allow himself to be\n      conquered. I saw more than one instance of a man fighting boldly\n      with ten or twelve spears or arrows fixed in his body.... The\n      men, struggling with death, would raise themselves from the\n      ground, and discharge their weapons at any one of our number\n      within their reach: their hostile and revengeful spirit only\n      ceased when life was extinct. Contemplating this deadly conflict,\n      we could not but admire the mercy of God that not one of our\n      number was killed, and only one slightly wounded. One Bechuana\n      lost his life while too eagerly seeking for plunder. The slain of\n      the enemy was between four and five hundred.\n\n      \"The Mantatees are a tall, robust people, in features resembling\n      the Bechuanas; the dress, consisting of prepared ox-hides,\n      hanging doubly over their shoulders. The men, during the\n      engagement, were nearly naked, having on their heads a round\n      cockade of black ostrich feathers. Their ornaments were large\n      copper rings, sometimes eight in number, worn round their necks,\n      with numerous arm, leg, and ear rings of the same material. Their\n      weapons were war-axes of various shapes, and clubs. Into many of\n      their knob-sticks were inserted pieces of iron resembling a\n      sickle, but more curved, sometimes to a circle, and sharp on the\n      outside. They appeared more rude and barbarous than the tribes\n      around us, the natural consequences of the warlike life they had\n      led. They were suffering dreadfully from want; even in the heat\n      of battle, the poorest class seized pieces of meat and devoured\n      them raw.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXIII.\n\nThe new City of Mexico.--The Discoveries of Gold.--Ruins at\nMexico.--The Monks, and what Cortez gained by his Piety.--The City\nof Mexico again rebuilt.--The City under Ravillagigedo.--The National\nPalace.--The Cathedral.--A whole Museum turned Saints.--All kneel\ntogether.--The San Carlos Academy of Arts.--Reign of Carlos III--The\nMineria.\n\n\nThe city of Mexico, as rebuilt by Cortez, was but an humble affair. The\nsmall amount of plunder realized from the city destroyed; the necessity\nfor large remittances to secure peace at the Spanish court; the general\npoverty and destitution of the Indians inhabiting the surrounding\nvillages, and the narrow limits of the Aztec empire, were great\nimpediments in the way of erecting a magnificent city. On a small\nscale, he resembled Santa Anna in the activity with which he could\norganize an army after defeat, or resuscitate affairs when apparently\nirretrievable. He knew how to improve the most slender means to the\naccomplishment of ulterior purposes. Perseverance is not one of the\nleading characteristics of the Spanish race, yet it is surprising to\nsee how much they will often accomplish with what would appear to us\ntotally inadequate means. Such was eminently the talent of Cortez.\nSurrounded by disappointed men, who had been lured to the country by\nmagnificent pictures of its resources, he still went on extending his\nconquests among the surrounding tribes.\n\nFortunately, the most precious of all metals is obtained by the most\nsimple process, and the gold-washings of the Mescala and other parts of\nthe south, which the Indians had but partially wrought, received more\nattention as soon as they learned how readily the precious metal could\nbe exchanged for the gewgaws of the Europeans. Gold dust was greedily\nexchanged for its weight in bright silver coins, and an ounce of gold\nwas not unfrequently given for a bright-colored handkerchief. In a few\nmonths the means for the organization of a community were obtained from\nthe gold-diggings. Nothing tends so much to elevate the lowly as the\ndiscovery of gold-washings, in which individual effort, and not\nmachinery, is the ruling power, and the producer of wealth. But even a\ngold country has its evils; for nowhere have I ever seen so many\ndisappointed men as at the very place where an abundance of gold could\nbe had for simply washing it out of the mud; and nowhere have I seen so\nlarge a proportion of unemployed men as on the spot where the wages of\nlabor were fabulously high. Still, with all these drawbacks, the city\nof Cortez rapidly progressed under the stimulus of gold discoveries,\nuntil he found the wildest of his dreams falling short of the reality.\n\n\nTHE MONKS IN MEXICO.\n\nThe new city did not occupy the exact position of its Indian\npredecessor, but was clustered around the still remaining navigable\ncanals, upon the southern border, while the main portion of the old\ncity, which lay toward the northern limits of the island--where to this\nday such an abundant supply of earthen gods is to be found by\ndigging--was left a mass of ruins. These were not, by any means, the\nruins of fallen stone walls, or capitals, or columns, but shapeless\nmasses of earth, which proclaim most unmistakably the kind of\nmagnificence which distinguished the ancient capital of the Aztec\nempire.\n\nThe monks, who scented gold as buzzards scent carrion, began early to\ndiscover the growing wealth of this new city, and soon a party of a\ndozen Franciscans, in sackcloth with downcast visages, approached the\ncity. They came, not as religious teachers, but as spiritual\nscavengers, who had consecrated their lives for gold to clean out the\nroad to heaven for the vilest sinners. Cortez, who had been the\ngreatest sinner, was now the greatest penitent. The whole city was\nmoved at the coming of these holy men, who carried the cross before\nthem, but forgot not the cards and the dice in their pockets--who\ndaily, in the mass, consecrated spiritual bread for famishing souls,\nand at night spent the wages of their piety at the gambling-table. To\nthe surprise of his fellow-profligates, and to the astonishment of the\nIndians, Cortez, walking bare-footed, led the procession that escorted\nthe monks from near the spot where his brigantines had sailed among the\ncorn-fields of Iztapalapan to the little chapel he had partly finished,\nand which now stands in the yard of the Franciscans.[50] He was so\nzealous in the performance of his devotions and his penances that he\nwon the affections of the holy fathers to such a degree that he ever\nfound faithful supporters in the powerful order of Saint Francis in all\nhis troubles at the Spanish court. The question of his sincerity\nmattered little to them. It was the benefit of his public example which\nthey, above all things, desired in their search after golden treasures.\nTo get gold and to gratify their vices was their pious calling. Though\nthey boast of having baptized some 6000 Indians, this argues nothing,\nexcept as it tends to show the numbers of the Indian population of the\nvalley; for, as a badge of their subjugation, the Indians received\nChristian baptism; and truly it has been said of them, \"They feared the\nLord, but served their graven images.\"\n\nWe have now a sadder tale to tell; one that philanthropists have\ngrieved over so often. Gold-washings are soon exhausted, but they\nfrequently lead to the discovery of silver mines, which become so\nprofitable as to drive away the very memory of the gold-washings. Thus\nthe fact that gold-washings ever existed in Mexico, or even in Brazil,\nis almost forgotten, and the places where those washings were rests in\nvague tradition.\n\nBut while gold is procured by the most simple process, to extract\nsilver requires science, and an immense expenditure of labor and\nmachinery, in delving to the very bowels of the earth, and in\nseparating the slight percentage of pure silver from the mass of ore.\nIn this exhausting labor, which is often assigned to convicts, Indians\nwere employed until they gave up the ghost. The conquerors had\nappropriated to themselves the best-looking of the Indian females,\nwhile their husbands--for Indians marry very early in life--were\nconsigned to the mines as laborers and carriers in the bowels of the\nmountain. From this promiscuous intercourse, so early introduced, has\narisen the present mixed-blood population of Mexico. The offspring of\nsin, they are a nation of sinners. The pure Indians are the descendants\nchiefly of the unenslaved tribes, like the Tlascalans and Tezcucans,\nwho carried on the subsequent wars of Cortez, and the whites are mostly\ndescendants of later immigrations.\n\nIn a former chapter we have seen that the evils which California\nsuffered in the first years of its existence afflicted Mexico down to\nthe time of the great inundation of 1629; and from the pen of an\neye-witness we have given a picture of the state of society at that\ntime. But during the five years that the water rested on the city, its\nsuperabundant wealth disappeared; many of the nobility and gentry\nwithdrew to Puebla, carrying with them their treasures and their vices,\nwhile multitudes of the poorer classes perished. So that when the\nVirgin of Guadalupe, in her great mercy to an afflicted people, caused\nthe earth to open and swallow up the great excess of waters, they had\nbecome a sobered and a more moral population. It is from this abating\nof the waters in the year 1634 that we have to date the origin of the\npresent city of Mexico; for the foundations of all the buildings except\nthose about the Cathedral were so much softened by five years of\nsoaking that they could not be relied on; and a new city grew up upon\nnew foundations. This is the Mexico of the present day; a city more\nelegant than substantial, and dependent more upon the plaster and\ncolored washings of its walls than solid masonry for its apparent\ndurability.\n\n\nTHE VICEROY RAVILLAGIGEDO.\n\nIt was the great Vice-king Ravillagigedo, toward the close of the last\ncentury (1789), who gave the finishing strokes to the city, and\nestablished its reputation as the finest city on this continent while\nthe vice-kingdom continued. It was then one of the best-lighted cities\nto be found, while in its paving he expended the large sum of\n$347,715.[51] We have seen, in our own day and in our own large cities,\nthe popular applause which follows the rigid enforcement of wholesome\nordinances; and it may be well supposed that in a city like Mexico,\nsuch an unusual proceeding would elevate the fearless magistrate in\npopular estimation, and make him the subject of all kind of apocryphal\nanecdotes.\n\nThe best of the anecdotes illustrating his sternness in enforcing city\nordinances is the following: A police officer once reported to him the\ncase of the occupants of a house who had neglected sweeping in front of\ntheir premises. He informed him that the family had consisted of a\nwidowed mother and two daughters, but that the mother had died during\nthe previous night, and that, instead of sweeping the street as usual,\nthe daughters sat at the door weeping, and soliciting money of\npassers-by to bury the dead body. \"Return,\" said the viceroy sternly to\nthe officer, \"and stand at the door until there are twelve shillings (a\ndollar and a half) in the plate, and then take it, and bring it and the\noffenders to me.\" The officer did as directed. \"Deliver the money to\nthe municipal treasurer, in payment of the fine for violating the city\nordinance,\" said the vice-king to the officer, \"and then return to your\nduty.\" He then turned to the orphans: \"I hear that your mother is dead,\nand that you wish to obtain the means of burying her. Here is an order\non your parish priest, who will bury your mother, and here is a trifle\nfor yourselves,\" he said, handing to each of them a gold ounce. They\nwent their way, blessing the man that had succored them in their\nnecessity. This early example of the rigid enforcement of city\nordinances has never been forgotten in Mexico, where, considering its\nlimited means, for its revenue[52] does not exceed $400,000, including\nits landed rents, its government is well sustained, and its laws better\nenforced than in many of our own cities. Its police consists of a\nmilitary patrol,[53] who, oddly enough, perform the duties of\nlamplighters.\n\n\nTHE NATIONAL PALACE.\n\nThe National Palace is an immense structure, which occupies the eastern\nfront of the Grand Plaza, and is sometimes foolishly called the Halls\nof the Montezumas. It contains within itself all the offices of\ngovernment, besides the barracks of the President's guard. Besides\nbeing the city residence of the President himself, it contains the two\nhalls that were formerly occupied by the two legislative bodies, the\nSenate and the Chamber of Deputies, while such a burlesque of our free\ninstitutions existed in Mexico. In this palace also was the National\nMint, so long as any body would trust the nation with his silver bars\nto coin; but, now that the mint is farmed out, it is removed to a\nprivate establishment. In this building are all the archives of the\nvice-kingdom and the republic, and he who would study the history of\nthe past must diligently labor here.\n\nThe Cathedral is upon the northern side of the Grand Plaza, and is said\nto occupy the site of the great _teocalli_, and to have a rocky\nfoundation. Whether this last assertion is really true, I have no\nmeans of verifying, but there must be something unusual about its\nfoundations, as its towers are the only ones that I know of in the city\nthat do not lean a little. Ninety years was this vast edifice, or,\nrather, pile of edifices, in building, and the amount of treasure\nexpended in its construction seems to a stranger to be fabulous. The\nbest of its many fine views, or, rather, the one I admire the most, is\nthe one from the entrance to the National Palace, though the one most\ncommonly given is that from the front of the Municipality building,\nwhich occupies the entire south front of the Plaza.\n\n\nIMAGES IN THE CATHEDRAL.\n\nThe interior of the Cathedral is certainly imposing, but I had so early\nin life attached the idea of the Gothic architecture to every thing\nmagnificent in the way of churches, that this Moro-Spanish style fails\nto produce an effect commensurate with the merits of the building.\nAgain, images are not associated with my early ideas of divine worship;\nand when, passing from side altar to side altar, I feel that I am only\nlooking at wax figures, they produce no solemnity in me. And when I\nafterward learned, or thought I learned, that the showman of the\nstrolling museum got his \"wax figures\" at the same shop, or from the\nsame moulds in which were cast the images of the saints, they call up\nthe idea of Punch and Judy.\n\nBefore these images I have seen hundreds of worshipers prostrate,\nrepeating their prayers with the most profound reverence, while the\nsight of the image filled me with boyish glee that I could hardly\nsuppress. The identical image that was labeled Bluebeard in the museum\nis now Saint Peter. The \"Disconsolate Widow\" is now \"the Weeping\nVirgin.\" Charlotte Temple, and the baby that never knew its father, is\nnow Mary and the infant Christ. Macbeth, looking as though he had the\ntoothache, is Saint Francis. Othello is here a saint; and the sleeping\nDesdemona is now the sleeping Virgin. The monster that poisoned six\nhusbands, and sits meditating the death of a seventh, is now dressed in\nthe latest Paris finery, and is a saint. The old miser, who laid up\nsuch hoards while he starved himself to death, is here placed among\nsaints; the clothes are different, but there is the same forbidding\nvisage. Here, too, are the Queen of Sheba, the Babes in the Wood, the\nBelle of the West, the Terrible Brigand, and Sir William Wallace--all\ntransformed into images of saints, before whom the people bow down with\nthe most profound reverence, and to whose intercession they commit the\nsalvation of their souls.\n\nI do not know whether the showman or the priests are to blame for my\nirreverence, or whether it is the fault of the system itself. The\nargument in favor of the adoration of images is that they make\nimpressions on the senses which aid devotion; but, if the impressions\nmade on my senses are to be considered, the whole tendency is to debase\nthe immortal Maker of heaven and earth below the level of humanity,\n\"and to change the image of the incorruptible God into an image made\nlike to corruptible man.\" There was abundant proof of this in the\ntabernacle of our Lady of Remedies above the great altar of the\nCathedral. There sits enthroned this cast-off bauble of some nursery,\nemblazoned with jewels enough to supply the means to educate the whole\npopulation of Mexico. To this piece of dilapidated wood and plaster of\nParis are conceded attributes of God Almighty: to grant rain in times\nof drought; health in times of pestilence; a safe delivery to women in\nperil of childbirth; and before it, in times of public calamity, the\nhighest dignitaries walk in solemn procession.\n\nNothing disgusts an Anglo-Saxon more than to witness the mental\ndegradation of the descendants of the Castilians, the slaves of\nsuperstition, craft, and imposture. From generation to generation they\nhave lived in constant fear of the secret agents of the Inquisition,\nand of the evil spirits that are ever plotting against the peace of\ngood Christians. The permanency of the laws of Nature, the very\nfoundation of all self-reliance and courage, is believed to be at the\ncaprice of every one of a legion of saints, each of whom has been\ncanonized on proof of working a miracle. Truth, and honesty, and\nchastity are subordinate virtues, and only a slavish devotion to his\nconscience-keeper can sustain a believer in the hour of greatest\nnecessity.\n\nThere are important truths to be learned in Mexico, and even in this\nimmense pile of buildings devoted to superstition. Among these is the\nperfect equality that should exist in a place of worship. Here the rich\nand the poor meet together upon a level; the well-dressed lady and the\nmarket-woman are here kneeling together before the same image. The\ndistinctions of wealth and rank are for the moment forgotten. While I\nwas looking on and admiring this state of things, I saw a market-man on\nhis return homeward with an empty hen-coop on his back. He walked\nboldly up, and knelt among the body of worshipers, told his beads, and\nthen started up and trudged on his homeward journey. This equality is\nonly for an hour, and hardly so long; yet it is an hour daily, and must\nhave its effect in this country of inequalities in reminding the most\nhumble that this inequality is only for this world, and that at the\ntermination of life all will stand upon a common level.\n\n\nTHE SAN CARLOS.\n\nThe San Carlos, or Academy of Arts, is now in a flourishing condition,\non account of the success of the lottery that supports it. The number\nof students here gratuitously instructed in different branches of art\nis quite large. Here, too, it is refreshing to see equality triumphant;\nthe child of the _peon_ and of the prince sit side by side, and on the\ndays of public exhibition, the crowds that throng its halls are\nadmitted gratuitously, and are of as miscellaneous a character as are\nits pupils. The pictures of _Pangre_ are the present great attraction,\nand every new production of his genius gains him additional applause.\nThe works that Humboldt so much admired are still here, but since his\ntime there have been added several marbles of considerable merit.\n\nThis Academy of San Carlos is one of the many monuments of that\ngreatest of the kings of Spain since the Conquest, Don Carlos III.,\nthough not brought into full operation until the reign of his imbecile\nsuccessor, Carlos IV. All the monuments of which Mexico can boast at\nthis day are traceable to the reign of the only enlightened Spanish\nprince of whom Spain can boast in a period of 300 years. Nearly a\nhundred years have elapsed since the foundation of this academy, and it\nhas not yet produced a man of the first class either in painting or\nsculpture.\n\nThe College of Mines, the finest building in this city, is another\nexhibition of the liberal spirit which governed in the reign of Don\nCarlos. Under this prince a new code of mining laws had been digested,\nstrikingly resembling the present miner's rules in California. Their\nimmediate effect was almost to double the production of silver, while\nthe Mineria was both a school to impart scientific knowledge in\nrelation to mining, and a bank to advance money to develop new mineral\nenterprises. Its support now rests upon the tax it is authorized to\nlevy of one shilling upon every mark ($8) of silver produced.\n\n      [50] As it is an unimportant question whether Cortez first built\n      a chapel for the Franciscans back of the Cathedral, or the one in\n      the yard of the Franciscans, I here repeat the popular tradition.\n\n      [51] HUMBOLDT, _Essai Politique_.\n\n      [52] As my readers may be a little curious to know how the city\n      government is sustained, I translate the statement of city\n      revenue of 1851.\n\n      There were in that year 379 licensed _pulque_-shops,\n        yielding a revenue of                                 $65,297\n      538 retail grocer shops in which liquor is\n        sold by the gill                                       25,609\n      8 breweries pay a city tax of                             1,697\n      132 cafes, fondas, and eating-houses pay                  4,418\n      Tax on grain and bread consumed in the city              53,762\n      Public diversions, $3103; permitted plays\n        (not gambling), $3221                                   6,324\n      Tax on canals, $6798; tax on coaches, $20,157;\n        markets, $56,130                                       83,085\n      Donation of the proceeds of a bull-fight                    830\n      Gifts, in bread and meat, to the prisons                  4,561\n      A tax of one dollar on the slaughtering of\n        21,984 beef-cattle                                     21,984\n      16,404 calves were slaughtered, paying six\n        shillings tax                                          12,303\n      145,040 sheep, at one shilling and sixpence              27,194\n      9394 pigs paid five shillings tax, or                     5,870\n      42,734 swine, full grown, paid six shillings             32,055\n      7750 goats and kids, at one shilling and sixpence         1,453\n      Tax on property entering the city gates                   1,878\n      Licenses to slaughter to individuals                        136\n      The water rents of $20,000 were consumed in repairs.\n      The tax on fish yielded                                    $390\n      The balance of the revenue consists of certain city properties.\n\n      _Expenditures._\n\n      The heaviest items are for the public prisons           $69,863\n      For the hospitals of the insane                          48,000\n      Lancasterian schools                                      3,600\n      Lights and city patrol                                   52,422\n      Exhibition of flowers and fruits in November last         1,831\n      Salaries of school-teachers, and rent of houses\n        for schools                                             4,812\n      Religious worship in Hospital of San Hippolito,\n        and for vaccine matter                                  2,282\n      Cleaning the streets by night and by day                 21,378\n      Salaries                                                 31,472\n      Dinners and festivals                                       151\n\n      The city has a debt of $617,978, and has, as a set-off, a\n      claim against the supreme government for $1,700,000 of its\n      funds seized from time to time, and for keeping prisoners.\n\n      [53] The arrests in the year 1851 were 212 men and 182 women for\n      infractions of police regulations; 1256 men and 1944 women for\n      excessive drinking; 384 men and 120 women for robbery; 180 men\n      and 84 women on suspicion of robbery; 120 men and 25 women for\n      picking pockets; 15 men and 3 women for murder; 728 men and 246\n      women for affrays and wounds; 209 men and 85 women for carrying\n      forbidden weapons; 36 men who had escaped from prison; 39 men and\n      17 women for false pretenses; 354 men and 403 women for\n      incontinence and adultery; 311 men and 318 women for the\n      violation of public decency; 64 delinquent youth for the house of\n      correction--making a total of arrests for the year of 3918 men\n      and 3430 women; besides, they have protected 315 persons\n      apprehensive of assaults from evil-doers. _And they have freed\n      the city from the plague of 6048 dogs!_ Just as many dogs\n      arrested as human beings. These statistics furnish an inadequate\n      idea of the number of knife-fights that are of so common\n      occurrence among the _peons_ about the _pulque_-shops, in which\n      women and men show an equal skill at stabbing in the back.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXIV.\n\nThe National Museum.--Marianna and Cortez.--The small Value of\nthis Collection.--The Botanic Garden.--The Market of Santa Anna.--The\nAcordada Prison.--The unfortunate Prisoner.--The Causes\nof that Night of Terror.--The Sacking of the City.--The Parian.--The\nCauses of the Ruin of the Parian.--Change in the Standard of\nColor.--The Ashes of Cortez.\n\n\nMUSEUM.--BOTANIC GARDEN.--MARKET.\n\nThe National Museum has its weekly exhibitions, and attracts as great a\ncrowd of the common people as does the Academy of Arts. Here as perfect\nequality reigns as in the San Carlos or in the Cathedral. The first\nobject of interest is the large collection of stone idols which have\nbeen dug up from time to time in and about the Grand Plaza. There are\ndog-faced idols, and apish gods, and unearthly things, besides the\nsacrificial stone, and a rude attempt to represent a goddess. Whether\nor no this was a sort of Aztec Lady of Remedies I did not learn. The\nAztecs might easily have produced these works without exhibiting much\ncivilization; but I have heard it surmised that they must have been\namong the plunder of more civilized tribes.\n\nOn the two opposite sides of the first hall we entered, I saw spread\nout the pictorial chronology of two dynasties that had passed away--the\nvice-regal line of potentates standing over against the royal line of\nAztec emperors. The portraits of the vice-kings, from Cortez down to\nthe last of his successors, stretch entirely across one side of the\nhall, and about the same number of Indian caciques are daubed upon a\npiece of papyrus that is fastened upon the opposite wall. It requires\nthe greatest possible stretch of liberality for one accustomed to\nIndian efforts of this kind to dignify such intolerable daubs with the\nname of paintings. And yet this is the picture-writing of the Aztecs,\nwith which the world has been so edified for centuries. If there is or\never was an Iroquois Indian that should undertake to stain so\nmiserably, I verily believe he would be expelled from his tribe. To\nmake it manifest that this was intended for a chronological record of\nthe imperial line, black lines were daubed from one of these effigies\nto another. From a printed label in Spanish affixed to this wonderful\nrelic, I learned that it was intended to represent the wanderings of\nthe Aztecs from California.\n\nIt is usual for North American Indians to store up traditions of the\nextensive wanderings of their ancestors, and if one is asked to\nrepresent the tradition on bark, he would produce very much such an\naffair as this, though with a somewhat greater resemblance to the human\nform. Another picture represents Marianna, the mistress of Cortez, with\nher rosary, and Cortez with his fingers in much such a position as boys\nplace them in when they wish to convey the idea that they have\nperpetrated a joke--a very satisfactory method of representing the\npiety of Cortez. Close by the pious couple is the representation of a\nscene which they seem to have come out to witness. A bloodhound is\nrepresented tearing an Indian to pieces, while a Spaniard is holding on\nto the end of the dog's chain.\n\nThe banner under which Cortez fought, or rather one of them--for he had\ntwo--is here preserved in a gilt frame. It represents the Virgin Mary\nportrayed on crimson silk. In this hall is also a miniature\nrepresentation of a silver mine, with the workmen at their several\nbranches of labor. The remains of the vice-regal throne are here piled\nup in a corner.\n\nIn the next room there are some paintings of no very great value, which\nshould have been kept in the Academy; also a miniature fortress and a\nsmall mineral collection, and any quantity of specimens of Indian\nidols, so misshapen as to be unfit for use as images of the Virgin and\nof the saints.\n\nAs a Vice-royal and National Museum, the whole affair is beneath\ncontempt. If the few articles in it that are valuable were divided\nbetween the Mineria and the San Carlos, and the rest thrown away, it\nwould be an advantage to all concerned. The Indian relics in this\nmuseum are not only much inferior to the specimens of the art of the\nsavage islanders of the South Seas, but immensely inferior to many\nprivate collections of Indian curiosities that I have seen, and they go\nfar to demonstrate the entire absence of civilized arts among the\naboriginal inhabitants of Mexico.\n\nIn an interior court of the museum is the Botanic Garden. This, like\nthe National Museum, is a paltry affair. With the exception of the\n_Manolita_, or tree that bears a flower resembling the human hand, of\nwhich there are but two in the Republic, there is nothing deserving of\nnotice in this garden. In the large interior court of San Francisco a\nFrenchman has, as a private speculation, opened a garden and made a\ncollection of the national plants of Mexico that is well worth a visit.\nIn this private garden is one of the finest and rarest collections of\nthe cactus family that I have ever seen, either in Mexico or elsewhere.\n\nThe market of Santa Anna is the central market of the city. It adjoins\nthe palace, and is close to the canal. The products of the chinampas\nare here displayed to the best advantage. As Mexico is within easy\nmarketing distance of the hot country, we have here daily presented the\nfresh productions of two zones. This is one of the places where the\nappetite of a stranger can not only be gratified with the greatest\nvariety of delicacies ever collected in one spot, but the excellency\nand abundance of the articles presented are perplexing to the person\nwho would venture upon the bold experiment of tasting every new article\noffered to him. As a vegetable and flower market, it has no equal.\n\n\nTHE ACORDADA.\n\nThe Acordada Prison is the principal state as well as city prison. Here\nare confined men charged with every offense, from rioting to murder.\nOftentimes these extremes are found together in the interior court of\nthe prison, where the felon, with his hands steeped in innocent blood,\nis entertaining a crowd of novices in crime with the details of his\nadventures, and of his many hair-breadth escapes from the cruel\nofficers of the law. He is as eloquent in giving lessons to novices as\nhis compeers in our own prisons, and he carefully instructs his hopeful\npupils in the best ways of avenging their wrongs upon society. Some in\nthe prison are merry, and enjoy a dance, while others are indulging in\nobscene jests and ribaldry. Still, there are those that find means to\nlabor and to work at repairing shoes or clothes in the midst of this\nbabel of sin and tumult.\n\nThe Acordada gave its name to that night insurrection to which I have\nso often referred. Two regiments of artillery, quartered in the palace\nof the Inquisition, _pronounced_ against the legality of the election\nof Pedraza to the presidency. One night they took possession of the\nAcordada, where they were joined by the whole body of desperadoes there\nconfined. Among the persons at that time detained in this prison, and\non that night wantonly killed, was an Englishman, who had been kept in\nprison for several years, charged with the singular offense of having\nmarried the daughter of an ex-marquis. There had been romance in his\ncourtship and romance in his marriage, but it had not met with the\napprobation of the father, who unfortunately had influence enough to\nget the newly-married man into prison, and to keep him there. At last\nthe father had relented, and on the next day the poor Englishman was to\nhave been set at liberty. Long and trying had been the sufferings of\nthe unfortunate man, doomed to pass the best years of his life among\nrobbers and assassins. Though every thing that kindness could do to\nlighten his sufferings had been done lay his own countrymen, yet the\nweary years of imprisonment, superadded to the sudden blasting of his\nhopes, had brought premature old age upon him while yet in the prime of\nlife. But now all was forgotten in anticipation of a to-morrow that he\nwas never to see. When the attack was made upon the prison, he went to\nthe door of his cell to learn the cause of so unusual a disturbance,\nand was instantly killed--the first victim of the night of the\nAcordada.\n\nOn that fearful night the Acordada was unusually full of desperadoes,\nwhom the civil disorders and stagnation of business had driven to\ncrime. A battle in the night in the streets of a large city is a\nfearful thing, at least when cannon are the chief weapons used; but\nwhen there is added to this cause of alarm that the news had spread\nthrough the city that all the murderers and housebreakers in the prison\nhad been let loose, with arms in their hands, to murder and to ravage\nthe city, an idea may be formed of the terror of a population who were\ncowards by instinct. The contempt with which they had regarded the\nlower orders was to be fearfully retaliated. Hate, mingled with\navarice, and inflamed by _pulque_ and bad liquor, was to do its work,\nand that, too, without pity. Men, untamed by kindness of those above\nthem, were now the masters of the lives and property of all, and there\nwas no remedy. Fear had held the common people in a degraded position,\nbut they feared no longer. Those who had lorded it over the poor\ninstead of laboring to elevate their condition, were now to suffer the\nconsequences of that neglect.\n\nIt is a thankless task to labor for the elevation of the degraded, and\noftentimes we are stung with the ingratitude of those whom we have\ndesired to aid. But God, who has enjoined this unpleasant duty upon us,\nhas borne our daily ingratitude without casting us off, and we but\nimitate him when we continue to minister to the ungrateful, and the\nunthankful, and even the unmerciful. The people of Mexico had shown\nmore liberality, and given more than we. But they had not given it to\neducate and to elevate the condition of the poor, but to feed pampered\npriests, \"who walked in long robes, and who loved salutations in the\nmarkets,\" and to women like them, who had placed themselves in an\nunnatural relation to the world. God requires of all men not only\ncontributions of money, for that is but half charity, but personal\nservices in discharge of the duties of good citizens, and in relieving\nthe afflicted; and he that disregards such duties may suffer as the\nMexicans did in the night of the Acordada insurrection, which turned\nyoung hairs gray, and destroyed forever the happiness of unnumbered\nfamilies.\n\nWhen the common people, brutalized by oppression, found themselves\nmasters of the city, and their oppressors powerless, then burst forth\nthe pent-up hatred of ten generations. \"They call us _leperos_ and\ndogs,\" said some of them; \"let us play the part of dogs--hungry dogs,\namong these spotted sheep.\" The palaces of the great were no protection\nagainst these infuriated _peons_, and women who boasted of titles of\nnobility were not safe. The wealth that generations of unjust\nmonopolists had accumulated was scattered to the winds. _Leperos_ now\nrioted on carpets from Brussels and on cushions of Oriental stuffs, and\nquaffed the choice wines of Madeira and Champagne. In the fury of their\nintoxication they lost all restraint, and indulged in every excess and\nenormity. Robbery and murder were the order of the day. In carrying\naway the plunder, disputes arose, and then they murdered each other as\nreadily as they had murdered those who claimed the title of citizens.\nFear was the only authority they had learned to respect, and they knew\nno other government than the hated police; but now, when the police\nwere powerless, they could amuse themselves according to the instincts\nof their brutish natures. They had never been taught self-control, and\nanimal indulgence was the utmost of their ambition, and they found\namusement in violating all laws, human and divine. The murders, the\nravishings, the wanton destruction of the richest household stuffs, and\nluxuries, and works of art in that night, can not all be written, nor\ncan they ever be effaced from the memory Of those who witnessed them.\n\n\nTHE PARIAN.\n\nStretching across the Grand Plaza, opposite the Cathedral and in front\nof the buildings of the Municipality, once stood the noted mart of\ncommerce called the Parian, an ill-looking structure, in which was\naccumulated the mass of foreign merchandise. In this same pile of\nbuildings had been concocted the conspiracy which, in the year 1808,\nhad caused the seizure of the Vice-king, Iturrigaray, and his\nimprisonment in the Inquisition. The complaint against the Vice-king\nwas that he was about to recognize the political equality of the\nnative-born population with the emigrants from Spain. For this offense,\nhis reputation and that of his kindred was to be forever blackened by a\nsuspicion of heresy.\n\nIn the night of the Acordada insurrection, the Spanish shop-keepers of\nthe Parian found themselves utterly defenseless. They could no longer\ninvoke the aid of the Inquisition in oppressing and trampling on the\npeople, whom their wantonness, and the wantonness of others like them,\nhad brutalized. The neglect and oppression which had reduced a laboring\nman to a _lepero_ had not made him insensible to the unequal laws\nwhich elevated above him a race of beings destitute of that manly\ncourage which oftentimes gives plausibility to oppression. Now the\nlepero took delight in visiting upon the present occupants of this\nbuilding a fearful punishment for the crime committed there twenty\nyears before, and among the guilty crowd there was to be found many an\ninnocent sufferer.\n\nThe isolated crowds that had been traversing the streets, and indulging\ntheir wantonness on a small scale, at length, as the night wore away,\nbegan to concentrate around the Parian, and quickly such devastation of\nproperty was made as might be expected where the rich and poor had no\ncommon interest in its preservation, and where criminal and poor man\nwere almost convertible terms. The plunderers had little idea of the\nvalue or uses of the property they were scattering to the winds; and\nwhile they wasted millions worth of property, they wantonly shed the\nblood of the proprietors in the midst of their merchandise. Nor did the\nevil end when daylight appeared; for among the consequences of this\nnight insurrection was the transfer of all authority to new hands.\nThose who the day before had been stigmatized with the impurity of\ntheir blood, were now the governing power, who, under the forms of law,\nwere to carry into effect the behest of the successful insurgents.\nNeither the sight of the ruins of the night before, nor bales of\nmerchandise strewed about among corpses and spattered with blood, could\nmove the new masters of the city to pity the fallen condition of a\nclass of men who had proved themselves too cowardly to defend their own\nusurpations, and too tyrannical to instill into the lately proscribed\nraces any ideas of compassion.\n\n\nTHE OVERTURN.\n\nFor three hundred years pure white blood and Spanish birth was an\nindispensable qualification for promotion in the vice-kingdom, and the\nslightest tincture of colored blood was an indelible disgrace. But one\nnight of tumult and rapine changed the popular standard of color. And\nhe who had boasted the day before of his pure white blood and Spanish\norigin, now sought to hide himself from the officers of the law, who\nvisited with the penalty of banishment the crime of having been born in\nSpain. Men now, for the first time, boasted of their Indian origin, and\nof the slight infusion they were able to discover of colored blood in\ntheir veins; while a man of Indian descent, and who spoke a provincial\ndialect, was declared elected President of the Republic of Mexico: so\nuncertain are all divisions of rank formed on the arbitrary distinction\nof color.\n\nDuring the night strange murmurings were heard against \"the accursed\nenslaver of their race.\" The descendants of Cortez were fearful for the\nsafety of his ashes, which had lain quietly in the convent of San\nFrancisco[54] so long as the Inquisition possessed the power of\ncompelling men to reverence his memory as the champion of the Cross,\nthe favorite of the Virgin Mary, the hero of a holy war against the\ninfidels. But now that this accursed institution, and the infamous gang\nconnected with its management, had become powerless, the national\nfeeling began to manifest itself so openly that the remains were\nremoved secretly and by night to the sanctuary of the most sacred\nshrine of Mexico, that of Santa Teresa, where they remained until a\nsafe opportunity presented itself for shipping them off to the Duke of\nMontebello, a Sicilian nobleman, who inherits the titles and also the\nvast estates of Cortez in the valleys of the Cuarnavaca and Oajaca,\nupon which none of the revolutionary governments have laid violent\nhands.\n\n      [54] For a more authentic account, see Appendix E.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXV.\n\nThe Priests gainers by the Independence.--Improved Condition of\nthe Peons.--Mexican Mechanics.--The Oppression they suffer.--Low\nstate of the Mechanic Arts.--The Story of the Portress.--Charity\nof the Poor.--The Whites not superior to Meztizos.---License and\nWoman's Rights at Mexico.--The probable Future of Mexico.--Mormonism\nimpending over Mexico.--Mormonism and Mohammedanism.\n\n\nThe clergy and the other white fomenters of the separation from Spain\nnever contemplated the formation of a republic, or the arming of the\n_leperos_. They were alarmed at the bold reforms of the liberal Cortes\nof Spain, and trembled at the prospect of losing their privileges and\nmonopolies. They judged that the safest course for them was the\nestablishment of an empire upon the subversion of the vice-kingdom,\nwhich would be so weak a power that they could overawe it. The priests\nreasoned correctly, and have augmented their privileges and their\nwealth, as we shall presently see. The Spanish monopolists were ruined\nby the Revolution, as we have seen in the last chapter. But the common\npeople were the gainers ultimately by the expulsion of the Spaniards,\nthough the whole country suffered for a time by the withdrawal of the\ncapital of the Spaniards. The benefit derived by the _peons_ from this\nrevolution was the political importance which it gave them. The Parian\nand the _lepero_ perished together. The latter ceased to exist when the\nlast stone of the former disappeared. The Spaniards had been banished\nfrom the country long before the authorities undertook the removal of\nthis obnoxious edifice, and those who wished to avoid a like fate\nsought security in acts of benevolence; so that at Mexico charitable\ninstitutions are now so well conducted, that it is one of the few\nCatholic cities in the world that can boast of being free entirely from\nbeggars. Political power gave to the common people an importance in the\nsocial scale which they had never before enjoyed. With the cheapness of\nclothing the unclad multitude have disappeared, and the new generation\nfind more employment and better wages than their ancestors did, when\nall branches of industry were clogged with monopolies, and they are,\nconsequently, more industrious and temperate.\n\n\nMEXICAN MECHANICS.\n\nStill, the Mexican _peon_ is immensely below the American laborer, and\nstill has to be watched as a thief, for the want of a little morality\nintermixed with his religious instruction. It is a degrading sight to\nstand at the door of one of the large coach manufactories at Mexico,\nand to witness the manner in which they search them, one by one, as\nthey come out. The natives, who have learned the most difficult parts\nof coach-building from English and French employers, can not for a\nmoment be trusted, lest they should steal their tools or the materials\nupon which they are employed. I saw even the man who was placing the\ngorgeous trimmings on the Nuncio's coach carefully searched, lest he\nshould have concealed about his person a scrap of the valuable\nmaterial. That they are thieves is not to be wondered at when their\ncatechism teaches them \"that a theft that does not exceed a certain\namount is not a grave offense.\"[55]\n\n\nLOW STATE OF MECHANIC ARTS.\n\nWith us, a mechanic is associated with the idea of a person occupying a\nrespectable position in life; but at Mexico he still belongs to a\ndegraded class, as men are there esteemed; he is a _peon_, on a footing\nwith a common laborer. The highest wages are three shillings a day,\nwhile at least two days in the week he is kept from his usual\nemployment by \"days of obligation,\" that is, festival days on which it\nis unlawful to work. _Tortillas_, Indian griddle-cakes, with black\nbeans (_frijoles_) and red peppers (_chilie_), are his daily food; and\nhis lodgings are a palm-leaf mat upon a stone or earthen floor, while\nhis _serapa_ does duty for a blanket at night. The greasy friar does\nnot forget him as he goes his rounds in search of Peter's pence; and\nthe priest sets before him the horrid consequences of entering\nPurgatory without first discharging the debt he still owes for his\nbaptism. He and his \"wife\" still remain unmarried; for how can they\never raise the money to pay the priest? And if by chance he gets\ninvolved in debt, or for the debt of one of his kindred, one third part\nof his daily labor is embargoed by the creditor.\n\nWhen the Mexican mechanic has a small kit of uncouth tools, he works\nupon his own account, but at the smallest possible profit. When he has\nfinished a pair of shoes, if he be a shoemaker, he or his wife starts\nout to dispose of them to some passer-by in the street before a new\npair is undertaken. When the tinman has finished a sprinkling pot, he\nor his boy walks the street till it is sold, and then perhaps a tin\nbath is made; and if, luckily, from a chance customer he has obtained\nan extra price, a _fiesta_ is proclaimed to the family connection, and\nmaybe the additional luxury of buying a ticket in the lottery of the\nVirgin of Guadalupe is indulged in, and a vow is made that if he wins a\nprize, one half of the profits of the stake shall be deposited as a\ngift at her shrine. In this way a week is passed, and it is terminated\nwith the entire exhaustion of the little fortune of the poor mechanic.\nThe kindred have had a time; _pulque_ and liquor have been passed\naround freely; the women have enjoyed \"equal rights\" with the men; they\nhave drunk their full share, and smoked their little cigars. The\ntin-man, once more penniless, with an aching head, but with a light\nheart, returns to his little hammer, and a piece of solder and tin got\non the pledge of his future earnings. Such is the condition of native\nMexican mechanics, and of the mechanic arts at the capital.\n\n[Illustration: TRAVELING IN MEXICO.]\n\nThe complicated machinery by which our shoes are made, or the equally\ncomplicated machinery by which tin is worked up into culinary vessels,\nnever entered into the dreams of a Mexican mechanic. No Mexican man of\nscience ever thought of degrading himself so low as to undertake the\nimprovement of the mechanic arts; yet it is astonishing to see what\nMexican mechanics do accomplish with their imperfect means. I have\noften stopped to witness the success of a poor old man building a\npiano, which was both skillfully arranged and well-toned, and yet the\ntools employed were apparently inadequate for such a purpose. In the\nsame primitive style were coaches built before foreigners came and\nsubstituted coaches of modern pattern instead of the old, egg-formed\ncoach-bodies of the vice-kingdom.\n\nIt may seem like trifling to be dwelling thus upon the character of the\nsubstratum of Mexican society, but it is from this very substratum that\nthe wealth or poverty of a nation is to be traced. The sense of the\ndignity of labor is the foundation of American prosperity, while the\ndegradation of the mechanics and laboring class of Mexicans is the\ncause of the national imbecility.\n\n\nTHE STORY OF THE PORTRESS.\n\nLet us look at the common people of Mexico from another point of view.\nI will reproduce in substance the tale of the old Meztizo woman, who\nopens and shuts the great street door to all well-known inmates, by day\nand by night, and to such others as can give satisfactory answers. She\nis esteemed a lucky woman because she has the use of a small room on\nthe ground floor for her services, where she and a number of her\nrelatives are often hived together. Her story is very likely not true\nin every particular, for it can not be denied that she, like all of her\nclass, does not consider falsehood _per se_ as any other than a venial\nsin. How should she, considering the teaching she receives?[56] But the\nstory is nevertheless, in the main, a pretty fair picture of the life\nof the humbler classes in republican Mexico.\n\nShe will tell you how her husband basely left her with a family of\nchildren, and took to another woman, because they were not able to pay\nthe priest to get legally married. Her eldest son was seized and taken\nto the wars, where he was compelled to stand up to shoot and be shot\nat, to settle the question which of two sets of white men should enjoy\nthe right of plundering the people. Whether he should hereafter be\ndischarged honorably, or run away, or be killed in battle, it was the\nsame to her, for the man that recruited the soldiers would know that he\nhad once been a soldier, and would be sure to seize him first when\nordered to furnish recruits; and, let what will be the course of\npolitical events, he is certainly lost to her forever.\n\nHer eldest daughter had been a help to her. She ground corn for the\n_tortillas_, and could guard the house door while the old woman went to\nthe public wash-house to wash a few shirts which gentlemen had\noccasionally intrusted to her care. But a chance shot in one of the\nstreet battles had hit her, and she too was gone. Her second son had\nstopped too long in front of the _pulque_-shop after his day's work was\nfinished, and was involved in a street affray, in which knives were\ndrawn, and a man killed. Whether he was the guilty one or not, it\nmattered little, as he was the first to fall into the hands of the\nofficers. For a long time he had been kept in the chain-gang, but\nlately he had been sent to the silver mines, where he would probably\nend his days carrying ore on his back like a beast of burden, a\nthousand feet under ground.\n\nShe had a second daughter, old enough to carry food to her son while he\nwas in prison, and to lighten his misery by a daily visit while he\nbelonged to the chain-gang. But since he has been taken from the city,\nthey two are left alone in the world. She has now no money, or she\nwould get her daughter married, as the priest would trust her if she\nwould only pay a small part of the fee. Still she is considered\nfortunate; for, having the reputation of an honest women, she has got a\nportress's situation, and little means are thrown in her way by which\nshe obtains a comfortable living. But her relatives, who are poorer\nthan herself, sympathize with her, and come and eat up her _tortillas_.\n\nSuch is the substance of many a tale of misery, if you will stop and\nlisten to the pictures which the lowly draw of their condition in any\nof the Mexican cities. Often they are fabricated, but very often they\nare true. The old woman who tells you a tale to excite your sympathies\nhas perhaps only borrowed a tale of misfortune which she has heard her\nneighbor tell. Those who reproach these poor unfortunates with being\nbeggars, thieves, and liars, forget that they have been made such by\noppression. The greatest amount of suffering caused by the civil wars\nfalls upon the poor; and among the suffering poor, the women are the\ngreatest sufferers. If they are more intemperate than the men, it is\ntheir misfortunes, too often, that have driven them to seek a temporary\nsolace in _pulque_. The slight hold they have on their husbands is the\ncause of their jealousy, and if they take part in bloody affrays, it is\nbecause they are under the influence of intoxication, and not from any\ninherent inclination to cruelty.\n\nNever did a white skin cover a kinder heart than that of the poor\nMeztizo women of Spanish America. Their primitive hut by the wayside is\nas much at your service as your own castle, and you are heartily\nwelcome to their humble fare. I never was so unfortunate as to need\ntheir assistance, but I have often been astonished at the ready charity\nof the poor to those poorer than themselves. I once encountered an\nIrishman who had begged his way from the Gulf coast almost to the\nPacific, and I was greatly surprised at the cheerfulness with which a\npoor widow woman, keeper of a _venta_, accepted of a blessing instead\nof more tangible coin for a night's entertainment. In delicate health\nalways, and not without a full share of experience among strangers, I\nknow full well how to appreciate the kind offices which a woman only\ncan render. When death stared me in the face, and she could do nothing\nfor a perishing heretic except to solicit a passing procession to chant\na _misericordia por un infirmo Americano_, that kindly office was not\nwanting. When, with returning health, I ventured out into the street,\nleaning upon a staff, a poor Indian woman, forgetting her native\nshyness, begged me to sit down under the shade of her roof while she\nprepared for me a little orange-water, and when, a little refreshed by\nher orange-water, I tottered on, I shall never forget the look of\nsympathy which she bestowed upon an unknown stranger. An Indian woman\nis always kind, but the kindest of her race is the poor despised Indian\nwoman of Spanish America.\n\nIt is too common to look down coldly, and not unfrequently with\ncontempt, upon those who occupy the humbler walks of life, and to speak\nonly of their vices. The _peon_ has his vices, and they are glaring\nenough, but he is certainly not worse than his white neighbor. I had\nbeen so long in California, and had seen so many exhibitions of courage\nin street-fights and personal encounters, that I had come almost to\nconsider the words white man and brave man as synonymous. But when I\nfound myself in Mexico at the breaking out of a civil war, I soon\nlearned that white men are not always brave, and that they were\nsuperior to the Indian in little else except in the gilding with which\nthey covered their vicious and corrupt lives. They borrow their customs\nfrom Paris and their style of living, but their morals are even below\nthe Paris standard of virtue.\n\n\nWOMAN'S RIGHTS AT MEXICO.\n\nThe law, which sinks the civil existence of the wife in the husband,\nand which charges the husband with liability for the debts and\ntrespasses of the wife, is sometimes stigmatized as harsh, unnatural,\nand tyrannical. If those that consider it so could for a little while\nenjoy the matrimonial freedom of Mexico, they would soon discover\nabundant reason for praising the wisdom of our ancestors in hedging\nabout with so many disabilities an institution which is both the\nsafeguard of public morality and of our free government. Family\ngovernment, self-government, and political freedom dwell together;\nwhile despotism and family license are inseparable. At Mexico, old\nfamily relations are not broken up by new marriages. Household family\nworship is unknown, but, like so many pagans, each one trudges off to\nsay her prayers separately, and at a favorite shrine. The wife has her\nseparate property and interests, which she manages with the aid of her\n\"next friend.\" The husband, too, has his separate interests, and too\noften his \"next friend\" is his neighbor's wife.\n\nAfter my return from Mexico, I heard a woman in a public assembly\nadvocating, as social reforms, the institutions of a country in a state\nof moral and political decomposition. I felt like exclaiming, \"Cursed\nbe that woman who would introduce into our happy country the social\ncustoms of paganism; and cursed be that people who listen to her\ninfidelity!\" May a like evil fall upon those legislative tinkers who\nhave deprived the husband of the power of creating a trust for the\nprotection and support of his wife in time of necessity.\n\nWe have examined sufficiently the social condition of Mexico to show\nthat there is no natural sympathy between the whites and the colored\nraces, or the governing and governed races of Mexico. For a brief\nperiod, indeed, Guerrero, a man of Indian descent, occupied the\npresidency; but he was deposed and murdered, and the government has\never since been in the hands of the whites. The present Pinto war in\nthe southwest looks toward again reviving the Indian rule. It is\ncarried on too languidly to promise success, as there seems to be no\none in the movement possessed of the energy of that Indian drummer,\nCarrera, who usurped the supreme power in Guatemala. On the other hand,\nMexico is like a ripe pear, ready to fall into the lap of any\nunscrupulous adventurer who chooses to make common plunder of its\nchurches, its church jewels, and the inordinate private fortunes of its\npriesthood and nobility.\n\n\nMORMONISM AND MOHAMMEDANISM.\n\nThere is a rising cloud that is gathering blackness in the northwest,\nand must sooner or later precipitate itself and with the force of a\ntempest sweep away--to use the words of General Tornel--in one mighty\nflood \"the religion, language, and national existence of the Mexicans.\"\nThis is Mormonism. I have watched this delusion from its rise, near my\nown residence in Western New York, and followed its advancing progress,\nuntil, from a little rill, it has become a mighty torrent--a political\nelement so potent that its existence in the United States is now\nscarcely tolerable. Where can it go except it precipitate itself upon\nthe territories of imbecile Mexico? To such a sect of fanatics Mexico\ncan present no opposition. It must surrender to Brigham Young and to\nhis followers their wealth, their images, their wives and their\ndaughters, as the Aztecs surrendered all to Cortez.\n\nI have often traced the close analogy between the rise of Mormonism and\nthat of Mohammedanism, as well as the striking similarity that exists\nbetween these two systems of false religion. Each one is founded, after\na fashion, on the Bible, to which each has supplemented a volume of\nmiserable fables, the one called the Book of Mormon, and the other the\nKoran. Each has a spurious prophet, who is exalted above the prophets\nof Scripture. Both systems permit polygamy, and both are most\nultra-Protestant in relation to the forms and ceremonies, images and\npictures of the Oriental and Latin churches. And as God sent the great\nMohammedan imposture to punish the corrupt Christianity of a former\nage, so in like manner He may soon commission Mormonism to wipe out of\nexistence the corrupt Christianity of Mexico. Mormonism has not yet\ndeveloped a military character, because it would be madness to raise an\narm against the United States. But when it shall have once passed the\nfrontier and entered the dominions of a feeble state, then we shall see\nhow keen an edge fanaticism can give to the sword in the hands of men\nnaturally courageous, when the double motive is held out of a new\nsupply of wives, and the inexhaustible treasures of the churches to\nstimulate their fanaticism.\n\n      [55] Having lost my memorandum, I am uncertain whether the number\n      of days was one or more, and whether the number of _francs_ named\n      was six or eight. The following is my best recollection of the\n      question and answer on theft:\n\n          \"_Q._ Is theft a grave offense?\n\n          \"_A._ A theft that does not exceed in value a day's labor is\n          not a grave offense; some theologians contend that a theft\n          that does not exceed six francs is not a grave offense.\"\n\n      [56] I again quote the Catechism from recollection.\n\n          \"_Q._ What is a venial sin?\n\n          \"_A._ A lie that does not destroy charity among neighbors is\n          a venial sin.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXVI.\n\nThe Plaza of the Inquisition.--The two Modes of human Sacrifice, the\nAztec and the Spanish.--Threefold Power of the Inquisition.--Visit to\nthe House of the Inquisition.--The Prison and Place of Torture.--The\nStory of William Lamport.--The little and the big _Auto da Fe_.--The\nInquisition the real Government--Ruin of Spanish Nationality.--The\npolitical Uses of the Inquisition.--Political Causes of the Bigotry of\nPhilip II.--His eldest Son dies mysteriously.--The Dominion of Priests\ncontinues till the French Invasion.\n\n\nAN AUTO DA FE.\n\nThe _Plazuelo_ or _Plazuelito_, the \"Little Plaza\" of the Inquisition,\nis now, as it ever has been, a market-place--the Smithfield of Mexico.\nOn Sundays and all other market-days, there is here an abundant supply\nof flowers, meats, and vegetables. On great holidays, in the times of\nthe vice-kings, the scene was changed. Fruits and vegetables were, for\nthe time, placed in the background, and an act of \"faith\" (_auto da\nfe_), or burning of heretics, was offered as a public spectacle. The\ngrandest of all the bull-fights of Mexico was nothing in comparison\nwith this vice-regal exhibition. As among the Aztecs and the pagan\nRomans, the sacrificial victims were kept in reserve for important\noccasions, and for occasions when a bull-fight would have been a most\ninadequate exhibition. The consecration of a new archbishop, or the\narrival of a new Vice-king from Spain, or the marriage of a member of\nthe royal family, or some similar important political or religious\nevent, could only call forth this extraordinary show of roasting men\nalive.\n\nIf we are to believe the statements of Cortez and Bernal Diaz,[57] the\nAztecs were accustomed to offer human sacrifices on festival days upon\na large circular stone still preserved. With an obsidian knife, life\nwas instantly extinguished by opening the heart-case and taking out the\nheart, which was offered to their god of war. This horrid worship, if\nindeed it ever existed, was suppressed, and one more horrid and\ncold-blooded in its atrocities substituted. There was seldom wanting a\nvictim on those great occasions, for prisoners who would otherwise have\nbeen let off with confiscation of estates and a long imprisonment were\nnow doomed to the flames, to accomplish the double purpose of a\nspectacle and strike terror into the ranks of the higher classes, who\ntoo often furnished the victims. But the higher classes were all\npresent. Suspicion might attach to their absence. And he that dared not\nbreathe aloud in his own bed-chamber, or tell the whole truth at the\nconfessional, from apprehension of an inquisitorial spy, took good heed\nthat no act or look of his on the day of the great fiesta should betray\nhim to this secret, but every where present tribunal, lest he himself\nshould be the sacrificial victim at the next entertainment.\n\nThe roasting of a human victim at the _auto da fe_ was a purely\ndemocratic institution. The _leperos_, who were beneath the\njurisdiction of the Inquisition, felt none of the terrors that haunted\nthe rich even in night visions. Without the least apprehension, they\nenjoyed the magnificence of the spectacle, and their hatred toward the\nhigh-born was gratified by the sight of one, and sometimes many,\nrespectable persons burned in the fire for their entertainment. They\nwere always ready to manifest their gratitude to the holy office by\nassailing and perhaps murdering any one who had incurred the\ndispleasure of the priests, but whom it was not politic to arrest.\nThus, by a threefold power, did the Inquisition enforce the discipline\nof the Church: by the authority of the king and the law, the dread\nwhich it inspired; the sympathies of a rabble, whom it was their\ninterest to keep brutalized; and the religious sentiment of the nation,\nso far as there was any. But this last was a very uncertain reliance,\nfor the same law which makes heresy a crime, legalizes hypocrisy, and\nthe inquisitor cared very little for the thoughts of men so long as\nthey remain unuttered; and as no two men think alike, the crime of\nheresy appears to consist in expressing too frankly the logical\ndeductions of the understanding upon the all-important subject of\nreligion. To speak disrespectfully of the holy office, the Inquisition,\nwas the worst of heresy.\n\n\nTHE HALLS OF THE INQUISITION.\n\nThe north front of the Plazuelo of the Inquisition, now generally\ncalled the Plaza of the Dominicans, is occupied by the great yard of\nthe Dominican convent, which is separated by a high wall from the\nPlaza, and by a street from the buildings of the Inquisition. Within\nthis yard there is a large flagstone, with a hole in its centre, which\nstone, on days of the _auto da fe_, used to be brought out into the\nPlaza, and, with iron post, neck-ring, and chain attached, constituted\nthe simple apparatus for the human sacrifice. The Dominican fathers\nhave carefully laid aside the iron post, with its ring and chain, and\nperhaps, with them, the most valuable of the instruments of torture,\nwhich were removed from the Inquisition building. As there are two\nclasses of bull-fights, the ordinary and the grand bull-fight, so there\nwas the ordinary _auto da fe_, performed in this Little Plaza, and the\ngrand act of faith, _auto da fe general_, which ordinarily ought to\ncome off in the Grand Plaza of the city, in front of the vice-regal\npalace.\n\nSeeing the great door open as I was passing, I ventured to enter the\ncentral court of the Inquisition, from which the halls of the different\ntribunals and the chambers of the inquisitors and officials were\nentered and lighted. All had now been thoroughly whitewashed and\nrenovated, and bore no marks of the fearful scenes that had been here\nenacted. When I stood in the hall where its judgments used to be\ndelivered, I had to tax my memory of books to draw a picture of events\nthat here daily transpired in times past. I saw no Bridge of Sighs, yet\nthe whole institution was founded upon the sighs, and groans, and riven\nhearts of its victims, of many of whom the world was not worthy. The\nrich were the most profitable game, but a beautiful woman was the most\nacceptable spectacle to a populace debased from infancy by attendance\non bull-fights. A foreigner that had been by special grace licensed to\nvisit Mexico, was considered a fortunate prize, for to offer a\nforeigner as a human sacrifice was in accordance with the ancient\ncustom of the Aztecs. There was only one foreigner who amassed great\nwealth, and that was Laborde the miner, who bought his peace by\nbuilding the Cathedral of Toluca.\n\nThere was nothing to interest a stranger in the empty halls where once\nthese legalized murderers had held their nightly meetings, and I\nwandered away toward the prison and the place of torture, where, inch\nby inch, the life had been torn from the victims of priestly vengeance.\nI shuddered as I entered the prison door-way, though fifty years had\npassed since the last and most distinguished of its victims had entered\nhere, the Vice-king Iturrigaray. Here, too, the hand of the\nwhite-washer had been busy, and the cells were now made comfortable\nrooms for the soldiery. The instruments of torture were all carefully\nremoved from the place of torture, and the room bore no marks of the\nshocking scenes which had here so often transpired. Here poor Rame, the\nFrenchman, had dragged out his long imprisonment, and here William\nLamport, the unfortunate Irish victim, prepared himself for death. But\nLamport's story is worth giving in full, to illustrate the scenes.\n\n\nSTORY OF WILLIAM LAMPORT.\n\nWilliam Lamport was an Irishman by birth, and must have been a Roman\nCatholic, or he could not have obtained a license to visit Mexico. He\nwas probably one of that large class of Irish Catholics who emigrated\nto Spain in order to enjoy their religion more freely than they could\nat home, under English oppression. It was probably two intercepted\nletters that cost this Irishman his life. His accusation sets forth\nthat he was the author of two writings, in one of which \"things were\nsaid against the Holy Office, its erection, style, mode of process,\n&c., in such a manner that, in the whole of it, not a word was to be\nfound that was not deserving of reprehension, not only as being\ninjurious, but also insulting to our holy Catholic faith.\" The\nProsecuting Attorney (_fiscal_) says of the other writing \"that it\ncontained detestable bitterness of language, and contumelies so filled\nwith poison as to manifest the heretical spirit of the author, and his\nbitter hatred against the Holy Office.\" Let his fate be a warning to\nall traveling letter-writers who are disposed to criticise too severely\n\"the erection and style\" of a very awkward-looking building, and the\nmode of process therein used in condemning men to the flames. Probably,\nbefore he got through with his intercourse with the Inquisition, he\nmany times wished himself back under the liberal government of the\nAnglo-Saxon oppressors of his country!\n\nIt was a delightful day in the year 1569, when the most splendid _auto\nda fe_ that ever took place in Mexico was celebrated upon the occasion\nof the burning of Lamport. A throne had been placed for the Vice-king,\nand conspicuous seats were prepared for the _audiencia_. All the\nofficials of the city and of the department were present to add\nimportance to the grand performance (\"_funcion_\"). Not less brilliant\nwas the display which the whole body of the priesthood made upon the\noccasion. The Archbishop, as spiritual Vice-king, displayed a bearing\nthat dazzled the populace, while his attendant clergy, with the whole\nbody of the monastic orders, added immensely to the grand spectacle.\nThe procession, headed by the Grand Inquisitor and his subordinates,\nwas followed by the officials and familiars, while the poor Irishman\nwalked with his eyes raised to Heaven, for the purpose, said the\npriests, \"of seeing if the devil, his familiar, would come to his\nassistance.\"[58] The sermon and the ordinary exercises, including the\noath administered to all the dignitaries present to support the Holy\nOffice, were spun out to an unusual length, so that it proved to be a\nprotracted meeting, as well as the greatest festival the Mexicans ever\nwitnessed since the time that Montezuma offered human sacrifices. But\nin the midst of the preliminary exercises Lamport escaped burning\nalive, for when his neck had been placed in the ring, he let himself\nfall and broke his neck, so that the crowd were compelled indignantly\nto put up with burning of the dead body of a heretic. The unbeliever\ncheated them out of half their expected sport.\n\n\nTHE INQUISITION IN SPAIN.\n\nIt may look like wandering from the main topic of discussion to devote\na chapter to an institution which has ceased to exist for forty years.\nBut no one can fully comprehend the social and political character of\nthe diverse and conflicting nationalities and discordant elements that\nfor three hundred years constituted the Spanish empire without fully\nunderstanding the character and workings of the Inquisition, which,\nfrom \"the Council of the Supreme\" in Spain, extended, with its\ncomplicated ramifications, through all the provinces, and penetrated\nevery social organization in Europe and America,[59] and even to the\nmost distant East India possessions, binding all the several parts\ntogether as the nervous system does the parts of the human body; or\nrather by external folds, as the anaconda does its victim. The\nInquisition was emphatically the nervous system of the Spanish\nmonarchy. From the time of Philip II. to the last of her kings, Spain\nhad but one monarch that could have escaped a lunatic asylum on a\ncommission _ad inquirendo_, and not a single royal family in all that\ntime that had not at least one judicially declared idiot in the\nhousehold; and more than once it was the regular successor to the\nthrone. And yet this ingeniously contrived craft of priests held all\nmost firmly together, and made it capable of resisting every outside\npressure until the French imperial armies entered Madrid.\n\nWhen French gunpowder was applied to the Holy Office, the Spanish\nempire lost its nationality, and its different parts fell to pieces\nlike a rope of sand, and revealed to the world the sad truth that the\nSpanish race, whether in the Peninsula or in the colonies, was now\nincapable of self-government. The Inquisition had consumed its powers\nof vitality. So long accustomed to submit to and lean upon despotic\nauthority, its various nationalities had lost the power of\nself-support. Spain, from the earliest historical periods, had ever\nbeen the victim of foreign colonial despotisms or imported tyrants\nuntil Philip II., under whom the Inquisition becoming firmly\nestablished, it thenceforward continued a Catholic province of the\nRoman Church, until Rome and the Papal Spanish empire fell together by\nthe hands of Napoleon. From that time onward, Spain and all her former\nprovinces have continued the sport of military insurgents--a melancholy\nevidence of the mental, physical, and moral ruin that overtakes a\ncountry abandoned to the despotism of priests.\n\nThough the origin of the Inquisition of Spain is familiar to all, yet\nfew are accustomed to look upon it in its political bearings. The\n\"pious\" Isabella, or, as she is called by the descendants of the\nMoriscoes, \"Isabella the Accursed,\" is conceded to have been the\nfounder of the modern Inquisition, and yet her great piety did not\nprevent her from giving a death-blow to the _Fuero_ of Castile, the\nmost liberal government of Europe except that of Aragon. The popularity\nwhich she acquired by the conquest of Granada, the religious furor\nexcited by that successful war, and the union with Aragon, enabled her\nto establish the Inquisition. By means of her priests associated in its\ngloomy tribunals she was able to suppress popular rights. A shadow of\nthe _Fueros_ of Catalonia, Valencia, and Aragon still remained, but\nshe had sapped the foundation on which they rested by the establishment\nof the Holy Office. Charles V. was sufficiently powerful to disregard\nsuch humble instrumentalities in carrying out any purpose he deemed to\nbe of advantage to his states. He was not a bigot by education, and we\nhave to look to disappointed ambition as the cause of the virulence\nwith which he persecuted the least indication of heresy. He had been\nthwarted in his ambitious schemes; this he attributed to the\nReformation, which he himself had fostered at its beginning, in order\nto sow discord among the princes of Germany. He had hoped that upon\ntheir mutual jealousy he might establish despotic authority; but the\ntreason of Maurice of Saxony had subverted his darling scheme at the\nmoment of its apparent success, and in disgust he retired from public\nlife to spend the remainder of his days in recruiting his health and\ncursing the heretics.\n\n\nPHILIP II. AND THE INQUISITION.\n\nThe Inquisition burned with renewed flames under Philip II. from\nprecisely the same cause that had made it tolerable to his father. To\nthe troubles caused by the Reformation he attributed the election of\nhis uncle Maximilian \"King of the Romans,\" and his own consequent loss\nof the Germanic empire. But, as a compensation for this loss, he had\nsubstantially acquired England by his marriage with Queen Mary, and had\nthe satisfaction of having his soldiers mingled with those of England\nin his war against France, and of seeing his own Archbishop of Toledo\npreside in the tribunal that condemned to the flames the Protestant\nbishops of England. The _autos da fe_ of Smithfield were weeding out\nheresy and liberty from England, which he already began to look upon as\na province of his empire, when his wife died, and the avowed heresy of\nElizabeth blasted his hopes in that quarter. The heretic Prince of\nNassau had raised insurrection in the Netherlands, which deprived him\nof Holland. When the French Catholic League, which he had so long\nsubsidized, was about to declare him, or at least his daughter,\nsovereign of France, the relapsed heretic, Henry IV., blasted this hope\nby laying siege to Paris. On the side of the Catholic states of Europe\nhis affairs went on most prosperously. He had acquired Portugal, with\nall her American and East India provinces. But in these new\nacquisitions he was not safe from the assaults of the heretics. The\nDutch robbed him of Brazil, and of the Cape of Good Hope, and of the\nislands of Ceylon and Java in the East Indies. When his missionary\nemissaries had excited an insurrection by which he might have acquired\nJapan in a religious war, the Dutch were there with their ships, and,\nlaying them alongside the rebel camp, they cannonaded it, while the\nimperial army on the land side utterly destroyed together emissary\npriests and rebels, and forever excluded Spain and her emissaries from\nthe islands, and even England after the negotiation of a Spanish\nmarriage. Nor were his treasure-ships safe from these audacious Dutch,\nwho prowled about the West Indies and seized his galleons. The ships\nfrom Goa, laden with the treasures of the East, had to take a\ncircuitous route to avoid the Dutch, who were continually on the\nlook-out at the Cape of Good Hope. As if this was not enough, the\nfailure of his great armada sent against England, and the ravaging of\nhis own coasts by Essex, increased his hatred against the heretics to\nsomething like a mania.\n\nThese are sufficient reasons for accounting for the zeal of Philip II.\non the subject of religion, and his blindness to the consequences of\nthus abandoning his empire and his people as common plunder to a\nmerciless horde of plunderers, who bound his empire most firmly\ntogether, but it was in the bands of national ruin. This, too, may\naccount for his often-repeated remark that he would not shield his own\nson if he should incur the censure of the Inquisition. When his eldest\nson and heir openly avowed his hatred to the Inquisition, we find him\ndying a mysterious death. It has already been remarked that there can\nbe no such thing as reliance upon historical truth in a country where\nthe Inquisition is in full authority. But it does not follow from this\nthat we ought to adopt the popular surmise that Philip was privy to the\nmurder of his son, or even that he was actually murdered. It may have\nbeen a murder, as the inquisitorial assassins were numerous, or it may\nhave been a natural death, as represented in books that have been\npublished by permission of the censors. All that we know is, that his\ndeath happened advantageously for the continuance of the Holy Office.\n\n\nFATE OF THE INQUISITION.\n\nPhilip III. can hardly be considered an accountable being. The same may\nbe said of his son and of his son's sons, to say nothing of those heirs\nto the Spanish crown that were legally adjudged idiots. The nominal\nfather of Charles III., though he was King of Spain, must be considered\nas not merely bordering on idiocy, but as actually a man of unsound\nmind. Charles III., though he had courage to drive from his dominions\nthe Jesuits, dared not undertake a reform of the clergy. We may\nconclude this chapter by saying that the Inquisition had its origin in\npolitical considerations, or in the revengeful feelings of really great\nsovereigns of Spain, and that its continuance was owing to the weakness\nor impotency of their successors; and though it was the terror of all\nclasses above the street rabble, it was too powerful to be suppressed\nbefore the emancipation of the people which followed the French\ninvasion. Such is the fate of a race over whom priests have once\nacquired dominion.\n\n      [57] The defense of the invasion of Mexico by Cortez in time of\n      peace, and reducing the Aztecs to slavery, rests on the ground\n      that the Aztecs were monsters.\n\n      [58] Though I do not entirely follow Pinblanch, yet I give him as\n      authority for this incident.\n\n      [59] Mr. Gayarre, who, under a commission from the State of\n      Louisiana, is examining the colonial records at Madrid, has\n      discovered the evidence of an attempt made to introduce the\n      Inquisition into New Orleans even after our people had begun to\n      settle there. This is his statement:\n\n        \"It appears,\" says Gayarre, \"that soon after the death of\n        Charles III., an attempt was made to introduce the much-dreaded\n        tribunal of the Inquisition into the colony. The reverend\n        Capuchin, Antonio de Sedella, who had lately arrived in the\n        province, wrote to the Governor to inform him that he, the holy\n        father, had been appointed Commissary of the Inquisition; that\n        in a letter of the 5th of December last, from the proper\n        authority, this intelligence had been communicated to him, and\n        that he had been requested to discharge his functions with the\n        most exact fidelity and zeal, and in conformity with the royal\n        will. Wherefore, after having made his investigations with the\n        utmost secrecy and precaution, he notified Miro that, in order\n        to carry, as he was commanded, his instructions into perfect\n        execution in all their parts, he might soon, at some late hour\n        of the night, deem it necessary to require some guards to\n        assist him in his operations.\n\n        \"Not many hours had elapsed since the reception of this\n        communication by the Governor, when night came, and the\n        representative of the holy Inquisition was quietly reposing in\n        bed, when he was roused from his sleep by a heavy knocking. He\n        started up, and, opening his door, saw standing before him an\n        officer and a file of grenadiers. Thinking that they had come\n        to obey his commands, in consequence of his letter to the\n        Governor, he said, 'My friends, I thank you and his Excellency\n        for the readiness of this compliance with my request. But I\n        have now no use for your services, and you shall be warned in\n        time when you are wanted. Retire, then, with the blessing of\n        God.' Great was the stupefaction of the friar when he was told\n        that he was under arrest. 'What!' exclaimed he, 'will you dare\n        lay your hands on a Commissary of the holy Inquisition?' 'I\n        dare obey orders,' replied the undaunted officer, and the\n        reverend Father Antonio de Sedella was instantly carried on\n        board of a vessel, which sailed the next day for Cadiz.\n\n        \"Rendering an account of this incident to one of the members of\n        the cabinet of Madrid, Governor Miro said, in a dispatch, 'the\n        mere name of the Inquisition uttered in New Orleans would be\n        sufficient not only to check immigration, which is successfully\n        progressing, but would also be capable of driving away those\n        who have recently come, and I even fear that in spite of my\n        having sent out of the country Father Sedella, the most fatal\n        consequences may ensue from the mere suspicion of the cause of\n        his dismissal.'\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXVII.\n\nMiracles and Earthquakes.--The Saints in Times of Ignorance.--The\nEruption of Jorullo.--The Curse of the Capuchins.--The Consequences\nof the Curse.--The unfulfilled Curse.--The Population of the\nRepublic.--Depopulation from 1810 to 1840.--The Mixture of Whites\nand Indians not prolific.--The pure Indians.--The Meztizos.--The\nWhite Population.--Negroes and Zambos.--The Jew and the Law of\nGeneration.--The same Law applies to Cattle.--It governs the\nGeneration of Plants.--Intemperance and Generation.--Meztizo\nPlants short-lived.--Mexico can not be resuscitated.--She can not\nrecover her Northern Provinces.\n\n\nEarthquakes are, and ever have been, very frequent through the whole of\nMexico. Yet they have never been very severe, particularly at the city,\nas is demonstrated by the very existence of a city upon such a mass of\nsoft earth as I have shown in a former chapter constitutes the\nfoundation of Mexico. A reasonable amount of hard shaking would\ndislocate its muddy basis and engulf the city. Now and then some\nunusually frail structure is toppled down, and the church steeples are\nswayed a little this way or that, but the cement that sustains them has\nheretofore proved sufficiently cohesive to save them from being shaken\nto pieces or tumbled down.[60] Some ten years ago, the convent church,\nin which was the miraculous image of our Saviour, was thrown down, and\nthe image that had annually poured forth its precious blood for the\nhealing of the spiritual and temporal maladies of all pious believers\nwas buried under the ruins. But this calamity was only a precursor of a\ngreater miracle; for, on removing the rubbish, the sacred image was\nfound intact, and as ready as ever to bleed again to order for ready\npay. The spiritual interpretation of this astounding phenomenon was,\nthat the devil, in his malice, had attempted, as of old, to crush the\nmiraculous power of the Saviour; and now, again, as upon the high\nmountain, he was foiled, and the flow of blood was not intermitted.\n\n\nIGNORANCE AND MIRACLES.\n\nMiracles have ever been the most fruitful source of profit that the\nChurch enjoys, for at the annunciation of every new miracle the\nfaithful are quickened to devotion and to contributions, which, above\nall things, is to be desired by the \"impoverished Church\" of Mexico.[61]\nAn earthquake is always a windfall or a godsend to the priesthood. An\noutsider is often surprised at the number of miracles that, in old\ntimes, were connected with earthquakes. But rarely do we hear of modern\nmiracles. The spirit of miracles works only in times of most profound\nignorance; and experience has convinced the Church that the only\nprospect of the continuation of miraculous visitations of the holy\nApostles and of the Virgin in Mexico, depends upon the continuation of\nthe people in the most profound ignorance, and in childlike obedience\nto their spiritual superiors. So long as this state of things\ncontinued, the holy Virgin was ever present among them, performing the\nmost astounding cures, and even, upon one occasion, causing the ground\nto open and swallow up the surplus waters of the valley, to the relief\nof the \"most devout people of Mexico,\" besides performing other\nastounding miracles, that have been duly attested by Pope, prelates,\nand the Council of Rites. But now, since the education of the common\npeople has been attempted, although on a very limited scale, and men\nare allowed to speak openly, the most holy Virgin of Guadalupe has\nwithdrawn her wonder-working power from an unbelieving people, while\nthe blind, the halt, the lame, the palsied, and the diseased crowd\naround her shrine, not to obtain her healing mercy, but to solicit\ncharity. The saints, also, have ceased to stir up the elements, so that\nvolcanic fires have ceased throughout the whole limits of the republic,\nand earthquakes have almost forgotten to perform their annual duty of\nshaking the earth.\n\nThe last volcanic eruption in Mexico was one of the most astounding of\nwhich the record has come down to us, whether in Mexico or in any other\ncountry. Fortunately, we have reliable evidence in relation to this\nevent, for Humboldt not only surveyed the volcano as it appeared in his\nday, but, from eye-witnesses of the first eruption, learned the\nincidents that fill out the history, and also the miraculous cause\nwhich is assigned for this mighty convulsion of nature. His story I\nshall follow in preference to the popular tradition of the awful\nconsequences that succeeded the curse pronounced by two Capuchin friars\nupon the estate of Jorullo.\n\nJust one hundred years ago, which was fifty years before the time of\nthe visit of Humboldt, two Capuchin friars came to preach at the estate\nwhich occupied the beautiful valley of Jorullo. This valley was\nsituated between two basaltic ridges, and was watered by two small\nstreams of limpid water, the San Pedro and the Cuitamba. These small\nparallel rivers furnished an abundant supply of water, which was well\nemployed in irrigating flourishing sugar and indigo plantations. These\nCapuchins, not having met with a favorable reception at the estate of\nSan Pedro, poured out the most horrible imprecations against the\nbeautiful and fertile plains, foretelling that, as the first\nconsequences of their curse, the plantation would be swallowed up by\nflames rising out of the earth, and that afterward the neighboring\nmountains would forever remain covered with snow and ice. After\ndenouncing the curse, the two holy men went on their way.\n\n\nERUPTION OF JORULLO.\n\nOn the night of the 28th and 29th of September, 1759, horrible\nsubterraneous noises were heard, which had been preceded by slight\nshocks of an earthquake since the June preceding. The affrighted\nIndians fled to the Aquasareo, and soon thereafter a tract of land\ntwelve miles square, which now goes by the name of the \"evil land\"\n(_mal pais_), rose up in the form of a bladder, and boiled, and\nseethed, and bubbled like a caldron of pudding, shooting up columns of\nfire from ten thousand orifices. Sometimes a number of orifices would\nunite into one vast crater, and vomit forth such a column of fire as\nwas never before seen by human eyes since the time when \"the smoke of\nthe country went up as the smoke of a furnace.\"\n\nIntelligent witnesses assured Humboldt that flames were seen to issue\nforth, which, from a surface of more than a mile square, cast up\nfragments of burning rock to a prodigious height. The two small rivers\nwere swallowed up, and their decomposed waters added fuel to the\nflames, which burned for many months with a fierceness that is\nindescribable.\n\nSuch is the origin of the volcano of Jorullo, in the State of\nMichoican, and such is the pretended consequence of a curse pronounced\nby Capuchin monks upon one of the most beautiful estates in the\ncountry; and for generations since, the dread of incurring the\ndispleasure of strolling vagabond monks has rested like a blight upon\nthe common people; and yet this is but one of the thousand ways by\nwhich the Mexican priesthood play upon the credulity of the ignorant in\na country where convulsions of nature are matters of almost ordinary\noccurrence. Every extraordinary event in nature is ascribed to the\nexercise of supernatural power on the part of the clergy or the most\nholy images of the Church.\n\nThe fires of Jorullo have ceased to burn for half a century. The\ncentral crater that was eventually formed, and the numerous little\norifices of fire, have long since become cold, and all the evidences of\nan active fire have passed away. But to this day the Indians watch the\nprogress of the cooling process; as they anticipate that, before many\nyears have passed, the unfulfilled portion of the curse will be\nrealized, and that those now live who will see the surrounding\nmountains covered by perpetual snow--an evil which the half-clad\nIndians of the tropics appear to dread more than perpetual fire.\n\nThe last and only enumeration of the inhabitants of Mexico or New Spain\nwas made in 1794, by that distinguished Vice-king to whom I have so\noften referred, Ravillagigedo. This enumeration gave as the actual\npopulation 3,865,529, besides the departments of Vera Cruz, Guanajuato,\nand Cohahuila, which were estimated to contain 518,000 more, making a\nsum total of 4,412,529. Since that time there has been a great deal of\nextensive guessing, until by this simple process the population was\nbrought up to 7,661,520, in 1853.[62] The process by which this increase\nis effected is to add one sixth for supposed omissions in the census,\nand a like number for supposed increase in the subsequent fifteen years\ntill the breaking out of war, and taking for granted that the\npopulation has not retrograded during forty-five years of intermittent\nwar. Such conclusions are made in violation of all the laws of\npopulation.\n\n\nPOPULATION OF MEXICO.\n\nIt may not be uninteresting to my readers to run over the laws which\nregulate the decrease of population, although it is too much our custom\nto look only at the other side of the picture. The social and civil\nwars of Mexico have been of such a character, as we have seen, as to\nwarrant the belief that from this cause alone population must have\nconstantly diminished, from their very commencement in 1810 until 1840,\nwhen matters were comparatively resuscitated. The employment for labor\nduring the time that the large estates were neglected, and while the\ncanals of irrigation and the silver mines were in ruins, was of the\nmost limited character; and the very indigent circumstances to which it\nreduced the majority of those who ranked above the _leperos_ must also\nhave diminished the population of the republic much below that of the\nvice-kingdom under Ravillagigedo.\n\nSince 1840, notwithstanding the frequent wars, Mexico, in favored\nlocalities, may have slightly increased in population; but this\nincrease is more than balanced by the Indian wars of the northern\ndepartments, which have depopulated large tracts of country, sometimes\nextending across one tier of states even into the heart of Durango and\nGuanajuato; so that I hazard nothing in affirming that the population\nof the whole country must be less to-day than it was in 1794,\nnotwithstanding that Humboldt sets down an estimate of 5,800,000 for\nthe year 1803, and 6,500,000 for the year 1808. I might go farther, and\naffirm that the constant insecurity of life and property in all but the\ncentral parts of the republic is such as to keep down the natural\nincrease of a population never prolific, being made up of a combination\nof uncongenial races--whites and Indians, whose intermixture leads to\nsterility.\n\nThe census shows two fifths of the population to be pure Indians,\nmostly laborers: this class would have been the one most likely to have\nincreased since the Revolution, had there remained the same amount of\nemployment and wages as formerly. In consequence of the abolition of\nmonopolies, the articles necessary for the comforts of life became much\ncheaper and more easy of attainment to the laboring classes, which\nwould tend to increase the number of this class. These Indians,\nmoreover, had remained to a great extent free from the deleterious\nintermixture of white blood. But the pure Indian, compared with the\npure Caucasian, is a race, under the most favorable circumstances, of\nslow increase. The diseases hereditary among the Indians are aggravated\nby promiscuous marriages, so that in California the missionaries used\nto inquire diligently after a man's family connections, and compel a\nconvert to marry into his own clan, or not marry at all.\n\nThe Meztizos, or mixed races, constitute another two fifths of the\npopulation. This is a less vigorous race than the pure Indian. They are\nall the children of sin, mostly the offspring of illicit intercourse,\nand are for this cause a feebler race than the offspring of the same\nmixture where the man was only blessed with a single wife. As all\nmarriage of whites with Indians in New Spain was unlawful, these\nMeztizos bore the same relation to the law in New Spain which the\nmulattoes do in our Southern States.\n\n\nRACES IN MEXICO.\n\nThe whites were set down at one million, or about one fifth of the\nwhole population, at the most prosperous period of the vice-kingdom. I\ndoubt if they now amount to half or even a quarter of that number, and\nof this population there is a very vigorous French immigration, now\namounting to five or six thousand, and about as many Germans, a handful\nof English, and still less Americans. The native white population does\nnot possess the physical energy requisite for rapid increase. They form\nno portion of the laboring people; they live in effeminacy, and their\nchildren are not nursed at the healthy breasts of athletic negresses,\nas are the children of our Southern planters, but are suckled by a more\nenervated race than themselves, viz., the Meztizos. The emigration from\nSpain was never an emigration of laboring men. It consisted almost\nentirely of priests, stewards, clerks, and taskmasters, to whom labor\nwas considered as degrading. When the Spaniards lost a monopoly of\nthese employments, and sank to the level of the native races, their\nnumbers rapidly declined. The slight foreign immigration above\nmentioned is not one of laborers, for labor is considered an unbecoming\nemployment at Mexico for white men, but an immigration of tradesmen and\nshop-keepers, who add nothing to the material wealth of the country.\n\nOf the Mexican Negro race I never knew but two, and one of them held\nthe post of captain in the army, and the other was the naked alcalde,\nmentioned in a former chapter, who was discharging the functions of\n\"Judge of First Instance.\" The reasons assigned for the disappearance\nof this race from Mexico after so large an importation of slaves as\nthat which took place in the last century is the incongeniality of the\nclimate of Mexico, particularly of the table-lands, to the negro\nconstitution. At the breaking out of the Mexican revolution, almost the\nonly negro slaves in the country were in the department of Vera Cruz.\nThe sugar-planters of the hot country of the interior, finding it\nimpossible to carry on their estates by the use of negro slaves,\nattempted to reduce the mortality among their working people by raising\nup a race of those disgusting-looking beings called Zambos, a cross of\nnegroes and Indians; but it was attended with the usual ill success\nthat has followed every attempt to cross or intermingle different and\ndistinct races of men, animals, or even plants.\n\n\nINTERMIXTURE OF RACES.\n\nThe advantages arising from transplanting the human race, as well as\nvegetables and plants, are manifestly great. But transplanting should\nnever be confounded with intermixing races, whether they be human, or\nof the lower animals, or of plants. When God, in his infinite wisdom,\nsaw fit to choose out a family that he destined to continue for\nthousands of years, He transplanted it into a new soil and climate, and\nsubjected it to divers migrations. First it went down into Egypt, and\nthen, \"with a high hand and an outstretched arm,\" He brought it up out\nof Egypt, and after a sojourn of forty years in the wilderness, He\nre-established it in the land of Canaan. This is the origin of the most\nperfectly developed race of the present time. Whether in the tropics or\nin the most northern latitudes, the Jew is the same intellectual and\nphysical man, and carries about with him the indelible marks of a\ndescendant of those patriarchs who were commanded not to intermarry\nwith the people among whom they dwelt. The Jew may wander and sojourn\nin strange lands, but he cherishes with national pride the blood of\nAbraham, which he insists still flows in his veins, and he is most\ncareful, of all things, to transmit it pure to his children. Though\nCanaan abounded with fragments of nationalities, his boast is that his\nblood is not intermixed with any of them. To the history of the Jews we\nmight add the experience of the Franciscan missionaries of California,\nthat for a healthy offspring a man must marry among his own clan.\n\nThe constant complaints we hear of the deterioration of imported\nanimals of choice breeds is the result of a disregard of this law of\npropagation. The importations of Merino sheep, and afterward of the\nSaxon, proved a failure chiefly from this cause. Those engaged in the\nimportation of English cattle begin already to make the same complaint,\nwhich they would not have done had they taken the precaution to import\ntheir foreign stock in families. The Mulatto is an apparent, not a real\nexception to the rule. He is superior to the Negro, often superior to\nhis white father; but it is a superiority for a generation only, and\ncarries with it the seeds of its own dissolution. The mule is superior\nto the donkey, but lasts only for a generation. The Oregon ox, a cross\nbetween the Spanish and American breeds, is superior to either of the\npure breeds. But it is the concentration in one animal of what might be\nthe material of divers generations.\n\nI once asked a Dutchess county farmer the cause of the great\nsuperiority of his crops of wheat over those of his neighbors, and his\nreply was that he always brought his seed from a distance, changed it\noften, and took good care not to let it intermix with the wheat of that\nregion. The same, or, rather, greater results have attended the\ntransportation of American seeds and plants to California, where a new\nsoil and a new climate has produced upon all the staples of agriculture\nsuch an improvement as to astonish men who have made this branch of\nindustry a study. It is the result of the migration of plants where\nthere are no plants of the same character to intermix, and so\ndeteriorate the race by crossing the breed. In trees the same law holds\nunchangeably. We produce fine fruit by inoculation and by grafting; but\nexperience has taught us never to inoculate upon a grafted stem, but\nalways upon a natural branch. As the Conquistadors selected the\nbest-looking Indian women for the mothers of the Meztizos, so the\nfruit-raiser selects the best natural stems to inoculate with his\nartificial varieties of fruit. In this way we get better fruit by\nexhausting the root, and a whole race of plants are sometimes worn out\nby mixture from too close a proximity of the different families of the\nsame genus. In the laws which Moses gave to the children of Israel, we\nfind a provision against the evils of intermixtures in the precept:\n\"Thy cattle shall not gender with diverse kind.\" \"Thou shalt not sow\nthe field with, divers seeds.\" In these precepts God has taken care to\nguard the wholesome generation of plants as well as of animals.\n\nThe successful intermingling of the Protestant Anglo-Saxon immigration\nwith our own people in the second and third generations is not an\nexception to the law of generation, as both are but branches of the\nsame stock, and are successfully planted together. Nor is the mortality\nwhich follows the Catholic immigration an exception to the beneficial\nlaw of migration, for habits of intemperance account for the short\nlives of these immigrants; and though their offspring is abundant, yet\nit is all tainted with an inheritance of disease, and too many of the\nchildren suffer the ruinous consequences of having drawn \"still slops\"\nfrom a mother's breast in infancy. For physically, and in the chain of\ngeneration, most truly are the sins of the fathers visited upon the\nchildren to the third and fourth generation.\n\nOur collection of material for an argument will be complete when I have\nadded that the trees most prolific of artificial fruit die the\nearliest, and suffer most from running sores; that the vines cultivated\nartificially to produce the choicest wines suffer most from the mildew,\nand the potatoes of the most artificial varieties are the ones that\nhave suffered most from the rot. When the cholera first visited Mexico,\nits passage through the country was like the ravages of the Angel of\nDeath among the Meztizos and the fragments of decaying races. And this\nprogress toward depopulation can not be stayed by the infusion of a\nvigorous stock. The law of sexuality in plants leads to the\nintermarriage of the vigorous with the decaying and the intermixture of\nblossoms; nor can human plants long vegetate together without\nintermarriages, which ingraft the vigorous constitutions with the virus\nof the old and decaying.\n\n\nPROSPECTS OF MEXICO.\n\nIf, then, I have correctly enunciated the law of migration of men,\nanimals, and plants, and if the law of intermixture of distinct races,\nor distinct species of the race, has been truly stated, the important\nargument to be drawn from it, which interests all Americans inquiring\ninto the future of Mexico, is, that the present incongruous fragments\nof population which the internal disorders of Spain have set loose in\nMexico can never be transformed into a homogeneous nationality, nor can\nsufficiently permanent elements of strength be found in this political\nchaos to constitute a permanent government. The degraded condition to\nwhich labor is reduced forbids the idea of an immigration of foreign\nlaborers, while the miserable scale of wages--a quarter of a dollar a\nday upon the estates, payable out of the plantation store, or three\nshillings in the towns--holds out no inducement for poor men of a\nhealthy race to abandon their own country and migrate to Mexico in\nsufficient numbers to form a substratum of society which ultimately\nmight rise into a nationality.\n\nA still more important question is disposed of by the facts stated in\nthis chapter, viz., that there is no possibility of the present\ninhabitants of Mexico ever successfully driving back the Apaches and\nreconquering the northern provinces. Her title to the wild regions of\nthe north, which rests on discovery and colonization, is lost by her\nutter inability to subdue the Indians and to colonize, after a\nprobation of three hundred years. At this day the whole of the northern\nprovinces lie, like waifs, open to any civilized people to take\npossession who require an additional territory. But nothing is so\nabsurd as the American process of acquisition by treaty of territories\nwhich already are, or soon will be, covered all over by immense\nland-claims, in districts subjugated by the Indians, instead of\nacknowledging the title of the Apaches to the lands they have conquered\nfrom Mexico, and long held in possession, and purchasing of those who\nare the real sovereigns of Northern Mexico.\n\n      [60] An attempt was made to explain away the story of Cortez\n      getting drowned out at Iztapalapan, a point above the level of\n      the city of Mexico, by suggesting that _perhaps_ an earthquake\n      may have changed the face of the valley. But, unfortunately,\n      Iztapalapan was the southern support of the old Indian levee\n      (_calzado_), built to keep the water off of the city of Mexico in\n      seasons of heavy rains.\n\n      [61] Though the richest ecclesiastical quasi-corporation in the\n      world, your ears are constantly saluted with solicitations for\n      contributions to the impoverished Church.\n\n      [62] _Colleccion de Leyes_, p. 184.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXVIII.\n\nThe Church of Mexico.--Its present Condition and Power.--The Number\nof the \"Religios.\"--The Wealth of the Church.--The Money-power\nof the Church.--The Power of Assassination.--Educating the\nPeople robs the Priest.--Making and adoring Images.--The Progress\ndownward.\n\n\nThe Catholic Church of Mexico is a peculiar institution. Its historical\nantecedents have been considered in previous chapters in connection\nwith other subjects. Men no longer whisper their unbelief with\ntrembling, nor have they any longer to dread inquisitorial fires if\nthey refuse to pay tithes to the bishop, or if they neglect to bestow\nrich gifts upon the priests. Still the Church survives the losses of\nthis important engine of piety, and continues unmodified by passing\nevents. In the midst of revolutions it stands unchanged, a relic of the\nlast century. It stands like a great showman's wagon from which the\nhorses have been detached, and children, great and small, are collected\naround to look at its images. Unfortunately, there is an abundance of\nfull-grown children in a country where, for centuries, a combination of\nspiritual and temporal despotisms have dwarfed the intellects of men\ndown to the standard of a toy-shop religion, which had long rejoiced in\ncrushing the human intellect, while it disdained to enlighten the\nhumblest understanding.\n\n[Illustration: MEXICAN PRIESTS TRAVELING.]\n\nMexico is the only Catholic country in which the Church has remained\nunchanged during all the revolutions of the last half century. The\nFrench infidel armies, and the wars and revolutions that followed the\nFrench invasions, overturned the Church of Spain and Italy, so that the\nChurch organization that now exists in those peninsulas is a new\ncreation. Not so in Mexico. Its revolution was for the purpose of\nsaving the privileges of the Church from the too sweeping reforms of\nthe Cortes of Spain. And there it now stands, with all the properties\nand annuities which it enjoyed in the time of the idiot kings. The\nInquisition no longer enforces with fire the censures of the Church,\nand men are no longer compelled by legal process to pay tithes. But for\nthese losses the Church has received a heavy compensation. The priests\nand inquisitors who ruled the childish court of Spain would allow no\nindependence to the Mexican Church, but supplied, by royal appointment,\nall the candidates for vacant bishoprics and chapters, while the\nVice-king was allowed to fill the inferior offices of the Church.\n\nBy the partial separation of Church and state which took place in\n1833, the Church of Mexico became independent of the state. The\nchapters acquired the right of electing their own bishops; the\nbishops, by virtue of their spiritual authority, appointing the\npriests and exercising control over all Church property as _quasi_\ncorporations-sole, at least over all property not vested in religious\ncommunities, if practically there could be said to be any real\nexception. What that newly-acquired power of the Mexican bishops\namounts to, we in the United States, from our own experience of the\nsame authority, can judge.\n\n\nSTATISTICS OF THE CHURCH.\n\nThat the reader may know how extensive is this money-power of the\nbishops, I subjoin an extract from a statistical chart[63] published by\nSenor _Lerdo de Tejado_, _First Official de Ministerio de Fomento_, the\nfollowing synopsis of the clergy and their incomes:\n\n\"There is one archbishop, the Archbishop of Mexico, and eleven bishops,\nand one to be created at Vera Cruz. There are 184 prebends and 1229\nparishes. The total number of ecclesiastics is 3223.[64] There are 146\nconvents of monks and 59 convents of nuns, and 8 colleges for\npropagating the faith. The convents of monks are inhabited by 1139\npersons, and there are 1541 nuns in convents, and with them 740 young\ngirls and 870 servants. There are 238 persons in the colleges for\npropagating the faith.\" This is less than half the number of the\n_religios_ under the vice-kings, while the riches of the Church have\nimmensely increased, as we shall presently see.\n\n\nREVENUE OF THE CHURCH.\n\nI translate from the same author, in a note, statistics upon the\nmuch-agitated question of the wealth of the Church of Mexico,[65] from\nwhich it will be seen that the total amount consumed in the maintenance\nof these 3223 persons, is annually $20,000,000, besides the very large\nsums expended in the repairs and ornaments of an enormous number of\nchurches, and in gifts at the shrines of the different images, which\ncan not be appropriated to the maintenance of the clergy. This sum of\n$20,000,000, if fairly divided among them, would yield an abundant\nsupport, though not an extravagant living; but, unfortunately, the\ngreatest portion of this immense sum is absorbed by the bishops, while\nthe priests of the villages contrive to exist by the contributions they\nwring out of the _peons_. At the time of the census, 1793, the twelve\nbishops had $539,000[66] appropriated to their support; but now their\nrevenues are so mixed up with the revenues of the Church, that it is\nimpossible to say how much these twelve successors of the apostles\nappropriate to their own support.\n\n\nMONEY-POWER OF THE CHURCH.\n\nIn place of the Inquisition which the reformed Spanish government took\naway from the Church of Mexico, the Church now wields the power of\nwealth, almost fabulous in amount, which is practically in the hands of\na close corporation-sole. The influence of the Archbishop, as the\nsubstantial owner of half the property in the city of Mexico, gives him\na power over his tenants unknown under our system of laws. Besides\nthis, a large portion of the Church property is in money, and the\nArchbishop is the great loan and trust company of Mexico. Nor is this\npower by any means an insignificant one. A bankrupt government is\noverawed by it. Men of intellect are crushed into silence; and no\nopposition can successfully stand against the influence of this Church\nlord, who carries in his hands the treasures of heaven, and in his\nmoney-bags the material that moves the world. To understand the full\nforce of his power of money, it must be borne in mind that Mexico is a\ncountry proverbial for recklessness in all conditions of life; for\nextravagant living and extravagant equipages; a country where a man's\nposition in society is determined by the state he maintains; a country,\nthe basis of whose wealth is the mines of precious metal; where\nprincely fortunes are quickly acquired and suddenly lost, and where\nhired labor has hardly a cash value. In such a country, the power and\ninfluence of money has a meaning beyond any idea that we can form. Look\nat a prominent man making an ostentatious display of his devotion: his\nexample is of advantage to the Church, and the Church may be of\nadvantage to him, for it has an abundance of money at 6 per cent. per\nannum, while the outside money-lenders charge him 2 per cent. per\nmonth. The Church, too, may have a mortgage upon his house over-due;\nand woe betide him if he should undertake a crusade against the Church.\nThis is a string that the Church can pull upon which is strong enough\nto overawe government itself.\n\nThis money-power of the Church yet lacks completeness and concentration\nto make it even a tolerable substitute for the power lost by the\nabolition of the Inquisition, as this wealth is distributed among 12\nindependent bishops. But, having succeeded in establishing the temporal\npower of her bishops in Mexico more firmly than in the United States,\nthe Papal court made another step in advance. In 1852, Mexico was\nelectrified with delight at the condescension of the Holy Father in\nsending a _nuncio_ to that city. For two full years this representative\nof the Holy See was _feted_ and toasted on all hands, as little less\nthan the Pope himself, whom he represented. But last year all these\nhappy feelings were dashed with gall and wormwood by an announcement\nthat as the bishops controlled all this immense property by virtue of\ntheir spiritual authority, there was a resulting trust in his favor, or\nat least in favor of the Pope, whom he represented with full powers. It\nwas Pandora's box opened in the midst of \"a happy family.\" There was no\ndisputing the nuncio's law; but to render to him an account of their\nreceipts and disbursements, or to deliver over the bonds and mortgages\nto this agent of the Pope, was most unpleasant. The old Archbishop\nkeeps fast hold of the money-bags, which, so far, the keys of Saint\nPeter have been unable to unlock. The battle waxes loud and fierce\nbetween the parties and their partisans, and Santa Anna stands looking\non, dreaming of the happy time when, through the internal dissensions\nof the Church, these accumulations of 300 years of robbery and false\npretenses will fall into the public treasury, and the people as well as\nthe government will obtain their enfranchisement.\n\nThe money-power of the Church has proved sufficiently strong to save it\nfrom the hungry maw of a famishing government, and to stand unaffected\nby the revolutions that surround it; and now and then, when too\nbitterly assailed by some political reformer, it finds relief in the\nassassination of the assailant, as in the case of the eloquent member\nof the last Congress, who, after a violent philippic against the\ncorruptions of the priests, was found murdered in his chamber. And, as\nin case of the inquisitorial assassinations, the crime was proved to\nhave been connected with a robbery. The power to overawe courts of\njustice, proverbially corrupt, and the facilities with which\nassassinations are procured, are now the most dreaded weapons of the\nChurch, and may account for the nominal conformity of the intelligent\nclasses.\n\nThe unbelievers in Mexico, though considerable in numbers, are not\norganized with a positive creed. Theirs is only a negative\nexistence--unbelief; and they are generally found conforming outwardly,\nas a more convenient and prudent course than running a tilt with the\nwell-organized forces of the Church.\n\nThere is nothing peculiar in the spiritual powers of the Church of\nMexico, as these powers are common to all Catholic countries, and vary\nonly with the ignorance and brutality of the people; the more degraded\nthe people, the greater is the power of the priest and bishop. The\nintelligent Catholic, educated among Protestants, looks upon his priest\nas a religious instructor, and interprets the _ego te absolvo_ as\nrather a matter of form, meaning little more than that he will\nintercede for him. He has caught and is applying a Protestant idea\nunwittingly. But with the gross multitude who constitute the mass of\nthe Spanish-American population, the priest is the God of the people;\nhis giving or withholding absolution is a matter of life or death; and,\nhowever corrupt and debauched he may be, he still holds jurisdiction\nover the pains of hell and the bliss of heaven. For a reasonable\nconsideration in money, he will shut up the one and open the other. The\noffering in the mass of the bloodless sacrifice of Jesus Christ, as it\nis called, is not sufficient for the Catholic in a Protestant country,\nbut the priest must also preach a sermon every Sabbath, like a\nProtestant minister, though he still holds to the efficacy of the mass\nin conferring blessings on the living and the believing dead. The\npreaching of the priest is a rare thing in an exclusively Catholic\ncountry. The mass is his livelihood, and if he be the head of a\ncommunity, or a popular priest, he often makes a profit in taking in\nmasses to say, and letting out the job at a discount. The whole matter\nmay be summed up by saying that the more profoundly ignorant the people\nare, the more devotional do they become, so that the priest has always\na pecuniary interest in the ignorance of the people, and if he makes\nany effort toward their enlightenment, it is an effort made directly\nagainst his own pecuniary interests and the income of his office.\n\n\nWORSHIP OF IMAGES.\n\nThe most ancient anti-Catholic, I might with propriety say, Protestant\nsect, whose form of synagogue worship is congregational, and who are\nrepublican at heart, though too often submitting to a despotism, are\nthe Jews. Between these two, the Jew and the Catholic, there exists an\nunmitigated hostility. The Catholic reviles the Jew with a sin of\nwhich, most likely, his own ancestors were not guilty,[67] and the Jew\ncurses the Nazarene for the idolatry of his worshipers. He will make no\nallowances for the nice distinction between adoration and worship, and\ninsists that the making the likeness of any _thing_ to be set up in a\nplace of worship is idolatry, and that the image of the cross is as\nmuch an image as the image of Him who hung thereon. And in all this the\nJew is right, if we are to obey the commandment of God. Yet the Jew\nforgets that a thousand years of trial were requisite to cure his\nancestors of their proneness to idols. After their first mission,\naccomplished in the birth of Christ, God has preserved them a perpetual\nwitness against paganism. But so subtle is this sin, that we find\nourselves setting up sensuous representations, while we point the\nfinger of scorn at the Catholic, who ascribes miraculous power to an\nimage of the Virgin. And what is the difference, the Almighty himself\nbeing judge, between setting up a cross in a place of worship or\nascribing miraculous power to an image, or, as is the fashion to say,\nsome spirit acting through the image? Are they not different stages of\nthe same disease, and each equally calculated to provoke the Almighty\nto jealousy.\n\n\nSUMMARY OF EVILS.\n\nImage worship has another curious aspect. It is a very tolerable\nthermometer by which to measure the downward progress of nations. Pagan\nRome, in times of comparative purity, had her laws against idolatry;\nbut as her higher classes advanced in refinement and sensuality, and\nthe plebeians became debased and brutalized, the whole religious ideas\nof the nation degenerated into idolatry, associated with a despotic\nmiracle-working priesthood, and soon followed by a political despotism.\nIt is curious to witness how exactly it takes on the same form in\ndifferent countries in traveling this downward road. The Buddhist of\nChina, who has reached a thousand-fold lower level than the Catholic,\nhas his unmarried priesthood, his monks, and nuns, and self-imposed\npenances, and tortures, and holy water, and a ritual in an unknown\ntongue (Sanscrit), so strikingly resembling the Catholic as to suggest\nthe idea of a common origin, if such an idea were not impossible. Yet\nin the moral standard they seem to have reached the point of total\ndepravity. Hence we might sum up the cause that have produced the\nMexican of the present day by enumerating the absence of the scriptural\nidea of family relation; the despotism exercised by the priesthood with\nthe aid of an Inquisition, and the unnumbered toll-gates they have\nplaced on the road to heaven; the effeminacy of the higher classes and\ndebasement of the peasantry; the absorption of half the revenues of the\ncountry in superstitious and idolatrous purposes, and the uncleanly\nhabits superinduced by mental and physical degradation for generations,\nso that the word _leper_ is used to designate a poor man in the city\nwhere that loathsome disease has its victims.\n\n      [63] _Grando Sinoptico de la Republica Mejicana en 1850. Por\n      Miguel M. Lerdo y Tejado_; approved by the Mexican Society of\n      Geography and Statistics.\n\n      [64] This number 3223 includes all of the 1139 monks, except the\n      lay brothers. The two classes of priests, those who are not monks\n      and those who are monks, are distinguished in Catholic countries\n      as seculars and regulars (_clerigos_ and _religios_). Humboldt\n      says the Mexican clergy are composed of 10,000 individuals\n      (_Essai Politique_, vol. i. p. 172), and, including the nuns, and\n      lay brothers and sisters, he puts the sum total of the religious\n      at 14,000. But in a note he gives the numbers in five of the\n      principal departments out of twelve, which foot up at only 5405\n      for the clergy of both orders.\n\n      [65] \"The general revenue destined for the maintenance of the\n      clergy and of religious services in the republic may be divided\n      into four classes: first, that which appertains to the bishops\n      and to the canons, who form the chapter of the Cathedral; second,\n      those revenues which appertain to particular ecclesiastics and\n      chaplaincies; third, those of curates and vicars; fourth, those\n      of divers communities of _religios_, of both sexes.\n\n      \"The first class is principally of tithes and first-fruits, the\n      product of which was very considerable in times past, when they\n      included a tenth part of all the first fruits which grew upon the\n      soil of the republic, and the firstlings of the cattle. But\n      lately this revenue has much fallen off, since by the law of the\n      17th of October, 1833, it is no longer obligatory upon the\n      cultivators to pay this contribution. Nevertheless, there still\n      are many persons who, for conscientious reasons, or for other\n      cause, continue to pay this tax, so that it produces a very\n      considerable sum. This part of the clergy also receive\n      considerable sums which have been left by devout persons for the\n      performance of certain annual ceremonies called\n      _anniversaries_.\n\n      \"The collegiate church of our Lady of Guadalupe has, in addition\n      to a monthly lottery, which operates upon a capital of $13,000,\n      certain properties and other capitals of which the government\n      takes no account.\n\n      \"Particular ecclesiastics and chaplains are supported on a\n      capital generally of $3000, established by certain pious persons\n      for that object, besides the alms of the faithful, which are\n      given for a certain number of masses to be applied to objects of\n      their devotion.\n\n      \"The support of curates consists of parochial rights, viz.,\n      fees for baptisms, marriages, funerals, responses, and religious\n      celebrations (_funcions_) which, in their respective churches,\n      they command the faithful to make; and, finally, by the profits\n      which they derive from the sale of _novenas_, medals,\n      scapularies, ribbons (_madedas_), wax, and other objects which\n      the parishioners employ.\n\n      \"The income of convents of monks, besides the alms which they\n      receive for masses, _funcions_, and funerals, which they\n      celebrate in the convent churches, consists of the rents of great\n      properties which they have accumulated in the course of ages.\n\n      \"The convents of nuns are in like manner supported by the income\n      of great estates, with the exception of two or three convents\n      which possess no property, and whose inmates live on charity.\n\n      \"Besides the incomes named, which pertain to the _personnel_ of\n      the clergy, there are, in the cathedrals and other parochial\n      [churches], revenues which arise from some properties and\n      foundations created for attending to certain dues called\n      \"_fabrica_\" which consist of all those objects necessary for the\n      services of this worship (_culta_).\n\n      \"From the want of publicity which is generally observed in the\n      management of the properties and _rents_ [incomes] of the clergy,\n      it is impossible to fix exactly the value of one or the other;\n      but they can be calculated approximately by taking for the basis\n      those data which are within the reach of the public, which are\n      the total value of the production of the annual return\n      (_movimiento_) of the population for births, marriages, deaths,\n      and, finally, the devout practices which are still customary\n      among the greater part of the population. Observing carefully\n      these data, I assume, without the fear of committing a great\n      error, that the total amount which the clergy to-day realize in\n      the whole extent of the republic, for _rents_, proceeds of\n      tithes, parochial rights, alms, religious ceremonies\n      (_funcions_), and for the sale of divers objects of devotion, is\n      between eight and ten millions of dollars.\n\n      \"Some writers have estimated the properties belonging to the\n      clergy at one half of the productive wealth of the nation; others\n      at one third part; but I can not give much credit to such\n      writers, as they are only calculations that rest on no certain\n      data. I am sure that the total amount of the property of the\n      clergy, for chaplaincies, foundations, and other pious uses,\n      together with rustic and city properties, which belong to the\n      divers religious corporations, amount to an enormous sum,\n      notwithstanding the falling off that is said to have taken place\n      from the amounts of former years.\n\n      \"All property in the district of Mexico [federal district] is\n      estimated at $50,000,000, the half of which pertains to the\n      clergy. Uniting the product of this property to the tithes,\n      parochial rights, etc., I am well assured that the total of the\n      income of the clergy amounts to from eighteen to twenty millions\n      of dollars.\"\n\n      [66] The Archbishop of Mexico                    $130,000\n           The Bishop of Pueblo                         110,000\n           The Bishop of Valladolid                     110,000\n           The Bishop of Guadalajara                     90,000\n           The Bishop of Durango                         35,000\n           The Bishop of Monterey                        30,000\n           The Bishop of Yucatan                         20,000\n           The Bishop of Oajaca                          18,000\n           The Bishop of Sonora                           6,000\n                                                       --------\n           Total individual income of twelve bishops   $539,000\n\n                --_Essai Politique_, vol. i. p. 173.\n\n      The reason why the Bishop of Sonora was limited to $6000 was that\n      his diocese was so poor that he had that salary paid out of the\n      king's revenue.\n\n      [67] Most of the Jews of our day are the descendants of the\n      Babylonian Jews, who did not return to Jerusalem after the\n      Captivity, but remained in the province of Babylon until they\n      were driven out, some four hundred or more years after Christ;\n      the Babylonian, not the Jerusalem Talmud, being most commonly in\n      use among them.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXIX.\n\nCauses that have diminished the Religios.--The Provincials and\nSuperiors of Convents.--The perfect Organization.--The Monks.--San\nFranciscans.--Dominicans.--Carmelites.--The well-reputed Orders.--The\nJesuits.--The Nuns.--How Novices are procured.--Contrasted with a\nQuaker Prison.--The poor deluded Nun.--A good old Quaker Woman not a\nSaint.--Protestantism felt in Mexico.\n\n\nTHE RELIGIOUS ORDERS.\n\nThe monkish orders of Mexico have remained unchanged from the time of\ntheir first establishment. We have seen that they have fallen off\nimmensely in numbers, but have increased immensely in efficiency, by\nthe termination of those internal controversies between the\nSpanish-born and Creoles, and by enfranchisement from state control.\nNot only are they now all native-born, but the Meztizos seem to be the\npredominant race in the priesthood. The priesthood is not now so\ninviting an employment as it was before the suppression of the\nInquisition. Miracles have ceased to be a profitable speculation, while\nthe revenue once paid to the monks has been followed by ill-suppressed\ncontempt. The employment once monopolized by the Spaniards being now\nthrown open to general competition, there is less willingness to submit\nto the despotism which ever reigns in religious houses than there was\nin the times of the vice-kings. Hard fare, cruel treatment, and public\ncontempt have diminished the candidates for monastic orders, until the\nold proverb--\"He that can not do better, let him turn monk\"--is not\nunknown at Mexico. With the increase of liberty the number of nuns has\ndiminished, as violence can no longer be used in getting a girl into a\nconvent. For all these reasons the number of the _religios_ has rapidly\ndiminished, while the wealth and efficiency of the Church has\nincreased.\n\nHaving spoken of the bishops, the lords spiritual of Mexico, and the\ncontrolling influence they exercise over a feeble government, we come\nnext to the second class of spiritual masters of the country--the heads\nof orders, the provincials, and the heads of religious houses. These\ntwo classes of dignitaries are usually elected for their known severity\nof discipline, either by the procurement of the bishop, or through\nfanaticism of the monks or nuns, who, having voluntarily made\nthemselves convicts and prisoners for life, now undertake to add to\ntheir self-afflicted mortification by choosing for their head a\nsuperior the most hateful of their number. The novice is taught that\nthe greatest favor with Heaven is to be obtained by implicit obedience\nunder most trying circumstances, and the more cruel the despotism they\nunmurmuringly submit to, the greater will be the accumulation of good\nworks. But cursed to the lowest depths of Purgatory is that recluse who\ndares to murmur even in his inmost thoughts; and if he so far forgets\nhis duty as to murmur aloud, then all the powers of the Church are\nbrought to crush his insubordination.\n\nWe have thus followed spiritual despotism through its various stages,\nfrom the Pope to the bishops; from the bishops to the provincials of\nreligious orders; and then down to superiors of a community of half a\ndozen monks or nuns, by whom immorality is pardonable, but who regard\ndisobedience or insubordination in the slightest particular \"like the\nsin of witchcraft and idolatry.\" Such is the perfect organization of\nthe papacy in all its parts, which, acting as one great secret,\npolitical, social, and religious association, labors continually to\nconcentrate the riches of the nations at Rome as a common centre.\n\nThere is a peculiar feature in the Catholic Church in Mexico unknown in\nother Catholic countries: it is the preponderance of the regular clergy\n(monks) over the secular clergy. This is owing to Cortez, who wrote to\nthe Emperor Charles V. to send him regulars, for the conversion of the\nIndians, instead of seculars, assigning as a reason for this request\n\"that the latter display extravagant luxury, leave great wealth to\ntheir natural children, and give great scandal to the newly-converted\nIndians.\" Hence more than one half of the Mexican clergy are monks, and\nwear the cowl; for at the time of the census of 1793, as we have seen,\nthere were in the city of Mexico 1646 monks, besides lay brothers,\nagainst 550 secular priests, while in the fifteen convents for nuns\nthere were 923 of these female monks.\n\n\nCHARACTER OF THE DIFFERENT ORDERS.\n\nThe reader has already become quite familiar with the Franciscan\nfathers and their vows of poverty and self-mortification, and their\nskill at playing for gold ounces. They have pretty well maintained that\nreputation since the time of Friar Thomas Gage. But there are some\nhonorable exceptions to this rule, though few and far between. We have\nalready noticed how they were favored by Cortez, and the result has\nbeen that they are the richest fraternity in the republic. These holy\nmen of the Angelic Order of Saint Francis have lately discovered a new\nsource of wealth in renting their large central court to a Frenchman,\nwho occupies it with the best garden of plants in Mexico; and as the\nconvent occupies nearly a whole square in the central part of the city,\nthey have pierced the convent walls, and rented out shops upon the\nbusiness streets, while the soldiers of Santa Anna occupy the vacant\ncloisters of the convent. In this \"happy family,\" with all the immense\nwealth of the establishment, the _donados_, and those monks who are so\npoor as to have no friends, find but a miserable subsistence.\n\nOf the Dominicans I have already spoken in connection with the\nInquisition. In their yard is the flag-stone which was used by them in\noffering human sacrifice before the Revolution. There it is kept as a\nrelic and symbol of the power once enjoyed by the Church. There is yet\na lingering hope that there may be restored to these brethren the power\nof roasting alive human beings. In speaking of depravity of morals, it\nis hard to say which of the fraternities has reached the lowest level,\nthough common consent concedes the palm to the Dominicans.\n\nThe name of the Carmelites carries us back to the time of the Crusades;\nbut they are better known in Mexico as the former proprietors of the\n_Desierto_, which Thomas Gage so touchingly describes. Their habitual\npractice of self-denial and mortification, in appearance, while rioting\non the luxuries that devotees lavished upon them, has not been\nforgotten. These holy brothers had a hand in the Inquisition as well as\nthe Dominicans. They were a set of scamps set to watch the purity of\nother men's lives, while they themselves lived a life of habitual\nprofligacy. The ruins of their old convent, the _Desierto_, is still\none of the most attractive spots about the city. As the traveler\nwanders among its ruined walls, he will find in the subterraneous cells\nring-bolts fastened in the walls, where poor prisoners for their faith\nendured something more than self-mortification.\n\nThe monks of Santiago, San Augustin, and the Capuchins have all fine\nconvents, and are rich; but the monks of Saint James are the most\ninveterate beggars.\n\nThe monks of San Fernando enjoy an enviable reputation compared with\nthe spotted sheep I have just been considering. They are late comers,\nand have not learned all the ways of wickedness of the older orders.\nNext come the \"Brethren of the Profession,\" of whom it is pleasant to\nspeak, after saying so many hard things of their neighbors. They stand\nso high as men of character and learning, that I am tempted to tell\ntheir story on hearsay, for want of better authority. They were once\nJesuits, but when the royal _cebula_ of Carlos III. came for their\nexpulsion, these fathers had sustained so good a character for charity\nand usefulness that they were allowed to return, on condition of\nrenouncing the name and peculiarities of that order. I am inclined to\nbelieve this strange story to be substantially true, for clearly they\nare of the Jesuits, and yet they are not Jesuits. The reputation which\nthey enjoyed in 1767 they still retain, and not only command the\nrespect of all classes of society in Mexico, but their chapel is the\nfashionable church of the city, where genteel people resort to say\ntheir prayers.\n\n\"The Brethren of the Holy Places of Jerusalem\"--the Hieronomite monks,\nare not numerous, and are known in the markets as lenders of money,\nwith the interest of which they support themselves and \"the poor saints\nof Jerusalem;\" that is, a portion of those lazy, greasy, fighting Latin\nmonks at Jerusalem, that have been one of the causes of the present war\nin Europe.\n\n\"The Hospitalers of Saint John\" (_Juanos_) are better known for their\nexploits in the time of the Crusaders than for any thing they have done\nin Mexico.\n\nIt would be a thrice-told tale to repeat the story of the Jesuits; the\nworld knows that too well already. The details of their proceedings in\nMexico till the time of their expulsion have been too often written by\ntheir enemies. Their great prosperity and their great wealth made them\nthe envy of the other orders, as corrupt and depraved as themselves,\nbut not so dangerous, because they had reached that point at which\ndepravity ceases to contaminate. Dirty, greasy monks could not endure\nan order that wore the garb of gentlemen, and were in favor with the\naristocracy, while they themselves were despised.\n\nThis envy was all-powerful with them, and led, for a time, to the\nlaying aside of their own private bickerings, and uniting in the\ncrusade against the common enemy, the Jesuits, and acting in harmony\nwith the political power.\n\n\nNUNNERIES.\n\nThe Church has always made much of the nuns. It has ever been the\ncustom of the priesthood to endeavor to throw a veil of romance over\nthe very unromantic way of life followed by females who have shut\nthemselves up for life in a place hardly equal to a second-class\nstate-prison. Woman has an important place which God has assigned her\nin the world; but when she separates herself from the family circle,\nand elbows her way to the rostrum, where, with a semi-masculine attire,\nand with a voice not intended for oratory, she harangues a tittering\ncrowd upon the rights of women to perform the duties of men; or goes to\nthe opposite extreme, and shuts herself up within high stone walls to\navoid the society of the other sex, she equally sins against her own\nnature, and not only brings misery upon herself, but inflicts upon\nsociety the evils of a pernicious example, and furnishes a theme for\nall kinds of scandal.\n\nProud families who have portionless daughters; relatives who desire to\nget rid of heirs to coveted estates; convents in want of funds and\nendowments,[68] or a pretty victim for the public entertainment on\ntaking the veil; friends who have unmarriageable women on their hands;\nand romantic young misses, ambitious of playing the queen for a day at\nthe cost of being a prisoner for life, have all contributed to populate\nthe fifteen nunneries of the city of Mexico. In the flourishing times\nof the Inquisition, this business of inveigling choice victims into\nconvents was more profitable, for then murmuring could be crushed into\nsilence, and parents dreaded to oppose the wretched pimps of\nsuperstition who came to inveigle their daughters into convents.\n\n\nNUNNERIES AND PRISONS.\n\nThe Quaker prison of Philadelphia is a paradise compared with such a\nplace as this. If the reader has ever placed his eye at the keeper's\neye-hole in that prison, he must have seen in many a cell a cheerful\nface, and the appearance of as much comfort as is compatible with an\nimprisoned condition; for ministering angels have been there--mothers\nin Israel, who have torn themselves from their domestic duties for a\nlittle time to minister consolation to the very criminals in prison;\nand, now that the prison-door has separated the poor wretch forever\nfrom society, whose laws have been outraged, she, by her kindness and\nteaching, has led the convict to look to Heaven with a hope of\nforgiveness, and daily to pray for those he has injured, while he reads\nin the holy book which she gave him, that a repenting thief accompanied\nthe Son of God to Paradise.\n\nLet us turn from such an unpoetical scene as this, which that cheerful\nprison presents, to the convent of Santa Teresa, the most celebrated of\nall the ten or fifteen nunneries now in operation about the city of\nMexico. In a cold, damp, comfortless cell, kneeling upon the pavement,\nwe may see a delicate woman mechanically repeating her daily-imposed\npenance of Latin prayers, before the image of a favorite saint and a\nbasin of holy water. This self-regulating, automaton praying machine,\nas she counts off the number of allotted prayers by the number of beads\nupon her rosary, beats into her bosom the sharp edge of an iron cross\nthat rests within her shirt of sacking-cloth, until, nature and her\ntask exhausted, she throws herself down upon a wooden bed, so\ningeniously arranged as to make sleep intolerable.[69] This poor victim\nof self-inflicted daily torture, half crazed from insufficient food,\nand sleep, and clothing, has endured all this misery to accumulate a\nstock of good works for the use of less meritorious sinners, besides\nthe amount necessary to carry herself to heaven; for penance, and not\nrepentance, is this poor pagan's password for salvation.\n\nThe old Quakeress is not a fashionable saint, for she never dreamed of\nthis huxter business in spiritual affairs. Out of the overflowing\ngoodness of her heart, she had tried to lighten the miseries of life in\nher own humble and quiet way, and found her happiness in seeing all\nabout her made comfortable. The money that others expended in buying\nmasses for the repose of their own souls and those of their relatives\nafter death, she expended in ministering to soul and body in this\nworld, leaving to God above the affairs of departed spirits, to deal\nwith them according to His mercy. She never presumed to add to the\ntorments of this life, or undertook to lighten the torments of the\ndeparted. Her duties lay all in this world, and when her labors were\nended, she quietly lay down in death, leaving her future condition to\nGod. She never would pierce her bosom with an iron cross, though it had\noften been pierced by the trials of life. She has seen enough of real\npoverty and mortification, but never dreamed of such a thing as poverty\nand mortification self-imposed, by wearing upon her flesh a garment of\nsacking-cloth, or the ingenious invention of a bed so contrived as to\ndeprive herself of wholesome sleep. Images and holy water occupy no\nplace in her creed, though soap and water are almost too prominent. She\ndid her good deeds from a sense of duty which she owed to her kind, and\nfrom the pleasure that it gave her to relieve misery while discharging\nthe ordinary duties of life, and never dreamed of the sweet odor her\ngood works left behind her--an odor which followed her to heaven--an\nodor more acceptable to the Almighty than all the endowments she might\nhave left to pay for masses for the repose of her soul.\n\n\nSELF-CASTIGATION.\n\nThere is so much that is monotonous in talking over the details of\naffairs of the different orders of these female monks, from the Sister\nof Guadalupe to the Sisterhood of Mercy, that it is as well to consider\nthem as one, as divers households of single women, who, to win\nextraordinary favor of God, had separated themselves from their\nfamilies, and devoted their lives, some to repeating prayers and acts\nof self-mortification, some to attending at the hospitals on the sick\nor the blind, the idiotic, the deformed, the deaf and the dumb, others\nto educating young ladies according to their peculiar notions of\neducation, others again consecrating themselves to pauperism, and\nliving upon charity; and when the daily supply of alms has failed,\nthese self-made poor sisters collect together, and there wait and pray,\nand ring their bell, until some benevolent individual shall chance to\nhear the well-known signal, and come and relieve them.\n\nSuch is the system of religion of all countries which bear the\nChristian name, but where freedom does not exist, and where liberty can\nnot thrive. There is a trifling difference in its phases as exhibited\nin the Greek and the Latin Churches, but the difference is too slight\nfor us outsiders to notice. In Mexico it exists in its most\nunadulterated state, less contaminated than elsewhere with\nProtestantism or other foreign substances.\n\n\nPENANCES.\n\nThe old farce of self-castigation is here still enacted, as it has been\nfor three hundred years, but in the dark, _of course_; and blood, or\nsome substitute for it, is heard to fall upon the floor by the few\nselected witnesses;[70] but a party of boys, report says, being\nsomewhat skeptical about the quality of this blood, concealed\nthemselves in the church, and when the pious farce began, took so\nactive a part in the sport upon the naked backs of the fathers, as to\ninflict bodily injury, and break up the bloody entertainment. Still\nProtestantism has been felt in Mexico, if not embraced, and the common\npeople look back to the happy time when the soldiers of their\nProtestant conquerors made money plenty among them, and when\neven-handed justice was dealt out alike to rich and poor, high and low.\nThough the foreigners laughed at the fables of the priests and\nridiculed the monks, they yet were honest in their dealings with the\npeople instead of taking by violence. As there are no people so\nbesotted that they do not admire courage and honesty, so the _Paisano_\nlooks upon the heretic as a man of a superior race to himself.\n\n      [68] I have selected three cases of taking the veil, to which I\n      have added captions, which lift the veil from this practice of\n      consecrating young girls to superstitions uses. They are\n      extracted from Madame Calderon's Life in Mexico.\n\n      _Taking the Veil._\n\n      \"I followed the guide back into the sacristy [of the convent],\n      where the future nun was seated beside her grandmother, in the\n      midst of her friends and relations, about thirty in all.\n\n      \"She was arrayed in pale blue satin, with diamonds, pearls, and a\n      crown of flowers. She was literally smothered in blonde and\n      jewels; and her face was flushed, as well it might be, for she\n      had passed the day in taking leave of her friends at a fete they\n      had given her, and had then, according to custom, been paraded\n      through the town in all her finery. And now her last hour was at\n      hand. When I came in, she rose and embraced me with as much\n      cordiality as if we had known each other for years. Beside her\n      sat the Madrina, also in white satin and jewels; all the\n      relations being likewise decked out in their finest array. The\n      nun kept laughing every now and then in the most unnatural and\n      hysterical manner, as I thought, apparently to impress us with\n      the conviction of her perfect happiness; for it is a great point\n      of honor among girls similarly situated to look as cheerful and\n      gay as possible--the same feeling, though in a different degree,\n      which induces the gallant highwayman to jest in the presence of\n      the multitude when the hangman's cord is within an inch of his\n      neck; the same which makes a gallant general, whose life is\n      forfeited, command his men to fire on him; the same which makes\n      the Hindoo widow mount the funeral pile without a tear in her eye\n      or a sigh on her lips. If the robber were to be strangled in the\n      corner of his dungeon--if the general were to be put to death\n      privately in his own apartment--if the widow were to be burned\n      quietly on her own hearth--if the nun were to be secretly\n      smuggled in at the convent gate like a bale of contraband goods,\n      we might hear another tale. This girl was very young, but by no\n      means pretty; on the contrary, rather _disgraciee par la nature_;\n      and perhaps a knowledge of her own want of attractions may have\n      caused the world to have few charms for her.\n\n      \"Suddenly the curtain was withdrawn, and the picturesque beauty\n      of the scene within baffles all description. Beside the altar,\n      which was in a blaze of light, was a perfect mass of crimson and\n      gold drapery; the walls, the antique chairs, the table before\n      which the priests sat, all hung with the same splendid material.\n      The Bishop wore his superb mitre, and robes of crimson and gold,\n      the attendant priests also glittering in crimson and gold\n      embroidery.\n\n      \"In contrast to these, five-and-twenty figures, entirely robed in\n      black from head to foot, were ranged on each side of the room,\n      prostrate, their faces touching the ground, and in their hands\n      immense lighted tapers. On the foreground was spread a purple\n      carpet bordered round with a garland of freshly-gathered flowers,\n      roses, and carnations, and heliotrope, the only things that\n      looked real and living in the whole scene; and in the middle of\n      this knelt the novice, still arrayed in her blue satin, white\n      lace veil and jewels, and also with a great lighted taper in her\n      hand.\n\n      \"The black nuns then rose and sang a hymn, every now and then\n      falling on their faces and touching the floor with their\n      foreheads. The whole looked like an incantation, or a scene in\n      Robert le Diable. The novice was then raised from the ground and\n      led to the feet of the Bishop, who examined her as to her\n      vocation, and gave her his blessing, and once more the black\n      curtain fell between us and them.\n\n      \"In the _second act_ she was lying prostrate on the floor,\n      disrobed of her profane dress, and covered over with a black\n      cloth, while the black figures kneeling around her chanted a\n      hymn. She was now dead to the world. The sunbeams had faded away\n      as if they would not look upon the scene, and all the light was\n      concentrated in one great mass upon the convent group.\n\n      \"Again she was raised. All the blood had rushed into her face,\n      and her attempt to smile was truly painful. She then knelt down\n      before the Bishop, and received the benediction, with the sign of\n      the cross, from a white hand with the pastoral ring. She then\n      went round alone to embrace all the dark phantoms as they stood\n      motionless, and as each dark shadow clasped her in its arms, it\n      seemed like the dead welcoming a new arrival to the shades.\n\n      \"But I forget the sermon, which was delivered by a fat priest,\n      who elbowed his way with some difficulty through the crowd to the\n      grating, panting and in a prodigious heat, and ensconced himself\n      in a great armchair close beside us. He assured her that she 'had\n      chosen the good part, which could not be taken away from her;'\n      that she was now one of the elect, 'chosen from among the\n      wickedness and dangers of the world'--(picked out like a plum\n      from a pie). He mentioned with pity and contempt those who were\n      'yet struggling in the great Babylon,' and compared their\n      miserable fate with hers, the Bride of Christ, who, after\n      suffering a few privations here during a short term of years,\n      should be received at once into a kingdom of glory. The whole\n      discourse was well calculated to rally her fainting spirits, if\n      fainting they were, and to inspire us with a great disgust for\n      ourselves.\n\n      \"When the sermon was concluded the music again struck up; the\n      heroine of the day came forward, and stood before the grating to\n      take her last look of this wicked world. Down fell the black\n      curtain. Up rose the relations, and I accompanied them into the\n      sacristy. Here they coolly lighted their cigars, and very\n      philosophically discoursed upon the exceeding good fortune of the\n      new-made nun, and on her evident delight and satisfaction with\n      her own situation. As we did not follow her behind the scenes, I\n      could not give my opinion on this point. Shortly after, one of\n      the gentlemen civilly led me to my carriage, and _so it\n      was_.\"\n\n      _A Victim for her Musical Powers._\n\n      \"In the convent of the Incarnation I saw another girl sacrificed\n      in a similar manner. She was received there without a dowry, on\n      account of the exceeding fineness of her voice. She little\n      thought what a fatal gift it would prove to her. The most cruel\n      part of all was that, wishing to display her fine voice to the\n      public, they made her sing a hymn alone, on her knees, her arms\n      extended in the form of a cross, before all the immense crowd:\n      \"Ancilla Christi sum,\" \"The bride of Christ I am.\" She was a\n      good-looking girl, fat and comely, who would probably have led a\n      comfortable life in the world, for which she seemed well fitted;\n      most likely without one touch of romance or enthusiasm in her\n      composition; but, having the unfortunate honor of being niece to\n      two _chanoines_, she was thus honorably provided for without\n      expense in her nineteenth year. As might be expected, her voice\n      faltered, and instead of singing, she seemed inclined to cry out.\n      Each note came slowly, heavily, tremblingly; and at last she\n      nearly fell forward exhausted, when two of the sisters caught and\n      supported her.\"\n\n      _A Victim of her Confessor._\n\n      \"She was in purple velvet, with diamonds and pearls, and a crown\n      of flowers; the corsage of her gown was entirely covered with\n      little bows of ribbon of divers colors, which her friends had\n      given her, each adding one, like stones thrown on a cairn in\n      memory of the departed. She had also short sleeves and white\n      satin shoes.\n\n      \"Being very handsome, with fine black eyes, good teeth, and fresh\n      color, and, above all, with the beauty of youth, for she is but\n      eighteen, she was not disfigured by even this overloaded dress.\n      Her mother, on the contrary, who was to act the part of Madrina,\n      who wore a dress facsimile, and who was pale and sad, her eyes\n      almost extinguished with weeping, looked like a picture of Misery\n      in a ball-dress. In the adjoining room long tables were laid out,\n      on which servants were placing refreshments for the fete about to\n      be given on this joyous occasion. I felt somewhat shocked, and\n      inclined to say with Paul Pry, 'Hope I don't intrude.'\n\n      \"----, however, was furious at the whole affair, which he said\n      was entirely against the mother's consent, though that of the\n      father had been obtained; and pointed out to me the confessor\n      whose influence had brought it about. The girl herself was now\n      very pale, but evidently resolved to conceal her agitation, and\n      the mother seemed as if she could shed no more tears--quite\n      exhausted with weeping. As the hour for the ceremony drew near,\n      the whole party became more grave and sad, all but the priests,\n      who were smiling and talking together in groups. The girl was not\n      still a moment. She kept walking hastily through the house,\n      taking leave of the servants, and naming, probably, her last\n      wishes about every thing. She was followed by her younger\n      sisters, all in tears.\n\n      \"But it struck six, and the priests intimated that it was time to\n      move. She and her mother went down stairs alone, and entered the\n      carriage which was to drive them through all the principal\n      streets, to show the nun to the public, according to custom, and\n      to let them take their last look, they of her and she of them. As\n      they got in, we all crowded to the balconies to see her take\n      leave of her house, her aunts saying, 'Yes, child, _despidete\n      de tu casa_, take leave of your house, for you will never see\n      it again!' Then came sobs from the sisters; and many of the\n      gentlemen, ashamed of their emotion, hastily quitted the room. I\n      hope, for the sake of humanity, I did not rightly interpret the\n      look of constrained anguish which the poor girl threw from the\n      window of the carriage at the home of her childhood.\n\n      \"At stated periods, indeed, the mother may hear her daughter's\n      voice speaking to her as from the depths of the tomb, but she may\n      never fold her in her arms, never more share in her joys or in\n      her sorrows, or nurse her in sickness; and when her own last hour\n      arrives, though but a few streets divide them, she may not give\n      her dying blessing to the child who has been for so many years\n      the pride of her eyes and heart.\n\n      \"They gave me an excellent place, quite close to the grating,\n      beside the Countess de S----o; that is to say, a place to kneel\n      on. A great bustle and much preparation seemed to be going on\n      within the convent, and veiled figures were flitting about,\n      whispering, arranging, &c. Sometimes a skinny old dame would come\n      close to the grating, and, lifting up her veil, bestow upon the\n      pensive public a generous view of a very haughty and very\n      wrinkled visage of some seventy years standing, and beckon into\n      the church for the major-domo of the convent (an excellent and\n      profitable situation, by the way), or for padre this or that.\n      Some of the holy ladies recognized and spoke to me through the\n      grating.\n\n      \"But, at the discharge of fireworks outside the church, the\n      curtain was dropped, for this was the signal that the nun and her\n      mother had arrived. An opening was made in the crowd as they\n      passed into the church, and the girl, kneeling down, was\n      questioned by the bishop, but I could not make out the dialogue,\n      which was carried on in a low voice. She then passed into the\n      convent by a side door, and her mother, quite exhausted and\n      nearly in hysterics, was supported through the crowd to a place\n      beside us, in front of the grating. The music struck up; the\n      curtain was again drawn aside. The scene was as striking here as\n      in the convent of the Santa Teresa, but not so lugubrious. The\n      nuns, all ranged around, and carrying lighted tapers in their\n      hands, were dressed in mantles of bright blue, with a gold plate\n      on the left shoulder. Their faces, however, were covered with\n      deep black veils. The girl, kneeling in front, and also bearing a\n      heavy lighted taper, looked beautiful, with her dark hair and\n      rich dress, and the long black lashes resting on her glowing\n      face. The churchmen near the illuminated and magnificently-decked\n      altar formed, as usual, a brilliant background to the picture.\n      The ceremony was the same as on the former occasion, but there\n      was no sermon.\n\n      \"The most terrible thing to witness was the last, straining,\n      anxious look which the mother gave her daughter through the\n      grating. She had seen her child pressed to the arms of strangers\n      and welcomed to her new home. She was no longer hers. All the\n      sweet ties of nature had been rudely severed, and she had been\n      forced to consign her, in the very bloom of youth and beauty, at\n      the very age in which she most required a mother's care, and when\n      she had but just fulfilled the promise of her childhood, to a\n      living tomb. Still, as long as the curtain had not fallen, she\n      could gaze upon her as upon one on whom, though dead, the\n      coffin-lid is not yet closed.\n\n      \"But while the new-made nun was in a blaze of light and distinct\n      on the foreground, so that we could mark each varying expression\n      of her face, the crowd in the church, and the comparative\n      faintness of the light, probably made it difficult for her to\n      distinguish her mother; for, knowing that the end was at hand,\n      she looked anxiously and hurriedly into the church, without\n      seeming able to fix her eyes on any particular object, while her\n      mother seemed as if her eyes were glazed, so intensely were they\n      fixed upon her daughter.\n\n      \"Suddenly, and without any preparation, down fell the black\n      curtain like a pall, and the sobs and tears of the family broke\n      forth. One beautiful little child was carried out almost in fits.\n      Water was brought to the poor mother; and at last, making our way\n      with difficulty through the dense crowd, we got into the\n      sacristy. 'I declare,' said the Countess ---- to me, wiping her\n      eyes, 'it is worse than a marriage!' I expressed my horror at the\n      sacrifice of a girl so young that she could not possibly have\n      known her own mind. Almost all the ladies agreed with me,\n      especially all who had daughters, but many of the old gentlemen\n      were of a different opinion. The young men were decidedly of my\n      way of thinking, but many young girls who were conversing\n      together seemed rather to envy their friend, who had looked so\n      pretty and graceful, and 'so happy,' and whose dress 'suited her\n      so well,' and to have no objection to 'go and do likewise.'\"\n\n      [69] \"The Santa Teresa, however, has few ornaments. It is not\n      nearly so large as the _Encarnacion_, and admits but\n      twenty-one nuns. At present there are, besides these, but three\n      novices. Its very atmosphere seems holy, and its scrupulous and\n      excessive cleanness makes all profane dwellings seem dirty by\n      comparison. We were accompanied by a bishop, Senor Madrid, the\n      same who assisted at the archbishop's consecration--a\n      good-looking man, young and tall, and very splendidly dressed.\n      His robes were of purple satin, covered with fine point-lace,\n      with a large cross of diamonds and amethysts. He also wore a\n      cloak of very fine purple cloth, lined with crimson velvet,\n      crimson stockings, and an immense amethyst ring.\n\n      \"When he came in we found that the nuns had permission to put up\n      their veils, rarely allowed in this order in the presence of\n      strangers. They have a small garden and fountain, plenty of\n      flowers, and some fruit; but all is on a smaller scale, and\n      sadder than in the convent of the Incarnation. The refectory is a\n      large room, with a long, narrow table running all round it--a\n      plain deal table, with wooden benches; before the place of each\n      nun, an earthen bowl, an earthen cup with an apple in it, a\n      wooden plate, and a wooden spoon; at the top of the table a\n      grinning skull, to remind them that even these indulgences they\n      shall not long enjoy.\n\n      \"In one corner of the room is a reading-desk, a sort of elevated\n      pulpit, where one reads aloud from some holy book while the\n      others discuss their simple fare. They showed us a crown of\n      thorns, which, on certain days, is worn by one of their number by\n      way of penance. It is made of iron, so that the nails, entering\n      inward, run into the head, and make it bleed. While she wears\n      this on her head, a sort of wooden bit is put into her mouth, and\n      she lies prostrate on her face till dinner is ended; and while in\n      this condition her food is given her, of which she eats as much\n      as she can, which probably is none.\n\n      \"We visited the different cells, and were horror-struck at the\n      self-inflicted tortures. Each bed consists of a wooden plank\n      raised in the middle, and, on days of penitence, crossed by\n      wooden bars. The pillow is wooden, with a cross lying on it,\n      which they hold in their hands when they lie down. The nun lies\n      on this penitential couch, embracing the cross, and her feet\n      hanging out, as the bed is made too short for her, upon\n      principle. Round her waist she occasionally wears a band with\n      iron points turning inward; on her breast a cross with nails, of\n      which the points enter the flesh, of the truth of which I had\n      melancholy ocular demonstration. Then, after having scourged\n      herself with a whip covered with iron nails, she lies down for a\n      few hours on the wooden bars, and rises at four o'clock. All\n      these instruments of discipline, which each nun keeps in a little\n      box beside her bed, look as if their fitting place would be in\n      the dungeons of the Inquisition. They made me try their _bed\n      and board_, which I told them would give me a very decided\n      taste for early rising.\n\n      \"Yet they all seem as cheerful as possible, though it must be\n      confessed that many of them look pale and unhealthy. It is said\n      that, when they are strong enough to stand this mode of life,\n      they live very long; but it frequently happens that girls who\n      come into this convent are obliged to leave it from sickness long\n      before the expiration of their novitiate. I met with the girl\n      whom I had seen take the veil, and can not say that she looked\n      either well or cheerful, though she assured me that 'of course,\n      in doing the will of God,' she was both. There was not much\n      beauty among them generally, though one or two had remains of\n      great loveliness. My friend, the Madre A----, is handsomer on a\n      closer view than I had supposed her, and seems an especial\n      favorite with old and young. But there was one whose face must\n      have been strikingly beautiful. She was as pale as marble, and,\n      though still young, seemed in very delicate health; but her eyes\n      and eyebrows were as black as jet; the eyes so large and soft,\n      the eyebrows two penciled arches, and her smiles so resigned and\n      sweet, would have made her the loveliest model imaginable for a\n      Madonna.\n\n      \"Again, as in the Incarnation, they had taken the trouble to\n      prepare an elegant supper for us. The bishop took his place in an\n      antique velvet chair; the Senora ---- and I were placed on each\n      side of him. The room was very well lighted, and there was as\n      great a profusion of custards, jellies, and ices as if we had\n      been supping at the most profane _cafe_. The nuns did not sit\n      down, but walked about, pressing us to eat, the bishop now and\n      then giving them cakes, with permission to eat them, which they\n      received laughing.\n\n      \"After supper a small harp was brought in, which had been sent\n      for by the bishop's permission. It was terribly out of tune, with\n      half the strings broken; but we were determined to grudge no\n      trouble in putting it in order, and giving these poor recluses\n      what they considered so great a gratification. We got it into\n      some sort of condition at last, and when they heard it played,\n      they were vehement in their expressions of delight. The Senora\n      ----, who has a charming voice, afterward sang to them, the\n      bishop being very indulgent, and permitting us to select whatever\n      songs we chose, so that, when rather a profane canticle, \"The\n      Virgin of the Pillar\" (La Virgin del Pilar), was sung, he very\n      kindly turned a deaf ear to it, and seemed busily engaged in\n      conversation with an old madre till it was all over.\n\n      \"In these robes they are buried; and one would think that if any\n      human being can ever leave this world without a feeling of\n      regret, it must be a nun of the Santa Teresa, when, her\n      privations in this world ended, she lays down her blameless life,\n      and joins the pious sisterhood who have gone before her; dying\n      where she has lived, surrounded by her companions, her last hours\n      soothed by their prayers and tears, sure of their vigils for the\n      repose of her soul, and, above all, sure that neither pleasure\n      nor vanity will ever obliterate her remembrance from their\n      hearts.\"--_Life in Mexico_, vol. ii. p. 9.\n\n      [70] \"All Mexicans at present, men and women, are engaged in what\n      are called the _desagravios_, a public penance performed at this\n      season in the churches during thirty-five days. The women attend\n      church in the morning, no men being permitted to enter, and the\n      men in the evening, when women are not admitted. Both rules are\n      occasionally broken. The penitence of the men is most severe,\n      their sins being no doubt proportionably greater than those of\n      the women; though it is one of the few countries where they\n      suffer for this, or seem to act upon the principle, that 'if all\n      men had their deserts, who would escape whipping?'\n\n      \"To-day we attended the morning penitence at six o'clock, in the\n      church of San Francisco, the hardest part of which was their\n      having to kneel for about ten minutes with their arms extended in\n      the form of a cross, uttering groans, a most painful position for\n      any length of time. It was a profane thought, but I dare say so\n      many hundreds of beautifully-formed arms and hands were seldom\n      seen extended at the same moment before. Gloves not being worn in\n      church, and many of the women having short sleeves, they were\n      very much seen.\n\n      \"But the other night I was present at a much stranger scene, at\n      the discipline performed by the men, admission having been\n      procured for us by certain means, _private but powerful_.\n      Accordingly, when it was dark, enveloped from head to foot in\n      large cloaks, and without the slightest idea of what it was, we\n      went on foot through the streets to the church of San Agustin.\n      When we arrived, a small side door apparently opened of itself,\n      and we entered, passing through long vaulted passages, and up\n      steep winding stairs, till we found ourselves in a small railed\n      gallery looking down directly upon the church. The scene was\n      curious. About one hundred and fifty men, enveloped in cloaks and\n      sarapes, their faces entirely concealed, were assembled in the\n      body of the church. A monk had just mounted the pulpit, and the\n      church was dimly lighted, except where he stood in bold relief,\n      with his gay robes and cowl thrown back, giving a full view of\n      his high, bald forehead and expressive face.\n\n      \"His discourse was a rude but very forcible and eloquent\n      description of the torments prepared in hell for impenitent\n      sinners. The effect of the whole was very solemn. It appeared\n      like a preparation for the execution of a multitude of condemned\n      criminals. When the discourse was finished, they all joined in\n      prayer with much fervor and enthusiasm, beating their breasts and\n      falling upon their faces. Then the monk stood up, and in a very\n      distinct voice read several passages of Scripture descriptive of\n      the sufferings of Christ. The organ then struck up the\n      _Miserere_, and all of a sudden the church was plunged in\n      profound darkness, all but a sculptured representation of the\n      Crucifixion, which seemed to hang in the air illuminated. I felt\n      rather frightened, and would have been glad to leave the church,\n      but it would have been impossible in the darkness. Suddenly a\n      terrible voice in the dark cried, 'My brothers! when Christ was\n      fastened to the pillar by the Jews, he was _scourged_!' At these\n      words the bright figure disappeared, and the darkness became\n      total. Suddenly we heard the sound of hundreds of scourges\n      descending upon the bare flesh. I can not conceive any thing more\n      horrible. Before ten minutes had passed, the sound became\n      _splashing_ from the blood that was flowing.\n\n      \"I have heard of these penitencies in Italian churches, and also\n      that half of those who go there do not really scourge themselves;\n      but here, where there is such perfect concealment, there seems no\n      motive for deception. Incredible as it may seem, this awful\n      penance continued, without intermission, for half an hour! If\n      they scourged _each other_, their energy might be less\n      astonishing.\n\n      \"We could not leave the church, but it was perfectly sickening;\n      and had I not been able to take hold of the Senora ----'s hand,\n      and feel something human beside me, I could have fancied myself\n      transported into a congregation of evil spirits. Now and then,\n      but very seldom, a suppressed groan was heard, and occasionally\n      the voice of the monk encouraging them by ejaculations, or by\n      short passages from Scripture. Sometimes the organ struck up, and\n      the poor wretches; in a faint voice, tried to join in the\n      _Miserere_. The sound of the scourging is indescribable. At the\n      end of half an hour a little bell was rung, and the voice of the\n      monk was heard calling upon them to desist; but such was their\n      enthusiasm, that the horrible lashing continued louder and\n      fiercer than ever.\n\n      \"In vain he entreated them not to kill themselves, and assured\n      them that heaven would be satisfied, and that human nature could\n      not endure beyond a certain point. No answer but the loud sound\n      of the scourges, which are many of them of iron, with sharp\n      points that enter the flesh. At length, as if they were perfectly\n      exhausted, the sound grew fainter, and little by little ceased\n      altogether. We then got up in the dark, and with great difficulty\n      groped our way in the pitch darkness through the galleries and\n      down the stairs till we reached the door, and had the pleasure of\n      feeling the fresh air again. They say that the church floor is\n      frequently covered with blood after one of these penances, and\n      that a man died the other day in consequence of his\n      wounds.\"--_Life in Mexico_, vol. ii. p. 213.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXX.\n\nThe Necessity of large Capitals in Mexico.--The Finances and\nRevenue.--The impoverished Creditors of the State.--Princely\nWealth of Individuals.\n\n\nHaving spoken of the Church, the great power which overawes the\ngovernment, it is also proper to mention the secondary powers: the men\nof colossal fortune. In a country like Mexico, whose wealth arises from\nmines of silver, these immense private fortunes are requisite to the\nsuccessful development of its resources. Large capitals must be\nconstantly hazarded on the single chance of striking a _bonanza_, in an\nadventure as uncertain as a game of _monte_. The abandoned mine often\nturns out to be the treasury of an untold fortune to the man who was\nlaughed at for attempting its restoration, while the most promising\nadventure proves a total failure. The temptations to these adventures\nare dazzling in the extreme. The ambitious man forgets the shame and\nirretrievable ruin that follows a failure, and looks only to the\nchances of winning a title of nobility and \"a house full of silver.\"\nMen who shun the gambling-table will adventure all on a mine, and in a\nyear or two they have passed from the memory of men, for they have\nbecome poor. Again, a man of slender means has become rich in the\nMexican sense, which means a man of millions, and then he is at once\nelevated by his admirers into that brilliant constellation which is the\n\"great bear\" of the Mexican firmament.\n\n\nSTATE CREDITORS.\n\nStill, these powerful private individuals prevent the consolidation of\nany government, whether republican or dictatorial, and put far off that\nnecessary evil, the confiscation of the estates of the Church. If there\nis a Congress in session, its members are influenced as our own are\ninfluenced. They are swayed this way and that by private interests.\nWhen Congress is not in session, they are constantly operating upon the\ntreasury, or, rather, the minister of the treasury is diving about\namong them to raise the means to keep afloat from day to day. They will\nnot submit to their full share of taxation. When they advance money on\nthe pledge of some income, it is on the most onerous terms, so that at\nleast one quarter of the revenue of Mexico is used up in interest or\nusury. Long experience has reduced the business of shaving the revenue\nto a system. The most common way to do this is to buy up some claim at\ntwelve and a half cents on a dollar, and then couple it at par with a\nloan of money on the assignment of some _rent_. Every thing is farmed\nout, until at last, two years ago, Escandon proposed to farm the whole\nforeign duties.\n\nMany a time have I sat down in the large ante-room of the treasury to\nlook upon and study the characters of those who have come there to be\ndisappointed, when promises will no longer satisfy hunger. One poor\nwoman had got a new promise in 1851, and three months' interest, on\nmoney _deposited_ with the Consolado of Vera Cruz, and invested in 1810\nin building the great road of Perote. Santa Anna, on his return, gave\nher a new order, and she presented it to the minister with bright\nhopes, when he gave her fifteen dollars--all he had in the treasury.\nThe best way to collect a debt at Mexico is to convert it into a\nforeign debt, if possible, and then, if there is a resident that stands\nhigh with his minister, the matter meets with prompt attention. He that\ncan buy a foreign embassador at Mexico has made a fortune.\n\n\nMEXICAN MILLIONAIRES.\n\nI have spoken of two rich men of Mexico, the first Count of Regla, and\none who has succeeded to his mine. As I was standing on the Paseo, a\nlad passed driving a fine span of mules. \"That is the Count de Galvez,\"\nsaid my companion, \"the son of the late Count Perez Galvez, the lucky\nproprietor of the _bonanza_ in the mine of La Suz at Guanajuato.\"\n\n\"But that _bonanza_ has given out,\" said I.\n\n\"No matter; this boy's inheritance is sometimes estimated at\n$9,000,000.\" A snug capital with which to begin the world!\n\nLaborde, the Frenchman who projected and established the magnificent\ngarden at Cuarnavaca, and also built, from his private fortune, the\ngreat Cathedral of Toluca, made and spent two princely fortunes in\nsuccessful mining, and at last ended his checkered career in poverty.\nThe Countess Ruhl, the mother of young Galvez, and her brother the\nCount Ruhl, are also fortunate miners. The latter is now interested in\nthe _Real del Monte_. But the rich man of the Republic is the Marquis\nde Jaral, in the small but rich mining department of Guanajuato. This\nman's wealth surpasses that of all the three patriarchs put together. A\nfew years ago, the whole amount of his live-stock was set down by his\n_administrador_ (overseer) at three million head. He then sent thirty\nthousand sheep[71] to market, which yielded him from $2.50 to $3 a\nhead, or from $75,000 to $90,000 annually. The goats slaughtered on the\nestate amounted to about the same number, and yielded about the same\namount of revenue. Besides all this, there is his annual product of\nhorses and cattle, and corn and grain fields many miles in extent.\nTruly this Marquis of Jaral is a large farmer. But as I said of mining,\nso I may also say that large capitals are necessary to carry on\nagriculture successfully in the vast elevated plains of the northern,\nor, rather, interior departments, for the whole value of the valley of\nJaral consists in an artificial lake, which an ancestor of the present\nproprietor constructed before the Revolution for the purpose of\nirrigation; for, without irrigation, his little kingdom would be\nwithout value. I might speak of many other landed proprietors whose\nestates are princely, but none are equal to Jaral. Indeed, all men of\nwealth possess landed estates. It is the favorite investment for\nsuccessful miners to purchase a _few_ plantations, each of a dozen\nleagues or so, under cultivation.\n\n      [71] WARD'S _Mexico_, vol. ii. p. 470.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXXI.\n\nVisit to Pachuca and Real del Monte.--Otumba and Tulanzingo.--The grand\nCanal of Huehuetoca.--The Silver Mines of Pachuca.--Hakal Silver\nMines.--Real del Monte Mines.--The Anglo-Mexican Mining Fever.--My\nEquipment to descend a Mine.--The great Steam-pump.--Descending the\ngreat Shaft.--Galleries and Veins of Ore.--Among the Miners one\nthousand Feet under Ground.--The Barrel Process of refining\nSilver.--Another refining Establishment.\n\n\nAn opposition line of stages upon the road that extends sixty miles\nfrom the city of Mexico to the northern extremity of the valley has\nbrought down the fare to $3. It is a hard road to travel in the wet\nseason, and not a very interesting one at any time. Three miles of\ncauseway across the salt marsh brought us to the church and village of\nour Lady of Guadalupe Hidalgo. From this place we passed for several\nleagues along the barren tract that lies between the two salt-ponds of\nSan Cristobal and Tezcuco, and soon arrived at Tulanzingo, where the\ngreat battle of the Free-masons was fought, and where eight poor\nfellows lost their lives in the bloody encounter. This, and the\nhorrible battle of Otumba, which Cortez fought a little way east of\nthis spot, are memorable events in the history of Mexico--more\nmemorable than they deserve to have been.\n\nAs we rode along the eastern rim of the valley, the sun was shining\nbrightly on the western hill that inclosed it. The opening made by the\ncanal of Huehuetoca was plain in sight. To read about this canal and to\nderive an idea of it from books is to get an impression that here, at\nleast, the Spaniards did a wonderful work. But to look at it is to\ndissipate all such complimentary notions. The engineer who planned it\nmay have been a skillful man, but the government that fettered his\nmovements, like all Spanish governments of those times, consisted of a\ncross between fools and priests. Even those pious gamblers, the\nFranciscans, had a finger in the business. After absorbing, for near a\nhundred years, the revenue appropriated to completing the work, they\nabandoned it to the merchants of Mexico, who finally finished it. The\npond that was to be drained by it, the Zumpango, was certainly an\ninsignificant affair. There was nothing farther of interest until we\narrived at Pachuca.\n\nPachuca is the oldest mining district in Mexico. In its immediate\nvicinity are the most interesting silver mines of the republic. These\nmines were the first that were worked in the country, and immediately\nafter the Conquest they were very productive. They were worked for\ngenerations, and then abandoned; again resumed after lying idle for\nnearly a century, and worked for almost another hundred years; and then\nonce more abandoned, and resumed again while I was in Mexico. They now\nproduce that princely revenue to Escandon and Company of which I have\nalready spoken.\n\n\nTHE HAKAL MINE.\n\nThe Hakal (_Haxal_) mine in part belonged to the number of those which\nthe English Real del Monte Company worked on shares, with poor success,\nfor twenty-five years. It lies about three fourths of a mile from the\nvillage of Pachuca. That company devoted their chief attention to the\nmines upon the top of the mountain, at an elevation of 9057 feet, and\nseven miles distant from this place, and these mines were comparatively\nneglected. The new company, immediately upon taking possession, devoted\nparticular attention to the Hakal, which resulted in their striking a\n_bonanza_,[72] in the Rosario shaft, which was yielding, from a single\nsmall shaft, about $80,000 a month, if I recollect rightly.[73] The ore\nof this mine is of a peculiar quality, and its silver is best separated\nfrom the scoria by the smelting process, of which I shall treat more\nfully when I come to speak of the mines of Regla. The Guadalupe shaft,\nclose by the Rosario, was doing but little when I was there, as it does\nnot belong to the same proprietors. On the night of my arrival they had\njust completed the work of pumping the water out of the San Nicholas\nshaft, famous for the immense amount of silver taken from it in the\nearly period of the mining history of Mexico.\n\nMounted on a good horse, and followed by a lackey, I rode up the zigzag\ncarriage-road which the English company constructed a quarter of a\ncentury since in order to convey their immense steam machinery to the\ntop of the mountain, some seven miles distant. This road is still kept\nin a good state of repair, and forms a romantic drive for those who\nkeep carriages in the mountains. The sun was shining upon the\ncultivated hills and rolling lands far below us as we jogged along our\nwinding way up the mountain. At every turn in the road new beauties\npresented themselves. But it was getting too chilly for moralizing, and\nboth lackey and I were pleased when we reached the village upon the top\nof the mountain, which bears the name of Real del Monte. The house of\nentertainment here is kept by an English woman, who seems to be a part\nof the mining establishment. While in her domicile, I found no occasion\nto regret that I was again elevated into a cold latitude.\n\n\nTHE MINING MANIA.\n\nMore than thirty years have passed since that second South Sea\ndelusion, the Anglo-Spanish American mining fever, broke out in\nEngland. It surpassed a thousand-fold the wildest of all the New York\nand California mining and quartz mining organizations of the last five\nyears. Prudent financiers in London ran stark mad in calculating the\ndividends they must unavoidably realize upon investments in a business\nto be carried on in a distant country, and managed and controlled by a\ndebating society or board of directors in London. Money was advanced\nwith almost incredible recklessness, and agents were posted off with\nall secrecy to be first to secure from the owner of some abandoned mine\nthe right to work it before the agent of some other company should\narrive on the ground. No mine was to be looked at that was not named in\nthe volumes of Humboldt, and any mine therein named was valued above\nall price. In the end, some $50,000,000 of English capital ran out, and\nwas used up in Mexico. It was one of those periodical manias that\nregularly seize a commercial people once in ten years, and for which\nthere is no accounting, and no remedy but to let it have its way and\nwork out its own cure in the ruin of thousands. It is the same in our\nown country.[74]\n\n\nDESCENT INTO A MINE.\n\nAfter a hearty breakfast at the tavern, I called at the office, or, as\nit is here called, \"the Grand House\" (_Casa Grande_), and was\nintroduced by Mr. Auld, the director, to the foreman, who took me to\nthe dressing-room, where I was stripped, and clad in the garb of a\nminer except the boots, which were all too short for my feet. My rig\nwas an odd one; a skull-cap formed like a fireman's, a miner's coat and\npants, and my own calf-skin boots. But in California I had got used to\nuncouth attire, and now thought nothing of such small matters. We\ntherefore walked on without comments to the house built over the great\nshaft, where my good-natured English companion, the foreman, stopped me\nto complete my equipment, which consisted of a lighted tallow candle\nstuck in a candlestick of soft mud, and pressed till it adhered to the\nfront of my miner's hat. Having fixed a similar appendage to his own\nhat and to the hat of the servant that was to follow us, we were\nconsidered fully equipped for descending the mine.\n\nWhile standing at the top of the shaft, I was astonished at the size\nand perfect finish of a steam-pump that had been imported from England\nby the late English mining company. With the assistance of balancing\nweights, the immense arms of the engine lifted, with mathematical\nprecision, two square timbers, the one spliced out to the length of a\nthousand, the other twelve hundred feet, which fell back again by their\nown weight: these were the pumping-rods, which lifted the water four\nhundred feet to the mouth of a tunnel, or _adit_, which carried it a\nmile and a quarter through the mountain, and discharged it in the creek\nabove the stamping-mill. There is a smaller pump, which works\noccasionally, when the volume of water in the mines is too great for\nthe power of a single pump.\n\nA trap-door being lifted, we began to descend by small ladders that\nreached from floor to floor in the shaft, or, rather, in the half of\nthe shaft. The whole shaft was perhaps fifteen or twenty feet square,\nwith sides formed of solid masonry, where the rock happened to be soft,\nwhile in other parts it consisted of natural porphyry rock cut smooth.\nHalf of this shaft was divided off by a partition, which extended the\nwhole distance from the top to the bottom of the mine. Through this the\nmaterials used in the work were let down, and the ore drawn up in large\nsacks, consisting each of the skin of an ox. The other half of the\nshaft contained the two pumping timbers, and numerous floorings at\nshort distances; from one to another of these ran ladders, by which men\nwere continually ascending and descending, at the risk of falling only\na few feet at the utmost. The descent from platform to platform was an\neasy one, while the little walk upon the platform relieved the muscles\nexhausted by climbing down. With no great fatigue I got down a thousand\nfeet, where our farther progress was stopped by the water that filled\nthe lower galleries.\n\nGalleries are passages running off horizontally from the shaft, either\ncut through the solid porphyry to intersect some vein, or else the\nspace which a vein once occupied is fitted up for a gallery by\nreceiving a wooden floor and a brick arch over head. They are the\npassages that lead to others, and to transverse galleries and veins,\nwhich, in so old a mine as this, are very numerous. When a vein\nsufficiently rich to warrant working is struck, it is followed through\nall its meanderings as long as it pays for digging. The opening made in\nfollowing it is, of course, as irregular in form and shape as the vein\nitself. The loose earth and rubbish taken out in following it is thrown\ninto some abandoned opening or gallery, so that nothing is lifted to\nthe surface but the ore. Sometimes several gangs of hands will be\nworking upon the same vein, a board and timber floor only separating\none set from another. When I have added to this description that this\nbusiness of digging out veins has continued here for near three hundred\nyears, it can well be conceived that this mountain ridge has become a\nsort of honey-comb.\n\n\nTHE MINERS.\n\nWhen our party had reached the limit of descent, we turned aside into a\ngallery, and made our way among gangs of workmen, silently pursuing\ntheir daily labor in galleries and chambers reeking with moisture,\nwhile the water trickled down on every side on its way to the common\nreceptacle at the bottom. Here we saw English carpenters dressing\ntimbers for flooring by the light of tallow candles that burned in soft\nmud candlesticks adhering to the rocky walls of the chamber. Men were\nindustriously digging upon the vein, others disposing of the rubbish,\nwhile convicts were trudging along under heavy burdens of ore, which\nthey supported on their backs by a broad strap across their foreheads.\nAs we passed among these well-behaved gangs of men, I was a little\nstartled by the foreman remarking that one of those carriers had been\nconvicted of killing ten men, and was under sentence of hard labor for\nlife. Far from there being any thing forbidding in the appearance of\nthese murderers, now that they were beyond the reach of intoxicating\ndrink, they bore the ordinary subdued expression of the Meztizo.\nAccording to custom, they lashed me to a stanchion as an intruder; but,\nupon the foreman informing them that I would pay the usual forfeit of\ncigaritos on arriving at the station-house, they good-naturedly\nrelieved me. Then we journeyed on and on, until my powers of endurance\ncould sustain no more. We sat down to rest, and to gather strength for\na still longer journey. At length we set out again, sometimes climbing\nup, sometimes climbing down; now stopping to examine different\nspecimens of ores that reflected back the glare of our lights with\ndazzling brilliancy, and to look at the endless varieties in the\nappearance of the rock that filled the spaces in the porphyry matrix.\nThen we walked for a long way on the top of the aqueduct of the adit,\nuntil we at last reached a vacant shaft, through which we were drawn up\nand landed in the prison-house, from whence we walked to the\nstation-house, where we were dressed in our own clothes again.\n\n\nREFINING SILVER.\n\nWhen my underground wanderings were ended, and dinner eaten, it was too\nlate in the day to visit the refining works; but on the next morning,\nbright and early, I was in the saddle, on my way to visit the different\nestablishments connected with this mine. First, upon the river, at the\nmouth of the adit, was a stamping-mill, where gangs of stamps were\nplaying in troughs, and reducing the hard ore to a coarse powder. A\nlittle way farther down the stream the ore was ground, and then, in\nblast ovens or furnaces, was heated until all the baser metals in the\nore became charged with oxygen to such a degree that they would not\nunite with quicksilver. The ore was then carried and placed in the\nbottom of large casks, and water and quicksilver were added, and then\nthey were set rolling by machinery for several days, until the silver\nhad formed an amalgam with the mercury, while the baser metals in the\nore were disengaged from the silver. The whole mass being now poured\nout into troughs, the scoria was washed off from the amalgam, which was\ngathered and put into a stout leathern bag with a cloth bottom, and the\nunabsorbed mercury drained out. The amalgam, resembling lead in\nappearance, being now cut up into cakes, and placed under an immense\nretort, fire was applied; the mercury, in form of vapor, was driven\nthrough a hole in the bottom of the platform into water, where it was\ncondensed, while the silver remained pure in the retort. This is called\nthe barrel process, and is used for certain kinds of ore.\n\nI had come self-introduced to the Real del Monte, but that had not\nprevented my receiving the accustomed hospitality of the establishment.\nA groom and two of their best horses were at my service during my stay.\nAs the weather was fine, and the roads of the first class of English\ncarriage-ways, I heartily enjoyed the ride down the mountain gorge\nuntil it opened upon the broad plain where the second refining\nestablishment, that of Vincente, is situated. Except that the iron\nfloors of their blast ovens were made to revolve while in a state of\nred heat, all was substantially the same as at the last place.\nFollowing the meanderings of the stream, I had been gradually\ndescending from the sharp air of early spring to the more appropriate\ntemperature of the tropics, as I had occasion to notice in looking into\nthe fine garden of the English director, which exhibited both the\nfertilizing effects of irrigation upon English flowers, and the\nadvantages of tropical heat upon native varieties.\n\n      [72] A very rich portion of a vein is called a _bonanza_.\n\n      [73] Mr. Thomas Auld, the director of the company, furnished me\n      very accurate data in relation to affairs, but these are with my\n      other losses at New Orleans.\n\n      [74] Before leaving California, a young man in my office, who had\n      been using some of my money which he could not replace, proposed\n      to repay me in a certificate printed in red ink, which\n      certificate declared that I had paid $2000 toward the capital\n      stock of ---- Mining Company; Capital Stock, $250,000; signed\n      Col. ----, President, a gentleman a little in arrears at his\n      boarding-house, and my defaulting young man was secretary. Rather\n      an unpromising show that, as the property consisted of a tavern,\n      built of canvas upon Colonel Fremont's Maraposa grant, on the\n      principle of squatter sovereignty. Near by the squatter had dug a\n      promising hole, and if only money and machinery could be had,\n      _perhaps_ he might realize something from it. The young man\n      assured me that they had an agent in New York negotiating for\n      machinery, and in a few months they would be able to declare\n      dividends. Biting my lips to suppress a hearty laugh, I put the\n      paper printed with red ink into my pocket.\n\n      On my arrival in New York, I was thunderstruck at seeing a gilded\n      sign stuck up on the Merchants' Exchange: \"---- MINING COMPANY\n      OFFICE.\" Not over-troubled by modesty, I ventured in, and\n      inquired if that machinery had been sent out. I was requested to\n      be seated in a fine cushioned chair. As I love entertainment, I\n      sat down, and took a survey of the desks, the Brussels carpet,\n      the ledgers, and the piles of pamphlets, which clearly\n      demonstrated that a man would get his money back many times over\n      before he paid it in. It seemed strange how all this could he\n      supported on the supposed future earnings of a hole in the\n      ground. The Board of Directors assembled. Many of them, I was\n      assured, were the leading men of New York, and things went off\n      with all solemnity. When all was ready, an immense piece of the\n      richest gold quartz was taken from a desk, such as used to be\n      sold at good prices in San Francisco for this very purpose. But\n      not a man in that august assembly dreamed of the manner in which\n      such things are gotten up, except perhaps the said agent sent out\n      to get machinery, but now figuring as a director. I was easily\n      prevailed on to sign an argumentative certificate, and was shown\n      one signed by Robert J. Walker on a much worse hole in the ground\n      than this. I was also informed that New York was not the proper\n      market, which I understand to mean that machinery could not be\n      obtained in New York on the credit of a quartz vein; and in\n      London they would not look at a scheme that did not embrace a\n      million at least, said the agent aforesaid. Therefore he proposed\n      to give me an engraved certificate, declaring that I had paid\n      $8000, which of course I readily accepted when I found that there\n      was no machinery in the case, and that all I had to rest my\n      engraved certificate upon was the one hundredth part of the said\n      hole in the ground, with a doubtful title. The last I heard of\n      this agent was, that he was traveling with his wife upon the\n      Rhine. Whether he was in search of machinery or not, I did not\n      stop to inquire.\n\n      Instead of the above being an extraordinary case, I understand\n      that it is about a fair average of the California gold schemes\n      that have been brought upon the stock-market of New York. If the\n      papers are only drawn up in the proper form, the most prudent men\n      in Wall Street are sometimes found to embark their capital before\n      the question has ever been settled whether gold can be\n      successfully obtained from quartz in California.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXXII.\n\nA Visit to the Refining-mills.--The Falls and basaltic Columns of\nRegla.--How a Title is acquired to Silver Mines.--The Story of Peter\nTerreros, Count of Regla.--The most successful of Miners.--Silver\nobtained by fusing the Ore.--Silver \"benefited\" upon the Patio.--The\nTester of the Patio.--The chemical Processes employed.--The Heirs of\nthe Count of Regla.--The Ruin caused by Civil War.--The History of the\nEnglish Company.\n\n\nWe rode along the stone road across the plain, passing now a number of\nEnglish-made wagons laden with stamped ore for Regla, and then a drove\nof cargo-donkeys trudging along under the weight of bags filled with\nthe rich ore of Hakal. Now and then, too, we encountered American\narmy-wagons converted to peaceful employment, and adding to the\nmaterial wealth of Mexico. But our ride was not a long one before we\nreached Regla, the utmost limit of our journeyings, a distance of\ntwelve miles from the \"Real.\" Here the first salutation from the\nEnglish gentleman at the head of the establishment was that breakfast\nwas waiting, as it was now eleven o'clock, and we must not visit the\nworks upon an empty stomach. My surprise at this unlooked-for\nhospitality was a little diminished when I learned that all these\nentertainments of strangers are at the company's expense.\n\n\nTHE FALLS OF REGLA.\n\nThe _patio_, or open yard of Regla, on which the principal portion of\nthe ores of the Real del Monte company are \"benefited,\" or, as we\nshould say, extracted, is situated deep down in a _barranca_, where\nboth water-power and intense heat can be obtained to facilitate the\nprocess of separation. The immense amount of mason-work here expended\nin the erection of massive walls would make an imposing appearance if\nthey had been built up in the open plain; but here they are so\novershadowed by the mason-work of nature that they sink into\ninsignificance in comparison. The bank, some two hundred feet high, of\nsolid rock, as it approaches the waterfall on either side, has the\nappearance of being supported by natural buttresses of basaltic\ncolumns--columns closely joined together and placed erect by the hand\nof nature's master-builder. Still, all would have been stiff and formal\nhad the sides of the _barranca_ been lined only with perpendicular\ncolumns; but broken and displaced pillars are piled in every\nconceivable position against the front, while a vine with brilliant\nleaves had run to every fissure and spread itself out to enjoy the\nsunshine. The little stream that had burst its way through the upright\ncolumns and over the broken fragments, fell into a perfect basin of\nbasalt, heightening immensely the attractions of the spot. I sat down\nupon a fallen column, and for a long time continued to contemplate the\nunexpected scene, of which, at that time, I had read nothing. There was\nsuch a mingling of the rich vegetation of the hot country with the\nrocky ornaments of this pretty waterfall that I could never grow weary\nof admiring the combined grandeur and beauty of the place, from which\nPeter Terreros derived his title of Count of Regla.\n\nPeter Terreros, the first Count of Regla, became one of the rich men of\nthe last century in consequence of a lucky mining adventure. In olden\ntimes the water in the Real del Monte mines had been lifted out of the\nmouth of the Santa Brigeda and other shafts in bulls' hides carried up\non a windlass. When near the surface, this simple method of getting the\nwater out of a mine has great advantages on account of its cheapness,\nand is now extensively employed in Mexican mines. But after a certain\ndepth had been reached, the head of water could no longer be kept down\nby this process, and, in consequence, the Real del Monte was abandoned\nabout the beginning of the last century, and became a complete ruin;\nfor no wreck is more complete than that which water causes when it once\ngets possession of a mine, and mingles into one mass floating timbers,\nloosened earth, rubbish, and soft and fallen rock. By the mining laws\nof Mexico, the title to a mine is lost by abandoning and ceasing to\nwork it. It becomes a waif open to the enterprise of any one who may\n\"re-denounce\" it. The title to the soil in Mexico, as in California,\ncarries no title to the gold and silver mineral that may be contained\nin the land. The precious metals are not only regarded in law as\ntreasure-trove, but they carry with them to the lucky discoverer the\nright to enter upon another person's land, and to appropriate so much\nof the land as is necessary to avail himself of his prize. Colonel\nFremont's Mariposa claim, and all other California land claims, are\nsubject to this legal condition.\n\n\nPETER TERREROS.\n\nPeter Terreros, then a man of limited means, conceived the idea of\ndraining this abandoned mine by means of a tunnel or adit (_socabon_)\nthrough the rock, one mile and a quarter in length, from the level of\nthe stream till it should strike the Santa Brigeda shaft. Upon this\nenterprise he toiled with varied success from 1750 until 1762, when he\ncompleted his undertaking, and also struck a _bonanza_, which continued\nfor twelve years to yield an amount of silver which in our day appears\nto be fabulous. The veins which he struck from time to time, as he\nadvanced with his _socabon_, furnished means to keep alive his\nenterprise. When he reached the main shaft, he had a ruin to clear out\nand rebuild, which was a more costly undertaking than the building of a\nking's palace. Yet his _bonanza_ not only furnished all the means for a\nsystem of lavish expenditure upon the mines and refining-works, but\nfrom his surplus profits he laid out half a million annually in the\npurchase of plantations, or six millions of dollars in the twelve\nyears. This is equal to about 500,000 pounds' weight of silver. Besides\ndoing this, he loaned to the king a million of dollars, which has never\nbeen paid, and built and equipped two ships of the line, and presented\nthem to his sovereign.\n\nThe humble shop-keeper, Peter Terreros, after such displays of\nmunificence, was ennobled by the title of Count of Regla. Among the\ncommon people he is the subject of more fables than was Croesus of\nold. When his children were baptized, so the story goes, the procession\nwalked upon bars of silver. By way of expressing his gratitude for the\ntitle conferred upon him, he sent an invitation to the king to visit\nhim at his mine, assuring his majesty that if he would confer on him\nsuch an exalted favor, his majesty's feet should not tread upon the\nground while he was in the New World. Wherever he should alight from\nhis carriage it should be upon a pavement of silver, and the places\nwhere he lodged should be lined with the same precious metal. Anecdotes\nof this kind are innumerable, which, of course, amount to no more than\nshowing that in his own time his wealth was proverbial, and demonstrate\nthat in popular estimation he stood at the head of that large class of\nminers whom the wise king ennobled as a reward for successful mining\nadventures, and that he was accounted the richest miner in the\nvice-kingdom. The state and magnificence which he oftentimes displayed\nsurpassed that of the Vice-king. This, in no way embarrassed an estate,\nthe largest ever accumulated by one individual in a single enterprise.\n\nCount Peter is estimated to have expended two and a half millions of\ndollars upon the buildings constituting the refining establishment of\nRegla, which goes under the general designation of the _patio_. Why his\nwalls were built so thick, or why so many massive arches should have\nbeen constructed, is an enigma to the present generation, as they could\nby no means have been intended for a fortress down in a _barranca_.\n\nBut let us go in and examine the different methods of \"benefiting\"\nsilver here applied. The ores from the Rosario shaft of the Hakal mine\nof Pachuca are here stamped and ground, and then thrown into a furnace,\nafter having been mixed with lime, which in fire increases the heat;\nwhile upon the open _torta_ we shall see that lime is used to cool the\nmass. Litharge (oxide of lead) is added, and the mass is burned until\nthe litharge is decomposed, the lead uniting with the silver and the\noxygen entering into the slag, into which the baser metals, or scoria\nin the ore, have been formed. This is cast out at the bottom of the\nfurnace. The mass of molten lead and silver is drawn off, and placed in\na large oven with a rotary bottom, into which tongues of flame are\ncontinually driven until the lead in the compound has become once more\noxydized, forming litharge, and the silver is left in a pure state.\nThis is the most simple method of purifying, or \"benefiting\" silver.\n\n\nBENEFITING THE ORE.\n\nA little beyond the furnace is a series of tubs, built of blocks from\nbroken columns of basalt. In the centre of each revolves a shaft with\nfour arms, to each of which is fastened a block of basalt, that is\ndragged on the stone bottom of the tub, where broken ore mixed with\nwater is ground to the finest paste. Here the chemical process of\n\"benefiting\" commences. A bed is prepared upon the paved floor\n(_patio_) in the yard, in the same manner as a mortar bed is prepared\nto receive quicklime dissolved in water. In the same way is poured out\nthe semi-liquid paste. This is called a _torta_, and contains about\n45,000 lbs. Upon this liquid mass four and a half _cargas_ of 300 lbs.\nof salt is spread, and then a coating of blue vitriol (sulphate of\ncopper) is laid over the whole, and the tramping by mules commences. If\nthe mass is found to be too hot for the advantageous working of the\nprocess, then lime in sufficient quantities is added to cool it; and if\ntoo cool, then iron pyrites (sulphate of iron) is added. The mules are\nthen turned upon the bed, and for a single day it is mixed most\nthoroughly together by tramping and by turning it over by the shovel.\nOn the second day 750 lbs. of quicksilver are added to the _torta_, and\nthen the tramping is resumed.\n\nThe most important personage, not even excepting the director, is\ncalled \"the tester;\" for the condition of the ores varies so much, that\nexperience alone can determine the mode of proceeding with each\nseparate _torta_, and upon the tester's judgment depends oftentimes the\nquestion whether a mining enterprise, involving millions of dollars,\nshall prove a profitable or unprofitable adventure. Perhaps he can not\nread or write, though daily engaged in carrying on, empirically, the\nmost difficult of chemical processes. To him is intrusted the entire\ncontrol of the most valuable article employed in mining--the\nquicksilver. He is constantly testing the various _tortas_ spread out\nupon the _patio_; to one he determines that lime must be added; to\nanother, an opposite process must be applied by adding iron pyrites.\nWhen all is ready, with his own hands he applies the quicksilver, which\nhe carries in a little cloth bag, through the pores of which he\nexpresses the mercury as he walks over and over the _torta_, much after\nthe manner that seed is sown with us. The tester determines when the\nsilver has all been collected and amalgamated with the mercury. Whether\nthe tramping process and the turning by shovels shall continue for six\nweeks or for only three, is decided by him. When he decides that it is\nprepared for washing, the mass is transported to an immense washing\nmachine, which is propelled by water, where the base substances are all\nwashed from the amalgam, and then the amalgam is resolved into its\noriginal elements of silver and quicksilver by fire, as already\nexplained, with the loss of about seventy-five to one hundred pounds of\nmercury upon each _torta_.\n\nLet us now run over the many chemical processes that have been resorted\nto in order to separate the silver from the ore. The roll-brimstone,\nthat has been procured in Durango, or in the volcano of Popocatapetl,\nis bought up at the mint in the city of Mexico, where it is burned in a\nroom lined with lead, and into which water is jetted until the smoke of\nthe burning brimstone is condensed. This water of sulphur is then\ncarefully collected, and distilled in a boiler of platinum, on which\nsulphur can not act. The sulphuric acid obtained by this distillation\nis used to separate the gold that is found in the silver bars from\nsilver. This sometimes amounts to ten per cent. The acid dissolves the\nsilver, but does not act upon the gold, which is thus separated from\nthe silver. The sulphate of silver is drawn off and poured upon plates\nof copper, by which means the silver is precipitated, and sulphate of\ncopper, or blue vitriol, is produced, which, not being of use in the\nmint, is sold to the Real del Monte Company, where it is employed in\nobtaining silver. The process by which the company obtain their salt\nhas been already stated, while the lime they use is burned upon the\nmountains. After all these hard and laborious processes, only from five\nto ten per cent. of silver is obtained, except in cases of _bonanzas_,\nwhich shows that silver mines can be profitably worked only in those\ncountries where labor commands the lowest standard of wages.\n\n\nTHE HEIRS OF REGLA.\n\nThe heirs of the Count Peter inherited his accumulated treasures, his\npurchased estates, his title, and his prospects of future success in\nmining, which were as brilliant as they had been in his lifetime. They\nnever dreamed of financial embarrassments in the midst of accumulations\nof wealth which surpassed the wildest of Oriental romances. They forgot\nthat their wealth rested upon the perfect security which they inherited\nfrom the wise and virtuous government of Carlos III., of blessed\nmemory; that he it was who had put out the fires of the Inquisition,\nand so curtailed the power of the priests that they could no longer\nplunder with impunity, or rob the Terreros of the fruits of their\nfather's enterprise by threatening them with the censure of the Church,\nwhich, in the reign of a feeble king, had a significant meaning. The\nnew code of mining laws, the cheapness of quicksilver, and the opening\nof commerce, had all combined to make their fortune, which they might\nlose in a moment if the heir to the throne should prove an idiot, as\nwas most likely, and priests should again usurp the control of affairs,\nand play their old game of plundering the rich while they excited the\npopulace.\n\nFortunately for the family of Terreros and the many successful mining\nfamilies of that period, Charles IV. was not quite so much of an idiot\nas his grandfather or his great-grandfather had been, and though the\nInquisitors resumed their fires, yet it was with such comparative\nmoderation as not to interfere seriously with the progress of that\nprosperity to which Carlos III. had given an impulse. The Countess of\nRegla still sported the richest jewels to be found in New Spain, and\nher sister's coronet was the envy of all the ladies of the court. But\nthe insurrection of Hidalgo came upon them in the midst of prosperity,\noverwhelming alike the rich and the poor. The large Spanish capitals\nbegan to be withdrawn from the country, the plantations were broken up,\nand the mines, abandoned by their laborers, soon fell to ruin; and they\nwho had been baptized in the midst of the most ostentatious display of\nwealth, found themselves pinched to sustain their ordinary expenses.\n\n\nTHE REAL DEL MONTE.\n\nThe Terreros family kept their title good to the Real del Monte by\nretaining a few workmen about the premises; but it was substantially\nabandoned for twenty-five years before the English Real del Monte\nCompany took possession. In the space of two years this company had\ncleared out and rebuilt the adit by working gangs of hands night and\nday. Another party, engaged upon the shafts, arrived at the adit level\nat the same time with the workmen upon the drain. A third party,\nengaged in making and repairing a carriage-road from the sea to the\nmine, had completed their labors; while a fourth party, in charge of\nmachinery and steam-power apparatus enough to equip a Cornish mine of\nthe largest class, had arrived at the mine. In this fourfold, and much\nof it useless labor, the company had exhibited untiring activity, while\nthey exhausted all their capital without realizing the return of a\nsingle dollar. But they derived rich hopes from reading the story of\nPeter Terreros, and they continued to hope on and hope ever, for a\nperiod of twenty-five years longer, when they ceased to exist. The\nstory of this company is summed up in saying that they expended upon\nthis vast enterprise the sum of $20,000,000, and realized from it\n$16,000,000. They disposed of all their interests here for about what\ntheir materials were worth as old iron, and the present proprietors\nenjoy the fruits of their labors at a cost of less than a million of\ndollars, with a fair prospect of yet realizing from their speculation\nas large a treasure as that acquired by Peter Terreros, the first Count\nof Regla.\n\nHaving thus described with some minuteness one of the most extensive\nsilver mines in the world, where an average of 5000 men and unnumbered\nanimals are employed, it will not be necessary to go into details as we\nnotice the many other celebrated mines of Mexico.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXXIII.\n\nToluca.--Queretaro, Guanajuato, and\nZacatecas.--Fresnillo.--\"Romancing.\"--A lucky Priest.--San Luis\nPotosi.--The Valenciana at Guanajuato.--Under-mining.--A Name of\nBlasphemy.--The Los Rayas.--Immense Sums taken from Los Rayas.--Warlike\nIndians in Zacatecas.\n\n\nA stage runs daily from the city of Mexico by Tacubaya and the Desierto\nto the beautiful valley and city of Toluca. This town is greatly\nindebted for its present celebrity to successful mining adventures. Its\nCathedral is a monument of the munificent liberality of the Frenchman\nLaborde, whose fortune was ever unequal to his generosity. We have\nspoken already of the almost Oriental magnificence displayed in the\nfamous garden which he built and adorned at Cuarnavaca. After spending\nthe wealth acquired from the _bonanza_ of Tasco, he started off in\nsearch of new adventures and a new fortune. Being again successful, he\nmade Toluca the beneficiary of his princely liberality. The celebrated\nCathedral of that city, and all its ornaments, are the proofs of his\nmunificence. When his third fortune was exhausted, the fickle goddess\nforsook him, and he who had three times been raised from nothing to the\ncondition of a millionaire, came in his old age to the archbishop for\nrelief from his poverty. This relief he obtained by selling the jewels\nhe had once bestowed upon the Church. Such often are the vicissitudes\nin the life of a successful miner. I can not notice here the many\ninteresting objects gathered as I would wish to do, nor have I space\nfor a description of the beautiful mountain scenery about Toluca.\n\n\nMIDDLE STATES OF MEXICO.\n\nThe middle states of Mexico, Guanajuata, Zacatecas, Durango, and San\nLuis, are deserving of a more extended notice than my limited space\nwill permit. There is little of war or romance to recount in the\nhistory of any of them. Their story is made up of notices of silver\nmines, and times of great _bonanzas_ and cattle-raising. Here the\npopulation is mostly white, made up of the hardy peasantry from Biscay.\nThe Indians on the high table-lands were too hardy to be reduced to\nslavery: the result is the same here as in Chili. The two races have\nnot extensively intermixed, as the Indians were driven northward,\nwhere, for a period of three hundred years, they have, in a measure,\nmaintained their independence, and have so much improved in the art of\nwar that they are able to return again and fight for the homes of their\nancestors. The white inhabitants of these states are more cleanly in\ntheir habits, and more industrious than the Southern people. The little\nstate of Queretaro has little to boast but its agriculture, but to the\nnorth of it is a country of mines and pasturage.\n\nThere was formerly great rivalry between the states of Guanajuato and\nZacatecas on the ground of their mining successes. Each in turn has had\nits season of boasting, for it has happened that, in those years when\nGuanajuato was most prosperous, Zacatecas was not in _bonanza_, and\n_vice versa_. When I was first in Mexico, San Luz and San Luce, at\nGuanajuato, were in _bonanza_, with divers others; and out of\n$300,000 in silver bars brought down to the city of Mexico, nearly ten\nper cent. of gold was extracted. But now both these _bonanzas_ have\ngiven out, and the annual product of silver in the State of Guanajuato\nhas fallen off over $2,000,000, while the mines of Zacatecas are in a\nmost flourishing condition, as is shown by the large sum of $1,200,000\nbeing demanded by government for renewing the lease of the mint at\nZacatecas.\n\nFresnillo is the most flourishing of the mines of Zacatecas. This mine\nwas formerly considered of little value. Among its advantages is an\nAmerican manager, who for many years has aided in the direction of its\naffairs. On my return from Mexico, I found the road up the Perote\ncovered with wagons laden with portions of a monster steam-engine, the\nfifth that was to be employed to pump the water from this mine. It\nseems incredible that so large a sum as $1,000,000 should be required\nfor the freight alone of this new machinery. But, after I had become\nfamiliar with the vast scale on which every thing is conducted at a\nlarge silver mine, where millions appear as the small dust of the\nbalance, I can credit what my readers might think improbable.[75]\n\nI have often spoken of the peculiarities of peasant life in the country\nand of the _peons_ of the cities. But there is another phase of humble\nlife to be considered--the social state of the mine laborer. Like all\nmen whose wages are very irregular, and subject to the fluctuations\nwhich follow mining speculations, they themselves become irregular in\ntheir lives. They have all heard of the many instances of persons of as\nhumble condition as themselves accidentally falling upon a princely\nfortune, and they know, too, what a miraculous change such a discovery\nmakes in the social condition of a _peon_, for every miner in\nZacatecas knows the homely distich:\n\n    \"Had the metals not been so rich at San Bernabe,\n    Ibarra would not have wed the daughter of Virey.\"[76]\n\nIn addition to scraps and snatches of songs, the mining laborers have\ntheir _romances_, which are as wild as the _yarns_ of the sailor, and\nhave for their almost universal theme the miraculous acquisition and\nloss of a fortune. The hero possesses princely wealth to-day, though\nyesterday he was suffering for food, and to-morrow he will be again\nbereft of all by the fickle turns that Fortune makes in the wheel of\ndestiny. The wildest of our romances never come up to many incidents\nthat have occurred in their own mine; and when they attempt fiction, it\nis on the pattern of the Arabian Nights' Entertainments. I do verily\nbelieve that all that class of Arabian tales are but the reproduction\nof the _romances_ from the Oriental gold-washings.\n\nThe most important mines in the State of San Luis Potosi are those near\nCuatorce. In the midst of bleak and precipitous mountain ridges is the\nvillage of Cuatorce, from which a circuitous mountain road leads to the\nentrance of the mining shafts, in which more wonderful things have\noccurred than in the wildest of the \"romances.\" The story of Padre\nFlores is a familiar one, but will bear repeating.\n\n\nPADRE FLORES.--CUATORCE.\n\nThe padre, being tired of the idle life of a pauper priest, bought, for\na small sum, the claim of some still more needy adventurer. After\nfollowing his small vein a little way, he came to a small cavern\ncontaining the ore in a state of decomposition. This, in California,\nwould be called a \"rotten vein.\" With all the difficulties to be\nencountered in obtaining a fair value for mineral in a crude state, the\npoor priest realized from his adventure over $3,000,000, which was\nconsidered a very fair fortune for an unmitred ecclesiastic.\n\nThe Mineral Report, mentioned in the last note, which is so full on the\nsubject Fresnillo, insists that it is a continuation of the formation\nof Cuatorce and the other mines of San Luis. The mountains at Cuatorce\nare more dreary, bleak, and barren than in any other of the principal\nmining districts, as it is more exposed to the storms and tempests from\nthe northeast and from the ocean. It was in this State of San Luis\nPotosi that Dr. Gardner's quicksilver mine was alleged to exist, and in\nthe ineffectual efforts made to determine its whereabouts our\ngovernment has become quite familiar with the location of all the\nworked mines of this state. The mines upon the mountains of Cuatorce\nare said to have been discovered in 1778 by a negro fiddler, who, being\ncompelled to camp out on his way home from a dance, built a fire upon\nwhat proved to be an outcrop of a vein, and, in consequence, found in\nthe morning, among the embers, a piece of virgin silver. It is a\ndoubtful question among those who are anxious about trifles whether the\nname _Potosi_ given to this mine, owes its origin to the similarity\nbetween the mode of its discovery to that of the celebrated mines of\nthat name in South America, or to the vast amount of silver at one time\ntaken from it.\n\nGuanajuato, when it yielded its six millions a year of silver, besides\na fair supply of gold, was one of the most important States in the\nrepublic. With every successful speculation, new adventurers were found\nto invest their capital in resuming the working of abandoned mines,\nuntil at last men have become bold enough to undertake, for the third\ntime, the draining of the great shaft of the Valenciana, so famous in\nthe last century. When I was last in Mexico that undertaking was\nreported to have been accomplished. This mine is on a more magnificent\nscale than even the Real del Monte. Its central shaft alone cost a\nmillion of dollars; and though steam power can not be used, yet it is\nso dry that horse windlasses can keep it clear of water. Its\nabandonment in every instance has been in consequence of some\ninsurrectionary chief setting the works of the mine on fire, and not\nfrom any deficiency in its product of silver. When I was in Mexico, so\nlittle progress had been made in restoring the mine that it was not\nthought worth visiting. But the most sanguine hopes were entertained\nthat it would again be as productive as in the times when its abundant\nriches secured for its owner the title of Marquis of Valenciana, though\nhe had worked with his own hands on the shaft which afterward yielded\nhim its millions.\n\n\nTHE MINE OF LOS RAYAS.\n\nSecond in importance among the old mines of Guanajuato is _Los Rayas_.\nIts history presents a new feature in the mining system of Mexico, not\nbefore mentioned, but which is important to a right understanding of\nthe operation of the mining code. The right of discovery gives title to\ntwo hundred _varas_ along the mine, and to two hundred _varas_ (about\n500 feet) in depth. The consequence of this limitation is, that when a\nvery rich claim is made, there immediately springs up a contest to get\nbelow it, and to cut off the lucky discoverer from the lower part of\nhis expected fortune, and he has no means of avoiding such a result but\nby driving his shaft downward until he reaches a point below his first\ntwo hundred _varas_, which entitles him to claim another section\ndownward.\n\nThis principle is strikingly illustrated in the case of the famous mine\nof the priest Flores at Cuatorce, which he blasphemously named \"the\nPurse of God the Father,\"[77] where there are marks of divers attempts\nbeing made to undermine him, though without success. But the case is a\ndifferent one when the _bonanza_ is upon a high ridge, and it can be\nundermined by drifting in from a lower level. Then commences a lively\ncontest to determine who can dig the fastest, and make the most rapid\nprogress in this contest of mining and countermining.\n\nThe Marquis de los Rayas owes his title and his princely fortune of\n$11,000,000 to a successful contest of this character. The Santa Amita\nwas in _bonanza_, yielding an ore so pregnant with gold that the crude\nmass often sold for its weight in silver.\n\n\nDEEP MINING.\n\nContests of this kind are very different from those which used to take\nplace in California some years ago, when twenty feet square was marked\noff upon the top of a ridge, through which the claimant had to sink his\nshaft to the base rock on which the gold was supposed to be deposited.\nWhen the rock was reached, it was often found difficult to keep the\nlines that had been marked off on the surface, particularly when the\nlead grew richer as it approached the border of the claim.\nControversies were frequent, and frequently resulted in subterranean\nquarrels and fights, and, of course, ended in superterranean lawsuits.\nBut the Mexican rival parties were seldom near enough for a fight, and\nthe quarrel ended, as it began, in a contest to determine who could dig\nthe fastest.\n\nAnother peculiar feature of deep mining is the construction of the main\nshafts. A description of the method of construction of one of these I\ntake from Ward's Mexico,[78] a book that is otherwise of little value\nto a person seeking for information on the subject of mines at\nGuanajuata, so great has been the revolution there in a few years in\nthe condition of mining affairs: \"I know few sights more interesting\nthan the operation of blasting in the shafts of Los Rayas. After each\nquarryman (_barretero_) has undermined the portion of rock allotted to\nhim, he is drawn up to the surface; the ropes belonging to the\nhorse-windlasses (_malacates_) are coiled up, so as to leave every\nthing clear below, and a man descends, whose business it is to fire the\nslow matches communicating with the mines below.\n\n\"As his chance of escaping the effects of the explosion consists in\nbeing drawn up with such rapidity as to be placed beyond the reach of\nthe fragments of rock that are projected into the air, the lightest\n_malacate_ is prepared for his use, and two horses are attached to it,\nselected for their swiftness and courage, and are called the horses of\n_pegador_. The man is let down slowly, carrying with him a light and a\nsmall rope, one end of which is held by one of the overseers, who is\nstationed at the mouth of the shaft. A breathless silence is observed\nuntil the signal is given from below by pulling the cord of\ncommunication, when the two men by whom the horses are previously held\nrelease their heads, and they dash off at full speed until they are\nstopped either by the noise of the first explosion, or by seeing from\nthe quantity of cord wound round the cylinder of the _malacate_ that\nthe _pegador_ is already raised to a height of sixty or seventy _varas_\n[Spanish yards], and is consequently beyond the reach of danger.\"\n\nThe author then goes on to enumerate the risks that attend this calling\nof _pegador_, and the consequent high wages that have to be paid to\npersons who undertake this perilous office, all of which accidents and\nadventures must be familiar to those of my readers who have paid any\nattention to the business of blasting rocks; and as his hairbreadth\nescapes have nothing in them remarkable, we may conclude this notice of\nLos Rayas by adding his statement that the king's fifth from this mine,\nfrom 1556 to his time, amounted to the snug sum of $17,365,000. He\ngives only the sum reported, and makes no calculation for the large\nsums out of which the king was annually cheated at all the mines. That\nmy reader may understand how a sum so apparently incredible as five or\neight times seventeen millions of dollars could be taken out of a\nsingle mine, he must recollect that Los Rayas was a most productive\nmine shortly after the Conquest, and that for a century or two it was\ncomparatively of little value, until Mr. Jose Sardaneta undertook the\nundermining of the rich mine of Santa Amita in 1740, and that afterward\nthe rich product of the lower levels of the Santa Amita are included in\nthis immense sum.\n\n\nINDIANS AND SOLDIERS.\n\nThere is too much sameness in the details of the histories of the\nvarious other important mines of this State and of those in the\nadjoining State of Durango to justify the lengthening out this chapter,\nand I will conclude it with giving the substance of a statement I heard\nthe American gentleman make on the subject of Indian depredations in\nthe very centre of the republic, showing the great inconvenience\nsuffered in consequence of the state of insecurity in which the people\nconstantly live. A party of their own Indians, a most degraded band of\ncowardly vagabonds, that lived not a great way from the city, concluded\nto personify a company of northern savages, in order more successfully\nto plunder the inhabitants. With shoutings, these vagabonds rushed into\nthe houses of the people, who were so paralyzed by the very sight of\nIndians in a hostile attitude, that, without resistance, they suffered\nthem to plunder whatever came within their reach which tempted their\ncupidity or lust. At length, becoming satiated with liquor and\nchampagne that they had taken from a carrier, they had to retire and\ncamp out for the night. In their retreat they were pursued by a captain\nand soldiers of the regular army, who, being more numerous than the\nIndians, exhibited a great deal of courage until they came in sight of\nthe savages, when, all at once, it was concluded to encamp for the\nnight, and to resume the pursuit the next day, when the Indians would\nbe at such a distance that they would not disturb their pursuers by\ntheir whooping.\n\n      [75] By reference to a long and able paper on the mines in the\n      hill of Proano (Fresnillo), it appears that one half of the cost\n      of four pumping-engines already in operation in that mine was the\n      freight from Vera Cruz to the mine.\n\n      [76] This translation is bad enough, but no worse than the\n      original.\n\n      [77] This will sound to Protestant readers something like\n      horrible blasphemy; but it must be borne in mind that God the\n      Father of the Catholics is an entirely different idea from the\n      spiritual God whom we worship. The devout Protestant who\n      recognizes but one Being worthy of adoration, veneration, and\n      worship, never ventures to mention any of the names by which He\n      is known but with the profoundest reverence. The Catholic, on the\n      other hand, has a host of objects which he deems worthy of\n      adoration, and seems to have cheapened the article by multiplying\n      it. His senses are all exercised in his peculiar kind of worship,\n      and, as a natural consequence, they are apt to conclude that the\n      Almighty enjoys those exhibitions that give them the greatest\n      pleasure. They worship him by performing a pantomime of the life\n      and suffering of Christ, which is called the mass, and seek to\n      propitiate him by offering the body of his Son in sacrifice. They\n      bestow upon God gifts of jewels and of gold; and as he passes\n      through their streets in the form of a wafer, as they believe,\n      the soldiers present arms, beat the drum, and discharge their\n      cannon, as to an earthly prince. Though our Saviour (_Santo\n      Christo_) heads the calendar of intercessors between God and\n      man, he is seldom invoked, though they often honor him by naming\n      their children after him. As they have conferred upon a multitude\n      of their saints the supernatural powers of God, they have\n      necessarily brought God himself down to earth. If I might be\n      pardoned the expression, I should say that they treat him and his\n      well-beloved Son with a loving intimacy. The worship of the\n      Catholics is substantially materialism, more or less gross,\n      according to its distance from or its proximity to Protestantism.\n      There is no blasphemy, according to their system, in naming their\n      shops after the Holy Ghost, a horse-stable after \"the Precious\n      Blood,\" though I could never hear them mentioned or see them\n      without having my Protestant notions shocked, while I equally\n      shocked their feelings by refusing to kneel to the Host, and\n      slipping out of the way to avoid it. Nor could I exhibit the\n      least reverence to their religious emblems without committing\n      what in me would be an act of idolatry, the two systems being so\n      diametrically opposite that one can not go a step toward the\n      other without breaking over a fundamental doctrine of his own\n      belief. God is an invisible Spirit, says the Protestant. God is a\n      Spirit, answers the Catholic, but he daily assumes the form of a\n      wafer, and traverses our streets, and in that form we most\n      commonly worship him. Such is the religious antagonism that will\n      ever be found in the world while man remains what he now is, ever\n      divided between mentalism and materialism. Forms and names often\n      differ, but these are the two ideas into which all the religious\n      systems of the world resolve themselves, although abortive\n      attempts are often made to combine them.\n\n      [78] Vol. ii. p. 452.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXXIV.\n\nSonora and Sonora Land Speculators seeking Annexation.--Sonora and its\nAttractions.--The Abundance and Purity of Silver in Sonora.--Silver\nfound in large Masses.--The Jesus Maria, Refugio, and Eulalia Mines.--A\nCreation of Silver at Arizpa.--The Pacific Railroad.--Sonora now\nvalueless for want of personal Security.--The Hopes of replenishing\nthe Spanish Finances from Sonora blasted by War.--Report of the\nMineria.--Sonora.--Chihuahua.\n\n\nLAND TITLES.\n\nIt has been said in another chapter that the Apaches had extended their\ndepredations beyond the first tier of States, and had entered Durango,\nZacatecas, San Luis Potosi, and even Guanajuato, making this second\ntier of states their stamping ground, while Sonora, Chihuahua,\nCoahuila, over which they now rode without opposition to a country more\nabundant in plunder, are left as political waifs to any who may choose\nto take possession of them. As in all abandoned countries, there are\ninhabitants here incapable of getting away, and too poor even for the\nIndians to notice; and there are a few miserable villages still\nexisting, with a fragment of their former population. All the\ninhabitants of these wretched hamlets have their eyes fixed on the\nUnited States as the only hope of relief from their Indian plunderers.\nThe proprietors of estates, extending over vast districts, too cowardly\nto defend their claims, which exceed in extent European principalities,\nare sitting quietly down at a respectful distance, anxiously looking\nforward to the time when their claims will rise in value from a few\ndollars to as many hundred thousands by an annexation to the United\nStates. Mexican operators in grants have not been idle. They have\nascertained what the United States courts call a title, and have been\nproviding themselves with the necessary parchments,[79] while American\noperators, in connection with them, have been equally busy.\n\nChihuahua and Sonora are the States or Departments to be affected by\nour Pacific Railroad. Sonora is the most valuable of the two, not only\non account of its inexhaustible supply of silver, but also on account\nof its delightful climate and agricultural resources. It is like the\nland of the blessed in Oriental story. California does not surpass it\nin fertility or in climate. With industry and thrift, it could sustain\na population equal to that of all Mexico. The table-lands and the\nvalleys are so near together that the products of all climates flourish\nalmost side by side. Food for man and beast was so easily procured that\nthe descendants of the early settlers sunk into effeminacy long before\nthe breaking out of the great Apache war of the last century. Drought,\nhowever, makes the formation of artificial lakes and reservoirs\nnecessary to the full development of its agricultural wealth.\n\n\nCHIHUAHUA AND SONORA.\n\nBut it is the remarkable abundance of silver which distinguishes it\nabove all other countries except Chihuahua. I have described, in a\nformer chapter, the long and laborious processes by which silver is\nproduced from the ore in the southern mines, and also the great depths\nfrom which it is raised. In Sonora, silver is most commonly extracted\nfrom the ore by the simple process of fusion. But in the district of\nBatopilos, it is, or rather was, found pure. If we should adopt the\ntheory that veins of ore extend through the entire length of Mexico,\nthen I should say that they \"crop out\" in Sonora, or, rather, that the\nsilver _lodes_ which are here above the surface dip toward the city of\nMexico, and also northward toward California. The mountain chain which\ntraverses California under the name of the _Sierra Nevada_ appears to\nbe only a continuation or reappearance of the mountain chain here\ncalled _Sierra Madre_ (Mother Range), which forms the boundary between\nthe departments of Sonora and Chihuahua.\n\nOn the western declivity of this mountain range, the most remarkable\nillustration of this fact of cropping out is found at Batopilos,\nalready mentioned. This town is in a deep ravine. The climate is, like\nthat of the California gulches, intensely hot, but remarkably healthy.\nHere the _lodes_ of silver ore are almost innumerable,[80] with crests\nelevated above the ground. The mine of _El Carmen_, in the times of the\nvice-kings, produced so immensely that its proprietor was ennobled,\nwith the title of Marquis of Bustamente. This was the beginning of the\nfamily of Bustamente. A piece of pure silver was found here weighing\nfour hundred and twenty-five pounds. I should like to continue in\ndetail to enumerate the rich surface mines in the southern portions of\nthese two States, but, lest I should weary my reader, I must omit them,\nand refer those who wish to learn more to the translations from the\nlast official reports of the _Mineria_, entitled Chihuahua and Sonora,\nwhich are embodied in the Appendix.\n\n\"The 'Good Success Mine' (_Bueno Successo_) was discovered by an\nIndian, who swam across the river after a great flood. On arriving at\nthe other side, he found the crest of an immense _lode_ laid bare by\nthe force of the water. The greater part of this was pure massive\nsilver, sparkling in the rays of the sun. The whole town of Batopilos\nwent to gaze at the extraordinary sight as soon as the river was\nfordable. This Indian extracted great wealth from his mine, but, on\ncoming to the depth of three Spanish yards (_varas_), the abundance of\nwater obliged him to abandon it, and no attempts have since been made\nto resume the working. When the silver is not found in solid masses,\nwhich requires to be cut with the chisel, it is generally finely\nsprinkled through the _lode_, and often serves to nail together the\nparticles of stone through which it is disseminated.\"[81]--\"The ores of\nthe _Pastiano_ mine, near the _Carmen_, were so rich that the _lode_\nwas worked by bars, with a point at one end and a chisel at the other,\nfor cutting out the silver. The owner of the Pastiano used to bring the\nores from the mine with flags flying, and the mules adorned with cloths\nof all colors. The same man received a reproof from the Bishop of\nDurango when he visited Batopilos for placing bars of silver from the\ndoor of his house to the great hall (_sala_) for the bishop to walk\nupon.\"[82]\n\nThe next mine of interest in our progress northward is the _Morelos_,\n\"which was discovered in 1826 by two brothers named Aranco. These two\nIndian _peons_ were so poor that, the night before their great\ndiscovery, the keeper of the store had refused to credit one of them\nfor a little corn for his _tortillas_. They extracted from their claim\n$270,000; yet, in December, 1826, they were still living in a wretched\nhovel, close to the source of their wealth, bare-headed and\nbare-legged, with upward of $200,000 in silver locked up in their hut.\nBut never was the utter worthlessness of the metal, as such, so clearly\ndemonstrated as in the case of the Arancos, whose only pleasure\nconsisted in contemplating their hoards, and occasionally throwing away\na portion of the richest ore to be scrambled for by their former\ncompanions, the workmen.\"\n\nNear the Morelos is the _Jesus Maria_. Though on the western or Sonora\nslope of the mountain, it is only eight leagues from Chihuahua. This,\nlike Morelos, is a modern discovery, and, of course, was not included\nin the number of those Sonora mines which produced such an intense\nexcitement about a hundred years ago in Mexico, and even in Spain.\nHere, within the circuit of three leagues, two hundred metallic _lodes_\nwere registered in one year. The story of the mine of _El Refugio_,\ndiscovered by a fellow of the name of Pacheco, gave occasion for\nanecdotes like those of the Arancos which we have just recited. A\ndealer had an old cloak which took the fancy of Pacheco, and to\npurchase this thing he gave ore from which the dealer realized $8000.\nThree twenty-fourths (three bars) of the product of this mine netted,\nbetween the years 1811 and 1814, $337,000. On the Sonora side of the\nmountain is _Santa Eulalia_. The ores of this _real_ [district] are\nfound in loose earth, filling immense caverns, or what are called\n\"rotten ores\" in California, and are easily separated by smelting. One\nshilling a mark ($8) was laid aside from the silver which one of these\ncaverns produced, which shilling contribution constituted the fund out\nof which the magnificent Cathedral of Chihuahua was built.\n\n\nTHE MINE OF ARAZUMA.\n\nProceeding northward, we come to a spot the most famous in the world\nfor its product of silver, the mine of _Arazuma_. For near a century,\nthe accounts of the wealth of this mine were considered fabulous; but\ntheir literal truth is confirmed by the testimony of the English\nembassador. After examining the old records which I have quoted, I have\nno doubt that the facts surpassed the astonishing report; for in\nMexico, the propensity has ever been to conceal rather than\nover-estimate the quantity of silver, on account of the king's fifth;\nyet it is the king's fifth, _actually paid_, on which all the estimates\nof the production of Sonora silver mines are based. Arazuma (which, in\nthe report of the Mineria that I have translated for this volume,\nappears to be set down as Arizpa) was, a hundred years ago, the world's\nwonder, and so continued until the breaking out of the great Apache war\na few years afterward. Men seemed to run mad at the sight of such\nimmense masses of virgin silver, and for a time it seemed as if silver\nwas about to lose its value. In the midst of the excitement, a royal\nordinance appeared, declaring Arazuma a \"creation of silver\" (_creador\nde plata_), and appropriating it to the king's use. This put a stop to\nprivate enterprise; and, after the Indian war set in, Arazuma became\nalmost a forgotten locality; and in a generation or two afterward, the\naccounts of its mineral riches began to be discredited.\n\nWe have the following record in evidence of the masses of silver\nextracted at Arazuma. Don Domingo Asmendi paid duties on a piece of\nvirgin silver which weighed 275 lbs. The king's attorney (_fiscal_)\nbrought suit for the duties on several other pieces, which together\nweighed 4033 lbs. Also for the recovery, as a curiosity, and therefore\nthe property of the king, of a certain piece of silver of the weight of\n2700 lbs. This is probably the largest piece of pure silver ever found\nin the world, and yet it was discovered only a few miles distant from\nthe contemplated track of our Pacific Railroad.\n\nI might continue enumerating the instances of mineral wealth brought to\nlight in these two states, Sonora and Chihuahua, if I supposed it would\nbe interesting to my readers; but as they have heard enough of silver,\nI may add that rich deposits of gold were found at Molatto in 1806, and\na still greater discovery of gold was made a few years ago. In this\nlatter discovery, the poor diggers suffered so much from thirst that a\ndollar was readily paid for a single bucket of water, and at length, by\nreason of the drought, this rich _placer_ had to be abandoned.\n\n\nFUTURE OF SONORA.\n\nSuch is Sonora, a region of country which combines the rare attractions\nof the richest silver mines in the world, lying in the midst of the\nfinest agricultural districts, and where the climate is as attractive\nas its mineral riches. But its richest mineral district is near its\nnorthern frontier, and is almost inaccessible, and can never be\nadvantageously worked without an abundant supply of mineral coal for\nsmelting; nor can any of its mines or estates be successfully worked\nwithout greater security for life and property than at present exists.\nThe capitalists of Mexico will not invest their means in developing the\nresources of Sonora, and in consequence, the finest country in the\nworld is fast receding to a state of nature. I found in the Palace at\nMexico a copy of the last report of the Governor of Sonora upon the\nstate of his Department, in which he mentions, among many other causes\nof its decadence during the last few years, the extensive emigration of\nits laboring population to California.\n\nExtravagant as are these statements of the mineral riches of Sonora,\nthey probably do not come up to the reality, as the largest of them are\nfounded on the sums reported for taxation at the distant city of\nMexico, when it was notorious, as already stated, that a large portion\nof the silver was fraudulently concealed in order to avoid the taxes.\nSuch concealment could be successfully carried on in a region so\ndistant and inaccessible as Sonora was in the time of Philip V., for it\nwas in the reign of that idiot king, before the liberal\nmining-ordinances of Carlos III., that the Sonora mining-fever broke\nout.\n\nA hundred years have passed since the once formidable Apaches swept\nover northern Sonora like a deluge, blotting out forever the hopes\nwhich the Spanish court had conceived of retrieving the fallen finances\nof their empire from this _El Dorado_. But Providence had ordered it\notherwise. The Spaniards had done enough to demonstrate its\ninexhaustible wealth, and then they were driven away from this\n\"creation of silver,\"[83] and the whole deposit held for a hundred\nyears in reserve for the uses of another race, who were destined to\noverrun the continent.\n\nI should have but half performed my task should I omit to speak of the\nexcellent bay and harbor of Guaymas, in the southern part of Sonora.\nAfter San Francisco, it is the finest harbor on the Pacific, and is the\nnatural route through which our commerce with the East Indies should be\ndirected. The long experience of Spain taught her that a western route\nto the East Indies was so much superior to the one by the Cape of Good\nHope as to compensate for a transhipment of all of her East India\nmerchandise upon mules' backs from Acapulco to Vera Cruz. Much more\nadvantageous must it be to us, when a railroad from El Paso, passing\nthrough the midst of the silver district I have described, shall\ntransfer our commerce with Japan and China to the Pacific side of our\ncontinent. Here the very silver necessary for the purchase of tea is\nnearly as abundant as tin in some of the European mines, and, as in\nCalifornia, the prospects held out to the farmer are equal to mineral\nattractions.\n\nIt would be folly for our government to acquire Sonora without first\nproviding for connecting it with our country by railroad, and equally\nfoolish to acquire it without making provision, in the treaty of\nacquisition, for reducing all land-titles to the size of a single\ntownship, in consideration for the superior value given to the property\nby the annexation, and for annulling all land-titles under which there\nis not an actual occupancy. The Spanish courts concede to government\nthis power over private rights, and for this reason a treaty of\nacquisition from Mexico would prevent the confusion that now exists in\nCalifornia, and enable American settlers to locate understandingly at\nonce. All titles should continue to be subject, as they now are, to the\nright of the miner to enter in search of precious metals, thus no\nconflicts in relation to the rights of land-owners and miners could\narise. The principle on which the Mexican mining laws and the\nCalifornia mining customs are established should be recognized by the\nUnited States. But that right of entry would not arise until the\nconstruction of a railroad should afford the means of actually reducing\nthe country to possession, which Spain never has accomplished, and\nMexico never can accomplish.\n\n      [79] When I was first at the city of Mexico, Governor Letcher\n      introduced to me a son of the late emperor, who had a claim for\n      land in California which he had not located before the\n      annexation. I advised him, without a fee, that our courts did not\n      recognize foreign \"floats,\" and that, by his own _laches_, he had\n      lost his claim, which he now spread along the Sacramento River\n      for 400 miles. Finding out, after an expenditure of several\n      thousand dollars, the defect, he got a new claim from the late\n      President Lombardini of thirty miles square, which he will\n      probably now pin tight in Sonora. The defect of our two last\n      treaties with Mexico was in not having a clause inserted reducing\n      all titles to land to six miles square, as a consideration for\n      the enhanced value by the annexation.\n\n      [80] I would not like to make such extravagant statements on my\n      own authority, however satisfactory the testimony might be to\n      myself, for the abundance of silver in Sonora is beyond the\n      belief of most men. But, fortunately, I have, in Ward's \"Mexico,\"\n      an authority that can not be disputed. The work is accessible to\n      all my readers. The author was charged by the British government\n      with an examination of the mines of Mexico.\n\n      [81] Ward, vol. ii. p. 578.\n\n      [82] Ibid.\n\n      [83] I do not know exactly how to translate the Spanish idea\n      attached to the words _creador de plata_ unless by saying\n      that it is a spot where baser substances are supposed to be\n      converted into silver by some unknown process of nature.\n\n\n\n\nAPPENDIX.\n\n\nA.\n\nMINERIA REPORT ON THE MINERAL RICHES OF SONORA.\n\nAmong the five-and-twenty states and territories that compose the\nMexican confederation, there is no other which contains in its\nrespective territory the like wonderful mineral riches which abound in\nthe state of which we treat. This would appear almost fabulous; but\nthere is proof enough from the testimony of many residents of that\nstate, and from the assertion of travelers, from the evidences which\nthe archives of the various missions exhibit, and from the royal\nregistry of mines (_reales de minas_), and, lastly, from the\nindubitable fact of the production of great quantities of gold and\nsilver from the mines and _placers_ of this state, considering the\nsmall amount of forces, and its isolation from all the principal\nsettlements of the republic by reason of the distance which separates\nit from them.\n\nIn fact, many metals of universal estimation, such as gold, silver,\nmercury, copper, and iron, in a pure state, in grains, in masses, or in\ndust, as well as mixed with other metals, superficially or in veins,\nare found in the extensive territory of Sonora; lead, or combinations\nof lead, for aiding in extracting metals by fire, and for the\nconstruction of munitions of war, amianthus or incombustible crystal,\ndivers ores of copperas, exquisite marble, alabaster, and jasper of\nvarious colors, as well as quarries of stone of _chrispa_ and magnetic\nstones, muriate and carbonate of soda, saltpetre or nitrate of potassa,\nare, in enumeration, the mineral productions which are found in\nabundance in the territory of the state of Sonora, which comprehends\nthe region from the river of Fort _Monte Clarasal_ at the south to the\nGila at the north, and from the Sierra Madre at the east to the\nColorado at the northwest.\n\nTo the disgrace of the nation, these authentic and exact notices of\nthe marvelous riches of this remote state have availed nothing in\ndetermining speculators (_empresarios_) to resort to those places in\npursuit of a fortune so certain, or at least to have avoided, by the\nmeans of colonization, the loss which is _feared_ of this inestimable\njewel.\n\nThe territory of the state of Sonora lacks nothing but security [from\nincursions of Indians] in order that the hand of man may be profusely\nrecompensed for his labor. Virgin soils, where the agricultural fruits\nof all climates not only flourish, but many of these improve in\nquality; navigable rivers, which contribute in part to the easy\ntransportation of the products to the ports of the Pacific for\nexportation and consumption; mines and _placers_ of precious metals, in\nmany of which there is no necessity of capital to explore and collect\nthem--are not these stimulants enough to attract there a population\nthrifty and civilized? In order to ascertain the mineral riches which\nthe nation may lose in a short time, we call attention to the mineral\nstatistics which follow, although they are imperfect and diminutive.\n\nAs already we have said, the whole of Sonora is mineral; but as among\nus we only give this name to those places in which there have been\ndiscovered and worked a conjunction of veins, it results that the\nplaces in this state to which for this cause has been given the name of\nmineral are thirty-four. Some of the mines are _amparadas_ [viz.,\nworked sufficient to confer a legal title to the occupant], and are\nimperfectly in a state of operation. The names of all of these two\nclasses, which are sixteen in all, are Hermosillo, San Javier, Subiate,\nVayoreca, Alamas, Babicanara, Batuco, La Alameda, Rio Chico, El Aguaja,\nAigame, El Luaque, Saguaripa, La Trinidad, San Antonio, and El Zoni.\n\nThe remaining eighteen are found abandoned, some for the want of water,\nand others for the want of laborers or capital, and by the fear which\nthe barbarous Indians inspire. The names of these last minerals are San\nJuan de Sonora, that of the Sierra at the northwest of Guaymas,\nArizuma, Bacauchi, Antunes, San Jose de Gracia, El Gavilau, San\nIldefonso de la Cienequilla, San Francisco el Calou, Santa Rosa, San\nAntonio de la Huenta, Vadoseco Sobia, Mulatos, Basura, Alamo-Muerto,\nand San Perfecto.\n\nIn the same state have been discovered twenty-one _placers_; of these,\none is of virgin silver, in grains and plates (_planchas_), and twenty\nof pure gold, in grains and dust; but as nearly all these are situated\nin the mineral districts (_minerales_) already mentioned, the names of\nthose which are not given are the following: Agua Caliente, Quitovac,\nLas Palomas, La Canaca, and Totahiqui. With the exception of three, to\nwhich gold-hunters from time to time resort to relieve their\nnecessities, all the others remain abandoned.\n\nThere was only one mineral district actually in work at the close of\nthe last century and the beginning of the present; those now actually\nin process of being worked are fourteen, and their names are La Grande,\nLa Quintera, El Subiate, Bulbaucda Europita, Vayoreca, La Cotera, Santo\nDomingo, Noercheran, La Sibertao, Minas-Nuevas, El Tajo, Minas Prietas,\nand another near La Grande.\n\nFrom the mineral districts (_minerales_) abandoned there ought to be\ninferred an increased number of mines, which are in the same condition,\nbut we do not know their names, and we have only notices of the twenty\nfollowing: Pimas, La Tarasca, Ubalama, Ojito de San Roman, Yaquis, La\nGuerita, Noaguila, Las Animas, Afuerenos, Piedras-verdes Navares, La\nCalera, Caugrejos, Guillarmena, San Atilano, San Teodoro, and El\nGavilau. In those in Pinas, and in one of those of the _mineral_ of San\nJose de Gracia, have been found considerable amounts of pure silver\ndeposited in their veins, and mineral taken from San Teodoro has\nproduced one half silver. In extracting the silver from the ore in this\nplace, we ought to mention that the greater part of these mines are\nsusceptible of great _bonanzas_, from not having been worked\nextensively, as their proprietors abandoned them when the metals failed\nto appear upon the surface, and when the exploration was a little more\ncostly.\n\nThere are eleven haciendas in the State of Sonora for purifying the\nmetals which the mines and _placers_ produce, without taking into the\naccount many little establishments, with from two to five horse-mills,\nwith one bad furnace for the fusion of metals. Three of these are\nsituated in Alamas, five in Aduana, one in Promontorio, another in\nTatagiosa, and the last in Minas Nuevas (New Mines). There are many\nabandoned mines, as the rubbish and ruins indicate, which we have\nnoticed, in all the abandoned mineral districts.\n\nThe methods which they have observed in extracting the metals from the\nore are the _patio_ [by application of quicksilver in an open yard],\nand that of fusion, with the aid of some metals that assist the fusion;\nbut from the fact that the quicksilver augments considerably the price,\nthe few that there carry on the business have preferred the process of\nfusion to that of the _patio_, from being less costly, and because the\ndocility of the metals afford facilities to this process.\n\nNo machines of new invention have been introduced into that state,\neither for the drainage of the mines or for facilitating the extracting\nof the metals. This ought not to surprise us, in places so desert and\ndistant from the metropolis, unaccustomed to the vivifying movements of\ncommerce, and to the necessities which civilization has engendered in\nthe more important populations in the central parts of the republic.\nThat which is rare, and ought to call attention, is the exception of\nsome mines, where _malacatos_ [water-sacks of bull-hides, drawn up by a\nwindlass] are used for discharging water. In almost all those which\nhave thus been worked, they have not had an opportunity to exhibit\ntheir riches, as the abundance of water in many of them was the\nprincipal cause of their abandonment.\n\nThe greatest difficulty in the way of giving an exact idea of the\nproducts of the mines and placers of Sonora is the scandalous\ncontraband exportations of gold and silver which are made from the\nports of the Sea of Cortez [Gulf of California] on the one hand, and,\non the other, the difficulties that have presented themselves to his\nExcellency, the Governor of that state, for giving the statistical\nnotices which have been sought on repeated occasions by the Junta of\nthe Mineria, both of which causes have made difficult the account which\nwe furnish; but by those which they themselves furnished of the\nproduction of those minerals before and since the independence of the\nnation, and by the exhibits of various witnesses presented in the\nremission of bars which from thence they made to the capital of the\nrepublic, when the ports of the Pacific were sealed to foreign\ncommerce, the production of precious metals having yielded in divers\nepochs not far from 4500 pounds of silver, without considering the gold\n(abundant enough in _placers_ and in rivers), and from what is known,\nthe quantities of this metal extracted have been considerable, and in\nmore abundance than in the mineral districts of the other states of the\nrepublic.\n\nAttention having been much called to the ley and weight of the grains\nof pure gold found on the surface in Quitovac, Cienequilla, and San\nFrancisco, as well as those masses of virgin silver found in Arizuma,\nwhich wonderful riches stimulated the colonial government to despoil\nthe proprietors of it, and afterward the King of Spain, in declaring\nthat it pertained to his royal patrimony.\n\nAll those places in Sonora which are actually abandoned, as well as all\nthe lands of that state, are susceptible of producing great riches. The\nreasons on which these assertions are founded are those which M. Saint\nClair Duport mentions in speaking of the probable variation there will\nbe in value of gold and silver in time, by reason of the great\nextractions hereafter of these metals, particularly in California [this\nwas before the annexation of California] and Sonora, where, as in the\nUral Mountains, and the Altai Mountains of Central Asia, gold is\nextremely abundant, and because in the _placers_ mentioned explorers\nhave recognized gold in dust, which they have not washed for want of\nwater in some, and from the difficulty that exists in others in order\nto work them, such as those of Arizuma and La Papagueria.\n\nNothing could be said in relation to the number of operatives who are\nemployed in working the mines of this state, nor the day-laborers; nor\nin respect to articles consumed there, as well in the digging of the\nmetals as in extracting them from the ores, because, as has already\nbeen said, his Excellency the Governor has not been able to give the\nnotices which have been sought, and there are no other better\nauthorities through whom information can be procured. For in this state\nthere are no mining courts,[84] but the ordinary judges of first\ninstance are the authorities which take cognizance of matters which\noccur in the department of the Mineria.\n\n      [84] The title to all mines in Mexico rests solely upon discovery\n      and improvement, without any regard to the proprietorship to the\n      land on which the mines are located; but the proof of discovery\n      and improvement must be made and recorded in the mineral courts,\n      except in Sonora, where the ordinary courts have jurisdiction.\n\nThere are no companies for the exploration of the mines in that remote\nstate. Some inhabitants, in distant periods, have procured the\nformation of numerous caravans with the character of companies, and\nwith the object of collecting precious metals, which they encountered\nin the placers of Arizuma and of Papagueria, but until now they have\nnot been able to hold with effect undertakings so laudable.\n\nVarious are the causes on account of which the riches which lie buried\nthrough all parts of the immense territory of the State of Sonora have\nnot been explored. Some of these reasons have already been referred to,\nbut, for greater clearness, we take this opportunity to recapitulate\nthem all. The first, which are much noted, are the following:\n\n1st. The absolute want of personal security.\n\n2d. The scarcity of population, and of the means of subsistence for the\nfew hands that they were able to have devoted to working mines in the\nimmediate vicinity of hostile Indians.\n\n3d. The irregularity and the want of experience and capital in those\nwho have undertaken the exploration and the extraction of metals, which\nhas occasioned the abandonment of this class of speculations whenever\nthey presented any difficulties, or commenced to be more costly by\nfailing to produce metals upon the surface of the earth. Some certain\nspeculations which have been directed with regard to the rules which\nregulate mineral industry, and have been prosecuted with capital, have\nwell compensated the labors and efforts of the proprietors.\n\nGold and silver, as above said, are not the only mineral productions of\nSonora. In the part of Muchachos, situated in the Sierra Madre, between\nTueson and Tubac, and in Mogollon, a place situated in the mountains of\nApuchuria, in those of Papagueria, and near the Colorado, are found\ngreat masses of virgin iron, and abundant veins of the same metal.\nCinnabar was discovered in 1802 in the hill of Santa Teresa, situated\nin the _mineral_ of Rio Chico; and in the hills which are at the north\nof the Colorado, it has been found in the past age. Copper is also\nfound in Antunes, Tonuco, Bacauchi, Pozo de Crisante, Sierra de\nGuadalupe, Sierra de la Papagueria, and particularly in the Couanea,\nfrom whence have been extracted great quantities of this metal, with a\ngreat ley of gold. Metals of lead (_metales plomosos_) abound in Agua\nCaliente, Alamo-Muerto, La Papagueria, Arispe, and La Cieneguilla. From\nthese two last points have been taken considerable quantities of them,\nfor supplying all other mines of the state [to aid in fusion], and for\nmunitions of war. Copperas, or sulphate of iron, is abundant in San\nJavier, San Antonio de la Huerta, and Agua Caliente. In the first of\nthese placers a vein runs from south to north, from pieces of which,\ndissolved in water, there results a tint which, by evaporation, forms\ninto grains, and produces the same effect as the tint of China. In\nCucurpe is _amianto_, or incombustible crystal, which the ancients so\nmuch valued. Marbles of various classes and colors, as well as\nalabasters and jaspers, are found in Opasura, Hermosillo, Uores, La\nCampana, and other points; but we do not know as yet the place from\nwhich the Aztecs obtained the beautiful reddish marble which they used\nin the construction of their divinity of Chapultepec, which is\npreserved in the National Museum, and which, according to all\nconjectures and probabilities, proceeded from the quarries of marble of\nthat state. There are quarries of the stone of chrispa, and even the\nmagnet in Alamas, Hermosillo, in Sierras of the frontier, and in the\ncausada of Barbitas, ten leagues distant from Hermosillo, near the\nroute of La Cieneguilla. Muriate and carbonate of soda, saltpetre, or\nnitrate of potassa, are found in the margin of the rivers which empty\ninto the Gulf of Cortez [of California], and particularly in the mouths\nof the Colorado.\n\n\nB.\n\nREPORT ON THE MINERAL RICHES OF CHIHUAHUA.\n\nThe statistical notices which have until to-day been received, embrace\nfive cantons or departments of that state, which show that there exist\nin it sixteen _minerals_ [districts containing mines], of which twelve\nare in working, and four abandoned in consequence of the incessant\nincursions of barbarous Indians. Their names are Hidalgo del Parral,\nMinas Nuevas, San Francisco del Oro, Santa Barbara, Zopago, Chinipas,\nGuazapores, Batozegache, Guadalupe y Calvo, Cuacogornichie, Galeana,\nCosihuiriachic, Santa Eulalia, Barranco, and two more, without names,\nin the canton Caleana.\n\nTwenty-one mines are found in operation in the twelve _minerals_ in\naction. The number of those abandoned is increasing, and is not\npermanent; and the only cause referred to is that many of them are\nabandoned for want of capital, and others from the hostility of the\nbarbarians. The products of those that were worked in the year 1849\namount to 146,818 marks of silver, of a ley of eleven _dineros_, and 7\nmarks, 7 oz., and 4 eighths of gold to the twenty-two quintals. The\nnumber of haciendas and furnaces for extracting the metal from the ore\nwas twenty, and the processes which they use in that state are the\n_patio_ and the furnace; the last is the most general. Finally, there\nhas been put in practice a third system, by the house of Manning and\nM'Intosh, for the purpose of separating the silver by means of the\nprecipitate of copper. The consumptions of the last year, 1849, amount\nto $544,194, notwithstanding which the notices omit the returns of\nvarious mines, haciendas, furnaces, and water-mills. The items are\nquicksilver at $140 a hundred, gunpowder, lime, wood, sulphate of\ncopper, salt, iron, steel, metals of aid [metals thrown into the\ncompound to aid the process of extracting], tallow, grease, hides,\nleather, corn, straw, grain, flesh, beans, and bars of iron. The number\nof operatives is not known with exactness, because the reports only\nrefer to certain mines and haciendas, but in these they amount to 1833,\nbesides day-laborers at five _reals_ (5/8ths of a dollar) a day for\nhalf the time. The most important improvements that have been\nintroduced into some of these mines consist in the establishment of\npumps for facilitating draining, and in the introduction of German\novens for fusing a greater quantity of mineral at a less cost and with\ngreater perfection, being so much the more interesting as the condition\nof the metals presents itself more easily to this kind of benefiting.\n\nFour companies have been established for prosecuting the labor of the\nmines, Presena, Rosario, Tajo, and Prieta. The first takes its name\nfrom Senor Delille, the second is composed of Mexicans, and the last\ntwo are composed of Mexicans, English, and naturalized Spaniards.\nNothing is known in relation to their capitals. Besides the precious\nmetals, we find lead in Naica and Babisas, of the canton of Matamoros;\ncopper, from which only _magistral_ is taken, is found in the canton of\nMina, and sulphur and saltpetre in the canton of Iturbide. The reports\nmention nothing in respect to the authorities that take cognizance of\nthe affairs of the Mineria; but it is presumed that, as in the rest of\nthe nation, the judges of first instance take knowledge of\ncontroversies, and the courts of mines, if by chance they are\nestablished, take cognizance of the economy and government of the\nmines.\n\nThe mint of Guadalupe and Calvo coined in 1848, $720,765, and in 1849,\n$665,225, of which two sums $1,027,130 were of silver, and $355,859 in\ngold, the whole being the proceeds of 116,015 marks, 1 oz., and 4\neighths of silver, of the ley of eleven _dineros_, and of 2351 marks, 5\noz., 2 eighths of gold, with ley of twenty-two carats. This appears\nfrom the reports of the mint of the capital of that state.\n\n\nC.\n\nREPORT ON THE MINERAL RICHES OF COAHUILA.\n\nThis state, one of the least populous, and exposed, like all the\nfrontier states of the north, to the incessant incursions of the\nbarbarous tribes, offers at present very little interest to those\nspeculations which engender the exercise of mineral industry--that\nwhich, besides experience and capital, requires for its development an\nabundance of hands and entire security. While the publication of the\nmineral statistics of the nation not only brings the idea of\nmanifesting the present condition of this branch of industry among us,\nbut also that of propagating its exercise as one of the principal\nelements of riches among the Mexicans, it is necessary to speak of the\nstate in which the Mineria is in Coahuila, and of hopes which it makes\nto spring up for the future. There are twelve mines actually\n_amparadas_, or in labor, in the four _minerals_ already mentioned:\ntheir names are unknown to us, and it is only known that their monthly\nproducts amount to 200 marks [of 8 ounces] of silver and 150 loads of\n_greta_ [litharge]. The number of operatives employed in all these\namount to 193, and the day laborers receive four _reals_ [half a\ndollar] a day.\n\nThere is no exact notice of the number of mineral districts and single\nmines abandoned in the State of Coahuila; but the number is\nconsiderable, according to the information furnished from 1843 by the\ndeputation of Santa Rosa. Among those deserving a particular mention is\nthat of the Sierra de Timulco and that of Potrerillos, by the good ley\nof the metals of the mines of the first, and by the uniformity of the\nveins and not unappreciable richness of the second. These veins run\ngenerally from northwest to southeast, and in the course they\nencounter, scattered about, silver-bearing galena [sulphuret of lead],\nlead, copper, with sulphuret of zinc. The amount of the consumptions of\nthe mines that are worked is also unknown; but it is known that the\ngunpowder costs the operators $9 an aroba [of 25 pounds], of lead, $12\na carga of 300 pounds; that of _greta_, $6; copper, of superior\nquality, $16 the hundred weight; the carga of coal, six _reals_ [three\nfourths of a dollar], and wood, one _real_ a mule-load. The ruins and\nthe heaps of rubbish manifest that in other times there was much\nactivity in the labor of the mines and haciendas for separating the\nmetals; but to-day there are only in existence some furnaces, which are\nthe least costly, which the miners of Coahuila can use for their\nmetals. This they effect generally in ovens, and in _galemes_ in the\nopen plain. But this method of separating the metals, which Coahuilans\nhave been necessitated to adopt as the least expensive, until\nquicksilver has notably fallen in price, has not remained stationary,\nas in other parts of the republic. These simple inhabitants have\nsucceeded, by the force of experiments, in obtaining as a result the\npower of fusing 25 cargas [of 300 pounds] of metal, with the\naggregation of 18 cargas of _greta_, in only one furnace and in the\nspace of twenty-four hours, by consuming only 45 pounds of coal for\neach carga of metal.\n\nThere are three companies in that state for working the mines in the\nmineral district of Ramirez, and another in that of Trinudco. There is\nno notice of the amount of funds employed, but it is presumed that they\nare not considerable, by considering the smallness of the fortunes of\nthe inhabitants of the frontier.\n\nIn government and economy of mines the Assembly of Mineria of the\nvalley of Santa Rosa have jurisdiction, but in litigations the judges\nof first instance have jurisdiction, to whom a particular law of this\nstate gives authority.\n\nIn Coahuila, besides silver, there is found virgin iron in masses of\nconsiderable volume and of extraordinary value in the Sierra of\nMercudo, in Guadalupe, and other points.\n\nThere is copper in Putula or Rios and in Guadalupe. In these mineral\ndistricts we also encounter lead. _Amianto_ (incombustible crystal)\nalso abounds in Niezca and in the vicinity of Monclova, as also nitre\nin San Blas, jurisdiction of San Buonaventura. In the hills of Gizedo,\ncorrespondent to the district of Santa Rosa, are extracted sulphur and\ncopperas.\n\nIt is difficult to ascertain and to mention all the causes which have\nled to the decadence of the mineral industry of this state, because the\nreports which the authorities have remitted do not state it exactly;\nbut there is no doubt that they are two, viz., the want of security\noccasioned by the frequent incursions of the barbarians, and the little\naffection which the agricultural people that occupy that state have for\nmining enterprises; that, as already said, they require recognizances,\nas well as capital and hands, things which are scarce enough in the\nvast territory of the frontier state of Coahuila.\n\n\nD.\n\nREPORT ON THE MINERAL RICHES OF LOWER CALIFORNIA.\n\nThe sparse population of this territory, the want of scientific\ninformation in its inhabitants, and the difficulties which have existed\nin the way of keeping up an intercourse with their fellow-citizens of\nthe centre of the republic, are causes weighty enough for explaining\nthe ignorance in which we live concerning the mineral riches of that\ninteresting peninsula. Without doubt, if we are permitted to judge of\nit from the abundance of the precious metals which California of the\nNorth and Sonora contain, and their contiguities, we ought to infer\nthat in the territory of Southern California the designated metals\nshould be found in considerable quantities. The official notices which\nwe possess in respect to Lower California fortify this conjecture.\nThose exhibited by persons who lack competent instruction upon this\npoint contribute in part to foretell what will be the grade of\nprosperity which will come in time with the developing of the mineral\nindustry in this territory.\n\nSouthern California, by its topographical position alone, is called to\noccupy an important place, not only among the integral parts of the\nnation, but even among foreign parts of America which are bounded by\nthe Pacific. If its first necessity is attended to, with the\naugmentation of population commerce will come to give it the consequent\nmovement and animation, and the Mineria will come to complete the\ncircle of its prosperity; so that it is now difficult to perceive the\ngrand importance, commercial and political, which this despised\npeninsula, which is called Lower California, will yet attain when the\ntransition of time and the sequel of events come to realize these\nUtopian offspring of a patriotic sentiment; but we will occupy\nourselves with the statistical mineral notices of that territory.\n\nThere are nine mineral districts (_minerales_) which are now\nrecognized in California: their names are San Antonio, Zule, Santa\nAnna, Muleje, Triumpho, Las Virgenes, El Valle Perdido, Los Flores,\nCuecuhilas. There is a range traversing from north to south for the\nspace of forty leagues in that territory, which contains also a\nmultitude of veins which have not been explored. In all these minerals\nabound, but the irregular and inconstant labor of some of the mines\ndoes not permit us to consider them as in action.\n\nExplorations of some mines of gold and silver have been made in\nCalifornia, but they remain in the same state with the other\n_minerales_. One and another have been worked superficially, but their\npossessors abandoned them when they presented any obstacle, which made\nthe working more costly, so that it is no exaggeration to say they all\nare now abandoned. In a country almost a wilderness (_desierto_), where\nthe want of conveniences in exploration of the mines failed to engender\nthe stimulus of acquiring and preserving the proprietorship of the\ndiscoveries,[85] and where, with the same facility with which they\nabandon one known vein, they proceed to work another new vein--in a\ncountry where the great part of the inhabitants might well be\nconsidered as tribes that have only reached the first grades of\ncivilization, rather than organized societies, it is not strange that\nthere is a want of mineral recognizances where only the mines at which\nthe metals are easily procured, and not costly in extracting from the\nore, are worked.\n\n      [85] The proprietorship of mines in Mexico is acquired by proof\n      being made to the mining court of discovery and actual working;\n      and is again lost by an abandonment of four months; there is no\n      other source of title to mineral lands.\n\nNotwithstanding that which has been said, there are various residents\nof the mineral districts referred to that extract gold and silver\nsufficient to cover their commercial transactions, to pay their\nlaborers and the salaries of their operatives, to procure certain\nnecessaries, and to enjoy certain luxuries which many of their\nfellow-citizens do not enjoy. To ascertain to what value these\nextractions of metals ascend is extremely difficult for the want of\ndata with which to aid any calculation.\n\nThe benefiting (extracting the metals from the ores) is no less\nimperfectly done than the labor of the mines. There are no haciendas\nfor benefiting; many persons that engage themselves in mining\nspeculations have in that territory one, two, and even five\nhorse-mills, with which they grind the metal; this they mix with\nquicksilver and salt--imitating the process by the _patio_--in\nproportion of 50 pounds of the first and 75 of the second to 625 (25\narobas) of metal, and, proceeding by means of fusion in bad ovens, they\nobtain silver. Some others obtain it by means of vases of refining with\nthe aid of lead.\n\nThe consumptions of the Californians in the extraction of the precious\nmetals consist of quicksilver, salt, and wood; the first they have\npurchased in the last years at two dollars a pound, the second at\nthirty-seven and a half cents for twenty-five pounds, and the third at\na quarter of a dollar a mule-load. It is to be presumed that when the\nquicksilver of Northern California comes to compete with the\nquicksilver of Spain in the mineral districts of the interior[86] of the\nrepublic, the price of this principal element for conducting the\nworking of mines will fall greatly in all the nation, and that the\nMineria will assume a grade of prosperity never yet seen in our\ncountry; and Lower California, by its proximity to the places of the\nproduction of mercury, will obtain it, without doubt, at a still lower\nprice. The day-laborers, who work the mines of this territory, receive\nfor their labor from seventy-five cents to one dollar; but there is not\na fixed number, neither is their occupation constant.\n\n      [86] This term is applied to all places distant from the capital.\n\nIt is not necessary to speak of the existence of companies for\nexploring mines in a country where there is such a scarcity of\npopulation, and where there is not an accumulation of capital\nsufficient in order that a part of it might be employed in the\nhazardous enterprises of mineral industry. The judges of first instance\nare the authorities that in Lower California take cognizance of all\naccounts concerning the affairs of mines (_a la Mineria_).\n\nIn the river which passes by Muleje and Gallinas, the inhabitants of\nthose places collect the sands, from which they obtain small quantities\nof gold in dust. In another placer, which embraces an extension of\nseven leagues, they also extract some gold in dust in quantities as\ninsignificant as those which result from the sands of the river\nmentioned.\n\nSilver and gold are the only metals that have claimed the attention of\nthe Californians, because they derive an advantage from their\nextraction, and not because there do not exist other metals less\nvaluable, but which yield proportionably greater profit to the miners\nthat undertake the exploration; these are lead, copper, iron,\nmagistral, crystal of Roca, loadstone, and alum.\n\n\nE.\n\nTHE REMAINS OF CORTEZ.\n\nThe account of the disposition of the remains of Cortez, given on page\n279, is the one commonly received, and contained in works of standard\nauthority. Since this volume was placed in the hands of the printers, I\nhave received a new number of the _Apuentes Historicos_, which contains\nanother account, which is undoubtedly the true one. According to this,\nwhen the body of Cortez was first brought to America, it was taken to\nTezcuco, and buried at the San Franciscan convent, beside that of his\nfriend, King Don Fernando. In the course of the following century it\nwas taken to Mexico and buried in the convent of the Jesuits (the\nPro-for is probably intended). After the Revolution, it was transported\nto Sicily by the agent of his descendant, the present \"Marquis of the\nValley.\"\n\n\nTHE END.","title":"Mexico and Its Religion: With Incidents of Travel in That Country During Parts of the Years 1851-52-53-54, and Historical Notices of Events Connected With Places Visited","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":122124}