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+ text-align: center; +} + + .bord img { + padding: 1px; + border: 1px solid black; +} + +p.caption2 { + margin-top: 0; + font-size: 70%; + text-align: center; +} + +/* Transcriber Notes */ +div.tn { + background-color: #EEE; + border: dashed 1px; + color: #000; + margin-left: 20%; + margin-right: 20%; + margin-top: 5em; + margin-bottom: 5em; + padding: 1em; +} + +ul.corrections { + list-style-type: circle; +} + +/* Footnotes */ +div.fn { + background-color: #EEE; + border: dashed 1px; + color: #000; + margin-left: 20%; + margin-right: 20%; + margin-top: 5em; + margin-bottom: 5em; + padding: 1em; +} + + .footnote { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + font-size: 0.9em; +} + + .footnote .label { + position: absolute; + right: 84%; + text-align: right; +} + + .fnanchor { + vertical-align: super; + font-size: .8em; + text-decoration: none; +} + +/* Poetry */ + .poem { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + text-align: left; +} + + .poem br { display: none; } + + .poem .stanza { margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em; } + + .poem span.i0 { + display: block; + margin-left: 0em; + padding-left: 3em; + text-indent: -3em; +} + + .signature { + text-align: right; + margin-right: 5%; +} + + .signature2 { + text-align: right; + margin-right: 15%; +} + + .signature3 { + text-align: left; + margin-left: 5%; +} + + .signature4 { + text-align: left; + margin-left: 10%; +} + +/* INDEX */ + +ul.index2 { list-style-type: none; } + + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Mexico, Aztec, Spanish and Republican Vol. +1 of 2, by Brantz Mayer + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Mexico, Aztec, Spanish and Republican Vol. 1 of 2 + A Historical, Geographical, Political, Statistical and + Social Account of That Country From the Period of the + Invasion by the Spaniards to the Present Time; With a View + of the Ancient Aztec Empire and Civilization; A Historical + Sketch of the Late War; And Notices of New Mexico and + California + +Author: Brantz Mayer + +Release Date: October 31, 2011 [EBook #37887] +[Last updated: July 25, 2015] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MEXICO, AZTEC, SPANISH AND *** + + + + +Produced by Julia Miller, Larry B. Harrison and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> + <a name="frontispiece.jpg" id="frontispiece.jpg"></a> + <img src="images/frontispiece.jpg" width="400" height="706" alt="Hernando Cortéz and signature" title="" /> +</div> + +<hr /> + +<h1>MEXICO,</h1> +<h2>AZTEC, SPANISH AND REPUBLICAN:</h2> +<h3>A HISTORICAL, GEOGRAPHICAL, POLITICAL, STATISTICAL AND SOCIAL<br /> +ACCOUNT OF THAT COUNTRY FROM THE PERIOD OF THE INVASION<br /> +BY THE SPANIARDS TO THE PRESENT TIME;</h3> +<h5>WITH A VIEW OF THE</h5> +<h2>ANCIENT AZTEC EMPIRE AND CIVILIZATION;</h2> +<h3>A HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE LATE WAR;</h3> +<h5>AND NOTICES OF</h5> +<h3>NEW MEXICO AND CALIFORNIA</h3> + +<p> </p> + +<h3>BY</h3> +<h3>BRANTZ MAYER,</h3> +<h5>FORMERLY SECRETARY OF LEGATION TO MEXICO</h5> + +<p> </p> + +<h4>IN TWO VOLUMES</h4> +<h3>VOLUME I.</h3> + +<p> </p> + +<h3>HARTFORD:</h3> +<h3>S. DRAKE AND COMPANY.</h3> +<h4>MDCCCLII.</h4> + +<hr /> + +<h5><span class="smcap">Entered</span> according to Act of Congress, in the year 1850, by</h5> +<h4>SIDNEY DRAKE,</h4> +<h5>In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Connecticut.</h5> + +<p> </p> + +<div class="signature2">C. A. ALVORD, PRINTER,<br /> +29 Gold-st., N. Y. +</div> + +<hr /> + + +<h3>TO THE</h3> +<h2>HONORABLE HENRY CLAY:</h2> + +<div class="signature3"><span class="smcap">My Dear Sir:</span></div> + +<p>I take the liberty to inscribe these volumes to you +as a testimonial of personal gratitude. In the midst of engrossing +cares you have often been pleased to turn aside for a while to foster +those who were following the humbler and quieter walks of literature; +and it is, naturally, their delight to offer for your acceptance, +upon every suitable occasion, an acknowledgment of cordial thankfulness.</p> + +<p>Allow me, then, as the only tribute I can tender, to present a +work designed to illustrate the history and resources of one of those +American States which were summoned into the brotherhood of +nations by your sympathy and eloquence.</p> + +<div class="signature4">I am, with the greatest respect,<br /> + Your friend and servant,<br /> + BRANTZ MAYER.</div> + +<p> </p> + +<div class="signature3"><span class="smcap">Baltimore, July, 1850.</span></div> + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p> +<h2>PREFACE.</h2> + +<p>The people of the United States have always felt a deep interest in +the history and destiny of Mexico. It was not only the commercial +spirit of our citizens that awakened this sentiment. In former times, +when the exclusive policy of Spain closed the door of intercourse +with her American colonies, the ancient history of Peru and Mexico +attracted the curiosity of our students. They were eager to solve the +enigma of a strange civilization which had originated in the central +portions of our continent in isolated independence of all the world. +They desired, moreover, to know something of those enchanted regions, +which, like the fabled garden of the Hesperides, were watched +and warded with such jealous vigilance; and they craved to behold +those marvelous mines whose boundless wealth was poured into the +lap of Spain. The valuable work of Baron Humboldt, published in +the early part of this century, stimulated this natural curiosity; and, +when the revolutionary spirit of Europe penetrated our continent, and +the masses rose to cast off colonial bondage, we hailed with joy every +effort of the patriots who fought so bravely in the war of liberation. +Bound to Mexico by geographical ties, though without a common language +or lineage, we were the first to welcome her and the new American +Sovereignties into the brotherhood of nations, and to fortify our +continental alliance by embassies and treaties.</p> + +<p>After more than twenty years of peaceful intercourse, the war of +1846 broke out between Mexico and our Union. Thousands, of all +classes, professions and occupations,—educated and uneducated—observers +and idlers,—poured into the territory of the invaded republic. +In the course of the conflict these sturdy adventurers traversed the +central and northern regions of Mexico, scoured her coasts, possessed +themselves for many months of her beautiful Capital, and although they +returned to their homes worn with the toils of war, none have ceased +to remember the delicious land, amid whose sunny valleys and majestic +mountains they had learned, at least, to admire the sublimity of +nature. The returned warriors did not fail to report around their firesides +the marvels they witnessed during their campaigns, and numerous + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span> +works have been written to sketch the story of individual adventure, +or to portray the most interesting physical features of various +sections of the republic. Thus by war and literature, by ancient curiosity +and political sympathy, by geographical position and commercial +interest, Mexico has become perhaps the most interesting portion +of the world to our countrymen at the present moment. And I have +been led to believe that the American people would not receive unfavorably +a work designed to describe the entire country, to develop its +resources and condition, and to sketch impartially its history from the +conquest to the present day.</p> + +<p>It has been no ordinary task to chronicle the career of a nation for +more than three centuries, to unveil the colonial government of sixty-two +Viceroys, to follow the thread of war and politics through the +mazes of revolution, and to track the rebellious spirit of intrigue amid +the numerous civil outbreaks which have occurred since the downfall +of Iturbide. The complete Viceroyal history of Mexico is now for +the first time presented to the world in the English language, while, +in Spanish, no single author has ever attempted it continuously. Free +from the bias of Mexican partizanship, I have endeavored to narrate +events fairly, and to paint character without regard to individual +men. In describing the country, its resources, geography, finances, +church, agriculture, army, industrial condition, and social as well as +political prospects, I have taken care to provide myself with the most +recent and respectable authorities. My residence in the country, and +intimacy with many of its educated and intelligent patriots, enabled +me to gather information in which I confided, and I have endeavored +to fuse the whole mass of knowledge thus laboriously procured, with +my personal, and, I hope, unprejudiced, observation.</p> + +<p>I have not deemed it proper to encumber the margin of my pages +with continual references to authorities that are rarely consulted by +general readers, and could only be desired by critics who would often +be tantalized by the citation of works, which, in all likelihood, are not +to be found except in private collections in the United States, and some +of which, I am quite sure, exist only in my own library or in the +Mexican Legation, at Washington. Such references, whilst they occupied +an undue portion of the book, would be ostentatiously and tediously +pedantic in a work of so little pretension as mine. I may +state, however, that no important fact has been asserted without authority, +and, in order to indicate the greater portion of my published +sources of reliance, I have subjoined a list of the principal materials +consulted and carefully verified in the composition of these volumes. +Nevertheless, I have perhaps failed sometimes to procure the standard +works that are accessible to native or permanent residents of the +country, and thus, may have fallen accidental into error, whilst honestly +seeking to shun misstatement. If those whose information + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span> +enables them to detect important mistakes will be kind enough to +point them out candidly and clearly, I will gladly correct such serious +faults if another edition should ever be required by an indulgent +public.</p> + +<div class="signature">BRANTZ MAYER.</div> + +<div class="signature3"><span class="smcap">Baltimore, August, 1850.</span></div> + + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<h3>AUTHORITIES USED IN THE PREPARATION OF THIS WORK.</h3> + +<p> </p> + +<p class="center">I. HISTORICAL.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>Cartas de Cortéz ed. Lorenzana.</p> + +<p>Historia Verdadera de la Conquista +de la Nueva España—Bernal +Diaz.</p> + +<p>Peter Martyr.</p> + +<p>Conquista de Mejico, by De Solis.</p> + +<p>Veytia. Herrera.</p> + +<p>Robertson's History of America.</p> + +<p>Clavigero—Historia Antigua de +Mejico.</p> + +<p>Prescott's History of the Conquest +of Mexico.</p> + +<p>Cavo y Bustamante—Tres Siglos +de Mejico.</p> + +<p>Alaman—Disertaciones sobre la +Historia de Mejico.</p> + +<p>Father Gage's America.</p> + +<p>Ternaux-Compans's History of the +Conquest.</p> + +<p>Recopilacion de las leyes de las +Indias.</p> + +<p>Mendez—Observaciones sobre las +leyes, &c., &c.</p> + +<p>N. American Review, vol. XIX.</p> + +<p>Transactions of the American +Ethnological Society, in the Articles +on Mexico, by Mr. Gallatin.</p> + +<p>Researches, Philosophical and Antiquarian, +concerning the Aboriginal +History of America, by +J. H. McCulloh.</p> + +<p>Pesquisia contra Pedro de Alvarado +y Nuño de Guzman.</p> + +<p>Lives of the Viceroys in the Liceo +Mejicano.</p> + +<p>Notas y esclarecimientos à la historia +de la Conquista de Mejico, +por José F. Ramirez.—2d vol. of +Mexican translation of Prescott.</p> + +<p>Zavala—Revoluciones de Mejico +desde 1808, hasta 1830.</p> + +<p>Don Vicente Pazo's Letters on +the United Provinces of South +America.</p> + +<p>Robinson's Memoirs of the Mexican +Revolution.</p> + +<p>Ward's Mexico in 1827, &c.</p> + +<p>Foote's History of Texas.</p> + +<p>Tejas in 1836.</p> + +<p>Memorias para la Historia de la +Guerra de Tejas, por General +Vicente Filisola.</p> + +<p>Forbes's California.</p> + +<p>Greenhow's Oregon and California.</p> + +<p>American State Papers.</p> + +<p>Ranke—Fursten und Volker.</p> + +<p>Dr. Dunham's History of Spain +and Portugal.</p> + +<p>General Waddy Thompson's Recollections +of Mexico.</p> + +<p>Apuntes para la historia de la +guerra entre Mejico y los Estados +Unidos.</p> + +<p>Lectures on Mexican history, by +José Maria Lacunza, Professor +in the College of San Juan de +Letran.</p> + +<p>Constituciones de Mejico y de los +Estados Mejicanos.</p> + +<p><i>Thirteen</i> octavo volumes of documents +published by the Congress +of the United States, relative +to our intercourse and war +with Mexico, collected by myself.</p> + +<p>Tributo à la Verdad,—Vera Cruz +1847.</p> +</div> + +<p> </p> + +<p class="center"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span>II. DESCRIPTIVE.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>Humboldt, Essai Politique sur la +Nouvelle Espagne.</p> + +<p>Poinsett's Notes on Mexico.</p> + +<p>Bullock's Mexico.</p> + +<p>Lieut. Hardy's Journey in Mexico.</p> + +<p>Ward's Mexico in 1827.</p> + +<p>Folsom's Mexico in 1842.</p> + +<p>Mühlenpfordt—Die Republik Mejico.</p> + +<p>Mejico en 1842, por Luis Manuel +de Rivero.</p> + +<p>Mexico as it Was and as it Is, 1844.</p> + +<p>Ensayo sobre el verdadero estado +de la cuestion social y politica +que se agita en la Republica +Mejicana, por Otero, 1842.</p> + +<p>Madame Calderon de la Barca's +Life in Mexico.</p> + +<p>Kennedy's Texas.</p> + +<p>Emory, Abert, Cooke and Johnston—Journals +in New Mexico +and California—1848.</p> + +<p>Frémont's Expeditions, 1842-'3-'4.</p> + +<p>Frémont's California, 1848.</p> + +<p>T. Butler King's Report on California, +1850.</p> + +<p>W. Carey Jones's do. do. + 1850.</p> + +<p>Executive documents in relation +to California, 1850.</p> + +<p>Forbes's California.</p> + +<p>Bryant's do.</p> + +<p>Kendall's Santa Fé Expedition.</p> + +<p>Wilkes's Exploring Expedition.</p> + +<p>Wise—Los Gringos.</p> + +<p>Ruxton's Travels in Mexico, &c.</p> + +<p>Norman's Rambles in Yucatan.</p> + +<p> " + " in Mexico.</p> + +<p>Gregg's Commerce of the Prairies.</p> + +<p>Dr. Wislizenius's Memoir on New +Mexico.</p> + +<p>Stephens's Central America.</p> + +<p> " Yucatan.</p> + +<p>Gama—Piedras Antiguas de Mejico.</p> + +<p>El Museo Mejicano.</p> + +<p>Isidro R. Gondra's Notes on Mexican +Antiquities, in the 3rd vol. +(with plates) of the Mexican +translation of Prescott.</p> + +<p>Nebel—Voyage Arquéologique et +Pittoresque en Mexique.</p> + +<p>Memoir of the Mexican Minister +of Foreign and Domestic Affairs +on the condition of the +country in 1846.</p> + +<p>Idem in 1849.</p> + +<p>Memoir of the Mexican Minister +of War, 1844.</p> + +<p>Idem in 1846.</p> + +<p>Idem in 1849.</p> + +<p>Memoir of the Mexican Minister +of Finance on the condition of +the Treasury, 1841.</p> + +<p>Idem in 1846.</p> + +<p>Idem in 1848.</p> + +<p>Idem in 1849.</p> + +<p>Memoir on the Agriculture and +Manufactures of Mexico, by Don +Lucas Alaman, 1843.</p> + +<p>Memoir on the Liquidation of the +National Debt, by Alaman, 1845.</p> + +<p>Noticias Estadisticas del Estado +de Chihuahua, 1834.</p> + +<p>Noticias Estadisticas sobre el Departamento +de Querétaro, 1845.</p> + +<p>Nos. 1, 2, 3, Boletin del Instituto +Nacional de Geografia y Estadistica, +1839–1849.</p> + +<p>Collecion de documentos relativos +al departamento de Californias, +1846.</p> + +<p>El Observador Judicial de Mejico.</p> + +<p>Semanario de la Industria Mejicana.</p> + +<p>El Mosaico Mejicano.</p> + +<p>Journal des Economistes.</p> + +<p>Lyell's Geology.</p> + +<p>Lerdo—Consideraciones sobre la +condicion social y politica de la +Republica Mejicana en 1847.</p> +</div> + + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span></p> +<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<h3>BOOK I.</h3> + +<table class="toc" summary="Contents"> +<tr> +<td class="c2">CHAPTER I.—Discoveries of Cordova and Grijalva—Cortéz +appointed by Velasquez—Biographical +notice of Cortéz—Cortéz Captain General of the Armada—Equipment +of the Expedition—Quarrel of Velasquez—Firmness of Cortéz—Expedition +departs under Cortéz,</td> +<td class="c333"><a href="#Page_13">13</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="c2">CHAPTER II.—Olmeda preaches to the Indians—Aguilar +and Mariana—interpreters—Cortéz +lands—interview with the Aztecs—Diplomacy—Montezuma's presents—Montezuma +refuses to receive Cortéz,</td> +<td class="c333"><a href="#Page_22">22</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="c2">CHAPTER III.—Cortéz founds La Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz—Fleet destroyed—March +to Mexico—Conquest of Tlascala—Cholula—Slaughter in Cholula—Valley +of Mexico—Cortéz enters the Valley—Gigantic Causeway—Lake of Tezcoco—Reception +by Montezuma—Spaniards enter the capital,</td> +<td class="c333"><a href="#Page_28">28</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="c2">CHAPTER IV.—Description of the City of Tenochtitlan—Montezuma's way of +life—Market-place—Cortéz at the Great Temple—Description of it— +Place of Sacrifice—Sanctuaries—Huitzilopotchtli—Tezcatlipoca—Danger +of Cortéz—Montezuma +seized—Montezuma a prisoner—his submissiveness—Arrival of Narvaez—Cortéz's +diplomacy—Cortéz overcomes Narvaez, and recruits his forces,</td> +<td class="c333"><a href="#Page_35">35</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="c2">CHAPTER V.—Cortéz returns to the Capital—Causes of the revolt against the +Spaniards—Cortéz condemns Alvarado—his conduct to Montezuma—Battle in the +city—Montezuma mediates—Fight on the Great Temple or Teocalli—Retreat of +the Spaniards—Noche Triste—Flight of the Spaniards to Tacuba,</td> +<td class="c333"><a href="#Page_44">44</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="c2">CHAPTER VI.—Retreat to Otumba—Cortéz is encountered by a new army of Aztecs +and auxiliaries—Victory of the Spaniards at Otumba—Proposed re-alliance of +Aztecs and Tlascalans—Forays of Cortéz—reduction of the eastern regions—Cortéz +proposes the reconquest—sends off the disaffected—Cortéz settles the Tlascalan succession,</td> +<td class="c333"><a href="#Page_50">50</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="c2">CHAPTER VII.—Death of Cuitlahua—he is succeeded by Guatemozin—Aztecs +learn the proposed reconquest—Cortéz's forces for this enterprise—Cortéz at Tezcoco—his +plans and acts—Military expeditions of Cortéz in the Valley—Operations +at Chalco and Cuernavaca—Xochimilco—return to Tacuba—Cortéz returns to +Tezcoco and is reinforced,</td> +<td class="c333"><a href="#Page_56">56</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="c2">CHAPTER VIII.—Cortéz returns—conspiracy among his men detected—Execution +of Villafaña—Brigantines launched—Xicotencatl's treason and execution—Disposition +of forces to attack the city—Siege and assaults on the city—Fight and reverses +of the Spaniards—Sacrifice of captives—Flight of allies—Contest renewed— +Starvation,</td> +<td class="c333"><a href="#Page_62">62</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="c2">CHAPTER IX.—Aztec prediction—it is not verified—Cortéz reinforced by fresh +arrivals—Famine in the city—Cortéz levels the city to its foundation—Condition +of the capital—Attack renewed—Capture of Guatemozin—Surrender of the city—Frightful +condition of the city,</td> +<td class="c333"><a href="#Page_70">70</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="c2">CHAPTER X.—Duty of a historian—Motives of the Conquest—Character and +deeds of Cortéz—Materials of the Conquest—Adventurers—Priests—Indian allies—Historical +aspects of the Conquest,</td> +<td class="c333"><a href="#Page_75">75</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="c2"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> + CHAPTER XI.—Discontent at not finding gold—Torture of Guatemozin—Results +of the fall of the capital—Mission from Michoacan—Rebuilding of the capital—Letters +to the King—Intrigues against Cortéz—Fonseca—Narvaez—Tapia—Charles +V. protects Cortéz and confirms his acts,</td> +<td class="c333"><a href="#Page_80">80</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="c2">CHAPTER XII.—Cortéz commissioned by the Emperor—Velasquez—his death—Mexico +rebuilt—Immigration—Repartimientos of Indians—Honduras—Guatemozin—Mariana—Cortéz +accused—ordered to Spain for trial—his reception, honors +and titles—he marries—his return to Mexico—resides at Tezcoco—Expeditions of +Cortéz—California—Quivara—returns to Spain—death—Where are his bones?</td> +<td class="c333"><a href="#Page_84">84</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="c2">CHAPTER XIII.—Archbishop Zumarraga's destruction of Mexican monuments, +writings, documents—Mr. Gallatin's opinion of them—Traditions—two sources of +accurate knowledge—Speculations on antiquity—Aztecs—Toltecs—Nahuatlacs—Acolhuans, +&c.—Aztecs emigrate from Aztlan—settle in Anahuac—Tables of emigration +of the original tribes—Other tribes in the empire,</td> +<td class="c333"><a href="#Page_92">92</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="c2">CHAPTER XIV.—Difficulty of estimating the civilization of the Aztecs—Nations +in Yucatan—Value of contemporary history—The Aztec monarchy—elective—Royal +style in Tenochtitlan—Montezuma's way of life—Despotic power of the +Emperor over life and law—Theft—intemperance—marriage—slavery—war—Military +system and hospitals—Coin—Revenues—Aztec mythology—Image of Teoyaomiqui—Teocalli—Two +kinds of sacrifice—Why the Aztecs sacrificed their +prisoners—Common Sacrifice—Gladitorial Sacrifice—Sacrificial Stone—Aztec Calendar—week, +month, year, cycle—Procession of the New Fire—Astronomical +Science—Aztec Calendar—Tables,</td> +<td class="c333"><a href="#Page_99">99</a></td> +</tr> +</table> + + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<h3>BOOK II.</h3> + +<table class="toc" summary="Contents"> +<tr> +<td class="c2">CHAPTER I.—Colonial system—Early grants of power to rulers in Mexico by the +Emperor Charles V.—Abuse of it—Council of the Indies—Laws—Royal audiences— +Cabildos—Fueros—Relative +positions of Spaniards and Creoles—Scheme of +Spanish colonial trade—Restrictions on trade—Alcabala—Taxes—Papal Bulls—Bulls +de Cruzada—de Defuntos—of Composition—Power of the Church—its property— +Inquisition—The +acts of the Inquisition—Repartimientos—Indians—Agriculturists—Miners—Mita—Excuses +for maladministration,</td> +<td class="c333"><a href="#Page_127">127</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="c2">CHAPTER II.—Founding of the Viceroyalty of New Spain—New Audiencia— +Fuenleal—Mendoza—Early +acts of the first Viceroy—Coinage—Rebellion in Jalisco—Viceroy +suppresses it—Council of the Indies on Repartimientos—Indian +Servitude—Quivara—Expeditions of Coronado and Alarcon—Pest in 1546—Revolution—Council +of Bishops—Mines—Zapotecs revolt—Mendoza removed to Peru,</td> +<td class="c333"><a href="#Page_139">139</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="c2">CHAPTER III.—Velasco endeavors to ameliorate the condition of the Indians—University +of Mexico established—Inundation—Military colonization—Philip II.—Florida—Intrigues +against Velasco—Philipine Isles—Death of Velasco—Marques +de Falces—Baptism of the grand-children of Cortéz—Conspiracy against the Marques +del Valle—his arrest—execution of his friends—Marques de Falces—charges +against him—his fall—Errors of Philip II.—Fall of Muñoz and his return—Vindication +of the Viceroy,</td> +<td class="c333"><a href="#Page_148">148</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="c2">CHAPTER IV.—Almanza Viceroy—Chichimecas revolt—Jesuits— +Inquisition—Pestilence—No +Indian tribute exacted—Almanza departs—Xuares Viceroy—Weak +Administration—Increase of commerce—Pedro Moya de Contreras Viceroy—Reforms +under a new Viceroy—His power as Viceroy and Inquisitor—Zuñiga Viceroy—Treasure— +Piracy—Cavendish—Drake +captures a galeon—Zuñiga and the +Audiencia of Guadalajara—His deposition from power,</td> +<td class="c333"><a href="#Page_160">160</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="c2"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> + CHAPTER V.—Luis de Velasco II. becomes Viceroy—Delight of the Mexicans—Factories +reopened—Chichimecas—Colonization—Alameda—Indians taxed for +European wars—Composition—Fowls—Acebedo Viceroy—Expedition to New +Mexico—Indian ameliorations—Death of Philip II.—New scheme of hiring +Indians—California—Montesclaros Viceroy—Inundation—Albarrada,</td> +<td class="c333"><a href="#Page_170">170</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="c2">CHAPTER VI.—Second administration of Don Luis Velasco—His great work for +the Drainage of the Valley—Lakes in the Valley—Danger of Inundation—History +of the Desague of Huehuetoca—Operations of the engineers Martinez and Boot—The +Franciscans—Completion of the Desague—La Obra del Consulado—Negro +revolt—Extension of Oriental trade—Guerra Viceroy—De Cordova Viceroy—Indian +revolt—Cordova founded,</td> +<td class="c333"><a href="#Page_178">178</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="c2">CHAPTER VII.—Marques de Gelves Viceroy—his reforms—Narrative of Father +Gage—Gelves forestalls the market—The Archbishop excommunicates Mexia, his +agent—Quarrel between Gelves and the Archbishop—Viceroy excommunicated—Archbishop +at Guadalupe—he is arrested at the altar—sent to Spain—Mexia threatened—Mob +attacks the Palace—it is sacked—Viceroy escapes—Retribution,</td> +<td class="c333"><a href="#Page_187">187</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="c2">CHAPTER VIII.—The Audiencia rules in the interregnum—Carillo +Visitador—Inquisitorial +examination—Acapulco taken—Attacks by the Dutch—Removal of the +Capital proposed—Armendariz Viceroy—Escalona Viceroy—Palafox's conduct to +the Viceroy—Palafox Viceroy—His good and evil,</td> +<td class="c333"><a href="#Page_195">195</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="c2">CHAPTER IX.—Sotomayor Viceroy—Escalona vindicated—Monastic property—Bigotry +of Palafox—Guzman Viceroy—Indian insurrection—Revolt of the Tarahumares—Success +of the Indians—Indian wars—Duke de Alburquerque Viceroy—Attempt +to assassinate him—Count de Baños Viceroy—Attempt to colonize—Escobar +y Llamas and De Toledo Viceroys—Depredations of British cruisers—Nuño +de Portugal Viceroy,</td> +<td class="c333"><a href="#Page_201">201</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="c2">CHAPTER X.—Rivera Viceroy—La Cerda Viceroy—Revolt in New Mexico—Success +of the Indians—Colony destroyed—Efforts of the Spaniards to reconquer—Vera +Cruz sacked—Count Monclova Viceroy—Count Galve Viceroy—Tarrahumaric +revolt—Indians pacified—Texas—Hispaniola attacked—Insurrection—Burning +of the Palace—Famine—Earthquake,</td> +<td class="c333"><a href="#Page_212">212</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="c2">CHAPTER XI.—Montañez Viceroy—Spiritual Conquest of California—Valladares +Viceroy—Fair at Acapulco—Spanish monarchy—Austria—Bourbon—Montañez +Viceroy—Jesuits in California—La Cueva Viceroy—Duke de Linares Viceroy—British +slavery treaty—Colonization—Nuevo Leon—Texas—Operations in +Texas—Alarcon—Aguayo—Casa-Fuerte's virtuous administration—Louis I.—Oriental +trade—Spanish jealousy—The King's opinion of Casa-Fuerte—his acts,</td> +<td class="c333"><a href="#Page_221">221</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="c2">CHAPTER XII.—Vizarron and Eguiarreta Viceroy—Eventless government—Salazar +Viceroy—Colonial fears—Fuen-Clara Viceroy—Galeon lost—Mexico under +Revilla-Gigedo I.—Ferdinand VI.—Indians—Taxes—Colonies in the north—Famine—Mines +at Bolaños—Horcasitas—Character of Revilla-Gigedo—Villalon +Viceroy—Charles III.—Cagigal Viceroy,</td> +<td class="c333"><a href="#Page_232">232</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="c2">CHAPTER XIII.—Marques de Cruillas Viceroy—Charles III. proclaimed—Havana +taken by the British—Military preparations—Peace—Pestilence—Galvez +Visitador—Reforms—Tobacco +monopoly—De Croix Viceroy—The Jesuits—their expulsion +from Spanish dominions—their arrival in Europe—banished—Causes of this conduct +to the order—Origin of the military character of Mexico,</td> +<td class="c333"><a href="#Page_240">240</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="c2">CHAPTER XIV.—Bucareli y Ursua Viceroy—Progress of New Spain—Gold +placers in Sonora—Mineral wealth at that period—Intellectual condition of the +country—Line of Presidios—Mayorga Viceroy—Policy of Spain to England and +her colonies—Operations on the Spanish Main, &c.—Matias Galvez Viceroy—his acts,</td> +<td class="c333"><a href="#Page_248">248</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="c2"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> + CHAPTER XV.—Bernardo de Galvez Viceroy—Chapultepec—Galvez dies—his +daughter—Haro Viceroy—Corruption of Alcaldes—Flores Viceroy—his system of +ruling the northern frontier—Mining interests—II. Revilla-Gigedo Viceroy—Charles +IV.—Revilla-Gigedo's colonial improvements—his advice as to California +Anecdotes of his police regulations—The street of Revilla-Gigedo—Arrest of fugitive +lovers—Punishes the culprits,</td> +<td class="c333"><a href="#Page_255">255</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="c2">CHAPTER XVI.—Branciforte Viceroy—his grasping and avaricious character—Corruption +tolerated—Persecution of Frenchmen—Encampments—Branciforte's +character—Azanza Viceroy—Effect of European wars on colonial trade and manufactures—Threatened +revolt—Marquina Viceroy—Revolt in Jalisco—Iturrigaray +Viceroy—Godoy's corruption—War—Defences against the United States—Miranda— +Humboldt—Mexico +taxed for European wars—Ferdinand VII.—Napoleon in +Spain—King Joseph Bonaparte—Iturrigaray arrested—Garibay Viceroy,</td> +<td class="c333"><a href="#Page_267">267</a></td> +</tr> +</table> + + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<h3>BOOK III.</h3> + +<table class="toc" summary="Contents"> +<tr> +<td class="c2">CHAPTER I.—Lianza Viceroy—Audiencia—Venegas Viceroy—True sources of +the Revolution—Creoles loyal to Ferdinand—Spaniards in favor of King Joseph—Mexican +subscriptions for Spain—Secret union in Mexico against Spaniards—Hidalgo—Allende—First +outbreak—Guanajuato sacked—Las Cruces—Mexico menaced—Indian +bravery at Aculco—Marfil—Massacre at Guanajuato—Calleja—Insurgents +defeated—Execution of Hidalgo,</td> +<td class="c333"><a href="#Page_279">279</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="c2">CHAPTER II.—Venegas Viceroy—Rayon—Junta in 1811—its willingness to receive +Ferdinand VII.—Proclamation by the Junta—Morelos—Acapulco taken—Successes +of the insurgents—Siege of Cuautla—Izucar—Orizaba—Oaxaca—Chilpanzingo—Calleja +Viceroy—Iturbide—Reverses of insurgents—Morelos shot,</td> +<td class="c333"><a href="#Page_287">287</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="c2">CHAPTER III.—Apodaca Viceroy—Spanish constitution of 1812 proclaimed in +Mexico—Condition of the revolutionary party—Victoria—Mina lands at Soto la +Marina—his efforts—Los Remedios—Guerrillas—he is shot—Padre +Torres—Iturbide—Apodaca +selects him to establish absolutism—Iturbide promulgates the +Plan of Iguala—Army of the Three Guaranties,</td> +<td class="c333"><a href="#Page_293">293</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="c2">CHAPTER IV.—O'Donoju Viceroy—Conduct of Iturbide—Novella—Revolt—Treaty +of Cordova—First Mexican Cortes—Iturbide Emperor—his career—exiled +to Italy—Iturbide returns—arrest—execution—his character and services,</td> +<td class="c333"><a href="#Page_301">301</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="c2">CHAPTER V.—Review of the condition of Mexico and the formation of parties—Viceroyal +government—The people—The army—The church—Constitution of +1824—Echavari revolts—Victoria President—Escocesses—Yorkinos—Revolts +continued—Montayno—Guerrero—Gomez Pedraza President—is overthrown—Federalists—Centralists—Guerrero +President—Abolition of Slavery in Mexico,</td> +<td class="c333"><a href="#Page_307">307</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="c2">CHAPTER VI.—Conspiracy against Guerrero by Bustamante—Guerrero betrayed +and shot—Anecdote—Revolt under Santa Anna—he restores Pedraza and becomes +President—Gomez Farias deposed—Church—Central Constitution of 1836—Santa +Anna—his Texan disgrace—Mexia—Bustamante President—French at Vera Cruz +Revolts in the north and in the capital—Bustamante deposed—Santa Anna President,</td> +<td class="c333"><a href="#Page_316">316</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="c2">CHAPTER VII.—Reconquest of Texas proposed—Canalizo President ad interim—Revolution +under Paredes in 1844—Santa Anna falls—Herrera President—Texan +revolt—Origin of war with the United States—Texan war for the Constitution +of 1824—Nationality recognized—Annexation to the United States—Proposition +to Mexico—Herrera overthrown—Paredes President—Our minister rejected—Character +of General Paredes,</td> +<td class="c333"><a href="#Page_326">326</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="c2"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> + CHAPTER VIII.—General Taylor ordered to the Rio Grande—History of Texan +boundaries—Origin of the war—Military preparations—Commencement of hostilities—Battles +of Palo Alto and Resaca—Matamoros—Taylor's advance—Fall of +Monterey,</td> +<td class="c333"><a href="#Page_334">334</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="c2">CHAPTER IX.—General Wool inspects and musters the western troops—Army +of the Centre—New Mexico—Kearney—Macnamara—California— +Frémont—Sonoma—Californian +independence—Possession taken—Sloat—Stockton—A revolt—Pico—Treaty +of Couenga—Kearney at San Pascual—is relieved—Disputes—San +Gabrielle—Mesa—Los Angeles—Frémont's character, services, trial,</td> +<td class="c333"><a href="#Page_342">342</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="c2">CHAPTER X.—Valley of the Rio Grande—Santa Anna at San Luis—Scott commander-in-chief—Plan +of attack on the east coast—General Scott's plan—Doniphan's +expedition—Bracito—Sacramento—Revolt in New Mexico—Murder of +Richie—Selection of battle ground—Description of it—Battle of Angostura or +Buena Vista—Mexican retreat—Tabasco—Tampico,</td> +<td class="c333"><a href="#Page_350">350</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="c2">CHAPTER XI.—Santa Anna's return—changes his principles—Salas executive—Constitution +of 1824 restored—Paredes—Plans of Salas and Santa Anna—his letter +to Almonte—his views of the war—refuses the Dictatorship—commands the army—State +of parties in Mexico—Puros—Moderados—Santa Anna at San Luis—Peace +propositions—Internal troubles—Farias's controversy with the church—Polko +revolution in the capital—Vice Presidency suppressed—Important decree,</td> +<td class="c333"><a href="#Page_358">358</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="c2">CHAPTER XII.—General Scott at Lobos—Landing at and siege of Vera Cruz—Capitulation +and condition of Vera Cruz—Condition of Mexico—Alvarado, etc., +captured—Scott's advance—Description of Cerra Gordo—Mexican defences and +military disposal there—Battle of Cerro Gordo—Peroté and Puebla yield—Santa +Anna returns—Constitution of 1824 readopted—Mexican politics of the day—War +spirit—Guerillas—Peace negotiations—Santa Anna's secret negotiations,</td> +<td class="c333"><a href="#Page_370">370</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="c2">CHAPTER XIII.—Scott at Puebla—Tampico and Orizaba taken—Scott's advance—Topography +of the Valley of Mexico—Routes to the capital—El Peñon—Mexicalzingo—Tezcoco—Chalco—Outer +and inner lines around the city—Scott's advance +by Chalco—The American army at San Augustin,</td> +<td class="c333"><a href="#Page_381">381</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="c2">CHAPTER XIV.—Difficulties of the advance—The Pedregal—San Antonio—Hacienda—Relative +position of American and Mexican armies—Path over the Pedregal +to Contreras—Valencia disconcerts Santa Anna's plan of battle—American +advance and victory at Contreras—San Antonio turned by Worth—Battle of Churubusco—Battle +at the Convent and Tete de Pont—Their capture,</td> +<td class="c333"><a href="#Page_391">391</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="c2">CHAPTER XV.—Why the city was not entered on the 20th—Condition of the +city—Deliberation of the Mexican cabinet and proposals—Reasons why General +Scott proposed and granted the armistice—Deliberations of commissioners—Parties +against Santa Anna—Failure of the negotiation—Mexican desire to destroy +Santa Anna,</td> +<td class="c333"><a href="#Page_400">400</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="c2">CHAPTER XVI.—Military position of the Americans at the end of the armistice—Mexican +defences—Plan of attack—Reconnoissances of Scott and Mason—Importance +of Mexican position at Molino del Rey—Scott's scheme of capturing +the city—Battle of Molino del Rey—Reflections and criticism on this battle—Preparations +to attack Chapultepec—Storming of Chapultepec and of the city Gates +of San Cosmé and Belen—Retreat of the Mexican army and government—American +occupation of the city of Mexico,</td> +<td class="c333"><a href="#Page_408">408</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="c2">CHAPTER XVII.—Attack of the city mob on the army—Quitman Governor—Peña +President—Congress ordered—Siege of Puebla—Lane's, Lally's, and +Childs's victories—Guerrilleros broken up—Mexican politics—Anaya President—Peace +negotiations—Scott's decree—Peña President—Santa Anna and Lane—Santa +Anna leaves Mexico for Jamaica—Treaty entered into—Its character—Santa +Cruz de Rosales—Court of Inquiry—Internal troubles—Ambassadors at Querétaro—Treaty +ratified—Evacuation—Revolutionary attempts—Condition of Mexico +since the war—Character of Santa Anna—Note on the military critics,</td> +<td class="c333"><a href="#Page_420">420</a></td> +</tr> +</table> + + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 10]<br />[Pg 11]</a></span></p> +<h1>BOOK I.</h1> + +<p> </p> + +<h2>HISTORY OF THE<br /> +CONQUEST OF MEXICO BY CORTÉZ,<br /> +WITH A SKETCH OF AZTEC CIVILIZATION<br /> +1511–1530.</h2> + + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 12]<br />[Pg 13]</a></span></p> +<h2>BOOK I.</h2> + + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<h2>CHAPTER I.<br /> +1511 TO 1519.</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>DISCOVERIES OF CORDOVA AND GRIJALVA.—CORTÉZ APPOINTED +BY VELASQUEZ.—BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE OF CORTÉZ.—CORTÉZ +CAPTAIN GENERAL OF THE ARMADA.—EQUIPMENT OF +THE EXPEDITION.—QUARREL OF VELASQUEZ—FIRMNESS OF +CORTÉZ.—EXPEDITION DEPARTS UNDER CORTÉZ.</p> +</div> + +<p>There is perhaps no page in modern history so full of dramatic +incidents and useful consequences, as that which records the discovery, +conquest and development of America by the Spanish and +Anglo Saxon races. The extraordinary achievements of Columbus, +Cortéz, Pizarro, and Washington, have resulted in the acquisition +of broad lands, immense wealth, and rational liberty; and the +names of these heroes are thus indissolubly connected with the +physical and intellectual progress of mankind.</p> + +<p>In the following pages we propose to write the history, and +depict the manners, customs and condition of <span class="smcap">Mexico</span>. Our +narrative begins with the first movements that were made for +the conquest of the country; yet, we shall recount, fully and +accurately, the story of those Indian princes,—the splendor of +whose courts, and the misery of whose tragic doom, enhance the +picturesque grandeur and solemn lessons that are exhibited in +the career of Hernando Cortéz.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> + Cuba was the second island discovered, in the West Indies; +but it was not until 1511, that Diego, son of the gallant admiral, +who had hitherto maintained the seat of government in Hispaniola, +resolved to occupy the adjacent isle of Fernandina,—as it was +then called,—amid whose virgin mountains and forests he hoped +to find new mines to repair the loss of those which were rapidly +failing in Hispaniola.<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a> + <a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a></p> + +<p>For the conquest of this imagined El Dorado, he prepared a +small armament, under the command of Diego Velasquez, an +ambitious and covetous leader, who, together with his lieutenant, +Narvaez, soon established the Spanish authority in the island, of +which he was appointed Governor.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>Columbus, after coasting the shores of Cuba for a great distance, +had always believed that it constituted a portion of the continent, +but it was soon discovered that the illustrious admiral had been in +error, and that Cuba, extensive as it appeared to be, was, in fact, +only an island.</p> + +<p>In February, 1517, a Spanish <i>hidalgo</i>, Hernandez de Cordova, +set sail, with three vessels, towards the adjacent Bahamas in search +of slaves. He was driven by a succession of severe storms on +coasts which had hitherto been unknown to the Spanish adventurers, +and finally landed on that part of the continent which forms the +north-eastern end of the peninsula of Yucatan, and is known as +Cape Catoché. Here he first discovered the evidence of a more +liberal civilization than had been hitherto known among his +adventurous countrymen in the New World. Large and solid +buildings, formed of stone;—cultivated fields;—delicate fabrics +of cotton and precious metals,—indicated the presence of a race +that had long emerged from the semi-barbarism of the Indian Isles. +The bold but accidental explorer continued his voyage along the +coast of the peninsula until he reached the site of Campeché; and +then, after an absence of seven months and severe losses among +his men, returned to Cuba, with but half the number of his reckless +companions. He brought back with him, however, numerous +evidences of the wealth and progress of the people he had +fortuitously discovered on the American main; but he soon died, +and left to others the task of completing the enterprise he had so +auspiciously begun. The fruits of his discoveries remained to be +gathered by Velasquez, who at once equipped four vessels and + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> +entrusted them to the command of his nephew, Juan de Grijalva, +and on the 1st of May, 1518, this new commander left the port +of St. Jago de Cuba. The first land he touched on his voyage +of discovery, was the Island of Cozumel, whence he passed to the +continent, glancing at the spots that had been previously visited by +Cordova. So struck was he by the architecture, the improved +agriculture, the civilized tastes, the friendly character and demeanor +of the inhabitants, and, especially, by the sight of "large stone +crosses, evidently objects of worship," that, in the enthusiasm +of the moment, he gave to the land the name of Nueva España-or +New Spain,—a title which has since been extended from the +peninsula of Yucatan to even more than the entire empire of +Montezuma and the Aztecs.</p> + +<p>Grijalva did not content himself with a mere casual visit to the +continent, but pursued his course along the coast, stopping at +the Rio de Tabasco. Whilst at Rio de Vanderas, he enjoyed +the first intercourse that ever took place between the Spaniards +and Mexicans. The <i>Cacique</i> of the Province sought from the +strangers a full account of their distant country and the motives +of their visit, in order that he might convey the intelligence to +his Aztec master. Presents were interchanged, and Grijalva +received, in return for his toys and tinsel, a mass of jewels, +together with ornaments and vessels of gold, which satisfied the +adventurers that they had reached a country whose resources would +repay them for the toil of further exploration. Accordingly, he +despatched to Cuba with the joyous news, Pedro de Alvarado, one +of his captains,—a man who was destined to play a conspicuous +part in the future conquest,—whilst he, with the remainder of his +companies, continued his coasting voyage to San Juan de Ulua, +the Island of Sacrificios, and the northern shores, until he reached +the Province of Panuco; whence, after an absence of six months, +he set sail for Cuba, having been the first Spanish adventurer who +trod the soil of Mexico.</p> + +<p>But his return was not hailed even with gratitude. The florid +reports of Pedro de Alvarado had already inflamed the ambition +and avarice of Velasquez, who, impatient of the prolonged absence +of Grijalva, had despatched a vessel under the command of Olid +in search of his tardy officer. Nor was he content with this +jealous exhibition of his temper; for, anxious to secure to himself +all the glory and treasure to be derived from the boundless resources +of a continent, he solicited authority from the Spanish crown to +prosecute the adventures that had been so auspiciously begun; + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> +and, in the meanwhile, after considerable deliberation, resolved to +fit out another armament on a scale, in some degree, commensurate +with the military subjugation of the country, should he find +himself opposed by its sovereign and people. After considerable +doubt, difficulty and delay, he resolved to entrust this expedition +to the command of <span class="smcap">Hernando Cortéz</span>; "the last man," says +Prescott, "to whom Velasquez,—could he have foreseen the +results,—would have confided the enterprise."</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>It will not be foreign to our purpose to sketch, briefly, the +previous life of a man who subsequently became so eminent in the +history of both worlds. Seven years before Columbus planted the +standard of Castile and Arragon in the West Indies, <span class="smcap">Hernando +Cortéz</span>, was born, of a noble lineage, in the town of Medellin, +in the Province of Estremadura, in Spain. His infancy was frail +and delicate, but his constitution strengthened as he grew, until, +at the age of fourteen, he was placed in the venerable university +of Salamanca, where his parents, who rejoiced in the extreme +vivacity of his talents, designed to prepare him for the profession +of law, the emoluments of which were, at that period, most +tempting in Spain. But the restless spirit of the future conqueror +was not to be manacled by the musty ritual of a tedious science +whose pursuit would confine him to a quiet life. He wasted two +years at the college, and, like many men who subsequently became +renowned either for thought or action, was finally sent home in +disgrace. Nevertheless, in the midst of his recklessness, and by the +quickness of his genius, he had learned "a little store of Latin," +and acquired the habit of writing good prose, or of versifying +agreeably. His father,—Don Martin Cortéz de Monroy, and +his mother, Doña Catalina Pizarro Altamirano,—seem to have +been accomplished people, nor is it improbable, that the greater +part of their son's information was obtained under the influence of +the domestic circle. At college he was free from all restraint,—giving +himself up to the spirit of adventure, the pursuit of pleasure, +and convivial intercourse,—so that no hope was entertained of his +further improvement from scholastic studies. His worthy parents +were, moreover, people of limited fortune, and unable to prolong +these agreeable but profitless pursuits. Accordingly, when Cortéz +attained the age of seventeen, they yielded to his proposal to +enlist under the banner of <span class="smcap">Gonsalvo of Cordova</span>, and to devote +himself, heart and soul, to the military life which seemed most +suitable for one of his wild, adventurous and resolute disposition. + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> +It was well for Spain and for himself, that the chivalric wish of +Cortéz was not thwarted,—and that one of the ablest soldiers +produced by Castile at that period, was not dwarfed by parental +control into a bad lawyer or pestilent pettifogger.</p> + +<p>The attention of our hero was soon directed towards the New +World,—the stories of whose wealth had now for upwards of +twenty years been pouring into the greedy ear of Spain,—and he +speedily determined to embark in the armament which <span class="smcap">Nicolas +de Ovando</span>, the successor of Columbus, was fitting out for the +West Indies. This design was frustrated, however, for two years +longer, by an accident which occurred in one of his amours; nor +did another opportunity present itself, until, at the age of nineteen, +in 1504, he bade adieu to Spain in a small squadron bound to the +Islands.</p> + +<p>As soon as Cortéz reached Hispaniola, he visited the Governor, +whom he had formerly known at home. <span class="smcap">Ovando</span> was absent, but +his secretary received the emigrant kindly, and assured him "a +liberal grant of land." "I come for <i>gold</i>," replied Cortéz, +sneeringly, "and not to toil like a peasant!" Ovando, however, +was more fortunate than the secretary, in prevailing upon the +future conqueror to forego the lottery of adventure, for no sooner +had he returned to his post, than Cortéz was persuaded to accept a +grant of land, a <i>repartimiento</i> of Indians, and the office of notary +in the village of Açua. Here he seems to have dwelt until 1511, +varying the routine of notarial and agricultural pursuits by an +occasional adventure, of an amorous character, which involved him +in duels. Sometimes he took part in the military expeditions +under Diego Velasquez for the suppression of Indian insurrections +in the interior. This was the school in which he learned his +tactics, and here did he study the native character until he joined +Velasquez for the conquest of Cuba.</p> + +<p>As soon as this famous Island was reduced to Spanish authority, +Cortéz became high in favor with Velasquez, who had received +the commission of Governor. But love, intrigues, jealousy and +ambition, quickly began to chequer the wayward life of our hero, +and estranged him from Velasquez, for the new Governor found it +difficult to satisfy the cravings of those rapacious adventurers who +flocked in crowds to the New World, and, in all probability, +clustered around Cortéz as the nucleus of discontent. It was +soon resolved by these men to submit their complaints against +Velasquez to the higher authorities in Hispaniola, and the daring +Cortéz was fixed on as the bearer of the message in an open boat, + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> +across the eighteen intervening leagues. But the conspiracy was +detected,—the rash ambassador confined in chains,—and only +saved from hanging by the interposition of powerful friends.</p> + +<p>Cortéz speedily contrived to relieve himself of the fetters with +which he was bound, and, forcing a window, escaped from his +prison to the sanctuary of a neighboring church. A few days +after, however, he was seized whilst standing carelessly in front +of the sacred edifice, and conveyed on board a vessel bound for +Hispaniola, where he was to be tried. But his intrepidity and +skill did not forsake him even in this strait. Ascending cautiously +from the vessel's hold to the deck, he dropped into a boat and +pulled near ashore, when dreading to risk the frail bark in the +breakers, he abandoned his skiff,—plunged boldly into the surf,—and +landing on the sands, sought again the sanctuary, whence he +had been rudely snatched by the myrmidons of the Governor.</p> + +<p>One of the causes of his quarrel with Velasquez had been an +intrigue with a beautiful woman, in whose family the Governor +was, perhaps, personally interested. The fickle Cortéz cruelly +abandoned the fair Catalina Xuares at a most inauspicious moment +of her fate, and was condemned for his conduct by all the best +people in the Island; but now, under the influence of penitence +or policy, his feelings suddenly experienced a strange revulsion. +He expressed a contrite desire to do justice to the injured woman +by marriage, and thus, at once obtained the favor of her family and +the pardon of the Governor, who becoming permanently reconciled +to Cortéz, presented him a liberal <i>repartimiento</i> of Indians together +with broad lands in the neighborhood of St. Jago, of which he +was soon made <i>alcalde</i>.</p> + +<p>The future conqueror devoted himself henceforth to his duties +with remarkable assiduity. Agriculture,—the introduction of +cattle of the best breeds,—and the revenues of a share of the mines +which he wrought,—soon began to enrich the restless adventurer +who had settled down for a while into the quiet life of a married +man. His beautiful wife fulfilled her share of the cares of life +with remarkable fidelity, and seems to have contented the heart +even of her liege lord, who declared himself as happy with his +bride as if she had been the daughter of a duchess.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>At this juncture <span class="smcap">Alvarado</span> returned with the account of the +discoveries, the wealth, and the golden prospects of continental +adventure which we have already narrated. Cortéz and Velasquez +were alike fired by the alluring story. The old flame of enterprise + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> +was rekindled in the breast of the wild boy of Medellin, and when +the Governor looked around for one who could command the +projected expedition, he found none, among the hosts who pressed +for service, better fitted for the enterprise by personal qualities +and fortune, than Hernando Cortéz, whom he named <span class="smcap">Captain +General of his Armada</span>.</p> + +<p>The high office and the important task imposed on him seem +to have sobered the excitable, and heretofore fickle, mind of our +hero. His ardent animal spirits, under the influence of a bold +and lofty purpose, became the servants rather than the masters +of his indomitable will, and he at once proceeded to arrange all +the details of the expedition which he was to lead to Mexico. +The means that he did not already possess in his own coffers, he +raised by mortgage, and he applied the funds, thus obtained, to +the purchase of vessels, rations, and military stores, or to the +furnishing of adequate equipments for adventurers who were too +poor to provide their own outfit. It is somewhat questionable +whether Velasquez, the Governor, was very liberal in his personal +and pecuniary contributions to this expedition, the cost of which +amounted to about twenty thousand gold ducats. It has been +alleged that Cortéz was the chief support of the adventure, and +it is certain, that in later years, this question resulted in bitter +litigation between the parties.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>Six ships and three hundred followers were soon prepared for +the enterprise under Cortéz, and the Governor proceeded to give +instructions to the leader, all of which are couched in language of +unquestionable liberality.</p> + +<p>The captain of the Armada was first to seek the missing Grijalva, +after which the two commanders were to unite in their quest of +gold and adventure. Six Christians, supposed to be lingering in +captivity in Yucatan, were to be sought and released. Barter and +traffic, generally, with the natives were to be encouraged and +carried on, so as to avoid all offence against humanity or kindness. +The Indians were to be christianized;—for the conversion of +heathens was one of the dearest objects of the Spanish king. +The aborigines, in turn, were to manifest their good will by ample +gifts of jewels and treasure. The coasts and adjacent streams +were to be surveyed,—and the productions of the country, its +races, civilization, and institutions, were to be noted with minute +accuracy, so that a faithful report might be returned to the crown, + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> +to whose honor and the service of God, it was hoped the enterprise +would certainly redound.</p> + +<p>Such was the state of things in the port of St. Jago, when +jealous fears began to interrupt the confidence between Velasquez +and Cortéz. The counsel of friends who were companions of the +Governor, and his own notice of that personage's altered conduct, +soon put the new Captain General of the Armada on his guard. +Neither his equipment nor his crew was yet complete; nevertheless, +he supplied his fleet with all the provisions he could hastily obtain +at midnight; and, paying the provider with a massive chain which +he had worn about his neck,—the last available remnant, +perhaps, of his fortune,—he hastened with his officers on board +the vessels.</p> + +<p>On the 18th of November, 1518, he made sail for the port of +Macaca, about fifteen leagues distant, and thence he proceeded to +Trinidad, on the southern coast of Cuba. Here he obtained stores +from the royal farms, whilst he recruited his forces from all classes, +but especially from the returned troops and sailors of Grijalva's +expedition. Pedro de Alvarado and his brothers; Cristoval de Olid, +Alonzo de Avila, Juan Velasquez de Leon, Hernandez de Puerto +Carrero, and Gonzalo de Sandoval, united their fortunes to his, +and thus identified themselves forever with the conquest of Mexico. +He added considerably to his stock by the seizure of several +vessels and cargoes; and prudently got rid of Diego de Ordaz, +whom he regarded as a spy of the estranged Velasquez.</p> + +<p>At Trinidad, Cortéz was overtaken by orders for detention from +his former friend and patron. These commands, however, were +not enforced by the cautious official who received them; and +Cortéz, forthwith, despatched Alvarado, by land, to Havana, +whilst he prepared to follow with his fleet around the coast +and western part of the island. At Havana he again added +to his forces,—prepared arms and quilted armor as a defence +against the Indian arrows,—and distributed his men into eleven +companies under the command of experienced officers. But, +before all his arrangements were completed, the commander of the +place, Don Pedro Barba, was ordered, by express from Velasquez, +to <i>arrest</i> Cortéz, whilst the Captain General of the Armada himself +received a hypocritical letter from the same personage, "requesting +him to delay his voyage till the governor could communicate with +him in person!" Barba, however, knew that the attempt to seize +the leader of such an enterprise and of such a band, would be + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> +vain;—whilst Cortéz, in reply to Velasquez, "implored his +Excellency to rely on his boundless devotion to the interests of his +Governor, but assured him, nevertheless, that he and his fleet, by +divine permission, would sail on the following day!"</p> + +<p>Accordingly, on the 18th of February, 1519, the little squadron +weighed anchor, with one hundred and ten mariners, sixteen horses, +five hundred and fifty-three soldiers, including thirty-two crossbowmen +and thirteen arquebusiers, besides two hundred Indians of the +island and a few native women, for menial offices. The ordnance +consisted of ten heavy guns, four lighter pieces or falconets, +together with a good supply of ammunition.</p> + +<p>With this insignificant command and paltry equipment, <span class="smcap">Hernando +Cortéz</span>, at the age of thirty-three, set sail for the conquest +of Mexico. He invoked on his enterprise the blessing of his +patron, Saint Peter;—he addressed his followers in the language +of encouragement and resolution;—he unfurled a velvet banner +on which was emblazoned the figure of a crimson cross amid +flames of blue and white, and he pointed to the motto which was +to be the presage of victory: "Friends, let us follow the Cross: +and under this sign, if we have faith, we shall conquer!"</p> + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<div class="fn"> +<h4>Footnote</h4> +<p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> In +1525, the gold washings of Hispaniola were already exhausted; and sugar and +hides are alone mentioned as exports. Petri Mart: Ep. 806, Kal. Mart. 1525.</p> +</div> + + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER II.<br /> +1519.</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>OLMEDO PREACHES TO THE INDIANS.—AGUILAR AND MARIANA—INTERPRETERS.—CORTÉZ +LANDS—INTERVIEW WITH THE AZTECS.—DIPLOMACY—MONTEZUMA'S +PRESENTS.—MONTEZUMA +REFUSES TO RECEIVE CORTÉZ.</p> +</div> + +<p>Soon after the adventurers departed from the coast of Cuba, the +weather, which had been hitherto fine, suddenly changed, and one +of those violent hurricanes which ravage the Indian Isles during +the warm season, scattered and dismantled the small squadron, +sweeping it far to the south of its original destination. Cortéz +was the last to reach the Island of Cozumel, having been forced +to linger in order to watch for the safety of one of his battered +craft. But, immediately on landing, he was pained to learn that +the impetuous <span class="smcap">Pedro de Alvarado</span> had rashly entered the +temples, despoiled them of their ornaments, and terrified the +natives into promiscuous flight. He immediately devoted himself +to the task of obliterating this stain on Spanish humanity, by +kindly releasing two of the captives taken by Alvarado. Through +an interpreter he satisfied them of the pacific purpose of his voyage, +and despatched them to their homes with valuable gifts. This +humane policy appears to have succeeded with the natives, who +speedily returned from the interior, and commenced a brisk traffic +of gold for trinkets.</p> + +<p>The chief objection of Cortéz to the headlong destruction which +Alvarado had committed in the temples, seems rather to have been +against the robbery than the religious motive, if such existed in the +breast of his impetuous companion. We have already said that +the conversion of the heathen was one of the alleged primary +objects of this expedition, for the instructions of the Governor +of Cuba were full of zeal for the spread of Christianity; yet, in +the diffusion of this novel creed among the aborigines, it sometimes +happened that its military propagandists regarded the sword as + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> +more powerful than the sermon. The idolatrous practices of the +inhabitants of Cozumel shocked the sensibility of the commander, +and he set about the work of christianization through the labors +of the licentiate Juan Diaz and Bartolomé de Olmedo, the latter +of whom,—who remained with the army during the whole expedition,—was, +indeed, a mirror of zeal and charity. The discourses +of these worthy priests were, however, unavailing;—the Indians, +who of course could not comprehend their eloquent exhortations +or pious logic, refused to abandon their idols; and our hero +resolved at once to convince them, by palpable arguments, of the +inefficiency of those hideous emblems, either to save themselves +from destruction, or to bestow blessings on the blind adorers. An +order was, therefore, forthwith given for the immediate destruction +of the Indian images; and, in their place, the Virgin and her Son +were erected on a hastily constructed altar. Olmedo and his +companion were thus the first to offer the sacrifice of the mass in +New Spain, where they, finally, induced numbers of the aborigines +to renounce idolatry and embrace the Catholic faith.</p> + +<p>In spite of this marauding crusade against their property and +creed, the Indians kindly furnished the fleet with provisions, which +enabled the squadron to sail in the ensuing March. But a leak +in one of the vessels compelled the adventurers to return to port,—a +circumstance which was regarded by many as providential,—inasmuch +as it was the means of restoring to his countryman, a +Spaniard, named Aguilar, who had been wrecked on the coast of +Yucatan eight years before. The long residence of this person in +the country made him familiar with the language of the inhabitants +of that neighborhood, and thus a valuable interpreter,—one of its +most pressing wants,—was added to the expedition.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>After the vessels were refitted, Cortéz coasted the shores of +Yucatan until he reached the Rio de Tabasco or Grijalva, where +he encountered the first serious opposition to the Spanish arms. +He had a severe conflict, in the vicinity of his landing, with a +large force of the natives; but the valor of his men, the terror +inspired by fire arms, and the singular spectacle presented to the +astonished Indians by the extraordinary appearance of cavalry, +soon turned the tide of victory in his favor. The subdued tribes +appeased his anger by valuable gifts, and forthwith established +friendly relations with their dreaded conqueror. Among the +presents offered upon this occasion by the vanquished, were +twenty female slaves;—and after one of the holy fathers had + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> +attempted, as usual, to impress the truths of christianity upon the +natives, and had closed the ceremonies of the day by a pompous +procession, with all the impressive ceremonial of the Roman +church, the fleet again sailed towards the empire Cortéz was +destined to penetrate and subdue.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>In Passion week, of the year 1519, the squadron dropped anchor +under the lee of the Island or reef of St. Juan de Ulua. The +natives immediately boarded the vessel of the Captain General; +but their language was altogether different from that of the Mayan +dialects spoken in Yucatan and its immediate dependencies. In +this emergency Cortéz learned that, among the twenty female +slaves who had been recently presented him, there was one +who knew the Mexican language, and, in fact, that she was an +Aztec by birth. This was the celebrated <span class="smcap">Marina</span> or <span class="smcap">Mariana</span>, +who accompanied the conqueror throughout his subsequent adventures, +and was so useful as a sagacious friend and discreet interpreter. +Acquainted with the languages of her native land and of +the Yucatecos, she found it easy to translate the idiom of the +Aztecs into the Mayan dialect which Aguilar, the Spaniard, had +learned during his captivity. Through this medium, Cortéz was +apprised that these Mexicans or Aztecs were the subjects of a +powerful sovereign who ruled an empire bounded by two seas, +and that his name was <span class="smcap">Montezuma</span>.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>On the 21st of April the Captain General landed on the sandy +and desolate beach whereon is now built the modern city of Vera +Cruz. Within a few days the native Governor of the province +arrived to greet him, and expressed great anxiety to learn whence +the "fair and bearded strangers" had come? Cortéz told him +that he was the "subject of a mighty monarch beyond the sea +who ruled over an immense empire and had kings and princes for +his vassals;—that, acquainted with the greatness of the Mexican +emperor, his master desired to enter into communication with so +great a personage, and had sent him, as an envoy, to wait on +<span class="smcap">Montezuma</span> with a present in token of his good will, and a +friendly message which he must deliver in person." The Indian +Governor expressed surprise that there was another king as great +as his master, yet assured Cortéz that as soon as he learned +Montezuma's determination, he would again converse with him on +the subject. <span class="smcap">Teuhtle</span> then presented the Captain General ten +loads of fine cottons; mantles of curious feather work, beautifully + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> +dyed; and baskets filled with golden ornaments. Cortéz, in turn, +produced the gifts for the emperor, which were comparatively +insignificant; but, when the Aztec Governor desired to receive +the glittering helmet of one of the men, it was readily given as an +offering to the emperor, with the significant request that it might +be returned filled with gold, which Cortéz told him was "a specific +remedy for a disease of the heart with which his countrymen, the +Spaniards, were sorely afflicted!"</p> + +<p>During this interview between the functionaries it was noticed +by the adventurers that men were eagerly employed among the +Indians in sketching every thing they beheld in the ranks of the +strangers,—for, by this picture-writing, the Mexican monarch was +to be apprised in accurate detail of the men, horses, ships, armor, +force, and weapons of this motley band of invaders.</p> + +<p>These pictorial missives were swiftly borne by the Mexican +couriers to the Aztec capital among the mountains, and, together +with the oral account of the landing of Cortéz and his demand for +an interview, were laid before the Imperial Court. It may well be +imagined that the extraordinary advent of the Captain General and +his squadron was productive of no small degree of excitement and +even tremor, among this primitive people; for, not only were they +unnerved by the dread which all secluded races feel for innovation, +but an ancient prophecy had foretold the downfall of the empire +through the instrumentality of beings, who, like these adventurers, +were to "come from the rising sun." Montezuma, who was +then on the throne, had been elected to that dignity in 1502 in +preference to his brothers, in consequence of his superior qualifications +as a soldier and a priest. His reign commenced energetically; +and whilst he, at first, administered the interior affairs +of his realm with justice, capacity, and moderation, his hand fell +heavily on all who dared to raise their arms against his people. +But, as he waxed older and firmer in power, and as his empire +extended, he began to exhibit those selfish traits which so often +characterize men who possess, for a length of time, supreme power +untrammelled by constitutional restraints. His court was sumptuous, +and his people were grievously taxed to support its unbounded +extravagance. This, in some degree, alienated the loyalty +of his subjects, while continued oppression finally led to frequent +insurrection. In addition to these internal discontents of the Aztec +empire, Montezuma had met in the nominal republic of Tlascala,—lying +midway between the valley of Mexico and the seacoast,—a +brave and stubborn foe, whose civilization, unimpaired resources, + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> +and martial character, enabled it to resist the combined forces of +the Aztecs for upwards of two hundred years.</p> + +<p>Such was the state of the empire when the news of Cortéz's +arrival became the subject of discussion in Mexico. Some were +for open or wily resistance. Others were oppressed with superstitious +fears. But Montezuma, adopting a medium but fatal course, +resolved, without delay, to send an embassy with such gifts as he +imagined would impress the strangers with the idea of his +magnificence and power, whilst, at the same time, he courteously +commanded the adventurers to refrain from approaching +his capital.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile the Spaniards restlessly endured the scorching heats +and manifold annoyances of the coast, and were amusing themselves +by a paltry traffic with the Indians, whose offerings were +generally of but trifling value. After the expiration of a week, +however, the returned couriers and the embassy approached the +camp. The time is seemingly short when we consider the +difficulty of transportation through a mountain country, and recollect +that the Mexicans, who were without horses, had been obliged +to traverse the distance on foot. But it is related on ample +authority,—so perfectly were the posts arranged among these +semi-civilized people,—that tidings were borne in the short period +of twenty-four hours from the city to the sea, and, consequently, +that three or four days were ample for the journey of the envoys +of Montezuma, upon a matter of so much national importance.</p> + +<p>The two Aztec nobles, accompanied by the Governor of the +province, Teuhtle, did not approach with empty hands the men +whom they hoped to bribe if they could not intimidate. Gold and +native fabrics of the most delicate character; shields, helmets, +cuirasses, collars, bracelets, sandals, fans, pearls, precious stones; +loads of cotton cloth, extraordinary manufactures of feathers, +circular plates of gold and silver as large as carriage wheels, and +the Spanish helmet filled with golden grains; were all spread out, +as a free gift from the Emperor to the Spaniards!</p> + +<p>With these magnificent presents, Montezuma replied to the +request of Cortéz, that it would give him pleasure to communicate +with so mighty a monarch as the king of Spain, whom +he respected highly, but that he could not gratify himself by +according the foreign envoy a personal interview, inasmuch as the +distance to his capital was great, and the toilsome journey among +the mountains was beset with dangers from formidable enemies. +He could do no more, therefore, than bid the strangers farewell, + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> +and request them to return to their homes over the sea with these +proofs of his perfect friendship.</p> + +<p>It may well be supposed that this naïve system of diplomacy +could have but little effect on men who were bent on improving +their fortunes, and whose rapacity was only stimulated by the +evidences of unbounded wealth which the simple-minded king +had so lavishly bestowed on them. Montezuma was the dupe +of his own credulity, and only inflamed, by the very means he +imagined would assuage the avarice or ambition of his Spanish +visitors. Nor was Cortéz less resolved than his companions. +Accordingly he made another pacific effort, by means of additional +presents and a gentle message, to change the resolution of the +Indian emperor. Still the Aztec sovereign was obstinate in his +refusal of a personal interview, although he sent fresh gifts by the +persons who bore to the Spaniards his polite but firm and peremptory +denial.</p> + +<p>Cortéz could hardly conceal his disappointment at this second +rebuff; but, as the vesper bell tolled, whilst the ambassadors were +in his presence, he threw himself on his knees with his soldiers, +and, after a prayer, Father Olmedo expounded to the Aztec chiefs, +by his interpreters, the doctrines of Christianity, and putting into +their hands an image of the Virgin and Saviour, he exhorted +them to abandon their hideous idolatry, and to place these milder +emblems of faith and hope on the altars of their bloody gods. +That very night the Indians abandoned the Spanish camp and the +neighborhood, leaving the adventurers without the copious supplies +of food that hitherto had been bountifully furnished. Cortéz, +nevertheless, was undismayed by these menacing symptoms, and +exclaimed to his hardy followers: "It shall yet go hard, but we +will one day pay this powerful prince a visit in his gorgeous +capital!"</p> + + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER III.<br /> +1519.</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>CORTÉZ FOUNDS LA VILLA RICA DE LA VERA CRUZ.—FLEET +DESTROYED—MARCH TO MEXICO.—CONQUEST OF TLASCALA—CHOLULA.—SLAUGHTER +IN CHOLULA—VALLEY OF MEXICO.—CORTÉZ +ENTERS THE VALLEY—GIGANTIC CAUSEWAY.—LAKE +OF TEZCOCO—RECEPTION BY MONTEZUMA.—SPANIARDS ENTER +THE CAPITAL.</p> +</div> + +<p>It is impossible, in a work like the present, which is designed +to cover the history of a country during three hundred years, to +present the reader with as complete a narrative of events as +we would desire. Happily, the task of recording the story of +the conquest, has fallen into the hands of the classic historians of +Spain, England and America; and the astonishing particulars of +that mighty enterprise may be found, minutely recounted, in the +works of De Solis, Robertson and Prescott. We shall therefore +content ourselves with as rapid a summary as is consistent with +the development of the modern Mexican character, and shall refer +those who are anxious for more explicit and perfect details to the +writings of the authors we have mentioned.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>Cortéz was not long idle after the withdrawal of the Aztec +emissaries and the surly departure of the Indians, who, as we +have related in the last chapter, quitted his camp and neighborhood +on the same night with the ambassadors of Montezuma. He forthwith +proceeded to establish a military and civil colony, of which he +became Captain General and Chief Justice; he founded the Villa +Rica de la Vera Cruz in order to secure a base on the coast for +future military operation, by means of which he might be independent +of Velasquez; and he formed an alliance with the Totonacos +of Cempoalla, whose loyalty,—though they were subjects of +Montezuma,—was alienated from him by his merciless exactions. +We shall not dwell upon the skill with which he fomented a breach +between the Totonacos and the ambassadors of Montezuma, nor +upon the valuable gifts, and discreet despatches he forwarded to + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> +the Emperor Charles V., in order to secure a confirmation of his +proceedings. The most daring act of this period was the destruction +of the squadron which had wafted him to Mexico. It was a +deed of wise policy, which deliberately cut off all hope of retreat,—pacified, +in some degree, the querulous conspirators who lurked in +his camp,—and placed before all who were embarked in the enterprise +the alternative of conquest or destruction. But one vessel +remained. Nine out of the ten were dismantled and sunk. When +his men murmured for a moment, and imagined themselves betrayed, +he addressed them in that language of bland diplomacy +which he was so well skilled to use whenever the occasion required. +"As for me," said he, "I will remain <i>here</i> whilst there is one to +bear me company! Let the cravens shrink from danger and go +home in the single vessel that remains. Let them hasten to Cuba, +and relate how they deserted their commander and comrades; and +there let them wait in patience till we return laden with the spoils +of Mexico!"</p> + +<p>This was an appeal that rekindled the combined enthusiasm +and avarice of the despondent murmurers; and the reply was a +universal shout: "<span class="smcap">To Mexico! to Mexico!</span>"</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>On the 16th of August, 1519, Cortéz set out with his small army +of about four hundred men, now swelled by the addition of thirteen +hundred Indian warriors and a thousand porters, and accompanied +by forty of the chief Totonacs as hostages and advisers. From the +burning climate of the coast the army gradually ascended to the +cooler regions of the <i>tierra templada</i>, and <i>tierra fria</i>, encountering +all degrees of temperature on the route. After a journey of three +days, the forces arrived at a town on one of the table lands of the +interior, whose chief magistrate confirmed the stories of the power +of Montezuma. Here Cortéz tarried three days for repose, and +then proceeded towards the Republic of Tlascala, which lay +directly in his path, and with whose inhabitants he hoped to +form an alliance founded on the elements of discontent which he +knew existed among these inveterate foes of the central Aztec +power. But he was mistaken in his calculations. The Tlascalans +were not so easily won as his allies, the Totonacs, who, dwelling in +a warmer climate, had not the hardier virtues of these mountaineers. +The Tlascalans entertained no favorable feeling towards Montezuma, +but they nourished quite as little cordiality for men whose +characters they did not know, and whose purposes they had cause +to dread. A deadly hostility to the Spaniards was consequently + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> +soon manifested. Cortéz was attacked by them on the borders of +their Republic, and fought four sharp battles with fifty thousand +warriors who maintained, in all the conflicts, their reputation for +military skill and hardihood. At length the Tlascalans were forced +to acknowledge the superiority of the invaders, whom they could +not overcome either by stratagem or battle, and, after the exchange +of embassies and gifts, they honored our hero with a triumphal +entry into their capital.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>The news of these victories as well as of the fatal alliance which +ensued with the Tlascalans, was soon borne to the court of Montezuma, +who began to tremble for the fate of his empire when he saw +the fall of the indomitable foes who had held him so long at bay. +Two embassies to Cortéz succeeded each other, in vain. Presents +were no longer of avail. His offer of tribute to the Spanish king +was not listened to. All requests that the conqueror should not +advance towards his capital were unheeded. "The command of +his own emperor," said Cortéz, "was the only reason which could +induce him to disregard the wishes of an Aztec prince, for whom +he cherished the profoundest respect!" Soon after, another embassy +came from Montezuma with magnificent gifts and an invitation +to his capital, yet with a request that he would break with his +new allies and approach Mexico through the friendly city of Cholula. +The policy of this request on the part of Montezuma, will be +seen in the sequel. Our hero, accompanied by six thousand volunteers +from Tlascala, advanced towards the sacred city,—the site +of the most splendid temple in the empire, whose foundations yet +remain in the nineteenth century. The six intervening leagues +were soon crossed, and he entered Cholula with his Spanish army, +attended by no other Indians than those who accompanied him from +Cempoalla. At first, the General and his companions were treated +hospitably, and the suspicions which had been instilled into his +mind by the Tlascalans were lulled to sleep. However, he soon +had cause to become fearful of treachery. Messengers arrived +from Montezuma, and his entertainers were observed to be less +gracious in their demeanor. It was noticed that several important +streets had been barricaded or converted into pitfalls, whilst stones, +missiles and weapons were heaped on the flat roofs of houses. +Besides this, Mariana had become intimate with the wife of one +of the Caciques, and cunningly drew from her gossiping friend the +whole conspiracy that was brewing against the adventurers. Montezuma, +she learned, had stationed twenty thousand Mexicans near + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> +the city, who, together with the Cholulans, were to assault the +invaders in the narrow streets and avenues, as they quitted the +town; and, thus, he hoped, by successful treachery, to rid the land +of such dangerous visitors either by slaughter in conflict, or to offer +them, when made captive, upon the altars of the sacred temple in +Cholula and on the <i>teocallis</i> of Mexico, as proper sacrifices to the +bloody gods of his country.</p> + +<p>Cortéz, however, was not to be so easily outwitted and entrapped. +He, in turn, resorted to stratagem. Concentrating all his Spanish +army, and concerting a signal for co-operation with his Indian allies, +he suddenly fell upon the Cholulans at an unexpected moment. +Three thousand of the citizens perished in the frightful massacre +that ensued; and Cortéz pursued his uninterrupted way towards +the fated capital of the Aztecs, after this awful chastisement, +which was perhaps needful to relieve him from the danger of utter +annihilation in the heart of an enemy's country with so small a +band of countrymen in whom he could confide.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>From the plain of Cholula,—which is now known as the fruitful +vale of Puebla,—the conqueror ascended the last ridge of mountains +that separated him from the city of Mexico; and, as he +turned the edge of the <i>Cordillera</i>, the beautiful valley was at once +revealed to him in all its indescribable loveliness.<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a> + <a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> It lay at his +feet, surrounded by the placid waters of Tezcoco. The sight that +burst upon the Spaniards from this lofty eminence, in the language +of Prescott, was that of the vale of Tenochtitlan, as it was called +by the natives, "which, with its picturesque assemblage of water, +woodland, and cultivated plains; its shining cities and shadowy +hills, was spread out like some gay and gorgeous panorama before +them. In the highly rarefied atmosphere of these upper regions, +even remote objects have a brilliancy of coloring and a distinctness +of outline which seems to annihilate distance. Stretching far away +at their feet, were seen noble forests of oak, sycamore, and cedar; +and beyond, yellow fields of maize and the towering maguey, intermingled +with orchards and blooming gardens; for flowers, in such +demand for their religious festivals, were even more abundant in this +populous valley, than in other parts of Anahuac. In the centre of +the great basin, were beheld the lakes, occupying then a much +larger portion of its surface than at present; their borders thickly + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> +studded with towns and hamlets, and, in the midst,—like some +Indian empress with her coronal of pearls,—the fair city of Mexico, +with her white towers and pyramidal temples reposing, as it were, +on the bosom of the waters—the far-famed 'Venice of the Aztecs.' +High over all rose the royal hill of Chapultepec, the residence of the +Mexican monarchs, belted with the same grove of gigantic cypresses, +which at this day fling their broad shadows over the land. In the +distance, to the north, beyond the blue waters of the lake, and +nearly screened by intervening foliage, was seen a shining speck, +the rival capital of Tezcoco; and, still further on, the dark belt of +porphyry, girdling the valley around, like a rich setting which +Nature had devised for the fairest of her jewels."</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>Cortéz easily descended with his troops by the mountain road +towards the plain of the valley; and as he passed along the levels, +or through the numerous villages and hamlets, he endeavored to +foster and foment the ill feeling which he found secretly existing +against the government of the Mexican Emperor. When he had +advanced somewhat into the heart of the valley he was met by an +embassy of the chief lords of the Aztec court, sent to him by Montezuma, +with gifts of considerable value; but he rejected a proffered +bribe of "four loads of gold to the General, and one to each of his +captains, with a yearly tribute to their sovereign," provided the +Spanish troops would quit the country. Heedless of all menaced +opposition as well as appeals to his avarice, he seems, at this +period, to have cast aside the earlier and sordid motives which +might then have been easily satisfied had his pursuit been gold +alone. The most abundant wealth was cast at his feet; but the +higher qualities of his nature were now allowed the fullest play, +and strengthened him in his resolution to risk all in the daring and +glorious project of subjecting a splendid empire to his control. +Accordingly, he advanced though Amaquemecan, a town of several +thousand inhabitants, where he was met by a nephew of the +Emperor, the Lord of Tezcoco, who had been despatched by his +vacillating uncle, at the head of a large number of influential personages, +to welcome the invaders to the capital. The friendly +summons was of course not disregarded by Cortéz, who forthwith +proceeded along the most splendid and massive structure of the +New World—a gigantic causeway, five miles in length, constructed +of huge stones, which passed along the narrow strait of +sand that separated the waters of Chalco from those of Tezcoco. +The lakes were covered with boats filled with natives. Floating + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> +islands, made of reeds and wicker-work, covered with soil, brimmed +with luxuriant vegetation whose splendid fruits and odorous petals +rested on the waters. Several large towns were built on artificial +foundations in the lake. And, every where, around the Spaniards, +were beheld the evidences of a dense population, whose edifices, +agriculture, and labors denoted a high degree of civilization and +intelligence. As the foreign warriors proceeded onwards towards +the city, which rose before them with its temples, palaces and +shrines, covered with hard stucco that glistened in the sun, they +crossed a wooden drawbridge in the causeway; and, as they passed +it, they felt that now, indeed, if they faltered, they were completely +in the grasp of the Mexicans, and more effectually cut off from all +retreat than they had been when the fleet was destroyed at Vera +Cruz.</p> + +<p>Near this spot they were encountered by Montezuma with his +court, who came forth in regal state to salute his future conqueror. +Surrounded by all the pageantry and splendor of an oriental monarch, +he descended from the litter in which he was borne from the +city, and, leaning on the shoulders of the Lords of Tezcoco and of +Iztapalapan,—his nephew and brother,—he advanced towards the +Spaniards, under a canopy and over a cotton carpet, whilst his +prostrate subjects manifested, by their abject demeanor, the fear or +respect which the presence of their sovereign inspired.</p> + +<p>"Montezuma was at this time about forty years of age. His +person was tall and slender, but not ill-made. His hair, which was +black and straight, was not very long. His beard was thin; his +complexion somewhat paler than is often found in his dusky, or +rather copper-colored race. His features, though serious in their +expression, did not wear the look of melancholy, or dejection, which +characterizes his portrait, and which may well have settled on them +at a later period. He moved with dignity, and his whole demeanor, +tempered by an expression of benignity not to have been anticipated +from the reports circulated of his character, was worthy of a great +prince. Such is the picture left to us of the celebrated Indian +Emperor in this his first interview with the white men."<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a> + <a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a></p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>As this mighty prince approached, Cortéz halted his men, and, +advancing with a few of his principal retainers, was most courteously +welcomed by Montezuma, who, adroitly concealing his chagrin, +diplomatically expressed the uncommon delight he experienced +at this unexpected visit of the strangers to his capital. Our hero + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> +thanked him for his friendly welcome and bounteous gifts,—and +hung around his neck a chain set with colored crystal. Montezuma +then opened his gates to the Spaniards and appointed his +brother to conduct the General with his troops, to the city.</p> + +<p>Here he found a spacious edifice, surrounded by a wall, assigned +for his future residence; and, having stationed sentinels, and placed +his cannon on the battlements so as to command all the important +avenues to his palace, he proceeded to examine the city and to +acquaint himself with the character, occupations, and temper of +the people.<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a></p> + + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<div class="fn"> +<h4>Footnotes</h4> +<p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> +Between nine and ten thousand feet above the level of the sea, at this point +of the road.</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a> + <a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> Prescott.</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> "The province +which constitutes the principal territory of Montezuma," (says +Cortéz in his letter to Charles the V.,) "is circular, and entirely surrounded by +lofty and rugged mountains, and the circumference of it is full seventy leagues. +In this plain there are two lakes which nearly occupy the whole of it, as the people +use canoes for more than fifty leagues round. One of these lakes is of fresh water, +and the other, which is larger, is of salt water. They are divided, on one side, by +a small collection of high hills, which stand in the centre of the plain, and they +unite in a level strait formed between these hills and the high mountains, which +strait is a gun-shot wide, and the people of the cities and other settlements which +are in these lakes, communicate together in their canoes by water, without the +necessity of going by land. And as this great salt lake ebbs and flows with the +tide, as the sea does, in every flood the water flows from it into the other fresh +lake as impetuously as if it were a large river, and consequently at the ebb, the +fresh lake flows into the salt. +</p> + +<p>"This great city of Temixtitlan, (meaning Tenochtitlan, Mexico,) is founded +in this salt lake; and from terra firma to the body of the city, the distance is two +leagues on whichever side they please to enter it.</p> + +<p>"It has four entrances, or causeways, made by the hand of man, as wide as two +horsemen's lances.</p> + +<p>"The city is as large as Seville and Cordova. The streets (I mean the principal +ones,) are very wide, and others very narrow; and some of the latter and all the +others are one-half land and the other half water, along which the inhabitants go +in their canoes; and all the streets, at given distances, are open, so that the water +passes from one to the other; and in all their openings, some of which are very +wide, there are very wide bridges, made of massive beams joined together and well +wrought; and so wide that ten horsemen may pass abreast over many of them."—<i>Letters +of Cortéz to Charles V.</i></p> +</div> + + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER IV.<br /> +1519–1520.</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>DESCRIPTION OF THE CITY OF TENOCHTITLAN.—MONTEZUMA'S +WAY OF LIFE—MARKET-PLACE.—CORTÉZ AT THE GREAT TEMPLE—DESCRIPTION +OF IT.—PLACE OF SACRIFICE—SANCTUARIES—HUITZILOPOTCHTLI.—TEZCATLIPOCA— +DANGER OF CORTÉZ—MONTEZUMA +SEIZED.—MONTEZUMA A PRISONER—HIS +SUBMISSIVENESS.—ARRIVAL OF NARVAEZ—CORTÉZ'S DIPLOMACY.—CORTÉZ +OVERCOMES NARVAEZ, AND RECRUITS HIS +FORCES.</p> +</div> + +<p>The city of Mexico, or Tenochtitlan, was, as we have already +said, encompassed by the lake of Tezcoco, over which three solid +causeways formed the only approaches. This inland sea was, +indeed, "an archipelago of wandering islands." The whole city +was penetrated throughout its entire length by a principal street, +which was intersected by numerous canals, crossed by drawbridges; +and, wherever the eye could reach, long vistas of low +stone buildings rose on every side among beautiful gardens or +luxuriant foliage. The quadrangular palaces of the nobles who +Montezuma encouraged to reside at his court, were spread over a +wide extent of ground, embellished with beautiful fountains which +shot their spray amid porticoes and columns of polished porphyry. +The palace of Montezuma was so vast a pile, that one of the conquerors +alleges its terraced roof afforded ample room for thirty +knights to tilt in tournament. A royal armory was filled with +curious and dangerous weapons, and adorned with an ample store of +military dresses, equipments and armor. Huge granaries contained +the tributary supplies which were brought to the Prince by the +provinces for the maintenance of the royal family, and there was +an aviary in which three hundred attendants fed and reared birds +of the sweetest voice or rarest plumage; whilst, near it, rose a +menagerie, filled with specimens of all the native beasts, together +with a museum, in which, with an oddity of taste unparalleled in +history, there had been collected a vast number of human monsters, +cripples, dwarfs, Albinos and other freaks and caprices of nature. + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span> +The royal gardens are described by eye-witnesses as spots of +unsurpassed elegance, adorned with rare shrubs, medicinal plants, +and ponds, supplied by aqueducts and fountains, wherein, amid +beautiful flowers, the finest fish and aquatic birds were seen forever +floating in undisturbed quiet. The interior of the palace was +equally attractive for its comfort and elegance. Spacious halls +were covered with ceilings of odoriferous wood, while the lofty walls +were hung with richly tinted fabrics of cotton, the skins of animals, +or feather work wrought in mosaic imitation of birds, reptiles, +insects and flowers. Nor was the Emperor alone amid the +splendid wastes of his palace. A thousand women thronged +these royal chambers, ministering to the tastes and passions of +the elegant voluptuary. The rarest viands, from far and near, +supplied his table, the service of which was performed by numerous +attendants on utensils and equipage of the choicest material and +shape. Four times, daily, the Emperor changed his apparel, and +never put on again the dress he once had worn, or defiled his lips +twice with the same vessels from which he fed.</p> + +<p>Such was the sovereign's palace and way of life, nor can we +suppose that this refinement of luxury was to be found alone in +the dwelling of Montezuma and his nobles. It is to be regretted +that we are not more fully informed of the condition of property, +wealth and labor among the masses of this singular empire. The +conquerors did not trouble themselves with acquiring accurate +statistical information, nor do they seem to have counted numbers +carefully, except when they had enemies to conquer or spoil +to divide. In all primitive nations, however, the best idea of a +people is to be attained from visiting the market-place,—or rather +the fair,—in which it is their custom to sell or barter the products +of their industry; and, to this rendezvous of the Aztecs, Cortéz, +with the astuteness that never forsook him during his perilous +enterprise, soon betook himself after his arrival in the city.</p> + +<p>The market of Tenochtitlan was a scene of commercial activity +as well as of humble thrift. It was devoted to all kinds of native +traffic. In the centre of the city the conqueror found a magnificent +square surrounded by porticoes, in which, it is alleged, that sixty +thousand traders were engaged in buying and selling every species +of merchandize produced in the realm; jewels, goldware, toys, +curious imitations of natural objects, wrought with the utmost +skill of deception; weapons of copper alloyed with tin, pottery +of all degrees of fineness, carved vases, bales of richly dyed cotton; +beautifully woven feather-work, wild and tame animals, grain, fish, + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> +vegetables, all the necessaries of life and all its luxuries, together +with restaurateurs and shops for the sale of medical drugs, confectionery, +or stimulating drinks. It was, in fact, an immense +bazaar, which, at a glance, gave an insight into the tastes, wants +and productive industry of the nation.</p> + +<p>Satisfied with this inspection of the people and their talents, the +next visit of the General was, doubtless, made with the double +object of becoming acquainted with that class of men, who in all +countries so powerfully influence public opinion, whilst, from the +top of their tall temple, situated on their lofty central Teocalli or +pyramid, he might, with a military eye, scan the general topography +of the city.</p> + +<p>This pyramidal structure, or Great Temple, as it is generally +called, was perhaps rather the base of a religious structure, than +the religious edifice itself. We possess no accurate drawing of it +among the contemporary or early relics of the conquest, that have +descended to us; but it is known to have been pyramidal in +shape, over one hundred and twenty feet in altitude, with a base +of three hundred and twenty. It stood in a large area, surrounded +by a wall eight feet high, sculptured with the figures of serpents in +relief. From one end of the base of this structure, a flight of steps +rose to a terrace at the base of the second story of the pyramid. +Around this terrace, a person, in ascending, was obliged to pass +until he came to the corner immediately above the first flight, +where he encountered another set of steps, up which he passed +to the second terrace, and so on, continuously, to the third and +fourth terraces, until, by a fifth flight, he attained the summit +platform of the Teocalli. These spaces or terraces, at each story, +are represented to have been about six feet in width, so that three +or four persons could easily ascend abreast. It will be perceived +that in attaining the top of the edifice it was necessary to pass +round it entirely four times and to ascend five stairways. Within +the enclosure, built of stone and crowned with battlements, a +village of five hundred houses might have been built. Its area +was paved with smooth and polished stones, and the pyramid that +rose in its centre seems to have been constructed as well for +military as religious purposes, inasmuch as its architecture made +it fully capable of resistance as a citadel; and we may properly +assume this opinion as a fact, from the circumstance that the +enclosing walls were entered by four gates, facing the cardinal +points, while over each portal was erected a military arsenal filled +with immense stores of warlike equipments.</p> + +<p> </p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> + <a name="illus-038.jpg" id="illus-038.jpg"></a> + <img src="images/illus-038.jpg" width="500" height="290" alt="Restoring a pyramid" title="" /> + <p class="caption2">RESTORATION OF GREAT TEMPLE.</p> +</div> +<p> </p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> + When Cortéz arrived in front of this truncated pyramid, two +priests and several caciques were in attendance, by order of +Montezuma, to bear him in their arms to its summit. But the +hardy conqueror declined this effeminate means of transportation, +and marched up slowly at the head of his soldiers. On the paved +and level area at the top, they found a large block of jasper, the +peculiar shape of which showed it was the stone on which the +bodies of the unhappy victims were stretched for sacrifice. Its +convex surface, rising breast high, enabled the priest to perform +more easily his diabolical task of removing the heart. Besides +this, there were two sanctuaries erected on the level surface of +the <i>Teocalli</i>; two altars, glowing with a fire that was never +extinguished; and a large circular drum, which was struck only +on occasions of great public concern.</p> + +<p>Such was the <i>Teocalli</i> or <i>House of God</i>. There were other +edifices, having the name of <i>Teopan</i>, or <i>Places of God</i>. Some +writers allege that there were two towers erected on the great +Teocalli of Tenochtitlan; but it may be safely asserted that there +was at least one of these, which rose to the height of about fifty-six +feet, and was divided into three stories, the lower being of stone, +while the others were constructed of wrought and painted wood. +In the basement of these towers were the sanctuaries, where two +splendid altars had been erected to Huitzilopotchtli and Tezcatlipoca, +over which the idol representatives of these divinities were +placed in state.</p> + +<p>Within the enclosure of the Teocalli there were forty other +temples dedicated to various Aztec gods. Besides these, there +were colleges or residences and seminaries of the priests, together +with a splendid house of entertainment, devoted to the accommodation +of eminent strangers who visited the temple and the court. +All these sumptuous ecclesiastical establishments were grouped +around the pyramid, protected by the quadrangular wall, and +built amid gardens and groves.</p> + +<p>Cortéz asked leave of the Emperor, who accompanied him on +his visit, to enter the sanctuaries of the Aztec deities. In a +spacious stuccoed saloon, roofed with carved and gilt timber, +stood the gigantic idol of Huitzilopotchtli, the Mexican Mars. +His countenance was harsh and menacing. In his hands he +grasped a bow and golden arrows. He was girt with the folds +of a serpent, formed of precious materials, whilst his left foot was +feathered with the plumage of the humming-bird, from which he +took his name. Around his throat hung suspended a massive + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> +necklace of alternate gold and silver hearts; and on the altar +before him, three human hearts which had recently been torn +from living breasts, were still quivering and bleeding, fresh from +the immolated victims.</p> + +<p>In the other chamber, or sanctuary, were the milder emblems of +Tezcatlipoca, who "created the world and watched it with providential +care." The lineaments of this idol were those of a youth, +whose image, carved in black and polished stone, was adorned +with discs of burnished gold, and embellished with a brilliant +shield. Nevertheless, the worship of this more benign deity was +stained with homicide, for on its altar, in a plate of gold, the +conqueror found five human hearts; and, in these dens of inhumanity, +Bernal Diaz tells us, that the "stench was more intolerable +than in the slaughter houses of Castile!"</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>Such is a brief summary of the observations made by the +Spaniards during a week's residence in the city. They found +themselves in the heart of a rich and populous empire, whose +civilization, however, was, by a strange contradiction for which +we shall hereafter endeavor to account, stained with the most +shocking barbarity under the name of religion. The unscrupulous +murder, which was dignified with the associations and practice of +national worship, was by no means consolatory to the minds of +men who were really in the power of semi-civilized rulers and +bloody priests. They discovered, from their own experience, that +the sovereign was both fickle and feeble, and that a caprice, a +hope, or a fear, might suffice to make him free his country from a +handful of dangerous guests by offering them as sacrifices to his +gods. The Tlascalans were already looked upon with no kind +feelings by their hereditary foes. A spark might kindle a fatal +flame. It was a moment for bold and unscrupulous action, and +it was needful to obtain some signal advantage by which the +Spaniards could, at least, effect their retreat, if not ensure an +ultimate victory.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>News just then was brought to Cortéz that four of his countrymen, +whom he left behind at Cempoalla, had been treacherously +slain by one of the tributary caciques of Montezuma; and this at +once gave him a motive, or at least a pretext, for seizing the +Emperor himself, as a hostage for the good faith of his nation. +Accordingly, he visited Montezuma with a band of his most reliable +followers, who charged the monarch with the treachery of his + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> +subordinate, and demanded the apprehension of the cacique to +answer for the slaughter of their inoffensive countrymen. Montezuma, +of course, immediately disavowed the treason and ordered +the arrest of the Governor; but Cortéz would not receive an +apology or verbal reparation of the injury,—although he professed +to believe the exculpation of Montezuma himself,—unless that +sovereign would restore the Spaniard's confidence in his fidelity by +quitting his palace and changing his residence to the quarters of +the invaders!</p> + +<p>This was, indeed, an unexpected blow. It was one of those +strokes of unparalleled boldness which paralyzed their victim by +sheer amazement. After considerable discussion and useless +appeals, the entrapped Emperor tamely submitted to the surprising +demand, for he saw, in the resolved faces of his armed +and steel-clad foes, that resistance was useless, if he attempted to +save his own life, with the small and unprepared forces that were +at hand.</p> + +<p>For a while the most ceremonious respect was paid by the +conqueror and his men to their royal prisoner, who, under strict +<i>surveillance</i>, maintained his usual courtly pomp, and performed all +the functions of Emperor. But Cortéz soon became his master. +The will of an effeminate king was no match for the indomitable +courage, effrontery and genius of the Spanish knight. The offending +cacique of Cempoalla was burned alive, either to glut his vengeance +or inspire dread; and when the traitor endeavored to compromise +Montezuma in his crime, fetters were placed for an hour on the limbs +of the imprisoned sovereign. Every day the disgraced Emperor +became, more and more, the mere minister of Cortéz. He was forced +to discountenance publicly those who murmured at his confinement, +or to arrest the leading conspirators for his deliverance. He +granted a province to the Castilian crown and swore allegiance +to it. He collected the tribute and revenue from dependant cities +or districts in the name of the Spanish king; and, at last, struck a +blow even at his hereditary and superstitious faith by ordering the +great Teocalli to be purged of its human gore and the erection of +an altar on its summit, on which, before the cross and the images +of the Virgin and her Son, the Christian mass might be celebrated +in the presence of the Aztec multitude.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>It was at this moment, when Cortéz tried the national nerve +most daringly by interfering with the religious superstitions of a +dissatisfied town, and when every symptom of a general rebellion + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> +was visible, that the conqueror received the startling news of the +arrival on the coast of <span class="smcap">Don Pamphilo de Narvaez</span>, with eighteen +vessels and nine hundred men, who had been sent, by the revengeful +Velasquez, to arrest the hero and send him in chains to St. +Jago.</p> + +<p>A more unfortunate train of circumstances can scarcely be conceived. +In the midst of an enemy's capital, with a handful of +men,—menaced by a numerous and outraged nation, on the +one hand, and, with a Spanish force sent, in the name of law +by authorities to whom he owed loyal respect, to arrest him, +on the other,—it is indeed difficult to imagine a situation better +calculated to try the soul and task the genius of a general. But it +was one of those perilous emergencies which, throughout his whole +career, seem to have imparted additional energy, rather than +dismay, to the heart of Cortéz, and which prove him to have been, +like Nelson, a man who never knew the sensation of fear. Nor +must it be imagined that difficulty made him rash. Seldom has a +hero appeared in history more perfectly free from precipitancy after +he undertook his great enterprise;—and, in the period under consideration, +this is fully exhibited in the diplomacy with which he +approached the hostile Spaniards on the coast who had been +despatched to dislodge and disgrace him. He resolved, at once, +not to abandon what he had already gained in the capital; but, at +the same time, he endeavored to tranquilize or foil Narvaez if he +could not win him over to his enterprise; for it was evidently the +policy of the newly arrived general to unite in a spoil which was +almost ready for division rather than to incur the perils and uncertainty +of another conquest.</p> + +<p>Accordingly Cortéz addressed a letter to Narvaez requesting him +not to kindle a spirit of insubordination among the natives by proclaiming +his enmity. Yet this failed to affect his jealous countryman. +He then desired Narvaez to receive his band as brothers in +arms, and to share the treasure and fame of the conquest. But +this, also, was rejected; while the loyal tool of Velasquez diligently +applied himself to fomenting the Aztec discontent against his countrymen, +and proclaimed his design of marching to Mexico to +release the Emperor from the grasp of his Spanish oppressor.</p> + +<p>There was now no other opening for diplomacy, nor was delay +to be longer suffered. Cortéz, therefore, leaving the mutinous +capital in the hands of Pedro de Alvarado, with a band of but one +hundred and fifty men to protect the treasure he had amassed,—departed +for the shores of the Gulf with only seventy soldiers, but + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> +was joined, on his way, by one hundred and twenty men who had +retreated from the garrison at Vera Cruz. He was not long in +traversing the plains and Cordilleras towards the eastern sea; and +falling suddenly on the camp of Narvaez, in the dead of night, he +turned the captured artillery against his foe, seized the general, +received the capitulation of the army of nine hundred well +equipped men, and soon healed the factions which of course +existed between the conquerors and the conquered. He had +acquired the <i>prestige</i> which always attends extraordinary success +or capacity; and men preferred the chances of splendid results +under such a leader to the certainty of moderate gain under a +general who did not possess his matchless genius. Thus it was +that the lordly spirit and commanding talents of Cortéz enabled +him to convert the very elements of disaster into the means of +present strength and future success!</p> + + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER V.<br /> +1520.</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>CORTÉZ RETURNS TO THE CAPITAL—CAUSES OF THE REVOLT +AGAINST THE SPANIARDS.—CORTÉZ CONDEMNS ALVARADO—HIS +CONDUCT TO MONTEZUMA.—BATTLE IN THE CITY—MONTEZUMA +MEDIATES.—FIGHT ON THE GREAT TEMPLE OR TEOCALLI.—RETREAT +OF THE SPANIARDS—NOCHE TRISTE.—FLIGHT +OF THE SPANIARDS TO TACUBA.</p> +</div> + +<p>Whilst Cortéz was beset with the difficulties recounted in our +last chapter, and engaged in overcoming Narvaez on the coast, the +news reached him of an insurrection in the capital, towards which +he immediately turned his steps. On approaching the city, intelligence +was brought that the active hostilities of the natives had +been changed, for the last fortnight, into a blockade, and that the +garrison had suffered dreadfully during his absence. Montezuma, +too, despatched an envoy who was instructed to impress the conqueror +with the Emperor's continued fidelity, and to exculpate him +from all blame in the movement against Alvarado.</p> + +<p>On the 24th June, 1520, Cortéz reached the capital. On all +sides he saw the melancholy evidences of war. There were neither +greeting crowds on the causeways, nor boats on the lake; bridges +were broken down; the brigantines or boats he had constructed to +secure a retreat over the waters of these inland seas, were destroyed; +the whole population seemed to have vanished, and silence brooded +over the melancholy scene.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>The revolt against the lieutenant Alvarado was generally attributed +to his fiery impetuosity, and to the inhuman and motiveless +slaughter committed by the Spanish troops, under his authority, +during the celebration of a solemn Aztec festival, called the "incensing +of Huitzilopotchtli." Six hundred victims, were, on that +occasion, slain by the Spaniards, in cold blood, in the neighborhood +of the Great Temple; nor was a single native, engaged in + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> +the mysterious rites, left alive to tell the tale of the sudden and +brutal assault.</p> + +<p>Alvarado, it is true, pretended that his spies had satisfactorily +proved the existence of a well founded conspiracy, which was +designed to explode upon this occasion; but the evidence is not +sufficient to justify the disgraceful and horrid deed that must forever +tarnish his fame. It is far more probable that rapacity +was the true cause of the onslaught, and that the reckless companion +of the conqueror, who had been entrusted with brief authority +during his absence, miscalculated the power of his Indian foe, and +confounded the warlike Mexican of the valley with the weaker +soldiers, dwelling in more emasculating climates, whom he had so +rapidly confounded and overthrown in his march to the capital.</p> + +<p>It may well be supposed that this slaughter, combined with +the other causes of discontent already existing among the Aztecs, +served to kindle the outraged national feeling with intense hatred +of the invaders. The city rose in arms, and the Spaniards were +hemmed within their defences. Montezuma himself addressed +the people from the battlements, and stayed their active assault +upon the works of Alvarado; but they strictly blockaded +the enemy in his castle, cut off all supplies, and entrenched themselves +in hastily constructed barricades thrown up around the habitation +of the Spaniards, resolved to rest behind these works until +despair and famine would finally and surely throw the helpless +victims into their power. Here the invaders, with scant provisions +and brackish water, awaited the approach of Cortéz, who received +the explanations of Alvarado with manifest disgust:—"You have +been false to your trust," said he, "you have done badly, indeed, +and your conduct has been that of a madman!"</p> + +<p>Yet this was not a moment to break entirely with Alvarado, +whose qualities, and perhaps, even, whose conduct, rendered him +popular with a large class of the Spanish adventurers. The newly +recruited forces of Cortéz gave the conqueror additional strength, +for he was now at the head of no less than twelve hundred and +fifty Spaniards, and eight thousand auxiliaries, chiefly Tlascalans. +Yet, under the untoward circumstances, the increase of his forces +augmented the difficulties of their support. Montezuma hastened +to greet him. But the Spaniard was in no mood to trust the +Emperor; and, as his Mexican subjects made no sign of reconciliation +or submission, he refused the proferred interview:—"What +have I," exclaimed he, haughtily, "to do with this dog of +a king who suffers us to starve before his eyes!" He would + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span> +receive no apology from his countrymen who sought to exculpate +the sovereign, or from the mediating nobles of the court:—"Go +tell your master," was his reply, "to open the markets, or we will +do it for him, at his cost!"</p> + +<p>But the stern resistance of the natives was not intermitted. On +the contrary, active preparations were made to assault the irregular +pile of stone buildings which formed the Palace of Axayacatl, in +which the Spaniards were lodged. The furious populace rushed +through every avenue towards this edifice, and encountered with +wonderful nerve and endurance, the ceaseless storm of iron hail +which its stout defenders rained upon them from every quarter. Yet +the onset of the Aztecs was almost too fierce to be borne much +longer by the besieged, when the Spaniards resorted to the lingering +authority of Montezuma to save them from annihilation. The +pliant Emperor, still their prisoner, assumed his royal robes, and, +with the symbol of sovereignty in his hand, ascended the central turret +of the palace. Immediately, at this royal apparition, the tumult +of the fight was hushed whilst the king addressed his subjects in the +language of conciliation and rebuke. Yet the appeal was not satisfactory +or effectual. "Base Aztec,"—shouted the chiefs,—"the +white men have made you a woman, fit only to weave and spin!"—whilst +a cloud of stones, spears and arrows fell upon the monarch, +who sank wounded to the ground, though the bucklers of the +Spaniards were promptly interposed to shield his person from +violence. He was borne to his apartments below; and, bowed to +the earth by the humiliation he had suffered alike from his subjects +and his foes, he would neither receive comfort nor permit his +wounds to be treated by those who were skilled in surgery. He +reclined, in moody silence, brooding over his ancient majesty and +the deep disgrace which he felt he had too long survived.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>Meanwhile the war without continued to rage. The great +Teocalli or Mound-Temple, already described, was situated at a +short distance opposite the Spanish defences; and, from this +elevated position, which commanded the invader's quarters, a body +of five or six hundred Mexicans, began to throw their missiles into +the Spanish garrison, whilst the natives, under the shelter of the +sanctuaries, were screened from the fire of the besieged. It +was necessary to dislodge this dangerous armament. An assault, +under Escobar, was hastily prepared, but the hundred men who +composed it, were thrice repulsed, and obliged finally to retreat +with considerable loss. Cortéz had been wounded and disabled in + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> +his left hand, in the previous fight, but he bound his buckler to the +crippled limb, and, at the head of three hundred chosen men, accompanied +by Alvarado, Sandoval, Ordaz and others of his most gallant +cavaliers, he sallied from the besieged palace. It was soon found +that horses were useless in charging the Indians over the smooth and +slippery pavements of the town and square, and accordingly Cortéz +sent them back to his quarters; yet he managed to repulse the squadrons +in the court-yard of the Teocalli, and to hold them in check +by a file of arquebusiers. The singular architecture of this Mound-Temple +will be recollected by the reader, and the difficulty of its +ascent, by means of five stairways and four terraces, was now increased +by the crowds that thronged these narrow avenues. From +stair to stair, from gallery to gallery, the Spaniards fought onward +and upward with resistless courage, incessantly flinging their Indian +foes, by main strength, over the narrow ledges. At length they +reached the level platform of the top, which was capable of containing +a thousand warriors. Here, at the shrine of the Aztec war-god, +was a site for the noblest contest in the empire. The area +was paved with broad and level stones. Free from all impediments, +it was unguarded at its edges by battlements, parapets, or, +any defences which could protect the assailants from falling if they +approached the sides too closely. Quarter was out of the question. +The battle was hand to hand, and body to body. Combatants +grappled and wrestled in deadly efforts to cast each other from the +steep and sheer ledges. Indian priests ran to and fro with streaming +hair and sable garments, urging their superstitious children to +the contest. Men tumbled headlong over the sides of the area, +and even Cortéz himself, by superior agility, alone, was saved from +the grasp of two warriors who dragged him to the brink of the +lofty pyramid and were about to dash him to the earth.</p> + +<p>For three hours the battle raged until every Indian combatant +was either slain on the summit or hurled to the base. Forty-five +of the Spaniards were killed, and nearly all wounded. A few +Aztec priests, alone, of all the Indian band, survived to behold the +destruction of the sanctuaries, which had so often been desecrated +by the hideous rites and offerings of their bloody religion.</p> + +<p>For a moment the natives were panic-struck by this masterly +and victorious manœuvre, whilst the Spaniards passed unmolested +to their quarters, from which, at night, they again sallied to burn +three hundred houses of the citizens.</p> + +<p>Cortéz thought that these successes would naturally dismay the +Mexicans, and proposed, through Mariana,—his faithful interpreter, + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> +who had continued throughout his adventures the chief +reliance of the Spaniards for intercourse with the Indians,—that +this conflict should cease at once, for the Aztecs must be convinced +that a soldier who destroyed their gods, laid a part of their +capital in ruins, and was able to inflict still more direful chastisement, +was, indeed, invincible.</p> + +<p>But the day of successful threats had passed. The force of the +Aztecs was still undiminished; the bridges were destroyed; the +numbers of the Spaniards were lessened; hunger and thirst were +beginning to do their deadly work on the invaders; "there +will be only too few of you left," said they in reply,—"to satisfy +the revenge of our gods."</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>There was no longer time for diplomacy or delay, and, accordingly, +Cortéz resolved to quit the city as soon as practicable, and +prepared the means to accomplish this desirable retreat; but, on +his first attempt he was unable to reach the open country through +the easily defended highway of the capital or the enfilading canals +and lanes. From house tops and cross streets, innumerable +Indians beset his path wherever he turned. Yet it was essential +for the salvation of the Spaniards that they should evacuate the +city. No other resource remained, and, desperate as it was, the +conqueror persevered, unflinchingly, amid the more hazardous +assaults of the Mexicans, and all the internal discords of his +own band, whom a common danger did not perfectly unite. He +packed the treasure, gathered during the days of prosperous +adventure, on his stoutest horses, and, with a portable bridge, to be +thrown hastily over the canals, he departed from his stronghold on +the dark and rainy evening which has become memorable in American +history, as the <i>noche triste</i>, or "melancholy night." The +Mexicans were not usually alert during the darkness, and Cortéz +hoped that he might steal off unperceived in this unwatchful +period. But he was mistaken in his calculations. The Aztecs +had become acquainted with Spanish tactics and were eager for +the arrival of the moment, by day or night, when the expected +victims would fall into their hands. As soon as the Spanish band +had advanced a short distance along the causeway of Tlacopan, the +attack began by land and water; for the Indians assaulted them +from their boats, with spears and arrows, or quitting their skiffs, +grappled with the retreating soldiers in mortal agony, and rolled +them from the causeway into the waters of the lake. The bridge +was wedged inextricably between the sides of a dyke, whilst ammunition + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> +wagons, heavy guns, bales of rich cloths, chests of gold, +artillery, and the bodies of men or horses, were piled in heaps on +the highway or rolled into the water. Forty-six of the cavalry +were cut off and four hundred and fifty of the Christians killed, +whilst four thousand of the Indian auxiliaries perished.<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a> + <a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> The +General's baggage, papers, and minute diary of his adventures, +were swallowed in the waters. The ammunition, the artillery, and +every musket were lost. Meanwhile Montezuma had perished +from his wounds some days before the sortie was attempted, and +his body had been delivered to his subjects with suitable honors. +Alvarado,—Tonatiuh, the "child of the sun," as the natives +delighted to call him, escaped during the <i>noche triste</i> by a miraculous +leap with the aid of his lance-staff over a canal, to whose +edge he had been pursued by the foe. And when Cortéz, at +length, found himself with his thin and battered band, on the +heights of Tacuba, west of the city, beyond the borders of the +lake, it may be said, without exaggeration, that nothing was left +to reassure him but his indomitable heart and the faithful Indian +girl whose lips, and perhaps whose counsel, had been so useful in +his service.</p> + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<div class="fn"> +<h4>Footnote</h4> +<p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> These numbers are variously +stated by different authorities.—See Prescott, vol. +2d, p. 377.</p> +</div> + + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER VI.<br /> +1520.</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>RETREAT TO OTUMBA.—CORTÉZ IS ENCOUNTERED BY A NEW +ARMY OF AZTECS AND AUXILIARIES.—VICTORY OF THE SPANIARDS +AT OTUMBA.—PROPOSED RE-ALLIANCE OF AZTECS AND +TLASCALANS.—FORAYS OF CORTÉZ—REDUCTION OF THE EASTERN +REGIONS.—CORTÉZ PROPOSES THE RECONQUEST—SENDS +OFF THE DISAFFECTED.—CORTÉZ SETTLES THE TLASCALAN +SUCCESSION.</p> +</div> + +<p>After the disasters and fatigues of the <i>noche triste</i>, the melancholy +and broken band of Cortéz rested for a day at Tacuba, +whilst the Mexicans returned to their capital, probably to bury the +dead and purify their city. It is singular, yet it is certain, that +they did not follow up their successes by a death blow at the +disarmed Spaniards. But this momentary paralysis of their efforts +was not to be trusted, and accordingly Cortéz began to retreat +eastwardly, under the guidance of the Tlascalans, by a circuitous +route around the northern limits of lake Zumpango. The flying +forces and their auxiliaries were soon in a famishing condition, +subsisting alone on corn or on wild cherries gathered in the forest, +with occasional refreshment and support from the carcase of a +horse that perished by the way. For six days these wretched +fragments of the Spanish army continued their weary pilgrimage, +and, on the seventh, reached Otumba on the way from Mexico to +Tlascala. Along the whole of this march the fainting and dispirited +band was, ever and anon, assailed by detached squadrons +of the enemy, who threw stones and rolled rocks on the men as +they passed beneath precipices, or assaulted them with arrows and +spears. As Cortéz advanced, the enemy gathered in his rear and +bade him "Go on whither he should meet the vengeance due to +his robbery and his crimes," for the main body of the Aztecs had +meanwhile passed by an eastern route across the country, and +placed itself in a position to intercept the Spaniards on the plains +of Otumba. As the army of the conqueror crossed the last dividing +ridge that overlooked the vale of Otompan, it beheld the levels + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> +below filled, as far as eye could reach, with the spears and standards +of the Aztec victors, whose forces had been augmented by +levies from the territory of the neighboring Tezcoco. Cortéz presented +a sorry array to be launched from the cliffs upon this sea of +lances. But he was not the man to tremble or hesitate. He +spread out his main body as widely as possible, and guarded the +flanks by the twenty horsemen who survived the <i>noche triste</i>, and +the disastrous march from Tacuba. He ordered his cavalry not to +cast away their lances, but to aim them constantly at the faces of +the Indians, whilst the infantry were to thrust and not to strike +with their swords;—the leaders of the enemy were especially to +be selected as marks; and he, finally, bade his men trust in God, +who would not permit them to perish by the hands of infidels. +The signal was given for the charge. Spaniard and Tlascalan +fought hand to hand with the foe. Long and doubtfully the battle +raged on both sides, until every Spaniard was wounded. Suddenly +Cortéz descried the ensignia of the enemy's commanding +general, and knowing that the fortunes of the day, in all probability, +depended upon securing or slaying that personage, he +commanded Sandoval, Olid, Alvarado, and Avila to follow and +support him as he dashed towards the Indian chief. The Aztecs +fell back as he rushed on, leaving a lane for the group of galloping +cavaliers. Cortéz and his companions soon reached the fatal spot, +and the conqueror driving his lance through the Aztec leader, left +him to be dispatched by Juan de Salamanca. This was the work +of a moment. The death of the general struck a panic into the +combined forces of Tenochtitlan and Tezcoco, and a promiscuous +flight began on all sides. At sunset, on the 8th of July, 1520, +the Spaniards were victors on the field of Otumba, and gathering +together in an Indian temple, which they found on an eminence +overlooking the plain, they offered up a <i>Te Deum</i> for their miraculous +preservation as well as for the hope with which their success +reinspired them.<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a></p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>The next day the invaders quitted their encampment on the battle +field and hastened towards the territory of their friends, the +Tlascalans. The Spaniards now presented themselves to the +rulers of their allies in a different guise from that they wore when +they first advanced towards Mexico. Fully equipped, mounted, +and furnished with ammunition, they had then compelled the + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> +prompt submission of the Tlascalans, and, assuring their alliance, +had conquered the Cholulans, and obtained the control even of the +capital and person of the Aztec Emperor himself. But now they +returned defeated, plundered, unarmed, poor, scarcely clad, and +with the loss of a large part of those Indian allies who had +accompanied the expedition. There was reason for disheartening +fear in the breast of Cortéz, had it been susceptible of such an +emotion. But the Lord of Tlascala reassured him, when he +declared that their "cause was common against Mexico, and, +come weal, come woe, they would prove loyal to the death!"</p> + +<p>The Spaniards were glad to find a friendly palace in Tlascala, +in which to shelter themselves after the dreadful storms that had +recently broken on their head. Yet, in the quiet of their retreat, +and in the excitement of their rallying blood, they began to reflect +upon the past and the disheartening aspect of the future. Murmurs, +which were at first confined to the barrack, at length +assumed public significance, and a large body of the men, chiefly +the soldiers of Narvaez, presented to Cortéz a petition which was +headed by his own secretary, demanding permission to retreat to La +Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz. Just at this moment, too, Cuitlahua, +who mounted the throne of Mexico on the death of Montezuma, +despatched a mission to the Tlascalans, proposing to bury the +hatchet, and to unite in sweeping the Spaniards from the realm. +The hours which were consumed by the Tlascalans in deliberating +on this dread proposal were full of deep anxiety to Cortéz; for, in +the present feeble condition of his Spanish force, his whole reliance +consisted in adroitly playing off one part of the Indian population +against another. If he lost the aid, alliance, or neutrality of +the Tlascalans, his cause was lost, and all hope of reconquest, or +perhaps even of retreat, was gone forever.</p> + +<p>The promised alliance of the Mexicans was warmly and sternly +supported in the debates of the Tlascalan council by some of the +nobles; yet, after full and even passionate discussion, which ended +in personal violence between two of the chiefs, it was unanimously +resolved to reject the proposal of their hereditary foes, who had +never been able to subdue them as a nation in battle, but hoped to +entrap them into alliance in the hour of common danger. These +discussions, together with the positive rejection by Cortéz of the +Spanish petition, seem to have allayed the anxiety of the invaders +to return to Vera Cruz. With the assured friendship of the +Tlascalans they could rely upon some good turn in fortune, and, +at length, the vision of the conquest might be realized under the + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span> +commander who had led them through success and defeat with +equal skill.</p> + +<p>Accordingly Cortéz did not allow his men to remain long in +idle garrisons, brooding over the past, or becoming moody and +querulous. If he could not conquer a nation by a blow, he +might perhaps subdue a tribe by a foray, while the military success, +or golden plunder, would serve to keep alive the fire of +enterprise in the breasts of his troopers. His first attack, after +he had recruited the strength of his men, was on the Tepeacans, +whom he speedily overthrew, and in whose chief town of Tepeaca, +on the Mexican frontier, he established his head quarters, in the +midst of a flourishing and productive district, whence his supplies +were easily gathered. Here he received an invitation from the +cacique of Quauhquechollan,—a town of thirty thousand inhabitants, +whose chief was impatient of the Mexican yoke,—to march +to his relief. Olid was despatched on this expedition; but getting +entangled in disputes and frays with the Cholulans, whose people +he assaulted and took prisoners, Cortéz himself assumed command +of the expedition. In fact, the conqueror was singularly unfortunate +in the conduct of his subordinates, for all his disasters arose +from confidence in men whose judgment or temper was unequal +to the task and discipline of control. In the assault and capture +of this town, Cortéz and his men obtained a rich booty. They +followed up the blow by taking the strong city of Itzocan, which +had also been held by a Mexican garrison; and here, too, the +captors seized upon rich spoils, while the Indian auxiliaries were +soon inflamed by the reports of booty, and hastened in numbers to +the chief who led them to victory and plunder.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>Cortéz returned to Tepeaca from these expeditions, which were +not alone predatory in their character, but were calculated to pave +the way for his military approach once more to the city of Mexico, +as soon as his schemes ripened for the conquest. The ruling idea +of ultimate success never for a moment left his mind. From +Tepeaca he despatched his officers on various expeditions, and +marched Sandoval against a large body of the enemy lying +between his camp and Vera Cruz. These detachments defeated +the Mexicans in two battles; reduced the whole country which is +now known as lying between Orizaba and the western skirts of the +plain of Puebla, and thus secured the communication with the seacoast. +Those who are familiar with the geography of Mexico, +will see at a glance, with what masterly generalship the dispositions + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> +of Cortéz were made to secure the success of his darling +project. Nor can we fail to recognize the power of a single +indomitable will over masses of Christians and Indians, in the +wonderful as well as successful control which the conqueror obtained +in his dealings with his countrymen as well as the natives +at this period of extreme danger. When Mexico was lost after +the <i>noche triste</i>, the military resources of Cortéz were really +nothing, for his slender band was deprived of its most effective +weapons, was broken in moral courage and placed on an equality, +as to arms, with the Indians. The successes he obtained at +Otumba, Tlascala, Tepeaca, and elsewhere, not only re-established +the <i>prestige</i> of his genius among his countrymen, but affected even +the Indians. The native cities and towns in the adjacent country +appealed to him to decide in their difficulties, and his discretion +and justice, as an arbitrator, assured him an ascendancy which it +is surprising that a stranger who was ignorant of their language +could acquire among men who were in the semi-civilized and +naturally jealous state in which he found the Aztec and Tlascalan +tribes. Thus it is that, under the influence of his will and genius, +"a new empire grew up, in the very heart of the land, forming +a counterpoise to the colossal power which had so long overshadowed +it."</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>In the judgment of Cortéz, the moment had now arrived when +he was strong enough, and when it was proper, that he should +attempt the reconquest of the capital. His alliance with the +Tlascalans reposed upon a firm basis, and consequently he could +rely upon adequate support from the Indians who would form the +majority of his army. Nor were his losses of military equipments +and stores unrepaired. Fortune favored him by the arrival of +several vessels at Vera Cruz, from which he obtained munitions +of war and additional troops. One hundred and fifty well provided +men and twenty horses were joined to his forces by these arrivals.</p> + +<p>Before his departure, however, he despatched the few discontented +men from his camp and gave them a vessel with which they +might regain their homes. He wrote an account of his adventures, +moreover, to his government in Spain, and besought his sovereign +to confirm his authority in the lands and over the people he might +add to the Spanish crown. He addressed, also, the Royal Audiencia +at St. Domingo to interest its members in his cause, and +when he despatched four vessels from Vera Cruz for additional + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> +military supplies, he freighted them with specimens of gold and +Indian fabrics to inflame the cupidity of new adventurers.</p> + +<p>In Tlascala, he settled the question of succession in the government; +constructed new arms and caused old ones to be repaired; +made powder with sulphur obtained from the volcano of Popocatopetl; +and, under the direction of his builder, Lopez, prepared +the timber for brigantines, which he designed to carry, in pieces, +and launch on the lake at the town of Tezcoco. At that port, he +resolved to prepare himself fully for the final attack, and, this time, +he determined to assault the enemy's capital by water, as well as +by land.</p> + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<div class="fn"> +<h4>Footnote</h4> +<p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> We have no +accurate estimate of the numbers engaged in this battle, or of the +slain.</p> +</div> + + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER VII.<br /> +1520–1521.</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>DEATH OF CUITLAHUA—HE IS SUCCEEDED BY GUATEMOZIN.—AZTECS +LEARN THE PROPOSED RECONQUEST—CORTÉZ's FORCES +FOR THIS ENTERPRISE.—CORTÉZ AT TEZCOCO—HIS PLANS AND +ACTS.—MILITARY EXPEDITIONS OF CORTÉZ IN THE VALLEY.—OPERATIONS +AT CHALCO AND CUERNAVACA.—XOCHIMILCO—RETURN +TO TACUBA.—CORTÉZ RETURNS TO TEZCOCO AND IS +REINFORCED.</p> +</div> + + +<p>After a short and brilliant reign of four months, Cuitlahua, +the successor of Montezuma, died of small pox, which, at +that period, raged throughout Mexico, and he was succeeded by +Guauhtemotzin, or, Guatemozin, the nephew of the two last +Emperors. This sovereign ascended the Aztec throne in his +twenty-fifth year, yet he seems to have been experienced as a +soldier and firm as a patriot.</p> + +<p>It is not to be imagined that the Aztec court was long ignorant +of the doings of Cortéz. It was evident that the bold and daring +Spaniard had not only been unconquered in heart and resolution, +but that he even meditated a speedy return to the scene of his +former successful exploits. The Mexicans felt sure that, upon +this occasion, his advent and purposes would be altogether undisguised, +and that when he again descended to the valley in which +their capital nestled, he would, in all probability, be prepared to +sustain himself and his followers in any position his good fortune +and strong arm might secure to him. The news, moreover, of his +firm alliance with the Tlascalans and all the discontented tributaries +of the Aztec throne, as well as of the reinforcements and munitions +he received from Vera Cruz, was quickly brought to the city +of Mexico; and every suitable preparation was made, by strengthening +the defences, encouraging the vassals, and disciplining the +troops, to protect the menaced empire from impending ruin.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>Nor was Cortéz, in his turn, idle in exciting the combined +forces of the Spaniards and Indians for the last effort which it was +probable he could make for the success of his great enterprise. + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> +His Spanish force consisted of nigh six hundred men, forty +of whom were cavalry, together with eighty arquebusiers and +crossbowmen. Nine cannon of small calibre, supplied with indifferent +powder, constituted his train of artillery. His army of +Indian allies is estimated at the doubtless exaggerated number of +over one hundred thousand, armed with the <i>maquahuatil</i>, pikes, +bows, arrows, and divided into battalions, each with its own +banners, insignia and commanders. His appeal to all the members +of this motley array was couched in language likely to touch the +passions, the bigotry, the enthusiasm and avarice of various +classes; and, after once more crossing the mountains, and reaching +the margin of the lakes, he encamped on the 31st of December, +1520, within the venerable precincts of Tezcoco, "the place of +rest."</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>At Tezcoco, Cortéz was firmly planted on the eastern edge of +the valley of Mexico, in full sight of the capital which lay across +the lake, near its western shore, at the distance of about twelve +miles. Behind him, towards the seacoast, he commanded the +country, as we have already related, while, by passes through +lower spurs of the mountains, he might easily communicate with +the valleys of which the Tlascalans and Cholulans were masters.</p> + +<p>Fortifying himself strongly in his dwelling and in the quarters +of his men, in Tezcoco, he at once applied himself to the task +of securing such military positions in the valley and in the neighborhood +of the great causeway between the lakes as would command +an outlet from the capital by land, and enable him to +advance across the waters of Tezcoco without the annoyance of +enemies who might sally forth from strongholds on his left flank. +On his right, the chain of lakes, extending farther than the eye +can reach, furnished the best protection he could desire. Accordingly, +he first of all reduced and destroyed the ancient city of +Iztapalapan,—a place of fifty thousand inhabitants, distant about +six leagues from the town of Tezcoco,—which was built on the +narrow isthmus dividing the lake of that name from the waters of +Chalco. He next directed his forces against the city of Chalco, +lying on the eastern extremity of the lake that bore its name, +where his army was received in triumph by the peaceful citizens +after the evacuation of the Mexican garrison. Such were the +chief of his military and precautionary expeditions, until the +arrival of the materials for the boats or brigantines which Martin +Lopez, and his four Spanish assistant carpenters, had already + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> +put together and tried on the waters of Zahuapan; and which, +after a successful experiment, they had taken to pieces again and +borne in fragments to Tezcoco.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>Early in the spring of 1521, Cortéz entrusted his garrison at +Tezcoco to Sandoval, and, with three hundred and fifty Spaniards, +and nearly all his Indian allies, departed on an expedition designed +to reconnoitre the capital. He passed from his stronghold northwardly +around the head of the lakes north of Tezcoco,—one of +which is now called San Cristoval,—and took possession of the +insular town of Xaltocan. Passing thence along the western +edge of the vale of Anahuac or Mexico, he reached the city of +Tacuba, west of the capital, with which so many disastrous recollections +were connected on his first sad exit from the imperial city. +During this expedition the troops of the conqueror were almost +daily engaged in skirmishes with the guerilla forces of the Aztecs; +yet, notwithstanding their constant annoyance and stout resistance, +the Spaniards were invariably successful and even managed to +secure some booty of trifling value. After a fortnight of rapid +marching, fighting and reconnoitering, Cortéz and his men returned +to Tezcoco. Here he was met by an embassy from the +friendly Chalcans and pressed for a sufficient force to sustain them +against the Mexicans, who despatched the warriors of certain +neighboring and loyal strongholds to annoy the inhabitants of a +town which had exhibited a desire to fraternize with the invading +Spaniards. Indeed, the Aztecs saw the importance of maintaining +the control of a point which commanded the most important +avenue to their capital from the Atlantic coast. The wearied +troops of Cortéz were in no plight to respond to the summons of +the Chalcans at that moment, for their hurried foray and incessant +conflicts with the enemy had made them anxious for the repose +they might justly expect in Tezcoco. Nevertheless, Cortéz did +not choose to rely upon his naval enterprise alone; but, conscious +as he was of holding the main key of the land as well as water, he +despatched, without delay, his trusty Sandoval with three hundred +Spanish infantry and twenty horse to protect the town of Chalco +and reduce the hostile fortifications in its vicinity. This duty he +soon successfully performed. But the Aztecs renewed the assault +on Chalco with a fleet of boats, and were again beaten off with the +loss of a number of their nobles, who were delivered by the victors +to Sandoval whom Cortéz had sent back to support the contested +town as soon as the news of the fresh attack reached him.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> + By this time the brigantines were nearly completed, and the +canal dug by which they were to be carried to the waters of the +lake, for, at that time, the town of Tezcoco was distant from its +margin. He dared not trust these precious materials for his future +success beyond the shelter of his citadel in Tezcoco, since every +effort had been already made by hostile and marauding parties to +destroy them; and he was therefore obliged to undergo the trouble +of digging this canal, about half a league in length, in order to +launch his vessels when the moment for final action arrived.</p> + +<p>Nor was his heart uncheered by fresh arrivals from the old +world. Two hundred men, well provided with arms and ammunition, +and with upwards of seventy horses,—coming most probably +from Hispaniola,—found their way from Vera Cruz to Tezcoco, +and united themselves with the corps of Cortéz.</p> + +<p>In the meantime the Emperor again directed his arms against +his recreant subjects of Chalco, which he seemed resolved to +subdue and hold at all hazards, so as effectually to cut off the most +important land approach to his capital. Envoys arrived in the +Spanish camp with reports of the danger that menaced them, and +earnest appeals for efficient support. This time, Cortéz resolved +to lead the party destined for this service, and, on the 5th of April, +set out with thirty horsemen, three hundred infantry and a large +body of Tlascalans and Tezcocans, to succor a city whose neutrality, +at least, it was important, as we have already shown, +should eventually be secured. He seems to have effected, by his +personal influence in Chalco and its neighborhood, what his lieutenant +Sandoval had been unable to do by arms, so that, he not +only rendered a large number of loyal Aztecs passive, but even +secured the co-operation of additional auxiliaries from among the +Chalcans and the tribes that dwelt on the borders of their lake.</p> + +<p>Cortéz was not, however, content with this demonstration +against his near neighbors, but, resolved, now that he was once +more in the saddle, to cross the <i>sierra</i> that hemmed in the vale +of Anahuac, on the south, and to descend its southern slopes on a +visit to the warmer regions that basked at their feet. Accordingly +he prosecuted his southern march through large bodies of harrassing +skirmishers, who hung upon the rear and flanks of his troop, +and annoyed it with arrows and missiles, which they hurled from +the crags as his men threaded the narrow defiles of the mountains. +Passing through Huaxtepec and Jauhtepec, he arrived on the ninth +day of his march, before the strong town of Guauhnahuac, or +Cuernavaca, as it is now known in the geography of Mexico. It + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> +was the capital of the Tlahuicas, and an important and wealthy +tributary of the Aztecs. Here too he encountered hostile resistance +which he quickly overcame. His name as a successful +warrior had preceded him among these more effeminate races, and +the trembling lords of the territory soon submitted to his mercy. +Departing from Cuernavaca, Cortéz turned again northwards, and +ascending the <i>sierra</i> in a new direction re-entered the valley of +Anahuac or Mexico, by the main route which now penetrates the +southern portion of its rim. From the summits of these mountains, +where the cool air of the temperate clime sings through the +limbs and tassels of hardy pines, Cortéz swooped down upon +Xochimilco, or the "field of flowers," where he was again +encountered by guerillas and more formidable squadrons from +the Aztec capital which was but twelve miles distant. Here, +again, after several turns in the tide of fortune, the Spaniards were +triumphant and obtained a rich booty. From Xochimilco the little +band and the auxiliaries advanced, among continual dangers, +around the western margin of the lakes, and, skirting the feet of +the mountains, attained, once more, the town of Tacuba.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>The conqueror had thus circled the valley, and penetrated the +adjacent southern vale, in his two expeditions. Wherever he +went, the strange weapons of his Spaniards, the singular appearance +of his mounted men, and his uniform success, served to +inspire the natives with a salutary dread of his mysterious power. +He now knew perfectly the topography of the country,—for he +was forced to be his own engineer as well as general. He had +become acquainted with the state of the Aztec defences, as well as +with the slender hold the central power of the empire retained over +the tributary tribes, towns, and districts which had been so often +vexed by taxation to support a voluptuous sovereign and avaricious +aristocracy. He found the sentiment of patriotic union and loyalty +but feeble among the various populations he visited. The ties of +international league had every where been adroitly loosened by the +conqueror, either through his eloquence or his weapons; and, from +all his careful investigations, both of character and country, he had +reason to believe that the realm of Mexico was at length almost +within his grasp. The capital was now encircled with a cordon +of disloyal cities. Every place of importance had been visited, +conquered, subdued, or destroyed in its moral courage or natural +allegiance. But Tacuba was too near the capital to justify him in +trusting his jaded band within so dangerous a neighborhood. + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> +Accordingly, he did not delay a day in that city, but, gathering his +soldiers as soon as they were refreshed, he departed for Tezcoco +by the northern journey around the lakes. His way was again +beset with difficulties. The season of rain and storm in those lofty +regions had just set in. The road was flooded, and the soldiers +were forced to plough through mud in drenched garments. But +as they approached their destination, Sandoval came forth to meet +them, with companions who had freshly arrived from the West +Indies; and, besides, he bore the cheering news that the brigantines +were ready to be launched for the last blow at the heart of +the empire.</p> + + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER VIII.<br /> +1521.</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>CORTÉZ RETURNS—CONSPIRACY AMONG HIS MEN DETECTED.—EXECUTION +OF VILLAFAÑA—BRIGANTINES LAUNCHED.—XICO +TENCATL'S TREASON AND EXECUTION.—DISPOSITION OF FORCES +TO ATTACK THE CITY.—SIEGE AND ASSAULTS ON THE CITY.—FIGHT +AND REVERSES OF THE SPANIARDS.—SACRIFICE OF CAPTIVES—FLIGHT +OF ALLIES.—CONTEST RENEWED—STARVATION.</p> +</div> + +<p>The return of Cortéz to his camp, after all the toils of his +arduous expedition, was not hailed with unanimous delight by +those who had hitherto shared his dangers and successes, since +the loss of the capital. There were persons in the small band +of Spaniards,—especially among those who had been added from +the troops of Narvaez,—who still brooded over the disaffection +and mutinous feelings which had been manifested at Tlascala +before the march to Tezcoco. They were men who eagerly +flocked to the standard of the conqueror for plunder; whose +hearts were incapable of appreciating the true spirit of glorious +adventure in the subjugation of an empire, and who despised +victories that were productive of nothing but fame.</p> + +<p>These discontented men conspired, about this period, under the +lead of Antonio Villafaña, a common soldier; and it was the design +of the recreant band to assassinate Sandoval, Olid and Alvarado, +together with Cortéz, and other important men who were known +to be deepest in the General's councils or interests. After the +death of these leaders,—with whose fall the enterprise would +doubtless have perished,—a brother-in-law of Velasquez, by name +Francisco Verdugo, who was altogether ignorant of the designs of +the conspirators, was to be placed in command of the panic-stricken +troop, which, it was supposed, would instantly unite +under the new general.</p> + +<p>It was the project of these wretched dastards to assault and +despatch the conqueror and his officers whilst engaged in opening + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> +despatches, which were to be suddenly presented, as if just arrived +from Castile. But, a day before the consummation of the treachery, +one of the party threw himself at the feet of Cortéz and +betrayed the project, together with the fact, that, in the possession +of Villafaña, would be found a paper containing the names of his +associates in infamy.</p> + +<p>Cortéz immediately summoned the leaders whose lives were +threatened, and, after a brief consultation, the party hastened to +the quarters of Villafaña accompanied by four officers. The arch +conspirator was arrested, and the paper wrested from him as he +attempted to swallow it. He was instantaneously tried by a +military court,—and, after brief time for confession and shrift, +was swung by the neck from the casement of his quarters. The +prompt and striking sentence was executed before the army knew +of the crime; and the scroll of names being destroyed by Cortéz, +the memory of the meditated treachery was forever buried in +oblivion. The commander, however, knew and marked the men +whose participation had been so unexpectedly revealed to him; +but he stifled all discontent by letting it be understood that the +only persons who suffered for the shameful crime had made no +confession! He could not spare men from his thin ranks even at +the demand of justice; for even the felons who sought his life +were wanted in the toils and battles of his great and final enterprise.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>It was on the 28th of April, 1521, amid the solemn services of +religion, and in the presence of the combined army of Spaniards +and Indians, that the long cherished project of launching the +brigantines was finally accomplished. They reached the lake +safely through the canal which had been dug for them from the +town of Texcoco.</p> + +<p>The Spanish forces, designed to operate in this last attack, +consisted of eighty-seven horse and eight hundred and eighteen +infantry, of which one hundred and eighteen were arquebusiers +and crossbowmen. Three large iron field pieces and fifteen brazen +falconets formed the ordnance. A plentiful supply of shot and +balls, together with fifty thousand copper-headed arrows, composed +the ammunition. Three hundred men were sent on board the twelve +vessels which were used in the enterprise, for unfortunately, one of +the thirteen that were originally ordered to be built, proved useless +upon trial. The navigation of these brigantines, each one of which +carried a piece of heavy cannon, was, of course, not difficult, for + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> +although the waters of the lake have evidently shrunken since the +days of the conquest, it is not probable that it was more than +three or four feet deeper than at present.<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a> + <a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> The distance to be +traversed from Tezcoco to the capital was about twelve miles, and +the subsequent service was to be rendered in the neighborhood of +the causeways, and under the protection of the walls of the city.</p> + +<p>The Indian allies from Tlascala came up in force at the appointed +time. These fifty thousand well equipped men were led +by Xicotencatl, who, as the expedition was about to set forth by +land and water for the final attack, seems to have been seized +with a sudden panic, and deserted his standard with a number +of followers. There was no hope for conquest without the alliance +and loyal support of the Tlascalans. The decision of Cortéz upon +the occurrence of this dastardly act of a man in whose faith he had +religiously confided, although he knew he was not very friendly to +the Spaniards, was prompt and terribly severe. A chosen band +was directed to follow the fugitive even to the walls of Tlascala. +There, the deserter was arrested, brought back to Tezcoco, and +hanged on a lofty gallows in the great square of that city. This +man, says Prescott, "was the only Tlascalan who swerved from his +loyalty to the Spaniards."</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>All being now prepared, Cortéz planned his attack. It will be +recollected that the city of Mexico rose, like Venice, from the +bosom of the placid waters, and that its communication with the +main land was kept up by the great causeways which were described +in the earlier portion of this narrative. The object of the conqueror, +therefore, was to shut up the capital, and cut off all access +to the country by an efficient blockade of the lake, with his brigantines, +and of the land with his infantry and cavalry. Accordingly +he distributed his forces into three bodies or separate camps. The +first of these, under Pedro de Alvarado, consisting of thirty horse, +one hundred and sixty-eight Spanish infantry, and twenty-five thousand +Tlascalans, was to command the causeway of Tacuba. The +second division, of equal magnitude, under Olid, was to be posted +at Cojohuacan, so as to command the causeways that led eastwardly +into the city. The third equal corps of the Spanish army was +entrusted to Sandoval, but its Indian force was to be drawn from +native allies at Chalco. Alvarado and Olid were to proceed + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> +around the northern head of the lake of Tezcoco, whilst Sandoval, +supported by Cortéz with the brigantines, passed around the +southern portion of it, to complete the destruction of the town of +Iztapalapan, which was deemed by the conqueror altogether too +important a point to be left in the rear. In the latter part of May, +1521, all these cavaliers got into their assigned military positions, +and it is from this period that the commencement of the siege of +Mexico is dated, although Alvarado had previously had some conflicts +with the people on the causeway that led to his head quarters +in Tacuba, and had already destroyed the pipes that fed the water-tanks +and fountains of the capital.</p> + +<p>At length Cortéz set sail with his flotilla in order to sustain +Sandoval's march to Iztapalapan. As he passed across the lake +and under the shadow of the "rock of the Marquis," he descried +from his brigantines several hundred canoes of the Mexicans filled +with soldiers and advancing rapidly over the calm lake. There +was no wind to swell his sails or give him command of his vessels' +motion, and the conqueror was obliged to await the arrival of the +canoes without making such disposition for action as was needful +in the emergency. But as the Indian squadron approached, a +breeze suddenly sprang up, and Cortéz, widening his line of +battle, bore down upon the frail skiffs, overturning, crushing and +sinking them by the first blow of his formidable prows, whilst he +fired to the right and left amid the discomfitted flotilla. But few +of these Indian boats returned to the canals of the city, and this +signal victory made Cortéz, forever after, the undisputed master +of the lake.</p> + +<p>The conqueror took up his head quarters at Xoloc, where the +causeway of Cojohuacan met the great causeway of the south. +The chief avenues to Mexico had been occupied for some time, as +has been already related, but either through ignorance or singular +neglect, there was the third great causeway, of Tepejacac, on the +north, which still afforded the means of communication with the +people of the surrounding country. This had been altogether +neglected. Alvarado was immediately ordered to close this outlet, +and Sandoval took up his position on the dyke. Thus far the +efforts of the Spaniards and auxiliaries had been confined to +precautionary movements rather than to decisive assaults upon the +capital. But it soon became evident that a city like Mexico might +hold out long against a blockade alone. Accordingly an attack +was ordered by Cortéz to be made by the two commanders at the +other military points nearest their quarters. The brigantines sailed + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> +along the sides of the causeways, and aided by their enfilading +fires, the advance of the squadrons on land. The infantry and +cavalry advanced upon the great avenue that divided the town from +north to south. Their heavy guns were brought up and soon +mowed a path for the musketeers and crossbowmen. The flying +enemy retreated towards the great square in the centre of the city, +and were followed by the impetuous Spaniards and their Indian +allies. The outer wall of the Great Temple, itself, was soon +passed by the hot-blooded cavaliers, some of whom rushed up the +stairs and circling corridors of the Teocalli, whence they pushed +the priests over the sides of the pyramid and tore off the golden +mask and jewels of the Aztec war-god. But the small band of +invaders had, for a moment only, appalled the Mexicans, who +rallied in numbers at this daring outrage, and sprang vindictively +upon the sacrilegious assailants. The Spaniards and their allies +fled; but the panic with which they were seized deprived their +retreat of all order or security. Cortéz, himself, was unable to +restore discipline, when suddenly, a troop of Spanish horsemen +dashed into the thick of the fight, and intimidating the Indians, by +their superstitious fears of cavalry, they soon managed to gather +and form the broken files of their Spanish and Indian army, so +that, soon after the hour of vespers, the combined forces drew +off with their artillery and ammunition to the barrack at Xoloc.</p> + +<p>About this period, the inhabitants of Xochimilco and some tribes +of rude but valiant Otomies gave in their adhesion to the Spaniards. +The Prince of Tezcoco, too, despatched fifty thousand +levies to the aid of Cortéz. Thus strengthened, another attack +was made upon the city. Most of the injuries which had been +done to the causeways in the first onslaught had been repaired, so +that the gates of the capital, and finally the great square, were +reached by the Spaniards with nearly as great difficulty as upon +their former attempt. But this time the invaders advanced more +cautiously into the heart of the city, where they fired and destroyed +their ancient quarters in the old palace of Axayacatl and the +edifices adjoining the royal palace on the other side of the square. +These incursions into the capital were frequently repeated by +Cortéz, nor were the Mexicans idle in their systematic plans to +defeat the Spaniards. All communication with the country, by +the causeways was permanently interrupted; yet the foe stealthily, +and in the night, managed to evade the vigilance of the twelve +cruisers whose numbers were indeed insufficient to maintain a +stringent naval blockade of so large a city as Mexico. But the + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> +success of Cortéz, in all his engagements by land and water, his +victorious incursions into the very heart of the city, and the general +odium which was cherished against the central power of the empire +by all the tributary tribes and dependant provinces, combined, at +this moment, to aid the efforts of the conqueror in cutting off supplies +from the famishing capital. The great towns and small +villages in the neighborhood threw off their allegiance, and the +camps of the Spanish leaders thronged with one hundred and fifty +thousand auxiliaries selected from among the recreants. The +Spaniards were amply supplied with food from these friendly +towns, and never experienced the sufferings from famine that were +soon to overtake the beleaguered capital.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>At length the day was fixed for a general assault upon the city +by the two divisions under Alvarado and Cortéz. As usual, the +battle was preceded by the celebration of mass, and the army then +advanced in three divisions up the most important streets. They +entered the town, cast down the barricades which had been erected +to impede their progress, and, with remarkable ease, penetrated +even to the neighborhood of the market-place. But the very +facility of their advance alarmed the cautious mind of Cortéz, and +induced him to believe that this slack resistance was but designed +to seduce him farther and farther within the city walls until he +found himself beyond the reach of succor or retreat. This made +him pause. His men, more eager for victory and plunder than +anxious to secure themselves by filling up the canals and clearing +the streets of their impediments, had rushed madly on without +taking proper precaution to protect their rear, if the enemy became +too hot in front. Suddenly the horn of Guatemozin was heard +from a neighboring Teocalli, and the flying Indians, at the sacred +and warning sound, turned upon the Spaniards with all the +mingled feeling of reinspired revenge and religion. For a while +the utmost disorder prevailed in the ranks of the invaders, Spaniards, +Tlascalans, Tezcocans and Otomies, were mixed in a common +crowd of combatants. From the tops of houses; from converging +streets; from the edges of canals,—crowds of Aztecs +swarmed and poured their vollies of javelins, arrows and stones. +Many were driven into the lake. Cortéz himself had nigh fallen a +victim in the dreadful <i>melee</i>, and was rescued with difficulty. +Meanwhile, Alvarado and Sandoval had penetrated the city from +the western causeway, and aided in stemming the onslaught of +the Aztecs. For a while the combined forces served to check the + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> +boiling tide of battle sufficiently to enable those who were most +sorely pressed to be gradually withdrawn, yet not until sixty-two +Spaniards and a multitude of allies, besides many killed and +wounded, had fallen captives and victims in the hands of their +implacable enemies.</p> + +<p>It was yet day when the broken band withdrew from the city, +and returned to the camps either on the first slopes of the hills, or +at the terminations of the causeways. But sad, indeed, was the +spectacle that presented itself to their eyes, as they gazed towards +the city, through the clear atmosphere of those elevated regions, +when they heard the drum sound from the top of the Great Teocalli. +It was the dread signal of sacrifice. The wretched Spaniards, +who had been captured in the fight, were, one after another, +stretched on the stone in front of the hideous idols, and their reeking +hearts, torn from their bosoms, thrown as propitiating morsels +into the flames before the deities. The mutilated remains of the +captives were then flung down the steep sides of the pyramid, to +glut the crowds at its base with a "cannibal repast."</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>Whilst these repulses and dreadful misfortunes served to dispirit +the Spaniards and elate the Aztecs, they were not without their +signally bad effects upon the auxiliaries. Messages were sent to +these insurgent bodies by the Emperor. He conjured them to +return to their allegiance. He showed them how bravely their outraged +gods had been revenged. He spoke of the reverses that +had befallen the white men in both their invasions, and warned +them that a parricidal war like this could "come to no good for +the people of Anahuac." Otomies, Cholulans, Tepeacans, Tezcocans, +and even the loyal Tlascalans, the hereditary enemies of the +Montezumas and Guatemozins, stole off secretly under the cover +of night. There were of course exceptions in this inglorious +desertion; but it seems that perhaps the majority of the tribes +departed for their homes with the belief that the tide had turned +against the Spanish conqueror and that it was best to escape +before it was too late, the scandal or danger of open treason +against their lawful Emperor. But, amid all these disasters, the +noble heart of Cortéz remained firm and true to his purpose. He +placed his artillery again in position upon the causeways, and, +never wasting his ammunition, contrived to husband it carefully +until the assaulting Aztecs swarmed in such numbers on the +dykes that his discharges mowed them down like grass as +they advanced to attack him. It was a gloomy time, requiring + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> +vigilance by day and by night—by land and by water. The +brigantines were still secure. They swept the lake continually +and cut off supplies designed for the capital. The Spaniards +hermetically sealed the causeways with their cannon, and thus, at +length, was the city that would not yield to storm given over to +starvation.</p> + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<div class="fn"> +<h4>Footnote</h4> +<p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> The writer sounded +the lake in the channel from Mexico to Tezcoco in 1842, +and did not find more than 2½1/2 feet in the deepest path. The Indians, at +present, wade over all parts of the lake.</p> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 250px;"> + <a name="illus-069.jpg" id="illus-069.jpg"></a> + <img src="images/illus-069.jpg" width="250" height="388" alt="Ornamental ending" title="" /> +</div> + + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER IX.<br /> +1521.</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>AZTEC PREDICTION—IT IS NOT VERIFIED.—CORTÉZ REINFORCED +BY FRESH ARRIVALS.—FAMINE IN THE CITY.—CORTÉZ LEVELS +THE CITY TO ITS FOUNDATION.—CONDITION OF THE CAPITAL—ATTACK +RENEWED.—CAPTURE OF GUATEMOZIN—SURRENDER +OF THE CITY.—FRIGHTFUL CONDITION OF THE CITY.</p> +</div> + +<p>The desertion of numerous allies, which we have noticed in the +last chapter, was not alone prompted by the judgment of the flying +Indians, but was stimulated in a great degree by the prophecy of +the Aztec priests, that, within eight days from the period of prediction, +the beleaguered city would be delivered from the Spaniards. +But the sun rose on the ninth over the inexorable foes still in position +on the causeways and on the lake. The news was soon sent +by the allies who had remained faithful, to those who had fled, and +the deficient ranks were quickly restored by the numbers who +flocked back to the Spanish standard as soon as they were relieved +from superstitious fear.</p> + +<p>About this time, moreover, a vessel that had been destined for +Ponce de Leon, in his romantic quest of Florida, put into Vera +Cruz with ammunition and military stores, which were soon +forwarded to the valley. Thus strengthened by his renerved +Indian auxiliaries, and reinforced with Spanish powder and guns, +Cortéz was speedily again in train to assail the capital; for he was +not content to be idle except when the most serious disasters +forced him to endure the slow and murderous process of subduing +the city by famine. There may, perhaps, be something noble and +chivalrous in this feeling of the Castilian hero. His heart revolted +at the sight of misery inflicted without a chance of escape, and it +delighted in those conflicts which matched man with man, and +gave the ultimate victory to valor and not to stratagem.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> + Accordingly the conqueror resolved again to commence active +hostilities. But, this time, he designed to permit no hazards of the +moment, and no personal carelessness of his officers to obstruct his +entry or egress from the city. As he advanced the town was to be +demolished; the canals filled up; the breaches in the dykes perfectly +repaired; and, as he moved onwards to the north and west, he +determined that his path should be over a level and solid surface +on which he might encounter none of the dangers that had hitherto +proved so disastrous. The necessity of this course will be evident +when it is recollected that all the houses were terraced with flat +roofs and protecting parapets, which sheltered the assailants, +whilst the innumerable canals bisecting the streets served as so +many pitfalls for cavalry, footmen and Indians, when they became +confused in the hurry of a promiscuous onset or retreat.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>Meanwhile the Aztecs within the city suffered the pangs of +famine. The stores that had been gathered for the siege were +gone. Human bodies, roots, rats, reptiles, served for a season, +to assuage the famished stomachs of the starving crowds;—when +suddenly, Cortéz despatched three Aztec nobles to Guatemozin, +who were instructed to praise his defence, to assure him he had +saved the honor of himself and soldiery, and to point out the utter +uselessness of longer delay in submitting to inevitable fate. The +message of the conqueror was weighed by the court with more +favor than by the proud and spirited Emperor, whose patriotic +bosom burned at the disgraceful proposal of surrender. The +priests turned the tide against the white men; and, after two days, +the answer to the summons came in a warlike sortie from the city +which well nigh swept the Spanish defenders from the dykes. +But cannon and musketry were too strong for mere numbers. +The vessels poured in their volumes of iron hail on the flanks, and +the last dread effort of defensive despair expired before the unflinching +firmness of the Castilian squadrons. At length, Cortéz +believed that the moment for final action had arrived. He gave +orders for the advance of the several corps of the army simultaneously +by their several causeways; and although it pained him +greatly to destroy a capital which he deemed "the gem of the +world," yet he put into execution his resolve to raze the city to its +foundation unless it surrendered at discretion. The number of +laborers was increased daily by the hosts that flocked like vultures +to the carcase of an expiring victim. The palaces, temples and +dwellings were plundered, thrown down, and cast into the canals + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> +The water was entirely excluded from the city. On all sides there +was fast and level land. But the Mexicans were not mere idle, +contemptible spectators of their imperial city's ruin. Day after +day squadrons sallied from the remains of the capital, and engaged +the harrassed invaders. Yet the indomitable constancy of the +Spaniards was not to be resisted. Cortéz and Alvarado had toiled +onward towards each other, from opposite sides, till they met. +The palace of Guatemozin fell and was burned. The district of +Tlatelolco, in the north of the city, was reached, and the great +market-place secured. One of the great Teocallis, in this quarter, +was stormed, its sanctuaries burned, and the standard of Castile +placed on its summit. Havoc, death, ruin, starvation, despair, +hatred, were every where manifest. Every hour added to the +misery of the numerous and retreating Aztecs who were pent up, +as the besieging circle narrowed and narrowed by its advances. +Women remained three days and nights up to their necks in water +among the reeds. Hundreds died daily. Others became insane +from famine and thirst.</p> + +<p>The conqueror hoped, for several days, that this disastrous condition +of the people would have induced the Emperor to come to +terms; but, failing in this, he resolved upon a general assault. +Before he resorted to this dreadful alternative, which his chivalrous +heart taught him could result only in the slaughter of men so famished, +dispirited and broken, he once more sought an interview +with the Emperor. This was granted; but, at the appointed +time, Guatemozin did not appear. Again the appeal was renewed, +and, again, was Cortéz disappointed in the arrival of the sovereign. +Nothing, then, remained for him but an assault, and, as may +readily be imagined, the carnage in this combined attack of Spaniards +and confederate Indians was indescribably horrible. The +long endurance of the Aztecs; their prolonged resistance and +cruelty to the Spaniards; the dreadful sacrifice of the captives +during the entire period of the siege; the memory of the first expulsion, +and the speedy hope of golden rewards, nerved the arms +and hearts of these ferocious men, and led them on, in the work of +revenge and conquest, until the sun sunk and night descended on +the tragic scene.</p> + +<p>On the 13th of August, 1521, the last appeal was made by +Cortéz to the Emperor for a surrender of his capital. After the +bloody scenes of the preceding day, and the increased misery of +the last night, it was not to be imagined that even insane patriotism +or savage madness could induce the sovereign to refrain from + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> +saving, at least, the unfortunate non-combatants who still were +loyal to his throne and person. But the judgment of the conqueror +was wrong. "Guatemozin would die where he was!" +was the reply of the royal stoic.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>Again the infuriate troops were let loose, and again were the +scenes of the day before re-enacted on the bloody theatre. Many +escaped in boats by the lake; but the brave or reckless Guatemozin, +who seems, at the last moment, to have changed his mind +as to perishing, was taken prisoner and brought, with his family, +into the presence of Cortéz. As soon as his noble figure and dignified +face were seen on the <i>azotéa</i> or terraced roof, beside the +conqueror, the battle ceased. The Indians beheld their monarch +captive! And she who had witnessed the beginning of these +adventures,—who had followed the fortunes of the General through +all their vicissitudes—the gentle but brave Indian girl—Mariana—stood +by the intrepid Cortéz to act as his interpreter in this +last scene of the splendid and eventful drama.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>It was on the following day that the Mexicans who still survived +the slaughter and famine, evacuated the city. It was a +desert—but a desert covered with dead. The men who rushed +in to plunder,—plundered as if robbing graves. Between one +and two hundred thousand people perished during the three +months' siege, and their festering bodies tainted the air. The booty, +though considerable, was far beneath the expectations of the conquerors; +yet there was doubtless enough to reward amply the stout +men at arms who had achieved a victory unparalleled in the annals +of modern warfare.</p> + +<p>"What I am going to say is truth, and I swear, and say Amen +to it!"—exclaims Bernal Diaz del Castillo, in his quaint style—"I +have read of the destruction of Jerusalem, but I cannot conceive +that the mortality there exceeded that of Mexico; for all the +people from the distant provinces, which belonged to this empire, +had concentrated themselves here, where they mostly died. The +streets, and squares, and houses, and the courts of the Tlatelolco +were covered with dead bodies; we could not step without +treading on them; the lake and canals were filled with them, and +the stench was intolerable.</p> + +<p>"When all those who had been able, quitted the city, we went +to examine it, which was as I have described; and some poor +creatures were crawling about in different stages of the most offensive + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span> +disorders, the consequences of famine and improper food. +There was no water; the ground had been torn up and the roots +gnawed. The very trees were stripped of their bark; yet, notwithstanding +they usually devoured their prisoners, no instance +occurred when, amidst all the famine and starvation of this siege, +they preyed upon each other.<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a> + <a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> The remnant of the population +went, at the request of the conquered Guatemozin, to the neighboring +villages, until the town could be purified and the dead +removed."</p> + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<div class="fn"> +<h4>Footnote</h4> +<p><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"> +</a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> This fact, +as stated by Bernal Diaz, is doubted by some other writers, and +seems, unfortunately, not fully sustained by authority.</p> +</div> + + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER X.<br /> +1521.</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>DUTY OF A HISTORIAN.—MOTIVES OF THE CONQUEST.—CHARACTER +AND DEEDS OF CORTÉZ.—MATERIALS OF THE CONQUEST.—ADVENTURERS—PRIESTS—INDIAN +ALLIES.—HISTORICAL +ASPECTS OF THE CONQUEST.</p> +</div> + +<p>It is perhaps one of the most difficult duties of a historian, who +desires to present a faithful picture of a remote age, to place himself +in such a position as to draw the moral from his story with justice +to the people and the deeds he has described. He is obliged to +forget, not only his individuality and all the associations or prejudices +with which he has grown up surrounded, but he must, in +fact, endeavor to make himself a man and an actor in the age of +which he writes. He must sympathize justly, but impartially, with +the past, and estimate the motives of his fellow beings in the epoch +he describes. He must measure his heroes, not by the standard of +advanced Christian civilization under which he has been educated, +but by the scale of enlightened opinion which was then acknowledged +by the most respectable and intellectual classes of society.</p> + +<p>When we approach the Conquest of Mexico with these impartial +feelings, we are induced to pass lighter judgments on the prominent +men of that wonderful enterprise. The love of adventure or glory, +the passion of avarice, and the zeal of religion,—all of which +mingled their threads with the meshes of this Indian web, were, +unquestionably, the predominant motives that led the conquerors +to Mexico. In some of them, a single one of these impulses was +sufficient to set the bold adventurer in motion;—in others, perhaps, +they were all combined. The necessary rapidity of our narrative +has confined us more to the detail of prominent incidents than +we would have desired had it been our task to disclose the wondrous +tale of the conquest alone; but it would be wrong, even in + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> +the briefest summary of the enterprise, to pass from the topic +without awarding to the moving spirit of the romantic drama the +fair estimate which his character and deeds demand.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>We have ever regarded Hernando Cortéz as the great controlling +spirit and embodiment of the conquest, regardless of +the brilliant and able men who were grouped around him, +all of whom, tempered and regulated by his genius, moved the +military machine, step by step, and act by act, until the capital fell +before the united armies of discontented Indians and invading +Spaniards. It was in the mind of this remarkable personage that +every scheme appears to have originated and ripened. This is the +report of the most authentic contemporaries. He took counsel, it +is true, of his captains, and heard the reports of Sandoval, Olid, +and Alvarado; but whenever a great enterprise, in all the wonderful +and varied combinations of this adventure, was to be carried +into successful execution, it was Cortéz himself who planned it, +placed himself at its head, and fought in its midst. The rash +youth whom we saw either idling over his tasks at school, or a +reckless stripling as he advanced in life, seems to have mellowed +suddenly into greatness under the glow of Indian suns which +would have emasculated a character of less rude or nervous +strength. As soon as a project, worthy of the real power of his +genius, presented itself to his mind and opened to his grasp, he +became a sobered, steadfast, serious, discreet man. He was at +once isolated by his superiority, and contrived to retain, by his +wisdom in command, the superiority which was so perfectly manifested +by this isolation. This alone, was no trifling task. His +natural adroitness not only taught him quickly the value of every +man in his command, but also rendered keener the tact by which +he strove to use those men when their talents, for good or evil, +were once completely ascertained. There were jealousies of +Cortéz, but no rivalries. <i>Men from the ranks</i> conspired to displace +him, but no <i>leader</i> ever ventured, or perhaps even conceived +the idea, whilst under his orders, of superceding the hero of the +Mexican conquest. The skill with which he won the loyal heart +of that clever Indian girl—his mistress and companion through +all the warfare,—discloses to us his power of attaching a sex +which is always quickest to detect merit and readiest to discard +conceit. We speak now of Cortéz during that period of his +career when he was essentially the soul of the conquest, and in +which the stern demands of war upon his intellect and heart, did + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> +not allow him to sleep for a moment on his post, or to tamper +with the elements upon which he relied for success. In all this +time he made but few mistakes. The loss of the capital during +the first visit is not to be attributed to him. The stain of that +calamity must rest forever upon the escutcheon of Alvarado, +for the irreparable harm was already done when Cortéz returned +from the subjugation of Narvaez.</p> + +<p>Nor is it alone as a soldier, at this time, that we are called on +to appreciate the talents of our hero. Whilst he planned, fought, +travelled, retreated, and diplomatised, he kept an accurate account +of the adventures of his troop; and, in his celebrated letters to +the Emperor, he has presented us a series of military memoirs, +which, after three hundred years, furnish, in reality, the best, but +least pretending, narrative of the conquest. Other contemporaries, +looking upon the scenes from a variety of points, may serve to add +interesting details and more copious illustration to the story; but +they support without diminishing the value and truth of the +despatches of Cortéz.</p> + +<p>The conqueror, in truth, was one of those men whose minds +seem to reach results intuitively. Education often ripens genius, +as the genial sun and air mature the fruits of the earth which +would languish without them. But we sometimes find individuals +whose dealings on earth are to be chiefly in energetic and constant +action with their fellow creatures, and who are gifted with a finer +tact which enables them to penetrate the hearts of all they +approach, and by this skilful detection of character are empowered +to mould them to their purposes. There are, it is true, many +subordinate qualities, besides the mere perceptive faculties, that +are needful in such a person. He must possess self-control and discrimination +in a remarkable degree. His courage and self-reliance +must be unquestionable. He must be able to win by gentleness +as well as to control by command or to rule by stratagem; for +there are persons whom neither kindness, reason nor authority can +lead, but who are nevertheless too important to be disregarded in +such an enterprise as that of the conquest of Mexico.</p> + +<p>Nor is our admiration of the characteristics we have endeavored +to sketch, diminished when we examine the elements of the original +army that flocked to the standard of Cortéz. The Spanish +court and camps,—the Spanish towns and sea-ports,—had sent +forth a motley band to the islands. The sedate and worthier portions +of Castilian society were not wooed abroad by the alluring +accounts of the New World and its prolific wealth. They did + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> +not choose to leave hereditary homes and comfortable emoluments +which made those homes the permanent abodes of contentment if +not of luxury. But there were others in the dense crowds of +Spain whose habits, disposition and education, fostered in them all +the love of ease and elegance, without bestowing the means +of gratifying their desires. These men regarded the New +World as a short and easy road to opulence and distinction. +There were others too, whose reckless or dissipated habits had +wasted their fortunes and blasted their names in their native +towns, and who could not bear to look upon the scenes of their +youth, or the companions of their more fortunate days, whilst +poverty and disgrace deprived them of the rights of free and equal +social intercourse. These were the poor and proud;—the noisy +and the riotous;—the soldier, half bandit, half warrior;—the +sailor, half mutineer, half pirate;—the zealot whose bigotry magnified +the dangers of Indian life into the glory of martyrdom; and +the avaricious man who dreamed that the very sands of the Indian +Isles were strewn with gems and gold. Among all this mass of +wayward lust and ambition, there were some lofty spirits whose +love of glory, whose passionate devotion to adventure, and whose +genuine anxiety to spread the true word of God among the infidels, +sanctified and adorned the enterprise, whilst their personal efforts +and influence were continually directed towards the noble purpose +of redeeming it from cruelty. These men recollected that posterity +would set its seal upon their deeds, whilst many of them +acted from a higher and purer Christian motive, devoid of all +that narrow selfishness with which others kept their eyes fixed on +the present and the future for the popular opinion that was to disgrace +or dignify them on the pages of history.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>Such were the Spanish materials of the armies with which +Cortéz invaded Mexico; and yet, even with all the masterly genius +he possessed to mould and lead such discordant elements, what +could he have substantially effected, against the Aztec Empire, +with his handful of men,—armed, mounted and equipped as they +were,—without his <i>Indian allies</i>? These he had to conquer, to +win, to control, to bind to him, forever, with the chains of an indestructible +loyalty. He did not even know their language, but +relied on the double interpretation of an Indian girl and a Spanish +soldier. Nor is it less remarkable that he not only gained these +allies, but preserved their fealty, not in success alone, but under +the most disheartening disaster, when it was really their interest to + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> +destroy rather than to sustain him, and when not only their allegiance +but their religion invoked a dreadful vengeance on the sacreligious +hands that despoiled their temples, overthrew their Gods, +and made a jest of their most sacred rites. It was, indeed, not +only a victory over the judgments, but over the superstitions, of +an excitable, ardent and perhaps unreflective nation; and, in whatever +aspect we regard the man who effected it solely by the +omnipotence of his will, we are more and more forced to admire +the majesty of his genius and the fortune or providence that made +him a chosen and conspicuous instrument in the development of +our continent.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>The conquest of Mexico,—in its relation to the rest of the +world,—has a double aspect, worthy of examination. The subsequent +history and condition of the country, which we design to +treat in the following pages, will develope one of these topics;—the +condition of the country, at the period of the conquest, will +disclose another, whilst it palliates, if it does not altogether +apologize for the cruelties and apparent rapine by which the +subjugation of the empire was effected.</p> + + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XI.<br /> +1521–1522.</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>DISCONTENT AT NOT FINDING GOLD—TORTURE OF GUATEMOZIN.—RESULTS +OF THE FALL OF THE CAPITAL.—MISSION FROM +MICHOACAN.—REBUILDING OF THE CAPITAL.—LETTERS TO +THE KING.—INTRIGUES AGAINST CORTÉZ—FONSECA—NARVAEZ—-TAPIA.—CHARLES +V. PROTECTS CORTÉZ AND CONFIRMS +HIS ACTS.</p> +</div> + +<p>The capital had no sooner fallen and the ruins been searched +in vain for the abundant treasures which the conquerors imagined +were hoarded by the Aztecs, than murmurs of discontent broke +forth in the Spanish camp against Cortéz for his supposed concealment +of the plunder. There was a mingled sentiment of distrust +both of the conqueror and Guatemozin; and, at last, the querulousness +and taunts rose to such an offensive height, that it was +resolved to apply the torture to the dethroned prince in order to +wrest from him the secret hiding place of his ancestral wealth. +We blush to record that Cortéz consented to this iniquity, but it +was probably owing to an avaricious and mutinous spirit in his +ranks which he was unable at the moment to control. The same +Indian stoicism that characterised the unfortunate prince during +the war, still nerved him in his hours of abject disaster. He bore +the pangs without quivering or complaint and without revealing +any thing that could gratify the Spanish lust of gold, save that +vast quantities of the precious metal had been thrown into the +lake,—from which but little was ultimately recovered even by the +most expert divers.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>The news of the fall of Mexico was soon spread from sea to sea, +and couriers were despatched by distant tribes and princes to +ascertain the truth of the prodigious disaster. The independent +kingdom of Michoacan, lying between the vale of Anahuac or +Mexico and the Pacific, was one of the first to send its envoys, + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> +and finally even its king, to the capital;—and two small detachments +of Spaniards returned with the new visitors, penetrating +their country and passing with them even to the waters of the +western ocean itself, on whose shores they planted the cross in +token of rightful possession. They returned by the northern districts, +and brought with them the first specimens of gold and pearls +from the region now known as California.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>It was not long, however, before Cortéz resolved to make his +conquest available by the reconstruction of the capital that he had +been forced reluctantly to mutilate and partly level during the +siege. The ancient city was nearly in ruins. The massive relics +of idolatry, and the huge stones of which the chief palaces had +been constructed, were cast into the canals. The desolation was +complete on the site of the ancient imperial residence. And the +Indians, who had served in the work of dilapidation, were even +compelled by their Spanish leader and his task masters to be the +principal laborers in the toil of building up a city which should +surpass in splendor the ancient pride of Anahuac.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile the sagacious mind of Cortéz was not only busy +with the present duties and occupations of his men in Mexico, but +began to dwell,—now that the intense excitement of active war +was over,—upon the condition of his relations with the Spanish +Court and the government in the islands. He despatched to +Castile, letters, presents, and the "royal fifth," together with an +enormous emerald whose base was as broad as the palm of his +hand. With the General's missives, went a letter from his army, +commending the heroic leader, and beseeching its royal master to +confirm Cortéz in his authority and to ratify all his proceedings. +Quinoñes and Avila, the two envoys, sailed for home; but one of +them, lucklessly, perished in a brawl at the Azores, whilst Avila, +who resumed the voyage to Spain, after the loss of his companion, +was taken by a French privateer, who bore the spoils of the +Mexicans to the Court of Francis the First. The letters and despatches +of Cortéz and his army, however, were saved, and Avila, +privately and safely forwarded them to the Spanish sovereign.</p> + +<p>At the Court of Charles the Fifth there were, of course, numerous +intrigues against the successful conqueror. The hatred of +Velasquez had not been suffered to slumber in the breast of that +disappointed governor, and Fonseca, Bishop of Burgos, who was +chief of the colonial department, and doubtless adroitly plied and +stimulated by Velasquez, managed to obtain from the churchman, + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> +Adrian, who was Regent whilst the Emperor resided in Germany, +an order for the seizure of Cortéz and the sequestration of his +property until the will of the court should be finally made known.</p> + +<p>But, the avaricious Velasquez, the vindictive Fonseca, and the +<i>Veedor</i> Cristoval de Tapia, whom they employed to execute so +delicate and dangerous a commission against a man who at that +moment, was surrounded by faithful soldiers and whose troops had +been augmented by recent arrivals at Vera Cruz,—reasoned with +but little judgment when they planned their unjust and ungrateful +measures against Cortéz. The commissioner, himself, seems to +have soon arrived at the same conclusion, for, scarcely had he +landed, before the danger of the enterprise and the gold of the +conqueror, persuaded him prudently to decline penetrating into the +heart of the country as the bearer of so ungrateful a reply to the +wishes of a hero whose genius and sword had given an empire, +and almost a world, to Spain.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>Thus, at last, was Cortéz, for a time, freed from the active hostility +of the Spanish Court, whilst he retained his authority over +his conquest merely by military right and power of forcible occupation. +But he did not remain idly contented with what he had +already done. His restless heart craved to compass the whole +continent, and to discover, visit, explore, whatever lay within the +reach of his small forces and of all who chose to swell them. He +continually pressed his Indian visitors for information concerning +the empire of the Montezumas and the adjacent territories of independent +kings or tributaries. Wherever discontent lifted its head, +or rebellious manifestations were made, he despatched sufficient +forces to whip the mutineers into contrite submission. The new +capital progressed apace, and stately edifices rose on the solid land +which his soldiers had formed out of the fragments of ancient +Mexico.</p> + +<p>Whilst thus engaged in his newly-acquired domain, Narvaez, +his old enemy, and Tapia, his more recent foe, had reached the +Spanish Court, where, aided by Fonseca, they once more bestirred +themselves in the foul labor of blasting the fame of Cortéz, +and wresting from his grasp the splendid fruits of his valor. +Luckily, however, the Emperor returned, about this period, from +eastern Europe, and, from this moment the tide of intrigue seems +to have been stayed if not altogether turned. Reviled as he had +hitherto been in the purlieus of the court, Cortéz was not without +staunch kinsmen and warm friends who stood up valiantly in his + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> +behalf, both before councils and king. His father, Don Martin, +and his friend, the Duke of Bejar, had been prominent among +many in espousing the cause of the absent hero, even before the +sovereign's return;—and now, the monarch, whose heart was not +indeed ungrateful for the effectual service rendered his throne by +the conqueror, and whose mind probably saw not only the justice +but the policy of preserving, unalienated, the fidelity and services +of so remarkable a personage,—soon determined to look leniently +upon all that was really censurable in the early deeds of Cortéz. +Whilst Charles confirmed his acts in their full extent, he moreover +constituted him "Governor, Captain General and Chief Justice of +New Spain, with power to appoint to all offices, civil and military, +and to order any person to leave the country whose residence +there might be deemed prejudicial to the crown."</p> + +<p>On the 15th of October, 1522, this righteous commission was +signed by Charles V., at Valladolid. A liberal salary was assigned +the Captain General; his leading officers were crowned +with honors and emoluments, and the troops were promised liberal +grants of land. Thus, the wisdom of the king, and of the most +respectable Spanish nobility, finally crushed the mean, jealous, +or avaricious spirits who had striven to leave their slimy traces on +the fame of the conqueror; whilst the Emperor, himself, with his +own hand, acknowledged the services of the troops and their +leader, in a letter to the Spanish army in Mexico.</p> + +<p>Among the men who felt severely the censure implied by this +just and wise conduct of Charles V., was the ascetic Bishop of +Burgos, Fonseca, whose baleful influence had fallen alike upon +the discoveries of Columbus, and the conquests of Cortéz. His +bigoted and narrow soul,—schooled in forms, and trained by early +discipline, into a querulousness which could neither tolerate anything +that did not accord with his rules or originate under his +orders,—was unable to comprehend the splendid glory of the +enterprises of these two heroic chieftains. Had it been his +generous policy to foster them, history would have selected this +son of the church as the guardian angel over the cradle of the New +World; but he chose to be the shadow rather than the shining +light of his era, and, whether from age or chagrin, he died in the +year after this kingly rebuff from a prince whose councils he had +long and unwisely served.</p> + + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XII.<br /> +1522–1547.</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>CORTÉZ COMMISSIONED BY THE EMPEROR.—VELASQUEZ—HIS +DEATH.—MEXICO REBUILT.—IMMIGRATION—REPARTIMIENTOS +OF INDIANS.—HONDURAS—GUATEMOZIN—MARIANA.—CORTÉZ +ACCUSED—ORDERED TO SPAIN FOR TRIAL.—HIS RECEPTION, +HONORS AND TITLES—HE MARRIES—HIS RETURN +TO MEXICO—RESIDES AT TEZCOCO.—EXPEDITIONS OF CORTÉZ—CALIFORNIA—QUIVARA.—RETURNS +TO SPAIN—DEATH—WHERE +ARE HIS BONES?</p> +</div> + +<p>The royal commission, of which we have spoken in the last +chapter, was speedily borne to New Spain, where it was joyfully +received by all who had participated in the conquest or joined +the original forces since that event. Men not only recognized the +justice of the act, but they felt that if the harvest was rightfully due +to him who had planted the seed, it was also most probable that +no one could be found in Spain or the Islands more capable than +Cortéz of consolidating the new empire. Velasquez, the darling +object of whose latter years had been to circumvent, entrap or foil +the conqueror, was sadly stricken by the defeat of his machinations. +The reckless but capable soldier, whom he designed to mould into +the pliant tool of his avarice and glory, had suddenly become his +master. Wealth, renown, and even royal gratitude, crowned his +labors; and the disobedience, the errors, and the flagrant wrongs +he was charged with whilst subject to gubernatorial authority, +were passed by in silence or forgotten in the acclamation +that sounded his praise throughout Spain and Europe. Even +Fonseca,—the chief of the council,—had been unable to thwart +this darling of genius and good fortune. Velasquez, himself, was +nothing. The great error of his life had been in breaking with +Cortéz before he sailed for Mexico. He was straitened in fortune, +foiled in ambition, mocked by the men whose career of dangerous +adventure he had personally failed to share; and, at last, disgusted +with the time and its men, he retired to brood over his melancholy +reverses until death soon relieved him of his earthly jealousies and +annoyances.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> + Four years had not entirely elapsed since the fall of Mexico, +when a new and splendid city rose from its ruins and attracted the +eager Spaniards, of all classes, from the old world and the islands. +Cortéz designed this to be the continental nucleus of population. +Situated on the central plateau of the realm, midway between the +two seas, in a genial climate whose heat never scorched and whose +cold never froze, it was, indeed, an alluring region to which +men of all temperaments might resort with safety. Strongholds, +churches, palaces, were erected on the sites of the royal residences +of the Aztecs and their blood-stained Teocallis. Strangers were +next invited to the new capital, and, in a few years, the Spanish +quarter contained two thousand families, while the Indian district +of Tlatelolco, numbered not less than thirty thousand inhabitants. +The city soon assumed the air and bustle of a great mart. Tradesmen, +craftsmen and merchants, thronged its streets and remaining +canals.</p> + +<p>Cortéz was not less anxious to establish, in the interior of the +old Aztec empire, towns or points of rendezvous, which in the +course of time, would grow up into important cities. These were +placed with a view to the future wants of travel and trade in New +Spain. Liberal grants of land were made to settlers who were +compelled to provide themselves with wives under penalty of +forfeiture within eighteen months. Celibacy was too great a +luxury for a young country.<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a> + <a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> The Indians were divided among +the Spaniards by the system of <i>repartimientos</i>, which will be more +fully discussed in a subsequent part of this work. The necessities +and cupidity of the early settlers in so vast a region rendered this +necessary perhaps, though it was promptly discountenanced but +never successfully suppressed by the Spanish crown. The scene +of action was too remote, the subjects too selfish, and the ministers +too venal or interested to carry out, with fidelity, the benign ordinances +of the government at home. From this apportionment of +Indians, which subjected them, in fact, to a species of slavery, it +is but just to the conquerors to state that the Tlascalans, upon +whom the burden of the fighting had fallen, were entirely exempted +at the recommendation of Cortéz.</p> + +<p>Among all the tribes the work of conversion prospered, for the +ceremonious ritual of the Aztec religion easily introduced the +native worshippers to the splendid forms of the Roman Catholic. +Agriculture and the mines were not neglected in the policy of + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> +Cortéz, and, in fact he speedily set in motion all the machinery of +civilization, which was gradually to operate upon the native +population whilst it attracted the overflowing, industrious or adventurous +masses of his native land. Various expeditions, too, for +the purpose of exploration and extension, were fitted out by the +Captain General of New Spain; so that, within three years after +the conquest, Cortéz had reduced to the Spanish sway, a territory +of over four hundred leagues, or twelve hundred miles on the +Atlantic coast, and of more than five hundred leagues or fifteen +hundred miles on the Pacific.<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a> + <a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a></p> + +<p>This sketch of a brief period after the subjugation of Mexico +developes the <i>constructive</i> genius of Cortéz, as the preceding chapters +had very fully exhibited his <i>destructive</i> abilities. It shows, +however, that he was not liable justly to the censure which has so +often been cast upon him,—of being, only, a piratical plunderer +who was seduced into the conquest by the spirit of rapine alone.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>In a historical narrative which is designed to treat exclusively +of Mexico, it might perhaps be considered inappropriate to relate +that portion of the biography of Cortéz which is covered by his +expedition to Honduras, whither he marched after he learned the +defection of his lieutenant Olid whom he had sent to that distant +region with a body of Spanish soldiers to found a dependant +colony. It was whilst on this disastrous march that the report of +a conspiracy to slay the Spaniards, in which Guatemozin was +implicated, reached his ears, and that the dethroned monarch, +together with several princes and inferior nobles, was hanged, by +his orders, on the branches of a tree. There is a difference of +opinion among contemporary writers as to the guilt of Guatemozin +and the Aztec nobles; but it is probable that the unfortunate prince +had become a dangerous and formidable captive and that the grave +was a safer prison for such a personage, than the tents and +bivouacs of a menaced army.</p> + +<p>Another renowned character in this drama—the serviceable and +gentle Indian girl Doña Mariana,—was no longer needed and was +disposed of during this expedition, by marriage with Don Martin +Xamarillo, to whom she brought a noble dowry of estates, which +were assigned her by the conqueror in her native province, where, +in all likelihood she ended her romantic career. Her son by +Cortéz, named after his grand-father Don Martin, became distinguished + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> +in the annals of the colony and of Spain, but in 1568, he +was cruelly treated in the capital which had been won by the valor +and fidelity of his parents.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>From this digression in his Mexican career, Cortéz was suddenly +recalled by the news of disturbances in the capital, which he +reached after a tempestuous and dangerous voyage. His journey +from the coast to the valley was a continued scene of triumphs; +and, from Tezcoco, in June, 1526, he made his stately entrance +into the city of Mexico amid brilliant cavalcades, decorated streets, +and lakes and canals covered with the fanciful skiffs of Indians.</p> + +<p>A month later, the joy of his rapturous reception was disturbed +by the announcement that the Spanish Court had sent a commissioner +to supercede him temporarily in the government. The +work of sapping his power and influence had long been carried on +at home; and false reports, involving Cortéz in extreme dishonesty +not only to the subjects but to the crown of Spain itself, +at length infused suspicions into the sovereign's mind. The +Emperor resolved to search the matter fairly to its core, and, +accordingly, despatched Don Luis Ponce de Leon, a young, but +able nobleman to perform this delicate task, at the same time that +he wrote with his own hand to the conqueror, assuring him that his +sole design was not to distrust or deprive him of his honors, but to +afford him the opportunity of placing his integrity in a clear light +before the world.</p> + +<p>De Leon, and the delegate chosen on his death bed, died within +a few months, and were succeeded by Estrada, the royal treasurer, +who was hostile to Cortéz, and whose malicious mismanagement +of the investigation soon convinced even the Spanish court that +it was unjust to leave so delicate and tangled a question in his +hands. Accordingly the affair was transferred from Estrada to a +commission styled the Audiencia Real de España, and Cortéz was +commanded to hasten across the Atlantic in order to vindicate +himself from the aspersions before this august body, which sat in +the midst of his countrymen.</p> + +<p>Cortéz resolved to go at once; and, loyal to the last, rejected +all the offers that were made him to reassume the reins of power, +<i>independently of Spain</i>. He carried with him a number of natives, +together with specimens of all the natural and artificial products of +his viceroyalty; nor did he forget a plentiful supply of gold, silver, +and jewels, with which he might maintain, in the eyes of his +luxurious countrymen, the state that was appropriate for one whose + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span> +conquests and acquisitions were so extensive. Sandoval and +Tapia, too, departed with their beloved companion in arms, the +former of whom, only, lived to land once more on his native land.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>As he journeyed from the sea-port towards Toledo, the curious +crowds poured out on the way side to behold and welcome the +hero of the New World; and from the gates of the city a gallant +crowd of cavaliers poured forth, with the Duke de Bejar and the +Count de Aguilar, to attend him to his dwelling.</p> + +<p>The Emperor received him with marked respect on the following +day, and from the bountiful gifts and splendid titles which were +showered upon Cortéz before the close of 1529, it seems that his +sovereign was soon personally satisfied in his frequent and frank +interviews with the conqueror, that the tales he had heard from +across the sea were mere calumnies unworthy his notice. The title +of "Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca" was bestowed on him. +Lands in the rich province of Oaxaca, and estates in the city of +Mexico and other places, were also ceded to him. "The princely +domain thus granted him," says Prescott, "comprehended more +than twenty towns and villages and twenty-three thousand vassals." +The court and sovereign vied with each other in honoring +and appreciating his services, and every privilege was no sooner +demanded than granted, save that of again assuming the government +of New Spain!</p> + +<p>It was the policy of the Spanish court not to entrust the rule of +conquered countries to the men who had subdued them. There +was fancied, and perhaps real danger in confiding such dearly acquired +jewels to ambitious and daring adventurers who might ripen +into disloyal usurpers.</p> + +<p>Cortéz bowed submissively to the will of the Emperor. He was +grateful for what had been graciously conceded to his merits and +services; nor was he unwilling to enjoy the luxury of careless +repose after so many years of toil. His first wife,—wedded as +we have related in the Islands,—died a short time after she +joined him in the capital after the conquest. Cortéz was yet +young, nor was he ill favored or indisposed to slight the charms of +the sex. A fair relative of the Aguilars and Bejars, Doña Juana +Zuñiga, at this moment attracted his attention and was soon won. +Her dower of jewels, wrested from the Aztecs, and carved by their +most skilful workmen, was indescribably magnificent, and, after +her splendid nuptials, she embarked, in 1530, with the conqueror + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> +and his aged mother to return to the Indian Islands, and finally +to New Spain.</p> + +<p>At Hispaniola he met an Audiencia Real, which was still to +have jurisdiction of his case, if it ever came to trial, and at whose +head was an avowed enemy of the conqueror, Nuño de Guzman. +The evidence was taken upon eight scandalous charges against +Cortéz, and is of so suspicious a character that it not only disgusts +the general reader, but also failed in its effect upon the Spanish +court by which no action was finally taken in regard to it.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>Cortéz remained two months in the island before he set sail for +Vera Cruz, in July 1530; and, in the meantime, the Bishop of +San Domingo was selected to preside over a new Audiencia, +inasmuch as the conduct of the late Audiencia, and of Guzman +especially, in relation to the Indians, had become so odiously oppressive +that fears were entertained of an outbreak. The bishop +and his coadjutors were men of a different stamp, who inspired the +conqueror with better hopes for the future prosperity of the Indian +colonies.</p> + +<p>So jealous was the home government of the dangerous influence +of Cortéz,—a man so capable of establishing for himself an independent +empire in the New World,—that he had been inhibited +from approaching the capital nearer than thirty leagues. But this +did not prevent the people from approaching him. He returned +to the scene of his conquest, with all the personal resentments and +annoyances that had been felt by individuals of old, softened by +the lapse of time during his prolonged absence in Spain. He +came back, too, with all the prestige of his Emperor's favor; and, +thus, both by the new honors he had won at court, and the +memory of his deeds, the masses felt disposed to acknowledge, at +the moment of joyous meeting, that it was alone to him they owed +their possessions, their wealth, their comfort, and their importance +in New Spain.</p> + +<p>Accordingly, Mexico was deserted by the courtiers, and Tezcoco, +where he established his headquarters was thronged by +eager crowds who came not only to visit but to consult the man +whose wit and wisdom were as keen as his sword, and who revisited +Mexico, ripened into an astute statesman.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, the seeming cordiality between the magistrates of +the capital and the partly exiled Captain General, did not long +continue. Occasions arose for difference of opinion and for disputes +of even a more bitter character, until, at length, he turned his + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> +back on the glorious valley,—the scene of his noblest exploits,—forever, +and took up his abode in his town of Cuernavaca, which, +it will be recollected, he captured from the Aztecs before the capital +fell into his hands. This was a place lying in the lap of a +beautiful valley, sheltered from the north winds and fronting the +genial sun of the south, and here he once more returned to the +cares of agriculture,—introducing the sugar cane from Cuba, encouraging +the cultivation of flax and hemp, and teaching the +people the value of lands, cattle and husbandry which they had +never known or fully appreciated. Gold and silver he drew from +Zacatecas and Tehuantepec; but he seems to have wisely thought +that the permanent wealth and revenue of himself and his heirs +would best be found in tillage.</p> + +<p>Our limits will not permit us to dwell upon the agricultural, +mineral and commercial speculations of Cortéz, nor upon his +various adventures in Mexico. It is sufficient to say that he +planned several expeditions, the most important of which, was unsuccessful +in consequence of his necessary absence in Spain, +whither he had been driven, as we have seen, to defend himself +against the attacks of his enemies. Immediately, however, upon +his return to Mexico, he not only sent forth various navigators, to +make further discoveries, but departed himself for the coast of +Jalisco, which he visited in 1534 and 1535. He recovered a +ship, which had been seized by Nuño de Guzman; and having +assembled the vessels he had commanded to be built in Tehuantepec, +he embarked every thing needful to found a colony. The +sufferings he experienced in this expedition were extraordinarily +great; his little fleet was assailed by famine and tempests, and, so +long was he unheard of, in Mexico, that, at the earnest instance of +his wife, the viceroy Mendoza sent two vessels to search for him. +He returned, at length, to Acapulco; but not content with his +luckless efforts, he made arrangements for a new examination of +the coasts, by Francisco de Ulloa, which resulted in the discovery +of California, as far as the Isle de Cedros, and of all that gulf, to +which geographers have given the name of the "Sea of Cortéz."</p> + +<p>His expenses in these expeditions exceeded three hundred thousand +castellanos of gold, which were never returned to him by the +government of Spain. Subsequently, a Franciscan missionary, +Fray Marcos de Niza, reported the discovery, north of Sonoma, of +a rich and powerful nation called Quivara, whose capital he represented +as enjoying an almost European civilization. Cortéz +claimed his right to take part in or command an expedition which + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> +the viceroy Mendoza was fitting out for its conquest. But he was +baulked in his wishes, and was obliged to confine his future efforts +for Mexico to works of beneficence in the capital.</p> + +<p>That portion of the conqueror's life which impressed its powerful +characteristics upon New Spain was now over. The rest of his +story belongs rather to biography and the Old World than to +a compressed narrative of Mexican history, for although he remained +long in the country, and afterwards fought successfully +under the Emperor's banner in other lands, it appears that he was +unable to win the Spanish crown to grant him authority over the +empire he had subdued. He died at Castilleja de la Cuesta, near +Seville, on the 2d of December, 1547.</p> + +<p>Cortéz provided in his will that his body should be interred +in the place where he died, if that event occurred in Spain, +and that, within ten years, his bones should be removed to +New Spain and deposited in a convent of Franciscan nuns, +which, under the name of La Concepcion, he ordered to be +founded in Cuyoacan. Accordingly, his corpse was first of all +laid in the convent of San Isidro, outside the walls of Seville, +whence it was carried to Mexico and deposited in the church of +San Francisco, at Tezcoco, inasmuch as the convent of Cuyoacan +was not yet built. Thence the ashes of the hero were carried, in +1629, to the principal chapel of the church of San Francis, in the +capital; and, at last, were translated, on the 8th of November, 1794, +to the church of the Hospital of Jesus, which Cortéz had founded. +When the revolution broke out, a vindictive feeling prevailed not +only against the living Spaniards, but against the dead, and men +were found, who invoked the people to tear these honored relics from +their grave, and after burning them at San Lazaro, to scatter the +hated ashes to the winds. But, in the government and among the +principal citizens, there were many individuals who eagerly sought +an opportunity to save Mexico from this disgraceful act. These +persons secretly removed the monument, tablet, and remains of the +conqueror from their resting place in the Church of Jesus, and +there is reason to believe, that at length they repose in peaceful +concealment in the vaults of the family in Italy. Past generations +deprived him, whilst living, of the right to rule the country he had +won by his valor. Modern Mexico has denied his corpse even the +refuge of a grave.<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a> + <a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a></p> + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<div class="fn"> +<h4>Footnotes</h4> +<p><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> Prescott 3d, 261.</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> Prescott, vol. 3, 274.</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> See Alaman, +Disertaciones sobre la historia de la Republica Mexicana, vol. +2, p. 93 Appendix.</p> +</div> + + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XIII.<br /> +650–1500.</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>ARCHBISHOP ZUMARRAGA'S DESTRUCTION OF MEXICAN MONUMENTS, +WRITINGS, DOCUMENTS—MR. GALLATIN'S OPINION OF +THEM.—TRADITIONS—TWO SOURCES OF ACCURATE KNOWLEDGE.—SPECULATIONS +ON ANTIQUITY.—AZTECS—TOLTECS—NAHUATLACS—ACOLHUANS, ETC.—AZTECS +EMIGRATE FROM AZTLAN—SETTLE IN ANAHUAC.—TABLES OF EMIGRATION OF +THE ORIGINAL TRIBES—OTHER TRIBES IN THE EMPIRE.</p> +</div> + +<p>One of the most disgraceful destructions of property, recorded in +history, is that which was accomplished in Mexico by the first +Archbishop of New Spain, Juan de Zumarraga. He collected +from all quarters, but especially from Tezcoco, where the national +archives were deposited, all the Indian manuscripts he could +discover, and causing them to be piled in a great heap in the +market place of Tlatelolco, he burned all these precious records, +which under the skilful interpretation of competent natives, <i>might</i> +have relieved the early history of the Aztecs from the obscurity +with which it is now clouded. The superstitious soldiery eagerly +imitated the pious example of this prelate, and emulated each other +in destroying all the books, charts, and papers, which bore hieroglyphic +signs, whose import, they had been taught to believe +was as sacrilegiously symbolic and pernicious as that of the idols +they had already hurled from the Indian temples.</p> + +<p>And yet, it may be questioned, whether these documents, had +they been spared even as the curious relics of the literature or art +of a semi-civilized people, would have enlightened the path of the +historical student. "It has been shown," says Mr. Gallatin, "that +those which have been preserved contain but a meagre account of +the Mexican history for the one hundred years preceding the conquest, +and hardly anything that relates to prior events. The question +naturally arises—from what source those writers derived their +information, who have attempted to write not only the modern +history of Mexico, but that of ancient times? It may, without +hesitation, be answered, that their information was traditional. +The memory of important events is generally preserved and transmitted + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> +by songs and ballads, in those nations which have attained +a certain degree of civilization, and had not the use of letters. +Unfortunately, if we except the hymns of the great monarch of +Tezcoco, which are of recent date, and allude to no historical fact +of an earlier epoch than his own times, no such Mexican remnants +have been transmitted to us, or published. On the other hand the +recollection and oral transmission of events may have been aided +by the hieroglyphics imperfect as they were; thus, those of the +significant names of a king and of a city, together with the symbol +of the year, would remind the Mexicans of the history of the war +of that king against that city which had been early taught him +whilst a student in the temple."<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a> + <a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a></p> + +<p>It is thus, perhaps, that the virtuoso rather than the historical +student has been the sufferer by the superstitious conflagrations of +Zumarraga and the Spanish soldiers. We have unquestionably +lost most of the minute events of early Aztec history. We have +remained ignorant of much of the internal policy of the realm, and +have been obliged to play the antiquarian in the discussion of dates +and epochs, whose perfect solution, even, would not cast a solitary +ray of light upon the grand problem of this continent's development +or population. But amid all this obscurity, ignorance, and +diffuseness, we have the satisfaction to know that some valuable +facts escaped the grasp of these destroyers, and that the grand +historical traditions of the empire were eagerly listened to and +recorded by some of the most enlightened Europeans who hastened +after the conquest to New Spain. The song, the story, and the +anecdote, handed down from sire to son in a nation which possessed +no books, no system of writing, no letters, no alphabet,—formed +in reality the great chain connecting age with age, king +with king, family with family;—and, as the gigantic bond lengthened +with time, some of its links were adorned with the embellishments +of fancy, whilst others, in the dim and distant past, +became almost imperceptible. Nor were the conquerors and their +successors men devoted to the antiquities of the Mexicans with the +generous love of enthusiasts who delight in disclosing the means +by which a people emerged from the obscurity of a tribe into the +grandeur of a civilized nation. In most cases the only object they +had in magnifying, or even in manifesting the real character, +genius and works of the Mexicans, is to be found in their desire to +satisfy their country and the world that they had indeed conquered + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span> +an empire, and not waged exterminating war against naked but +wealthy savages. It was, in fact, a species of self laudation; and +it has, therefore, not been without at least a slight degree of +incredulity that we read the glowing early accounts of the palaces, +the state and the power of the Mexican emperors. The graphic +works of Mr. Stephens on Yucatan and Central America, seem, +however, to open new authorities upon this vast problem of civilization. +Architecture never lies. It is one of those massive +records which require too much labor in order to record a falsehood. +The men who could build the edifices of Uxmal, Palenque, +Copan and Chichen-Itza, were far removed from the aboriginal +condition of Nomadic tribes. Taste and luxury had been long +grafted on the mere <i>wants</i> of the natives. They had learned not +only to build for protection against weather, but for permanent +homes whose internal arrangements should afford them comfort, +and whose external appearance should gratify the public taste. +Order, symmetry, elegance, beauty of ornament, gracefulness of +symbolic imagery, had all combined to exhibit the external manifestations +which are always seen among people who are not only +anxious to gratify others as well as themselves, but to vie with +each other in the exhibition of individual tastes. Here, however, +as in Egypt, the architectural remains are chiefly of temples, +tombs and palaces. The worship of God,—the safety of the body +after death,—and the permanent idea of loyal obedience to authority,—are +symbolized by the temple,—tomb,—and the rock-built +palace. The masses, who felt they had no constant abiding place +on earth, did not in all probability, build for themselves those +substantial and beautifully embellished <i>homes</i>, under whose influence +modern civilization has so far exceeded the barren <i>humanism</i> +of the valley of the Nile. It was useless, they deemed, to enshrine +in marble whilst living, the miserable spirit that, after death, might +crawl in a crocodile or burrow in a hog. Christianity, alone, has +made the <i>Dwelling</i> paramount to the Tomb and the Palace.</p> + +<p>We cannot leave the early history of Spanish occupation without +naturally casting our eyes over the empire which it was the destiny +of Cortéz to conquer. Of its geographical boundaries we know +but little. The dominions of the original Aztecs covered but a +small part of the territory comprehended in modern Mexico; and +although they were enlarged during the empire, they did not even +then extend beyond the eighteenth degree and the twenty-first on +the Atlantic or Gulf, and beyond the fourteenth and nineteenth +degree including a narrow slip on the Pacific.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> + The seat and centre of the Mexican empire was in the valley of +Mexico, in a temperate climate, whose genial mildness is gained +by its elevation of over seven thousand feet above the level of the +sea. The features of this region,—the same now as at the +conquest,—will be more fully described hereafter in those chapters +which treat of the geography and statistics of modern Mexico.</p> + +<p>On the eastern or western borders of the lake of Tezcoco, facing +each other, stood the ancient cities of Tenochtitlan or Mexico, +and of Tezcoco. These were the capitals of the two most famous, +flourishing and civilized states of Anahuac, the sources of whose +population and progress are veiled in the general mystery that +overhangs the early history of our continent.</p> + +<p>The general, and best received tradition that we possess upon +the subject, declares that the original inhabitants of this beautiful +valley came from the north; and that perhaps the earliest as well +as the most conspicuous in the legends, were the Toltecs, who +moved to the south before the end of the seventh century, and +settled at Tollan or Tula, north of the Mexican valley, where extensive +architectural remains were yet to be found at the period of +the conquest. This spot seems to have gradually become the +parent hive of civilization and advancement; but, after four centuries, +during which they extended their sway over the whole of +Anahuac, the Toltecs are alleged to have wasted away by famine, +disease, and the slow desolation of unsuccessful wars. This +occurred about the year 1051, as the Indian tradition relates,—and +the few who escaped the ravages of death, departed for those +more southern regions now known as Yucatan and Guatemala, in +which we perhaps find the present remains of their civilization +displayed in the temples, edifices and tombs of Palenque and +Uxmal. During the next century these valleys and mountains +were nearly desolate and bare of population, until a rude and +altogether uncivilized tribe, known as the Chichimecas, came from +Amaquemecan, in the north, and settled in villages among the ruins +of their Toltec predecessors. After eight years, six other Indian +tribes called Nahuatlacs arrived, and announced the approach of +another band from the north, known as the Aztecs, who, soon +afterwards, entered Anahuac. About this period the Acolhuans, +who are said to have emigrated from Teoacolhucan, near the +original territories of the Chichimecas, advanced into the valley +and speedily allied themselves with their ancient neighbors. +These tribes appear to have been the founders of the Tezcocan + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> +government and nation which was once assailed successfully by +the Tepanecs, but was finally delivered from thraldom by the +signal bravery and talents of the prince Nezahualcoyotl, who was +heir of the crown, supported by his Mexican allies.</p> + +<p>Our chief concern, however, in groping our way through the +tangled labyrinth of tradition, is to ascertain the story of the +<span class="smcap">Aztecs</span>, whose advent has been already announced. It was +about the year 1160, that they departed from Aztlan, the original +seat of their tribe, on their journey of southern emigration. Their +pilgrimage seems to have been interrupted by numerous halts and +delays, both on their route through the northern regions now +comprehended in the modern Republic of Mexico, as well as in +different parts of the Mexican valley which was subsequently to +become their home and capital. At length, in 1325, they descried +an eagle resting on a cactus which sprang from the crevice of a +rock in the lake of Tezcoco, and grasping in his talons a writhing +serpent. This had been designated by the Aztec oracles as the +site of the home in which the tribe should rest after its long and +weary migration; and, accordingly, the city of Tenochtitlan, was +founded upon the sacred spot, and like another Venice rose from +the bosom of the placid waters.</p> + +<p>It was near a hundred years after the founding of the city, and +in the beginning of the fifteenth century, that the Tepanecs +attacked the Tezcocan monarchy, as has been related in the previous +part of this chapter. The Tezcocans and the Aztecs or +Mexicans united to put down the power of the spoiler, and as a +recompense for the important services of the allies, the supreme +dominion of the territory of the royal house of Tezcoco was transferred +to the Aztecs. The Tezcocan sovereigns thus became, in a +measure, mediatized princes of the Mexican throne; and the two +states, together with the neighboring small kingdom of Tlacopan, +south of the lake of Chalco, formed an offensive and defensive league +which was sustained with unwavering fidelity through all the wars +and assaults which ensued during the succeeding century. The +bold leaguers united in that spirit of plunder and conquest which +characterizes a martial people, as soon as they are surrounded by +the necessaries, comforts, and elegances of life in their own +country, and whenever the increase of population begins to require +a vent through which it may expand those energies that would +destroy the state by rebellions or civil war, if pent up within the +narrow limits of so small a realm as the valley of Mexico. Accordingly +we find that the sway of this small tribe, which had but + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> +just nestled among the reeds, rocks and marshes of the lake, was +quickly spread beyond the mountain barrier that hemmed in the +valley. Like the Hollanders, they became great by the very +wretchedness of their site, and the vigilant industry it enforced. +The Aztec arms were triumphant throughout all the plains that +swept downward towards the Atlantic, and, as we have seen, even +maintained dominion on the shores of the Pacific, or penetrated, +under the bloody Ahuitzotl, the remotest corners of Guatemala and +Nicaragua.</p> + +<p>Such was the extent of Aztec power at the beginning of the +16th century, at the period of the Spanish incursion.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p><span class="smcap">Note.</span>—The discrepancies in the dates assigned by several writers as to the periods +of the emigration of various tribes and the reigns of their sovereigns, are carefully +presented in the following table, given by Albert Gallatin, in his essay on +the Mexican nations—1 vol. Ethnol. Soc. Transac. 162.</p> +</div> + +<p> </p> + +<table class="toc" summary="Tribes and Reigns of their Sovereigns"> +<tr> +<td class="c1">Column Headings:<br />A: <i>Alva.</i><br />B: <i>Sahagun.</i><br /> + C: <i>Veytia.</i><br />D: <i>Clavigero.</i></td> +<td class="c22"> </td> +<td class="c33"> </td> +<td class="c44"> </td> +<td class="c55"> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c11"> </td> +<td class="c22"> </td> +<td class="c33"> </td> +<td class="c44"> </td> +<td class="c55"> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c11"><span class="smcap">Toltecs.</span></td> +<td class="c22"> </td> +<td class="c33"> </td> +<td class="c44"> </td> +<td class="c55"> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1"> </td> +<td class="c22">A</td> +<td class="c33">B</td> +<td class="c44">C</td> +<td class="c55">D</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1">Arrived at Huehuetlalpallan</td> +<td class="c22">387</td> +<td class="c33"> </td> +<td class="c44"> </td> +<td class="c55"> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1">Departed from do</td> +<td class="c22"> </td> +<td class="c33"> </td> +<td class="c44">596</td> +<td class="c55">544</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1">They found Tula</td> +<td class="c22">498</td> +<td class="c33"> </td> +<td class="c44">713</td> +<td class="c55">720</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1">Monarchy begins</td> +<td class="c22">510</td> +<td class="c33"> </td> +<td class="c44"> </td> +<td class="c55">667</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1">Monarchy ends</td> +<td class="c22">959</td> +<td class="c33"> </td> +<td class="c44">1116</td> +<td class="c55">1051</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c11"><span class="smcap">Chichimecas and Acolhuans or Tezcocans.</span></td> +<td class="c22"> </td> +<td class="c33"> </td> +<td class="c44"> </td> +<td class="c55"> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1">Xolotl, 1st King occupies the valley of Mexico</td> +<td class="c22">963</td> +<td class="c33"> </td> +<td class="c44">1120</td> +<td class="c55">about 1170</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1">Napoltzin, 2d King ascends the throne</td> +<td class="c22">1075</td> +<td class="c33"> </td> +<td class="c44">1232</td> +<td class="c55">13 cen</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1">Huetzin Tlotzin 3rd King, so called erroneously, ascends the throne</td> +<td class="c22">1107</td> +<td class="c33"> </td> +<td class="c44">1263</td> +<td class="c55">14 cen</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1">Quinantzin, 4th King ascends the throne</td> +<td class="c22">1141</td> +<td class="c33"> </td> +<td class="c44">1298</td> +<td class="c55">14 cen</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1">Tlaltecatzin 1st King according to Sahagun ascends the throne</td> +<td class="c22"> </td> +<td class="c33">1246</td> +<td class="c44"> </td> +<td class="c55"> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1">Techotlalatzin 5th (2d, Sahagun) ascends the throne</td> +<td class="c22">1253</td> +<td class="c33">1271</td> +<td class="c44">1357</td> +<td class="c55">14 cen</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1">Ixtlilxochitl 6th (3d, Sahagun) + " " "</td> +<td class="c22">1357</td> +<td class="c33">1331</td> +<td class="c44">1409</td> +<td class="c55">1406</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1">Netzahual-Coyotzin 7th (4th, Sahagun) ascends the throne</td> +<td class="c22">1418</td> +<td class="c33">1392</td> +<td class="c44">1418</td> +<td class="c55">1426</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1">Netzahual-Pilzintli 8th (5th, Sahagun) ascends the throne</td> +<td class="c22">1462</td> +<td class="c33">1463</td> +<td class="c44"> </td> +<td class="c55">1470</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1">Netzahual-Pilzintli dies</td> +<td class="c22">1515</td> +<td class="c33">1516</td> +<td class="c44"> </td> +<td class="c55">1516</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c11"><span class="smcap">Tepanecs, or Tecpanecs of Acapulco.</span></td> +<td class="c22"> </td> +<td class="c33"> </td> +<td class="c44"> </td> +<td class="c55"> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1">Acolhua arrives</td> +<td class="c22">1011</td> +<td class="c33"> </td> +<td class="c44">1158</td> +<td class="c55"> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1">Acolhua 2d son of Acolhua 1st arrives</td> +<td class="c22"> </td> +<td class="c33"> </td> +<td class="c44">1239</td> +<td class="c55"> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1">Tezozomac son according to D'Alva, grandson according to Veytia of the 1st Acolhua arrives</td> +<td class="c22">1299</td> +<td class="c33">1348</td> +<td class="c44">1343</td> +<td class="c55"> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1">Maxtlan, son of Tezozomac arrives</td> +<td class="c22">1427</td> +<td class="c33"> </td> +<td class="c44">1427</td> +<td class="c55">1422</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c11"><span class="smcap">Mexicans or Aztecs.</span></td> +<td class="c22"> </td> +<td class="c33"> </td> +<td class="c44"> </td> +<td class="c55"> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1">Mexicans leave Aztlan</td> +<td class="c22"> </td> +<td class="c33"> </td> +<td class="c44">1064</td> +<td class="c55">1160</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1"> " + arrive at Huelcolhuacan</td> +<td class="c22"> </td> +<td class="c33"> </td> +<td class="c44"> </td> +<td class="c55">1168</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1"> " + " at Chicomotzoc</td> +<td class="c22"> </td> +<td class="c33"> </td> +<td class="c44">1168</td> +<td class="c55"> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1"> " + " at valley of Mexico</td> +<td class="c22">1141</td> +<td class="c33"> </td> +<td class="c44">1227</td> +<td class="c55">1216</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1"> " + " at Chapultepec</td> +<td class="c22"> </td> +<td class="c33"> </td> +<td class="c44">{1248<br />{1276</td> +<td class="c55">1245</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<p> </p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span></p> + +<table class="toc2" summary="Tribes and Reigns of their Sovereigns"> +<tr> +<td class="c1">Column Headings:<br />A: <i>Mendoza's Collection.</i><br />B: <i>Codex Tellurianus.</i><br /> + C: <i>Acosta.</i><br />D: <i>Siguenza.</i><br />E: <i>D'Alva.</i><br />F: <i>Sahagun.</i><br /> + G: <i>Veytia.</i><br />H: <i>Clavigero.</i></td> +<td class="c22"> </td> +<td class="c33"> </td> +<td class="c44"> </td> +<td class="c55"> </td> +<td class="c66"> </td> +<td class="c77"> </td> +<td class="c88"> </td> +<td class="c99"> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c11"> </td> +<td class="c22"> </td> +<td class="c33"> </td> +<td class="c44"> </td> +<td class="c55"> </td> +<td class="c66"> </td> +<td class="c77"> </td> +<td class="c88"> </td> +<td class="c99"> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c11"><span class="smcap">Mexicans or Aztecs.</span></td> +<td class="c22"> </td> +<td class="c33"> </td> +<td class="c44"> </td> +<td class="c55"> </td> +<td class="c66"> </td> +<td class="c77"> </td> +<td class="c88"> </td> +<td class="c99"> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1"> </td> +<td class="c22">A</td> +<td class="c33">B</td> +<td class="c44">C</td> +<td class="c55">D</td> +<td class="c66">E</td> +<td class="c77">F</td> +<td class="c88">G</td> +<td class="c99">H</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1">Foundation of Mexico or Tenochtitlan</td> +<td class="c22">1324</td> +<td class="c33"> </td> +<td class="c44"> </td> +<td class="c55">1325</td> +<td class="c66">1220</td> +<td class="c77"> </td> +<td class="c88">1325</td> +<td class="c99">1325</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1">Acamapichtli, elected King</td> +<td class="c22">1375</td> +<td class="c33">1399</td> +<td class="c44">1384</td> +<td class="c55">1361</td> +<td class="c66">1141</td> +<td class="c77">1384</td> +<td class="c88">1361</td> +<td class="c99">1352</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1">Huitzilihuitl, accession</td> +<td class="c22">1396</td> +<td class="c33">1406</td> +<td class="c44">1424</td> +<td class="c55">1403</td> +<td class="c66">1353</td> +<td class="c77"> </td> +<td class="c88">1402</td> +<td class="c99">1389</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1">Chimalpopoca</td> +<td class="c22">1417</td> +<td class="c33">1414</td> +<td class="c44">1427</td> +<td class="c55">1414</td> +<td class="c66">1357</td> +<td class="c77"> </td> +<td class="c88">1414</td> +<td class="c99">1409</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1">Ytzcoatl</td> +<td class="c22">1427</td> +<td class="c33">1426</td> +<td class="c44">1437</td> +<td class="c55">1427</td> +<td class="c66">1427</td> +<td class="c77"> </td> +<td class="c88">1427</td> +<td class="c99">1423</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1">Montezuma 1st</td> +<td class="c22">1440</td> +<td class="c33">1440</td> +<td class="c44">1449</td> +<td class="c55">1440</td> +<td class="c66">1440</td> +<td class="c77"> </td> +<td class="c88"> </td> +<td class="c99">1436</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1">Acayacatl</td> +<td class="c22">1469</td> +<td class="c33">1469</td> +<td class="c44">1481</td> +<td class="c55">1468</td> +<td class="c66">1469</td> +<td class="c77"> </td> +<td class="c88"> </td> +<td class="c99">1464</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1">Tizoc</td> +<td class="c22">1482</td> +<td class="c33">1483</td> +<td class="c44">1487</td> +<td class="c55">1481</td> +<td class="c66">1483</td> +<td class="c77"> </td> +<td class="c88"> </td> +<td class="c99">1477</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1">Ahuitzol</td> +<td class="c22">1486</td> +<td class="c33">1486</td> +<td class="c44">1492</td> +<td class="c55">1486</td> +<td class="c66">1486</td> +<td class="c77"> </td> +<td class="c88"> </td> +<td class="c99">1482</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1">Montezuma 2d</td> +<td class="c22">1502</td> +<td class="c33">1502</td> +<td class="c44">1503</td> +<td class="c55">1502</td> +<td class="c66">1503</td> +<td class="c77"> </td> +<td class="c88"> </td> +<td class="c99">1502</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c11"><span class="smcap">Duration of reigns of Mexican Kings.</span></td> +<td class="c22"> </td> +<td class="c33"> </td> +<td class="c44"> </td> +<td class="c55"> </td> +<td class="c66"> </td> +<td class="c77"> </td> +<td class="c88"> </td> +<td class="c99"> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1">Acamapichtli</td> +<td class="c22">21</td> +<td class="c33">7</td> +<td class="c44">40</td> +<td class="c55">42</td> +<td class="c66">150</td> +<td class="c77">21</td> +<td class="c88">41</td> +<td class="c99">37</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1">Huitzilihuitl</td> +<td class="c22">21</td> +<td class="c33">8</td> +<td class="c44">3</td> +<td class="c55">11</td> +<td class="c66">50</td> +<td class="c77">21</td> +<td class="c88">12</td> +<td class="c99">20</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1">Chimalpopoca</td> +<td class="c22">10</td> +<td class="c33">12</td> +<td class="c44">10</td> +<td class="c55">13</td> +<td class="c66">70</td> +<td class="c77">10</td> +<td class="c88">13</td> +<td class="c99">14</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1">Ytzcoatl</td> +<td class="c22">13</td> +<td class="c33">14</td> +<td class="c44">12</td> +<td class="c55">13</td> +<td class="c66">13</td> +<td class="c77">14</td> +<td class="c88"> </td> +<td class="c99">13</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1">Montezuma 1st</td> +<td class="c22">29</td> +<td class="c33">29</td> +<td class="c44">32</td> +<td class="c55">28</td> +<td class="c66">29</td> +<td class="c77">30</td> +<td class="c88"> </td> +<td class="c99">28</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1">Acayacatl</td> +<td class="c22">13</td> +<td class="c33">14</td> +<td class="c44">6</td> +<td class="c55">13</td> +<td class="c66">14</td> +<td class="c77">14</td> +<td class="c88"> </td> +<td class="c99">13</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1">Tizoc</td> +<td class="c22">4</td> +<td class="c33">3</td> +<td class="c44">5</td> +<td class="c55">5</td> +<td class="c66">3</td> +<td class="c77">4</td> +<td class="c88"> </td> +<td class="c99">5</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1">Ahuitzol</td> +<td class="c22">16</td> +<td class="c33">16</td> +<td class="c44">11</td> +<td class="c55">16</td> +<td class="c66">17</td> +<td class="c77">8</td> +<td class="c88"> </td> +<td class="c99">16</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1">Montezuma 2d</td> +<td class="c22">17</td> +<td class="c33">17</td> +<td class="c44">16</td> +<td class="c55">17</td> +<td class="c66">17</td> +<td class="c77">19</td> +<td class="c88"> </td> +<td class="c99">17</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<p> </p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>The writers and documents cited in the preceding columns are esteemed the +highest authority upon Mexican history and antiquities.</p> + +<p>This is perhaps the best comparative table of Mexican Chronology,—up to the +period of the conquest,—that has ever been compiled; and the great discrepancy +between the dates assigned by various authorities, exhibits the guess work upon +which the earlier Mexican history is founded.</p> + +<p>In addition to the tribes or States enumerated in the preceding tables as constituting +the nucleus of the Mexican empire under Montezuma, at the period of the +Spanish conquest, it must be recollected that there were numerous other Indian +States,—such as the Tlascalans, Cholulans, &c., whose origin is more obscure +even than that of the Aztecs. Besides these, there were, on the territories now +comprehended within the Mexican republic, the Tarascos who inhabited Michoacan, +an independent sovereignty;—the barbarous Ottomies; the Olmecs; the +Xicalancas; the Miztecas, and Zapotecas. The last named are supposed by Baron +Humboldt to have been superior, in civilization, to the Mexicans, and probably +preceded the Toltecs in the date of their emigration. Their architectural remains +are found in Oaxaca. If we consider the comparatively small space in which the +original tribes were gathered together in the valley of Mexico, which is not probably +over two hundred and fifty miles in circumference, we cannot but be surprised +that such remarkable results were achieved from such paltry beginnings and upon +so narrow a theatre. The subjugation of so large a territory and such numerous +tribes, by the Aztecs and Tezcocans is perhaps quite as wonderful an achievement, +as the final subjugation of those victorious nations by the Spaniards. But in all our +estimates of Spanish valor and generalship, in the splendid campaigns of Cortéz, +we should never forget,—as we have remarked in the text,—the material assistance +he received from his Indian allies—the Tlascalans.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<div class="fn"> +<h4>Footnote</h4> +<p><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> 1 vol. Trans. +Am. Ethnol. Soc., p. 145. Art. Mexican Hist. Chron., &c. &c., +by Albert Gallatin.</p> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> + <a name="illus-099-f.jpg" id="illus-099-f.jpg"></a> + <img src="images/illus-099-f.jpg" width="400" height="654" alt="Their clothing and weapons" title="" /> + <p class="caption2">AZTEC COSTUMES AND ARMS.</p> +</div> + + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XIV.<br /> +1521.</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>DIFFICULTY OF ESTIMATING THE CIVILIZATION OF THE AZTECS.—NATIONS +IN YUCATAN.—VALUE OF CONTEMPORARY HISTORY.—THE +AZTEC MONARCHY—ELECTIVE.—ROYAL STYLE IN TENOCHTITLAN.—MONTEZUMA'S +WAY OF LIFE.—DESPOTIC POWER +OF THE EMPEROR OVER LIFE AND LAW.—THEFT—INTEMPERANCE— +MARRIAGE—SLAVERY—WAR.—MILITARY +SYSTEM AND HOSPITALS—COIN—REVENUES.—AZTEC MYTHOLOGY.—IMAGE +OF TEOYAOMIQUI.—TEOCALLI—TWO KINDS OF SACRIFICE.—WHY +THE AZTECS SACRIFICED THEIR PRISONERS.—COMMON +SACRIFICE—GLADIATORIAL SACRIFICE—SACRIFICIAL +STONE.—AZTEC CALENDAR—WEEK, MONTH, YEAR, CYCLE.—PROCESSION +OF THE NEW FIRE—ASTRONOMICAL SCIENCE.—AZTEC +CALENDAR.—TABLES.</p> +</div> + +<p>It is perhaps altogether impossible to judge, at this remote day, +of the absolute degree of civilization, enjoyed at the period of the +conquest, by the inhabitants not only of the valley of Mexico and +Tezcoco, but also of Oaxaca, Tlascala, Michoacan, Yucatan, and +their various dependencies. In studying this subject carefully, even +in the classical pages of Mr. Prescott, and in the laborious criticisms +of Mr. Gallatin, we find ourselves frequently bewildered in +the labyrinth of historical details and picturesque legends, which +have been carefully gathered and grouped to form a romantic picture +of the Aztec nation. Yet facts enough have survived, not only +the wreck of the conquest, but also the comparative stagnation of +the viceroyalty, to satisfy us that there was a large class of people, +at least in the capitals and their vicinity, whose tastes, habits, and +social principles, were nearly equal to the civilization of the Old +World at that time. There were strange inconsistences in the +principles and conduct of the Mexicans, and strange blendings of +softness and brutality, for the savage was as yet but rudely grafted +on the citizen and the wandering or predatory habits of a tribe +were scarcely tamed by the needful restraints of municipal law.</p> + +<p>It is probable that the Aztec refinement existed chiefly in the +city of Tenochtitlan or Mexico; or, that the capital of the empire, +like the capital of France, absorbed the greater share of the +genius and cultivation of the whole country. Our knowledge of +Yucatan, and of the wonderful cities which have been revealed in +its forests by the industry of Mr. Stephens, is altogether too +limited to allow any conjectures, at this period, in regard to their + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> +inhabitants. It is likely that they were offshoots from the same +race as the Aztecs, and that they all owed the first germs of their +separate civilizations to the Toltecs, who, according to the legends, +were the great traditionary ancestors of all the <i>progressive</i> races +that succeeded each other in emigrating from the north, and finally +nestled in the lovely vale of Anahuac.</p> + +<p>It is in the examination of such a period that we feel sensibly +the want of careful contemporary history, and learn to value those +narratives which present us the living picture of an age, even +though they are sometimes tainted with the intolerance of religious +sectarianism and bigotry, or by the merciless rancor of party +malice. They give us, at least, certain material facts, which are +independent of the spirit or context of the story. Posterity, which +is now eager for details, infinitely prefers a sketch like this, warm +and breathing with the vitality of the beings in whose presence +and from whose persons it is drawn, to the cold mosaics, made up +by skilful artizans, from the disjointed chips which they are forced +to discover, harmonize, and polish, amid the discordant materials +left by a hundred writers. Such labors, when undertaken by +patient men, may sometimes reanimate the past and bring back +its scenes, systems and people, with wonderful freshness; yet, +after all, they are but mere restorations, and often depend essentially +on the vivid imagination which supplies the missing fragments +and fills them, for a moment, with an electrical instead of a +natural life.</p> + +<p>After a careful review of nearly all the historians and writers +upon the ancient history of Mexico, we have never encountered a +satisfactory view of the Aztec empire, except in the history of the +conquest, by our countryman Prescott. His chapters upon the +Mexican civilization, are the best specimens in our literature, since +the days of Gibbon, of that laborious, truthful, antiquarian temper, +which should always characterize a historian who ventures upon +the difficult task of portraying the distant past.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>In our rapid sketch of the conquest, we have been compelled to +present, occasionally, a few descriptive glimpses of the Aztec +architecture, manners, customs and institutions, which have +already acquainted the reader with some of the leading features +of national character. But it will not be improper, in a work +like this, to combine in a separate chapter such views of the whole +structure of Mexican society, under the original empire, as may +not only afford an idea of the advancement of the nation which + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span> +Cortéz conquered, but, perhaps, will present the student with some +national characteristics of a race that still inhabits Mexico jointly +with the Spanish emigrants, and which is the lawful descendant +of the wandering tribes who founded the city of Tenochtitlan.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>The Aztec government was a monarchy, but the right to the +throne did not fall by the accident of descent upon a lineal relative +of the last king, whose age would have entitled him, by European +rule, to the royal succession. The brothers of the deceased prince, +or his nephews, if he had no nearer kin, were the individuals from +whom the new sovereign was chosen by four nobles who had been +selected as electors by their own aristocratic body during the preceding +reign. These electors, together with the two royal allies of +Tezcoco and Tlacopan, who were united in the college as merely +honorary personages, decided the question as to the candidate, +whose warlike and intellectual qualities were always closely +scanned by these severe judges.</p> + +<p>The elevation of the new monarch to the throne was pompous: +yet, republican and just as was the rite of <i>selection</i>, the ceremony +of <i>coronation</i> was not performed until the new king had procured, +by conquest in war, a crowd of victims to grace his assumption +of the crown with their sacrifice at the altar. The palaces of these +princes and their nobles were of the most sumptuous character, according +to the description that has been left us by the conquerors +themselves.</p> + +<p>The royal state and style of these people may be best described +in the artless language of Bernal Diaz del Castillo, a soldier of +the conquest, whose simple narrative, though sometimes colored +with the superstitions of his age, is one of the most valuable and +veritable relics of that great event that has been handed down to +posterity.</p> + +<p>In describing the entrance of the Spaniards into the city—Diaz +declares, with characteristic energy, that the whole of what he saw +on that occasion appeared to him as if he had beheld it but yesterday;—and +he fervently exclaims: "Glory be to our Lord Jesus +Christ, who gave us courage to venture on such dangers and +brought us safely through them!"</p> + +<p>The Spaniards, as we have already said in a preceding chapter, +were lodged and entertained at the expense of Montezuma, who +welcomed them as his guests, and unwisely attempted to convince +them of his power by exhibiting his wealth and state. Two hundred +of his nobility stood as guards in his ante-chamber.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> + "Of these," says Diaz, "only certain persons could speak to +him, and when they entered, they took off their rich mantles and put +on others of less ornament, but clean. They approached his apartment +barefooted, their eyes fixed on the ground and making three +inclinations of the body as they approached him. In addressing +the king they said, "Lord—my lord—great lord!" When they +had finished, he dismissed them with a few words, and they retired +with their faces toward him and their eyes fixed on the ground. I +also observed, that when great men came from a distance about +business, they entered his palace barefooted, and in plain habit; +and also, that they did not come in by the gate directly, but took +a circuit in going toward it.</p> + +<p>"His cooks had upward of thirty different ways of dressing +meats, and they had earthen vessels so contrived as to keep them +constantly hot. For the table of Montezuma himself, above three +hundred dishes were dressed, and for his guards above a thousand. +Before dinner, Montezuma would sometimes go out and inspect +the preparations, and his officers would point out to him which +were the best, and explain of what birds and flesh they were +composed; and of those he would eat. But this was more for +amusement than anything else.</p> + +<p>"It is said, that at times the flesh of young children was dressed +for him; but the ordinary meats were domestic fowls, pheasants, +geese, partridges, quails, venison, Indian hogs, pigeons, hares and +rabbits, with many other animals and birds peculiar to the country. +This is certain—that after Cortéz had spoken to him relative to +the dressing of human flesh, it was not practised in his palace. +At his meals, in the cold weather, a number of torches of the bark +of a wood which makes no smoke, and has an aromatic smell, +were lighted; and, that they should not throw too much heat, +screens, ornamented with gold and painted with figures of idols, +were placed before them.</p> + +<p>"Montezuma was seated on a low throne or chair, at a table +proportioned to the height of his seat. The table was covered +with white cloths and napkins, and four beautiful women presented +him with water for his hands, in vessels which they call xicales, +with other vessels under them, like plates, to catch the water. +They also presented him with towels.</p> + +<p>"Then two other women brought small cakes of bread, and, +when the king began to eat, a large screen of gilded wood was +placed before him, so that during that period people should not +behold him. The women having retired to a little distance, four + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> +ancient lords stood by the throne, to whom Montezuma, from time +to time, spoke or addressed questions, and as a mark of particular +favor, gave to each of them a plate of that which he was eating. +I was told that these old lords, who were his near relations, were +also counsellors and judges. The plates which Montezuma presented +to them they received with high respect, eating what was +on them without taking their eyes off the ground. He was served +in earthenware of Cholula, red and black. While the king was at +the table, no one of his guards in the vicinity of his apartment +dared, for their lives, make any noise. Fruit of all kinds produced +in the country, was laid before him; he ate very little; but, from +time to time, a liquor prepared from cocoa, and of a stimulative +quality, as we were told, was presented to him in golden cups. +We could not, at that time, see whether he drank it or not; but I +observed a number of jars, above fifty, brought in, filled with +foaming chocolate, of which he took some that the women presented +him.</p> + +<p>"At different intervals during the time of dinner, there entered +certain Indians, humpbacked, very deformed, and ugly, who played +tricks of buffoonery; and others who, they said, were jesters. +There was also a company of singers and dancers, who afforded +Montezuma much entertainment. To these he ordered the vases +of chocolate to be distributed. The four female attendants then +took away the cloths, and again, with much respect, presented him +with water to wash his hands, during which time Montezuma +conferred with the four old noblemen formerly mentioned, after +which they took their leave with many ceremonies.</p> + +<p>"One thing I forgot (and no wonder,) to mention in its place, +and that is, during the time that Montezuma was at dinner, two +very beautiful women were busily employed making small cakes, + <a name="FNanchor_13_13" id="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> +with eggs and other things mixed therein. These were delicately +white, and, when made, they presented them to him on plates +covered with napkins. Also another kind of bread was brought +to him in long leaves, and plates of cakes resembling wafers.</p> + +<p>"After he had dined, they presented to him three little canes, +highly ornamented, containing liquid-amber, mixed with an herb +they call tobacco; and when he had sufficiently viewed and heard +the singers, dancers, and buffoons, he took a little of the smoke of +one of these canes, and then laid himself down to sleep.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> + "The meal of the monarch ended, all his guards and domestics +sat down to dinner; and, as near as I could judge, above a thousand +plates of those eatables that I have mentioned, were laid +before them, with vessels of foaming chocolate and fruit in +immense quantity. For his women, and various inferior servants, +his establishment was of a prodigious expense; and we were +astonished, amid such a profusion, at the vast regularity that +prevailed.</p> + +<p>"His major domo kept the accounts of Montezuma's rents in +books which occupied an entire house.</p> + +<p>"Montezuma had two buildings filled with every kind of arms, +richly ornamented with gold and jewels; such as shields, large and +small clubs like two-handed swords, and lances much larger than +ours, with blades six feet in length, so strong that if they fix in a +shield they do not break; and sharp enough to use as razors.</p> + +<p>"There was also an immense quantity of bows and arrows, and +darts, together with slings, and shields which roll up into a small +compass and in action are let fall, and thereby cover the whole +body. He had also much defensive armor of quilted cotton, +ornamented with feathers in different devices, and casques for the +head, made of wood and bone, with plumes of feathers, and many +other articles too tedious to mention."<a name="FNanchor_14_14" id="FNanchor_14_14"></a> + <a href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a></p> + +<p>Besides this sumptuous residence in the city, the Emperor is +supposed to have had others at Chapultepec, Tezcoco and elsewhere, +which will be spoken of when we describe the ancient +remains of Mexico in the valley of Mexico.</p> + +<p>If the sovereign lived, thus, in state befitting the ruler of such +an empire, it may be supposed that his courtiers were not less +sumptuous in their style of domestic arrangements. The great +body of the nobles and caciques, possessed extensive estates, the +tenures of which were chiefly of a military character;—and, upon +these large possessions, surrounded by warlike natives and numerous +slaves, they lived, doubtless, like many of the independent, powerful +chieftains in Europe, who, in the middle ages, maintained their +feudal splendor, both in private life and in active service whenever +summoned by their sovereigns to give aid in war.</p> + +<p>The power of the Emperor over the laws of the country as well +as over the lives of the people, was perfectly despotic. There +were supreme judges in the chief towns, appointed by the Emperor +who possessed final jurisdiction in civil and criminal causes; and +there were, besides, minor courts in each province, as well as + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> +subordinate officers, who performed the duty of police officers or +spies over the families that were assigned to their vigilance. +Records were kept in these courts of the decisions of the judges; +and the laws of the realm were likewise perpetuated and made +certain, in the same hieroglyphic or picture writing. "The +great crimes against society," says Prescott, "were all made +capital;—even the murder of a slave was punished with death. +Adulterers, as among the Jews, were stoned to death. Thieving, +according to the degree of the offence, was punished with slavery +or death. It was a capital offence to remove the boundaries of +another's lands; to alter the established measures; and for a guardian +not to be able to give a good account of his ward's property. +Prodigals who squandered their patrimony were punished in like +manner. Intemperance was visited with the severest penalties, +as if they had foreseen in it the consuming canker of their own as +well as of the other Indian races in later times. It was punished +in the young with death, and in older persons with loss of rank +and confiscation of property.</p> + +<p>"The rites of marriage were celebrated with as much formality +as in any Christian country; and the institution was held in such +reverence, that a tribunal was established for the sole purpose of +determining questions in regard to it. Divorces could not be +obtained, until authorized by a sentence of this court after a patient +hearing of the parties."<a name="FNanchor_15_15" id="FNanchor_15_15"></a> + <a href="#Footnote_15_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a></p> + +<p>Slavery seems to have always prevailed in Mexico. The captives +taken in war were devoted to the gods under the sacrificial +knife; but criminals, public debtors, extreme paupers, persons who +willingly resigned their freedom, and children who were sold by +their parents,—were allowed to be held in bondage and to be +transferred from hand to hand, but only in cases in which their +masters were compelled by poverty to part with them.</p> + +<p>A nation over which the god of war presided and whose king +was selected, mainly, for his abilities as a chieftain, naturally +guarded and surrounded itself with a well devised military system. +Religion and war were blended in the imperial ritual. Montezuma, +himself had been a priest before he ascended the throne. +This dogma of the Aztec policy, originated, perhaps, in the +necessity of keeping up a constant military spirit among a people +whose instincts were probably civilized, but whose geographical +position exposed them, in the beginning, to the attacks of unquiet +and annoying tribes. The captives were sacrificed to the bloody + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span> +deity in all likelihood, because it was necessary to free the country +from dangerous Indians, who could neither be imprisoned, for they +were too numerous, nor allowed to return to their tribes, because +they would speedily renew the attack on their Aztec liberators.</p> + +<p>Accordingly we find that the Mexican armies were properly +officered, divided, supported and garrisoned, throughout the empire;—that +there were military orders of merit;—that the dresses +of the leaders, and even of some of the regiments, were gaudily +picturesque;—that their arms were excellent;—and that the +soldier who died in combat, was considered by his superstitious +countrymen, as passing at once to "the region of ineffable bliss in +the bright mansions of the sun." Nor were these military establishments +left to the caprice of petty officers for their judicial system. +They possessed a set of recorded laws which were as sure and +severe as the civil or criminal code of the empire;—and, finally, +when the Aztec soldier became too old to fight, or was disabled +in the national wars, he was provided for in admirable hospitals +which were established in all the principal cities of the realm.</p> + +<p>But all this expensive machinery of state and royalty, was not +supported without ample revenues from the people. There was a +currency of different values regulated by trade, which consisted of +quills filled with gold dust; of pieces of tin cut in the form of a T; +of balls of cotton, and bags of cacao containing a specified number +of grains. The greater part of Aztec trade was, nevertheless, +carried on by barter; and, thus, we find that the large taxes which +were derived by Montezuma from the crown lands, agriculture, +manufactures, and the labors or occupations of the people generally, +were paid in "cotton dresses and mantles of feather-work; +ornamented armor; vases of gold; gold dust, bands and bracelets; +crystal, gilt and varnished jars and goblets; bells, arms and utensils +of copper; reams of paper; grain; fruits, copal, amber, cochineal, +cacao, wild animals, birds, timber, lime, mats," and a general +medley in which the luxuries and necessaries of life were strangely +mixed. It is not a little singular that silver, which since the +conquest has become the leading staple export of Mexico, is not +mentioned in the royal inventories which escaped destruction. + <a name="FNanchor_16_16" id="FNanchor_16_16"></a> + <a href="#Footnote_16_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a></p> + +<p>The Mexican Mythology was a barbarous compound of spiritualism +and idolatry. The Aztecs believed in and relied on a supreme +God whom they called Teotl, "God," or Ipalnemoani—"he by +whom we live," and Tloque Nahuaque,—"he who has all in himself;" +while their counter-spirit or demon, who was ever the enemy + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> +and seducer of their race bore the inauspicious title of Tlaleatecolototl, +or the "Rational Owl." The dark, nocturnal deeds of this +ominous bird, probably indicated its greater fitness for the typification +of wickedness than of wisdom, of which the Greeks had flatteringly +made it the symbol, as the pet of Minerva. These supreme spiritual +essences were surrounded by a numerous court of satellites +or lesser deities, who were perhaps the ministerial agents by which +the behests of Teotl were performed. There was Huitzilopotchtli, +the god of war, and Teoyaomiqui, his spouse, whose tender duties +were confined to conducting the souls of warriors who perished in +defence of their homes and shrines, into the "house of the sun," +which was the Aztec heaven. The image in the plate, presented +in front and in profile, is alleged to represent this graceful female, +though it gives no idea of her holy offices. Tetzcatlipoca +was the shining mirror, the god of providence, the soul of the +world, creator of heaven and earth, and master of all things. +Ometcuctli and Omecihuatl, a god and goddess presided over +new born children, and, reigning in Paradise, benignantly granted +the wishes of mortals. Cihuacohuatl, or, woman-serpent, was regarded +as the mother of human beings. Tonatricli and Meztli were +deifications of the sun and moon. Quetzalcoatl and Tlaloc were +deities of the air and of water, whilst Xiuhteuctli was the god of +fire to whom the first morsel and the first draught at table were +always devoted by the Aztecs. Mictlanteuctli and Joalteuctli +were the gods of hell and night, while the generous goddess of the +earth and grain who was worshipped by the Totonacos as an +Indian Ceres, enjoyed the more euphonious title of Centeotl. Huitzilopotchtli +or Mexitli, the god of war, was an especial favorite with +the Aztecs, for it was this divinity according to their legends who +had led them from the north, and protected them during their long +journey until they settled in the valley of Mexico. Nor did he +desert them during the rise and progress of their nation. Addicted +as they were to war, this deity was always invoked before battle +and was recompensed for the victories he bestowed upon his favorite +people by bloody hecatombs of captives taken from the +enemies of the empire. We have already spoken of this personage +in the portion of this work which treats of the Spanish conquest of +Mexico.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>If the Mexicans had their gods, so also had they their final +abodes of blessedness and misery. Soldiers who were slain in +conflict for their country or who perished in captivity, and the + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 108]<br />[Pg 109]<br />[Pg 110]</a></span> +spirits of women who died in child-birth, went at once to the +"house of the sun" to enjoy a life of eternal pleasure. At dawn +they hailed the rising orb with song and dances, and attended him +to the meridian and his setting with music and festivity. The +Aztecs believed that, after some years spent amid these pleasures, +the beatified spirits of the departed were changed into clouds or +birds of beautiful plumage, though they had power to ascend again +whenever they pleased to the heaven they had left. There was +another place called Tlalocan the dwelling place of Tlaloc, the +deity of water, which was also an Aztec elysium. It was the +spirit-home of those who were drowned or struck by lightning,—of +children sacrificed in honor of Tlaloc,—and of those who died +of dropsy, tumors, or similar diseases. Last of all, was Mictlan, a +gloomy hell of perfect darkness, in which, incessant night, unilluminated +by the twinkling of a single ray, was the only punishment, +and the probable type of annihilation.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> + <a name="illus-108.jpg" id="illus-108.jpg"></a> + <img src="images/illus-108.jpg" width="400" height="643" alt="A view of a statue" title="" /> + <p class="caption2">TEOYAOMIQUI. (FRONT.)</p> +</div> +<p> </p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> + <a name="illus-109.jpg" id="illus-109.jpg"></a> + <img src="images/illus-109.jpg" width="400" height="694" alt="A different view of the statue" title="" /> + <p class="caption2">TEOYAOMIQUI. (PROFILE.)</p> +</div> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>The figure which is delineated in the plate representing Teoyaomiqui, +is cut from a single block of basalt, and is nine feet high +and five and a half broad. It is a horrid assemblage of hideous +emblems. Claws, fangs, tusks, skulls and serpents, writhe and +hang in garlands around the shapeless mass. Four open hands +rest, apparently without any purpose, upon the bared breasts of a +female. In profile, it is not unlike a squatting toad, whose glistening +eyes and broad mouth expand above the cincture of skulls +and serpents. Seen in this direction it appears to have more shape +and meaning than in front. On the top of the statue there is a +hollow, which was probably used as the receptacle of offerings or +incense during sacrifice. The bottom of this mass is also sculptured +in relief, and as it will be observed in the plate, that there +are projections of the body near the waist, it is supposed that this +frightful idol was suspended by them aloft on pillars, so that its +worshippers might pass beneath the massive stone.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>In 1790, this idol was found buried in the great square of +Mexico, whence it was removed to the court of the university; but +as the priests feared that it might again tempt the Indians to their +ancient worship, it was interred until the year 1821, since which +time it has been exhibited to the public.</p> + +<p> </p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;"> + <a name="illus-111.jpg" id="illus-111.jpg"></a> + <img src="images/illus-111.jpg" width="350" height="380" alt="Another view of the statue" title="" /> + <p class="caption2">BOTTOM OF TEOYAOMIQUI.</p> +</div> +<p> </p> + +<p>The reader who has accompanied us from the beginning of this +volume and perused the history of the Spanish conquest, has +doubtless become somewhat familiar with the great square of ancient +Tenochtitlan, its <i>Teocalli</i>, or pyramidal temple, and the +bloody rites that were celebrated upon it, by the Aztec priests and +princes. It served as a place of sacrifice, not only for the Indian +victims of war, but streamed with the blood of the unfortunate +Spaniards who fell into the power of the Mexicans when Cortéz +was driven from the city.</p> + +<p>This <i>Teocalli</i> is said to have been completed in the year 1486, +during the reign of the eighth sovereign of Tenochtitlan or Mexico, +and occupied that portion of the present city upon which the +cathedral stands and which is occupied by some of the adjacent +streets and buildings. Its massive proportions and great extent +may be estimated from the restoration of this edifice, which we +have attempted to form from the best authorities, and have presented +in a plate in the preceding portion of this work.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>The Mexican theology indulged in two kinds of sacrifice, one + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> +of which was an ordinary offering of a common victim, while the +other, or gladiatorial sacrifice, was only used for captives of extraordinary +courage and bravery.</p> + +<p>When we recollect the fact that the Aztec tribe was an intruder +into the valley of Anahuac, and that it laid the foundations of its +capital in the midst of enemies, we are not surprised that so hardy +a race, from the northern hive, was both warlike in its habits and +sanguinary in its religion. With a beautiful land around it on all +sides,—level, fruitful, but incapable of easy defence,—it was +forced to quit the solid earth and to build its stronghold in the +waters of the lake. We can conceive no other reason for the +selection of such a site. The eagle may have been seen on a rock +amid the water devouring the serpent; but we do not believe that +this emblem of the will of heaven, in guiding the wanderers to +their refuge in the lake of Tezcoco, was known to more than the +leaders of the tribe until it became necessary to control the band by +the interposition of a miracle. Something more was needed than +mere argument, to plant a capital in the water, and, thus, we doubt +not, that the singular omen, in which the modern arms of Mexico +have originated, was contrived or invented by the priests or chiefs +of the unsettled Aztecs.</p> + +<p>Surrounded by enemies, with nothing that they could strictly +call their own, save the frail retreat among the reeds and rushes of +their mimic Venice, it undoubtedly became necessary for the Aztecs +to keep no captives taken in war. Their gardens, like their town, +were constructed upon the <i>Chinampas</i>, or floating beds of earth +and wicker work, which were anchored in the lake. They could +not venture, at any distance from its margin, to cultivate the fields. +When they sallied from their city, they usually left it for the battle +field; and, when they returned, it is probable that it seemed to +them not only a propitiation of their gods, but a mercy to the victims, +to sacrifice their numerous captives, who if retained in idleness +as prisoners would exact too large a body for their custody, +or, if allowed to go at large, might rise against their victors, and, +in either case, would soon consume the slender stores they were +enabled to raise by their scant horticulture. In examining the history +of the Aztecs, and noticing the mixture of civilization which +adorned their public and private life, and the barbarism which +characterized their merciless religion, we have been convinced +that the Aztec rite of sacrifice originated, in the infancy of the state +in a national necessity, and, at length, under the influence of superstition +and policy, grew into an ordinance of faith and worship.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span> + The <span class="smcap">Common Sacrifice</span>, offered in the Aztec temples was +performed by a chief priest, and six assistants. The principal +flamen, habited in a red scapulary fringed with cotton, and +crowned with a circlet of green and yellow plumes, assumed, for +the occasion, the name of the deity to whom the offering was +made. His acolytes,—clad in white robes embroidered with +black; their hands covered with leathern thongs; their foreheads +filleted with parti-colored papers; and their bodies dyed perfectly +black,—prepared the victim for the altar, and having dressed him +in the insignia of the deity to whom he was to be sacrificed, bore +him through the town begging alms for the temple. He was then +carried to the summit of the <i>Teocalli</i>, where four priests extended +him across the curving surface of an arched stone placed on the +sacrificial stone, while another held his head firmly beneath the +yoke which is represented elsewhere. The chief priest,—the +<i>topiltzin</i> or sacrificer, then stretched the breast of the victim +tightly by bending his body back as far as possible, and, seizing +the obsidian knife of sacrifice, cut a deep gash across the region +of the captive's heart. The extreme tension of the flesh and +muscles, at once yielded beneath the blade, and the heart of the +victim lay palpitating in the bloody gap. The sacrificer immediately +thrust his hand into the wound, and, tearing out the quivering +vital, threw it at the feet of the idol,—inserted it with a golden +spoon into its mouth,—or, after offering it to the deity, consumed +it in fire and preserved the sacred ashes with the greatest reverence. +When these horrid rites were finished in the temple, the +victim's body was thrown from the top of the <i>Teocalli</i>, whence it +was borne to the dwelling of the individual who offered the sacrifice, +where it was eaten by himself and his friends, or, was devoted +to feed the beasts in the royal menagerie.</p> + +<p>Numerous cruel sacrifices were practised by the Indians of +Mexico, and especially among the Quauhtitlans, who, every four +years, slew eight slaves or captives, in a manner almost too brutal +for description. Sometimes the Aztecs contented themselves with +other and more significant oblations; and flowers, fruits, bread, +meat, copal, gums, quails, and rabbits, were offered on the altars +of their gods. The priests, no doubt, approved these gifts far +more than the tough flesh of captives or slaves!</p> + +<p>The <span class="smcap">Gladiatorial Sacrifice</span> was reserved, as we have already +said for noble and courageous captives. According to Clavigero, +a circular mass, three feet high, resembling a mill stone, was +placed within the area of the great temple upon a raised terrace + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span> +about eight feet from the wall. The captive was bound to this stone +by one foot, and was armed with a sword or <i>maquahuitl</i> and shield. +In this position, and thus accoutred, he was attacked by a Mexican +soldier or officer, who was better prepared with weapons for the deadly +encounter. If the prisoner was conquered he was immediately +borne to the altar of common sacrifice. If he overcame six assailants +he was rewarded with life and liberty, and permitted once more +to return to his native land with the spoils that had been taken from +him in war. Clavigero supposes that for many years, twenty thousand +victims were offered on the Mexican teocallis, in the "common +sacrifice;" and in the consecration of the great temple, sixty thousand +persons were slain in order to baptise the pyramid with their blood.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;"> + <a name="illus-114.jpg" id="illus-114.jpg"></a> + <img src="images/illus-114.jpg" width="350" height="349" alt="A view of the decorative stone" title="" /> + <p class="caption2">SACRIFICIAL STONE.</p> +</div> +<p> </p> + +<p>An excellent idea of the sacrificial stone, will be obtained from +the plates which are annexed. Neat and graceful ornaments, are +raised in relief on the surface, and in the centre is a deep bowl, +whence a canal or gutter leads to the edge of the cylinder. It is +a mass of basaltic rock nine feet in diameter and three in height, +and was found in the great square in 1790, near the site of the +large teocalli or pyramid. On its sides are repeated, all round the + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> +stone, the same two figures which are drawn in the second plate. +They evidently represent a victor and a prisoner. The conqueror +is in the act of tearing the plumes from the crest of the vanquished, +who bows beneath the blow and lowers his weapons. The similarity +of these figures to some that are delineated in the first +volume of Stephens' Yucatan is remarkable.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> + <a name="illus-114-f.jpg" id="illus-114-f.jpg"></a> + <img src="images/illus-114-f.jpg" width="400" height="666" alt="Another view of the decorative stone" title="" /> + <p class="caption2">SIDE OF SACRIFICIAL STONE.</p> +</div> +<p> </p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Aztec Calendar Stone</span>, another monument of Mexican +antiquity, was found in December, 1790, buried under ground in the +great square of the capital. Like the idol image of Teoyaomiqui, +and the sacrificial stone, it is carved from a mass of basalt, and is +eleven feet eight inches in diameter, the depth of its circular edge +being about seven and a half inches from the fractured square of +rock out of which it was originally cut. It is supposed, from the +fact that it was found beneath the pavement of the present <i>plaza</i>, +that it was part of the fixtures of the great Teocalli of Tenochtitlan, +or that it was placed in some of the adjoining edifices on +palaces surrounding the temple. It is now walled into the west +side of the cathedral, and is a remarkable specimen of the talent +of the Indians for sculpture, at the same time that its huge mass, +together with those of the sacrificial stone and the idol Teoyaomiqui, +denote the skill of their inventors in the movement of +immense weights, without the aid of horses.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>The Aztecs calculated their civil year by the solar; they divided +it into eighteen months of twenty days each, and added five +complimentary days, as in Egypt, to make up the complete number +of three hundred and sixty-five. After the last of these months +the five <i>nemontemi</i> or "useless days" were intercalated, and, +belonging to no particular month, were regarded as unlucky, by the +superstitious natives. Their week consisted of five days, the last +of which was the market day; and a month was composed of four +of these weeks. As the tropical year is composed of about six +hours more than three hundred and sixty-five days, they lost a day +every fourth year, which they supplied, not at the termination of +that period, but at the expiration of their cycle of fifty-two years, +when they intercalated the twelve days and a half that were lost. +Thus it was found, at the period of the Spanish conquest, that +their computation of time corresponded with the European, as +calculated by the most accurate astronomers.</p> + +<p>At the end of the Aztec or Toltec cycle of fifty-two years,—for +it is not accurately ascertained to which of the tribes the astronomical +science of Tenochtitlan is to be attributed,—these + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> +primitive children of the New World believed that the world was in +danger of instant destruction. Accordingly, its termination became +one of their most serious and awful epochs, and they anxiously +awaited the moment when the sun would be blotted out from +the heavens, and the globe itself once more resolved unto chaos. +As the cycle ended in the winter, the season of the year, with its +drearier sky and colder air, in the lofty regions of the valley, added +to the gloom that fell upon the hearts of the people. On the +last day of the fifty-two years, all the fires in temples and dwellings +were extinguished, and the natives devoted themselves to +fasting and prayer. They destroyed alike their valuable and +worthless wares; rent their garments; put out their lights, and +hid themselves, for awhile in solitude. Pregnant women seem to +have been the objects of their especial dread at this moment. +They covered their faces with masks and imprisoned them +securely, for they imagined, that on the occurrence of the grand +and final catastrophe, these beings, who, elsewhere, are always +the objects of peculiar interest and tenderness, would be suddenly +turned into beasts of prey and would join the descending legions +of demons, to revenge the injustice or cruelty of man.</p> + +<p>At dark, on the last dread evening,—as soon as the sun had +set, as they imagined, forever,—a sad and solemn procession of +priests and people marched forth from the city to a neighboring +hill, to rekindle the "New Fire." This mournful march was +called the "procession of the gods," and was supposed to be their +final departure from their temples and altars.</p> + +<p>As soon as the melancholy array reached the summit of the hill, +it reposed in fearful anxiety until the Pleiades reached the zenith in +the sky, whereupon the priests immediately began the sacrifice of +a human victim, whose breast was covered with a wooden shield, +which the chief <i>flamen</i> kindled by friction. When the sufferer +received the fatal stab from the sacrificial knife of <i>obsidian</i>, the +machine was set in motion on his bosom, until the blaze had +kindled. The anxious crowd stood round with fear and trembling. +Silence reigned over nature and man. Not a word was uttered +among the countless multitude that thronged the hill-sides and +plains, whilst the priest performed his direful duty to the gods. +At length, as the first sparks gleamed faintly from the whirling instrument, +low sobs and ejaculations were whispered among the +eager masses. As the sparks kindled into a blaze, and the blaze +into a flame, and the flaming shield and victim were cast together +on a pile of combustibles which burst at once into the brightness + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> +of a conflagration, the air was rent with the joyous +shouts of the relieved and panic stricken Indians. Far and +wide over the dusky crowds beamed the blaze like a star of promise. +Myriads of upturned faces greeted it from hills, mountains, +temples, terraces, teocallis, house tops and city walls; and the +prostrate multitudes hailed the emblem of light, life and fruition as +a blessed omen of the restored favor of their gods and the preservation +of the race for another cycle. At regular intervals, Indian +couriers held aloft brands of resinous wood, by which they +transmitted the "New Fire" from hand to hand, from village +to village, and town to town, throughout the Aztec empire. +Light was radiated from the imperial or ecclesiastical centre of the +realm. In every temple and dwelling it was rekindled, from the +sacred source; and when the sun rose again on the following +morning, the solemn procession of priests, princes and subjects, +which had taken up its march from the capital on the preceding +night, with solemn steps, returned once more to the abandoned +capital, and restoring the gods to their altars, abandoned themselves +to joy and festivity in token of gratitude and relief from +impending doom.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;"> + <a name="illus-117.jpg" id="illus-117.jpg"></a> + <img src="images/illus-117.jpg" width="350" height="352" alt="Their calendar of stone" title="" /> + <p class="caption2">AZTEC CALENDAR STONE.</p> +</div> +<p> </p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span> + We have thought it proper and interesting to preface the +description of the calendar stone by the preceding account of the +Aztec festival of the New Fire, which illustrates the mingled elements +of science and superstition that so largely characterized the +empire of Montezuma. The stone itself has engaged the attention, +for years, of numerous antiquarians in Mexico, Europe and +America, but it has received from none so perfect a description, as +from the late Albert Gallatin, who devoted a large portion of his +declining years to the study of the ancient Mexican chronology and +languages. In the first volume of the Transactions of the American +Ethnological Society he has contributed an admirable summary of +his investigations of the semi-civilized nations of Mexico, Yucatan +and Central America, and from this we shall condense the portion +which relates to this remarkable monument.</p> + +<p>Around the principal central figure, representing the sun, are +delineated in a circular form the twenty days of the month; which +are marked from 1 to 20, with figures in the plates, and, in this +order, are the following:</p> + +<ul class="index2"> + <li> 1 Cipactli.</li> + <li> 2 Xochitl.</li> + <li> 3 Quiahuitl.</li> + <li> 4 Tecpatl.</li> + <li> 5 Ollin.</li> + <li> 6 Cozcaquauhitli.</li> + <li> 7 Quauhtli.</li> + <li> 8 Ocelotl.</li> + <li> 9 Acatl.</li> + <li>10 Malinalli.</li> + <li>11 Ozomatli.</li> + <li>12 Itzeuinitli.</li> + <li>13 Atl.</li> + <li>14 Tochtli.</li> + <li>15 Mazatl.</li> + <li>16 Miquiztli.</li> + <li>17 Cohualt.</li> + <li>18 Cuetzpalni.</li> + <li>19 Calli.</li> + <li>20 Ehecatl.</li> +</ul> + +<p>The triangular figure I, above the circle enclosing the emblem +of the sun, denotes the beginning of the year. Around the +circumference which bounds the symbols of the days and months +are found the places of fifty-two small squares, of which only +forty are actually visible, the other twelve being covered by +the four <i>principal</i> rays of the sun marked R. These doubtless +denote the cycle of 52 years; and each of these squares contains +five small oblongs, making in all 260 for the 52 squares. They +are presumed to represent the 260 days or the period of the twenty +first series of thirteen days. All the portion, included between the +outer circumference of these 260 days and the external zone, has +not been decyphered accurately. The external zone consists, +except at the extremities, of a symbol twenty times repeated, and is +alleged by Gama, a Mexican who first described and attempted to +interpret the stone, to represent the milky way. The waving lines +connected with it are supposed by this writer to represent clouds, +while others imagine them to be the symbols of the mountains in + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> +which clouds and storms originated. These fanciful interpretations, +however, are unavailable in all scientific descriptions, and +Mr. Gallatin supposes the figures to be altogether ornamental.</p> + +<p>The whole circle is divided into eight equal parts by the eight +triangles R, which designate the rays of the sun. The intervals +between these are each divided into two equal parts by the small +circles indicated by the letter L. At the top of the vertical ray +is found the hieroglyphic 13 Acatl, which shows that this stone +applies to that year. It must be recollected that, although this +Mexican calendar is in its arrangement the same for every year in +the cycle, there was a variation at the rate of a day for every four +years, between the several years of the cycle and the corresponding +solar years. Gama presumes that this date of 13 Acatl was selected +on account of its being the twenty-sixth year of the cycle +and equally removed from its beginning and termination. Beneath +this hieroglyphic, in correct drawings of the stone—but not in +that of Gama which has been reproduced by Mr. Gallatin—will +be found, between the letters Y and G, the distinct sign of 2, Acatl, +and the ray above it points to the sign of the year 13 Acatl, which +coincides with our 21st of December, and is undoubtedly the +hitherto undetermined date of the winter solstice in the Mexican +calendar.<a name="FNanchor_17_17" id="FNanchor_17_17"></a> + <a href="#Footnote_17_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a></p> + +<p>The smaller interior circle, we have already said, contains the +image of the sun, as usually painted by the Indians; and to it are +united the four parallelograms A, B, C, D, which are supposed by +some writers to denote the four weeks into which the twenty days +of the month were divided, but which contain the hieroglyphics, +A, of 4 Ocelotl; B, of 4 Ehecatl; C, of 4 Quiahuitl; and D, of 4 +Atl. The lateral figures E and F, according to Gama denote +claws, which are symbolical of two great Indian astrologers who +were man and wife, and were represented as eagles or owls.</p> + +<p>The representations in these parallelograms, are believed to have +originated in the Mexican fable of the <span class="smcap">suns</span>, which will be hereafter +noticed. The Aztecs believed that this luminary had died +four times, and that the one which at present lights the earth, was +the fifth, but which nevertheless was doomed to destruction like the +preceding orbs. From the creation, the first age or sun, lasted 676 +years, comprising 13 cycles, when the crops failed, men perished of +famine and their bodies were consumed by the beasts of the field. +This occurred in the year 1 Acatl, and on the day 4 Ocelotl, and + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> +the ruin lasted for thirteen years. The next age and sun endured +364 years or 7 cycles, and terminated in the year 1 Tecpatl on the +day 4 Ehecatl, when hurricanes and rain desolated the globe and +men were metamorphosed into monkeys. The third age continued +for 312 years, or 6 cycles, when fire or earthquakes rent the earth +and human beings were converted into owls in the year 1 Tecpatl, +on the day 4 Quiahuitl;—while the fourth age or sun lasted but +for a single cycle of 52 years, and the world was destroyed by a +flood, which either drowned the people or changed them into +fishes, in the year 1 Calli, on the day 4 Atl. The four epochs of +destruction are precisely the days typified by the hieroglyphics in +the four parallelograms A, B, C and D.</p> + +<p>It will be seen by adding the several periods together that the +Aztecs counted 1469 years from the creation of the world to the +flood; yet there is an incongruity in this imaginary antediluvian +history. If the fourth age had lasted only 52 years, it would have +terminated in the year 1 Tecpatl instead of 1 Calli. Bustamante, +the publisher and annotator of Gama, states that some authorities +contend for only three antecedent periods, and that the present age +is expected to end by fire. But Mr. Gallatin alleges that the +four ages and five suns have been generally adopted, and are sustained +by the ancient Aztec paintings contained in the Codex +Vaticanus, plates 7 to 10. Like most of the Mexican antiquities, +this branch of the Chronology is admitted to be exceedingly obscure, +for it is asserted in the Appendix to Mr. Gallatin's essay that +the hieroglyphics annexed to these <i>paintings</i>, may be interpreted +as giving to the four ages respectively the duration of either 682, +530, 576, and 582, or of 5206, 2010, 4404, and 4008 years.</p> + +<p>"This would appear to be purely mythological, but the fact that +all these imaginary antediluvian periods consist of a certain number +of cycles, shows that this fable was invented subsequent to the time +when the Mexicans had attained a knowledge of cycles, years and +of the approximate <i>length</i> of the solar year. It seems, therefore, +probable that the mythological representation is in some way connected +with celestial phenomena, and it is accordingly, found that +the days designated in the parallelograms A and C, as 4 Ocelotl, +and 4 Quiahuitl, correspond respectively, (on the assumption that +the first year of the cycle corresponds with the 31st of December,) +with the 13th of May and 17th of July, old style, or 22d of May +and 26th of July, new style. And these two days 22d of May and +26th of July, are those, according to Gama, of the transit of the sun +by the zenith of the city of Mexico, which, by the observations of + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span> +Humboldt, lies in 19° 25' and 57" north latitude and in 101° 25' +20" west longitude from Paris. The two other days 4 Ehecatl, +and 4 Atl, do not correspond either in the first year of the cycle or +in the year 13 Acatl, with any station of the sun or any other +celestial phenomena.</p> + +<p>"There are three other hieroglyphics contained within the interior +circumference or representation of the sun, which indicate the +dates of some celebrated feasts of the Aztecs. The three following +indications or hieroglyphics are found immediately below the +figure of the sun. The first of these, designated by the letter H, is +placed between the parallelograms C and D, and consists of two +squares of five oblongs each, indicating the Aztec numeral 10. +The symbol of the day is not annexed, but the whole of the central +figure is itself the sign Olin Tonatiah, and the hieroglyphic of the +day Olin, as delineated on the stone among the other emblems of +the days, is on a small scale and abbreviated form of that central +and principal figure of the stone. The day designated here, is +consequently, 10 Olin. Below this, and on each side respectively +of the great vertical ray of the sun, are found the hieroglyphics of +the days 1 Quiahuitl, and 2 Ozomatli. Of the last mentioned +days,—10 Olin corresponds in the first year of the cycle, with the +22d day of September, new style;—1 Quiahuitl with the 28th of +March, and 2 Ozomatli with the 28th of June, as will be seen by +the table at the end of this description of the calendar.</p> + +<p>"We find, therefore, delineated on this stone all the dates of the +principal positions of the sun, and it thus appears that the Aztecs +had ascertained with considerable precision the respective days of +the two passages of the sun by the zenith of Mexico, of the two +equinoxes, and of the summer and winter solstices. They had +therefore six different means of ascertaining and verifying the +length of the solar year by counting the number of days elapsed +till the sun returned to each of these six points,—the two solstices, +the two equinoxes, and the two passages by the zenith." + <a name="FNanchor_18_18" id="FNanchor_18_18"></a> + <a href="#Footnote_18_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a></p> + +<p> </p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span></p> + +<h3>MEXICAN ALMANAC,</h3> +<h4>ACCORDING TO GAMA.</h4> + +<table class="toc3" summary="Mexican Almanac"> +<tr> +<td class="c1" colspan="2">Column Headings:<br />A: Names of the months.<br />B: Tititl.<br /> + C: Itzcalli.<br />D: Xilomanaliztli.<br />E: Tlacaxipehnaliztli.<br />F: Tozoztontli.<br /> + G: Hueytozoztli.<br />H: Toxcall.<br />I: Etzalqualiztli.<br />J: Tecuilhuitontli.<br /> + K: Heuytecuilhuitl.<br />L: Miccailhuitonili.<br />M: Heuymiccailhuitl.<br /> + N: Ochpaniztli.<br />O: Pachtli.<br />P: Heuypachtli.<br />Q: Quecholli.<br /> + R: Panquetzaliztli.<br />S: Atenioztli.<br />T: The five Nemontemi.</td> +<td class="c33"> </td> +<td class="c44"> </td> +<td class="c55"> </td> +<td class="c66"> </td> +<td class="c77"> </td> +<td class="c88"> </td> +<td class="c99"> </td> +<td class="c1010"> </td> +<td class="c1111"> </td> +<td class="c1212"> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c11"> </td> +<td class="c22"> </td> +<td class="c33"> </td> +<td class="c44"> </td> +<td class="c55"> </td> +<td class="c66"> </td> +<td class="c77"> </td> +<td class="c88"> </td> +<td class="c99"> </td> +<td class="c1010"> </td> +<td class="c1111"> </td> +<td class="c1212"> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c11 tdouble ldouble bb br" colspan="2">A</td> +<td class="c33 tdouble bl bb br">B</td> +<td class="c44 tdouble bl bb br">C</td> +<td class="c55 tdouble bl bb br">D</td> +<td class="c66 tdouble bl bb br">E</td> +<td class="c77 tdouble bl bb br">F</td> +<td class="c88 tdouble bl bb br">G</td> +<td class="c99 tdouble bl bb br">H</td> +<td class="c1010 tdouble bl bb br">I</td> +<td class="c1111 tdouble bl bb br">J</td> +<td class="c1212 tdouble bl bb br">K</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c11 ldouble br bt" colspan="2">Months.</td> +<td class="c33 bl br bt">1st</td> +<td class="c44 bl br bt">2d</td> +<td class="c55 bl br bt">3d</td> +<td class="c66 bl br bt">4th</td> +<td class="c77 bl br bt">5th</td> +<td class="c88 bl br bt">6th</td> +<td class="c99 bl br bt">7th</td> +<td class="c1010 bl br bt">8th</td> +<td class="c1111 bl br bt">9th</td> +<td class="c1212 bl br bt">10th</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c11 ldouble"> </td> +<td class="c22 br"> </td> +<td class="c33 br"> </td> +<td class="c44 br"> </td> +<td class="c55 br"> </td> +<td class="c66 br"> </td> +<td class="c77 br"> </td> +<td class="c88 br"> </td> +<td class="c99 br"> </td> +<td class="c1010 br"> </td> +<td class="c1111 br"> </td> +<td class="c1212 br"> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 ldouble" colspan="2">Day of the Julian year, N. S., on which each month begins.</td> +<td class="c33 bl br">Jan. 9</td> +<td class="c44 bl br">Jan. 29</td> +<td class="c55 bl br">Feb. 18</td> +<td class="c66 bl br">Mar. 10</td> +<td class="c77 bl br">Mar. 30</td> +<td class="c88 bl br">Apr. 19</td> +<td class="c99 bl br">May 9</td> +<td class="c1010 bl br">May 29</td> +<td class="c1111 bl br">June 18</td> +<td class="c1212 bl br">July 8</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 ldouble"> </td> +<td class="c22 br"> </td> +<td class="c33 br"> </td> +<td class="c44 br"> </td> +<td class="c55 br"> </td> +<td class="c66 br"> </td> +<td class="c77 br"> </td> +<td class="c88 br"> </td> +<td class="c99 br"> </td> +<td class="c1010 br"> </td> +<td class="c1111 br"> </td> +<td class="c1212 br"> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 ldouble br"> 1 Sea Animal</td> +<td class="c2 bl br"> Cipactli</td> +<td class="c33 bl br">1 a</td> +<td class="c44 bl br">8 c</td> +<td class="c55 bl br">2 e</td> +<td class="c66 bl br">9 g</td> +<td class="c77 bl br">3 i</td> +<td class="c88 bl br">10 b</td> +<td class="c99 bl br">4 d</td> +<td class="c1010 bl br">11 f</td> +<td class="c1111 bl br">5 h</td> +<td class="c1212 bl br">12 a</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 ldouble br"> 2 Wind</td> +<td class="c2 bl br"> Ehecatl</td> +<td class="c33 bl br">2 b</td> +<td class="c44 bl br">9 d</td> +<td class="c55 bl br">3 f</td> +<td class="c66 bl br">10 h</td> +<td class="c77 bl br">4 a</td> +<td class="c88 bl br">11 c</td> +<td class="c99 bl br">5 e</td> +<td class="c1010 bl br">12 g</td> +<td class="c1111 bl br">6 i</td> +<td class="c1212 bl br">13 b</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 ldouble br"> 3 House</td> +<td class="c2 bl br"> Calli</td> +<td class="c33 bl br">3 c</td> +<td class="c44 bl br">10 e</td> +<td class="c55 bl br">4 g</td> +<td class="c66 bl br">11 i</td> +<td class="c77 bl br">5 b</td> +<td class="c88 bl br">12 d</td> +<td class="c99 bl br">6 f</td> +<td class="c1010 bl br">13 h</td> +<td class="c1111 bl br">7 a</td> +<td class="c1212 bl br">1 c</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 ldouble br"> 4 Small Lizard</td> +<td class="c2 bl br"> Cuetzpalin</td> +<td class="c33 bl br">4 d</td> +<td class="c44 bl br">11 f</td> +<td class="c55 bl br">5 h</td> +<td class="c66 bl br">12 a</td> +<td class="c77 bl br">6 c</td> +<td class="c88 bl br">13 e</td> +<td class="c99 bl br">7 g</td> +<td class="c1010 bl br">1 i</td> +<td class="c1111 bl br">8 b</td> +<td class="c1212 bl br">2 d</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 ldouble br"> 5 Serpent</td> +<td class="c2 bl br"> Cohuatl</td> +<td class="c33 bl br">5 e</td> +<td class="c44 bl br">12 g</td> +<td class="c55 bl br">6 i</td> +<td class="c66 bl br">13 b</td> +<td class="c77 bl br">7 d</td> +<td class="c88 bl br">1 f</td> +<td class="c99 bl br">8 h</td> +<td class="c1010 bl br">2 a</td> +<td class="c1111 bl br">9 c</td> +<td class="c1212 bl br">3 e</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 ldouble br"> 6 Death</td> +<td class="c2 bl br"> Miquiztli</td> +<td class="c33 bl br">6 f</td> +<td class="c44 bl br">13 h</td> +<td class="c55 bl br">7 a</td> +<td class="c66 bl br">1 c</td> +<td class="c77 bl br">8 e</td> +<td class="c88 bl br">2 g</td> +<td class="c99 bl br">9 i</td> +<td class="c1010 bl br">3 b</td> +<td class="c1111 bl br">10 d</td> +<td class="c1212 bl br">4 f</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 ldouble br"> 7 Deer</td> +<td class="c2 bl br"> Mazatl</td> +<td class="c33 bl br">7 g</td> +<td class="c44 bl br">1 i</td> +<td class="c55 bl br">8 b</td> +<td class="c66 bl br">2 d</td> +<td class="c77 bl br">9 f</td> +<td class="c88 bl br">3 h</td> +<td class="c99 bl br">10 a</td> +<td class="c1010 bl br">4 c</td> +<td class="c1111 bl br">11 e</td> +<td class="c1212 bl br">5 g</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 ldouble br"> 8 Rabbit</td> +<td class="c2 bl br"> Tochtli</td> +<td class="c33 bl br">8 h</td> +<td class="c44 bl br">2 a</td> +<td class="c55 bl br">9 c</td> +<td class="c66 bl br">3 e</td> +<td class="c77 bl br">10 g</td> +<td class="c88 bl br">4 i</td> +<td class="c99 bl br">11 b</td> +<td class="c1010 bl br">5 d</td> +<td class="c1111 bl br">12 f</td> +<td class="c1212 bl br">6 h</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 ldouble br"> 9 Water</td> +<td class="c2 bl br"> Atl</td> +<td class="c33 bl br">9 i</td> +<td class="c44 bl br">3 b</td> +<td class="c55 bl br">10 d</td> +<td class="c66 bl br">4 f</td> +<td class="c77 bl br">11 h</td> +<td class="c88 bl br">5 a</td> +<td class="c99 bl br">12 c</td> +<td class="c1010 bl br">6 e</td> +<td class="c1111 bl br">13 g</td> +<td class="c1212 bl br">7 i</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 ldouble br">10 Dog</td> +<td class="c2 bl br"> Itzcuintli</td> +<td class="c33 bl br">10 a</td> +<td class="c44 bl br">4 c</td> +<td class="c55 bl br">11 e</td> +<td class="c66 bl br">5 g</td> +<td class="c77 bl br">12 i</td> +<td class="c88 bl br">6 b</td> +<td class="c99 bl br">13 d</td> +<td class="c1010 bl br">7 f</td> +<td class="c1111 bl br">1 h</td> +<td class="c1212 bl br">8 a</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 ldouble br">11 Ape</td> +<td class="c2 bl br"> Ozomatli</td> +<td class="c33 bl br">11 b</td> +<td class="c44 bl br">5 d</td> +<td class="c55 bl br">2 f</td> +<td class="c66 bl br">6 h</td> +<td class="c77 bl br">13 a</td> +<td class="c88 bl br">7 c</td> +<td class="c99 bl br">1 e</td> +<td class="c1010 bl br">8 g</td> +<td class="c1111 bl br">2 i</td> +<td class="c1212 bl br">9 b</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 ldouble br">12 Twisted Grass</td> +<td class="c2 bl br"> Malinalli</td> +<td class="c33 bl br">12 c</td> +<td class="c44 bl br">6 e</td> +<td class="c55 bl br">13 g</td> +<td class="c66 bl br">7 i</td> +<td class="c77 bl br">1 b</td> +<td class="c88 bl br">8 d</td> +<td class="c99 bl br">2 f</td> +<td class="c1010 bl br">9 h</td> +<td class="c1111 bl br">3 a</td> +<td class="c1212 bl br">10 c</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 ldouble br">13 Reed</td> +<td class="c2 bl br"> Acatl</td> +<td class="c33 bl br">13 d</td> +<td class="c44 bl br">7 f</td> +<td class="c55 bl br">1 h</td> +<td class="c66 bl br">8 a</td> +<td class="c77 bl br">2 c</td> +<td class="c88 bl br">9 e</td> +<td class="c99 bl br">3 g</td> +<td class="c1010 bl br">10 i</td> +<td class="c1111 bl br">4 b</td> +<td class="c1212 bl br">11 d</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 ldouble br">14 Tiger</td> +<td class="c2 bl br"> Ocelotl</td> +<td class="c33 bl br">1 e</td> +<td class="c44 bl br">8 g</td> +<td class="c55 bl br">2 i</td> +<td class="c66 bl br">9 b</td> +<td class="c77 bl br">3 d</td> +<td class="c88 bl br">10 f</td> +<td class="c99 bl br">4 h</td> +<td class="c1010 bl br">11 a</td> +<td class="c1111 bl br">5 c</td> +<td class="c1212 bl br">12 e</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 ldouble br">15 Eagle</td> +<td class="c2 bl br"> Quauhtli</td> +<td class="c33 bl br">2 f</td> +<td class="c44 bl br">9 h</td> +<td class="c55 bl br">3 a</td> +<td class="c66 bl br">10 c</td> +<td class="c77 bl br">4 e</td> +<td class="c88 bl br">11 g</td> +<td class="c99 bl br">5 i</td> +<td class="c1010 bl br">12 b</td> +<td class="c1111 bl br">6 d</td> +<td class="c1212 bl br">13 f</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 ldouble br">16 Bird (Aura)</td> +<td class="c2 bl br"> Cozcaquauhtli</td> +<td class="c33 bl br">3 g</td> +<td class="c44 bl br">10 i</td> +<td class="c55 bl br">4 b</td> +<td class="c66 bl br">11 d</td> +<td class="c77 bl br">5 f</td> +<td class="c88 bl br">12 h</td> +<td class="c99 bl br">6 a</td> +<td class="c1010 bl br">13 c</td> +<td class="c1111 bl br">7 e</td> +<td class="c1212 bl br">1 g</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 ldouble br">17 Motion of Sun</td> +<td class="c2 bl br"> Ollin</td> +<td class="c33 bl br">4 h</td> +<td class="c44 bl br">11 a</td> +<td class="c55 bl br">5 c</td> +<td class="c66 bl br">12 e</td> +<td class="c77 bl br">6 g</td> +<td class="c88 bl br">13 i</td> +<td class="c99 bl br">7 b</td> +<td class="c1010 bl br">1 d</td> +<td class="c1111 bl br">8 f</td> +<td class="c1212 bl br">2 h</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 ldouble br">18 Pedestal Silex</td> +<td class="c2 bl br"> Tecpatl</td> +<td class="c33 bl br">5 i</td> +<td class="c44 bl br">12 b</td> +<td class="c55 bl br">6 d</td> +<td class="c66 bl br">13 f</td> +<td class="c77 bl br">7 h</td> +<td class="c88 bl br">1 a</td> +<td class="c99 bl br">8 c</td> +<td class="c1010 bl br">2 e</td> +<td class="c1111 bl br">9 g</td> +<td class="c1212 bl br">3 i</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 ldouble br">19 Rain</td> +<td class="c2 bl br"> Quiahuitl</td> +<td class="c33 bl br">6 a</td> +<td class="c44 bl br">13 c</td> +<td class="c55 bl br">7 e</td> +<td class="c66 bl br">1 g</td> +<td class="c77 bl br">8 i</td> +<td class="c88 bl br">2 b</td> +<td class="c99 bl br">9 d</td> +<td class="c1010 bl br">3 f</td> +<td class="c1111 bl br">10 h</td> +<td class="c1212 bl br">4 a</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 ldouble bb br">20 Flower</td> +<td class="c2 bl bb br"> Xochitl</td> +<td class="c33 bl bb br">7 b</td> +<td class="c44 bl bb br">1 d</td> +<td class="c55 bl bb br">8 f</td> +<td class="c66 bl bb br">2 h</td> +<td class="c77 bl bb br">9 a</td> +<td class="c88 bl bb br">3 c</td> +<td class="c99 bl bb br">10 e</td> +<td class="c1010 bl bb br">4 g</td> +<td class="c1111 bl bb br">11 i</td> +<td class="c1212 bl bb br">5 b</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 ldouble br bt" colspan="2">Day of the year corresponding with last day of each month.</td> +<td class="c33 bl br bt">20</td> +<td class="c44 bl br bt">40</td> +<td class="c55 bl br bt">60</td> +<td class="c66 bl br bt">80</td> +<td class="c77 bl br bt">100</td> +<td class="c88 bl br bt">120</td> +<td class="c99 bl br bt">140</td> +<td class="c1010 bl br bt">160</td> +<td class="c1111 bl br bt">180</td> +<td class="c1212 bl br bt">200</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 ldouble"> </td> +<td class="c22 br"> </td> +<td class="c33 bl br"> </td> +<td class="c44 bl br"> </td> +<td class="c55 bl br"> </td> +<td class="c66 bl br"> </td> +<td class="c77 bl br"> </td> +<td class="c88 bl br"> </td> +<td class="c99 bl br"> </td> +<td class="c1010 bl br"> </td> +<td class="c1111 bl br"> </td> +<td class="c1212 bl br"> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 ldouble bdouble br" colspan="2">Day of the Julian year, N. S., on which each month ends.</td> +<td class="c33 bdouble bl br">Jan. 28</td> +<td class="c44 bdouble bl br">Feb. 17</td> +<td class="c55 bdouble bl br">Mar. 9</td> +<td class="c66 bdouble bl br">Mar. 29</td> +<td class="c77 bdouble bl br">Apr. 18</td> +<td class="c88 bdouble bl br">May 8</td> +<td class="c99 bdouble bl br">May 28</td> +<td class="c1010 bdouble bl br">June 17</td> +<td class="c1111 bdouble bl br">July 7</td> +<td class="c1212 bdouble bl br">July 27</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<p> </p> + +<h3>MEXICAN ALMANAC,</h3> +<h4>ACCORDING TO GAMA. (Cont'd)</h4> + +<table class="toc3" summary="Mexican Almanac"> +<tr> +<td class="c1" colspan="2">Column Headings:<br />A: Names of the months.<br />B: Tititl.<br /> + C: Itzcalli.<br />D: Xilomanaliztli.<br />E: Tlacaxipehnaliztli.<br />F: Tozoztontli.<br /> + G: Hueytozoztli.<br />H: Toxcall.<br />I: Etzalqualiztli.<br />J: Tecuilhuitontli.<br /> + K: Heuytecuilhuitl.<br />L: Miccailhuitonili.<br />M: Heuymiccailhuitl.<br /> + N: Ochpaniztli.<br />O: Pachtli.<br />P: Heuypachtli.<br />Q: Quecholli.<br /> + R: Panquetzaliztli.<br />S: Atenioztli.<br />T: The five Nemontemi.</td> +<td class="c33"> </td> +<td class="c44"> </td> +<td class="c55"> </td> +<td class="c66"> </td> +<td class="c77"> </td> +<td class="c88"> </td> +<td class="c99"> </td> +<td class="c1010"> </td> +<td class="c1111"> </td> +<td class="c1212"> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c11"> </td> +<td class="c22"> </td> +<td class="c33"> </td> +<td class="c44"> </td> +<td class="c55"> </td> +<td class="c66"> </td> +<td class="c77"> </td> +<td class="c88"> </td> +<td class="c99"> </td> +<td class="c1010"> </td> +<td class="c1111"> </td> +<td class="c1212"> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c11 tdouble ldouble bb br" colspan="2">A</td> +<td class="c44 tdouble bl bb br">L</td> +<td class="c44 tdouble bl bb br">M</td> +<td class="c55 tdouble bl bb br">N</td> +<td class="c66 tdouble bl bb br">O</td> +<td class="c77 tdouble bl bb br">P</td> +<td class="c88 tdouble bl bb br">Q</td> +<td class="c99 tdouble bl bb br">R</td> +<td class="c1010 tdouble bl bb br">S</td> +<td class="c1111 tdouble bl bb rdouble">T</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c11 ldouble br bt" colspan="2">Months.</td> +<td class="c33 bl br bt">11th</td> +<td class="c44 bl br bt">12th</td> +<td class="c55 bl br bt">13th</td> +<td class="c66 bl br bt">14th</td> +<td class="c77 bl br bt">15th</td> +<td class="c88 bl br bt">16th</td> +<td class="c99 bl br bt">17th</td> +<td class="c1010 bl br bt">18th</td> +<td class="c1111 bl bt rdouble"> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c11 ldouble"> </td> +<td class="c22 br"> </td> +<td class="c33 br"> </td> +<td class="c44 br"> </td> +<td class="c55 br"> </td> +<td class="c66 br"> </td> +<td class="c77 br"> </td> +<td class="c88 br"> </td> +<td class="c99 br"> </td> +<td class="c1010 br"> </td> +<td class="c1111 rdouble"> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 ldouble" colspan="2">Day of the Julian year, N. S., on which each month begins.</td> +<td class="c33 bl br">July 28</td> +<td class="c44 bl br">Aug. 17</td> +<td class="c55 bl br">Sept. 6</td> +<td class="c66 bl br">Sept. 26</td> +<td class="c77 bl br">Oct. 16</td> +<td class="c88 bl br">Nov. 5</td> +<td class="c99 bl br">Nov. 25</td> +<td class="c1010 bl br">Dec. 15</td> +<td class="c1111 bl rdouble">Jan. 4</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 ldouble"> </td> +<td class="c22 br"> </td> +<td class="c33 br"> </td> +<td class="c44 br"> </td> +<td class="c55 br"> </td> +<td class="c66 br"> </td> +<td class="c77 br"> </td> +<td class="c88 br"> </td> +<td class="c99 br"> </td> +<td class="c1010 br"> </td> +<td class="c1111 rdouble"> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 ldouble br"> 1 Sea Animal</td> +<td class="c2 bl br"> Cipactli</td> +<td class="c33 bl br">6 c</td> +<td class="c44 bl br">13 e</td> +<td class="c55 bl br">7 g</td> +<td class="c66 bl br">1 i</td> +<td class="c77 bl br">8 b</td> +<td class="c88 bl br">2 d</td> +<td class="c99 bl br">9 f</td> +<td class="c1010 bl br">3 h</td> +<td class="c1111 bl rdouble">10</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 ldouble br"> 2 Wind</td> +<td class="c2 bl br"> Ehecatl</td> +<td class="c33 bl br">7 d</td> +<td class="c44 bl br">1 f</td> +<td class="c55 bl br">8 h</td> +<td class="c66 bl br">2 a</td> +<td class="c77 bl br">9 c</td> +<td class="c88 bl br">3 e</td> +<td class="c99 bl br">10 g</td> +<td class="c1010 bl br">4 i</td> +<td class="c1111 bl rdouble">11</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 ldouble br"> 3 House</td> +<td class="c2 bl br"> Calli</td> +<td class="c33 bl br">8 e</td> +<td class="c44 bl br">2 g</td> +<td class="c55 bl br">9 i</td> +<td class="c66 bl br">3 b</td> +<td class="c77 bl br">10 d</td> +<td class="c88 bl br">4 f</td> +<td class="c99 bl br">11 h</td> +<td class="c1010 bl br">5 a</td> +<td class="c1111 bl rdouble">12</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 ldouble br"> 4 Small Lizard</td> +<td class="c2 bl br"> Cuetzpalin</td> +<td class="c33 bl br">9 f</td> +<td class="c44 bl br">3 h</td> +<td class="c55 bl br">10 a</td> +<td class="c66 bl br">4 c</td> +<td class="c77 bl br">11 e</td> +<td class="c88 bl br">5 g</td> +<td class="c99 bl br">12 i</td> +<td class="c1010 bl br">6 b</td> +<td class="c1111 bl rdouble">13</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 ldouble br"> 5 Serpent</td> +<td class="c2 bl br"> Cohuatl</td> +<td class="c33 bl br">10 g</td> +<td class="c44 bl br">4 i</td> +<td class="c55 bl br">11 b</td> +<td class="c66 bl br">5 d</td> +<td class="c77 bl br">12 f</td> +<td class="c88 bl br">6 h</td> +<td class="c99 bl br">13 a</td> +<td class="c1010 bl br">7 c</td> +<td class="c1111 bl rdouble"> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 ldouble br"> 6 Death</td> +<td class="c2 bl br"> Miquiztli</td> +<td class="c33 bl br">11 h</td> +<td class="c44 bl br">5 a</td> +<td class="c55 bl br">12 c</td> +<td class="c66 bl br">6 e</td> +<td class="c77 bl br">13 g</td> +<td class="c88 bl br">7 i</td> +<td class="c99 bl br">1 b</td> +<td class="c1010 bl br">8 d</td> +<td class="c1111 bl rdouble"> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 ldouble br"> 7 Deer</td> +<td class="c2 bl br"> Mazatl</td> +<td class="c33 bl br">12 i</td> +<td class="c44 bl br">6 b</td> +<td class="c55 bl br">13 d</td> +<td class="c66 bl br">7 f</td> +<td class="c77 bl br">1 h</td> +<td class="c88 bl br">8 a</td> +<td class="c99 bl br">2 c</td> +<td class="c1010 bl br">9 e</td> +<td class="c1111 bl rdouble"> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 ldouble br"> 8 Rabbit</td> +<td class="c2 bl br"> Tochtli</td> +<td class="c33 bl br">13 a</td> +<td class="c44 bl br">7 c</td> +<td class="c55 bl br">1 e</td> +<td class="c66 bl br">8 g</td> +<td class="c77 bl br">2 i</td> +<td class="c88 bl br">9 b</td> +<td class="c99 bl br">3 d</td> +<td class="c1010 bl br">10 f</td> +<td class="c1111 bl rdouble"> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 ldouble br"> 9 Water</td> +<td class="c2 bl br"> Atl</td> +<td class="c33 bl br">1 b</td> +<td class="c44 bl br">8 d</td> +<td class="c55 bl br">2 f</td> +<td class="c66 bl br">9 h</td> +<td class="c77 bl br">3 a</td> +<td class="c88 bl br">10 c</td> +<td class="c99 bl br">4 e</td> +<td class="c1010 bl br">11 g</td> +<td class="c1111 bl rdouble"> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 ldouble br">10 Dog</td> +<td class="c2 bl br"> Itzcuintli</td> +<td class="c33 bl br">2 c</td> +<td class="c44 bl br">9 e</td> +<td class="c55 bl br">3 g</td> +<td class="c66 bl br">10 i</td> +<td class="c77 bl br">4 b</td> +<td class="c88 bl br">11 d</td> +<td class="c99 bl br">5 f</td> +<td class="c1010 bl br">12 h</td> +<td class="c1111 bl rdouble"> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 ldouble br">11 Ape</td> +<td class="c2 bl br"> Ozomatli</td> +<td class="c33 bl br">3 d</td> +<td class="c44 bl br">10 f</td> +<td class="c55 bl br">4 h</td> +<td class="c66 bl br">11 a</td> +<td class="c77 bl br">5 c</td> +<td class="c88 bl br">12 e</td> +<td class="c99 bl br">6 g</td> +<td class="c1010 bl br">13 i</td> +<td class="c1111 bl rdouble"> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 ldouble br">12 Twisted Grass</td> +<td class="c2 bl br"> Malinalli</td> +<td class="c33 bl br">4 e</td> +<td class="c44 bl br">11 g</td> +<td class="c55 bl br">5 i</td> +<td class="c66 bl br">12 b</td> +<td class="c77 bl br">6 d</td> +<td class="c88 bl br">13 f</td> +<td class="c99 bl br">7 h</td> +<td class="c1010 bl br">1 a</td> +<td class="c1111 bl rdouble"> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 ldouble br">13 Reed</td> +<td class="c2 bl br"> Acatl</td> +<td class="c33 bl br">5 f</td> +<td class="c44 bl br">12 h</td> +<td class="c55 bl br">6 a</td> +<td class="c66 bl br">13 c</td> +<td class="c77 bl br">7 e</td> +<td class="c88 bl br">1 g</td> +<td class="c99 bl br">8 i</td> +<td class="c1010 bl br">2 b</td> +<td class="c1111 bl rdouble"> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 ldouble br">14 Tiger</td> +<td class="c2 bl br"> Ocelotl</td> +<td class="c33 bl br">6 g</td> +<td class="c44 bl br">13 i</td> +<td class="c55 bl br">7 b</td> +<td class="c66 bl br">1 d</td> +<td class="c77 bl br">8 f</td> +<td class="c88 bl br">2 h</td> +<td class="c99 bl br">9 a</td> +<td class="c1010 bl br">3 c</td> +<td class="c1111 bl rdouble"> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 ldouble br">15 Eagle</td> +<td class="c2 bl br"> Quauhtli</td> +<td class="c33 bl br">7 h</td> +<td class="c44 bl br">1 a</td> +<td class="c55 bl br">8 c</td> +<td class="c66 bl br">2 e</td> +<td class="c77 bl br">9 g</td> +<td class="c88 bl br">3 i</td> +<td class="c99 bl br">10 b</td> +<td class="c1010 bl br">4 d</td> +<td class="c1111 bl rdouble"> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 ldouble br">16 Bird (Aura)</td> +<td class="c2 bl br"> Cozcaquauhtli</td> +<td class="c33 bl br">8 i</td> +<td class="c44 bl br">2 b</td> +<td class="c55 bl br">9 d</td> +<td class="c66 bl br">3 f</td> +<td class="c77 bl br">10 h</td> +<td class="c88 bl br">4 a</td> +<td class="c99 bl br">11 c</td> +<td class="c1010 bl br">5 e</td> +<td class="c1111 bl rdouble"> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 ldouble br">17 Motion of Sun</td> +<td class="c2 bl br"> Ollin</td> +<td class="c33 bl br">9 a</td> +<td class="c44 bl br">3 c</td> +<td class="c55 bl br">10 e</td> +<td class="c66 bl br">4 g</td> +<td class="c77 bl br">11 i</td> +<td class="c88 bl br">5 b</td> +<td class="c99 bl br">12 d</td> +<td class="c1010 bl br">6 f</td> +<td class="c1111 bl rdouble"> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 ldouble br">18 Pedestal Silex</td> +<td class="c2 bl br"> Tecpatl</td> +<td class="c33 bl br">10 b</td> +<td class="c44 bl br">4 d</td> +<td class="c55 bl br">11 f</td> +<td class="c66 bl br">5 h</td> +<td class="c77 bl br">12 a</td> +<td class="c88 bl br">6 c</td> +<td class="c99 bl br">13 e</td> +<td class="c1010 bl br">7 g</td> +<td class="c1111 bl rdouble"> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 ldouble br">19 Rain</td> +<td class="c2 bl br"> Quiahuitl</td> +<td class="c33 bl br">11 c</td> +<td class="c44 bl br">5 e</td> +<td class="c55 bl br">12 g</td> +<td class="c66 bl br">6 i</td> +<td class="c77 bl br">13 b</td> +<td class="c88 bl br">7 d</td> +<td class="c99 bl br">1 f</td> +<td class="c1010 bl br">8 h</td> +<td class="c1111 bl rdouble"> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 ldouble br">20 Flower</td> +<td class="c2 bl br"> Xochitl</td> +<td class="c33 bl br">12 d</td> +<td class="c44 bl br">6 f</td> +<td class="c55 bl br">13 h</td> +<td class="c66 bl br">7 a</td> +<td class="c77 bl br">1 c</td> +<td class="c88 bl br">8 e</td> +<td class="c99 bl br">2 g</td> +<td class="c1010 bl br">9 i</td> +<td class="c1111 bl rdouble"> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 ldouble br bt" colspan="2">Day of the year corresponding with last day of each month.</td> +<td class="c33 bl br bt">220</td> +<td class="c44 bl br bt">240</td> +<td class="c55 bl br bt">260</td> +<td class="c66 bl br bt">280</td> +<td class="c77 bl br bt">300</td> +<td class="c88 bl br bt">320</td> +<td class="c99 bl br bt">340</td> +<td class="c1010 bl br bt">360</td> +<td class="c1111 bl bt rdouble">365</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 ldouble"> </td> +<td class="c22 br"> </td> +<td class="c33 bl br"> </td> +<td class="c44 bl br"> </td> +<td class="c55 bl br"> </td> +<td class="c66 bl br"> </td> +<td class="c77 bl br"> </td> +<td class="c88 bl br"> </td> +<td class="c99 bl br"> </td> +<td class="c1010 bl br"> </td> +<td class="c1111 bl rdouble"> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 ldouble bdouble br" colspan="2">Day of the Julian year, N. S., on which each month ends.</td> +<td class="c33 bdouble bl br">Aug. 16</td> +<td class="c44 bdouble bl br">Sept. 5</td> +<td class="c55 bdouble bl br">Sept. 25</td> +<td class="c66 bdouble bl br">Oct. 15</td> +<td class="c77 bdouble bl br">Nov. 4</td> +<td class="c88 bdouble bl br">Nov. 24</td> +<td class="c99 bdouble bl br">Dec. 14</td> +<td class="c1010 bdouble bl br">Jan. 3</td> +<td class="c1111 bdouble rdouble bl">Jan. 8</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<p> </p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span> + In this perpetual almanac, each day in the year is designated +by three characteristics derived from the combination +of three series, viz.: That of the 20 days of the month, each +of which has a distinct name and hieroglyphic, from Cipactli +to Xochitl; and as these names are the same and in the +same order in every month, the column in which they are +set down answers for every month. The series of 13 days, +designed by its proper numeral from 1 to 13. And the series +of the 9 night companions, designated in this Table by +the letters a, b, ... h, i, viz.:</p> + +<ul class="index2"> + <li>a. {Xiuhteuctli.</li> + <li> {Tletl.</li> + <li>b. Tecpatl.</li> + <li>c. Xochitl.</li> + <li>d. Cinteotl.</li> + <li>e. Miquiztli.</li> + <li>f. Atl.</li> + <li>g. Tlazolteotl.</li> + <li>h. Tepeyolotli.</li> + <li>i. Quiahuitl.</li> +</ul> + +<p>Thus every day in the year is so distinguished that it can never be confounded +with any other. The day 4 Ollin is the 17th day of both the first and the fourteenth +month; but in the first instance it is distinguished by the letter <i>h</i>, and in the +second by the letter <i>g</i>. If the characteristics of the 9th day of the 10th month be +required, the Table shows that it is 7 <i>Atl i</i>; and thus also the 13th day of the 16th +month (Quecholli) is shown to be 1 <i>Acatl g</i>, and the 313th of the year.</p> + +<p>But it is only for the first year of the cycle (1 Tochtli) that the Mexican year corresponds +with ours in the manner stated in the Table. For, on account of our intercalation +of one day every bissextile year, the Mexican year receded, as compared +with ours, one day every four years. This correction must therefore be made, +whenever a comparison of the dates is wanted for any other than the first year of +the cycle. The Mexican intercalation of 13 days at the end of the cycle of 52 +years made again the first year of every cycle correspond with our year, in the +manner stated in the Table.</p> + +<p>Another correction is again necessary, when we have a Tescocan instead of a +Mexican date. For the first year of the Mexican cycle was 1 Tochtli, and that of +Tescoco was 1 Acatl; which caused a difference now of three, now of ten days in +their calendars, which in every other respect were the same. Both corrections +appear in the second Table.—Trans. Amer. Ethnol. Soc., vol. i, p. 114. Tables C<sup>1</sup>, +and C<sup>2</sup>.</p> +</div> + +<p> </p> + +<table class="toc2" summary="Mexican Cycle"> +<tr> +<td class="c1 ldouble rdouble tdouble"> </td> +<td class="c22 ldouble tdouble br"> </td> +<td class="c33 rdouble tdouble bl"> </td> +<td class="c44 ldouble rdouble tdouble" colspan="4">Julian Year.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 ldouble rdouble"> </td> +<td class="c22 ldouble br">Mexican</td> +<td class="c33 rdouble bl">A. D.</td> +<td class="c44 ldouble" colspan="2">Old Style.</td> +<td class="c66 rdouble" colspan="2">New Style.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 ldouble rdouble bb"> </td> +<td class="c22 ldouble bb br">year.</td> +<td class="c33 rdouble bb bl"> </td> +<td class="c44 ldouble bb br">Mexico.</td> +<td class="c55 bl bb br">Tescoco.</td> +<td class="c66 bl bb br">Mexico.</td> +<td class="c77 rdouble bl bb">Tescoco.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 ldouble rdouble bt">1st year of Mexican Cycle</td> +<td class="c2 ldouble bt br"> 1 Tochtli</td> +<td class="c33 rdouble bt bl">1454</td> +<td class="c4 ldouble bt br">Dec. 31</td> +<td class="c5 bl bt br">Dec. 21</td> +<td class="c6 bl bt br">Jan. 9</td> +<td class="c7 rdouble bl bt">Dec. 30</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 ldouble rdouble"> Bissextile year</td> +<td class="c2 ldouble br"> 3 Tecpatl</td> +<td class="c33 rdouble bl">1456</td> +<td class="c4 ldouble br">30</td> +<td class="c5 bl br">20</td> +<td class="c6 bl br">8</td> +<td class="c7 rdouble bl">29</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 ldouble rdouble"> do.</td> +<td class="c2 ldouble br"> 7 do.</td> +<td class="c33 rdouble bl">1460</td> +<td class="c4 ldouble br">29</td> +<td class="c5 bl br">19</td> +<td class="c6 bl br">7</td> +<td class="c7 rdouble bl">28</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 ldouble rdouble"> do.</td> +<td class="c2 ldouble br">11 do.</td> +<td class="c33 rdouble bl">1464</td> +<td class="c4 ldouble br">28</td> +<td class="c5 bl br">18</td> +<td class="c6 bl br">6</td> +<td class="c7 rdouble bl">27</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 ldouble rdouble">Tescocan inter'n 13 days</td> +<td class="c2 ldouble br"> </td> +<td class="c33 rdouble bl"> </td> +<td class="c4 ldouble br"> </td> +<td class="c5 bl br"> </td> +<td class="c6 bl br"> </td> +<td class="c7 rdouble bl"> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 ldouble rdouble">1st year of Tesco'n Cycle</td> +<td class="c2 ldouble br"> 1 Acatl</td> +<td class="c33 rdouble bl">1467</td> +<td class="c4 ldouble br">28</td> +<td class="c5 bl br">31</td> +<td class="c6 bl br">6</td> +<td class="c7 rdouble bl">Jan. 9</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 ldouble rdouble"> Bissextile year</td> +<td class="c2 ldouble br"> 2 Tecpatl</td> +<td class="c33 rdouble bl">1468</td> +<td class="c4 ldouble br">27</td> +<td class="c5 bl br">30</td> +<td class="c6 bl br">5</td> +<td class="c7 rdouble bl">8</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 ldouble rdouble"> do.</td> +<td class="c2 ldouble br"> 6 do.</td> +<td class="c33 rdouble bl">1472</td> +<td class="c4 ldouble br">26</td> +<td class="c5 bl br">29</td> +<td class="c6 bl br">4</td> +<td class="c7 rdouble bl">7</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 ldouble rdouble"> do.</td> +<td class="c2 ldouble br">10 do.</td> +<td class="c33 rdouble bl">1476</td> +<td class="c4 ldouble br">25</td> +<td class="c5 bl br">28</td> +<td class="c6 bl br">3</td> +<td class="c7 rdouble bl">6</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 ldouble rdouble"> do.</td> +<td class="c2 ldouble br"> 1 do.</td> +<td class="c33 rdouble bl">1480</td> +<td class="c4 ldouble br">24</td> +<td class="c5 bl br">27</td> +<td class="c6 bl br">2</td> +<td class="c7 rdouble bl">5</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 ldouble rdouble"> do.</td> +<td class="c2 ldouble br"> 5 do.</td> +<td class="c33 rdouble bl">1484</td> +<td class="c4 ldouble br">23</td> +<td class="c5 bl br">26</td> +<td class="c6 bl br">1</td> +<td class="c7 rdouble bl">4</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 ldouble rdouble"> do.</td> +<td class="c2 ldouble br"> 9 do.</td> +<td class="c33 rdouble bl">1488</td> +<td class="c4 ldouble br">22</td> +<td class="c5 bl br">25</td> +<td class="c6 bl br">Dec. 31</td> +<td class="c7 rdouble bl">3</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 ldouble rdouble"> do.</td> +<td class="c2 ldouble br">13 do.</td> +<td class="c33 rdouble bl">1492</td> +<td class="c4 ldouble br">21</td> +<td class="c5 bl br">24</td> +<td class="c6 bl br">30</td> +<td class="c7 rdouble bl">2</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 ldouble rdouble"> do.</td> +<td class="c2 ldouble br"> 4 do.</td> +<td class="c33 rdouble bl">1496</td> +<td class="c4 ldouble br">20</td> +<td class="c5 bl br">23</td> +<td class="c6 bl br">29</td> +<td class="c7 rdouble bl">1</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 ldouble rdouble"> do.</td> +<td class="c2 ldouble br"> 8 do.</td> +<td class="c33 rdouble bl">1500</td> +<td class="c4 ldouble br">19</td> +<td class="c5 bl br">22</td> +<td class="c6 bl br">28</td> +<td class="c7 rdouble bl">Dec. 31</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 ldouble rdouble"> do.</td> +<td class="c2 ldouble br">12 do.</td> +<td class="c33 rdouble bl">1504</td> +<td class="c4 ldouble br">18</td> +<td class="c5 bl br">21</td> +<td class="c6 bl br">27</td> +<td class="c7 rdouble bl">30</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 ldouble rdouble">Mexican intercal 13 days</td> +<td class="c2 ldouble br"> </td> +<td class="c33 rdouble bl"> </td> +<td class="c4 ldouble br"> </td> +<td class="c5 bl br"> </td> +<td class="c6 bl br"> </td> +<td class="c7 rdouble bl"> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 ldouble rdouble">1st year of Mexic'n Cycle</td> +<td class="c2 ldouble br"> 1 Tochtli</td> +<td class="c33 rdouble bl">1506</td> +<td class="c4 ldouble br">31</td> +<td class="c5 bl br">21</td> +<td class="c6 bl br">Jan. 9</td> +<td class="c7 rdouble bl">30</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 ldouble rdouble"> Bissextile year</td> +<td class="c2 ldouble br"> 3 Tecpatl</td> +<td class="c33 rdouble bl">1508</td> +<td class="c4 ldouble br">30</td> +<td class="c5 bl br">20</td> +<td class="c6 bl br">8</td> +<td class="c7 rdouble bl">29</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 ldouble rdouble"> do.</td> +<td class="c2 ldouble br"> 7 do.</td> +<td class="c33 rdouble bl">1512</td> +<td class="c4 ldouble br">29</td> +<td class="c5 bl br">19</td> +<td class="c6 bl br">7</td> +<td class="c7 rdouble bl">28</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 ldouble rdouble"> do.</td> +<td class="c2 ldouble br">11 do.</td> +<td class="c33 rdouble bl">1516</td> +<td class="c4 ldouble br">28</td> +<td class="c5 bl br">18</td> +<td class="c6 bl br">6</td> +<td class="c7 rdouble bl">27</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 ldouble rdouble">Tescocan inter'n 13 days</td> +<td class="c2 ldouble br"> </td> +<td class="c33 rdouble bl"> </td> +<td class="c4 ldouble br"> </td> +<td class="c5 bl br"> </td> +<td class="c6 bl br"> </td> +<td class="c7 rdouble bl"> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 ldouble rdouble">1st year Tesco'n Cycle Cortéz enters Mexico</td> +<td class="c2 ldouble br"> 1 Acatl</td> +<td class="c33 rdouble bl">1519</td> +<td class="c4 ldouble br">28</td> +<td class="c5 bl br">31</td> +<td class="c6 bl br">6</td> +<td class="c7 rdouble bl">Jan. 9</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 ldouble rdouble"> Bissextile year</td> +<td class="c2 ldouble br"> 2 Tecpatl</td> +<td class="c33 rdouble bl">1520</td> +<td class="c4 ldouble br">27</td> +<td class="c5 bl br">30</td> +<td class="c6 bl br">5</td> +<td class="c7 rdouble bl">8</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 ldouble bdouble rdouble"> Capture of Mexico</td> +<td class="c2 ldouble bdouble br"> 3 Calli</td> +<td class="c33 rdouble bdouble bl">1521</td> +<td class="c4 ldouble bdouble br">27</td> +<td class="c5 bdouble bl br">30</td> +<td class="c6 bdouble bl br">5</td> +<td class="c7 bdouble rdouble bl">8</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<p> </p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span></p> +<h3>MEXICAN CYCLE OF 52 YEARS.</h3> + +<table class="toc2" summary="Mexican Cycle"> +<tr> +<td class="c11 br">1st year.</td> +<td class="c22 bl br">14th year.</td> +<td class="c33 bl br">27th year.</td> +<td class="c44 bl">40th year.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 br"> 1 Tochtli</td> +<td class="c2 bl br"> 1 Acatl</td> +<td class="c3333 bl br"> 1 Tecpatl</td> +<td class="c444 bl"> 1 Calli</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 br"> 2 Acatl</td> +<td class="c2 bl br"> 2 Tecpatl</td> +<td class="c3333 bl br"> 2 Calli</td> +<td class="c444 bl"> 2 Tochtli</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 br"> 3 Tecpatl</td> +<td class="c2 bl br"> 3 Calli</td> +<td class="c3333 bl br"> 3 Tochtli</td> +<td class="c444 bl"> 3 Acatl</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 br"> 4 Calli</td> +<td class="c2 bl br"> 4 Tochtli</td> +<td class="c3333 bl br"> 4 Acatl</td> +<td class="c444 bl"> 4 Tecpatl</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 br"> 5 Tochtli</td> +<td class="c2 bl br"> 5 Acatl</td> +<td class="c3333 bl br"> 5 Tecpatl</td> +<td class="c444 bl"> 5 Calli</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 br"> 6 Acatl</td> +<td class="c2 bl br"> 6 Tecpatl</td> +<td class="c3333 bl br"> 6 Calli</td> +<td class="c444 bl"> 6 Tochtli</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 br"> 7 Tecpatl</td> +<td class="c2 bl br"> 7 Calli</td> +<td class="c3333 bl br"> 7 Tochtli</td> +<td class="c444 bl"> 7 Acatl</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 br"> 8 Calli</td> +<td class="c2 bl br"> 8 Tochtli</td> +<td class="c3333 bl br"> 8 Acatl</td> +<td class="c444 bl"> 8 Tecpatl</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 br"> 9 Tochtli</td> +<td class="c2 bl br"> 9 Acatl</td> +<td class="c3333 bl br"> 9 Tecpatl</td> +<td class="c444 bl"> 9 Calli</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 br">10 Acatl</td> +<td class="c2 bl br">10 Tecpatl</td> +<td class="c3333 bl br">10 Calli</td> +<td class="c444 bl">10 Tochtli</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 br">11 Tecpatl</td> +<td class="c2 bl br">11 Calli</td> +<td class="c3333 bl br">11 Tochtli</td> +<td class="c444 bl">11 Acatl</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 br">12 Calli</td> +<td class="c2 bl br">12 Tochtli</td> +<td class="c3333 bl br">12 Acatl</td> +<td class="c444 bl">12 Tecpatl</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1 br">13 Tochtli</td> +<td class="c2 bl br">13 Acatl</td> +<td class="c3333 bl br">13 Tecpatl</td> +<td class="c444 bl">13 Calli</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<p class="center">See 1st vol. Ethnol. Trans. ut antea page 63.</p> + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<div class="fn"> +<h4>Footnotes</h4> +<p><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> No doubt +tortillias, or maize cakes—still the staff of life with all the Indians +and, indeed, a favorite and daily food of all classes of Mexicans.</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> Bernal Diaz +Del Castillo's Hist. Conq. Mexico.</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote_15_15" id="Footnote_15_15"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_15_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> Prescott, vol. 1, p. 35.</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote_16_16" id="Footnote_16_16"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_16_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> Prescott, vol. 1, +p. 39, and compare Lorenzana's edition of Cortéz's letters.</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote_17_17" id="Footnote_17_17"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_17_17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> See Ethnological Trans. 1 +vol., p. 96, and Am. Journal of Science and Arts, +second series, vol. vii., p. 155. March No. for 1849.</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote_18_18" id="Footnote_18_18"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_18_18"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> See Trans. Amer. Ethnol. +Soc'y., vol. 1, p. 94. We should remark that the +letters Q. Q., X. Z., P. P., S. Y., on the edge of the stone, denote holes cut +into it, in which it is asserted that gnomons were placed whose shadows on the +calendar converted it into a dial.</p> +</div> + + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span></p> +<h1>BOOK II.</h1> + +<p> </p> + +<h2>NEW SPAIN<br /> +UNDER THE VICEROYAL GOVERNMENT.<br /> +1530–1809.</h2> + + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 126]<br />[Pg 127]</a></span></p> +<h2>BOOK II.</h2> + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<h2>CHAPTER I.<br /> +INTRODUCTORY.</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>COLONIAL SYSTEM—EARLY GRANTS OF POWER TO RULERS IN +MEXICO, BY THE EMPEROR CHARLES V.—ABUSE OF IT.—COUNCIL +OF THE INDIES—LAWS.—ROYAL AUDIENCES—CABILDOS—FUEROS.—RELATIVE +POSITIONS OF SPANIARDS AND +CREOLES.—SCHEME OF SPANISH COLONIAL TRADE.—RESTRICTIONS +ON TRADE.—ALCABALA—TAXES—PAPAL BULLS.—BULLS +DE CRUZADA—DE DEFUNTOS—OF COMPOSITION.—POWER +OF THE CHURCH—ITS PROPERTY—INQUISITION.—THE +ACTS OF THE INQUISITION—REPARTIMIENTOS.—INDIANS— +AGRICULTURISTS—MINERS—MITA.—EXCUSES +FOR MALADMINISTRATION.</p> +</div> + + +<p>Before we present the reader a brief sketch of the viceroyal +government of New Spain, it may, in no small degree, contribute +to the elucidation of this period if we review the Spanish colonial +system that prevailed from the conquest to the revolution which +resulted in independence.</p> + +<p>As soon as the Spaniards had plundered the wealth accumulated +by the Incas and the Aztecs in the semi-civilized empires of +Mexico and Peru, they turned their attention to the government +of the colonies which they saw springing up as if by enchantment. +The allurements of gold and the enticements of a prolific soil, +under delicious skies, had not yet ceased to inflame the ardent +national fancy of Spain, so that an eager immigration escaped by +every route to America. An almost regal and absolute power was +vested by special grants from the king in the persons who were +despatched from his court to found the first governments in the +New World. But this authority was so abused by some of the +ministerial agents that Charles V. took an early occasion to curb + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span> +their power and diminish their original privileges. The Indians +who had been divided with the lands among the conquerors by +the slavish system of <i>repartimientos</i>, were declared to be the +king's subjects. In 1537 the Pope issued a decree declaring the +aborigines to be "really and truly men,"—"ipsos veros homines,"—who +were capable of receiving the Christian faith.</p> + +<p>The sovereign was ever regarded from the first as the direct +fountain of all authority throughout Spanish America. All his +provinces were governed as colonies and his word was their +supreme law. In 1511, Ferdinand created a new governmental +department for the control of his American subjects, denominated +the <span class="smcap">Council of the Indies</span>, but it was not fully organized until +the reign of Charles the Fifth in 1524. The <i>Recopilacion de las +leyes de las Indias</i> declared that this council should have supreme +jurisdiction over all the Western Indies pertaining to the Spanish +crown, which had been discovered, at that period, or which might +thereafter be discovered;—that this jurisdiction should extend +over all their interests and affairs; and, moreover, that the council, +with the royal assent, should make all laws and ordinances, necessary +for the welfare of those provinces.<a name="FNanchor_19_19" id="FNanchor_19_19"></a> + <a href="#Footnote_19_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a> This Council of the +Indies consisted of a president, who was the king, four secretaries, +and twenty-two counsellors, and the members were usually chosen +from among those who had either been viceroys or held high +stations abroad. It appointed all the officers employed in America +in compliance with the nomination of the crown, and every one +was responsible to it for his conduct. As soon as this political +and legislative machine was created it began its scheme of law +making for the colonies, not, however, upon principles of national +right, but according to such dictates of expediency or profit as +might accrue to the Spaniards. From time to time they were +apprised of the wants of the colonists, but far separated as they +were from the subject of their legislation, they naturally committed +many errors in regard to a people with whom they had not the +sympathy of a common country, and common social or industrial +interests. They legislated either for abstractions or with the selfish +view of working the colonies for the advantage of the Spanish +crown rather than for the gradual and beautiful development of +American capabilities. The mines of this continent first attracted +the attention of Spain, and the prevailing principle of the scheme +adopted in regard to them, was, that the mother country should + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span> +produce the necessaries or luxuries of life for her colonial vassals, +whilst they recompensed their parent with a bountiful revenue of +gold and silver.</p> + +<p>The bungling, blind, and often corrupt legislation of the Council +of the Indies soon filled its records with masses of contradictory +and useless laws, so that although there were many beneficent acts, +designed especially for the comfort of the Indians, the administration +of so confused a system became almost incompatible with +justice. If the source of law was vicious its administration was +not less impure. The principal courts of justice were the <span class="smcap">Audiencias +reales</span>, or Royal Audiences. In addition to the president,—who +was the Viceroy, or Captain General,—the <i>audiencia</i> +or court was composed of a regent, three judges, two <i>fiscales</i> or +attorneys, (one for civil and the other for criminal cases) a reporter, +and an <i>alguazil</i>, or constable. The members of these courts were +appointed by the king himself, and, being almost without exception, +natives of old Spain, they possessed but few sympathies for +the colonists.</p> + +<p>After the Royal Audiences, came the <span class="smcap">Cabildos</span> whose members, +consisting of <i>regidores</i> and other persons appointed by the king, +and of two <i>alcaldes</i> annually elected by the <i>regidores</i> from among +the people,—constituted a municipal body in almost every town +or village of importance. These <i>cabildos</i> had no legislative jurisdiction, +but superintended the execution of the laws within their +districts and regulated all minor local matters. The office of +<i>regidor</i> was a regular matter of bargain and sale; and, as the +<i>regidores</i> subsequently elected the <i>alcaldes</i>, it will be seen that +this admitted of great corruption, and tended to augment the +direct oppression of the masses subjected to their jurisdiction. It +was an instrument to increase the wealth and strengthen the tyrannical +power of the rulers.</p> + +<p>These ill regulated <i>audiencias</i> and <i>cabildos</i>, were, in themselves, +capable of destroying all principles of just harmony, and were +sufficient to corrupt the laws both in their enactment and administration. +But all men were not equal before these tribunals. A +system of <i>fueros</i> or privileges, opposed innumerable obstacles. +These were the privileges of corporate bodies and of the professions; +of the clergy, called public or common; and of the monks, +canons, inquisitions, college, and universities; the privileges of +persons employed in the royal revenue service; the general privileges +of the military, which were extended also to the militia, and +the especial privileges of the marines, of engineers, and of the + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span> +artillery. An individual enjoying any of these privileges was +elevated above the civil authority, and, whether as plaintiff or +defendant, was subject only to the chief of the body to which he +belonged, both in civil and criminal cases. So great a number of +jurisdictions created an extricable labyrinth, which, by keeping +up a ceaseless conflict between the chiefs in regard to the extent +of their powers, stimulated each one to sustain his own authority +at all hazards, and, with such resoluteness as to employ even +force to gain his purpose.<a name="FNanchor_20_20" id="FNanchor_20_20"></a> + <a href="#Footnote_20_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a> Bribery, intrigue, delay, denial of justice, +outrage, ruin, were the natural results of such a system of +complicated irresponsibility; and consequently it is not singular +to find even now in Mexico and South America large masses of +people who are utterly ignorant of the true principles upon which +justice should be administered or laws enacted for its immaculate +protection. The manifesto of independence issued by the Buenos +Ayrean Congress in 1816, declares that all public offices belong +exclusively to the Spaniards; and although the Americans +were equally entitled to them by the laws, they were +appointed only in rare instances, and even then, not without satiating +the cupidity of the court by enormous sums of money. Of +one hundred and seventy viceroys who governed on this continent +but four were Americans; and of six hundred and ten Captains +General and Governors, all but fourteen were natives of old +Spain! Thus it is evident that not only were the Spanish laws +bad in their origin, but the administrative system under which +they operated denied natives of America in almost all cases the +possibility of self government.</p> + +<p>The evil schemes of Spain did not stop, however, with the +enactment of laws, or their administration. The precious metals +had originally tempted her, as we have already seen, and she did +not fail to build up a commercial system which was at once to +bind the colonists forever to the mines, whilst it enriched and +excited her industry at home in arts, manufactures, agriculture, +and navigation. As the Atlantic rolled between the old world and +the new, America was excluded from all easy or direct means of +intercourse with other states of Europe, especially at a period +when the naval power of Spain was important, and frequent wars +made the navigation of foreign merchantmen or smugglers somewhat +dangerous in the face of her cruisers. Spain therefore interdicted +all commercial intercourse between her colonies and the rest + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span> +of the world, thus maintaining a strict monopoly of trade in her +own hands. All imports and exports were conveyed in Spanish +bottoms, nor was any vessel permitted to sail for Vera Cruz or +Porto Bello, her only two authorized American ports, except from +Seville, until the year 1720, when the trade was removed to Cadiz +as a more convenient outlet. It was not until the War of the +Succession that the trade of Peru was opened, and, even then, only +to the French. By the peace of Utrecht, in 1713, Great Britain +with the <i>asiento</i>, or contract for the supply of slaves, obtained +a direct participation in the American trade, by virtue of a permission +granted her to send a vessel of five hundred tons annually to +the fair at Porto Bello. This privilege ceased with the partial +hostilities in 1737, but Spain found herself compelled, on the +restoration of peace in 1739, to make some provision for meeting +the additional demand which the comparatively free communication +with Europe had created. Licenses were granted, with this +view, to vessels called register-ships, which were chartered during +the intervals between the usual periods for the departure of the +galeons. In 1764, a further improvement was made by the establishment +of monthly packets to Havana, Porto Rico and Buenos +Ayres, which were allowed to carry out half cargoes of goods. +This was followed in 1774, by the removal of the interdict upon +the intercourse of the colonies with each other; and, this again, +in 1778, under what is termed a decree of free trade, by which +seven of the principal ports of the peninsula were allowed to carry +on a direct intercourse with Buenos Ayres and the South Sea. + <a name="FNanchor_21_21" id="FNanchor_21_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a> +Up to the period when these civilized modifications of the original +interdict were made, the colonists were forbidden to trade either +with foreigners or with each other's states, under any pretext +whatever. The penalty of disobedience and detection was death.</p> + +<p>Having thus enacted that the sole vehicle of colonial commerce +should be Spanish, the next effort of the paternal government was +to make the things it conveyed Spanish also. As an adjunct in +this system of imposition, the laws of the Indies prohibited the +manufacture or cultivation in the colonies, of all those articles +which could be manufactured or produced in Spain. Factories +were therefore inhibited, and foreign articles were permitted to +enter the viceroyalties, direct from Spain alone, where they were, +of course, subjected to duty previous to re-exportation. But these +foreign products were not allowed to be imported in unstinted +quantities. Spain fixed both the amount and the price; so that by + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> +extorting, ultimately, from the purchaser, the government was a +gainer in charges, profits and duties; whilst the merchants of +Cadiz and Seville, who enjoyed the monopoly of trade, were enabled +to affix any valuation they pleased to their commodities. The +ingenuity of the Spaniards in contriving methods to exact the +utmost farthing from their submissive colonists, is not a little +remarkable. "They took advantage of the wants of the settlers, +and were, at one time, sparing in their supplies, so that the price +might be enhanced, whilst, at another, they sent goods of poor +quality, at a rate much above their value, because it was known +they must be purchased. It was a standing practice to despatch +European commodities in such small quantities as to quicken the +competition of purchasers and command an exorbitant profit. In +the most flourishing period of the trade of Seville, the whole +amount of shipping employed was less than twenty-eight thousand +tons, and many of the vessels made no more than annual +voyages. The evident motive on the part of the crown for limiting +the supply was, that the same amount of revenue could be +more easily levied, and collected with more certainty as well as +despatch, on a small than on a large amount of goods."<a name="FNanchor_22_22" id="FNanchor_22_22"></a> + <a href="#Footnote_22_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a></p> + +<p>Whilst the commerce of Spain was thus burdened by enormous +impositions, the colonies were of course cramped in all their energies. +There could be no independent action of trade, manufacture, +or even agriculture, under such a system.</p> + +<p>America,—under the tropics and in the temperate regions, +abounding in a prolific soil,—was not allowed to cultivate the +grape or the olive, whilst, even some kinds of provisions which +could easily have been produced on this continent were imported +from Spain.</p> + +<p>Such were some of the selfish and unnatural means by which +the Council of the Indies,—whose laws have been styled, by +some writers, beneficent—sought to drain America of her wealth, +whilst they created a market for Spain. This was the external +code of oppression; but the internal system of this continent, +which was justified and enacted by the same council, was not less +odious. Taxation, without representation or self government, was +the foundation of our revolt; yet, the patient colonies of Spain +were forced to bear it from the beginning of their career, so that +the idea of freedom, either of opinion or of impost, never entered +the minds of an American creole.</p> + +<p>Duties, taxes, and tithes were the vexatious instruments of royal + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span> +plunder. The <i>alcabala</i>, an impost upon all purchases and sales, +including even the smallest transactions, was perhaps the most +burthensome. "Every species of merchandise, whenever it passed +from one owner to another, was subject to a new tax; and +merchants, shopkeepers and small dealers, were obliged to report +the amount of their purchases and sales under oath." From the +acquisition of an estate, to the simple sale of butter, eggs, or +vegetables in market, all contracts and persons were subject to +this tax, except travellers, clergymen and paupers. Independently +of the destruction of trade, which must always ensue from such a +system, the reader will at once observe the temptations to vice +opened by it. The natural spirit of gain tempts a dealer to cheat +an oppressive government by every means in his power. It +is therefore not wonderful to find the country filled with contrabandists, +and the towns with dishonest tradesmen. Men who +defraud in acts, will lie in words, nor will they hesitate to conceal +their infamy under the sanction of an oath. Thus was it +that the oppressive taxation of Spain became the direct instrument +of popular corruption, and, by extending imposts to the minutest +ramifications of society, it made the people smugglers, cheats, and +perjurers. In addition to the <i>alcabala</i>, there were transit duties +through the country, under which, it has been alleged, that European +articles were sometimes taxed thirty times before they reached +their consumer. The king had his royal fifth of all the gold and +silver, and his monopolies of tobacco, salt and gunpowder. He +often openly vended the colonial offices, both civil and ecclesiastical. +He stamped paper, and derived a revenue from its sale. +He affixed a poll tax on every Indian; and, finally, by the most +infamous of all impositions, he derived an extensive revenue from +the religious superstition of the people. It was not enough to tax +the necessaries and luxuries of life,—things actually in existence +and tangible,—but, through a refined alchemy of political invention, +he managed to coin even the superstitions of the people, and +add to the royal income by the sale of "<i>Bulls de cruzada</i>"—"<i>Bulls +de defuntos</i>,"—"<i>Bulls for eating milk and eggs during +lent</i>,"—and "<i>Bulls of composition</i>." Bales upon bales of these +badly printed licenses were sent out from Spain and sold by priests +under the direction of a commissary. The villany of this scheme +may be more evident if we detain the reader a moment in order to +describe the character of these spiritual licenses. Whoever possessed +a "Bull de cruzada" might be absolved from all crimes +except heresy; nor, could he be suspected even of so deadly a sin, + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span> +as long as this talismanic paper was in his possession. Besides +this, it exempted him from many of the rigorous fasts of the +church; while two of them, of course, possessed double the virtue +of one. The "Bull for the dead" was a needful passport for a +sinner's soul from purgatory. There was no escape without it +from the satanic police, and the poor and ignorant classes suffered +all the pains of their miserable friends who had gone to the other +world, until they were able to purchase the inestimable ticket of +release. But of all these wretched impostures, the "Bull of composition" +was, probably, the most shameful as well as dangerous. +It "released persons who had stolen goods from the obligation to +restore them to the owner, provided the thief had not been moved +to commit his crime in consequence of a belief that he might +escape from its sin by <i>subsequently</i> purchasing the immaculate +'Bull.'" Nor were these all the virtues of this miraculous document. +It had the power to "correct the moral offence of false +weights and measures; tricks and frauds in trade; all the obliquities +of principle and conduct by which swindlers rob honest folks +of their property; and, finally, whilst it converted stolen articles +into the lawful property of the thief, it also assured to purchasers +the absolute ownership of whatever they obtained by modes that +ought to have brought them to the gallows. The price of these +Bulls depended on the amount of goods stolen; but it is just to +add, that only fifty of them could be taken by the same person in +a year."<a name="FNanchor_23_23" id="FNanchor_23_23"></a><a href="#Footnote_23_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a></p> + +<p>These disgusting details might suffice to show the student how +greatly America was oppressed and corrupted by the Spanish +government; yet we regret that there are other important matters +of misrule which we are not authorised to pass by unnoticed. +Thus far we have considered the direct administration and taxing +power of the king and Council of the Indies; we must now turn +to the despotism exercised over the mind as well as the body of +the creoles.</p> + +<p>The holy church held all its appointments directly from the +king, though the pope enjoyed the privilege of nomination; consequently +the actual influence and power of the Hispano-American +church, rested in the sovereign. The Recopilacion de las leyes +expressly prohibits the erection of cathedrals, parish churches, +monasteries, hospitals, native chapels, or other pious or religious + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> +edifices, without the express license of the monarch.<a name="FNanchor_24_24" id="FNanchor_24_24"></a> + <a href="#Footnote_24_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a> As all the +ecclesiastical revenues went to him, his power and patronage were +immense. The religious jurisdiction of the church tribunals +extended to monasteries, priests, donations, or legacies for sacred +purposes, tithes, marriages, and all <i>spiritual</i> concerns. The +<i>fueros</i> of the clergy have been already alluded to. "Instead of +any restraint on the claims of the ecclesiastics," says Dr. Robertson, +"the inconsistent zeal of the Spanish legislators admitted +them into America to their full extent, and, at once imposed on +the Spanish colonies a burden which is in no slight degree oppressive +to society in its most improved state. As early as 1501 the +payment of <i>tithes</i> as it was called, in the colonies was enjoined, +and the mode of it regulated by law. Every article of primary +necessity towards which the attention of settlers must naturally +be turned was submitted to that grievous exaction. Nor were the +demands of the clergy confined to articles of simple and easy +culture. Its more artificial and operose productions, such as +sugar, indigo, and cochineal, were declared to be titheable, and, +in this manner, the planter's industry was taxed in every stage of +its progress from its rudest essay to its highest improvement." + <a name="FNanchor_25_25" id="FNanchor_25_25"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a> +Thus it is that even now, after all the desolating revolutions that +have occurred, we see the wealth of the Mexican church so exorbitantly +exceeding that of the richest lay proprietors. The clergy +readily became the royal agents in this scheme of aggrandizement; +convent after convent was built; estate after estate was added to +their possessions; dollar after dollar, and diamond after diamond +were cast into their gorged treasuries, until their present accumulations +are estimated at a sum not far beneath one hundred +millions.<a name="FNanchor_26_26" id="FNanchor_26_26"></a> + <a href="#Footnote_26_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a> The monasteries of the Dominicans and Carmelites +possess immense riches, chiefly in real estate both in town and +country; whilst the convents of nuns in the city of Mexico,—especially +those of Concepcion, Encarnacion and Santa Terasa,—are +owners of three-fourths of the private houses in the capital, and +proportionably, of property in the different states of the republic. + <a name="FNanchor_27_27" id="FNanchor_27_27"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a></p> + +<p>Wherever the church of Rome obtained a foothold in the sixteenth +century the <span class="smcap">Holy Inquisition</span> was not long in asserting +and establishing its power. Unfortunately for the zealots of this +monastic tribunal, the ignorance of the Indians did not permit + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span> +them to wander into the mazes of heresy, so that the Dominican +monks found but slender employment for their cruel skill. The +poor aborigines were hardly worth the trouble of persecution, for +the conquerors had already plundered them, and, unfortunately, the +Jews did not emigrate to the wilds of America. The inquisition, +however, could not restrain its natural love of labor, so, that, +diverting its attention from the bodies of its victims it devoted +itself, with the occasional recreation of an <i>auto da fe</i>, to the +spiritual guardianship of Spanish and Indian intellects. Education +was of course modified and repressed by such baneful influences. +Men dared neither learn nor read, except what was +selected for them by the monks. At the end of the eighteenth +century there were but three presses in Spanish America,—one +in Mexico, one in Lima, and one which belonged to the Jesuits at +Cordova; but these presses were designed for the use of the +government alone in the dissemination of its decrees. The eye of +the inquisition was of course jealously directed to all publications. +Booksellers were bound to furnish the Holy Fathers annually with +a list of their merchandise, and the fraternity was empowered to +enter wheresoever it pleased, to seek and seize prohibited literature. +Luther, Calvin, Vattel, Montesquieu, Puffendorff, Robertson, +Addison, and even the Roman Catholic Fenelon, were all proscribed. +The inquisition was the great censor of the press, and +nothing was submitted to the people unless it had passed the fiery +ordeal of the holy office. It was quite enough for a book to be +wise, classical, or progressive, to subject it to condemnation. +Even viceroys and governors were forbidden to license the publication +of a work unless the inquisition sanctioned it; and we have +seen volumes in Mexico, still kept as curiosities in private libraries, +out of which pages were torn and passages obliterated by the +Holy Fathers, before they were permitted to be sold. + <a name="FNanchor_28_28" id="FNanchor_28_28"></a><a href="#Footnote_28_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a></p> + +<p>Inasmuch as the Indians formed the great bulk of Hispano-American +population, the king, of course, soon after the discovery, +directed his attention to their capabilities for labor. We have seen +in a previous part of this chapter that by a system of <i>repartimientos</i> +they were divided among the conquerors and made vassals of the +land holders, although always kept distinct from the negroes who +were afterwards imported from Africa. Although the Emperor +Charles V., enacted a number of mild laws for the amelioration of +their fate, their condition seems, nevertheless, to have been very +little improved,—according to our personal observation,—even to + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span> +the present day. We have noticed that a capitation tax was levied +on every Indian, and that it varied in different parts of Spanish +America, from four to fifteen dollars, according to the ability of the +Indians. They were likewise doomed to labor on the public +works, as well as to cultivate the soil for the general benefit of the +country, whilst by the imposition of the <i>mita</i> they were forced to +toil in the mines under a rigorous and debasing system which the +world believed altogether unequalled in mineral districts until the +British parliamentary reports of a few years past disclosed the fact, +that even in England, men and women are sometimes degraded into +beasts of burden in the mines whose galleries traverse in every +direction the bowels of that proud kingdom.<a name="FNanchor_29_29" id="FNanchor_29_29"></a> + <a href="#Footnote_29_29" class="fnanchor">[29]</a> Toils and suffering +were the natural conditions of the poor Indian in America after the +conquest, and it might have been supposed that the plain dictates +of humanity would make the Spaniards content with the labor of +their serfs, without attempting afterwards, to rob them of the wages +of such ignominious labor. But even in this, the Spanish ingenuity +and avarice were not to be foiled, for the <i>corregidores</i> in the +towns and villages, to whom were granted the minor monopolies +of almost all the necessaries of life, made this a pretext of obliging +the Indians to purchase what they required at the prices they chose +to affix to their goods. Monopoly—was the order of the day in +the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Its oppressions extended +through all ranks, and its grasping advantages were eagerly seized +by every magistrate from the <i>alguazil</i> to the viceroy. The people +groaned, but paid the burthensome exaction, whilst the relentless +officer, hardened by the contemplation of misery, and the constant +commission of legalized robbery, only became more watchful, sagacious +and grinding in proportion as he discovered how much the +down-trodden masses could bear. Benevolent viceroys and liberal +kings, frequently interposed to prevent the continuance of these unjust +acts, but they were unable to cope with the numerous officials +who performed all the minor ministerial duties throughout the colony. +These inferior agents, in a new and partially unorganized country, +had every advantage in their favor over the central authorities in the +capital. The poorer Spaniards and the Indian serfs had no means +of making their complaints heard in the palace. There was no +press or public opinion to give voice to the sorrows of the masses, +and personal fear often silenced the few who might have reached +the ear of merciful and just rulers. At court, the rich, powerful + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span> +and influential miners or land holders, always discovered pliant +tools who were ready by intrigue and corruption to smother the cry +of discontent, or to account plausibly for the murmurs, which upon +extraordinary occasions, burst through all restraints until they +reached either the Audiencia or the representative of the sovereign. +These slender excuses may, in some degree, account for and palliate +the maladministration of Spanish America from the middle of +the sixteenth to the beginning of the nineteenth century.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>The ensuing chapters of this book contain the annals of New +Spain from the foundation of the viceroyal system to the beginning +of the revolution that grew out of its corruptions. The materials +for this portion of Mexican history are exceedingly scant. During +the jealous despotism and ecclesiastical vigilance of old Spanish +rule, and the anarchy of modern miscalled republicanism, few +authors have ventured to penetrate the gloom of this mysterious +period. The Jesuit Father Cavo, and Don Carlos Maria Bustamante +have alone essayed to narrate, consecutively, the events of +the viceroyalty; and although no student of the past is attracted by +their crude and careless style, yet we may confidently rely on the +characteristic facts detailed in their tedious work. + <a name="FNanchor_30_30" id="FNanchor_30_30"></a><a href="#Footnote_30_30" class="fnanchor">[30]</a></p> + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<div class="fn"> +<h4>Footnotes</h4> +<p><a name="Footnote_19_19" id="Footnote_19_19"></a> + <a href="#FNanchor_19_19"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> Recop. de + las leyes, lib. 2, title 2, ley 2.</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote_20_20" id="Footnote_20_20"></a> + <a href="#FNanchor_20_20"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> Mendez, + Observaciones sobre les leyes de Indias y sobre la independencia de +America. London, 1823. p. 174.</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote_21_21" id="Footnote_21_21"></a> + <a href="#FNanchor_21_21"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> Ward's + Mexico in 1827, vol. 1, p. 116.</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote_22_22" id="Footnote_22_22"></a> + <a href="#FNanchor_22_22"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> North + American Review, vol. xix. p. 117.</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote_23_23" id="Footnote_23_23"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23_23"> + <span class="label">[23]</span></a> See Pazo's letters on South America, + pages 88, 89, North American Review, +art. antec., pages 186 and 187, et Depons.</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote_24_24" id="Footnote_24_24"></a><a href="#FNanchor_24_24"> + <span class="label">[24]</span></a> Recopilacion, lib. i, Tit. vi, Ley 2, + North American Review, art. antec. p. 189.</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote_25_25" id="Footnote_25_25"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25_25"> + <span class="label">[25]</span></a> Robertson's Hist. of Amer.; Zavala Hist. Revo. of Mexico.</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote_26_26" id="Footnote_26_26"></a><a href="#FNanchor_26_26"> + <span class="label">[26]</span></a> Otero, Cuestion social, pages 38, 39, 43.</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote_27_27" id="Footnote_27_27"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27_27"> + <span class="label">[27]</span></a> Zavala Hist. Revo. de Mexico, pages 16, 17, vol. 1.</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote_28_28" id="Footnote_28_28"></a><a href="#FNanchor_28_28"> + <span class="label">[28]</span></a> See Zavala, vol. 1, p. 52.</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote_29_29" id="Footnote_29_29"></a><a href="#FNanchor_29_29"> + <span class="label">[29]</span></a> See British Parliamentary Report on the condition of the miners and mining +districts.</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote_30_30" id="Footnote_30_30"></a><a href="#FNanchor_30_30"> + <span class="label">[30]</span></a> "Los Tres Siglos de Mejico, durante el Gobierno Español," 1521 to 1766, +written by Father Andres Cavo, of the Society of Jesus; 1767 to 1821, written by +Don Carlos Maria Bustamante.</p> +</div> + + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER II.<br /> +1530–1551.</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>FOUNDING OF THE VICEROYALTY OF NEW SPAIN.—NEW AUDIENCIA—FUENLEAL—MENDOZA.—EARLY +ACTS OF THE FIRST VICEROY—COINAGE.—REBELLION +IN JALISCO—VICEROY SUPPRESSES +IT.—COUNCIL OF THE INDIES ON REPARTIMIENTOS.—INDIAN +SERVITUDE.—QUIVARA—EXPEDITIONS OF CORONADO +AND ALARCON.—PEST IN 1546—REVOLUTION—COUNCIL OF +BISHOPS.—MINES—ZAPOTECS REVOLT—MENDOZA REMOVED +TO PERU.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="hr2" /> + +<h3><span class="smcap">Antonio de Mendoza, Count of Tendilla,<br /> +I. Viceroy of New Spain.</span><br /> +1530–1551.</h3> + +<p>In the year 1530, the accusations received in Spain against +Nuño de Guzman, and the <i>oidores</i> Matinezo and Delgadillo, who at +that period ruled in Mexico under royal authority, were not only +so frequent, but of so terrible a character, that Charles V., resolved +to adopt some means of remedying the evils of his transatlantic +subjects. He was about to depart from Spain however, for Flanders, +and charged the Empress to adopt the necessary measures +for this purpose during his absence. This enlightened personage, +perceiving the difficulty of ruling so distant, extended and rich an +appendage of the Spanish crown, by inferior officials alone, wisely +determined to establish a <span class="smcap">Viceroyalty</span> in New Spain. It was a +measure which seemed to place the two worlds in more loyal +affinity. The vice king, it was supposed, would be the impersonation +of sovereignty, the direct representative of the national head, +and would always form an independent and truthful channel of +information. His position set him, eminently, above the crowd of +adventurers who were tempted to the shores of America; and, removable +at the royal pleasure, as well as selected from among +those Spanish nobles whose fidelity to the crown was unquestionable, +there was but little danger that even the most ambitious +subject would ever be tempted to alienate from the Emperor the +affection and services either of emigrants or natives.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span> + The Empress, in fulfilling the wishes of her august spouse, at +first fixed her eyes upon the Count de Oropesa and on the Marshal +de Fromesta, as persons well fitted to undertake the difficult charge +of founding the Mexican viceroyalty. But these individuals, upon +various pretexts, declined the mission, which was next tendered to +Don Manuel Benavides, whose exorbitant demands for money and +authority, finally induced the sovereign to withdraw her nomination. +Finally, she resolved to despatch Don Antonio de Mendoza, +Count of Tendilla, one of her chamberlains, who requested only +sufficient time to regulate his private affairs before he joyfully set +forth for his viceroyalty of New Spain. In the meantime, however, +in order not to lose a moment in remedying the disorders on the +other side of the Atlantic, the Empress created a new <i>Audiencia</i>, +at the head of which was Don Sebastian Ramirez de Fuenleal, +bishop of St. Domingo, and whose members were the <i>Licenciados</i> +Vasco de Quiroga, Alonso Maldonado, Francisco Cainos and Juan +de Salmeron. The appointment of the bishop was well justified +by his subsequent career of integrity, beneficence and wisdom; +whilst Vasco de Quiroga has left in Michoacan, and, indeed, in all +Mexico, a venerated name, whose renown is not forgotten, in +private life and the legends of the country to the present day.</p> + +<p>In 1535, Mendoza arrived in Mexico with letters for the Audiencia, +and was received with all the pomp and splendor becoming +the representative of royalty. His instructions were couched in +the most liberal terms, for, after all, it was chiefly on the personal +integrity and discretion of a viceroy that the Spanish sovereigns +were obliged to rely for the sure foundation of their American +empire. Of the desire of the Emperor and Empress to act their +parts justly and honestly in the opening of this splendid drama in +America there can be no doubt. Their true policy was to develope, +not to destroy; and they at once perceived that, in the New +World, they no longer dealt with those organized classes of civilized +society which, in Europe, yield either instinctively to the +feeling of loyalty, or are easily coerced into obedience to the laws.</p> + +<p>Mendoza was commanded, in the first place, to direct his attention +to the condition of public worship; to the punishment of +clergymen who scandalized their calling; to the conversion and +good treatment of the Indian population, and to the erection of a +mint in which silver should be coined according to laws made +upon this subject by Ferdinand and Isabella. All the wealth +which was found in Indian tombs or temples was to be sought out +and devoted to the royal treasury. It was forbidden, under heavy + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> +penalties, to sell arms to negroes or Indians, and the latter were, +moreover, denied the privilege of learning to work in those more +difficult or elegant branches of labor which might interfere with +the sale of Spanish imported productions.</p> + +<p>During the following year Mendoza received despatches from +the Emperor in which, after bestowing encomiums for the manifestations +of good government which the viceroy had already given, +he was directed to pay particular attention to the Indians; and, +together with these missives, came a summary of the laws which +the Council of the Indies had formed for the welfare of the natives. +These benevolent intentions, not only of the sovereign but of the +Spanish people also, were made known to the Indians and their +caciques, upon an occasion of festivity, by a clergyman who was +versed in their language, and, in a similar way, they were disseminated +throughout the whole viceroyalty. This year was, moreover, +memorable in Mexican annals as that in which the first book, +entitled <i>La Escala de San Juan Climaca</i>, was published in Mexico, +in the establishment of Juan Pablos, having been printed at a press +brought to the country by the viceroy Mendoza. Nor was 1536 +alone signalized by the first literary issue of the new kingdom; for +the first money, as well as the first book came at this time from the +Mexican mint. According to Torquemada two hundred thousand +dollars were coined in <i>copper</i>; but the emission of a circulating +medium, in this base metal, was so distasteful to the Mexicans, +that it became necessary for the viceroy to use stringent means in +order to compel its reception for the ordinary purposes of trade.</p> + +<p>Between the years 1536 and 1540 the history of the Mexican +viceroyalty was uneventful, save in the gradual progressive efforts +made not only by Mendoza, but by the Emperor himself, in endeavoring +to model and consolidate the Spanish empire on our +continent. Schools were established; hospitals were erected; +the protection of the Indians, under the apostolic labors of Las +Casas was honestly fostered, and every effort appears to have +been zealously made to give a permanent and domestic character +to the population which found its way rapidly into New Spain. +In 1541 the copper coin, of which we have already spoken as being +distasteful to the Mexicans, suddenly disappeared altogether from +circulation, and it was discovered that the natives had either buried +or thrown it into the lake as utterly worthless. The viceroy endeavored +to remedy the evil and dispel the popular prejudice by +coining <i>cuartillas</i> of silver; but these, from their extreme smallness +and the constant risk of loss, were equally unacceptable to the + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span> +people, who either collected large quantities and melted them into +bars, or cast them contemptuously into the water as they had before +done with the despised copper.</p> + +<p>It was not until about the year 1542, that we perceive in the +viceroyal history, any attempts upon the part of the Indians to +make formidable assaults against the Spaniards, whose oppressive +and grinding system of <i>repartimientos</i> was undoubtedly beginning +to be felt. At this period the Indians of Jalisco rose in arms, and +symptoms of discontent were observed to prevail, also, among the +Tarascos and Tlascalans, who even manifested an intention of +uniting with the rebellious natives of the north. Mendoza was +not an idle spectator of these movements, but resolved to go forth, +in person, at the head of his troops to put down the insurgents. +Accordingly he called on the Tlascalans, Cholulans, Huexotzinques, +Tezcocans, and other bands or tribes for support, and permitted +the caciques to use horses and the same arms that were borne by +the Spaniards. This concession seems to have greatly pleased the +natives of the country, though it was unsatisfactory to some of +their foreign masters.</p> + +<p>In the meanwhile, the coasts of America on the west, and the +shores of California especially, were examined by the Portuguese +Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, as far north as near the 41st° of latitude; +whilst another expedition was despatched to the Spice islands, +under the charge of Ruy Lopez de Villalobos.</p> + +<p>The viceroy was moreover busy with the preparation of his army +designed to march upon Jalisco, and, on the 8th of October, 1542, +departed from Mexico with a force of fifty thousand Indians, three +hundred cavalry, and one hundred and fifty Spanish infantry. +Passing through Michoacan, where he was detained for some time, +he, at length, reached the scene of the insurrection in Jalisco; but +before he attacked the rebels he proclaimed through the ecclesiastics +who accompanied him, his earnest wish to accommodate +difficulties, and, even, to pardon, graciously, all who would lay +down their arms and return to their allegiance. He ordered that +no prisoners should be made except of such as were needed to +transport the baggage and equipments of his troops; and, in every +possible way, he manifested a humane desire to soften the asperities +and disasters of the unequal warfare. But the rebellious Indians +were unwilling to listen to terms:—"We are lords of all these +lands," said they, heroically, in reply, "and we wish to die in +their defence!"</p> + +<p>Various actions ensued between the Spaniards, their allies, and + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span> +the insurgents, until at length, Mendoza obtained such decided +advantages over his opponents that they gave up the contest, threw +down their arms, and enabled the viceroy to return to his capital +with the assurance that the revolted territory was entirely and permanently +pacified. His conduct to the Indians after his successes +was characterized by all the suavity of a noble soul. He took no +revenge for this assault upon the Spanish authority, and seems, to +have continually endeavored to win the natives to their allegiance +by kindness rather than compulsion.</p> + +<p>These outbreaks among the Indians were of course not unknown +in Spain, where they occasioned no trifling fear for the integrity +and ultimate dominion of New Spain. The natural disposition of +the Emperor towards the aborigines, was, as we have said, kind +and gentle; but he perceived that the causes of these Indian discontents +might be attributed not so much, perhaps, to a patriotic +desire to recover their violated rights over the country, as to the +cruelty they endured at the hands of bold and reckless adventurers +who had emigrated to New Spain and converted the inoffensive +children of the country into slaves. Accordingly, the Emperor, +convened a council composed of eminent persons in Spain, to +consider the condition of his American subjects. This council +undertook the commission in a proper spirit, and adopted a liberal +system towards the aborigines, as well as towards the proprietors +of estates in the islands and on the main, which, in time, would +have fostered the industry and secured the ultimate prosperity of +all classes. There were to be no slaves made in the future wars +of these countries; the system of <i>repartimientos</i> was to be abandoned; +and the Indians were not, as a class, to be solely devoted +to ignoble tasks.<a name="FNanchor_31_31" id="FNanchor_31_31"></a> + <a href="#Footnote_31_31" class="fnanchor">[31]</a> The widest publicity was given to these +humane intentions in Spain. The Visitador of Hispaniola, or San +Domingo, Miguel Diaz de Armendariz, was directed to see their +strict fulfilment in the islands; and Francisco Tello de Sandoval +was commissioned to cross the Atlantic to Mexico, with full powers +and instructions from the Emperor, to enforce their obedience in +New Spain.</p> + +<p>In February, 1544, this functionary disembarked at St. Juan de +Ulua, and, a month afterwards, arrived in the capital. No sooner +did he appear in Mexico than the object of his mission became +gradually noised about among the proprietors and planters whose +wealth depended chiefly upon the preservation of their estates and +Indians in the servile condition in which they were before the + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span> +assemblage of the Emperor's council in Spain during the previous +year. Every effort was therefore made by these persons and their +sattelites to prevent the execution of the royal will. Appeals were +addressed to Sandoval invoking him to remain silent. He was +cautioned not to interfere with a state of society upon which the +property of the realm depended. The ruin of many families, the +general destruction of property, the complete revolution of the +American system, were painted in glowing colors, by these men +who pretended to regard the just decrees of the Emperor as mere +"innovations" upon the established laws of New Spain. But +Sandoval was firm, and he was stoutly sustained in his honorable +loyalty to his sovereign and christianity, by the countenance of +the viceroy Mendoza. Accordingly, the imperial decrees were +promulgated throughout New Spain, and resulted in seditious +movements among the disaffected proprietors which became so +formidable that the peace of the country was seriously endangered. +In this dilemma,—feeling, probably, that the great mass of the +people was the only bulwark of the government against the Indians, +and that it was needful to conciliate so powerful a body,—permission +was granted by the authorities, to appoint certain representatives +as a commission to lay the cause before the Emperor himself. +Accordingly two delegates were despatched to Spain together with +the provincials of San Francisco, Santo Domingo and San Agustin, +and other Spaniards of wealth and influence in the colony.</p> + +<p>In the following year, Sandoval, who had somewhat relaxed his +authority, took upon himself the dangerous task of absolutely enforcing +the orders of the Emperor with some degree of strictness, +notwithstanding the visit of the representatives of the discontented +Mexicans to Spain. He displaced several <i>oidores</i> and other +officers who disgraced their trusts, and deprived various proprietors +of their <i>repartimientos</i> or portions of Indians who had been +abused by the cruel exercise of authority. But, in the meantime, +the agents had not ceased to labor at the court in Spain. Money, +influence, falsehood and intrigue were freely used to sustain the +system of masked slavery among the subjugated natives, and, at +last, a royal <i>cedula</i> was procured commanding the revocation of +the humane decrees and ordering the division of the royal domain +among the conquerors. The Indians, of course, followed the fate +of the soil; and thus, by chicanery and influence, the gentle efforts +of the better portion of Spanish society were rendered entirely +nugatory. The news of this decree spread joy among the Mexican +landed proprietors. The chains of slavery were rivetted upon the + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span> +natives. The principle of compulsory labor was established forever; +and, even to this day, the Indian of Mexico remains the +bondsman he was doomed to become in the sixteenth century.</p> + +<p>Between the years 1540 and 1542, an expedition was undertaken +for the subjugation of an important nation which it was alleged +existed far to the north of Mexico. A Franciscan missionary, +Marcos de Naza, reported that he had discovered, north of Sonora, +a rich and powerful people inhabiting a realm known as Quivara, +or the seven cities, whose capital, Cibola, was quite as civilized as +an European city. After the report had reached and been considered +in Spain, it was determined to send an armed force to this +region in order to explore, and if possible to reduce the Quivarans +to the Spanish yoke. Mendoza had designed to entrust this expedition +to Pedro de Alvarado, after having refused Cortéz permission +to lead the adventurers,—a task which he had demanded as +his right. But when all the troops were enlisted, Alvarado had +not yet reached Mexico from Guatemala, and, accordingly, the viceroy +despatched Vasquez de Coronado, at the head of the enterprise. +At the same time he fitted out another expedition, with two ships, +under the orders of Francisco Alarcon, who was to make a reconnoisance +of the coast as far as the thirty-sixth degree, and, after +having frequently visited the shores, he was, in that latitude to +meet the forces sent by land.</p> + +<p>Coronado set forth from Culiacan, with three hundred and fifty +Spaniards and eight hundred Indians, and, after reaching the +source of the Gila, passed the mountains to the Rio del Norte. +He wintered twice in the region now called New Mexico, explored +it thoroughly from north to south, and then, striking off to the north +east, crossed the mountains and wandering eastwardly as far north +as the fortieth degree of latitude, he unfortunately found neither +Quivara nor gold. A few wretched ruins of Indian villages were +all the discoveries made by these hardy pioneers, and thus the enchanted +kingdom eluded the grasp of Spain forever. The troop of +strangers and Indians soon became disorganized and disbanded; +nor was Alarcon more successful by sea than Coronado by land. +His vessels explored the shores of the Pacific carefully, but they +found no wealthy cities to plunder, nor could the sailors hear of +any from the Indians with whom they held intercourse.</p> + +<p>In 1546, a desolating pestilence swept over the land, destroying, +according to some writers, eight hundred thousand Indians, and, +according to others, five-sixths of the whole population. It lasted +for about six months; and, at this period, a projected insurrection + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span> +among the black slaves and the Tenochan and Tlaltelolcan Indians, +was detected through a negro. This menaced outbreak was soon +crushed by Mendoza, who seized and promptly executed the +ringleaders.</p> + +<p>A portion of the Visitador Sandoval's orders related to the convocation +of the Mexican bishops with a view to the spiritual welfare +of the natives, and the prelates were accordingly all summoned to +the capital, with the exception of the virtuous Las Casas, whose +humane efforts in behalf of the Indians, and whose efforts +to free them from the slavery of the <i>repartimientos</i> had subjected +him to the mortal hatred of the planters. The council +of ecclesiastics met; but it is probable that their efforts were +quite as ineffectual as the humane decrees of the Emperor, and +that even in the church itself, there may have been persons +who were willing to tolerate the involuntary servitude of the natives +rather than forego the practical and beneficial enjoyment of estates +which were beginning to fall into the possession of convents and +monastaries on the death of pious penitents.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile the population of New Spain increased considerably, +especially towards the westward. It was soon perceived by Mendoza +that a single Audiencia was no longer sufficient for so +extended a country. He, therefore, recommended the appointment +of another, in Compostella de la Nueva Gallacia, and in 1547, the +Emperor ordered two <i>letrados</i> for the administration of justice in +that quarter. The ultimate reduction of the province of Vera-Paz +was likewise accomplished at this period. The benignant name +of "True Peace" was bestowed on this territory from the fact that +the inhabitants yielded gracefully and speedily to the persuasive +influence and spiritual conquest of the Dominican monks, and that +not a single soldier was needed to teach them the religion of Christ +at the point of the sword.</p> + +<p>During the two or three following years there was but little to +disturb the quietness of the colony, save in brief and easily suppressed +outbreaks among the Indians. Royal lands were divided +among poor and meritorious Spaniards; property which was found +to be valueless in the neighborhood of cities was allowed to be +exchanged for mountain tracts, in which the eager adventurers +supposed they might discover mineral wealth; and the valuable +mines of Tasco, Zultepec, and Temascaltepec, together with others, +probably well known to the ancient Mexicans, were once more +thrown open and diligently worked.</p> + +<p>The wise administration of the Mexican viceroyalty by Mendoza + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span> +had been often acknowledged by the Emperor. He found in this +distinguished person a man qualified by nature to deal with the +elements of a new society when they were in their wildest moments +of confusion, and before they had become organized into the order +and system of a regular state. Mendoza, by nature firm, amiable, +and just, seems nevertheless to have been a person who knew +when it was necessary in a new country, to bend before the storm +of popular opinion in order to avoid the destruction, not only of his +own influence, but perhaps of society, civilization and the Spanish +authorities themselves. In the midst of all the fiery and unregulated +spirit of a colony like Mexico, he sustained the dignity of his +office unimpaired, and by command, diplomacy, management, and +probably sometimes by intrigue, he appears to have ensured +obedience to the laws even when they were distasteful to the +masses. He was successful upon all occasions except in the enforcement +of the complete emancipation of the Indians; but it may +be questioned whether he did not deem it needful, in the infancy of +the viceroyalty at least, to subject the Indians to labors which his +countrymen were either too few in number or too little acclimated +in Mexico to perform successfully. History must at least do him +the justice to record the fact that his administration was tempered +with mercy, for even the Indians revered him as a man who was +their signal protector against wanton inhumanity.</p> + +<p>Whilst these events occurred in Mexico, Pizarro had subjugated +Peru, and added it to the Spanish crown. But there, as in Mexico, +an able man was needed to organize the fragmentary society which +was in the utmost disorder after the conquest. No one appeared +to the Emperor better fitted for the task than the viceroy whose +administration had been so successful in Mexico. Accordingly, +in 1550, the viceroyalty of Peru was offered to him, and its acceptance +urged by the Emperor at a moment when a revolt against +the Spaniards occurred among the Zapotecas, instigated by their +old men and chiefs, who, availing themselves of an ancient prophecy +relative to the return of <span class="smcap">Quetzalcoatl</span>, assured the youths +and warriors of their tribe that the predicted period had arrived and +that, under the protection of their restored deity, their chains would +be broken. In this, as in all other endeavors to preserve order, +the efforts of Mendoza were successful. He appeased the Indians, +accepted the proffered task of governing Peru; and, after meeting +and conferring with his successor, Velasco, in Cholula, departed +from Mexico for the scene of his new labors on the distant shores +of the Pacific.</p> + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<div class="fn"> +<h4>Footnote</h4> +<p><a name="Footnote_31_31" id="Footnote_31_31"></a> + <a href="#FNanchor_31_31"><span class="label">[31]</span></a> Herrera Decade + vii., lib. vi., chap. v.</p> +</div> + + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER III.<br /> +1551–1564.</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>VELASCO ENDEAVORS TO AMELIORATE THE CONDITION OF THE +INDIANS.—UNIVERSITY OF MEXICO ESTABLISHED—INUNDATION.—MILITARY +COLONIZATION—PHILIP II.—FLORIDA.—INTRIGUES +AGAINST VELASCO—PHILIPINE ISLES.—DEATH OF +VELASCO—MARQUES DE FALCES.—BAPTISM OF THE GRAND +CHILDREN OF CORTÉZ.—CONSPIRACY AGAINST THE MARQUES +DEL VALLE—HIS ARREST—EXECUTION OF HIS FRIENDS.—MARQUES +DE FALCES—CHARGES AGAINST HIM—HIS FALL.—ERRORS +OF PHILIP II.—FALL OF MUÑOZ AND HIS RETURN.—VINDICATION +OF THE VICEROY.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="hr2" /> + +<h3><span class="smcap">Don Luis de Velasco,<br /> +II. Viceroy of New Spain.</span><br /> +1551–1564.</h3> + +<p>The new viceroy, Don Luis de Velasco, arrived in Mexico +without especial orders changing the character of the government. +He was selected by the Emperor as a person deemed +eminently fitted to sustain the judicious policy of his predecessor; +and it is probable that he had secret commands from the court to +attempt once more the amelioration of the Indian population. +There is no doubt that Charles the Fifth was sincere in his wish to +protect the natives; and, if he yielded at all,—as we have seen in +the narrative of the last viceroyalty,—to the demands of the owners +of <i>repartimientos</i>, it was probably with the hope that a better opportunity +of sustaining his humane desires would occur as soon as +the conquerors or their followers, were glutted by the rich harvests +they might reap during the early years of the settlement.</p> + +<p>Accordingly, we find, as soon as Velasco had been received in +Mexico with all suitable ceremony and honor, that, notwithstanding +the continued opposition of the proprietors and planters, he +proclaimed his determination to carry out the orders that had been +given to Mendoza, so far as they tended to relieve the Indians +from the personal labors, tributes, and severe service in the mines +with which they had been burdened by the conquerors. This, as + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span> +was expected, created extraordinary discontent. The cupidity of +the sovereign and of his representative were appealed to. It was +alleged that not only would the Spanish emigrants suffer for the +want of laborers, but that the royal treasury would soon be emptied +of the taxes and income which, thus far, had regularly flowed into +it. But Don Luis was firm in his resolution, and declared that "the +liberty of the Indians was of more importance than all the mines in +the world, and that the revenues they yielded to the Spanish crown +were not of such a character that all divine and human laws should +be sacrificed, in order to obtain them."</p> + +<p>In 1553, the attention of the viceroy was specially directed to +the subject of education, for the population had so greatly increased +in the few years of stable government, that unless the best means +of instructing the growing generation were speedily adopted, it +was probable that New Spain would lose many of the descendants +of those families which it was the policy of the crown to establish +permanently in America. The University of Mexico was therefore +consecrated and opened in this year; and, in 1555, Paul IV., bestowed +upon it the same privileges and rights as were enjoyed by +that of Salamanca in Spain.</p> + +<p>But this was a sad year for the city of Mexico, in other respects. +The first inundation since the conquest, occurred in 1553, and for +three days the capital was under water and the communication kept +up in boats and canoes. Every effort was made by the viceroy to +prevent the recurrence of the evil, by the erection of a dyke to dam +up the waters of the lake; and it is related by contemporary historians, +that he even wrought with his own hands at the gigantic +work, during the first day, in order to show a good example to the +citizens who were called on to contribute their personal labor for +their future protection from such a disaster.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>There were few outbreaks among the Indians during this viceroyalty, +yet there were troublesome persons among the original +tribes of the Chichimecas,—some bands of whom were not yet +entirely subjected to the Spanish government,—who contrived to +keep up a guerilla warfare, which interrupted the free circulation +of the Spaniards through the plains and mountain passes of the +Bajio. These were, in all probability, mere predatory attacks; but +as it was impossible for the viceroy to spare sufficient numbers of +faithful soldiers for the purpose of scouring the hiding places and +fastnesses of these robber bands, he resolved to found a number of +villages composed of natives and foreigners, and to place in them, + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span> +permanently, sufficient numbers of troops to protect the adjacent +country roads, and to form the nucleus of towns, which, in the +course of time, would grow to importance. Such was the origin, +by military colonization, of San Felipe Yztlahuaca, and of San +Miguel el Grande, now known as Allende, from the hero of that +name to whom it gave birth. It was the constant policy of the +Emperor to extend the avenues of industry for his emigrant subjects +by such a system of security and protection; and, accordingly, Don +Francisco Ibarra, was despatched to the interior with orders to +explore the northern and western regions, but, on no account, to +use arms against the natives except in case of the utmost urgency. +Ibarra traversed a wide and nearly unknown region, discovered +rich mines of gold and silver, and colonized many places of considerable +importance in the subsequent development of Mexico, +and among them, the city of Durango, which is now the capital of +the state of that name.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>The abdication of Charles V. was unofficially announced in +Mexico in 1556; but it was not until the 6th of June of the following +year that his successor Philip II. was proclaimed in the capital +of New Spain. The policy of the old Emperor was not changed +by the accession of the new king; nor does the monarch appear to +have influenced in any particular manner the destiny of Mexico +during the continuance of Velasco's government, except by the +fitting out, at his special command, under the order of his viceroy, +of an expedition for the conquest of Florida, which proved disastrous +to all concerned in it. Crowds flocked in the year 1558 to +the standard raised for this adventure, which it was supposed +would result in gratifying the Spanish thirst for gold. In the +following year the few who remained of the untoward enterprise, +returned with their commanders to Havana and thence to New +Spain.</p> + +<p>Thus far Velasco's administration had been successful in preserving +the peace in Mexico,—in opening the resources of the +country in mines, agriculture and pastoral affairs,—and in alleviating +the condition of the Indians by gradual restraints on his +countrymen. His power was unlimited; but he had, in no +instance abused it, or countenanced its abuse in others. Anxious +not to rely exclusively upon his own resources, but to take council +from the best authorities in cases of difficulty or doubt, he invariably +consulted the Audiencia in all emergencies. But, just and +loyal as had been his official conduct, it had not saved him from + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span> +creating enemies; and these, unfortunately, were not only found +among the rich oppressors whose shameless conduct he strove to +punish, but even among the members of the Audiencia itself. +These men combined secretly to undermine the influence of the +viceroy, and despatched commissioners to Spain, who represented +to the king that the health of his representative was in a failing +state, and that it was extremely needful he should be sustained by +a council whose duty it was to direct him upon all questions of +public interest. The intriguers were successful in their appeal, +and a decree soon arrived in New Spain announcing that the +viceroy should thenceforth do nothing without the previous sanction +of the Audiencia. This order of the king immediately put the +power into the hands of individuals whose object was rather to +acquire sudden wealth than to govern a new and semi-civilized +nation justly, or to enact laws which would develope the resources +of the country. The viceroy had been impartial. He held the +balance between the Indian laborer and the Spanish extortioner. +His office and emoluments placed him, at that period, high above +the ordinary temptations of avarice. But the Audiencia, composed +of several persons, whose position was far inferior to the viceroy's, +was accessible to intrigue and corruption, and the unfortunate +Indians soon found to their cost, that the royal limitation on +Velasco's power had lost them a friend and staunch supporter. +The Audiencia and the viceroy were soon surrounded by parties +who advocated their different causes with zeal; but the loyal +viceroy did not murmur in the discharge of his duty and faithfully +followed the order of the king to submit his judgment to the +council. Nevertheless all were not so patient as Velasco. Counter +statements were sent, by skilful advocates, to Spain; and +Velasco himself required an examination to be made into his +official conduct.</p> + +<p>Accordingly, Philip II. appointed a certain <i>licenciado</i> Valderrama, +as visitador of New Spain, who arrived in 1563, and +immediately began the discharge of his functions by a course of +exaction, especially from the Indians, which neither the appeals +nor the arguments of the viceroy could induce him to abandon. +The arrival of this harsh and cruel personage, was, indeed, sad for +Mexico, and, in the country's history, he still retains the name of +"El Molestador de los Indios."</p> + +<p>Fortunately for Velasco an escape from the double tyranny of +the Audiencia and of Valderrama was opened to him in an expedition +to the Philipine islands which the king had ordered him to + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span> +colonize. But whilst he was engaged in organizing his forces and +preparing for the voyage, his health suddenly gave way, and on +the 31st of July, 1564, he expired amid the general grief of all the +worthier classes of Mexico, and, especially, of the Indians, whom +he had befriended. Death silenced the murmurs of the intriguers. +When the beneficent viceroy could no longer interfere with the +selfish interests of the multitude, crowds flocked around his bier to +honor his harmless remains.</p> + +<hr class="hr2" /> + +<h3><span class="smcap">Don Gaston de Peralta, Marques de Falces,<br /> +III. Viceroy of New Spain.</span><br /> +1564–1568.</h3> + +<p>On the death of Don Luis de Velasco the First, the reins of government +remained in the hands of the Royal Audiencia, in conformity +with the order of Philip II. Francisco de Zeinos, Pedro +de Villalobos, and Geronimo de Orozoco were then the oidores; +while Valderrama, whose visit occurred during the government of +Don Luis de Velasco, as we have already narrated, had departed +for Spain. In 1564, the expedition which was planned and prepared +under the last viceroy, sailed for the Philipine islands, and +founded the celebrated city of Manilla, which has since played so +distinguished a part in the history of oriental commerce.</p> + +<p>The year 1566 was an important one, at least in the social history +of Mexico, for it was fraught with danger to the son and +representative of the illustrious conqueror. The Marques del Valle, +heir of Hernando Cortéz, had been for sometime established in the +capital, where he formed the nucleus of a noble circle, and was admired +by all classes for the splendor with which he maintained the +honor of his house. His palace was constantly filled with the +flower of Mexican aristocracy, and among the knightly train of +gallant men, few were more distinguished for gentle bearing and +personal accomplishment than Alonso de Avila Alvarado, and his +brother Gil Gonzalez. The Marques del Valle, distinguished the +former by his special attentions, and this, together with the imprudent +conduct or expressions of Alonso, made him suspected by +persons who simulated an extraordinary zeal for the Spanish monarchy, +whilst, in fact, their chief object was to ingratiate themselves +with men of power or influence in order to further their +private interests.</p> + +<p>On the 30th of June, 1566, the Dean of the Cathedral, Don +Juan Chico de Molina, baptized in that sacred edifice, the twin + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> +daughters of the Marques del Valle, whose sponsors were Don +Lucas de Castilla and Doña Juana de Sosa. The festivities of the +gallant Marques upon this occasion of family rejoicing, were, as +usual among the rich in Spanish countries, attended with the +utmost magnificence; and in order to present our readers a picture +of the manners of the period, we shall describe the scene as it is +related by those who witnessed it.</p> + +<p>It was a day of general rejoicing and festivity in the city of +Mexico. From the palace of the Marques to the door of the +cathedral, a passage was formed under lofty and splendid canopies +composed of the richest stuffs. A salute of artillery announced the +entry of the twins into the church, and it was repeated at their +departure. At the moment when the rites of religion were completed +and the infants were borne back to their home through the +covered way, the spectators in the <i>plaza</i> were amused by a chivalric +tournament between twelve knights in complete steel. Other +rare and costly diversions succeeded in an artificial grove, which +the Marques had caused to be erected in the <i>plazuela</i>, or lesser +square, intervening between his palace and the cathedral. Nor +were these amusements designed alone for persons of his own +rank, for the masses of the people were also summoned to partake +his bountiful hospitality. At the doors of his princely dwelling +tables were sumptuously spread with roasted oxen, all kinds of +wild fowl and numberless delicacies, whilst two casks of white and +red wine,—then esteemed in Mexico the most luxurious rarities,—were +set flowing for the people.</p> + +<p>At night, Alonso Gonzalez de Avila, the intimate companion +of the Marques, entertained the chief personages of Mexico with a +splendid ball, during which there was a performance, or symbolical +masque representing the reception of Hernando Cortéz by the Emperor +Montezuma. Alonso, splendidly attired, sustained the part +of the Mexican sovereign. During one of the evolutions of the +spectacle, Avila threw around the neck of the young Marques a +collar of intermingled flowers and jewels, similar to the one with +which his father had been adorned by Montezuma; and, at the +conclusion of the scene, he placed on the heads of the Marques and +his wife a coronet of laurel, with the exclamation,—"How well +these crowns befit your noble brows!"</p> + +<p>These simple diversions of a family festival were, doubtless, +altogether innocent, and, certainly, not designed to prefigure an +intention upon the part of the Marques and his friends to usurp the +government of the New World. But it is probable that he had + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span> +unwisely made enemies of men in power who were either ridiculously +suspicious, or eagerly sought for any pretext, no matter how +silly, to lay violent hands upon the son of Cortéz. It is probable, +too, that the prestige,—the moral power,—of the great conqueror's +name had not yet ceased to operate in Mexico; and, in +those days when individuals were not dainty in ridding themselves +of dangerous intruders, it is not unlikely that it was the policy of +the Audiencia and its coadjutors to drive the gallant Marques from +scenes, which, in the course of time, might tempt his ambition. +The extreme popularity of such a man was not to be tolerated.</p> + +<p>However, the domestic festival, symbolical as it was deemed by +some of a desire to foreshadow the destiny of the son of Cortéz, +was allowed to pass over. The oidores and their spies, meditating +in secret over the crowning of Cortéz and his wife by Avila, and +the remarkable words by which the graceful act was accompanied, +resolved to embrace the first opportunity to detect what they declared +was a conspiracy to wrest the dominion of New Spain from +Philip II.</p> + +<p>When men are anxious to commit a crime, a pretext or an +occasion is not generally long wanting to accomplish the wicked +design. Accordingly we find that on the 13th of August, the +anniversary of the capture of the capital, the alleged conspiracy, +was to break out. A national procession, in honor of the day, was +to pass along the street of San Francisco and to return through that +which now bears the name of Tacuba. Certain armed bands, convened +under the pretext of military display, were to be stationed +in the way, while, from a small turret in which he had concealed +himself, Don Martin Cortéz, the son of the conqueror by the Indian +girl Mariana, was to sally forth, and seize the royal standard, +and being immediately joined by the armed bands, was, forthwith, +to proclaim the Marques del Valle king of Mexico and to slay the +oidores as well as all who should offer the least resistance.</p> + +<p>Such was the story which the authorities had heard or feigned +to have heard through their trusty spies. Nearly a month before +the dreaded day, however, the Audiencia assembled, and requested +the presence of the Marques del Valle, under the pretext that despatches +had been received from the king of Spain, which, by his +special order, were only to be opened in presence of the son of +Cortéz. The Marques, who imagined no evil, immediately responded +to the call of the oidores, and the moment he entered the +hall the doors were guarded by armed men. Cortéz was ordered +to seat himself on a common stool, while one of the functionaries + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span> +announced to him that he was a prisoner, in the name of the king. +"For what?" eagerly demanded the Marques. "As a traitor +to his Majesty!" was the foul reply. "<i>You lie!</i>" exclaimed +Cortéz, springing from his seat, and grasping the hilt of his dagger;—"I +am no traitor to my king,—nor are there traitors +among any of my lineage!"</p> + +<p>The natural excitement of the loyal nobleman subsided after a +moment's reflection. He had been entrapped into the hands of the +Audiencia, and finding himself completely, though unjustly, in +their power, he at once resolved to offer no childish opposition, +when resistance would be so utterly useless. With the manly +dignity of a chivalrous Spaniard, he immediately yielded up his +weapons and was taken prisoner to the apartments that had been +prepared for him. His half brother, Don Martin, was also apprehended, +and orders were sent to the city of Tezcoco for the seizure +of Don Luis Cortéz who resided there as justice or governor. In +Mexico, Alonso Avila Alvarado, and his brother Gil Gonzalez, +with many other distinguished men were incarcerated, and the +papers of all the prisoners were, of course, seized and eagerly +scrutinized by the sattelites who hoped to find in them a confirmation +of the imaginary conspiracy.</p> + +<p>Among the documents of Alonso de Avila a large number of +love letters were found; but neither in his papers nor in those of +his brother, or of the many victims of these foul suspicions, who +languished in prison, did they discover a single line to justify their +arrest. Nevertheless, Don Alonso and his brother Don Gil Gonzalez, +were singled out as victims and doomed to death. The +authorities dared not, probably, strike at a person so illustrious and +so popular as the Marques del Valle; but they resolved to justify, +in the public eye, their inquisitorial investigation, by the sacrifice of +some one. The public would believe that there was in reality a +crime when the scaffold reeked with blood; and, besides, the blow +would fall heaviest on the family of Cortéz when it struck the +cherished companions of his home and heart.</p> + +<p>On the 7th of August, at seven in the evening, Alonso and Gil +Gonzalez were led forth to the place of execution in front of the Casa +de Cabildo. Their heads were struck off and stuck on spears on +the roof of the edifice; whence they were finally taken, at the earnest +remonstrance of the Ayuntamiento, and buried with the bodies +of the victims in the church of San Agustin. Every effort had +been made to save the lives of these truly innocent young men. +But although the principal persons in the viceroyalty, united in the + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span> +appeal for mercy if not for justice, the inexorable oidores carried +out their remorseless and bloody decree. It is even asserted that +these cruel men would not have hesitated to inflict capital punishment +upon the Marques himself had not the new viceroy, Don +Gaston de Peralta, Marques de Falces, arrived at San Juan de +Ulua, on the 17th of September, 1566.</p> + +<p>As soon as this personage reached Mexico he began to enquire +into the outrage. He was quickly satisfied that the whole proceeding +was founded in malice. The oidores were removed, and +others being placed in their posts, the viceroy despatched a missive +to the court of Spain containing his views and comments upon the +conduct of the late officials. But the document was sent by a +man who was secretly a warm friend of the brutal oidores, and, to +save them from the condign punishment they deserved, he withheld +it from the king.</p> + +<p>Yet these functionaries, still fearing that their crime would be +finally punished, not only treacherously intercepted the despatch +of the viceroy, but also took the speediest opportunity to send to +the king accusations against Don Gaston himself, in which they +charged him with negligence in his examination of the conspiracy, +with treasonable alliance with the Marques del Valle, and with a +design to usurp the government of New Spain. They founded +their allegations upon the false oaths of several deponents, who +alleged that the viceroy had already prepared and held at his orders +thirty thousand armed men. This base imposture, as ridiculous as +it was false, originated in an act of Peralta which was altogether +innocent. Being a man of fine taste, and determining that the +viceroyal residence should be worthy the abode of his sovereign's +representative, he caused the palace to be refitted, and, among the +adornments of the various saloons, he ordered a large painting to +be placed on the walls of one of the chambers in which a battle +was represented containing an immense number of combatants. +This was the army which the witnesses, upon their oaths, represented +to the king, as having been raised and commanded by the +viceroy! It can scarcely be supposed possible that the Audiencia +of Mexico would have resorted to such flimsy means to cover their +infamy. It seems incredible that such mingled cruelty and childishness +could ever have proceeded from men who were deputed to +govern the greatest colony of Spain. Yet such is the unquestionable +fact, and it indicates, at once, the character of the age +and of the men who managed, through the intrigues of court, to + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span> +crawl to eminence and power which they only used to gratify +vindictive selfishness or to glut their inordinate avarice.</p> + +<p>Philip the II. could not, at first, believe the accusations of the +oidores against the family of Cortéz and the distinguished nobleman +whom he had sent to represent him in Mexico. He resolved, +therefore, to wait the despatches of the viceroy. But the oidores +had been too watchful to allow those documents to reach the court +of Spain; and Philip, therefore, construing the silence of Don +Gaston de Peralta, into a tacit confession of his guilt, sent the +<i>Licenciados</i> Jaraba, Muñoz, and Carillo to New Spain, as <i>Jueces +Pesquisidores</i>, with letters for the viceroy commanding him to yield +up the government and to return to Spain in order to account for +his conduct.</p> + +<p>These men immediately departed on their mission and arrived +safely in America without accident, save in the death of Jaraba +one of their colleagues. As soon as they reached Mexico, they +presented their despatches to the viceroy, and Muñoz took possession +of the government of New Spain. The worthy and noble +Marques de Falces was naturally stunned by so unprecedented and +unexpected a proceeding; but, satisfied of the justice of his cause +as well as of the purity of his conduct, he left the capital and +retired to the castle of San Juan de Ulua, leaving the reins of +power in the hands of Muñoz whose tyrannical conduct soon +destroyed all the confidence which hitherto had always existed, at +least between the Audiencia and the people of the metropolis. + <a name="FNanchor_32_32" id="FNanchor_32_32"></a><a href="#Footnote_32_32" class="fnanchor">[32]</a> +It was probably before this time that the Marques del Valle was +released;—and deeming the new empire which his father had +given to Spain no safe resting place for his descendants, he +departed once more for the Spanish court. The viceroy himself +had fallen a victim to deception and intrigue.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>It seems to have been one of the weaknesses of Philip the +Second's character to have but little confidence in men. With +such examples as we have just seen, it may, nevertheless, have +been an evidence of his wisdom that he did not rely upon the +courtiers who usually surround a king. He had doubted, in +reality, the actual guilt of the Marques de Falces, and was, therefore, +not surprised when he learned the truth upon these weighty +matters in the year 1568. The government of Muñoz, his visitador, +was, moreover, represented to him as cruel and bloody. The +conduct of the previous Audiencia had been humane when compared + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span> +with the acting governor's. The prisons, which already +existed in Mexico were not adequate to contain his victims, and +he built others whose dark, damp and narrow architecture rendered +incarceration doubly painful to the sufferers. Don Martin Cortéz, +the half brother of the Marques del Valle, who remained in the +metropolis as the attorney and representative of his kinsman, was +seized and put to torture for no crime save that the blood of the +conqueror flowed in his veins, and that he had enjoyed friendly +relations with the suspected conspirators. Torture, it was imagined +would wring from him a confession which might justify the +oidores. The situation of New Spain could not, indeed, be worse +than it was, for no man felt safe in the midst of such unrestrained +power and relentless cruelty; and we may be permitted to believe +that outraged humanity would soon have risen to vindicate itself +against such brutes and to wrest the fruits of the conquest from a +government that sent forth such wicked sattelites. Even the +Audiencia itself,—the moving cause of this new and bad government,—began +to tremble when it experienced the humiliating +contempt with which it was invariably treated by the monster +Muñoz.</p> + +<p>But all these acts of maladministration were more safely reported +to the Spanish court by the nobles and oidores of Mexico, +than the despatches of the unfortunate Marques de Falces. Philip +eagerly responded to the demand for the removal of Muñoz. He +despatched the oidores Villanueva and Vasco de Puga, to Mexico, +with orders to Muñoz to give up the government in three hours +after he received the royal despatch, and to return immediately to +Spain for judgment of his conduct. The envoys lost no time in +reaching their destination, where they found that Muñoz had +retired to the convent of Santo Domingo, probably as a sanctuary, +in order to pass Holy Week. But the impatient emissaries, responding +to the joyful impatience of the people, immediately followed +him to his retreat, and, after waiting a considerable time in +the anti-chamber, and being, at last, most haughtily received by +Muñoz, who scarcely saluted them with a nod, Villanueva drew +from his breast the royal <i>cedula</i>, and commanded his secretary to +read it in a loud voice.</p> + +<p>For a while the foiled visitador sat silent, moody and thoughtful, +scarcely believing the reality of what he heard. After a pause, +in which all parties preserved silence, he rose and declared his +willingness to yield to the king's command; and thus, this brutal +chief, who but a few hours before believed himself a sovereign in + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span> +Mexico, was indebted to the charity of some citizens for a carriage +in which he travelled to Vera Cruz. Here a fleet was waiting to +transport him to Spain. The late viceroy, the Marques de Falces, +departed in a ship of the same squadron, and, upon his arrival at +the court, soon found means to justify himself entirely in the eyes +of his sovereign. But it went harder with Muñoz. He vainly +tried his skill at exculpation with the king. Philip seems to have +despised him too much to enter into discussion upon the merits of +the accusations. The facts were too flagrant. The king returned +him his sword, declining to hear any argument in his justification. +"I sent you to the Indies to govern, not to destroy!" said Philip, +as he departed from his presence; and that very night the visitador +suddenly expired!</p> + +<p>Whether he died of mortification or violence, is one of those +state secrets, which, like many others of a similar character, the +chronicles of Spain do not reveal!</p> + +<p>Don Martin Cortéz and his family took refuge in Spain where +his case was fully examined; and whilst the investigation lasted, +from 1567 to 1574, his estates in Mexico were confiscated. He +was finally declared innocent of all the charges, but his valuable +property had been seriously injured and wasted by the officers of +the crown, to whom it was intrusted during the long period of +sequestration.</p> + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<div class="fn"> +<h4>Footnote</h4> +<p><a name="Footnote_32_32" id="Footnote_32_32"></a><a href="#FNanchor_32_32"> + <span class="label">[32]</span></a> Liceo Mexicano vol. 1, p. 263, et seq.</p> +</div> + + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER IV.<br /> +1568–1589.</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>ALMANZA VICEROY.—CHICHIMECAS REVOLT—JESUITS——INQUISITION.—PESTILENCE.—NO +INDIAN TRIBUTE EXACTED.—ALMANZA +DEPARTS—XUARES VICEROY.—WEAK ADMINISTRATION—INCREASE +OF COMMERCE.—PEDRO MOYA DE CONTRERAS +VICEROY.—REFORMS UNDER A NEW VICEROY.—HIS POWER +AS VICEROY AND INQUISITOR.—ZUÑIGA VICEROY.—TREASURE—PIRACY.—CAVENDISH—DRAKE +CAPTURES A GALEON. +ZUÑIGA AND THE AUDIENCIA OF GUADALAJARA—HIS DEPOSITION +FROM POWER.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="hr2" /> + +<h3><span class="smcap">Don Martin Enriquez de Almanza.<br /> +IV. Viceroy of New Spain.</span><br /> +1568–1580.</h3> + +<p>The salutary lesson received by the Audiencia in the events +which occurred in the metropolis during late years, induced its +members to conduct themselves with less arrogance during the +short time they held supreme power after the departure of the Visitadores. +In October of 1568, a new viceroy, Don Martin Enriquez +de Almanza, arrived at Vera Cruz, whence he reached the capital +on the 5th of the following November after having routed the +English whom he found in possession of the Isle of Sacrificios.</p> + +<p>Don Martin immediately perceived, upon assuming the reins of +government, that it was necessary to calm the public mind in the +metropolis which, from recent occurrences, now began to regard +all men in authority with jealousy and distrust. He let the people +understand, therefore, from the first, that he did not design to +countenance any proceedings similar to those which had lately +almost disorganized and revolutionized the colony. An occasion +soon presented itself in which his prudence and discretion were +required to adjust a serious dispute concerning the Franciscan +monks and in which the people sympathized with the brotherhood +and their supposed rights. Any act of rigor or harshness would + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span> +have kindled the flame of sedition, but the mild diplomacy of the +viceroy sufficed to calm the litigants and to restore perfect peace to +the capital. A religious dispute, in such a community as Mexico +then was, seemed, indeed, an affair of no small moment, especially +when it arose in so tempestuous a period of the nation and was +the first occasion to try the temper and talents of a new viceroy.</p> + +<p>But the attention of Don Martin was soon to be drawn from the +capital towards the frontiers of his government, where he found +that the troublesome bands of wandering Chichimecas, had been +busy in their old work of robbery and spoliation, whilst the Audiencia +was engaged in its intrigues and corruption in the city of +Mexico. The impunity with which these martial vagabonds had +been allowed to proceed, increased their daring, and the evils they +inflicted on the country were becoming continually greater. Not +satisfied with having despatched the chief alcalde of the hostile +region with the militia to punish the rebels, he joined the forces of +that, officer, and succeeded after great slaughter in compelling the +Indians to quit the soil they had hitherto ravaged. It should be +recorded, in justice to the viceroy, that he ordered the Indian +children who fell into the hands of his soldiery, to be spared, and, +at the end of the campaign, brought them all to the metropolis, +where he distributed them among rich families so that they might +receive a christian education. In order to save the region from +further devastation he established therein a colony, to which he +gave the name of San Felipe, perhaps in honor of his king, as he +bestowed upon it the title of "city."</p> + +<p>Such was the condition of things when Pedro Moya de Contreras +arrived in Mexico as Inquisitor, having been sent by Philip to +establish the dread tribunal of the faith in that capital. The +Spanish king feared that the doctrines of the reformation which +were then rife in Europe might find friends among his transatlantic +subjects, and he mercifully resolved to give them, as a guardian of +their consciences, this sad and dreadful present. In 1572, Doctor +Pedro Sanchez, a Jesuit, with various brethren of the same order, +came to the city of Mexico, and founded a college in certain edifices +which were ceded to them for that purpose by Alonso Villaseca. +The brethren of the holy office, or inquisition, meanwhile organized +<i>their</i> body, for future operations, and settled under the wings +of the church of Santo Domingo.</p> + +<p>It was at this period, also, that Don Martin established the +<i>alcabala</i>; and, although the merchants opposed the measure, which +was entirely new to them, and alleged that it was a mortal blow to + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span> +their business, they were unable to force the viceroy to retract his +measure. His determination was founded on the fact that trade +had now become established on a firm and robust basis, and that it +could well bear without injury an impost of this character.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>In the years 1574 and 1575 there were serious discussions +between the temporal and spiritual powers of Mexico, growing out +of a royal order that no prelate should be admitted in the country +unless he bore a suitable license from the Council of the Indies. +In 1576, Mexico was again visited by a frightful pestilence, which +spread rapidly, and carried off large numbers of victims. The +whole of New Spain was ravaged by it, and neither care, nor +medical science, seems to have had the least effect either in curing +or in alleviating the sufferers. The symptoms of this malady were +a violent pain in the head which was succeeded by a burning fever, +under which the patient sank. None survived the seventh day, +and it is reported that near two millions perished under the dreadful +scourge. The malady abated at the close of the rainy season, +and disappeared entirely at the beginning of 1577.</p> + +<p>In the two succeeding years, Don Martin commanded that +the usual annual tribute should not be collected from the Indians. +This measure was designed to alleviate the lot of these suffering +subjects of the king and to testify the paternal regard which he +cherished for a race that served him and his subjects so beneficially +in the mines. It was in the mineral districts that the Indians were +in reality the greatest sufferers and laborers in New Spain. Their +toil was incessant. Their task masters gave them no respite in +the bowels of the earth, for they wrought as if they designed to +scrape every vein and artery of the colony's soil. Silver and labor +were calculated with exactness, and no limit to the Indian's industry +was prescribed save that which was imposed by his capacity +for work and his power of endurance. The viceroy, seeking to +alleviate this, introduced a milder system, as far as he was able, +among the leading miners of the colony. He insisted upon permitting +the Indians regular repose, and he forbade their entire +confinement within the mines, but commanded that they should be +allowed time to breathe the fresh air on the surface of the earth, and +suffered to attend to their own domestic labors, or to toil on public +works for a competent recompense.</p> + +<p>The government of Don Martin had thus far been unusually +calm, but his last moments in Mexico were to be disturbed by a +quarrel with a Franciscan monk, named Rivera, who had called at + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span> +the palace to see the viceroy on a matter of business for his convent, +and had been forced to wait a considerable time without +being finally honored with an audience. The petulant friar regarded +this as a slight upon the brotherhood, and, shortly afterwards, +whilst preaching in the cathedral, declared, with a sneering +and offensive purpose against the viceroy, that "in the palace all +became equal, and that no difference was made between ecclesiastics +and secular folks!"</p> + +<p>The viceroy could not permit so flagrant a breach of decorum +and so dangerous a taunt in a popular appeal, to rest unrebuked. +He therefore demanded the punishment of the pulpit critic, and +the Audiencia ordered Rivera to depart forthwith for Spain. But +the haughty monk in order to avoid the disgrace of expulsion, +united the whole body of his fraternity in the quarrel, and singing +the psalm "In exitu Israel de Ægipto," they departed from the +city by the road leading to Vera Cruz. The viceroy seems to have +been moved by this act of the brotherhood, and immediately wrote +to Rivera in soothing terms requesting him to return to Mexico +where justice should be done him. The Franciscan returned, but +soon after received a royal order to depart for Spain.</p> + +<p>In 1580, the abundant rain caused again an inundation of the +capital, and Don Martin Enriquez was about to engage in the +construction of the celebrated canal of Huehuetoca, when he was +removed to the viceroyalty of Peru.</p> + +<hr class="hr2" /> + +<h3><span class="smcap">Don Lorenzo Xuares, Conde de la Coruña,<br /> +V. Viceroy of Mexico.</span><br /> +1580–1583.</h3> + +<p>Don Lorenzo Xuares, Conde de la Coruña, was appointed by +the king, successor of Almanza, and made his triumphal entry into +the city of Mexico on the evening of the 4th of October, 1580. +The gay and affable character of this personage at once attracted +the people and the colonial court; and in consequence of the rapidly +increasing population, wealth, and luxury of New Spain, as well +as from the unreserved demeanor of the viceroy, it was supposed +that a golden age had arrived in the history of Mexico, which +would forever signalize the administration of Xuares.</p> + +<p>Perhaps the viceroy was too lenient and amiable for the task +that had been imposed on him in America. The epoch of speculation +and adventure had not yet passed by, and of course, the +corruption which ever follows in their train required still to be + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span> +closely watched and quickly checked. To this duty Xuares did +not immediately address himself, and the result was that the +oidores, the alcaldes, and all who administered justice, at once put +themselves up to auction and sold their services, their favors, or +their decisions to the highest bidder. Disorder reigned in every +department, in the year following the arrival of Xuares; and even +the royal revenues, which hitherto had generally remained sacred, +were squandered or secreted by the persons to whose care and +fidelity their collection was intrusted. The limitations which we +have already seen were placed upon a viceroy's power in the time +of Velasco, now tied the hands of Xuares. He could not dismiss +or even suspend the defrauders of the revenue or the public +wretches who prostituted their official power for gold. Nor was +he, probably, unwilling to be deprived of a dangerous right which +would have placed him in direct hostility to the army of speculators +and jobbers. And yet it was necessary for the preservation +of the colony that these evils should be quickly abated. In this +political strait, concealing his intentions from the viceroyal court, +he applied to Philip to send a Visitador with ample powers to readjust +the disorganized realm.</p> + +<p>The commerce of New Spain had augmented astonishingly within +a few years. Vera Cruz and Acapulco had become splendid emporiums +of wealth and trade. The east and the west poured their +people into Mexico through these cities; and, in the capital, some +of the most distinguished merchants of Europe, Asia, and Africa +met every year, midway between Spain and China, to transact +business and exchange opinions upon the growing facilities of an +extended commerce. Peru and Mexico furnished the precious +metals which were always so greedily demanded by the east. In +1581, Philip II., in view of this state of things in his colony, +issued a royal order for the establishment in Mexico for a Tribunal +de Consulado,<a name="FNanchor_33_33" id="FNanchor_33_33"></a> + <a href="#Footnote_33_33" class="fnanchor">[33]</a> though, it + was not, in fact, actually put in effective +operation until the year 1593, under the administration of Velasco +the Second. In the midsummer of 1582, the viceroy expired, probably +of mingled anxiety and old age; and it was well for Mexico +that he passed so rapidly from a stage in whose delicate drama, his +years and his abilities altogether unfitted him to play so conspicuous +a part.</p> + + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span></p> +<h3><span class="smcap">Don Pedro Moya de Contreras,<br /> +Archbishop of Mexico, First Inquisitor and Visitador, and<br /> +VI. Viceroy of New Spain.</span><br /> +1583–1585.</h3> + +<p>Upon the death of Xuares, the Audiencia immediately assumed +the direction of the state; but the members of this august tribunal +were altogether ignorant of the demand made by the late viceroy +for a Visitador, until Don Pedro de Contreras, placed in +their hands the despatch from Philip, naming him for this important +service.</p> + +<p>The archbishop was a man well known in Mexico. Cold, austere, +rigid in his demeanor and principles, he was the very man to +be chosen for the dangerous duty of contending with a band of +rich, proud and unscrupulous officials. His sacred character as +arch-prelate of Mexico, was of no little use in such an exigency, +for it gave him spiritual as well as temporal power over masses +which might sometimes be swayed by their conscientious dread of +the church, even when they could not be controlled by the arm of +law. Besides this, he was the first <i>Inquisitor</i> of Mexico, and in +the dreaded mysteries of the holy office, there was an overwhelming +power before which the most daring offenders would not venture +to rebel or intrigue.</p> + +<p>It may be well imagined that the unexpected appearance of so +formidable an ecclesiastic upon the state, armed with the sword +as well as the cross, was well calculated to awe the profligate officials. +The members of the Audiencia trembled when they read +the royal order, for the archbishop knew them well, and had been +long cognizant, not only of their own maladministration but of the +irregularities they countenanced in others.</p> + +<p>Don Pedro immediately undertook the discharge of his office, +and in a few days, heard a great number of complaints against +various individuals, but as he did not design proceeding with revengeful +severity against even the most culpable, he resolved to +report his proceedings to the king, and, in the meanwhile, to +retain in office all persons who performed their duties faithfully +whilst he put an end to the most flagrant abuses.</p> + +<p>As soon as Philip II. heard, in 1584, of the death of Mendoza, he +added the title and powers of viceroy to those already possessed by +the archbishop, and, with his commission as royal representative, +he sent him additional authority which had never been enjoyed by + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span> +any of his predecessors. He was, thus, empowered to remove, at +will, all persons from public employment, and even to expel ministers +and oidores, as well as to visit with severe punishments all +who deserved them. Under this ample discretion the viceroy +removed some of the oidores, suspended others, hanged certain +royal officers who had disgraced their trusts, and brought the tribunals +of justice into perfect order. The king had proposed to bring +the <i>dispersed Indians</i> into towns and villages so as to control them +more effectually, but the viceroy, after consulting the priests who +were best acquainted with that population, deemed it best to defer +the execution of the royal order until he laid the objections to it +before Philip.<a name="FNanchor_34_34" id="FNanchor_34_34"></a> + <a href="#Footnote_34_34" class="fnanchor">[34]</a> In 1585, a seminary for the Indians was established, +in which they were taught to read, write and comprehend +the rudiments of the Catholic faith. This institution was under +the charge of the Jesuits, whose zeal for education has been celebrated +in the history of all countries into which this powerful and +enlightened order of the priesthood has penetrated. A provincial +council of American bishops, was, moreover, convened this year +in Mexico under the auspices of Contreras.</p> + +<p>Nor was the viceroy eager only to correct the civil and religious +abuses of the country without attending to the fiscal advantages +which he knew the king was always eager to secure from his +colonies. In testimony of his zeal he despatched, at this period, a +rich fleet for Spain. It bore three millions three hundred thousand +ducats in coined silver, and one thousand one hundred marks +in gold, together with a variety of other valuable products, all of +which arrived safely in port.</p> + +<p>The power of this vigorous ruler, as viceroy, continued, however, +but for a single year. He was the scourge of officials in all +classes, while the good men of the colony prayed heartily for the +continuance of his authority; but it is probable that his rigor had +excited against him the talents for intrigue which we have heretofore +seen were sometimes so actively and successfully employed +both in Mexico and Spain. In October of 1585, his successor +arrived in the capital.</p> + + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span></p> +<h3><span class="smcap">Don Alvaro Enrique de Zuñiga, Marques de Villa Manrique,<br /> +VII. Viceroy of Mexico.</span><br /> +1585–1589.</h3> + +<p>The arrival of the Marques de Villa Manrique was not designed +to interfere with the functions of the archbishop and former viceroy +Contreras, as <i>Visitador</i>. He was solicited to continue his plenary +examination into the abuses of government in New Spain, and to +clear the country of all malefactors before he retired once more to +the cloisters. Accordingly, Don Pedro remained in Mexico some +time discharging his duties, and it is probably owing to his +presence that the first year of the new viceroy passed off in perfect +peace. But in the succeeding year, in which the archbishop +departed for Spain, his troubles began by a serious discussion with +the Franciscans, Agustins and Dominicans, in which the monks +at last appealed from the viceroy to the king. Before Contreras, +the visitador, left Mexico he had managed to change all the judges +composing the tribunals of the colony. The men he selected in +their stead were all personally known to him or were appointed +upon the recommendation of persons whose integrity and capacity +for judgment were unquestionable.</p> + +<p>This remarkable man died soon after his arrival in Madrid, +where he had been appointed president of the Council of the Indies. +Like all reformers he went to his grave poor; but when the king +learned his indigence he took upon himself the costs of sepulture, +and laid his colonial representative and bishop to the tomb in a +manner befitting one who had exercised so great and beneficial an +influence in the temporary reform of the New World. The sole +stain upon the memory of Contreras is perhaps the fact that he +was an inquisitor.</p> + +<p>In 1587, the viceroy Zuñiga despatched a large amount of +treasure to Spain. Enormous sums were drained annually from +the colonies for the royal metropolis; but, in this year the fleet +from Vera Cruz sailed with eleven hundred and fifty-six marks of +gold, in addition to an immense amount of coined silver and merchandise +of great value. These sums passed safely to the hands +of the court; but such was not the case with all the precious +freights that left the American coasts, for, at this period, the +shores of our continent, on both oceans, began to swarm with +pirates. The subjects of various European nations, but especially +the English, were most active in enterprises which, in those days, + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> +were probably regarded more as privateering than as the bandit +expeditions they have since been considered not only in morals +but in law. In the year before, Cavendish had taken in the +Pacific, a Spanish ship, which was bound from Manilla to Acapulco, +with a rich cargo of wares from China; and, in this year, it +was known that Drake, another noted adventurer, after making +himself celebrated by the capture of San Agustin, in Florida, had +sailed for the Pacific ocean, whose rich coasts, as well as the +oriental traders, formed a tempting booty for the bucanier.</p> + +<p>As soon as the viceroy heard of this piratical sailor's approach +to the western boundary of his colony, he commanded the troops +in Guadalajara to embark at Acapulco, under the orders of Doctor +Palacios, in all the vessels which were then in port, and to scour +the shores of America until the British marauder was captured. +But, upon the commander's arrival at Acapulco, he was informed +that the freebooter had already abandoned the west coast after +sacking several towns, and that he had not been seen or heard of +any where for a long period. Drake, meanwhile, was in concealment +among the distant and unfrequented coves of California, +in such a situation, however, that he could easily intercept the +galeon, which passed every year from the Philipines to Mexico, +laden with goods and metals of considerable value. In due time +he pounced upon his unsuspecting prey; and, carrying her into a +bay near the Cape of San Lucas, plundered her valuable cargo, and +set fire to the deserted hull. The news of this mishap soon reached +the ears of Palacios, who, of course, immediately set sail after the +corsair. But Drake was already far on his way to a spot of safety +in which he and his companions might enjoy the fruits of their +piratical adventure.</p> + +<p>This successful attack upon a vessel of so much importance to +the colony,—for only <i>one</i> was annually permitted to cross the +Pacific,—greatly troubled the people who depended upon its +arrival for their yearly supply of oriental wares. But as soon as +the general calm was gradually restored, an internal trouble arose +which was well nigh proving of serious import to the viceroyalty. +Zuñiga does not seem to have been contented with the jurisdiction +which had hitherto been conceded to the viceroy, but, being +anxious to extend his authority over certain towns and villages, +under the control of the Audiencia of Guadalajara, he demanded of +that body the surrender of their dominion. The Audiencia, however, +was jealous of its rights, and would not yield to the viceroy +who was equally pertinacious. The dispute ran high between the + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span> +parties. Threats were used when diplomacy failed, and at length, +the disputants reached, but did not pass, the verge of civil war, +for, on both sides they seem to have ordered out troops, who, fortunately +never actually engaged in combat.</p> + +<p>This ill judged act of the viceroy was fatal to his power. Letters +and petitions were forthwith despatched to Madrid requiring +and begging the removal of a man whose rashness was near producing +a civil war. This was a charge not to be disregarded by +the king, and, accordingly, we find that a successor to Zuñiga was +immediately named, and that the bishop of Tlascala was appointed +visitador to examine the conduct of the deposed viceroy.</p> + +<p>On the 17th of January, 1590, this prelate, who seems to have +been originally inimical to Zuñiga, and who should therefore have +disdained the office of his judge, ordered him to depart from +Mexico. All the property of the late viceroy,—even the linen of +his wife,—was sequestrated; the most harassing annoyances were +constantly inflicted upon him; and, after six years, poor and worn +down by unceasing trials, he returned to Spain, where the influence +of his friends at court procured the restoration of his property.</p> + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<div class="fn"> +<h4>Footnotes</h4> +<p><a name="Footnote_33_33" id="Footnote_33_33"></a><a href="#FNanchor_33_33"> + <span class="label">[33]</span></a> This was a mercantile tribunal.</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote_34_34" id="Footnote_34_34"></a><a href="#FNanchor_34_34"> + <span class="label">[34]</span></a> The Indians alluded to in this passage + were vaguely designated as Chichimecas, +Otomics, and Mexican. They probably inhabited a tract of country lying north +west of the kingdom of Michoacan.—See 1st. vol. Trans. Amn. Ethnl. Soc. p. 2.</p> +</div> + + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER V.<br /> +1589–1607.</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>LUIS DE VELASCO—THE SECOND—BECOMES VICEROY.—DELIGHT +OF THE MEXICANS.—FACTORIES REOPENED—CHICHIMECAS—COLONIZATION.—ALAMEDA—INDIANS +TAXED FOR EUROPEAN WARS.—COMPOSITION—FOWLS—ACEBEDO VICEROY.—EXPEDITION +TO NEW MEXICO.—INDIAN AMELIORATIONS.—DEATH +OF PHILIP II.—NEW SCHEME OF HIREING INDIANS.—CALIFORNIA.—MONTESCLAROS +VICEROY.—INUNDATION.—ALBARRADA.</p> +</div> + + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<h3><span class="smcap">Don Luis de Velasco,—the Second,—Conde de Santiago,<br /> +VIII. Viceroy of New Spain.</span><br /> +1589–1595.</h3> + +<p>Luis de Velasco, Count de Santiago, was the son of the +second viceroy of New Spain, and during the administration of his +father, as well as for some years afterwards, had resided in Mexico +where he filled several offices, and especially that of corregidor of +Zempoala. He was not on friendly terms with the last viceroy, +Zuñiga, for he had suddenly quitted New Spain in the same vessel +that brought his predecessor to America. Upon his arrival at the +Spanish court he was sent as ambassador to Florence; and the +exaggerated news of the supposed civil war in Mexico having been +received just as he returned from his mission, Philip determined +to send him back to New Spain. This decision was, no doubt, +founded upon Velasco's intimate acquaintance with Mexico and its +people, with whom his interests had been so long bound up that +he might almost be regarded as a native of the country.</p> + +<p>On the 25th of January, 1590, Velasco entered the capital with +more pomp and rejoicing than had ever attended the advent of +previous viceroys, for the Mexicans looked upon him as a countryman. +As soon as he was seated in power his first acts demonstrated + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span> +his good sense and mature judgment. His wish was to +develope the country; to make not only its mineral and agricultural +resources available to Spain, but to open the channels through +which <i>labor</i> could obtain its best rewards. He therefore ordered +the manufactories of coarse stuffs and cloths which had been established +by Mendoza to be once more opened, after the long +period in which the Spanish mercantile influence had kept them +shut. This naturally produced an excitement among the interested +foreign traders, but the viceroy firmly maintained his determination +to punish severely any one who should oppose his decree.</p> + +<p>In 1591, the troublesome Chichimecas, of whose disturbances +we have already spoken in other chapters, again manifested a +desire to attack the Spaniards. They were congregated in strongly +armed bands in the neighborhood of Zacatecas, and menaced the +Spanish population living in the neighborhood of the rich mines. +Travellers could not pass through the country without a military +escort. Strong garrisons had been placed by the government on +the frontiers, and merciless war declared against them, but all was +unavailing to stop their marauding expeditions among the whites. +In this year, however, they sent commissioners to treat with the +Spaniards in Mexico, and after confessing that they were tired of +a war which they found useless, they consented to abstain from +further molestation of the district, provided the viceroy would agree +to furnish them with a sufficiency of meat for their support. Velasco +of course consented to this demand of the cattle stealers, and, +moreover, obtained their consent to the admission among them of +a body of Tlascalans who would instruct them in a civil and christian +mode of life. Four hundred families of these faithful friends +of the Mexicans were selected for this colony; and, together with +some Franciscan friars, they settled in four bodies so as to form an +equal number of colonies. One of these settlements was made on +the side of a rich mineral hill and took the name of San Luis +Potosi,—the second formed San Miguel Mesqitic,—the third +San Andres,—and the fourth Colotlan. Such was the origin of +these towns, in which the two tribes lived for many years in perfect +harmony, but without intermingling or losing their individuality.</p> + +<p>Another attempt was also made, as had been done previously, to +gather the dispersed bands of Mexican and Otomi Indians into +villages and settlements, where they would gradually become accustomed +to civilized life. Velasco, like his predecessor Moya, +consulted with the <i>curas</i> and the people who were best acquainted +with the temper of these races, and learned that they still opposed + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span> +humane efforts for civilization, preferring the vagabond life they +had so long led and which had now become necessary and natural. +Nevertheless he thought it his duty to try the experiment. But +the first Otomi who was reduced to the necessity of abandoning +his nomadic habits and building for himself a regular habitation, +not only destroyed his wife and children, but terminated his own +existence by hanging. The viceroy then suspended his operations +and reported the untoward result, together with the opinion of his +advisers, to the court of Spain.</p> + +<p>Velasco, ever anxious not only for the amelioration of the condition +of the Indians, but for the embellishment of the capital +which was now growing into considerable importance, caused the +<span class="smcap">Alameda of Mexico</span> to be laid out and planted in 1593, for the +recreation of the citizens. This magnificent grove, with its beautifully +shaded avenues and walks,—embellished by fountains and +filled with every thing that can give repose or comfort to the fatigued +people who are anxious to steal off awhile from the toil and +bustle of a large city,—still exists in Mexico as an evidence of +the taste and liberality of the viceroy, and will be more particularly +described, hereafter, in that portion of this work which treats +of the city of Mexico, and of the manners and customs of its +inhabitants.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>In 1594, Philip the Second finding himself straitened for means +to carry on the European wars in which he was engaged, recurred +to the unfortunate and unjust system of forced loans to increase his +revenue. He did not confine himself in this odious compulsory +tax to the old world which was most concerned in the result of his +wars, but instructed Velasco to impose a tribute of <i>four reales</i> or +fifty cents upon Indians, in addition to the sum they already paid +his majesty. Velasco reluctantly undertook the unwelcome task; +but anxious to lighten the burden upon the natives as much as +possible, and, at the same time, to foster the raising of poultry and +cattle among these people, he compounded the whole tax of a +dollar which they were obliged to pay, for seven <i>reales</i>, or eighty-seven +and a half cents <i>and one fowl</i>, which, at that time, was +valued at a single real, or twelve and a half cents. This, it will be +perceived, was amiably designed by the viceroy, but became immediately +the subject of gross abuse. The Indians are slowly moved +either to new modes of cultivation or to new objects of care, even +of the most domestic and useful character. Instead of devoting +themselves to the raising of poultry with the industrious thrift that + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span> +would have saved one-eighth of their taxation or twelve and a +half per cent, they allowed the time to pass without providing +the required bird in their homesteads, so that when the tax gatherer +arrived they were forced to buy the fowl instead of selling it. +This of course raised the price, and the consequence was that the +Indian was obliged often to pay two or three <i>reales</i> more than the +original amount of the whole taxation of one dollar! It is related +that one of the oidores who had taken eight hundred fowls, reserved +two hundred for the consumption of his house, and through +an agent sold the rest at three <i>reales</i>, or thirty-seven and a half +cents each, by which he contrived to make a profit of two hundred +per cent. Various efforts were made to remedy this shameful +abuse or to revoke the decree, but the system was found to be too +profitable among the officials, to be abandoned without a severe +struggle. We are unable to discover that the viceroy, in this instance, +used his authority to restore the Indians to their original +rights.</p> + +<p>In 1595, it was determined to colonize the supposed kingdom of +Quivara, which now received the name of New Mexico, but, before +the expedition could set forth under the command of Juan de +Oñate, Velasco received a despatch informing him that he had +been named viceroy of Peru, and that his successor Don Gaspar +de Zuñiga Acebedo, Conde de Monterey, would soon appear in +the colonial metropolis.</p> + + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<h3><span class="smcap">Don Gaspar de Zuñiga Acebedo, Conde de Monterey,<br /> +IX. Viceroy of New Spain.</span><br /> +1595–1603.</h3> + +<p>The Count of Monterey arrived at San Juan de Ulua on the 18th +of September, 1595, and on the 5th of the following November, +entered the capital as viceroy. At first he exhibited a cold and +apathetic temper, and appeared to take but little interest in the +affairs of the government; but it is supposed, that being a prudent +and cautious man, he was in no haste to undertake the direction of +affairs whilst he was altogether unacquainted both with the temper +of the people and the nature of their institutions. An early measure, +however, of his administration deserves to be recorded and +remembered. He found the Indians still suffering and complaining +under the odious fowl tax, created by his predecessor for the protection +of domestic industry, but which had been perverted for the + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span> +selfish and avaricious purposes of the receivers. He immediately +abolished this impost, and diminished the whole amount of taxation +upon the Indians.</p> + +<p>In consequence of the loss of the galeon from the Philipines, +which we have related, the king ordered an expedition, under the +command of General Sebastian Viscaino, to examine and scour +the coasts of the Californias, where it was alleged the precious +metals, and, especially, the most valuable pearls would be found +in abundance. Viscaino recruited a large number of followers +in Mexico for this enterprise, and set sail with three vessels, +in 1596, from Acapulco. The adventurers coasted the territory +for a considerable time without finding a suitable location in which +they might settle advantageously, until, at length, they disembarked +in the port of La Paz, whence, however, they soon departed +for want of provisions and supplies of every kind.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile the Count of Monterey examined into the state of the +expedition to New Mexico, which he found had been projected and +partly prepared by his predecessor. He made some changes in the +plan agreed on between Velasco and Oñate, and, in order to exhibit +his good will to the latter personage, he joined with him, in +the enterprise, his relation Vicente Saldivar, who had gathered +a number of emigrants for these remote and northern regions. +People were tempted to abandon their homes by the reports of extraordinary +mineral wealth which was to be obtained in these unexplored +portions of New Spain; and, accordingly, when the standard +of the expedition was raised in the great square of the capital, +crowds of men with their families flocked around it to enlist for the +hazardous and toilsome service.</p> + +<p>The first news received from the emigrant colonists, when they +reached Caxco, two hundred leagues from the capital, was disastrous. +Quarrels had originated among the adventurers, who asserted +that the terms of the expedition had not been complied with +faithfully. As soon as the viceroy heard of the discontent, he +despatched Don Lope de Ulloa as a pacificator, to the inflamed +band which was quickly reduced to harmony and persuaded to +continue its journey to the promised land. At length the weary +emigrants reached the boasted El Dorado; but finding the reports +of mineral wealth altogether exaggerated, and doubting the advantage +of residing with their families permanently in such distant outposts, +many of them retraced their way southward to regions that +were more densely populated.</p> + +<p>In 1598, another effort was resolved on to gather the dispersed + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span> +and refractory vagabond Indians who wandered about the territory +under the name of Mexicans and Otomies. Whilst they maintained +their perfectly nomadic state it was evident that they were +useless either as productive laborers for the Spaniards, or as objects +of taxation for the sovereign. It was a wise policy, therefore, to +attempt what was philanthropically called—their civilization;—but +upon this occasion, as upon all the others that preceded it, the +failure was signal. Commissioners and notaries were selected and +large salaries paid these officials to ensure their faithful services in +congregating the dispersed natives. But the government agents, +who well knew the difficulty if not the absolute impossibility of +achieving the desired object, amused themselves by receiving and +spending the liberal salaries disbursed by the government, whilst +the Indians still continued as uncontrolled as ever. The Count +of Monterey was nevertheless obstinately bent on the prosecution +of this favorite policy of the king, and squandered, upon these vile +ministerial agents, upwards of two hundred thousand dollars, without +producing the least beneficial result. In the following viceroy's +reign he was sentenced to pay the government this large sum as +having been unwisely spent; but was finally absolved from its +discharge by the court to which he appealed from the decision of +his successor.</p> + +<p>In the beginning of 1599, the news was received in Mexico of +the death of Philip II. and of the accession of Philip III. This +event was perhaps the most remarkable in the annals of the colony, +during the last year of the sixteenth century, except that the town +of Monterey in New Leon was founded, and that a change was +made by the viceroy of the port of Vera Cruz from its former sickly +site at la Antigua, to one which has since become equally unhealthy.</p> + +<p>The first three years of the seventeenth century were chiefly +characterized by renewed viceroyal efforts among the Indians. +The project of congregating the nomadic natives was abandoned, +and various attempts were made to break up the system of +<i>repartimientos</i>, which had been, as we have seen, the established +policy of the colony if not of the king, ever since the conquest. +If the Indians were abandoned to their own free will, it was +supposed that their habits were naturally so thriftless that they +would become burthensome instead of beneficial to the Spanish +colonists, and, ultimately, might resolve themselves into mere +wanderers like the Otomies and their vagabond companions. Yet, +it was acknowledged that their involuntary servitude, and the +disastrous train of impositions it entailed, were unchristian and + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span> +unjust. There was a dilemma, in fact between idleness and +tyranny; but the viceroy conceived it his duty to endeavor once +more, with an honest zeal, to sustain the humane policy of freedom +which was recommended not only by the sovereign but by the religious +orders who were supposed to know the natives best. Various +projects were adopted to harmonize their freedom with a <i>necessary</i> +degree of labor, in order to ensure them wages and support, whilst +they were preserved together in organized societies. After the +<i>repartimientos</i> were abrogated, the Indians were compelled to +assemble, on every Sabbath, in the public squares of the villages +and towns, where they made their contracts of service by the day. +The viceroy himself, anxious to prevent fraud, assisted personally +in the reunions at the plazas or squares of San Juan and Santiago. +But it was all in vain. The proprietors, land owners, and agents, +were opposed to the scheme. Brokers interposed, and, after +hiring the Indians at moderate rates in contracts made with +themselves, sub-let them to others on higher terms. And, at last, +it is alleged that the unfortunate natives, seeing the bad operation +of the viceroy's kind intentions in their behalf, and finding their +condition less happy when they had to take care of themselves +than when they were taken care of, appealed to the Count of +Monterey to restore the old system of <i>repartimientos</i> under which +they were at least spared the trouble of seeking for task-masters +and support. Indolent by nature; creatures of habit; and living +in a country whose bosom afforded them spontaneously most of +the luxuries required by such a class, they submitted to what, in +fact, was the greatest evil of their lot, because it relieved them of +the trouble of individual <i>effort</i>!</p> + +<p>In 1602, Philip III. commanded another expedition for the +colonization and exploration of the Californias. It departed in +three ships and a barque from Acapulco, on the fifth of May, +under the command of Viscaino. Torribio Gomez Corban was +the admiral of the little fleet, and Antonio Flores, pilot. From the +day of its departure, it was driven by severe gales, but, at length, +the port of Monterey was reached by the weary crews, who +continued along the coast until they arrived at Cape Blanco de +San Sabastian, somewhat beyond Cape Mendozino. There the +voyagers were sorely attacked with scurvy which thinned their +numbers to such an extent, that, of the whole, only six were able +to do duty. With this scant equipment of men, the vessels +reached Mazatlan, where the crews recruited their health; and, +passing thence to Acapulco, the expedition once more landed in + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span> +the midst of civilization and hastened back to the capital to give +a bad report of the country which in our day and generation has +become the El Dorado of the world.</p> + +<p>The Conde de Monterey, was transferred to the viceroyalty of +Peru in 1603, and left the capital amid the general grief of a +society whose cordial esteem he seems to have won and retained +during his whole administration.</p> + + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<h3><span class="smcap">Don Juan de Mendoza y Luna, Marques de Montesclaros,<br /> +X. Viceroy of New Spain.</span><br /> +1603–1607.</h3> + +<p>The advent of the Marques de Montesclaros to the viceroyalty +of New Spain was distinguished by an unusual degree of tranquillity +throughout the colony. During the preceding administrations +most of the subjects of internal discontent were set at +rest, and the aborigines who had been subjected to the yoke were +now becoming accustomed to bear it. In 1604, the abundant +rains in the valley of Mexico during the month of August, caused +an inundation which greatly alarmed the population. The city and +adjacent country were laid under water, and such was the general +distress that the Marques solicited the opinions of skilful persons +in regard to the canal of Huehuetoca, which had heretofore been +spoken of as the only means of freeing the capital from destruction +by the swollen flood of the lakes. The reports made to him, +however, represented the enterprise as one of immense labor and +expense, as well as requiring a great length of time for its completion. +He therefore abandoned the project for the present, and +merely repaired the <i>albarrada</i> or dyke which Velasco had already +constructed. In addition to this precautionary measure he caused +the <i>calzadas</i>, or raised turnpikes of Guadalupe and San Cristoval +to be constructed, which, whilst they led to the open country beyond +the city, served, also, as additional barriers against the waters. +After the completion of these highways, he next directed his attention +to those of San Antonio and Chapultepec, which were +quickly finished, and merited the name of "Roman works," for +the massive strength and durability of their construction. Various +other useful municipal works, such as aqueducts and sewers, engaged +the notice of the viceroy until, in 1607; and after the +proclamation of the Prince of Asturias (Philip IV.) by order of the +king, he was ordered to pass from Mexico to Peru where he was +charged with the duties of the viceroyalty.</p> + + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER VI.<br /> +1607–1621.</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>SECOND ADMINISTRATION OF DON LUIS VELASCO—HIS GREAT +WORK FOR THE DRAINAGE OF THE VALLEY.—LAKES IN THE +VALLEY—DANGER OF INUNDATION.—HISTORY OF THE DESAGUE +OF HUEHUETOCA.—OPERATIONS OF THE ENGINEERS +MARTINEZ AND BOOT.—THE FRANCISCANS.—COMPLETION OF +THE DESAGUE.—LA OBRA DEL CONSULADO.—NEGRO REVOLT.—EXTENSION +OF ORIENTAL TRADE.—GUERRA VICEROY.—DE +CORDOVA VICEROY.—INDIAN REVOLT.—CORDOVA FOUNDED.</p> +</div> + + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<h3><span class="smcap">Don Luis Velasco,—the Second,—Conde de Santiago and<br /> +First Marques de Salinas,<br /> +XI. Viceroy of Mexico. His Second Administration.</span><br /> +1607–1611.</h3> + +<p>Don Luis Velasco had been seven years viceroy of Peru since +he left the government of Mexico, when he was summoned once +more to rule a country of which he felt himself almost a native. + <a name="FNanchor_35_35" id="FNanchor_35_35"></a><a href="#Footnote_35_35" class="fnanchor">[35]</a> +He was tired of public life, and being advanced in years would +gladly have devoted the rest of his existence to the care of his +family and the management of his valuable estates in the colony. +But he could not refuse the nomination of the king, and at the age +of seventy, once more found himself at the head of affairs in New +Spain.</p> + +<p>The government of this excellent nobleman has been signalized +in history by the erection of the magnificent public work, designed +for the drainage of the valley, of which we spoke during the last +viceroyalty. The results of Velasco's labors were permanent, and +as his work, or at least a large portion of it remains to the present +day, and serves to secure the capital from the floods with which it is +constantly menaced, we shall describe the whole of this magnificent +enterprise at present, though our description will carry us, chronologically, +out of the period under consideration, and lead us from +the seventeenth to the nineteenth century.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span> + The valley of Mexico is a great basin, which although seven +thousand five hundred feet above the level of the sea, and of course +subject to constant and rapid evaporation, is yet exceedingly humid +for so elevated a region. No stream, except the small <i>arroyo</i>, or +rivulet of Tequisquiac, issues from the valley, whilst the rivers Papalotla, +Tezcoco, Teotihuacan, Guadalupe, Pachuca and Guautitlan +pour into it and form the five lakes of Chalco, Xochimilco, Tezcoco, +San Cristoval and Zumpango. "These lakes rise by stages as they +approach the northern extremity of the valley; the waters of Tezcoco, +being, in their ordinary state, four Mexican varas and eight +inches lower than the waters of the lake of San Cristoval, which +again, are six varas lower than the waters of the lake Zumpango, +which forms the northernmost link of this dangerous chain. The +level of Mexico in 1803 was exactly one vara, one foot and one +inch above that of the lake of Tezcoco,<a name="FNanchor_36_36" id="FNanchor_36_36"></a> + <a href="#Footnote_36_36" class="fnanchor">[36]</a> and, consequently, was +nine varas and five inches lower than that of the lake of Zumpango; +a disproportion, the effects of which have been more severely +felt because the lake of Zumpango receives the tributary +streams of the river Guautitlan, whose volume is more considerable +than that of all the other rivers which enter the valley combined.</p> + +<p>"In the inundations to which this peculiarity in the formation of +the valley of Mexico has given rise, a similar succession of events +has been always observed. The lake of Zumpango, swollen by the +rapid increase of the river Guautitlan during the rainy season, +forms a junction with that of San Cristoval, and the waters of the +two combined burst the dykes which separate them from the lake +of Tezcoco. The waters of this last again, raised suddenly more +than a vara above their usual level, and prevented from extending +themselves to the east and south-east, by the rapid rise of the +ground in that direction, rush back towards the capital and fill the +streets which approach nearest to their own level. This was the +case in the years 1553, 1580, 1604 and 1607, in each of which +years the capital was entirely under water, and the dykes which +had been constructed for its protection destroyed." + <a name="FNanchor_37_37" id="FNanchor_37_37"></a> + <a href="#Footnote_37_37" class="fnanchor">[37]</a></p> + +<p>Such is a topographical sketch of the country accurately given +by a careful writer; and to protect an important region so constantly +menaced with inundation, the viceroy now addressed himself. +Accordingly he commissioned the engineer Enrique Martinez, +in 1607 to attempt the drainage of the lake of Zumpango, by the + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span> +stupendous canal now known under the name of the <span class="smcap">Desague de +Huehuetoca</span>.</p> + +<p>"The plan of Martinez appears to have embraced two distinct +objects, the first of which extended to the lakes of Tezcoco and San +Cristoval, while the second was confined to the lake of Zumpango +whose superfluous waters were to be carried into the valley of Tula +by a subterraneous canal into which the river Guautitlan was likewise +compelled to flow. The second of these projects only was +approved by the government; and the line of the canal having been +traced by Martinez between the Cerro or hill of Sincoque and the +hill of Nochistongo to the north-west of Huehuetoca, where the +mountains that surrounded the valley are less elevated than in any +other spot,—the great subterraneous gallery of Nochistongo was +commenced on the 28th of November, 1607. Fifteen thousand +Indians were employed in this work, and as a number of air shafts +were sunk, in order to enable them to work upon the different +points at once, in eleven months a tunnel of six thousand six hundred +metres<a name="FNanchor_38_38" id="FNanchor_38_38"></a> + <a href="#Footnote_38_38" class="fnanchor">[38]</a> in length, + three metres five in breadth and four metres +two in height, was concluded.</p> + +<p>"From the northern extremity of this tunnel called la boca de +San Gregorio, an open cut of eight thousand six hundred metres +conducted the waters to the <i>salto</i> or fall of the river Tula, where, +quitting the valley of Mexico, they precipitate themselves into that +of Tula, from a natural terrace of twenty Mexican varas in height, +and take their course towards the bar of Tampico where they enter +the gulf of Mexico. An enterprise of such magnitude could hardly +be free from defects, and Martinez soon discovered that the unbaked +bricks, of which the interior of the tunnel was composed, +were unable to resist the action of water, which, being confined +within narrow limits, was at times impelled through the tunnel +with irresistible violence. A facing of wood proved equally +ineffectual, and masonry was at last resorted to; but even this, +though successful for a time, did not answer permanently, because +the engineer, instead of an elliptical arch, constructed nothing but +a sort of vault, the sides of which rested upon a foundation of no +solidity. The consequence was that the walls were gradually undermined +by the water, and that the vault itself in many parts +fell in.</p> + +<p>"This accident rendered the government indifferent to the fate +of the gallery which was neglected, and finally abandoned in the + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span> +year 1623, when a Dutch engineer, named Adrian Boot, induced +the viceroy to resume the old system of dyke and embankments, +and to give orders for closing the tunnel of Nochistongo. A sudden +rise in the lake of Tezcoco caused these orders to be revoked, +and Martinez was again allowed to proceed with his works which +he continued until the 20th of June, 1629, when an event took +place, the real causes of which have never been ascertained."</p> + +<p>"The rainy season having set in with unusual violence, Martinez, +either desirous to convince the inhabitants of the capital of the +utility of his gallery, or fearful, as he himself stated, that the fruits +of his labor would be destroyed by the entrance of too great a volume +of water, closed the mouth of the tunnel, without communicating +to any one his intention to do so. The effect was instantaneous; +and, in one night, the whole town of Mexico was laid +under water, with the exception of the great square, and one of the +suburbs. In all the other streets the water rose upwards of three +feet, and during five years, from 1629 to 1634, canoes formed the +only medium of communication between them. The foundations +of many of the principal houses were destroyed; trade was paralyzed; +the lower classes reduced to the lowest state of misery; and +orders were actually given by the court of Madrid to abandon the +town and build a new capital in the elevated plains between +Tacuba and Tacubaya, to which the waters of the lakes, even +before the conquest, had never been known to extend.</p> + +<p>"The necessity of this measure was obviated by a succession of +earthquakes in the dry year of 1634, when the valley was cracked +and rent in various directions, and the waters gradually disappeared; +a miracle for which due credit should be given to the +Virgin of Guadalupe, by whose powerful intercession it is said to +have been effected.</p> + +<p>"Martinez, who had been thrown into confinement in 1629, was +released upon the termination of the evils which his imprudence +was said to have occasioned; and was again placed by a new viceroy,—the +Marques de Cerralvo,—at the head of the works by +which similar visitations were to be averted in future. Under his +superintendence the great dyke, or <i>Calzada</i> of San Cristoval was +put in order,<a name="FNanchor_39_39" id="FNanchor_39_39"></a> + <a href="#Footnote_39_39" class="fnanchor">[39]</a> by + which the lake of that name is divided from that +of Tezcoco. This gigantic work which consists of two distinct +masses, the first, one league, and the second, one thousand five +hundred varas in length, is ten varas in width or thickness + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span> +throughout, and from three and a half to four varas in height. It +is composed entirely of stone, with buttresses of solid masonry on +both sides, and three sluices, by which, in any emergency, a communication +between the lakes can be effected and regulated at the +same time. The whole was concluded, like the gallery of Nochistongo, +in eleven months, although as many years would now be required +for such an undertaking. But in those days the sacrifice of +life, and particularly of Indian life, in public works, was not regarded. +Many thousands of the natives perished before the <i>desague</i> +was completed; and to their loss, as well as to the hardships endured +by the survivors, may be ascribed the horror with which the +name of Huehuetoca is pronounced by their descendants.</p> + +<p>"It is not our intention to follow the progress of the canal of +Huehuetoca through all the various changes which occurred in +the plans pursued with respect to it from 1637, when the direction +of the work was again taken from Martinez and confided to the +Franciscan monks, until 1767, when, under the viceroyalty of the +Marques de Croix, the Consulado or corporate body of Mexican +merchants, engaged to complete this great national undertaking. +The necessity of converting the tunnel of Martinez into an open +cut, had long been acknowledged, it having been found impossible +to prevent the tunnel from being continually choked up by the +sand and rubbish deposited by the water on its passage; but as +the work was only prosecuted with vigor when the danger of an +inundation became imminent, and was almost suspended in the dry +years, two thousand three hundred and ten varas of the northern +gallery remained untouched, after the expiration of one hundred +and thirty years when the Consulado was intrusted with the +completion of the arduous task. As the old line of the gallery +was to be preserved, it became necessary to give the cut which +was to be sunk, perpendicularly upon it, an enormous width at +the top, in order to prevent the sides from falling in; and in the +more elevated parts, between the mountains of Sincoque and the +hill of Nochistongo, for the space of two thousand six hundred +and twenty-four feet, the width, across, varies from two hundred +and seventy-eight to six hundred and thirty feet, while the perpendicular +depth is from one hundred and forty-seven to one hundred +and ninety-six feet. The whole length of the cut from the sluice +called the <i>vertideros</i> to the <i>salto</i> or fall of the river Tula, is sixty-seven +thousand five hundred and thirty-seven feet or twenty-four +thousand five hundred and thirty Mexican varas. The highest +point of the hill of Nochistongo is that called Boveda Real, and it + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span> +would be difficult when looking down from it, upon the stream +below, and, following with the eye the vast opening through which +it seeks an issue, to conceive that the whole is, indeed, the work +of man, did not the mounds on either side, as yet but imperfectly +covered with vegetation, and the regular outline of the terraces, +denote both the recentness of its completion, and the impossibility +of attributing it to any natural convulsion.</p> + +<p>"The Obra del Consulado, as the opening cut is called, was +concluded in the year 1789. It cost nearly a million of dollars; +and the whole expense of the drainage from 1607 to the beginning +of the present century, including the various projects commenced +and abandoned when only partially executed,—the dykes connected +with the <i>desague</i>,—and the two canals which communicate +with the lakes of San Cristoval and Zumpango,—is estimated at +six millions two hundred and forty-seven thousand six hundred +and seventy dollars, or one million two hundred and forty-nine +thousand five hundred and thirty-four pounds. It is supposed that +one-third of this sum would have proved sufficient to cover all the +expenses, had Martinez been furnished in the first instance with +the means of executing his project upon the scale which he had +judged necessary; for it is in the reduced dimensions of the +gallery of Nochistongo, which was never equal to the volume of +water to which at particular seasons it afforded an outlet, that all +the subsequent expenditure has originated."<a name="FNanchor_40_40" id="FNanchor_40_40"></a> + <a href="#Footnote_40_40" class="fnanchor">[40]</a></p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>We have judged it better to group together in this place all the +facts relative to this most important national work,—so as to +afford the reader a complete picture of the undertaking,—than to +relate the slow and tedious history of the work as it advanced to +completion during the reigns of many viceroys. The present +condition of the <i>desague</i> and its advantages will be treated in +another portion of this work; and we shall therefore revert at once +to the year 1609, in which a large number of negroes rebelled +against the Spaniards. It seems that the blacks in the neighborhood +of Cordova, who were in fact slaves on many of the <i>hiciendas</i> +or plantations, having been treated, in an inhuman manner by their +owners, rose against them in great force, and gathering together +in the adjacent mountains menaced their tyrannical task-masters +with death, and their property with ruin. Velasco sent one hundred +soldiers, one hundred volunteers, one hundred Indian archers, + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span> +together with two hundred Spaniards and Mestizos, to attack them +in their fastnesses. Several skirmishes took place between the +slaves and these forces, and at length the negroes yielded to the +Spaniards,—craving their pardon, inasmuch as their "insurrection +was not against the king,"—and promising that they would no +longer afford a refuge to the blacks who absconded from the +plantations. Velasco at once granted their request, and permitted +them to settle in the town of San Lorenzo.</p> + +<p>In 1610 and 1611, there were but few important incidents in the +history of New Spain, which was now gradually forming itself into +a regularly organized state, free from all those violent internal +commotions, which nations, like men, are forced to undergo in +their infancy. The viceroy still endeavored to ameliorate the +condition of the Indians, and despatched a mission to Japan in +order to extend the oriental commerce of Spain. The true policy +of Castile would have been, instead of crushing Mexico by colonial +restrictions, to have raised her gradually into a gigantic state, +which, situated in the centre of America, on the narrowest part of +the continent between the two oceans, and holding in her veins the +precious metals in exhaustless quantities, would have surely +grasped and held the commerce of the east and of Europe. Such +would seem the natural destiny of Mexico if we examine her +geographical features carefully; nor do we venture too much in +predicting that the time will come when that destiny will be +fulfilled.</p> + +<p>Velasco was now well stricken in years and required repose. +His master, appreciating his faithful services and his unquestionable +loyalty, added to his already well earned titles that of +Marques of Salinas, and creating him president of the Council of +the Indies recalled him to Spain where he could pass in quiet the +evening of his days, whilst he was also enabled to impart the +results of his vast American experience to the king and court.</p> + + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<h3><span class="smcap">Fray Garcia Guerra, Archbishop of Mexico,<br /> +XII. Viceroy of New Spain.</span><br /> +1611–1612.</h3> + +<p>Velasco, as an especial mark of royal favor, was desired to retain +his power as viceroy until the moment of embarkation for +Spain, and then to depose it in favor of the monk Garcia Guerra, +who had been the worthy prior of a Dominican convent at Burgos + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span> +in Spain, until he was nominated to the Archepiscopal See of +Mexico. His government was brief and altogether eventless. He +became viceroy on the 17th of June, 1611, and died on the 22d of +February in the following year, of a wound he received in falling +as he descended from his coach.</p> + + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<h3><span class="smcap">Don Diego Fernandez de Cordova,<br /> +Marques de Guadalcazar,<br /> +XIII. Viceroy of New Spain.</span><br /> +1612–1621.</h3> + +<p>Upon the death of the last viceroy, the Audiencia, of course, +took possession of the government during the interregnum;—and, +as it seems that this body of men was always doomed to celebrate +its authority by acts of folly or cruelty, we find that soon after +its accession to power the city was alarmed by the news of another +outbreak among the negroes. The people were panic struck. A +terrible noise had been heard in the streets of the metropolis during +the night, and, although it was proved that the disturbance was +entirely caused by the entrance, during the darkness, of a large +drove of hogs, the Audiencia determined, nevertheless, to appease +public opinion by the execution of twenty-nine male negroes +and four negro women! Their withered and fetid bodies were +left to hang on the gallows, tainting the air and shocking the eyes +of every passer, until the neighborhood could no longer bear the +sickly stench and imperiously demanded their removal.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>The Marques de Guadalcazar took possession of the viceroyalty +on the 28th of October, 1612, and his government passed in quiet +engaged in the mere ordinary discharge of executive duties during +the first four years, subsequent to which an Indian insurrection of +a formidable character broke out in one of the departments, under a +chief who styled himself "Son of the Sun and God of Heaven and +Earth." This assault was fatal to every Spaniard within reach of +the infuriate natives, who broke into the churches, murdered the +whites seeking sanctuary at their altars, and spared not even the +ecclesiastics, who, in all times, have so zealously proved themselves +to be the defenders of their race. Don Gaspar Alvear, Governor +of Durango, assembled a large force as soon as the viceroy +informed him of the insurrection, and marched against the savages. +After three months of fighting, executions and diplomacy, this functionary + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> +succeeded in suffocating the rebellion; but he was probably +more indebted, for the final reconciliation of the Indians, to the +persuasive talents of the Jesuits who accompanied the expedition, +than to the arms of his soldiers.</p> + +<p>The remaining years of this viceroyalty are only signalized by +the founding of the city of Cordova,—whose neighborhood is renowned +for the excellent tobacco it produces,—and for the construction +of the beautiful aqueduct of San Cosmé which brings the +sweet waters of Santa Fé to the capital. This monument to the +intelligence and memory of Guadalcazar was completed in 1620; +and, in March, 1621, the viceroy was removed to the government +of Peru.</p> + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<div class="fn"> +<h4>Footnotes</h4> +<p><a name="Footnote_35_35" id="Footnote_35_35"></a><a href="#FNanchor_35_35"> + <span class="label">[35]</span></a> Velasco had been sent to Peru + eleven years before, and after governing it seven, +had returned to reside in Mexico, when he was unexpectedly reappointed viceroy.</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote_36_36" id="Footnote_36_36"></a><a href="#FNanchor_36_36"> + <span class="label">[36]</span></a> The level of Tezcoco is now, + according to Mühlenpfordt, five feet seven inches +(Spanish) below that of the city of Mexico.</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote_37_37" id="Footnote_37_37"></a><a href="#FNanchor_37_37"> + <span class="label">[37]</span></a> Ward's Mexico in 1827, vol. 2, p. 282 et seq.</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote_38_38" id="Footnote_38_38"></a><a href="#FNanchor_38_38"> + <span class="label">[38]</span></a> The metre is equal to thirty-nine + thousand three hundred and seventy-one +English inches.</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote_39_39" id="Footnote_39_39"></a><a href="#FNanchor_39_39"> + <span class="label">[39]</span></a> The Calzada of San Cristoval + was originally erected, according to good authority, +in the year 1605. See Liceo Mexicano, vol. 2, p. 6.</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote_40_40" id="Footnote_40_40"></a><a href="#FNanchor_40_40"> + <span class="label">[40]</span></a> Ward, vol. 2, p. 283, et seq.</p> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 250px;"> + <a name="illus-186.jpg" id="illus-186.jpg"></a> + <img src="images/illus-186.jpg" width="250" height="229" alt="Ornamental ending" title="" /> +</div> + + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER VII.<br /> +1621–1624.</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>MARQUES DE GELVES VICEROY—HIS REFORMS—NARRATIVE OF +FATHER GAGE.—GELVES FORESTALLS THE MARKET—THE +ARCHBISHOP EXCOMMUNICATES MEXIA, HIS AGENT.—QUARREL +BETWEEN GELVES AND THE ARCHBISHOP.—VICEROY EXCOMMUNICATED.—ARCHBISHOP +AT GUADALUPE—HE IS ARRESTED +AT THE ALTAR—SENT TO SPAIN.—MEXIA THREATENED.—MOB +ATTACKS THE PALACE—IT IS SACKED.—VICEROY ESCAPES.—RETRIBUTION.</p> +</div> + + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<h3><span class="smcap">Don Diego Carillo Mendoza y Pimentel,<br /> +Count de Priego and Marques de Gelves,<br /> +XIV. Viceroy of New Spain.</span><br /> +1621–1624.</h3> + +<p>Upon the removal of the Marques of Guadalcazar, and until the +21st of September, 1621, the Audiencia again ruled in Mexico, +without any interruption however, upon this occasion, of the public +peace. The six months of the interregnum might, indeed, have +been altogether forgotten, in the history of the country, had not the +Audiencia been obliged to announce the reception of a royal <i>cedula</i> +from Philip IV., communicating the news of his father's death, and +commanding a national mourning for his memory. In September, +the new viceroy arrived in the capital, and immediately caused the +royal order to be carried into effect and allegiance to be sworn +solemnly to Philip IV. as king and lord of Old and New Spain. + <a name="FNanchor_41_41" id="FNanchor_41_41"></a><a href="#Footnote_41_41" class="fnanchor">[41]</a></p> + +<p>The Marques de Gelves was selected by the sovereign for the +reputation he bore in Spain as a lover of justice and order,—qualities +which would ensure his utility in a country whose quietness, +during several of the last viceroyal reigns, had indicated +either a very good or a very bad government, which it was impossible +for the king to examine personally. Accordingly Gelves + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span> +took the reins with a firm hand. He found many of the departments +of government in a bad condition, and is said to have +reformed certain abuses which were gradually undermining the +political and social structure of the colony. In these duties the +two first years of his viceroyalty passed away quietly; but Gelves, +though an excellent magistrate so far as the internal police of the +country is concerned, was, nevertheless, a selfish and avaricious +person, and seems to have resolved that his fortune should prosper +by his government of New Spain.</p> + +<p>The incidents which we are about to relate are stated on the +authority of Father Gage, an English friar who visited Mexico in +1625; and whose pictures of the manners of the people correspond +so well with our personal knowledge of them, at present, that we +are scarcely at liberty to question his fidelity as a historian. + <a name="FNanchor_42_42" id="FNanchor_42_42"></a><a href="#Footnote_42_42" class="fnanchor">[42]</a></p> + +<p>In the year 1624, Mexico was, for a time, in a state of great +distraction, and well nigh revolted from the Spanish throne. The +passion for acquiring fortune, which had manifested itself somewhat +in other viceroys, seems in Gelves unbounded. He resolved +to achieve his end by a bold stroke; and, in 1623, having determined +to monopolize the staff of life among the Indians and creoles, +he despatched one of the wealthiest Mexicans, Don Pedro de +Mexia, to buy up corn in all the provinces at the rate of fourteen +reales, the sum fixed by law at which the corn was sold in +times of famine. The farmers, who, of course, knew nothing of +Mexia's plan readily disposed of their corn, with which the artful +purveyor filled his store houses all over the country. After the +remnant of the crop was brought to market and sold, men began + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span> +to compare notes, and suddenly discovered that corn was no where +to be procured, save from the granaries of Mexia. "The poor +began to murmur, the rich began to complain; and the tariff of +fourteen reales was demanded from the viceroy." But he, the +secret accomplice of Mexia, decided, that as the crops had been +plentiful during the year, it could not be regarded as one of +scarcity according to the evident intention of the law, so that it +would be unfair to reduce the price of grain to that of famine. +And thus the people, balked in their effort to obtain justice from +their ruler, though suffering from extreme imposition, resolved to +bear the oppression, rather than resort to violence for redress.</p> + +<p>After awhile, however, the intimacy between Gelves and Mexia +became more apparent as the confederates supposed they had less +cause for concealment; and the poor, again, besought the viceroy +for justice and the legal tariff. But the temptation was too great +for the avaricious representative of the king. He again denied +their petition; and, then, as a last hope, they resorted to a higher +power, which, in such conflicts with their rulers, had usually +been successful.</p> + +<p>In those days, Don Alonzo de la Serna, a man of lofty character +and intrepid spirit, was archbishop of Mexico, and perceiving the +avaricious trick of the viceroy and his pimp, threw himself on the +popular side and promptly excommunicated Mexia. But the +sturdy merchant, protected by viceroyal authority, was not to be +conquered by so immaterial a thing as a prelate's curse placarded +on the door of a cathedral. He remained quietly ensconced in his +house, despatched orders to his agents, and even <i>raised</i> the price +of his extravagant bread stuffs. For a moment, perhaps, De la +Serna was confounded by this rebellious son of the church, yet the +act convinced him, if indeed, he entertained any doubt on the +subject, that Mexia was backed by the viceroy, and, consequently, +that any further attempts would bring him in direct conflict with +the government. Nevertheless, a man like him was not to be +easily alarmed or forced to retreat so quickly. The church, +supreme in spiritual power, would never yield, especially in a +matter of popular and vital concern, and the archbishop, therefore, +determined to adopt the severest method at once, and by an order of +<i>cessatio divinis</i>, to stop, immediately, all religious worship throughout +the colony. This was a direful interdict, the potency of which +can only be imagined by those who have lived in Catholic +countries whose piety is not periodically regulated upon the +principle of a seven day clock, but where worship is celebrated + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span> +from hour to hour in the churches. The doors of chapels, cathedrals +and religious buildings were firmly closed. A death-like +silence prevailed over the land. No familiar bells sounded for matins +or vespers. The people, usually warned by them of their hours +of labor or repose, had now no means of measuring time. The +priests went from house to house, lamenting the grievous affliction +with which the country was visited and sympathizing cordially +with the people. The church mourned for the unnatural pains her +rebellious son had brought upon her patient children. But still +the contumacious Mexia sold his corn and exacted his price!</p> + +<p>At length, however, popular discontent became so clamorous, +that even among this orderly and enduring people, the life of the +viceroy's agent was no longer safe. He retreated therefore from his +own dwelling to the palace, which was strongly guarded, and demanded +protection from Gelves. The viceroy admitted him and +took issue with the archbishop. He immediately sent orders to +the priests and curates of the several parishes, to cause the orders +of interdict and excommunication to be torn from the church walls, +and all the chapels to be thrown open for service. But the resolute +clergy, firm in their adherence to the prelate, would receive no +command from the viceroy. Finding the churches still closed, +and the people still more clamorous and angry, Gelves commanded +De la Serna to revoke his censures; but the archbishop answered, +that "what he had done was but an act of divine justice against a +cruel oppressor of the poor, whose cries had moved him to compassion, +and that the offender's contempt for his excommunication +had deserved the rigor of both of his censures, neither of which he +would recall until Don Pedro de Mexia submitted himself reverently +to the church, received public absolution, and threw up the unconscionable +monopoly wherewith he had wronged the commonwealth." +"But," says the chronicle of the day, "the viceroy, +not brooking the saucy answer of a churchman, nor permitting him +to imitate the spirit of the holy Ambrose against the Emperor Theodosius," +forthwith sent orders to arrest De la Serna, and to carry +him to Vera Cruz, where he was to be confined in the castle of San +Juan de Ulua until he could be despatched to Spain. The archbishop, +however, followed by a long train of his prebends, priests, +and curates, immediately retired from the capital to the neighboring +village of Guadalupe, but left a sentence of excommunication on +the cathedral door against the viceroy himself! This was too +much for the haughty representative of the Spanish king to bear +without resentment, and left no means open for conciliation between + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span> +church and state. Gelves could as little yield now, as De la Serna +could before, and of course, nothing remained for him but to lay +violent hands on the prelate wherever he might be found. His +well paid soldiers were still faithfully devoted to the viceroy, and +he forthwith committed the archbishop's arrest to a reckless and +unscrupulous officer named Tirol. As soon as he had selected a +band of armed men, upon whose courage and obedience he could +rely, this person hastened to the village of Guadalupe. In the +meantime the archbishop was apprised of his coming and prepared +to meet him. He summoned his faithful clergy to attend in the +sanctuary of the church, clad in their sacred vestments. For the +first time, after many a long and weary day, the ears of the people +were saluted by the sound of bells calling them to the house of +God. Abandoning their business, some of them immediately filled +the square, eagerly demanding by what blessed interposition they +had been relieved from the fearful interdict,—while others thronged +the doors and crowded the aisles of the long forsaken chapel. The +candles on the altar were lighted; the choir struck up a solemn +hymn for the church; and, then, advancing along the aisle in gorgeous +procession, De la Serna and his priestly train took up their +position in front of the tabernacle, where, crowned with his mitre, +his crozier in one hand, and the holy sacrament in the other, this +brave prelate awaited the forces which had been sent to seize him. +It is difficult to say, if De la Serna designed by so imposing a +spectacle to strike awe into the mind of the sacrilegious soldier, or +whether he thought it his duty to be arrested, if arrested he must +be, at that altar he had sworn to serve. It is probable, however, +from his exalted character and courage, that the latter was the true +motive of his act, and if so, he met his fate nobly in the cause of +justice and religion.</p> + +<p>Tirol was not long in traversing the distance between Mexico +and Guadalupe. As soon as he arrived, he entered the church +accompanied by his officers and seemed appalled by the gorgeous +and dramatic display round the shrine. Not a whisper was heard +in the edifice as the crowd slowly parted to make way for the +soldiers, who advanced along the aisle and humbly knelt, for a moment, +at the altar in prayer. This done, Tirol approached De la +Serna, and with "fair and courteous words" required him to lay +down the sacrament, to quit the sanctuary, and to listen to the +orders issued in the royal name. The archbishop abruptly refused +to comply, and answered, that "As the viceroy was excommunicated +he regarded him as beyond the pale of the church and in no + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span> +way empowered to command in Mexico;" he, therefore, ordered +the soldiers, as they valued the peace of their souls, to desist from +infringing the privileges of the church by the exercise of secular +power within its limits, and, he finally declared "that he would, +on no account, depart from the altar unless torn from it with the +sacrament." Upon this Tirol arose, and read the order for his +arrest, describing him as a "traitor to the king, a disturber of the +peace, and a mover of sedition in the commonwealth."</p> + +<p>De la Serna smiled contemptuously at the officer as he finished, +and taunted him with the viceroy's miserable attempt to cast upon +the church the odium of sedition, when his creature Mexia was, in +fact, the shameless offender. He conjured Tirol "not to violate +the sanctuary to which he had retreated, lest his hand should be +withered like that of Jeroboam, who stretched forth an arm against +the prophet of the Lord at the altar!"</p> + +<p>Tirol seems to have been a man upon whose nerves such appeals +had but little effect. He was a blunt soldier, who received the +orders of his superiors and performed them to the letter. He had +been ordered to arrest the archbishop wherever he found him, and +he left the ecclesiastical scandal to be settled by those who sent +him. Beckoning to a recreant priest who had been tampered +with and brought along for the purpose, he commanded him in +the king's name, to wrest the sacrament from the prelate's hand. +The clergyman, immediately mounting the steps of the altar, +obeyed the orders, and the desecrated bishop at once threw off his +pontifical robes and yielded to civil power. The cowardly Mexicans +made no attempt to protect their intrepid friend, who, as he +left the sanctuary, paused for a moment and stretched his hands in +benediction over the recreants. Then bidding an affectionate farewell +to his clergy, whom he called to witness how zealously he +had striven to preserve the church from outrage, as well as the +poor from plunder, he departed as a prisoner for Vera Cruz, +whence he was despatched for Spain in a vessel expressly +equipped for his conveyance.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>For a while the people were panic struck at this high-handed +movement against the archbishop, but when the momentary effect +had passed away and they began to reflect on the disgrace of the +church as well as the loss of their protector, they vented their displeasure +openly against Mexia and the viceroy. The temper of the +masses was at once noticed by the clergy, who were still faithful +to their persecuted bishop, nor did they hesitate to fan the + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span> +flame of discontent among the suffering Indians, Mestizos and +Creoles, who omitted no occasion to express their hatred of the +Spaniards, and especially of Tirol, who had been the viceroy's tool +in De la Serna's arrest. A fortnight elapsed after the occurrences +we have just detailed, and that daring officer had already delivered +his prisoner at Vera Cruz, and returned to Mexico. Popular +clamor at once became loud against him; whenever he appeared in +public he was assailed with curses and stones; until, at last, an +enraged mob attacked him in his carriage with such violence that +it was alone owing to the swiftness of the mules, lashed by the +affrighted postillion, that he escaped into the viceroyal palace, +whose gates were immediately barred against his pursuers. +Meantime the news had spread over town that this "Judas,"—"this +excommunicated dog,"—had taken refuge with Gelves, +and the neighboring market place became suddenly filled with an +infuriated mob, numbering near seven thousand Indians, negroes +and mulattoes, who rushed towards the palace with the evident intention +of attacking it. Seeing this outbreak from a window, the +viceroy sent a message to the assailants desiring them to retire, and +declaring that Tirol had escaped by a postern. But the blood of the +people was up, and not to be calmed by excuses. At this juncture +several priests entered the crowd, and a certain Salazar was +especially zealous in exciting the multitude to summary revenge. +The pangs of hunger, were, for a moment, forgotten in the more +bitter excitement of religious outrage. By this time the mob obtained +whatever arms were nearest at hand. Poles, pikes, pistols, +guns, halberds, and stones were brought to the ground, and fierce +onsets were made on every accessible point of the palace. Neither +the judges nor the police came forward to aid in staying the riot +and protecting Gelves:—"Let the youngsters alone," exclaimed +the observers, "they will soon find out both Mexia and Tirol, as +well as their patron, and the wrongs of the people will be quickly +redressed!" A portion of the mob drew off to an adjacent prison, +whose doors were soon forced and the convicts released.</p> + +<p>At length, things became alarming to the besieged inmates of +the palace, for they seemed to be entirely deserted by the respectable +citizens and police. Thereupon the viceroy ascended to +the azotéa or flat roof of the palace with his guard and retainers, +and, displaying the royal standard, caused a trumpet to be sounded +calling the people to uphold the king's authority. But the reply +to his summons was still in an unrelenting tone—"<i>Viva el Rey! +Muera el mal gobierno; mueran los dos comulgados!</i>" "Long + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span> +live the king! but down with the wicked government, and death +to the excommunicated wretches!" These shouts, yelled forth +by the dense and surging mob, were followed by volleys, discharged +at the persons on the azotéa, who, for three hours, returned the +shots and skirmished with the insurgents. Stones, also, were +hurled from the parapet upon the crowd, but it is related in the +chronicles of the time, that not a single piece of ordnance was +discharged upon the people, "for the viceroy, in those days, had +none for the defence of his palace or person, neither had that great +city any for its strength and security."</p> + +<p>So passed the noon and evening of that disastrous day; but, at +night fall, the baffled mob that had been unable to make any +impression with their feeble weapons upon the massive walls of the +palace, brought pitch and inflammable materials, with which they +fired the gates of the viceroyal palace. The bright flames of these +combustibles sent up their light in the still evening air, and, far +and wide over the town spread the news that the beautiful city was +about to be destroyed. Frightened from their retreats, the judges +and chief citizens who had influence with the people rushed to the +<i>plaza</i>, and, by their urgent entreaties, efforts were made to extinguish +the fire. But the palace gates had already fallen, and, over +their smouldering ruins, the infuriated assailants rushed into the +edifice to commence the work of destruction. The magistrates, +however, who had never taken part against the people in their +quarrels, soon appeared upon the field, and, by loud entreaties, +stopped the <i>saqueo</i>. It was soon discovered that Mexia and Tirol +had escaped by a postern, whilst the conquered viceroy, disguised +as a friar, stole through the crowd to the Franciscan cloister, +where, for many a day, he lay concealed in the sanctuary which +his rapacious spirit had denied to the venerable De la Serna.</p> + +<p>So ended this base attempt of a Spanish nobleman and representative +of royalty in America, to enrich himself by plundering the +docile Mexicans. The fate of Mexia and Tirol is unknown. But +Spanish injustice towards the colonies was strongly marked by the +reception of the viceroy and the archbishop on their return from +Madrid. Gelves, it is true, was recalled, but, after being graciously +welcomed at court, was made "master of the royal horse;" while +the noble hearted De la Serna was degraded from his Mexican arch-prelacy; +and banished to the petty bishopric of Zamora in Castile!</p> + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<div class="fn"> +<h4>Footnotes</h4> +<p><a name="Footnote_41_41" id="Footnote_41_41"></a><a href="#FNanchor_41_41"> + <span class="label">[41]</span></a> "Como Rey y Señor de las + Españas," says the authority.</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote_42_42" id="Footnote_42_42"></a> + <a href="#FNanchor_42_42"><span class="label">[42]</span></a> "A new + survey of the West Indies, or The English American, his Travels by +land and sea; by Thomas Gage, London, 1677, see p. 176." It is due to impartial +history and to the memory of the Marques de Gelves to state that a different +account of these occurrences is given by Ramon J. Alcaraz, a modern Mexican +writer in the Liceo Mexicano, vol. 2, p. 120. Alcaraz fortifies his views by some +documents, and by a justificatory commentary of the Marques himself. But he, +like Gage, does not state his <i>authorities</i>. The story as related by the English friar +is very characteristic of the age, and, <i>si non e vero e ben trovato</i>. Those who are +anxious to discover the innocence or guilt of the viceroy, with certainty, will have +a difficult task in exploring the Spanish manuscripts of the period. The British +traveller Gage, <i>was on the spot in the year after the events occurred</i>, and his subsequent +abandonment of the Catholic church would not be likely to lead him into the +espousal of the archbishop de la Serna's cause against the viceroy.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cavo</span> in his work entitled—"Tres Siglos de Mexico,"—states that the account +he gives of this transaction is taken from <i>five</i> different narratives of it which were +published at the time of its occurrence—three in favor of the viceroy and two +sustaining the cause of the archbishop. In the last two, he alleges, that all the +imputations against the archbishop were disproved, and that all the charges +against the viceroy were sustained by solid argument.</p> +</div> + + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER VIII.<br /> +1624–1642.</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>THE AUDIENCIA RULES IN THE INTERREGNUM.—CARILLO VISITADOR.—INQUISITORIAL +EXAMINATION.—ACAPULCO TAKEN.—ATTACKS +BY THE DUTCH.—REMOVAL OF THE CAPITAL PROPOSED.—ARMENDARIZ +VICEROY.—ESCALONA VICEROY.—PALAFOX'S +CONDUCT TO THE VICEROY.—PALAFOX VICEROY—HIS +GOOD AND EVIL.</p> +</div> + + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<h3><span class="smcap">Don Roderigo Pacheco Osorio, Marques de Cerralvo,<br /> +XV. Viceroy of New Spain.</span><br /> +1624–1635.</h3> + +<p>Upon the violent expulsion of the viceroy Gelves by the popular +outbreak, narrated in the last chapter, the government of New +Spain fell once more into the hands of the <i>Audiencia</i> during the +interregnum. This body immediately adopted suitable measures +to terminate the disaffection. The people were calmed by the +deposition of one they deemed an unjust ruler; but for a long time +it was found necessary to keep on foot in the capital, large bands +of armed men, in order to restrain those troublesome persons who +are always ready to avail themselves of any pretext for tumultuary +attacks either against property or upon people who are disposed to +maintain the supremacy of law and order.</p> + +<p>As soon as Philip IV. was apprised of the disturbances in his +transatlantic colony, he trembled for the security of Spanish power +in that distant realm, and immediately despatched Don Martin +Carillo, Inquisitor of Valladolid, with unlimited power to examine +into the riots of the capital and to punish the guilty participants in +a signal and summary manner. It is not our purpose, at present, +to discuss the propriety of sending from Spain special judges, in +the character of Visitadores or Inquisitors, whenever crimes were +committed by eminent individuals in the colony, or by large bodies +of people, which required the infliction of decided punishment. + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span> +But it may be regarded as one of the characteristic features of the +age, and as demonstrative of the peculiar temper of the king that +an Inquisitor was selected upon this occasion for so delicate and +dangerous a duty. It is true that the church, through the late archbishop, +was concerned in this painful affair; but it little accords +with the ideas of our age to believe it necessary that a subject of +such public concern as the insurrection against an unjust and +odious viceroy should be confined to the walls of an inquisition or +conducted by one of its leading functionaries alone. Had the investigation +been intrusted exclusively to a civil and not an ecclesiastical +judge, it is very questionable whether he should have been +sent from Spain for this purpose alone. Being a foreigner, at least +so far as the colony was concerned, he could have scarcely any +knowledge of or sympathy with the colonists. Extreme impartiality +may have been ensured by this fact; yet as the Visitador or +Inquisitor departed, as soon as his special function ceased, he was +never responsible for his decrees to that wholesome public opinion +which visits the conduct of a judge with praise or condemnation +during his life time when he permanently resides in a country, and, +is always the safest guardian of the liberty of the citizen.</p> + +<p>It seems, however, that the Inquisitor administered his office +fairly and even leniently in this case, for his judgments fell chiefly +on the thieves who stole the personal effects of the viceroy during +the sacking of the palace. The principal movers in the insurrection +had absented themselves from the capital, and prudently remained +in concealment until the Visitador terminated his examinations, +inflicted his punishments upon the culprits he convicted, and +crossed the sea to report his proceedings at court.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>Carillo had been accompanied to New Spain by a new viceroy, +Don Roderigo Pacheco Osorio, Marques of Cerralvo, who arrived +in the capital on the 3d of November, 1624, and assumed the +government. He left the examination of the insurrection entirely +in the hands of the Inquisitor and directed his attention to the +public affairs of the colony. These he found peaceful, except that +a Dutch squadron, under the command of the prince of Nassau +attacked Acapulco, and the feeble city and garrison readily surrendered +without resistance. The fleet held the city, however, +only for a few days, and set sail for other enterprises. This +assault upon an important port alarmed the viceroy, who, at once, +sent orders to have the town immediately surrounded with a wall, +and suitable forts and bastions erected which would guard it in all + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span> +subsequent attacks. These fortifications were hardly commenced +when another Dutch fleet appeared before the town. But this time +the visit was not of a hostile nature;—it was an exhausted fleet, +demanding water and provisions, after recovering which it resumed +its track for the East Indies. Whilst the Spaniards were thus +succoring and sustaining their enemies the Dutch, a dreadful +famine scourged Sinaloa and neighboring provinces, carrying off +upwards of eight thousand Indians.</p> + +<p>During the long reign of the present monarch, Philip IV., Spain +was frequently at war with England, Holland, and France; and +the Dutch, who inflicted dreadful ravages on the American coasts, +secured immense spoil from the Spaniards. In 1628, Pedro Hein, +a Hollander of great distinction, placed a squadron in the gulf on +the coasts of Florida to intercept the fleet of New Spain. The +resistance made by the Spaniards was feeble, and, their vessels +being captured by the Dutch, the commerce of Mexico experienced +a severe blow from which it was long in recovering.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>In 1629, there were ecclesiastical troubles in the colony, +growing out of an attempt by the higher order of the Spanish +clergy to prevent the increase of the regular priesthood from among +the natives of the country. They feared that in the course of time +the dominion of the establishment would thus be wrested from their +hands by the power of the Mexicans. The king, himself was +appealed to on this subject and caused it to be examined into +carefully. In 1631, in consequence of the repeated danger of the +capital from floods, the project of removing the site from its present +location, to the loftier levels between Tacuba and Tacubaya, was +seriously argued before the people. But the interest of property +holders, and inhabitants of the city would have been so seriously +affected by this act, that the idea was abandoned.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>The remaining years of this viceroyalty were consumed in +matters of mere local detail and domestic government, and in fact +we know but little of it, save that the severe inundations of 1629 +caused the authorities to use their utmost efforts in prosecuting the +work of the <i>desague</i>, as we have already seen in the general +account given of that gigantic enterprise. In 1635 this viceroy's +reign terminated.</p> + + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span></p> +<h3><span class="smcap">Don Lope Diaz de Armendariz, Marques de Cadereita,<br /> +XVI. Viceroy of New Spain.</span><br /> +1635–1640.</h3> + +<p>The five years of this personage's government were unmarked by +any events of consequence in the colony; except that in the last +of them,—1640,—he despatched an expedition to the north, +where he founded in New Leon, the town of Cadereita, which the +emigrants named in honor of their viceroy.</p> + + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<h3><span class="smcap">Don Diego Lopez Pacheco Cabrera y Bobadilla,<br /> +Duke of Escalona, Marques of Vilbua and Grandee of<br /> +Spain of the first class.<br /> +XVII. Viceroy of New Spain.</span><br /> +1640–1642.</h3> + +<p>The Duke of Escalona succeeded the Marques of Cadereita, and +arrived in Mexico on the 28th of June, 1640, together with the +venerable Palafox, who came, in the character of Visitador, to +inquire into the administration of the last viceroy whose reputation, +like that of other chief magistrates in New Spain, had suffered +considerably in the hands of his enemies. Whilst this functionary +proceeded with his disagreeable task against a man who was no +longer in power, the duke, in compliance with the king's command +ordered the governor of Sinaloa, Don Luis Cestinos, accompanied +by two Jesuits, to visit the Californias and examine their coasts +and the neighboring isles in search of the wealth in pearls and +precious metals with which they were reputed to be filled. The +reports of the explorers were altogether satisfactory both as to the +character of the natives and of the riches of the waters as well as +of the mines, though they represented the soil as extremely sterile. +The gold of California was reserved for another age.</p> + +<p>Ever since the conquest the instruction of Indians in christian +doctrine had been confided exclusively to the <i>regular</i> clergy of the +Roman Catholic church. The <i>secular</i> priests were, thus, entirely +deprived of the privilege of mingling their cares with their monastic +brethren, who, in the course of time, began to regard this as an +absolute, indefeasible right, whose enjoyment they were unwilling +to forego, especially as the <i>obvenciones</i> or tributes of the Indian +converts, formed no small item of corporate wealth in their +respective orders. The Indians were, in fact, lawful tributaries, + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span> +not only of the whole church, in the estimation of these friars, but +of the special sect or brotherhood which happened to obtain the +first hold on a tribe or nation by its missionary residence among +its people. Palafox requested the Duke of Escalona to deprive the +monkish orders of this monopoly; a desire to which the viceroy +at once acceded, inasmuch as he was anxious to serve the bishop +in all matters pertaining to his religious functions.</p> + +<p>The kindly feeling of the viceroy does not appear to have been +appreciated, or sincerely responded to by Palafox. This personage +was removed in 1642, to the archiepiscopal see of Mexico, and +under the pretext of installation in his new office and opening his +tribunals, he visited the capital with the actual design of occupying +the viceroyal throne to which he had been appointed! This was +a sudden and altogether unexpected blow to the worthy duke, +who was so unceremoniously supplanted. No one seems to have +whispered to him even a suspicion of the approaching calamity, +until the crafty Palafox assembled the oidores at midnight on the +eve of Pentecost, and read to them the royal despatches containing +his commission. His conduct to the jovial hearted duke, who was +no match, in all probability, for the wily churchman, was not only +insincere but unmannerly, for, immediately after the assumption of +his power at dead of night, he commanded a strong guard to +surround the palace at dawn, and required the Oidor Lugo, to read +the royal cedula to the duke even before he left his bed. The +deposed viceroy immediately departed for the convent at Churubusco, +outside the city walls on the road to San Agustin de las +Cuevas. All his property was sequestrated, and his money and +jewels were secured within the treasury.</p> + +<p>The reader will naturally seek for an explanation of this political +enigma, or base intrigue, and its solution is again eminently characteristic +of the reign in which it occurred. It will be remembered +that the Duke of Braganza had been declared King of Portugal, +which kingdom had separated itself from the Spanish domination, +causing no small degree of animosity among the Castilians against +the Portuguese and all who favored them. The Duke of Escalona, +unfortunately, was related to the house of Braganza, and the credulous +Philip having heard that his viceroy exhibited some evidences +of attachment to the Portuguese, resolved to supercede him by Palafox. +Besides this, the Duke committed the impolitic act of appointing +a Portuguese, to the post of Castellan of St. Juan de Ulua; +and, upon a certain occasion, when two horses had been presented +to him by Don Pedro de Castilla, and Don Cristobal de <i>Portugal</i>, + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span> +he unluckily, remarked that he liked best the horse that was offered +by <i>Portugal</i>! It is difficult to believe that such trifles would affect +the destiny of empires, when they were discussed by grave statesmen +and monarchs. But such was the miserable reign of Philip +IV.;—the most disastrous indeed, in the annals of Spain, except +that of Roderic the Goth. Folly like this may justly be attributed +to the imbecile king, who witnessed the Catalan insurection, the +loss of Rousillon, Conflans, a part of Cordaña, Jamaica, and, above +all, of Portugal; and who, moreover, recognized the independence +of the Seven United Provinces.</p> + + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<h3><span class="smcap">Don Juan de Palafox y Mendoza,<br /> +Bishop of Puebla—Chosen Archbishop of Mexico,<br /> +Visitador of New Spain, &c. &c.,<br /> +XVIII. Viceroy Of New Spain.</span><br /> +1642.</h3> + +<p>The administration of Palafox as viceroy was of but short duration. +He occupied the colonial throne but five months, yet, during +that brief space, he did something that signalized his name both +honorably and disgracefully. He seems to have been ridiculously +bent upon the sacrifice of all the interesting monuments which +were still preserved from the period of the conquest as memorials +of the art and idolatry of the Aztecs. These he collected from all +quarters and destroyed. He was evidently no friend of the friars, +but sought to build up and strengthen the secular clergy whose +free circulation in the world brought them directly under the eyes +of society, and whose order made them dependent upon that society, +and not upon a corporation, for maintenance. During his short +reign he manifested kindness for the Indians; caused justice to be +promptly administered, and even suspended certain worthy oidores +who did not work as quickly and decide as promptly as he thought +they ought to; he regulated the ordinances of the Audiencia; prepared +the statutes of the university; raised a large body of militia +to be in readiness in case of an attack from the Portuguese; visited +the colleges under his secular jurisdiction; and, finally, in proof of +his disinterestedness, refused the salary of viceroy and visitador.</p> + + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER IX.<br /> +1642–1654.</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>SOTOMAYOR VICEROY.—ESCALONA VINDICATED.—MONASTIC PROPERTY.—BIGOTRY +OF PALAFOX.—GUZMAN VICEROY.—INDIAN +INSURRECTION.—REVOLT OF THE TARAHUMARES.—SUCCESS +OF THE INDIANS—INDIAN WARS.—DUKE DE ALBURQUERQUE +VICEROY—ATTEMPT TO ASSASSINATE HIM.—COUNT DE BANOS +VICEROY.—ATTEMPT TO COLONIZE.—ESCOBAR Y LLAMAS AND +DE TOLEDO VICEROYS.—DEPREDATIONS OF BRITISH CRUISERS.—NUNO +DE PORTUGAL VICEROY.</p> +</div> + + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<h3><span class="smcap">Don Garcia Sarmiento de Sotomayor,<br /> +Count de Salvatierra, Marques de Sobroso,<br /> +XIX. Viceroy of New Spain.</span><br /> +1642–1648.</h3> + +<p>Philip IV. seems to have been more anxious to use Palafox as +an instrument to remove the Duke of Escalona, than to empower +him, for any length of time, with viceroyal authority; for, no sooner +did he suppose that the duke was displaced quietly without leaving +the government in the hands of the Audiencia, than he appointed +the Conde de Salvatierra as his representative. This nobleman +reached his government on the 23d of November, 1642, and Palafox +immediately retired from his office, still preserving, however, +the functions of Visitador. At the conclusion of this year the duke +departed from Churubusco for San Martin, in order to prepare for +his voyage home; and in 1643, this ill used personage left New +Spain having previously fortified himself with numerous certificates +of his loyalty to the Spanish crown, all of which he used so skilfully +in vindication before the vacillating and imbecile king, that +he was not only exculpated entirely, but offered once more the +viceroyalty from which he had been so rudely thrust. The duke +promptly rejected the proposed restoration, but accepted the viceroyalty +of Sicily. Before he departed for the seat of government, + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span> +he gave the king many wise councils as to his American colonies, +but, especially advised him to colonize the Californias. Don Pedro +Portal de Casañete was commissioned by Philip for this purpose.</p> + +<p>In 1644, there were already in Mexico twelve convents of nuns, +and nearly an equal number for males, which, either by the unwise +but pious zeal of wealthy persons, were becoming rich and aggregating +to themselves a large amount of urban and rural property. +Besides this the dependants upon these convents, both males and +females, were largely increasing;—all of which so greatly prejudiced +not only property but population, that the Ayuntamiento or +City Council solicited the king not to permit the establishment in +future of similar foundations, and to prohibit the acquisition of real +estate by monasteries, inasmuch as the time might come when these +establishments would be the only proprietors.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile Casañete arrived in Mexico on his way to the shores +of the Pacific. Salvatierra received him kindly and made proper +efforts to equip him for the enterprise. The chiefs and governors +of the interior were ordered to aid him in every way; but just as +he was about to sail, two of his vessels were burned, whereupon +his soldiers dispersed, whilst the families of his colonists withdrew, +in hope of being again soon summoned to embark.</p> + +<p>The civil government of Salvatierra passed in quietness; but the +domineering spirit of Palafox did not allow the church to remain +at peace with the state. In 1647, this lordly churchman engaged +in warm discussion with the Jesuits and other orders. Most scandalous +scenes occurred in the churches of Puebla. Anathemas, +excommunications, and all the artillery of the church were used +against each other. Palafox persevered in his rancorous controversy +as long as he remained in America, and even after his return +to Europe, pursued his quarrel at the court of Rome. At the close +of this year Salvatierra was removed to the viceroyalty of Peru.</p> + + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<h3><span class="smcap">Don Marcos de Torres y Rueda,<br /> +Bishop of Yucatan—Governor of New Spain.<br /> +XX. Viceroy of New Spain.</span><br /> +1648–1649.</h3> + +<p>The rule of Torres y Rueda was brief and eventless. It extended +from the 13th of March, 1648, to the 22d of April, 1649, +when the bishop-governor died, and was sumptuously interred in +the church of San Agustin in the city of Mexico.</p> + + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span></p> +<h3><span class="smcap">Don Luis Enriquez de Guzman, Count de Alvadeliste.<br /> +XXI. Viceroy of New Spain.</span><br /> +1649–1654.</h3> + +<p>The Audiencia ruled in New Spain until the 3d of July, 1650, +the period of the Conde de Alvadeliste's arrival in the capital. +This nobleman had been, in fact, appointed by the king immediately +upon the transfer of the Conde de Salvatierra to Peru; but +inasmuch as he could not immediately cross the Atlantic, the +bishop of Yucatan had been directed to assume his functions <i>ad +interim</i>. Alvadeliste, a man of amiable character and gentle manners, +soon won the good opinion of the Spanish colonists and +creoles. But if he was to experience but little trouble from his +countrymen and their descendants, he was not to escape a vexatious +outbreak among the northern Indians, who had remained +quiet for so long that it was supposed they were finally and successfully +subjected to the Spanish yoke.</p> + +<p>The viceroy had not been long installed when he received news +of a rebellion against the Spaniards by the Tarahumares, who inhabited +portions of Chihuahua and Sinaloa, and who hitherto +yielded implicitly to the gentle and persuasive voice of the evangelical +teachers dwelling among them. The portion of this tribe inhabiting +Sinaloa, commenced the assault, but the immediate cause +of the rebellion is not known. We are not aware whether they +experienced a severe local government at the hands of the Spaniards, +whether they were tired of the presence of the children of +the Peninsula, or whether they feared that the priestly rule was +only another means of subjecting them more easily to the crown +of Castile. Perhaps all these causes influenced the rebellion. +Already in 1648, the chief of the nation had compromised three +other tribes in the meditated outbreak; but, lacking the concerted +action of the Tepehuanes and other bands, upon whose aid they +confidently counted, they resolved to attack, alone, the village of +San Francisco de Borja, whose garrison and village they slaughtered +and burned. San Francisco was the settlement which supplied +the local missions with provisions, and its loss was consequently +irreparable to that portion of the country.</p> + +<p>As soon as the chief judge of Parral heard of this sanguinary +onslaught he hastily gathered the neighboring farmers, herdsmen, +and merchants, and hastened into the wilderness against the insurgents, +who fled when they had destroyed the great depot of + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span> +the Spaniards. The troops, hardy as they were on these distant +frontiers, were not calculated for the rough warfare of woodsmen, +and after some insignificant and unsuccessful skirmishes with the +marauders, the new levies retired hastily to their homes.</p> + +<p>Fajardo, governor of Nueva Biscaya, soon heard of the rebellion +and of the ineffectual efforts to suppress it. He was satisfied +that no time was to be lost in crushing the rebellion, and, accordingly +marched with Juan Barraza, to the seat of war with an adequate +force. The Indians had meanwhile left their villages and +betaken themselves to the mountains, woods and fastnesses. Fajardo +immediately burned their abandoned habitations and desolated +their cultivated fields; and when the Indians, who were now +satisfied of their impotence, demanded peace, he granted it on +condition that the four insurgent chiefs of the rebellion should be +surrendered for punishment. The natives, in reply, brought him +the head of one of their leaders, together with his wife and child; +soon after another head was delivered to him, and, in a few days, +the other two leaders surrendered.</p> + +<p>This, for a while, calmed the country; but in order to confirm +the peace and friendship which seemed to be now tolerably well +established, a mission was founded in the valley of Papigochi, in +which the chief population of the Tarahumares resided. The +reverend Jesuit, Father Bendin, was charged with the duty of +establishing this benignant government of the church, and in a +short time it appeared that he had succeeded in civilizing the +Indians and in converting them to the Christian faith. There +were, nevertheless, discontented men among the tribes, whose +incautious acts occasionally gave warning of the animosity which +still lingered in the breasts of the Indians. The most prudent of +the Spaniards warned the governor of Nueva Biscaya to beware a +sudden or personal attack. But this personage treated the advice +with contempt, and felt certain that the country was substantially +pacified. Nevertheless, whilst things wore this aspect of seeming +calm, three chiefs or caciques, who had embraced the Catholic +faith, prepared the elements for a new rebellion, and, on the 5th +of June, 1649, at daybreak, they attacked the dwelling of the +missionaries, set fire to its combustible materials, and surrounding +the blazing house in numbers, awaited the moment when the +unsuspecting inmates attempted to escape. The venerable Bendin +and his companions were quickly aroused, but no sooner did they +rush from the flames than they were cruelly slain by the Indians. +The church was then sacked. The valuables were secured and + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span> +carried off by the murderous robbers, but all the images and +religious emblems were sacrilegiously destroyed before the Indians +fled to the country.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>Fajardo once more despatched Juan Barraza, with three hundred +Spanish soldiers and some Indians against the rebel Tarahumares. +But the tribe had, in its intercourse with the foreigners, acquired +some little knowledge of the art of war and consequently did not +await the expected attack in the open or level fields, where the +Spanish cavalry could act powerfully against them. They retired, +accordingly, to a rocky pass, flanked by two streams, +which they fortified, at all points, with stone walls and other +formidable impediments. Here they rested in security until the +Spanish forces approached them; nor did they, even then abandon +their defensive warfare. Barraza, finding the Indians thus skilfully +entrenched behind barriers and ready to repel his attack, was +unable, after numerous efforts, to dislodge them from their position. +Indeed, he appears to have suffered serious losses in his vain +assaults; so that, instead of routing the natives entirely, he found +it necessary to withdraw his troops who were greatly weakened by +losses, whilst the daring insurgents continually received auxiliary +reinforcements. In this untoward state of affairs, Barraza resolved +to make his escape, during the night, from such dangerous +quarters, and, ordering his Indian allies to light the usual watch-fires, +and keep up the ordinary bustle of a camp, he silently but +gradually withdrew all his Spanish and native forces, so that at +daybreak the Tarahumares found the country cleared of their foes.</p> + +<p>As soon as Fajardo heard of the forced retreat of Barraza he +determined to take the management of the campaign in his own +hands. But his military efforts were as unsuccessful as those of +his unfortunate captain. The rainy season came on before he +could make a successful lodgement in the heart of the enemy's +country, and his march was impeded by floods which destroyed the +roads and rendered the streams impassable. Accordingly he +retired to Parral, where he received orders from the viceroy to +establish a garrison in Papigochi.</p> + +<p>The Spaniards found that their cruelty in the first campaign +against these untamed savages had inflamed their minds against +the viceroyal troops. They attempted, therefore, to use, once +more, the language of persuasion, and, offering the insurgents a +perfect amnesty for the past, prevailed upon the old inhabitants +of the vale of Papigochi to return to their former residences + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span>, +where, however, they did not long remain faithful to their promised +allegiance. The new garrison was established, as had been commanded +by the viceroy; but, in 1652, the relentless tribes, again +seizing an unguarded moment, burned the barracks, and destroyed +in the flames a number of Spaniards, two Franciscan monks, and +a Jesuit priest. The soldiery of Barraza and the governor retired +from the doomed spot, amid showers of Indian arrows.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>In 1653, the war was resumed. The whole country was aroused +and armed against these hitherto invincible bands. Other Indian +tribes were subdued by the Spanish forces, and their arms were +then, once more, turned upon the Tarahumares, at a moment when +the Indian chiefs were distant from the field. But the absence of +the leaders neither dismayed nor disconcerted these relentless +warriors. The Spaniards were again forced to retire; and the +viceroy caused an extensive enlistment to be undertaken, and large +sums appropriated to crush or pacify the audacious bands. Before +the final issue and subjugation, however, the Conde de Alvadeliste, +received the king's command to pass from Mexico to the government +of Peru, and, awaiting only the arrival of his successor, he +sailed from Acapulco for his new viceroyalty.</p> + + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<h3><span class="smcap">Don Francisco Fernandez de la Cueva,<br /> +Duke de Alburquerque,<br /> +XXII. Viceroy of New Spain.</span><br /> +1654–1660.</h3> + +<p>The Duke of Alburquerque, who had married the Doña Juana, +daughter of the former viceroy, Don Lope Diaz de Armendariz, +arrived in Mexico on the 16th of August, 1654, as successor of +Alvadeliste. His accession was signalized by unusually splendid +ceremonies in the capital, and the new viceroy immediately +devoted himself to the improvement of Mexico, as well as to the +internal administration of affairs. He zealously promoted the public +works of the country; labored diligently to finish the cathedral; +devoted himself, in hours of leisure, to the promotion of literature +and the fine arts; regulated the studies in the university; and +caused the country to be scoured for the apprehension of robbers +and vagabonds who infested and rendered insecure all the highways +of the colony. Great numbers of these wretches were soon +seized and hanged after summary trials.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span> + In 1656, the British forces having been successful against +Jamaica, the Mexicans were apprehensive that their arms would +next be turned against New Spain; and accordingly Alburquerque +fitted out an armada to operate against the enemy among the +islands before they could reach the coast of his viceroyalty. This +well designed expedition failed, and most of the soldiers who engaged +in it, perished. The duke, unsuccessful in war, next turned +his attention to the gradual and peaceful extension, northward, of +the colonial emigration; and, distributing a large portion of the +territory of New Mexico among a hundred families, he founded +the city of Alburquerque, and established in it several Franciscan +missions as the nucleus of future population.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>The year 1659 was signalized in Mexico by one of those horrid +dramas which occasionally took place in all countries into which +the monstrous institution of the Inquisition was unfortunately +naturalized, and fifty human victims were burned alive by order of +the <i>Audiencia</i>. For the credit of the country it must be remembered +that this was the first occurrence of the kind, but, either from +curiosity or from a superior sense of duty, the dreadful pageant +was not only witnessed by an immense crowd of eager spectators, +but was even presided over by the viceroy himself. In 1660 the +duke narrowly escaped death by the hands of an assassin. Whilst +on his knees at prayer in a chapel of the cathedral, the murderer,—a +youthful soldier seventeen years old,—stole behind him, and +was in the act of striking the fatal blow when he was arrested. In +less than twelve hours he had gone to account for the meditated +crime.</p> + +<p>Alburquerque appears to have been popular, useful and intelligent, +though, from his portrait which is preserved in the gallery of +the viceroys in Mexico, we would have imagined him to be a gross +sensualist, resembling more the usual pictorial representations of +Sancho Panza than one who was calculated to wield the destinies +of an empire. Nevertheless the expression of public sorrow was +unfeigned and loud among all classes when he departed for Spain +in the year 1660.</p> + + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span></p> +<h3><span class="smcap">Don Juan de Leyva y de la Cerda,<br /> +Marques de Leyva y de la Cerda, Count de Baños<br /> +XXIII. Viceroy of New Spain.</span><br /> +1660–1664.</h3> + +<p>The successor of the Duke of Alburquerque entered Mexico on +the 16th of September, 1660. Don Juan de Leyva y de la Cerda +approached the colony with the best wishes and resolutions to advance +its prosperity and glory. His earliest efforts were directed +to the pacification of the Tarahumares, whose insurrection was +still entirely unquelled, and whose successes were alarmingly disastrous +in New Mexico, whither they advanced in the course of +their savage warfare. With the same liberal spirit that characterized +his predecessor, he continued to be the zealous friend of those +remote, frontier colonists, and, in a short time, formed twenty-four +villages. It was, doubtless, his plan to subdue and pacify the +north by an armed occupation.</p> + +<p>In 1661 and 1662, the despotic conduct of the Spaniards to the +Indians stirred up sedition in the south as well as at the north. +The natives of Tehuantepec were, at this period, moved to rebellion, +with the hope of securing their personal liberty, even if they +could not reconquer their national independence. Spanish forces +were immediately marched to crush the insurrection; but the soft +children of the south were not as firmly pertinacious in resistance +as their sturdier brothers of the northern frontier. More accessible +to the gentle voices of an insinuating clergy, they yielded to the +persuasive eloquence of the bishop Ildefonzo Davalos, who, animated +by honest and humane zeal for the children of the forest, +went among the incensed tribes, and, by kindness, secured the +submission which arms could not compel at the north. For this +voluntary and valuable service the sovereign conferred on him the +mitre of Mexico, which, in the year 1664, was renounced by +Osorio Escobar.</p> + +<p>The only other event of note, during this viceroyalty, was an +attempt at colonization and pearl fishing on the coasts of California +by Bernal Piñaredo, who seems rather to have disturbed than to +have benefitted the sparse settlers on those distant shores. He was +coldly received on his return by the viceroy, who formally accused +him to the court for misconduct during the expedition.</p> + +<p>Don Juan de Leyva sailed for Spain in 1664, and soon after +died, afflicted by severe family distresses, and, especially by the +misconduct of his son and heir.</p> + + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span></p> +<h3><span class="smcap">Don Diego Osorio Escobar y Llamas, Bishop of Puebla.<br /> +XXIV. Viceroy of New Spain.</span><br /> +1664.</h3> + +<p>The reign of this ecclesiastic was remarkable for nothing except +its extraordinarily brief duration. The bishop entered upon his +duties on the 29th of June, and resigned them in favor of his successor +on the 15th of the next October.</p> + + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<h3><span class="smcap">Don Sebastian de Toledo, Marques de Mancera;<br /> +XXV. Viceroy of New Spain.</span><br /> +1664–1673.</h3> + +<p>New Spain enjoyed profound internal peace when Don Sebastian +arrived in the capital on the 15th of October, 1664. But the +calm of the political world does not seem to have extended to the +terrestrial, for, about this period, occurred one of the few eruptions +of the famous mountain of Popocatepetl,—the majestic volcano +which lies on the eastern edge of the valley, and is the most +conspicuous object from all parts of the upper table lands of +Mexico. For four days it poured forth showers of stones from its +crater and then, suddenly, subsided into quietness.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>In the beginning of 1666 a royal <i>cedula</i> was received from the +queen apprising her faithful subjects of her husband's death, and +that during the minority of Charles II. the government would be +carried on by her. The loss of Jamaica, during the last reign was +irreparable for Spain. The possession of so important an island +by the British, enabled the enemies of Castile to find a lurking +place in the neighborhood of her richest colonies from which the +pirates and privateers could readily issue for the capture of Spanish +commerce or wealth. The armada of the Marques of Cadareita, +was useless against the small armed craft which not only possessed +great advantages in swiftness of sailing, but was able, also, to +escape from the enemies' pursuit or guns in the shallows along the +coast into which the larger vessels dared not follow them. But +the general war in Europe which had troubled the peace of the old +world for so many years, had now drawn to a close, and a peace +was once more, for a while re-established. The ambitious desires +of the Europeans, were now, however, turned towards America, +and, with eager and envious glances at the possessions of the + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span> +Spaniards. The narrow, protective system of Spain, had, as we +have related in our introductory chapter, closed the colonial ports +against all vessels and cargoes that were not Spanish. This, +of course, was the origin of an extensive system of contraband, +which had doubtless done much to corrupt the character of the +masses, whilst it created a class of bold, daring and reckless men, +whose representatives may still be found, even at this day, in the +ports of Mexico and South America. This contraband trade not +only affected the personal character of the people, but naturally +injured the commerce and impaired the revenues of New Spain. +Accordingly the ministers in Madrid negotiated a treaty with +Charles II. of England, by which the sovereigns of the two nations +pledged themselves not to permit their subjects to trade in their +colonies. Notwithstanding the treaty, however, Governor Lynch, +of Jamaica, still allowed the equipment of privateers and smugglers, +in his island, where they were furnished with the necessary +papers; but the king removed him as soon as he was apprised of +the fact, and replaced the conniving official by a more discreet and +conscientious governor. Nevertheless the privateers and pirates +still continued their voyages, believing that this act of the British +government was not intended in good faith to suppress their +adventures, but simply to show Spain that <i>in England</i> treaties +were regarded as religiously binding upon the state and the +people. They did not imagine that the new governor would, +finally, enforce the stringent laws against them. But this personage +permitted the outlaws to finish their voyages without +interference on the high seas, and the moment some of them <i>landed</i>, +they were hanged, as an example to all who were still willing to +set laws and treaties at defiance.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>In 1670, the prolonged Tarahumaric war was brought to a close, +by Nicolas Barraza. An Indian girl pointed out the place in +which the majority of the warriors might be surprised; and, all the +passes being speedily seized and guarded, three hundred captives +fell into the victors' hands. In 1673, the viceroy departed for +Spain, after an unusually long and quiet reign of eight years.</p> + + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span></p> +<h3><span class="smcap">Don Pedro Nuño Colon de Portugal,<br /> +Duke of Veraguas and Knight of the Golden Fleece,<br /> +XXVI. Viceroy of New Spain.</span><br /> +1673.</h3> + +<p>The nomination of this distinguished nobleman and descendant +of the discoverer of America, was unquestionably designed merely +as a compliment to the memory of a man, whose genius had given +a new world to Castile.<a name="FNanchor_43_43" id="FNanchor_43_43"></a> + <a href="#Footnote_43_43" class="fnanchor">[43]</a> He was so far advanced in life, that it +was scarcely presumed he would be able to withstand the hardships +of the voyage or reach the Mexican metropolis. And such, +indeed, was the result of his toilsome journey. His baton of +office,—assumed on the 8th of December, 1673,—fell from his +decrepit hand on the 13th of the same month. So sure was the +Spanish court that the viceroy would not long survive his arrival, +that it had already appointed his successor, and sent a sealed +despatch with the commission, which was to be opened in the +event of Don Pedro's death. It thus happened that the funeral of +one viceroy, was presided over by his successor; and the august +ceremonial was doubtless more solemn from the fact that this +successor was Rivera, who, at that time, was the archbishop +of Mexico.</p> + +<p>The Duke of Veraguas of course neither originated any thing +nor completed any public work that had been already commenced; +but the companions of his voyage to America, long remembered +and spoke of the good will and wise measures which he constantly +manifested in conversation relative to the government of New Spain.</p> + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<div class="fn"> +<h4>Footnote</h4> +<p><a name="Footnote_43_43" id="Footnote_43_43"></a> + <a href="#FNanchor_43_43"><span class="label">[43]</span></a></p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"A Castilla y a Leon,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">"Mundo nuebo dio Colon,"<br /></span> +</div> +</div> + +<p>is the motto attached to the arms of this house.</p> +</div> + + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER X.<br /> +1674–1696.</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>RIVERA VICEROY.—LA CERDA VICEROY.—REVOLT IN NEW MEXICO.—SUCCESS +OF THE INDIANS.—COLONY DESTROYED.—EFFORTS +OF THE SPANIARDS TO RECONQUER.—VERA CRUZ +SACKED.—COUNT MONCLOVA VICEROY.—COUNT GALVE VICEROY.—TARRAHUMARIC +REVOLT.—INDIANS PACIFIED.—TEXAS.—HISPANIOLA +ATTACKED.—INSURRECTION—BURNING OF THE +PALACE.—FAMINE—EARTHQUAKE.</p> +</div> + + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<h3><span class="smcap">Fray Payo Enriquez de Rivera, Archbishop of Mexico,<br /> +XXVII. Viceroy of New Spain.</span><br /> +1674–1680.</h3> + +<p>The Duke of Veraguas, as we have seen, enjoyed none of his +viceroyal honors save those which crowned his entrance into the +capital; and as soon as his remains were temporarily interred in +the cathedral, Fray Payo Enriquez de Rivera assumed the reins of +government.</p> + +<p>This excellent prelate had fulfilled the functions of his bishopric, +for nine years, in Guatemala, so satisfactorily to the masses, that +his elevation to supreme power in Mexico was hailed as a national +blessing. He devoted himself from the first, diligently, to the +adornment of the capital and the just and impartial administration +of public affairs. He improved the roads and entrances into the +city; and, by his moderation, justice and mildness, united with +liberality and economy, raised the reputation of his government to +such a degree of popular favor that, in the annals of New Spain, it +is referred to as a model public administration.</p> + +<p>In 1677, by the orders of the queen regent, Rivera, despatched a +colony to California; and in the following year, Charles II., who +had attained his majority, signified his gratitude to the viceroy for +his paternal government of New Spain, as well as for the care he + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span> +had shown not only for the social, artistical and political improvement +of the nation committed to his charge, but for the honest +collection of the royal income, which, in those days, was a matter +of no small moment or interest to the Spanish kings. But in 1680, +the viceroy's health began to fail, and Charles the Second, who +still desired to preserve and secure the invaluable services of so +excellent a personage to his country, nominated him bishop of +Cuenca, and created him president of the Council of the Indies.</p> + + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<h3><span class="smcap">Don Tomas Antonio Manrique de la Cerda,<br /> +Marques de la Laguna,<br /> +XXVIII. Viceroy of New Spain.</span><br /> +1680–1686.</h3> + +<p>The archbishop Rivera, when he left the viceroyal chair handed +to his successor in 1680, on the 30th of November, the letter he had +just received from the north, imparting the sad news of a general +rising of the Indians in New Mexico against the Spaniards. The +aborigines of that region, who then amounted to about twenty-five +thousand, residing in twenty-four villages, had entered into +combination with the wilder tribes thronging the broad plains +of the north and the recesses of the neighboring mountains, and +had suddenly descended, in great force, upon the unfortunate +Spaniards scattered through the country. The secret of the conspiracy +was well kept until the final moment of rupture. The +spirit of discontent, and the bond of Indian union were fostered +and strengthened, silently, steadily and gradually, throughout a +territory of one hundred and twenty-five leagues in extent, without +the revelation of the fact to any of the foreigners in the region. +Nor did the strangers dream of impending danger until the 10th +of August, when, at the same moment, the various villages of Indians, +took arms against the Spaniards, and, slaughtering all who +were not under the immediate protection of garrisons, even wreaked +their vengeance upon twenty-one Franciscan monks who had labored +for the improvement of their social condition as well as for +their conversion to Christianity.</p> + +<p>Having successfully assaulted all the outposts of this remote +government of New Spain, the Indians next directed their arms +against the capital, Santa Fé, which was the seat of government +and the residence of the wealthiest and most distinguished inhabitants + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span> +of the north. But the garrison was warned in time by a few +natives who still remained faithful to their foreign task-masters, +and was thus enabled to muster its forces and to put its arms in +order, so as to receive the meditated assault. The Spanish soldiers +allowed the rebellious conspirators to approach their defences, until +they were sure of their aim, and, then, discharging their pieces +upon the impetuous masses, covered the fields with dead and +wounded. But the brave Indians were too excited, resolved and +numerous to be stayed or repulsed by the feeble garrison. New +auxiliaries took the places of the slaughtered ranks. On all sides, +the country was dark with crowds of dusky warriors whose shouts +and warwhoops continually rent the air. Clouds of arrows, and +showers of stones were discharged on the heads of the beleagured +townsmen. No man dared show himself beyond the covering of +houses and parapets; and thus, for ten days, the Indian siege was +unintermitted for a single moment around the walls of Santa Fé. +At the expiration of this period the provisions as well as the munitions +of the Spaniards were expended, and the wretched inhabitants, +who could no longer endure the stench from the carcasses of +the slain which lay in putrefying heaps around their town, resolved +to evacuate the untenable place. Accordingly, under cover of the +night, they contrived to elude the besiegers' vigilance, and quitting +the town by secret and lonely paths, they fled to Paso del Norte, +whence they despatched messengers to the viceroy with the news +of their misfortune. The day after this precipitate retreat, the +Indians, who were altogether unaware of the Spaniards' departure, +expected a renewal of the combat. But the town was silent. Advancing +cautiously from house to house and street to street, they +saw that Santa Fé was, in reality deserted; and, content with having +driven their oppressors from the country, they expended their wrath +upon the town by destroying and burning the buildings. The +cause of this rising was the bad conduct of the Spaniards to the +Indians and the desire of these wilder northern tribes to regain +their natural rights.</p> + +<p>In the commencement of 1681, the viceroy began to fear that this +rebellion, which seemed so deeply rooted and so well organized, +would spread throughout the neighboring provinces, and, accordingly, +despatched various squadrons of soldiers to New Mexico, +and ordered levies to join them as they marched to the north +towards El Paso del Norte, which was the present refuge of the +expelled and flying government. In this place all the requisite +preparations for a campaign were diligently prepared, and thence + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span> +the troops departed in quest of the headstrong rebels. But all +their pains and efforts were fruitless. The object of the Indians +seems to have been accomplished in driving off the Spaniards and +destroying their settlements. The wild children of the soil and of +the forest neither desired the possession of their goods, nor waged +war in order to enjoy the estates they had been forced to till. It +was a simple effort to recover once more the wild liberty of +which they had been deprived, and to overthrow the masked +slavery to which the more ennervated races of the south <i>submitted +tamely</i>, under the controlling presence of ampler forces. They +contented themselves, therefore, with destroying towns, plantations, +farms, and villages, and, flying to the fastnesses of the +mountain forests, either kept out of reach of the military bands that +traversed the country or descended in force upon detached parties. +The Spaniards were thus denied all opportunity to make a successful +military demonstration against the Indians; and, after +waiting a season in fruitless efforts to subdue the natives, they +retired to El Paso, leaving the country still in the possession of +their foes who would neither fight nor come to terms, although an +unconditional pardon and a future security of rights were freely +promised.</p> + +<p>The unsuccessful expedition of the previous year, induced the +viceroy, in 1682, to adopt other means for the reduction of the +refractory Indians to obedience. That vast region was not to be +lost, nor were the few inhabitants who still continued to reside on +its frontiers, to be abandoned to the mercy of savages. The +Marques de la Laguna, therefore resolved to re-colonize Santa Fé, +and, accordingly, despatched three hundred families of Spaniards +and mulattoes, among whom he divided the land by <i>caballerias</i>. +Besides this, he augmented the garrison in all the forts and strongholds +scattered throughout the territory, so that agriculture and +trade, grouped under the guns of his soldiery, might once more +lift up their heads in that remote region in spite of Indian hostility. +This measure was of great service in controlling the natives elsewhere. +The Indians in the neighboring provinces had begun to +exhibit a strong desire to imitate the example of the New Mexican +bands, and, in all probability, were only prevented by this stringent +measure of the viceroy from freeing themselves from the +Spanish yoke.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>The administration of the Marques de la Laguna was an unfortunate +one for his peace if not for his fame. The expedition which + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span> +he despatched in 1683 to California, under Don Isidro Otondo, +and in which were Jesuits among whom was the celebrated Father +Kino, returned from that country three years afterwards after a +fruitless voyage and exploration of the coasts. Nor was the +eastern coast of New Spain more grateful for the cares of the +viceroy. Vera Cruz, the chief port of the realm, was, at this time, +warmly besieged and finally sacked by the English pirate Nicholas +Agramont, who was drawn thither by a mulatto, Lorencellio, +after taking refuge in Jamaica for a crime that he had committed +in New Spain. On the 17th of May, Vera Cruz, surrendered to +the robbers, who possessed themselves of property to the amount +of seven millions of dollars, which was awaiting the arrival in the +harbor of the fleet that was to carry it to Spain. The chief +portion of the inhabitants took sanctuary in the churches, where +they remained pent up for a length of time; but the pirates +contrived to seize a large number of clergymen, monks and women, +whom they forced to bear the spoils of the city to their vessels, and +afterwards treated with the greatest inhumanity.</p> + +<p>The coasts of Mexico were, at this period, sorely harassed with +the piratical vessels of France and England. The wealth of the +New World, inadequately protected by Spanish cruisers, in its +transit to Europe, was a tempting prize to the bold nautical adventurers +of the north of Europe; and the advantages of the Spanish +colonies were thus reaped by nations who were freed from the +expenses of colonial possessions. There are perhaps still many +families in these countries whose fortunes were founded upon the +robbery of Castilian galeons.</p> + + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<h3><span class="smcap">Don Melchor Portocarrero Laso de la Vega,<br /> +Count de la Monclova.<br /> +XXIX. Viceroy of New Spain.</span><br /> +1686–1688.</h3> + +<p>The Conde de Monclova, surnamed "Brazo de Plata" from the +fact that he supplied with a silver arm the member he had lost in +battle, arrived in Mexico on the 30th of November, 1686, and +immediately devoted himself to the improvement of the capital, the +completion of the canal which was to free the city from inundations, +and the protection of the northern provinces and the coasts of the +gulf against the menaced settlements of the French. He despatched +several Spanish men of war and launches to scour the harbors + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span> +and inlets of the eastern shores, as far as Florida, in order to +dislodge the intruders; and, having obtained control over the +Indians of Coahuila he established a strong garrison, and founded +a colonial settlement, called the town of Monclova, with a hundred +and fifty families, in which there were two hundred and seventy +men capable of bearing arms against the French whom he expected +to encounter in that quarter.</p> + +<p>The Conde de Monclova contemplated various plans for the consolidation +and advancement of New Spain, but before two years +had expired he was relieved from the government and transferred +to the viceroyalty of Peru.</p> + + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<h3><span class="smcap">Don Gaspar de Sandoval Silva y Mendoza,<br /> +Count de Galve.<br /> +XXX. Viceroy of New Spain.</span><br /> +1688.</h3> + +<p>The Conde de Galve entered upon his government on the 17th +of September, 1688; and even before the departure of his predecessor +for Peru, he learned that the fears of that functionary had been +realized by the discovery of attempts by the French to found settlements +in New Spain. The governor of Coahuila in the course of +his explorations in the wilderness found a fort which had been +commenced, and the remains of a large number of dead Frenchmen, +who had no doubt been engaged in the erection of the stronghold +when they fell under the blows and arrows of the savages.</p> + +<p>Besides this intrusion in the north, from which the Spaniards +were, nevertheless, somewhat protected by the Indians who hated +the French quite as much as they did the subjects of Spain,—the +viceroy heard, moreover, that the Tarrahumare and Tepehuane +tribes had united with other wild bands of the north-west, and +were in open rebellion. Forces were immediately despatched +against the insurgents, but they fared no better than the Spanish +troops had done in previous years in New Mexico. The love of +liberty, or the desire of entire freedom from labor, was in this case, +as in the former, the sole cause of the insurrection. When the +blow was struck, the Indians fled to their fastnesses, and when the +regular soldiery arrived on the field to fight them according to the +regular laws of war, the children of the forest were, as usual, no +where to be found! Nor is it likely that the rebellion would +have been easily suppressed, or improbable that those provinces + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span> +would have been lost, had not the Jesuits, who enjoyed considerable +influence over the insurgent tribes, devoted themselves, forthwith, +to calming the excited bands. Among the foremost of these +clerical benefactors of Spain was the noble Milanese Jesuit, Salvatierra, +whose authority over the Indians was perhaps paramount to +all others, and whose successful zeal was acknowledged by a +grateful letter from the viceroy. This worthy priest had been one +of the ablest missionaries among these warlike tribes. He won +their love and confidence whilst endeavoring to diffuse christianity +among them, and the power he obtained through his humanity +and unvarying goodness, was now the means of once more subjecting +the revolted Indians to the Spaniards. The cross achieved a +victory which they refused to the sword.</p> + +<p>In 1690, another effort was made to populate California, in virtue +of new orders received from Charles; and, whilst the preparations +were making to carry the royal will into effect, the viceroy +commanded the governor of Coahuila to place a garrison at San +Bernardo, where the French attempted to build their fort. Orders +were also sent about the same time by Galve to extend the Spanish +power northward, and, in 1691, the province of Asinais, or Texas, +as it was called by the Spaniards, was settled by some emigrants, +and visited by fourteen Franciscan monks, who were anxious to +devote themselves to the conversion of the Indians. A garrison +and a mission were established, at that time, in Texas; but in consequence, +not only of an extraordinary drought which occurred two +or three years after, destroying the crops and the cattle, but also +of a sudden rebellion among the natives against the Spaniards who +desired to subject them to the same ignoble toils that were +patiently endured by the southern tribes, nearly all the posts and +missions were immediately abandoned.</p> + +<p>The year 1690 was signalized in the annals of New Spain by an +attack and successful onslaught made by the orders of the viceroy +with Creole troops upon the island of Hispaniola, which was occupied +by the French. Six ships of the line and a frigate, with two +thousand seven hundred soldiers, sailed from the port of Vera +Cruz, upon this warlike mission; and after fighting a decisive battle +and destroying the settlements upon parts of the island, but +without attacking the more thickly peopled and better defended +districts of the west, they returned to New Spain with a multitude +of prisoners and some booty.</p> + +<p>But the rejoicings to which these victories gave rise were of +short duration. The early frosts of 1691 had injured the crops, + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span> +and the country was menaced with famine. On the 9th of June, +in this year, the rain fell in torrents, and, accompanied as it was +by hail, destroyed the grain that was cultivated not only around +the capital, but also in many of the best agricultural districts. The +roads became impassable, and many parts of the city of Mexico +were inundated by floods from the lake, which continued to lie in +the low level streets until the end of the year. Every effort was +made by the authorities to supply the people with corn,—the staff +of life among the lower classes,—and commissaries were even +despatched to the provinces to purchase grain which might be +stored and sold to the masses at reasonable prices. But the suspicious +multitude did not justly regard this provident and humane +act. They imagined that the viceroy and his friends designed to +profit by the scarcity of food, and to enrich themselves by the +misery of the country. Accordingly, loud murmurs of discontent +arose among the lower classes in the capital, and on the 8th of +June, 1692, the excited mob rushed suddenly to the palace of the +viceroy, and setting fire not only to it but to the Casa de Cabildo +and the adjacent buildings, destroyed that splendid edifice together +with most of the archives, records and historical documents which +had been preserved since the settlement of the country. A diligent +search was made for the authors of this atrocious calamity, +and eight persons were tried, convicted and executed for the +crime. The wretched incendiaries were found among the dregs +of the people. Many of their accomplices were also found guilty +and punished with stripes; and the viceroy took measures to drive +the hordes of skulking Indians who had been chiefly active in the +mob, from their haunts in the city, as well as to deprive them of +the intoxicating drinks, and especially their favorite <i>pulque</i>, in +which they were habituated to indulge. The crop of 1693, in +some degree, repaired the losses of previous years, and in the ensuing +calm the Conde de Galve commenced the rebuilding of +the viceroyal palace. The property destroyed in the conflagration +in June, 1692, amounted in value to at least three millions of +dollars.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>In this year, the viceroy, who was anxious for the protection of +the northern shores of the gulf, and desirous to guard the territory +of Florida, from the invasion or settlement of the northern nations +of Europe, fitted out an expedition of expert engineers to Pensacola, +who designed and laid the foundations of the fortifications of +this important port. Three years afterwards, before the termination + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span> +of his command in New Spain, Galve had the satisfaction to +despatch from Vera Cruz the colony and garrison which were to +occupy and defend this stronghold.</p> + +<p>In 1694, the capital and the adjacent province were once more +afflicted with scarcity, and to this was added the scourge of an +epidemic that carried thousands to the grave. In the following +year a dreadful earthquake shook the city of Mexico, on the night +of the 24th of August, and at seven o'clock of the following morning. +But amid all these afflictions, which were regarded by multitudes +as specially sent by the hand of God to punish the people for +their sins, the authorities managed to preserve order throughout +the country, and in 1695, sent large reinforcements for the expedition +which the English and Spaniards united in fitting out against +the French who still maintained their hold on the island of Hispaniola. +This adventure was perfectly successful. The combined +forces assaulted the Gauls with extraordinary energy, and bore off +eighty-one cannons as trophies of their victorious descent. The +checquered administration of the Conde de Galve was thus satisfactorily +terminated, and he returned to Spain after eight years of +government, renowned for the equity and prudence of his administration +during a period of unusual peril.</p> + + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XI.<br /> +1696–1734.</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>MONTAÑEZ VICEROY.—SPIRITUAL CONQUEST OF CALIFORNIA.—VALLADARES +VICEROY.—FAIR AT ACAPULCO.—SPANISH MONARCHY—AUSTRIA—BOURBON.—MONTAÑEZ +VICEROY.—JESUITS IN CALIFORNIA.—LA CUEVA VICEROY.—DUKE DE LINARES +VICEROY.—BRITISH SLAVERY TREATY.—COLONIZATION. +NUEVO LEON.—TEXAS.—OPERATIONS IN TEXAS—ALARCON—AGUAYO.—CASA-FUERTE'S +VIRTUOUS ADMINISTRATION—LOUIS +I.—ORIENTAL TRADE—SPANISH JEALOUSY.—THE KING'S +OPINION OF CASA-FUERTE—HIS ACTS.</p> +</div> + + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<h3><span class="smcap">Don Juan de Ortega Montañez, Bishop of Michoacan,<br /> +XXXI. Viceroy of New Spain.</span><br /> +1696–1702.</h3> + +<p>Scarcely had Galve departed, and the new episcopal viceroy +Montañez assumed the reins of government, on the 27th of +February, 1696, when news reached Mexico that a French squadron +was laying in wait near Havana, to seize the galeons which +were to leave Vera Cruz in the spring for Spain. The fleet was +accordingly ordered to delay its departure until the summer, whilst +masses were said and prayers addressed to the miraculous image +of the Virgin of Remedios to protect the vessels and their treasure +from disaster. The failure of the fleet to sail at the appointed day +seems to have caused the French squadron to depart for Europe, +after waiting a considerable time to effect their piratical enterprise; +and, in the end, all the galeons, save one, reached the harbor of +Cadiz, where the duties alone on their precious freights amounted +to four hundred and twelve thousand dollars!</p> + +<p>At this period the settlement of the Californias, which was always +a favorite project among the Mexicans, began again to be +agitated. The coasts had been constantly visited by adventurers +engaged in the pearl fishery; but these persons, whose manners + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span> +were not conciliatory, and whose purposes were altogether selfish, +did not contribute to strengthen the ties between the Spaniards and +the natives. Indeed, the Indians continually complained of the +fishermen's ill usage, and were unwilling to enter either into trade +or friendship with so wild a class of unsettled visitors. The +colonial efforts, previously made, had failed in consequence of the +scarcity of supplies, nor could sufficient forces be spared to compel +the submission of the large and savage tribes that dwelt in +those remote regions. Accordingly, when the worthy Father Salvatierra, +moved by the descriptions of Father Kino, prayed the +Audiencia to intrust the reduction of the Californias to the care of +the Jesuits, who would undertake it without supplies from the +royal treasury, that body and the episcopal viceroy, consented to +the proposed spiritual conquest, and imposed on the holy father no +other conditions except that the effort should be made without cost +to Spain, and that the territory subdued should be taken possession +of in the name of Charles II. Besides this concession to the +Jesuits, the viceroy and Audiencia granted to Salvatierra and Kino +the right to levy troops and name commanders for their protection +in the wilderness. A few days after the conclusion of this contract +with the zealous missionaries, the government of Montañez was +terminated by the arrival of his successor, the Conde de Montezuma.</p> + + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<h3><span class="smcap">Don José Sarmiento Valladares,<br /> +Count de Montezuma y Tula<br /> +XXXII. Viceroy of Mexico.</span><br /> +1696–1702.</h3> + +<p>The Conde de Montezuma arrived in Mexico on the 18th of +December, 1696. Early in the ensuing January the annual galeon +from the Philipine islands reached the port of Acapulco, and this +year the advent of the vessel, laden with oriental products seems to +have been the motive for the assemblage of people not only from +all parts of Mexico, but even from Peru, at a fair, at which nearly +two millions of dollars were spent by inhabitants of the latter viceroyalty +in merchandise from China. Hardly had the festivities of +this universal concourse ended when a violent earthquake shook +the soil of New Spain, and extended from the west coast to the +interior beyond the capital, in which the inhabitants were suffering +from scarcity, and beginning already to exhibit symptoms of discontent, +as they had done five years before, against the supreme + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span> +authorities, who they always accused of criminally withholding +grain or maintaining its exorbitant price whenever the seasons were +inauspicious. But the Conde de Montezuma was on his guard, +and immediately took means to control the Indians and lower +classes who inhabited the suburbs of the capital. In the meanwhile +he caused large quantities of corn to be sent to Mexico from +the provinces, and, as long as the scarcity continued and until it +was ascertained that the new crop would be abundant, he ordered +grain to be served out carefully to those who were really in want +or unable to supply themselves at the prices of the day. + <a name="FNanchor_44_44" id="FNanchor_44_44"></a><a href="#Footnote_44_44" class="fnanchor">[44]</a></p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>In 1698 the joyful news of the peace concluded in the preceding +year between France, Spain, Holland and England, reached +Mexico, and gave rise to unusual rejoicings among the people. +Commerce, which had suffered greatly from the war, recovered its +wonted activity. The two following years passed over New +Spain uneventfully; but the beginning of the eighteenth century +was signalized by a matter which not only affected the politics of +Europe, but might have interfered essentially with the loyalty and +prosperity of the New World.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>In 1701, the monarchy of Spain passed from the house of +Austria to that of Bourbon. The history of this transition of the +crown, and of the conflicts to which it gave rise not only in Spain +but throughout Europe, is well known at the present day. Yet +America does not appear to have been shaken in its fidelity, amid +all the convulsions of the parent state. Patient, submissive and +obedient to the authorities sent them from across the sea, the people +of Mexico were as willing to receive a sovereign of a new race, as +to hail the advent in their capital of a new viceroy. Accordingly +the inhabitants immediately manifested their fealty to the successor +named by Charles II., a fact which afforded no small degree +of consolation to Philip V. during all the vicissitudes of his fortune. +It is even related that this monarch thought at one period of taking +refuge among his American subjects, and thus relieving himself of +the quarrels and conflicts by which he was surrounded and assailed +in Europe.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>The public mourning and funeral obsequies for the late sovereign +were celebrated in Mexico with great pomp according to a precise + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span> +ritual which was sent from the Spanish court, and, whilst the +people were thinking of the festivities which were to signalize +Philip's accession to the throne, the Conde de Montezuma returned +to Spain after four years of uneventful rule.</p> + + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<h3><span class="smcap">Don Juan de Ortega Montañez,<br /> +Archbishop of Mexico,<br /> +His Second Viceroyalty.<br /> +XXXIII. Viceroy of Mexico.</span><br /> +1701–1702.</h3> + +<p>The brief period during which the archiepiscopal viceroy exercised +his functions in Mexico for the second time, is chiefly, and +perhaps, only, memorable, for the additional efforts made by the +worthy Jesuits in California to subdue and settle that distant +province. The colonists and clergymen who had already gone +thither complained incessantly of their sufferings in consequence of +the sterility of the coasts. But Salvatierra remained firm in his +resolution to spread the power of Spain and of his church among +the wild tribes at the feet of the western sierra along the Pacific +coast. His labors and those of his diligent coadjutors were slow +but incessant. Trusting confidently in Providence, they maintained +their post at the Presidio of Loreto, and gathered around them, by +their persuasive eloquence and gentle demeanor, large numbers of +natives, until the success of their teachings threatened them with +starvation in consequence of the abundance of their converts, all of +whom relied upon the fathers for maintenance as soon as they +abandoned their savage life. Yet there was no other means of +attaching the Indians to the Spanish government. The authorities +in Mexico had refused and continued obstinate in their denial of +men or money to conquer or hold the country; so that, after +various efforts to obtain the aid of the government, the pious +mendicants resolved to return again to their remote missions with +no other reliance than honest zeal and the support of God. At +this juncture Philip V., and a number of influential people in the +capital, volunteered to aid the cause of christianity <i>and</i> Spain, by +supplies which would ensure the final success of the Jesuits.</p> + + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span></p> +<h3><span class="smcap">Don Francisco Fernandez de la Cueva,<br /> +Duque de Alburquerque.<br /> +XXXIV. Viceroy of New Spain.</span><br /> +1702–1709.</h3> + +<p>As soon as the Duke of Alburquerque assumed the government +of Mexico, he perceived that more than ordinary care was necessary +to consolidate a loyal alliance between the throne and its +American possessions, during the dangerous period in which portions +of Spain, in the old world, were armed and aroused against +the lawful authorities of the land. Accordingly the new viceroy +immediately strengthened the military arm of the colony, and extended +the government of provinces and the custody of his strongholds +and fastnesses to Spaniards upon whose fidelity he could implicitly +rely. Without these precautions, he, perhaps, justly feared +that notwithstanding the loyalty manifested in New Spain upon the +accession of Philip, the insubordination of certain parts of the +Spanish monarchy, at home, might serve as a bad example to the +American colonists, and, finally, result in a civil war that would +drench the land with blood. Besides this, the foreign fleets and +pirates were again beginning to swarm along the coasts, lying in +wait for the treasure which was annually despatched to Spain; but +to meet and control these adventurers, the careful duke increased +the squadron of Barlovento, who was instructed to watch the coast +incessantly, and to lose no opportunity to make prizes of the enemy's +vessels.</p> + +<p>Peace was thus preserved in New Spain both on land and water, +whilst the Jesuits of California still continued their efforts, unaided +by the government, whose resources were drained for the wars of +the old world. Thus, after eight years of a strong but pacific reign, +during which he saved New Spain from imitating the disgraceful +dissensions of the parent state, the Duke of Alburquerque resigned +his government into the hands of the Duke of Linares.</p> + + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span></p> +<h3><span class="smcap">Don Fernando Alcencastre Noroña y Silva,<br /> +Duke de Linares,<br /> +XXXV. Viceroy of New Spain.</span><br /> +1710–1716.</h3> + +<p>The Duke of Linares entered Mexico in 1710. The first years +of his administration were uneventful, nor was his whole government +distinguished, in fact, by any matter which will make it particularly +memorable in the history of New Spain.</p> + +<p><a name="In" id="In"></a>In 1712, Philip V. found himself master of nearly the whole +of Spain, and being naturally anxious to end the war with honor, +his emmissaries improved every opportunity to withdraw members +of the combined powers from a contest which threatened to be interminable. +Accordingly, he approached the English with the +temptations of trade, and through his ambassadors who were +assisting at the congress of Utrecht, he proposed that the British +Queen Anne should withdraw from the contest, if he granted her +subjects the right to establish trading houses in his ports on the +main and in the islands, for the purpose of supplying the colonies +with African slaves. A similar contract had been made ten years +before with the French, and was about to expire on the 1st of May.</p> + +<p>Anne, who was wearied of the war and was glad to escape from +its expense and danger, was not loath to accept the proffered terms; +and the treaty, known by the name of <i>El Asiento</i>, which was put +in force in Vera Cruz and other Spanish ports, resulted most beneficially +to the English. They filled the markets with negroes, and, +at the same time, continued to reap profit from the goods they +smuggled into the colonies, notwithstanding the treaty forbade the +introduction of British merchandise to the detriment of Spanish +manufactures. This combined inhumane and illicit trade continued +for a considerable time, until the authorities were obliged to +menace the officers of customs with death if they connived any +longer at the secret and scandalous introduction of British wares.</p> + +<p>In 1714, a brief famine and severe epidemic again ravaged the +colony. In this year, too, the Indians of Texas once more manifested +a desire to submit themselves to Spain and to embrace the +christian faith. Orders were, therefore, given to garrison that +northern province, and the Franciscan monks were again commanded + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span> +to return to their missions among the Ansinais. At the +same time, a new colony was founded in Nuevo Leon, forty +leagues south-east from Monterey, which, in honor of the viceroy +received the name of San Felipe de Linares. At the close of this +year, 1715, the garrisons of Texas were already completed, and +the Franciscan friars busy in their mission of inducing the savages +to abandon their nomadic habits for the quieter life of villagers. +This was always the most successful effort of the Spaniards +in controlling the restless wanderers and hunters of the wilderness. +It was the first step in the modified civilization that usually +ended in a mere knowledge of the formula of prayers which was +called christianity, and in the more substantial labor of the Indians +which was in reality nothing but slavery.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p><span class="smcap">Note.</span>—The year 1711, is remarkable in the annals of the valley of Mexico for +a <i>snow storm</i>, which is only known to have occurred again on the Feast of the Purification +of the Virgin in 1767. In August of 1711, there was an awful earthquake, +which shattered the city and destroyed many of its strongest houses.</p> +</div> + +<p>The year 1716 was the last of the reign of the Duke of Linares, +who in the month of August resigned his post to the Duke of Arion.</p> + + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<h3><span class="smcap">Don Baltazar de Zuñiga Guzman, Sotomayor y Mendoza,<br /> +Duke de Arion and Marques de Valero.<br /> +XXXVI. Viceroy of New Spain.</span><br /> +1716–1722.</h3> + +<p>Scarcely had the Duke de Arion taken charge of the viceroyal +government, when he received an express from Texas, despatched +by Domingo Ramon, who was captain of the Spaniards in the +province, informing the authorities of the famine which prevailed +throughout his command, and demanding supplies, without which, +he would be obliged to abandon his post and take refuge with his +soldiers in Coahuila. The new viceroy saw at once the importance +of preserving this province as an outpost and frontier against +the French who had already begun their settlements in Louisiana, +and accordingly he commanded the governor of Coahuila to send +provisions and troops to Texas, together with mechanics who +should teach the useful arts to the Indians.</p> + +<p>While these occurrences took place in the north of Mexico, war +was once more declared between Spain and France without any +apparent motive save the hatred which the Duke of Orleans, +the regent during the minority of Louis XV., entertained for the +Cardinal Alberoni who was prime minister of Spain and had intrigued +to dispossess him of his regency. The news of this war +reached New Spain, and on the 19th of May, 1719, the French +attacked Pensacola and received the capitulation of the governor, + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span> +who was unprepared, either with men or provisions to resist the +invaders. In the following month the garrison and missionaries +of Texas returned hastily to Coahuila, and apprised the viceroy of +their flight for safety. But that functionary saw at once the necessity +of strengthening the frontier. Levies were, therefore, immediately +made. Munitions were despatched to the north. And +five hundred men, divided into eight companies, marched forthwith +to re-establish the garrisons and missions under the command of +the Marques San Miguel de Aguayo, the new governor of Florida +and Texas.<a name="FNanchor_45_45" id="FNanchor_45_45"></a> + <a href="#Footnote_45_45" class="fnanchor">[45]</a></p> + +<p>Notwithstanding the hostilities between France and Spain, and +the eager watchfulness of the fleets and privateers of the former +nations, the galeons of New Spain, reached Cadiz in 1721, with a +freight of eleven millions of dollars! The years 1722 and 1723 +were signalized by some outbreaks among the Indians which were +successfully quelled by the colonial troops; and, in October, the +Duke of Arion, who had controlled New Spain for six years, was +succeeded by the Marques of Casa-Fuerte, a general of artillery. +He entered Mexico amid the applauses of the people not only because +he was a <i>creole</i> or native of America, but for the love that +was borne him by Philip the Fifth, who well knew the services for +which the crown was indebted to so brave a warrior.</p> + + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span></p> +<h3><span class="smcap">Don Juan de Acuña, Marques de Casa-Fuerte,<br /> +XXXVII. Viceroy of New Spain.</span><br /> +1722–1734.</h3> + +<p>In recording these brief memorials of the viceroys of Mexico it +has been our purpose rather to mention the principal public events +that signalized their reigns, and developed or protected the nation +committed to their charge, than to trace the intrigues or exhibit +the misconduct of those functionaries and their courtiers. We +have abstained, therefore, from noticing many of the corrupt practices +which crept into the administration of Mexico, leaving such +matters to be studied in the summary view we have presented +of the colonial government of Spain. But, in sketching the viceroyalty +of the Marques de Casa-Fuerte, we cannot justly avoid observing +the marked and moral change he wrought in the government +of the country, and the diligence with which this brave and +trusty soldier labored to purify the corrupt court of New Spain. +Other viceroys had endeavored zealously to aid the progress of the +colony. They had planted towns, villages, and garrisons throughout +the interior. They had sought to develope the mining districts +and to foster agricultural interests. But almost all of them were +more or less tainted with avarice, and willingly fell into the habits +of the age, which countenanced the traffic in office, or permitted +the reception of liberal "gratifications" whenever an advantage +was to be derived by an individual from his transactions with the +government.</p> + +<p>In the time of Casa-Fuerte, there was no path to the palace but +that which was open to all. Merit was the test of employment and +reward. He forbade the members of his family to receive gifts +or to become intercessors for office seekers; and, in all branches +of public affairs, he introduced wholesome reforms which were +carefully maintained during the whole of his long and virtuous +administration.</p> + +<p>In 1724, Philip V. suddenly and unexpectedly for his American +subjects, resolved to abdicate the crown of Spain and raise his son +Louis I. to the throne. Scarcely had the news reached Mexico, +and while the inhabitants were about to celebrate the accession of +the prince, when they learned that he was already dead, and that +his father, fearing to seat the minor Ferdinand in the place of his +lost son, had again resumed the sceptre. The Marques de Casa-Fuerte, +instantly proclaimed the fact to the people, whose loyalty + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span> +to the old sovereign continued unabated; and during the unusually +long and successful government of this viceroy, the greatest cordiality +and confidence was maintained between himself and his +royal master.</p> + +<p>Casa-Fuerte despatched a colony of emigrants from the Canary +Isles to Texas, and establishing a town for their occupation, he +modestly refused the proffered honor of bestowing upon it his name, +but caused it to be called San Fernando, in honor of the heir of +the Spanish crown. Nor did he neglect commerce whilst he +attended to a discreet colonization in the north which might encounter +and stay the southern progress of the English and the French. +In 1731, the oriental trade of New Spain had become exceedingly +important. The galeons that regularly passed across the Pacific, +from the East Indies, and arrived every year in America about +Christmas, had enjoyed almost a monopoly of the Indian trade in +consequence of the wars which continually existed during that +century and filled the northern and southern Atlantic with pirates +and vessels of war. The Pacific, however, was comparatively free +from these dangers, and the galeons were allowed to go and come +with but little interruption. The American creoles, in reality, +preferred the manufactures of China to those of Europe; for the +fabrics of silk and cotton, especially, which were sent to Mexico +from Asia, had been sold at half the price demanded for similar +articles produced in Spain. The galeon of 1731, which discharged +its cargo in Acapulco, bore a freight of unusual value, whence we +may estimate the Mexican commerce of that age. The duties +collected upon this oriental merchandise exceeded one hundred +and seventy thousand dollars, exhibiting an extraordinary increase +of eastern trade with Mexico, compared with thirty-five years +before, when the impost collected on similar commerce in 1697, +amounted to but eighty thousand dollars. The anxiety to preserve +the mercantile importance of Cadiz and to prevent the ruin of the +old world's commerce, interposed many difficulties in the trade +between the East Indies and New Spain; but the influence of +Spanish houses in Manilla still secured the annual galeon, and the +thrifty merchants stowed the vessels with nearly double the freight +that was carried by similar ships on ordinary voyages. Acapulco +thus became the emporium of an important trade, and its streets +were crowded with merchants and strangers from all parts of +Mexico in spite of the dangerous diseases with which they were +almost sure to be attacked whilst visiting the western coast.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span> + The year 1734 was a sad one for New Spain. The Marques de +Casa-Fuerte, who governed the country for twelve years most +successfully, and had served the crown for fifty-nine, departed this +life, at the age of seventy-seven. He was a native of Lima, and +like a true creole seems to have had the good of America constantly +at heart. Philip V. fully appreciated his meritorious services, +and, had the viceroy lived, would doubtless have continued +him longer in the government of Mexico. The counsellors of the +king often hinted to their sovereign that it was time to remove the +Mexican viceroy; but the only reply they received from Philip was +"<i>Long live Casa-Fuerte!</i>" The courtiers answered that they +hoped he might, indeed, live long, but, that oppressed with years +and toils, he was no longer able to endure the burdens of so +arduous a government. "As long as Casa-Fuerte lives," answered +the king, "his talents and virtues, will give him all the vigor +required for a good minister."</p> + +<p>Impartial posterity has confirmed the sensibility and judgment +of the king. During the reign of Casa-Fuerte the capital of New +Spain was adorned with many of its most sumptuous and elegant +edifices. The royal mint and custom house were built under his +orders. All the garrisons throughout the viceroyalty were visited, +examined, and reported. He was liberal with alms for the poor, +and even left a sum to be distributed twice a year for food among +the prisoners. He endowed an asylum for orphans; expended a +large part of his fortune in charitable works, and is still known in +the traditionary history of the country as the "Great Governor of +New Spain." His cherished remains were interred with great +pomp, and are still preserved in the church of the Franciscans of +San Cosmé and Damian.</p> + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<div class="fn"> +<h4>Footnotes</h4> +<p><a name="Footnote_44_44" id="Footnote_44_44"></a><a href="#FNanchor_44_44"> + <span class="label">[44]</span></a> In 1697 there was an eruption + of the volcano of Popocatepetl, on the 29th of +October.</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote_45_45" id="Footnote_45_45"></a><a href="#FNanchor_45_45"> + <span class="label">[45]</span></a> It may not be uninteresting + or unprofitable to state in this place some of the +efforts at positive settlement in Texas which were made by the Spaniards during +the first quarter of the eighteenth century. Alarcon, the governor, early in 1718, +crossed the Medina, with a large number of soldiers, settlers and mechanics, and +founded the town of Bejar, with the fortress of San Antonio, and the mission of San +Antonio Valero. Thence he pushed on to the country of the Cenis Indians, where, +having strengthened the missionary force, he crossed the river Adayes, which he +called the Rio de San Francisco de Sabinas, or the Sabine, and began the foundation +of a fortress, within a short distance of the French fort, at Natchitoches, named +by him the Presido de San Miguel Arcangel de Linares de Adayes. These establishments +were reinforced during the next year, and another stronghold was erected on +the Oreoquisas, probably the San Jacinto, emptying into Galveston bay, west of +the mouth of the Trinity.</p> + +<p>The French, who were not unobservant of these Spanish acts of occupation in a +country they claimed by virtue of La Salle's discovery and possession in 1684, immediately +began to establish counter-settlements, on the Mississippi, and in the +valley of the Red river. When Alarcon was removed from the government of +Texas he was succeeded by the Marques de Aguayo, who made expeditions through +the country in 1721 and 1722, during which he considerably increased the Spanish +establishments, and, after this period, no attempt was ever made by the French to +occupy any spot south-west of Natchitoches. See History of Florida, Louisiana +and Texas, by Robert Greenhow.</p> +</div> + + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XII.<br /> +1734–1760.</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>VIZARRON AND EGUIARRETA VICEROY—EVENTLESS GOVERNMENT.—SALAZAR +VICEROY—COLONIAL FEARS.—FUEN-CLARA VICEROY—GALEON +LOST.—MEXICO UNDER REVILLA-GIGEDO I.—FERDINAND +VI.—INDIANS—TAXES—COLONIES IN THE NORTH.—FAMINE—MINES +AT BOLAÑOS—HORCASITAS.—CHARACTER +OF REVILLA-GIGEDO.—VILLALON VICEROY.—CHARLES +III.—CAGIGAL VICEROY.</p> +</div> + + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<h3><span class="smcap">Don Juan Antonio de Vizarron y Eguiarreta,<br /> +Archbishop of Mexico.<br /> +XXXVIII. Viceroy of New Spain.</span><br /> +1734–1740.</h3> + +<p>This viceroy who governed New Spain from the year 1734 to +1740, passed an uneventful reign, so far as the internal peace and +order of the colony were concerned. War was declared, during +this period, between France and Spain, but Mexico escaped from +all its desolating consequences, and nothing appears to have disturbed +the quiet of colonial life but a severe epidemic, which is +said to have resembled the yellow fever, and carried off many thousands +of the inhabitants, especially in the north-eastern section +of the territory. The viceroy was naturally solicitous to follow the +example of his predecessors, in preventing the encroachments of +the French on the northern indefinite boundaries of New Spain, +and took measures to support the feeble garrisons and colonies +which were the only representatives of Spanish rights and power +in that remote quarter.</p> + + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span></p> +<h3><span class="smcap">Don Pedro Castro Figueroa Salazar,<br /> +Duke de la Conquista and Marques de Garcia-Real,<br /> +XXXIX. Viceroy of New Spain.</span><br /> +1740–1741.</h3> + +<p>On the 17th of August the new viceroy reached the capital, and +learned from the governor of New Mexico that the French had +actually visited that region of the colonial possessions, yet, finding +the soil and country unsuited to their purposes, had returned +again to their own villages and settlements. At the same time the +English, under the command of Oglethrope, bombarded the town +and fort of San Agustin in Florida, but the brave defence made by +the Spaniards, obliged them to raise the siege and depart.</p> + +<p>In 1741 the sky of New Spain was obscured by the approaching +clouds of war, for Admiral Vernon, who had inflicted great +damages upon the commerce of the Indies, captured Porto Bello, +and occupied the forts of Cartagena. New Spain, was thus in constant +dread of the arrival of a formidable enemy upon her own +coasts; and the Duke de la Conquista, anxious for the fate of Vera +Cruz, hastily levied an adequate force for the protection of the shore +along the gulf, and resolved to visit it personally in order to hasten +the works which were requisite to resist the English. He departed +for the eastern districts of New Spain upon the warlike mission, +but, in the midst of his labors, was suddenly seized by a +severe illness which obliged him to return to the capital, where he +died on the 22d of August. His body was interred with great +pomp, amid the lamentations of the Mexicans, for in the brief +period of his government he had manifested talents of the highest +order, and exhibited the deepest interest in the welfare and progress +of the country committed to his charge. His noble title of "Duke +of Conquest," was bravely won on the battle field of Bitonto; +and although it is said that Philip slighted him during the year of +his viceroyalty, yet it is certain that he was repaid by the admiration +of the Mexican people for the lost favor of his king. Upon +his death the Audiencia took charge of the government, and continued +in power until the following November, without any serious +disturbance from the enemy. Anson, with his vessels, was in the +Pacific, and waited anxiously in the neighborhood of Acapulco to +make a prize of the galeon which was to sail for the East Indies, +laden with a rich cargo of silver to purchase oriental fabrics. +But the inhabitants of Acapulco and the Audiencia were on their +guard, and the vessel and treasure of New Spain escaped the grasp +of the English adventurer.</p> + + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span></p> +<h3><span class="smcap">Don Pedro Cebrian y Agustin, Count de Fuen-Clara.<br /> +XL. Viceroy of New Spain.</span><br /> +1742–1746.</h3> + +<p>The Count de Fuen-Clara assumed the viceroyal baton on the +3d of November, 1742. His term of four years was passed without +any events of remarkable importance for New Spain save the +capture, by Anson, of one of the East Indian galeons with a freight +of one million three hundred and thirteen thousand dollars in +coined silver, and four thousand four hundred and seventy marks +of the same precious metal, besides a quantity of the most valuable +products of Mexico. This period of the viceroyalty must necessarily +be uninteresting and eventless. The wars of the old +world were confined to the continent and to the sea. Mexico, +locked up amid her mountains, was not easily assailed by enemies +who could spare no large armies from the contests at home for enterprises +in so distant a country. Besides, it was easier to grasp the +harvest on the ocean that had been gathered on the land. England +contented herself, therefore, with harassing and pilfering the commerce +of Castile, while Mexico devoted all her energies to the development +of her internal resources of mineral and agricultural +wealth. Emigrants poured into the country. The waste lands +were filling up. North, south, east and west, the country was occupied +by industrious settlers and zealous curates, who were engaged +in the cultivation of the soil and the spiritual subjection of +the Indians. The spirit as well as the dangers of the conquest +were past, and Mexico, assumed, in the history of the age, the +position of a quiet, growing nation, equally distant from the romantic +or adventurous era of early settlement when danger and difficulty +surrounded the Spaniards, and from the lethean stagnation +into which she fell in future years under Spanish misrule.</p> + + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<h3><span class="smcap">Don Juan Francisco Guemes y Horcasitas,<br /> +Count de Revilla-Gigedo—the first.<br /> +XLI. Viceroy of New Spain.</span><br /> +1746–1755.</h3> + +<p>The Conde de Revilla-Gigedo, the first of that name who was +viceroy of Mexico, reached the capital on the 9th of July, 1746, +and on the 12th of the same month, his master, Philip V. died, +leaving Ferdinand VI. as his successor. Under the reign of this + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span> +enlightened nobleman the colony prospered rapidly, and his services +in increasing the royal revenues were so signally successful that +he was retained in power for nine years. Mexico had become a +large and beautiful city. The mining districts were extraordinarily +prolific, and no year of his government yielded less than eleven +millions of dollars;—the whole sum that passed through the +national mint during his term being one hundred and fourteen +millions, two hundred and thirty-one thousand dollars of the precious +metals! The population of the capital amounted to fifty +thousand families composed of Spaniards, Europeans and creoles,—forty +thousand mestizos, mulattoes, negroes,—and eight thousand +Indians, who inhabited the suburbs. This population annually +consumed at least two millions arobas of flour, about a hundred +and sixty thousand fanegas of corn, three hundred thousand sheep, +fifteen thousand five hundred beeves, and about twenty-five thousand +swine. In this account, the consumption of many religious +establishments is not included, as they were privately supplied +from their estates, nor can we count the numerous and valuable +presents which were sent by residents of the country to their friends +in the capital.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>It has been already said that this viceroy augmented largely the +income of Spain. The taxes of the capital, accounted for by the +Consulado, were collected yearly, and amounted to three hundred +and thirty-three thousand, three hundred and thirty-three dollars, +whilst those of the whole viceroyalty reached seven hundred and +eighteen thousand, three hundred and seventy-five. The income +from <i>pulque</i> alone,—the favorite drink of the masses,—was one +hundred and seventy-two thousand dollars, while other imposts +swelled the gross income in proportion.</p> + +<p>The collection of tributes was not effected invariably in the same +manner throughout the territory of New Spain. In Mexico the +<i>Administrador-General</i> imposed this task on the justices whose +duty it was to watch over the Indians. The aborigines in the +capital were divided into two sections, one comprising the Tenochas +of San Juan, and the other the Tlaltelolcos of Santiago, both +of which had their governors and other police officers, according +to Spanish custom. The first of these bands, dwelling on the +north and east of the capital, was, in the olden time, the most +powerful and noble, and at that period numbered five thousand +nine hundred families. The other division, existing on the west +and south, was reduced to two thousand five hundred families. In + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span> +the several provinces of the viceroyalty the Indian tributes were +collected through the intervention of one hundred and forty-nine +chief <i>alcaldes</i> who governed them, and who, before they took possession +of their offices, were required to give security for the +tribute taxed within their jurisdiction. The frontier provinces of +this vast territory, inhabited only by garrisons, and a few scattered +colonists, were exempt from this odious charge. In all the various +sections of the nation, however, the Indians were accurately enumerated. +Two natives were taxed together, in order to facilitate +the collection by making both responsible, and, every four months, +from this united pair, six <i>reales</i> were collected, making in all +eighteen in the course of the year. This gross tax of two dollars +and twenty-five cents was divided as follows: eight <i>reales</i> were +taxed as tribute;—four for the royal service;—four and a half as +commutation for a half <i>fanega</i> of corn which was due to the royal +granary;—half a <i>real</i> for the royal hospital, in which the Indians +were lodged when ill; another half <i>real</i> for the costs of their law +suits; and, finally, the remaining half <i>real</i> for the construction +of cathedrals.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>In 1748, the Count Revilla-Gigedo, in conformity to the orders +of the king, and after consultation in general meeting with the +officers of various tribunals, determined to lay the foundation of a +grand colony in the north, under the guidance of Colonel José +Escandon, who was forthwith appointed governor. This decree, +together with an account of the privileges and lands which would +be granted to colonists, was extensively published, and, in a few +years, a multitude of families and single emigrants founded eleven +villages of Spaniards and mulattoes between Alta-Mira and Camargo. +The Indians who were gathered in this neighborhood +composed four missions; and, although it was found impossible to +clear the harbor of Santander, or to render it capable of receiving +vessels of deep draft, the government was nevertheless enabled to +found several flourishing villages which were vigilant in the protection +of the coast against pirates.</p> + +<p>In 1749 the crops were lost in many of the provinces where +the early frost blighted the fields of corn and fruit. The crowded +capital and its neighborhood, fortunately, did not experience the +want of food, which in other regions of the <i>tierra adentro</i> amounted +to absolute famine. The people believed that the frown of Heaven +was upon the land,—for, to this calamity, repeated earthquakes +were added, and the whole region, from the volcano of Colima to + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span> +far beyond Gaudalajara, was violently shaken and rent, causing the +death of many persons and the ruin of large and valuable villages.</p> + +<p>In 1750, Mexico was still free from scarcity, and even able, not +only to support its own population, but to feed the numerous +strangers who fled to it from the unfruitful districts. Yet, in the +cities and villages of the north and west, where the crops had been +again lost, want and famine prevailed as in the previous year. +From Guanajuato, a city rich in mines, to Zacatecas, the scarcity +of food was excessive, and the enormous sum of twenty-five dollars +was demanded and paid for a <i>fanega</i> of corn. Neither man nor +beast had wherewith to support life, and, for a while, the labors +in the mines of this rich region were suspended. The unfortunate +people left their towns in crowds to subsist on roots and berries +which they found in the forests. Many of them removed to other +parts of the country, and, as it was at this period that the rich +veins of silver at Bolaños were discovered, some of the poor emigrants +found work and food in a district whose sudden mineral +importance induced the merchants to supply it liberally with provisions. +The end of the year, however, was fortunately crowned +with abundant crops.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>In 1755,—after founding the Presidio of Horcasitas, in Sonora, +designed to restrain the incursions of the Apaches into that province,—the +Count Revilla-Gigedo, was recalled, at his own request, +from the Mexican viceroyalty in order that he might devote +himself to the management of his private property, which had +increased enormously, during his government. In the history of +Mexican viceroys, this nobleman is celebrated as a speculative and +industrious trader. There was no kind of commercial enterprise +or profitable traffic in which he did not personally engage. His +palace degenerated into an exchange, frequented by all kinds of +adventurers, while gaming tables were openly spread out to catch +the doubloons of the viceroyal courtiers. The speculations and +profits of Revilla-Gigedo enabled him to found <i>Mayorazgos</i> for his +sons in Spain, and he was regarded, throughout Europe, as the +richest vassal of Ferdinand the VI. His son, who subsequently +became a Mexican viceroy, and was the second bearing the family +title, labored to blot out the stain which the trading propensities of +his father had cast upon his name. He was a model of propriety +in every respect; but, whilst he made no open display of +anxiety to enrich himself corruptly through official influence or +position, he, nevertheless, exhibited the avaricious traits of his + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span> +father in requiring from his butler, each night an exact account +of every cent that was spent during the day, and every dish that +was prepared in his kitchen.</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding the notorious and corrupting habits of the first +count, that personage contrived to exercise an extraordinary influence +or control over the masses in Mexico. The people feared +and respected him; and, upon a certain occasion, when they were +roused in the capital and gathered in menacing mobs, this resolute +viceroy, whose wild and savage aspect aided the authority of his +determined address, rode into the midst of the turbulent assemblage +without a soldier in attendance, and immediately dispersed the +revolutionists by the mere authority of his presence and command.</p> + + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<h3><span class="smcap">Don Agustin de Ahumada y Villalon,<br /> +Marques de las Amarillas,<br /> +XLII. Viceroy of New Spain.</span><br /> +1755–1760.</h3> + +<p>The government of the Marques de las Amarillas commenced on +the 10th of November, 1755; and he immediately devoted himself +to the task of reforming many of the abuses which had doubtless +crept into the administration of public affairs during the reign of +his trafficing predecessor. Valuable mineral deposits were discovered +in New Leon, whose veins were found so rich and +tempting that crowds of miners from Zacatecas and Guanajuato +flocked to the prolific region. Great works were commenced to +facilitate the working of the drifts, but the wealth which had so +suddenly appeared on the scene as if by magic, vanished amid the +interminable quarrels and law suits of the parties. Many of the +foremost adventurers who imagined themselves masters of incalculable +riches were finally forced to quit their discoveries, on foot, +without a dollar to supply themselves with food.</p> + +<p>In 1759 a general mourning was proclaimed in Mexico for the +queen of Spain, Maria Barbara of Portugal, who was speedily +followed to the tomb by her husband Ferdinand VI. His brother +Charles III. ascended the throne, and whilst the mingled ceremonies +of sorrow and festivity for the dead and living were being +performed in Mexico, the worthy viceroy was suddenly struck with +apoplexy which his physicians thought might be alleviated by his +residence in the healthful and lower regions of Cuernavaca. But +neither the change of level nor temperature improved the condition + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span> +of the viceroy, who died of this malady on the 5th of January, +1760, in the beautiful city to which he had retreated. He was a +remarkable contrast to his predecessor in many respects, and +although he had been viceroy for five years, it is stated, as a +singular fact in the annals of Mexico, that he left his widow +poor and altogether unprovided for. But his virtuous conduct as +an efficient minister of the crown had won the confidence and +respect of the Mexicans who were anxious to succor those whom +he left dependant upon the favor of the crown. The liberality of +the archbishop Rubio y Salinas, however supplied all the wants of +the gentle Marquesa, who was thus enabled to maintain a suitable +state until her return to the court of Spain, where the merits of her +husband, as a Spanish soldier in the Italian wars, doubtless procured +her a proper pension for life.</p> + +<p>As the death of the Marques de las Amarillas was sudden and +unexpected, the king of Spain had not supplied the government +with the usual <i>pliego de mortaja</i>, or mortuary despatch, which was +generally sent from Madrid whenever the health of a viceroy was +feeble, so as to supply his place by an immediate successor in the +event of death. The <span class="smcap">Audiencia</span>, of course, became the depository +of executive power during the interregnum, and its dean Don +Francisco Echavarri, directed public affairs, under its sanction, +until the arrival of the viceroy, <i>ad interim</i>, from Havana.</p> + + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<h3><span class="smcap">Don Francisco de Cagigal,<br /> +XLIII. Viceroy of New Spain.<br /> +1760—April to October.</span></h3> + +<p>The government of this personage was so brief, and his tenure +so completely nominal, that he employed himself merely in the +adornment of the capital and the general police of the colony. He +was engaged in some improvements in the great square of Mexico, +when his successor arrived; but he left the capital with the hearty +regrets of the townsmen, for his intelligence and affability had won +their confidence and induced them to expect the best results from +his prolonged reign.</p> + + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XIII.<br /> +1760–1771.</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>MARQUES DE CRUILLAS VICEROY.—CHARLES III. PROCLAIMED. +HAVANA TAKEN BY THE BRITISH.—MILITARY PREPARATIONS—PEACE—PESTILENCE.—GALVEZ +VISITADOR—REFORMS—TOBACCO +MONOPOLY.—DE CROIX VICEROY.—THE JESUITS—THEIR +EXPULSION FROM SPANISH DOMINIONS—THEIR ARRIVAL +IN EUROPE—BANISHED.—CAUSES OF THIS CONDUCT TO THE +ORDER.—ORIGIN OF THE MILITARY CHARACTER OF MEXICO.</p> +</div> + + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<h3><span class="smcap">Don Joaquim de Monserrat, Marques de Cruillas,<br /> +XLIV. Viceroy of New Spain.</span><br /> +1760–1766.</h3> + +<p>In 1761, soon after the entrance of the Marques de Cruillas into +Mexico, the ceremony of proclaiming the accession of Charles III. +to the throne, was performed with great pomp, by the viceroy, the +nobles, and the municipality. But the period of rejoicing was +short, for news soon reached Mexico, that war was again declared +between Spain and England; a fact which was previously concealed, +in consequence of the interception of despatches that +had been sent to Havana. Don Juan de Prado was the governor +of that important point, and he, as well as the viceroy of Mexico, +had consequently been unable to make suitable preparations for the +attacks of the British on the West Indian and American possessions +of Spain.</p> + +<p>In the meantime an English squadron, which had recruited its +forces and supplied itself with provisions in Jamaica, disembarked +its troops without resistance, on the 6th of June, two leagues +east of the Moro Castle. The Havanese fought bravely with +various success against the invaders until the 30th of July, +when the Spaniards, satisfied that all further defence was vain and +rash, surrendered the Moro Castle to the foe. On the 13th +of August the town also capitulated; private property and the +rights of religion being preserved intact. By this conquest the + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span> +English obtained nine ships of the line, four frigates, and all the +smaller vessels belonging to the sovereign and his subjects, which +were in the port; while four millions, six hundred thousand dollars, +belonging to the king and found in the city, swelled the booty +of the fortunate invaders.</p> + +<p>Whilst this was passing in Havana it was falsely reported in +Mexico that the British, being unsuccessful in their attacks on +Cuba, had raised the siege, and were about to leave the islands for +the Spanish main. The important port of Vera Cruz and its defences +were of course not to be neglected under such circumstances. +This incorrect rumor was, however, soon rectified by the authentic +news of the capture of the Moro Castle and of the city of +Havana. The Marques de Cruillas immediately ordered all the +militia to be raised in the provinces, even six hundred miles from +the eastern coast, and to march forthwith to Vera Cruz. That +city and its castle were at once placed in the best possible condition +of defence; but the unacclimated troops from the high and +healthy regions of the interior who had been brought suddenly to +the sickly sea shore of the <i>tierra caliente</i>, suffered so much from +malaria, that the viceroy was obliged to withdraw them to Jalapa +and Peroté.</p> + +<p>Whilst Mexico was thus in a state of alarm in 1763, and whilst +the government was troubled in consequence of the arrest of a +clergyman who had been seized as a British spy, the joyful news +arrived that peace had again been negotiated between France and +England.</p> + +<p>Pestilence, as well as war, appears to have menaced Mexico at +this epoch. The small pox broke out in the capital and carried +off ten thousand persons. Besides this, another malady, which is +described by the writers of the period as similar to that which had +ravaged the country a hundred and seven years before, and which +terminated by an unceasing flow of blood from the nostrils, filled +the hospitals of the capital with its victims. From Mexico this +frightful and contagious malady passed to the interior, where immense +numbers, unable to obtain medical advice, medicine, or attendance, +were carried to the grave.</p> + +<p>The general administration of the viceroyalty by the Marques de +Cruillas was unsatisfactory both to the crown and the people of +New Spain. The best historians of the period are not definite in +their charges of misconduct against this nobleman, but his demeanor +as an executive officer required the appointment of a <i>visitador</i>, +in order to examine and remedy his abuse of power. The + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span> +person charged with this important task,—Don José Galvez,—was +endowed with unlimited authority entirely independent of the +viceroy, and he executed his office with severity. He arrested +high officers of the government, and deprived them of their employments. +His extraordinary talents and remarkable industry +enabled him to comprehend at once, and search into, all the tribunals +and governmental posts of this vast kingdom. In Vera Cruz +he removed the royal accountants from their offices. In Puebla, +and in Mexico, he turned out the superintendents of customs, and +throughout the country, all who were employed in public civil +stations, feared, from day to day, that they would either be suspended +or deposed. Whilst Galvez attended, thus, to the faithful +discharge of duty by the officers of the crown, he labored, also, to +increase the royal revenue. Until that period the cultivation of +tobacco had been free, but Galvez determined to control it, as in +Spain, and made its preparation and sale a monopoly for the +government. Gladly as his other alterations and reforms were received +by the people, this interference with one of their cherished +luxuries was well nigh the cause of serious difficulties. In the city +of Cordova, and in many neighboring places, some of the wealthiest +and most influential colonists depended for their fortunes and income +upon the unrestrained production and manufacture of this +article. Thousands of the poorer classes were engaged in its preparation +for market, while in all the cities, towns, and villages, +there were multitudes who lived by selling it to the people. Every +man, and perhaps every woman, in Mexico, used tobacco, and consequently +this project of the <i>visitador</i> gave reasonable cause for dissatisfaction +to the whole of New Spain. Nevertheless, the firmness +of Galvez, the good temper of the Mexicans, and their habitual +submission to authority, overcame all difficulties. The inhabitants +of Cordova were not deprived of all control over the cultivation of +tobacco, and were simply obliged to sell it to the officers of the +king at a definite price, whilst these personages were ordered to +continue supplying the families of the poor, with materials for the +manufacture of cigars; and by this device the public treasury was +enabled to derive an important revenue from an article of universal +consumption. Thus the <i>visitador</i> appears to have employed his +authority in the reform of the colony and the augmentation of the +royal revenue, without much attention to the actual viceroy, who +was displaced in 1766. The <i>fiscal</i> or attorney general of the Audiencia +of Manilla, Don José Aréché, was ordered officially to examine +into the executive conduct of the Marques de Cruillas who + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span> +had retired from the city of Mexico to Cholula, and although it +had been universally the custom to permit other viceroys to answer +the charges made against them by attorney, this favor was denied +to the Marques, who was subjected to much inconvenience and +suffering during the long trial that ensued.</p> + + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<h3><span class="smcap">Don Carlos Francisco de Croix, Marques de Croix,<br /> +XLV. Viceroy of New Spain.</span><br /> +1766–1771.</h3> + +<p>The Marques de Croix was a native of the city of Lille in Flanders, +and, born of an illustrious family, had obtained his military +renown by a service of fifty years in the command of Ceuta, Santa-Maria, +and the Captaincy General of Galicia. He entered Mexico +as viceroy on the 25th of August, 1766.</p> + +<p>For many years past, in the old world and in the new, there had +been a silent but increasing fear of the Jesuits. It was known that +in America their missionary zeal among the Indians in the remotest +provinces was unequalled. The winning manners of the cultivated +gentlemen who composed this powerful order in the Catholic +church, gave them a proper and natural influence with the children +of the forest, whom they had withdrawn from idolatry and partially +civilized. But the worthy Jesuits, did not confine their +zealous labors to the wilderness. Members of the order, all of +whom were responsible and implicitly obedient to their great +central power, were spread throughout the world, and were found +in courts and camps as well as in the lonely mission house of the +frontier or in the wigwam of the Indian. They had become rich +as well as powerful, for, whilst they taught christianity, they did +not despise the wealth of the world. Whatever may have been +their personal humility, their love for the progressive power and +dignity of the order, was never permitted for a moment to sleep. +A body, stimulated by such a combined political and ecclesiastical +passion, all of whose movements, might be controlled by a single, +central, despotic will, may now be kept in subjection in the old +world, where the civil and military police is ever alert in support +of the national authorities. But, at that epoch of transition in +America whose vast regions were filled with credulous and +ignorant aborigines, and thinly sprinkled with intelligent, educated +and loyal Europeans, it was deemed dangerous to leave the superstitious +Indians to become the prey, rather than the flock,—the +instruments, rather than the acolytes of such insidious shepherds. + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span> +These fears had seized the mind of Charles III. who dreaded a +divided dominion in America, with the venerable fathers. We do +not believe that there was just cause for the royal alarm. We do +not suppose that the Jesuits whose members, it is true, were +composed of the subjects of all the Catholic powers of Europe, +ever meditated political supremacy in Spanish America, or designed +to interfere with the rights of Charles or his successors. But the +various orders of the Roman church,—the various congregations, +and convents of priests and friars,—are unfortunately, not free +from that jealous rivalry which distinguishes the career of laymen +in all the other walks of life.</p> + +<p>It may be that some of the pious brethren, whose education, +manners, position, wealth or power, was not equal to the influence, +social rank and control, of the Jesuits, had, perhaps, been anxious +to drive this respectable order from America. It may be, that the +king and his council were willing to embrace any pretext to rid his +colonial possessions of the Jesuits. But certain it is, that on the +25th of June, before the dawn of day, at the same hour, throughout +the whole of New Spain the decree for their expulsion was +promulgated by order of Charles. The king was so anxious +upon this subject, that he wrote, with his own hand, to the viceroy +of Mexico, soliciting his best services in the fulfilment of the royal +will. When the question was discussed in the privy council of the +sovereign, a chart of both Americas was spread upon the table,—the +distances between the colleges of the Jesuits accurately calculated,—and +the time required for the passage of couriers, carefully +estimated, so that the blow might fall simultaneously upon the +order. The invasion of Havana by the English and its successful +capture, induced the king to supply his American possessions +with better troops, and more skilful commanders than had been, +hitherto, sent to the colonies. Thus there were various, veteran +Spanish regiments in Mexico capable of restraining any outbreaks +of the people in favor of the outraged fathers who had won their +respect and loyal obedience.</p> + +<p>At the appointed hour, the order of Charles, was enforced. +The Jesuits were shut up in their colleges, and all avenues to +these retreats of learning and piety were filled with troops. +The fathers were despatched from Mexico for Vera Cruz on +the 28th of June, surrounded by soldiers. They halted awhile +in the town of Guadalupe, where the <i>Visitador</i> Galvez, who +governed the expedition, permitted them to enter, once more, into +the national sanctuary, where amid the weeping crowds of Mexicans, + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span> +they poured forth their last, and fervent vows, for the +happiness of a people, who idolized them. Their entrance into +Jalapa was a triumph. Windows, balconies, streets, and house +tops were filled with people, whose demeanor manifested what was +passing in their hearts, but who were restrained by massive ranks +of surrounding soldiery from all demonstration in behalf of the +banished priests. In Vera Cruz some silent but respectful tokens +of veneration were bestowed upon the fathers, several of whom +died in that pestilential city before the vessels were ready to +transport them beyond the sea. Nor did their sufferings cease with +their departure from New Spain. Their voyage was long, tempestuous +and disastrous, and after their arrival in Spain, under strict +guardianship, they were again embarked for Italy, where they +were finally settled with a slender support in Rome, Bologna, +Ferrara and other cities, in which they honored the country whence +they had been driven by literary labors and charitable works. +The names of Abade, Alegre, Clavigero, Landibares, Maneyro, +Cavo, Lacunza and Marques, sufficiently attest the historical merit +of these Mexican Jesuits, who were victims of the suspicious +Charles. For a long time the Mexican mind was sorely vexed by +the oppressive act against this favorite order. But the Visitador +Galvez imposed absolute silence upon the people,—telling them +in insulting language that it was their "sole duty to obey," and +that they must "speak neither for nor against the royal order, +which had been passed for motives reserved alone for the sovereign's +conscience!"</p> + +<p>Thus, all expression of public sentiment, as well as of amiable +feeling, at this daring act against the worthiest and most benevolent +clergymen of Mexico was effectually stifled. It had been well for +New Spain if Charles had banished the Friars, and spared the +Jesuits. The church of Mexico, in our age, would then have +resembled the church of the United States, whose foundation and +renown are owing chiefly to the labors of enlightened Sulpicians +and Jesuits, as well as to the exclusion of monks and of all the +orders that dwell in the idle seclusion of cloisters instead of passing +useful lives amid secular occupations and temporal interests. If +the act of Henry VIII. in England was unjust and cruel, it was +matched both in boldness and wickedness by the despotic decree +of the unrelenting Charles of Spain. Nor can the latter sovereign +claim the merit of having substituted virtue for vice as the British +king pretended he had done in the suppression of the monasteries. +Henry swept priest and friar from his kingdom with the same + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span> +blow; but the trimming Charles banished the intellectual Jesuit +whilst he saved and screened the lazy monk.</p> + +<p>The pretext of Charles III. for his outrageous conduct was +found in an insurrection which occurred on the evening of Palm +Sunday, 1766, and gave up the capital of Spain, for forty-eight +hours, to a lawless mob. It was doubtless the result of a preconcerted +plan to get rid of an obnoxious minister; and, as soon as it +was known that this personage had been exiled, the rioters instantly +surrendered their arms, made friends with the soldiers, and +departed to their homes. In fact, it was a political intrigue, which +the king and his minister charged on some of the Spanish grandees +and on the Jesuits. But as the former were too powerful to be +assailed by the king, his wrath was vented on the Fathers of the +Order of Jesus, whose lives, at this time, were not only innocent +but meritorious.</p> + +<p>"Some years preceding, on a charge as destitute of foundation, +they had been expelled from Portugal. In 1764, their inveterate +foe, the Duke de Choiseul, minister of Louis XV., had driven them +from France; and, in Spain, their possessions were regarded with an +avaricious eye by some of the needy courtiers. To effect their downfall, +the French minister eagerly joined with the advocates of plunder; +and intrigues were adopted which must cover their authors +with everlasting infamy. Not only was the public alarm carefully +excited by a report of pretended plots, and the public indignation, +by slanderous representations of their persons and principles; but, +in the name of the chiefs of the order, letters were forged, which +involved the most monstrous doctrines and the most criminal designs. +A pretended circular from the general of the order, at +Rome, to the provincial, calling on him to join with the insurgents; +the deposition of perjured witnesses to prove that the recent commotion +was chiefly the work of the body, deeply alarmed Charles, +and drew him into the views of the French cabinet." + <a name="FNanchor_46_46" id="FNanchor_46_46"></a><a href="#Footnote_46_46" class="fnanchor">[46]</a></p> + +<p>Spain was thus made a tool of France in an act of gross injustice, +not only to the reverend sufferers, but to the people over whose +spiritual and intellectual wants they had so beneficially watched.</p> + +<p>From this digression to the mingled politics of Mexico and +Europe we shall now return to the appropriate scene of our brief +annals. The captain of so important a port as Havana, and the +inadequate protection of the coast along the main, obliged the +government to think seriously about the increase and discipline of +domestic troops, and especially, to improve the condition of the + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span> +coast defence. These fears were, surely, not groundless. The +possessions of Great Britain, north of Mexico, on the continent, +were growing rapidly in size and importance; and from the provinces +which now form the United States, the viceroy imagined +England might easily despatch sufficient troops, without being +obliged to transport reinforcements from Europe. Accordingly +suitable preparations were made to receive the enemy should he +venture to descend suddenly on the Spanish main. The veteran +regiments of Savoy and Flanders were sent to the colony in June, +1768, and the Marshal de Rubi was charged with the disposition of +the army. From that period, it may be said, that Mexico assumed the +military aspect, which it has continuously worn to the present time.</p> + +<p>Besides the increase and improvement of the troops of the line, +the government's attention was directed towards the fortification +of the ports and interior passes. The Castle of San Juan de Ulua +was repaired at a cost of a million and a half of dollars. The +small island of Anton Lizardo was protected by military works at +an expense of a million two hundred thousand dollars. A splendid +battery was sent from Spain for the castle, and the inefficient guns +of Acapulco were despatched to the Fillipine islands to be recast +and sent back to America. In the interior of the country, in the +midst of the plain of Peroté, the Castle of San Carlos was built in +the most substantial and scientific manner; and although this fortress +seems useless, placed as it is in the centre of a broad and +easily traversed prairie, yet, at the time of its construction, it was +designed as an <i>entre depot</i> between the capital and the coast, in +which the royal property might always be safely kept until the moment +of exportation, instead of being exposed to the danger of a +sudden seizure by the enemy in the port of Vera Cruz. Many +other points along the road from Vera Cruz are better calculated to +defend the interior passes of the country from invasion; but as the +attacks of the enemy were not expected to be made beyond the +coast upon which they naturally supposed they would find the +treasure they desired to plunder, it was deemed best to establish +and arm the fortress of San Carlos de Peroté.</p> + +<p>Such were some of the leading acts and occurrences in New +Spain during the viceroyalty of the Marques de Croix. His general +administration of affairs is characterized by justice. He lived +in harmony with the rigid Visitador Galvez, and although the +gossips of the day declared he was too fond of wine, yet, on his +return to Spain he was named Captain General of the army, and +treated most kindly by the king.</p> + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<div class="fn"> +<h4>Footnote</h4> +<p><a name="Footnote_46_46" id="Footnote_46_46"></a><a href="#FNanchor_46_46"> + <span class="label">[46]</span></a> Dr. Dunham's History of Spain and Portugal, + vol. 5, p. 175.</p> +</div> + + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XIV.<br /> +1771–1784.</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>BUCARELI Y URSUA VICEROY.—PROGRESS OF NEW SPAIN.—GOLD +PLACERES IN SONORA.—MINERAL WEALTH AT THAT PERIOD.—INTELLECTUAL +CONDITION OF THE COUNTRY.—LINE OF PRESIDIOS.—MAYORGA +VICEROY.—POLICY OF SPAIN TO ENGLAND +AND HER COLONIES.—OPERATIONS ON THE SPANISH MAIN +ETC.—MATIAS GALVEZ VICEROY—HIS ACTS.</p> +</div> + + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<h3><span class="smcap">Don Antonio Maria de Bucareli y Ursua,<br /> +Lieutenant General of the Spanish Army,<br /> +XLVI. Viceroy of New Spain.</span><br /> +1771–1779.</h3> + +<p>Bucareli reached Vera Cruz from Havana on the 23d of +August, 1771, and took possession of the viceroyalty on the 2d of +the following month. During his administration the military character +of the colony was still carefully fostered, whilst the domestic +interests of the people were studied, and every effort made to establish +the public works and national institutions upon a firm basis. +The new mint and the Monte de Piadad are monuments of this +epoch. Commerce flourished in those days in Mexico. The fleet +under the command of Don Luis de Cordova departed for Cadiz +on the 30th of November, 1773, with twenty-six millions two hundred +and fifty-five dollars, exclusive of a quantity of cacao, cochineal +and twenty-two marks of fine gold, and the fleet of 1774 was +freighted with twenty-six millions four hundred and fifty-seven +thousand dollars.</p> + +<p>Nor was the accumulation of wealth derived at that time from +the golden <i>placeres</i> of Cieneguilla in Sonora less remarkable. +From the 1st of January, 1773, to the 17th of November of the +year following, there were accounted for, in the royal office at + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span> +Alamos, four thousand, eight hundred and thirty-two marks of +gold, the royal duties on which, of tithe and <i>senorage</i>, amounted to +seventy-two thousand, three hundred and forty-eight dollars. The +custom house of Mexico, according to the accounts of the <i>consulado</i>, +produced, in 1772, six hundred and eighty-seven thousand and +forty-one dollars, the duty on pulque alone, being two hundred and +forty-four thousand, five hundred and thirty.</p> + +<p>In 1776, Bucareli endeavored to liberate trade from many of the +odious restrictions which had been cast around it by old commercial +usages, and by the restrictive policy of Spain. The <i>consulado</i> +of Mexico complained to Bucareli of the suffering it endured +by the monopoly which had hitherto been enjoyed by the +merchants of Cadiz, and through the viceroy solicited the court to +be permitted to remit its funds to Spain, and to bring back the return +freights in vessels on its own account, Bucareli supported +this demand with his influence, and may be said to have given the +first impulse to free-trade. Meanwhile, the mineral resources of +Mexico were not neglected. During the seven years of Bucareli's +reign, the yield of the mines had every year been greater than at +any period since the conquest. One hundred and twenty-seven +millions, three hundred and ninety-six thousand dollars, in gold +and silver, were coined during his viceroyalty. Laborde, in Zacatecas, +and Terreros in Pachuca, had undertaken extensive works at +the great and rich mine of Quebradilla and in the splendid vein of +Vizcayna. Other mines were most successfully wrought by their +proprietors. From 1770 to the end of 1778, Don Antonio Obregon +presented to the royal officers, in order to be taxed, four thousand +six hundred and ninety-nine bars of silver, the royal income from +which amounted to six hundred and forty-eight thousand nine hundred +and seventy-two dollars. The same individual had, moreover, +presented to the same personage, fifty-three thousand and +eighty-eight <i>castellanos</i> of gold, which paid thirteen thousand eight +hundred and seventy-one dollars in duties. In order to work his +metals, Obregon had been furnished, to that date, one thousand eight +hundred and thirty-nine quintals of quicksilver, for which he paid a +hundred and fifty-nine thousand two hundred and forty-one dollars.</p> + +<p>In June, 1778, the mineral deposits of Hostotipaquillo, in the +province of Guadalajara, now Jalisco, were discovered, and promised +the most extraordinary returns of wealth. In the following +year, the valuable mines of Catorce, were accidentally found by a +soldier whilst searching for a lost horse. All these discoveries and +beneficial labors induced Bucareli to recommend the mineral interests + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span> +of New Spain particularly to the sovereign, and various +persons were charged to explore the country, for the discovery of +quicksilver mines, which it was alleged existed in Mexico. The +extraction of quicksilver from American mines had hitherto been +prohibited by Spain, but the fear of wars, which might prevent its +importation from abroad, and consequently, destroy the increasing +mineral industry of the nation, induced the court to send Don +Raphael Heling and Don Antonio Posada, with several subordinates, +who formerly wrought in the mines of Almaden, to examine +the deposits at Talchapa and others in the neighborhood of Ajuchitlan, +in October, 1778, under the direction of <i>padre</i> Alzate. +But this reconnoisance proved unavailing at that time, inasmuch +as the explorers found no veins or deposits which repaid the cost +and labor of working.</p> + +<p>At this epoch the Spanish government began to manifest a +desire to propagate information in its American possessions. +There is a gleam of intellectual dawn seen in a royal order of +Charles, in 1776, commanding educated ecclesiastics to devote +themselves to the study of Mexican antiquities, mineralogy, metallurgy, +geology, and fossils. This decree was directed to the +clergy because his majesty, perhaps justly supposed, that they were +the only persons who possessed any knowledge of natural sciences, +whilst the rest of his American subjects were in the most profound +ignorance. Archbishop Lorenzano published in Mexico in 1770 +his annotated edition of the letters of Cortéz, which is a well +printed work, adorned with coarse engravings, a few maps, and +the curious fac-simile pictures of the tributes paid to the Emperor +Montezuma. But the jealous monks of the inquisition kept a +vigilant watch over the issues of the press, and we find that, in +those days, the commercial house of Prado and Freyre was forced +to crave a license from the court empowering them to ship two +boxes of types to be used in the printing of the calendar!</p> + +<p>The administration of Bucareli was not disturbed by insurrections +among the creoles and Spaniards, for he was a just ruler and +the people respected his orders, even when they were apparently +injurious to their interests. The viceroy adorned their capital +built aqueducts, improved roads, and facilitated intercourse between +the various parts of the country; but the Indians of the north in +the province of Chihuahua harassed the colonists dwelling near the +outposts during nearly all the period of his government. These +warlike, nomadic tribes have been the scourge of the frontier +provinces since the foundation of the first outpost settlement. + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span> +They are wild hunters, and appear to have no feeling in common +with those southern bands who were subdued by the mingled +influences of the sword and of the cross into tame agriculturists. +Bucareli attacked and conquered parties of these wandering warriors, +but every year fresh numbers descended upon the scattered +pioneers along the frontier, so that the labor of recolonization and +fighting was annually repeated. Towards the close of his administration, +De Croix, who succeeded Hugo Oconor in the command +along the northern line, established a chain of well appointed +<i>presidios</i>, which in some degree restrained the inroads of these +barbarians.</p> + +<p>Bucareli died, after a short illness, on the 9th of April, 1779, +and his remains were deposited in the church of Guadalupe in +front of the sacred and protecting image of the virgin who watches +according to the legend, over the destinies of Mexico.</p> + + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<h3><span class="smcap">Don Martin de Mayorga,<br /> +XLVII. Viceroy of New Spain.</span><br /> +1779–1783.</h3> + +<p>In consequence of the death of Bucareli the Audiencia assumed +the government of New Spain until the appointment of his successor, +and in the meanwhile, on the 18th of May, 1779, Charles III. +solemnly declared war against England. The misunderstanding +which gave rise to the revolutionary outbreak in the English colonies +of North America was beginning to attract the notice of Europe. +France saw in the quarrel between the Americans and the +British an opportunity to humiliate her dangerous foe; and although +Spain had no interest in such a contest, the minister of +Charles, Florida Blanca, persuaded his master to unite with France +in behalf of the revolted colonies. Spain, in this instance, as in +the expulsion of the Jesuits, was, doubtless, submissive to the will +of the French court, and willingly embraced an occasion to humble +the pride or destroy the power of a haughty nation whose fleets +and piratical cruisers had so long preyed upon the wealthy commerce +of her American possessions. The Spanish minister did +not probably dream of the dangerous neighbor whose creation he +was aiding, north of the Gulf of Mexico. It is not likely that he +imagined republicanism would be soon and firmly established in +the British united colonies of America, and that the infectious love +of freedom would spread beyond the wastes of Texas and the +deserts of California to the plateaus and plains of Mexico and Peru. + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span> +The policy was at once blind and revengeful. If it was produced +by the intrigue of France, the old hereditary foe and rival of England, +it was still less pardonable, for a fault or a crime when perpetrated +originally and boldly by a nation sometimes rises almost +into glory, if successful; but a second-hand iniquity, conceived +in jealousy and vindictiveness, is as mean as it is short sighted. +England had no friends at that epoch. Her previous conduct had +been so selfishly grasping, that all Europe rejoiced when her colonial +power was broken by the American revolution. Portugal, Holland, +Russia, Morocco and Austria, all, secretly favored the course +of Spain and France, and the most discreet politicians of Europe +believed that the condition of Great Britain was hopeless.</p> + +<p>The declaration of this impolitic war was finally made in Mexico +on the 12th of August, 1779, before the arrival of Mayorga, the +new viceroy, who did not reach the capital till the 23d of the same +month. The Mexicans were not as well acquainted with the politics +of the world as the Spanish cabinet, and did not appreciate +all the delicate and diplomatic motives which actuated Charles III. +They regarded a war with England as a direct invitation to the +British to ravage their coasts and harass their trade; and, accordingly +as soon as the direful news was announced, prayers were solemnly +uttered in all the churches for the successful issue of the +contest. Nor did war alone strike the Mexicans with panic; for +in this same period the small pox broke out in the capital; and +in the ensuing months in the space of sixty-seven days, no less +than eight thousand eight hundred and twenty-one persons were +hurried by it to the grave. It was a sad season of pestilence and +anxiety. The streets were filled with dead bodies, while the +temples were crowded with the diseased and the healthy who +rushed promiscuously to the holy images, in order to implore +divine aid and compassion. This indiscriminate mixture of all +classes and conditions,—this stupid reunion of the sound and the +sick, whose superstitions led them to the altar instead of the hospital, +soon spread the contagion far and wide, until all New Spain +suffered from its desolating ravages and scarcely a person was +found unmarked by its frightful ravages.</p> + +<p>An expedition had been ordered during the viceroyalty of +Bucareli to explore portions of the Pacific adjacent to the Mexican +coast, and in February of 1799, it reached a point 55° 17 +minutes north. It continued its voyage, until on the 1st of July, +when it took possession of the land at 60° 13 minutes, in the name +of Charles III. It then proceeded onwards, in sight of the coast, + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span> +and on the 1st of August, arrived at a group of islands, at 59° 8' +upon one of which the explorers landed and named the spot, +"Nuestra Señora de Regla."</p> + +<p>The expected assaults of the English in the Atlantic were not +long withheld, for in this year, on the 20th of October, they seized +Omoa in Guatemala, for the recovery of which the president, Don +Matias Galvez, quitted the capital immediately and demanded +succor from Mexico. The Indians, it is related, aided the British +in this attack, but the assailants abandoned the captured port, after +stripping it of its cannon and munitions of war, in consequence of +the insalubrity of the climate. The British had established a post +at a place then called Wallis, the centre of a region rich in dye-woods, +and aptly situated so as to aid in the contraband trade +which they carried on with Yucatan, Guatemala and Chiapas; and, +accordingly Don Roberto Rivas Vetancourt attacked the settlement +successfully, making prisoners of all the inhabitants, more +than three hundred slaves, and capturing a number of small vessels. +But just as hostilities ceased, two English frigates and another +armed vessel, arrived to succor the settlement, and forced the +Spanish governor to abandon his enterprise and depart with his +flotilla. Nevertheless Vetancourt, burned more than forty different +foreign establishments, and succeeded in capturing an English brigantine +of forty-four guns. The commander believed that this signal +devastation of the enemy's settlement and property would result +in freeing the land from such dangerous neighbors.</p> + +<p>About this period the Spanish government detached General +Solano and a part of his squadron, with orders for America, to aid +in the military enterprises designed against Florida, in which +Mexico was to take a significant part. This commander was to co-operate +with Don Bernardo de Galvez, and both these personages, +in the years 1779, 1780 and 1781, making common cause with +the French against the English, carried the war actively up the +Mississippi and into various portions of Florida. The remaining +period of Mayorga's viceroyalty was chiefly occupied with preparations +in the neighborhood of Vera Cruz against an assault from the +British, and in suppressing, by the aid of the alcalde Urizar, a +trifling revolt among the Indians of Izucar. An unfortunate disagreement +arose between Mayorga and the Spanish minister Galvez, +and he was finally, after many insults from the count, displaced, +in order to make room for Don Matias Galvez. The unfortunate +viceroy departed for Spain but never reached his native +land. He died in sight of Cadiz, and his wife was indemnified for + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span> +the ill treatment of her husband by the contemptible gift of twenty +thousand dollars.</p> + +<p>Mayorga was the victim apparently of an ill disposed minister, +who controlled the pliant mind of Charles. The viceroy in reality +had discharged his duties as lieutenant of the king, with singular +fidelity. All branches of art and industry in Mexico received his +fostering care; but he had enemies who sought his disgrace at +court, and they were finally successful in their shameful efforts. + <a name="FNanchor_47_47" id="FNanchor_47_47"></a><a href="#Footnote_47_47" class="fnanchor">[47]</a></p> + + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<h3><span class="smcap">Don Matias de Galvez,<br /> +XLVIII. Viceroy of New Spain.</span><br /> +1783–1784.</h3> + +<p>Don Matias Galvez, hastened rapidly from Guatemala to take +possession of the viceroyalty, and soon exhibited his generous +character and his ardent desire to improve and embellish the beautiful +capital. The academy of fine arts was one of his especial +favorites, and he insisted that Charles should not only endow it +with nine thousand dollars, but should render it an effective establishment, +by the introduction of the best models for the students. +These evidences of his munificence and taste, still exist in the fine +but untenanted halls of the neglected academy. Galvez directed +his attention, also, to the police of Mexico and its prisons;—he +required the streets to be leveled and paved; prohibited the raising +of recruits for Manilla, and solicited from the king authority to reconstruct +the magnificent palace of Chapultepec on the well known +and beautiful hill of that name which lies about two miles west of +the capital, still girt with its ancient cypresses.</p> + +<p>It was during the brief reign of this personage that the political +Gazette of Mexico was established, and the exclusive privilege of +its publication granted to Manuel Valdez. On the 3d of November +Don Matias died, after a brief illness, unusually lamented by the +people, from amidst whose masses he had risen to supreme power +in the most important colony of Spain. Mexico had regarded his +appointment as a singular good fortune, and it was fondly but +vainly hoped that his reign might have been long, and that he +would have been enabled to carry out the beneficent projects he +designed for the country.</p> + +<p>As the death of this officer was sudden and unexpected, no +<i>carta de mortaja</i>, or mortuary despatch, had been sent from Spain +announcing his successor, and, accordingly the Audiencia assumed +the reins of government until the arrival of the new viceroy.</p> + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<div class="fn"> +<h4>Footnote</h4> +<p><a name="Footnote_47_47" id="Footnote_47_47"></a><a href="#FNanchor_47_47"> + <span class="label">[47]</span></a> See Bustamante's continuation of Cavo, + vol. 3, pp. 45, 46.</p> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> + <a name="illus-255-f.jpg" id="illus-255-f.jpg"></a> + <img src="images/illus-255-f.jpg" width="400" height="237" alt="A view of the hills" title="" /> + <p class="caption2">CHAPULTEPEC.</p> +</div> + + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XV.<br /> +1785–1794.</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>BERNARDO DE GALVEZ VICEROY.—CHAPULTEPEC.—GALVEZ DIES—HIS +DAUGHTER.—HARO VICEROY—CORRUPTION OF ALCALDES.—FLORES +VICEROY—HIS SYSTEM OF RULING THE +NORTHERN FRONTIER—MINING INTERESTS.—II. REVILLA-GIGEDO +VICEROY—CHARLES IV.—REVILLA-GIGEDO'S COLONIAL +IMPROVEMENTS—HIS ADVICE AS TO CALIFORNIA—ANECDOTES +OF HIS POLICE REGULATIONS.—THE STREET OF REVILLA-GIGEDO.—ARREST +OF FUGITIVE LOVERS—PUNISHES THE +CULPRITS.</p> +</div> + + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<h3><span class="smcap">Don Bernardo de Galvez, Count de Galvez,<br /> +XLIX. Viceroy of New Spain.</span><br /> +1785–1786.</h3> + +<p>The Count Galvez, son of the last viceroy, Don Matias, took +charge of the government on the 17th of June, 1785, but enjoyed +as brief a reign as his respected father. Hardly had he attained +power when a great scarcity of food was experienced among the +people of New Spain in consequence of an extraordinarily unfavorable +season. The excellent disposition of the new officer was +shown in his incessant and liberal efforts to relieve the public +distress in all parts of the country afflicted by misery. Meetings +were held and committees appointed under his auspices, composed +of the most distinguished Spanish and native subjects to aid in +this beneficent labor; and over four hundred thousand dollars were +given by the Archbishop of Mexico, and the bishops of Puebla and +Michoacan, to encourage agriculture, as well as to relieve the most +pressing wants of the people. In order to afford employment to +the indigent, at the same time that he permanently improved and +beautified the capital and the country generally, the viceroy either +commenced or continued a number of important public works, +among which were the national roads and the magnificent palace +of Chapultepec, the favorite retreat of his father. This splendid + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span> +architectural combination of fortress and palace, was a costly +luxury to the Spanish government, for the documents of the period +declare that, up to the month of January, 1787, one hundred and +twenty-three thousand and seventy-seven dollars had been expended +in its construction. Nor was the ministry well pleased with so +lavish an outlay upon this royal domain. Placed on a solitary hill, +at a short distance from the capital, and built evidently for the +double purpose of defence and dwelling, it created a fear, in the +minds of some sensitive persons, that its design might not be +altogether so peaceful as was pretended. An ambitious viceroy, +surrounded by troops whose attachment and firmness could be +relied on, might easily convert the palace into a citadel; and it was +noted that Galvez, had upon various occasions played the demagogue +among the military men who surrounded him in the capital. +All these fears were, however, idle. If the count, in reality, entertained +any ambitious projects, or desired to put himself at the head +of an American kingdom independent of Spain, these hopes were +soon and sadly blighted by his early death. He expired on the +30th of November, 1786, in the archiepiscopal palace of Tacubaya.</p> + +<p>His funeral ceremonies were conducted by the archbishop, and +his honored remains interred in the church of San Fernando. At +the period of the viceroy's decease his wife was pregnant; and it +is stated, in the chronicles of the day,—and we mention it as a +singular illustration of Spanish habits,—that the daughter, of +which she was delivered in the following month of December, +received the names of, <i>Maria de Guadalupe Bernarda Isabel Felipa +de Jesus Juana Nepomucena Felicitas</i>, to which was joined at the +period of the lady's confirmation, the additional one of <i>Fernanda</i>! +The Ayuntamiento of Mexico, in order to show its appreciation of +the viceroy's memory, offered to become <i>god-father</i> of the infant, +and the ceremony of its baptism was performed with all the splendor +of the Catholic church, in the presence of the court and of a +portion of the army. The defunct viceroy had become popular +with the masses, and the people strove to manifest their love for +the dead by their affectionate courtesy to his orphan, daughter and +desolate widow.</p> + +<p>The <span class="smcap">Audiencia Real</span> assumed the government of Mexico, +inasmuch as the Spanish ministry had provided no successor in +the event of the count's death. Its power continued until the +following February, during which period no event of note occurred +in New Spain, save the destruction by fire of valuable mining +property at Bolaños, and a violent hurricane at Acapulco, accompanied + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span> +by earthquakes, which swept the sea over the coast, and +caused great losses to the farmers and herdsmen who dwelt on the +neighboring lowlands.</p> + + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<h3><span class="smcap">Nuñez de Haro, Archbishop of Mexico,<br /> +L. Viceroy, ad Interim, of New Spain.</span><br /> +1787.</h3> + +<p>The appointment of this eminent prelate to the viceroyalty <i>ad +interim</i> by a royal order of 25th February, 1787, was perhaps one +of those strokes of policy by which the Spanish ministry strove to +reconcile and connect the ecclesiastical and civil unity of the +American empire. The sway of the archbishop, complimentary as +it was to himself and to the church, was exceedingly brief, for he +entered upon the government on the 8th of May and was superceded +by Flores on the 17th of August of the same year. New +Spain was undisturbed during his government; and no event +is worthy of historical record in these brief annals of the country, +save the effort that was made to prohibit the <i>repartimiento</i> or subdivision +of the Indians among the agriculturists and miners by the +<i>sub-delegados</i>, who had succeeded the <i>alcaldes mayores</i>, in the performance +of this odious task. The conduct of the latter personages +had been extremely cruel to the natives. They either used their +power to oppress the Indians, or had trafficked in the dispensation +of justice by allowing the sufferers to purchase exemption from +punishment; and it is related that in certain <i>alcaldias mayores</i> in +Oaxaca, the <i>alcaldes</i> had enriched themselves to the extent of more +than two hundred thousand dollars by these brutal exactions. Inhumanity +like this, was severely denounced to the king by the +bishop Ortigoza,—who merited, according to Revilla-Gigedo, +the title of the Saint Paul of his day,—and the eloquent prelate +complained in behalf of his beloved Indians as vehemently as +Las Casas at an earlier period of this loathsome oppression. But +interest overcome the appeals of mercy in almost all instances +since the foundation of the American empire. The Spaniards required +laborers. The ignorant and unarmed Indians of the south +and of the table lands, were docile or unorganized, and, although +the Spanish court and Council of the Indies seconded the viceroy's +zeal in attempting to suppress the cruelty of the planters and +miners, the unfortunate aborigines only experienced occasional +brief intervals of respite in the system of forced labor to which +they were devoted by their legal task-masters.</p> + + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span></p> +<h3><span class="smcap">Don Manuel Flores,<br /> +LI. Viceroy of New Spain.</span><br /> +1787–1789.</h3> + +<p>Don Manuel Flores assumed the government of New Spain on +the 16th of May, 1787, but his power over the finances of the nation +was taken from him and given to Fernando Mangino, with the +title of <i>Superintendente sub-delegado de Hacienda</i>. Flores was +thus left in possession solely of the civil administration generally, +and of the military organization of the viceroyalty. Being satisfied +that the ordinary <i>militia</i> system of New Spain was inadequate for +national protection during war, he immediately devoted himself to +the forced levy and equipment of three regiments of infantry, +named "Puebla," "Mexico" and "New Spain." The command +of these forces was given to the most distinguished and noble young +men of Mexico;—and as the minister Galvez died, and Mangino +was, about this period, transferred to the Council of the Indies, the +superintendence of the finances of Mexico, was appropriately restored +again to the viceroyal government.</p> + +<p>The northern part of Mexico, in 1788 and for many previous +years had been constantly ravaged by the wild Indian tribes that +ranged across the whole frontier from the western limits of Sonora to +the Gulf of Mexico. Immense sums were squandered in the support +of garrisons or the maintenance of numerous officers, whose duty +it was to hold these barbarians in check. But their efforts had +been vain. The fine agricultural districts of Chihuahua, New +Leon, New Mexico and even in parts of Texas, had attracted large +numbers of adventurous pioneers into that remote region; yet no +sooner did their fields begin to flourish and their flocks or herds to +increase, than these savages descended upon the scattered settlers +and carried off their produce and their families. Whenever the +arms of New Spain obtained a signal victory over one of these +marauding bands, the Indians would talk of peace and even consent +to bind themselves by treaties. But these compacts were immediately +broken, as soon as they found the country beginning to +flourish again, or the military power in the least degree relaxed.</p> + +<p>Flores appears to have understood the condition of the northern +frontier and the temper of the Indians. He did not believe that +treaties, concessions or kindness would suffice to protect the +Spanish pioneers, and yet he was satisfied that it was necessary to + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span> +sustain the settlements, in that quarter, in order to prevent the +southern progress of European adventurers who were eager to +seize the wild and debatable lands lying on both sides of the Rio +Grande. Accordingly he proposed to the Spanish court to carry on +a war of most inexorable character against the Apaches, Lipans +and Mesclaros. He characterized, in his despatches, all the Indian +tribes dwelling or wandering between the Presidio of the Bay +of Espiritu Santo, in the province of Texas, to beyond Santa Gertrudis +del Altar, in Sonora,—the two opposite points of the dangerous +frontier line,—as Apaches or their hostile colleagues; and +he resolved to fight them, without quarter, truce, or mercy, until +they surrendered unconditionally to the power of Spain.</p> + +<p>The subsequent history of these provinces, and the experience +of our own government, have shown the wisdom of this advice in +regard to a band of savages whose habits are peculiarly warlike +and whose robber traits have made them equally dangerous to all +classes of settlers in the lonely districts of the Rio Grande or of +the Gila and Colorado of the west. His secretary, Bonilla,—who +had fought bravely in the northern provinces, and was practically +acquainted with warfare among these barbarians,—seconded the +mature opinion of the viceroy. The plan was successful for the +time, and the frontier enjoyed a degree of peace, whilst the military +power was sustained throughout the line of Presidios, which it has +not known since the revolution in Mexico attracted the attention +of all towards the central parts of the nation and left the north +comparatively exposed. Flores enforced his system rigidly, during +his viceroyalty. He equipped the expeditions liberally; promoted +the officers who distinguished themselves; rewarded the bravest +soldiers; and despatched a choice regiment of dragoons to Durango, +whose officers, formed, in that city, the nucleus of its future +civilization.</p> + +<p>Nor was this viceroy stinted in his efforts to improve the capital +and protect the growing arts and sciences of the colony. He +labored to establish a botanical garden, under the auspices of +Don Martin Sesé; but the perfect realization of this beneficial and +useful project was reserved for his successor the Count Revilla-Gigedo.</p> + +<p>The mining interests, too, were prospering, and improvements +on the ancient Spanish system were sought to be introduced, +through the instrumentality of eleven German miners whose services +had been engaged by the home government in Dresden, through +its envoy Don Luis Orcis. These personages presented themselves + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span> +in New Spain with the pompous title of practical professors of +mineralogy, but they were altogether unskilled in the actual working +of mines, and unable to render those of Mexico more productive. +The only benefit derived from this mineralogical mission +was the establishment of a course of chemical lectures in the +seminary of mines, under the direction of Lewis Leinder, who set +up the first laboratory in Mexico.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>On the 23d of December, 1788, the minister of the Indies +apprised the viceroy of the death of Charles III., which had +occurred in the middle of that month. Funeral ceremonies were +celebrated, with great pomp, in Mexico, in honor of the defunct +monarch; and, on the 22d of February, 1789, the resignation of +the viceroyalty by Flores,—who desired heartily to retire from +public life—was graciously accepted by the Spanish court, and +his successor named, in the person of the second Count Revilla-Gigedo.</p> + + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<h3><span class="smcap">The Count de Revilla-Gigedo—the second,<br /> +LII. Viceroy of New Spain.</span><br /> +1789–1794.</h3> + +<p>This distinguished nobleman, whose name figures so favorably +in the annals of Mexico, reached Guadalupe on the 16th of October +1789, and on the following day entered the capital with all the +pompous ceremonies usual in New Spain upon the advent of a +new ruler. In the following month—the new sovereign Charles +IV. was proclaimed; and the viceroy, at once set about the regulation +of the municipal police of his capital which seems to have +been somewhat relaxed since the days of his dreaded and avaricious +father. Assassinations of the most scandalous and daring character, +had recently warned the viceroy of the insecurity of life and +property even in the midst of his guards. But Revilla-Gigedo +possessed some of the sterner qualities that distinguished his parent, +and never rested until the guilty parties were discovered and +brought to prompt and signal justice. The capital soon exhibited +a different aspect under his just and rigorous government. He did +not trust alone to the reports of his agents in order to satisfy his +mind in regard to the wants of Mexico; for he visited every quarter +of the city personally, and often descended unexpectedly upon his +officers when they least expected a visit from such a personage. + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span> +The poor as well as the rich received his paternal notice. He +enquired into their wants and studied their interests. One of his +most beneficent schemes was the erection of a Monte Pio, for their +relief, yet the sum he destined for this object was withheld by the +court and used for the payment of royal debts. Agriculture, horticulture +and botany were especially fostered by this enlightened +nobleman. He carried out the project of his predecessor by +founding the botanical garden, and liberally rewarded and encouraged +the pupils of this establishment, for he deemed the rich +vegetable resources of Mexico quite as worthy of national attention +as the mines which had hitherto absorbed the public interest. +Literature, too, did not escape his fostering care, as far as the +jealous rules of the Inquisition and of royal policy permitted its +liberal encouragement by a viceroy. He found the streets of the +capital and its suburbs badly paved and kept, and he rigidly +enforced all the police regulations which were necessary for their +purity and safety. As he knew that one of the best means of +developing and binding together the provinces of the empire, was +the construction of substantial and secure roads,—he proposed that +the highways to Vera Cruz, Acapulco, Meztitlan de la Sierra, and +Toluca, should be reconstructed in the most enduring manner. +But the Junta Superior de Hacienda opposed the measure, and the +count was obliged to expend, from his own purse, the requisite +sums for the most important repairs. He established weekly posts +between the capitals of the Intendencies;—regulated and restricted +the cutting of timber in the adjacent mountains;—established +a professorship of anatomy in the Hospital de Naturales; destroyed +the provincial militia system and formed regular <i>corps</i> out of the +best veterans found in the ranks. Knowing the difficulty with +which the poor or uninfluential reached the ear of their Mexican +governors, he placed a locked case in one of the halls of his palace +into which all persons were at liberty to throw their memorials +designed for the viceroy's scrutiny. It was, in reality, a secret +mode of <i>espionage</i>, but it brought to the count's knowledge many +an important fact which he would never have learned through the +ordinary channels of the court. Without this secret chest, whose +key was never out of his possession, Revilla-Gigedo, with all his +personal industry, might never have comprehended the actual condition +of Mexico, or, have adopted the numerous measures for its +improvement which distinguished his reign.</p> + +<p>Besides this provident measure for the internal safety and progressive +comfort of New Spain, the count directed his attention to + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span> +the western coast of America, upon which, he believed, the future +interests of Spain would materially rely. The settlement of the +Californias had engaged the attention of many preceding viceroys, +as we have already related, and their coasts had been explored and +missionary settlements made wherever the indentures of the sea +shore indicated the utility of such enterprises. But the count foresaw +that the day would come when the commercial enterprises of +European nations, and, especially of the English, would render this +portion of the Mexican realm an invaluable acquisition. Accordingly +he despatched an expedition to the Californias to secure the +possessions of Spain in that quarter; and has left, for posterity, an +invaluable summary or <i>recopilacion</i> of all the enterprises of discovery +made by the Spaniards in that portion of the west coast of +America. This document,—more useful to the antiquarian than +the politician, now that the boundaries between the possessions of +Mexico, England and the United States have been definitely settled +by treaties,—may be found in the third volume of "Los Tres +Siglos de Mejico," a work which was commenced by the Jesuit +Father Cavo, and continued to the year 1821, by Don Carlos +Maria Bustamante. Revilla-Gigedo recommended the Spanish +court to avoid all useless parade or expense, but resolutely to +prevent the approach of the English or of any other foreign power +to their possessions in California, and to occupy, promptly, the +port of Bodega, and even the shores of the Columbia river, if it +was deemed necessary. He advised the minister, moreover, to +fortify these two points; to garrison strongly San Francisco, Monterey, +San Diego and Loreto; to change the department of San +Blas to Acapulco; and to guard the <i>fondos piadosos</i> of the missions, +as well as the salt works of Zapotillo, by which the treasury would +be partly relieved of the ecclesiastical expenses of California, while +the needful marine force was suitably supported. These safeguards +were believed by the viceroy sufficient to confine the +enterprising English to the regions in which they might traffic for +peltries without being tempted into the dominions of Spain, at the +same time that they served as safeguards against all illicit or contraband +commerce.<a name="FNanchor_48_48" id="FNanchor_48_48"></a> + <a href="#Footnote_48_48" class="fnanchor">[48]</a></p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>We have, thus endeavored to describe rather than to narrate +historically, the principal events that occurred in the reign of the + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span> +second Count Revilla-Gigedo, all of which have characterized him +as a just, liberal and far-seeing ruler. In the account of his +father's reign, we have already noticed some of this viceroy's +meritorious qualities; but we shall now break the ordinary tenor +of these brief annals by inserting a few anecdotes which are still +traditionally current in the country whose administration he so +honestly conducted.</p> + +<p>The Conde was accustomed to make nightly rounds in the city, +in order to assure himself that its regulations for quiet and security +were carried into effect. On one occasion, it is related, that in passing +through a street which he had ordered to be paved, he suddenly +stopped and despatched a messenger to the director of the work, +requiring his instant presence. The usual phrase with which he +wound up such commands was "lo espero aqui,"—"I await him +here,"—which had the effect of producing an extraordinary degree +of celerity in those who received the command. On this occasion +the officer, who was enjoying his midnight repose, sprang from his +bed on receiving the startling summons, and rushed, half dressed, +to learn the purport of what he presumed to be an important business. +He found the viceroy standing stiff and composed on the +side walk. When the panting officer had paid his obeisance to +his master:—"I regret to have disturbed you, Señor," said the +latter, "in order to call your attention to the state of your pavement. +You will observe that this flag stone is not perfectly even," +touching with his toe one which rose about half an inch above the +rest of the side walk, "I had the misfortune to strike my foot +against it this evening, and I fear that some others may be as +unlucky as myself, unless the fault be immediately remedied. You +will attend to it, sir, and report to me to-morrow morning!" With +these words he continued his round, leaving the officer in a state +of stupefaction; but it is asserted that the pavements of Mexico for +the rest of his excellency's government were unexceptionable.</p> + +<p>Another anecdote, of this kind, places his peculiarity of temper +in a still stronger light. In perambulating the city one pleasant +evening about sunset, he found that the street in which he was +walking terminated abruptly against a mass of wretched tenements, +apparently the lurking places of vice and beggary. He inquired +how it happened that the highway was carried no farther, or why +these hovels were allowed to exist; but the only information he +could gain was that such had always been the case, and that none +of the authorities considered themselves bound to remedy the evil. +Revilla-Gigedo sent immediately to the <i>corregidor</i>:—"tell him + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span> +that I await him here," he concluded, in a tone that had the effect +of bringing that functionary at once to the spot, and he received +orders to open, without delay, a broad and straight avenue through +the quarter as far as the barrier of the city. It must be finished,—was +the imperious command,—that very night, so as to allow +the viceroy to drive through it on his way to mass the next morning. +With this the count turned on his heel, and the corregidor +was left to reflect upon his disagreeable predicament.</p> + +<p>The fear of losing his office, or perhaps worse consequences, +stimulated his energy. No time was to be wasted. All his subordinate +officers were instantly summoned, and laborers were collected +from all parts of the city. The very buildings that were to +be removed sent forth crowds of <i>leperos</i> willing for a few <i>reales</i> to +aid in destroying the walls which had once harbored them. A +hundred torches shed their radiance over the scene. All night +long the shouts of the workmen, the noise of pick-axe and crowbar, +the crash of falling roofs, and the rumbling of carts, kept the +city in a fever of excitement. Precisely at sunrise the state carriage, +with the viceroy, his family and suite, left the palace, and +rattled over the pavements in the direction from which the noise +had proceeded. At length the new street opened before them, +a thousand workmen, in double file, fell back on either side +and made the air resound with <i>vivas</i>, as they passed. Through +clouds of dust and dirt,—over the unpaved earth, strewn with +fragments of stone and plaster,—the coach and train swept onward, +till at the junction of the new street with the road leading +to the suburbs, the <i>corregidor</i>, hat in hand, with a smile of conscious +desert, stepped forward to receive his excellency, and to +listen to the commendation bestowed on the prompt and skilful +execution of his commands!</p> + +<p>Should any one doubt the truth of this story, let him be aware +that the Calle de Revilla-Gigedo still remains in Mexico to attest +its verity.</p> + +<p>These anecdotes impart some idea of the authority exercised by +the viceroys, which was certainly far more arbitrary and personal +than that of their sovereign in his Spanish dominions.</p> + +<p>There is another adventure told to display the excellence of Revilla-Gigedo's +police, in which the count figures rather melodramatically. +It seems that among the <i>creole</i> nobles, who, with the +high officers of government, made up the viceroy's court, there +was a certain marques, whom fortune had endowed with great estates +and two remarkably pretty daughters, and it was doubted by some + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span> +whether the care of his cash or his heiresses gave him most +anxiety. The eldest, who bore her father's title, was celebrated +for beauty of an uncommon kind in those regions. She had blue +eyes, brilliant complexion, and golden hair, and was every where +known as the fair haired marquesa. Her sister who, on the contrary, +was very dark, with eyes like the gazelle and raven hair, +was called the pretty brunette. But, different as they were in looks +and perhaps in character, there was one trait in which they perfectly +agreed, for they were remarkable coquettes! It is unknown +how many offers of the wealthiest grandees and most gallant cavaliers +about court they had refused; and the poor marques, who was +by no means a domestic tyrant and desired to govern his family +only by kindness, was quite worn out in persuading them to know +there own minds. One night he was roused from his sleep by a +message from the viceroy, who awaited him in the palace. Not +for his best estate would the loyal marques have kept the representative +of his sovereign waiting a moment longer than necessary. +Wondering what reason of state could require his presence at that +unusual hour, he dressed himself hastily, and hurried to the palace. +The viceroy was in his cabinet, surrounded by several of his household, +and all in a state of painful curiosity. "Marques," said the +viceroy, as soon as the nobleman entered, "my lieutenant of police +here, complains that you did not take proper care to secure the +doors of your mansion last evening." "I assure your highness," +replied the marques in great surprise, "that my steward locked +both the great gate and the outer door, according to the invariable +custom of my mansion, before retiring for the night." "But have +you not a postern opening into the next street?" returned the +count, "and are you equally heedful in regard to it? But, in +short," he continued, "you must know, that this watchful lieutenant +of mine has saved you to-night from robbery." "Robbery! +your excellency, is it possible?" ejaculated the marques, startled +for a moment out of his habitual composure. "Yes,—and of the +worst kind" replied the viceroy, "the felons were in the act of +carrying off your most exquisite treasures which are now restored +to you." At these words, a door at the side of the cabinet flew +open, and the astonished marques beheld his two daughters, dressed +for travelling, and locked in each other's arms. They seemed overwhelmed +with confusion; the fair hair all dishevelled and the +black eyes drowned in tears. "And these are the robbers," +added the viceroy pointing to a door on the opposite side, which +also flew open. The marques turned mechanically, and saw two + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span> +of the gayest, handsomest, and most dissipated youths of the court, +whom he recollected as occasional visitors at his house. They +appeared no less confused, and, with their embarrassment, there +was an evident mixture of alarm. The truth now began to break +on the mind of the nobleman. "You see, marques," said the +count, "that but for the vigilance of my police, you would have +had the honor of being father-in-law to two of the greatest scamps +in my viceroyalty. See what a dilemma your carelessness has +brought me into, my dear sir! I am obliged to wound the feelings +of two of the most lovely ladies in my court, to save them from the +machinations of scoundrels unworthy of their charms, and I fear +they will never forgive me! Farewell, señor marques; take my +advice, and brick up your postern. Calderon<a name="FNanchor_49_49" id="FNanchor_49_49"></a> + <a href="#Footnote_49_49" class="fnanchor">[49]</a> was a wise man, +and he tells us that a house with two doors is hard to keep. +As for these young scape-graces, they sail in the next galeon, for +Manilla, where they can exercise their fascinating powers on the +<i>chinas</i> and <i>mulatas</i> of the Philipines!"</p> + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<div class="fn"> +<h4>Footnotes</h4> +<p><a name="Footnote_48_48" id="Footnote_48_48"></a><a href="#FNanchor_48_48"> + <span class="label">[48]</span></a> During the administration + of the second Count Revilla-Gigedo the sum of one +hundred and nine millions, seven hundred and four thousand, four hundred and +seventeen dollars, was coined in gold and silver in Mexico.</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote_49_49" id="Footnote_49_49"></a><a href="#FNanchor_49_49"> + <span class="label">[49]</span></a> One of Calderon's comedies is named "<i>Casa + con dos puertas mala es de guardar</i>." +See Lady's Magazine for 1844.</p> +</div> + + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XVI.<br /> +1794–1808.</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>BRANCIFORTE VICEROY—HIS GRASPING AND AVARICIOUS CHARACTER—CORRUPTION +TOLERATED.—PERSECUTION OF FRENCHMEN—ENCAMPMENTS.—BRANCIFORTE'S CHARACTER.—AZANZA +VICEROY.—EFFECT OF EUROPEAN WARS ON COLONIAL +TRADE AND MANUFACTURES.—THREATENED REVOLT.—MARQUINA +VICEROY—REVOLT IN JALISCO.—ITURRIGARAY VICEROY.—GODOY'S +CORRUPTION—WAR.—DEFENCES AGAINST THE +UNITED STATES—MIRANDA—HUMBOLDT.—MEXICO TAXED +FOR EUROPEAN WARS—FERDINAND VII.—NAPOLEON IN SPAIN—KING +JOSEPH BONAPARTE.—ITURRIGARAY ARRESTED.—GARIBAY +VICEROY.</p> +</div> + + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<h3><span class="smcap">The Marques de Branciforte,<br /> +LIII. Viceroy of New Spain.</span><br /> +1794–1798.</h3> + +<p>The Marques Branciforte, who reached Mexico on the 11th of +July, 1794, contrasts unfavorably, in history, with his illustrious +predecessor Revilla-Gigedo. Partaking of the avaricious qualities +of this personage's father, he seems to have possessed but few of +his virtues, and probably accepted the viceroyalty of New Spain +with no purpose but that of plunder.</p> + +<p>Scarcely had he begun to reign, when his rapacity was signally +exhibited. It is said that his first essay in extortion, was the sale +of the <i>sub-delegation</i> of Villa-Alta to a certain Don Francisco Ruiz +de Conejares, for the sum of forty thousand dollars, and the +bestowal of the office of <i>apoderado</i> on the Count de Contramina, +the offices of whose subordinates were bought and sold in the political +market like ordinary merchandise.</p> + +<p>At this epoch the warlike hostility to France was excessive, and +orders had been received to exercise the strictest vigilance over the +subjects of that nation who resided in Mexico. Their number, +however, was small, for Spanish America was almost as closely + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span> +sealed as China against the entrance of strangers. Nevertheless +Branciforte encouraged a most disgraceful persecution against these +unfortunate persons, by arresting them on the slightest pretexts, +throwing them into prison, and seizing their possessions. He +found, in his <i>assessor general</i>, Don Pedro Jacinto Valenzuela, and +in his criminal prosecutor, Francisco Xavier de Borbon, fitting +instruments to carry out his inexorable determinations. Upon one +occasion he even demanded of the Sala de Audiencia that certain +Frenchmen, after execution, should have their tongues impaled +upon iron spikes at the city gates, because they had spoken slightingly +of the virtue of the queen Maria Louisa! Fortunately, +however, for the wretched culprits, the <i>Sala</i> was composed of +virtuous magistrates who refused to sanction the cruel demand, and +the victims were alone despoiled of their valuable property. These +acts, it may well be supposed, covered the name of Branciforte +with infamy even in Mexico.</p> + +<p>In 1796, on the 7th of October, war was declared by Spain +against England, in consequence of which the viceroy immediately +distributed the colonial army, consisting of not less than eight +thousand men, in Orizaba, Cordova, Jalapa, and Peroté; and, in +the beginning of the following year, he left the capital to command +the forces from his headquarters near the eastern coast. This +circumstance enabled him to leave, with an air of triumph, a city +in which he was profoundly hated. The people manifested their +contempt of so despicable an extortioner and flatterer of royalty, +not only by words, but by caricatures. When the sovereign sent +him the order of the golden fleece, they depicted Branciforte with +a collar of the noble order, but in lieu of the lamb, which terminates +the insignia, they placed the figure of a cat! At his departure, +the civil and financial government of the capital was entrusted to +the regency of the <i>audiencia</i>, while its military affairs were conducted +by the Brigadier Davalos. In Orizaba the conduct of +Branciforte was that of an absolute monarch. All his troops were +placed under the best discipline, but none of them were permitted +to descend to Vera Cruz; yet, scarcely had he been established in +this new military command, when it was known that Don Miguel +José de Azanza was named as his viceroyal successor. Nevertheless +Branciforte continued in control, with the same domineering +demeanor, as in the first days of his government, relying for justification +and defence in Spain upon the support of his relative, the +Prince of Peace. In Orizaba he was surrounded by flatterers and +his court was a scene of disgraceful orgies; yet the day of his fall + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span> +was at hand. The ship Monarch anchored at Vera Cruz, on the +17th of May, 1798, and, on the 31st of the same month, Azanza, +the new viceroy who reached America in her, received the viceroyal +baton from Branciforte. This supercilious peculator departed +from New Spain with five millions of dollars, a large portion of +which was his private property, in the vessel that had brought his +successor, and arrived at Ferol, after a narrow escape from the +English in the waters of Cadiz. But he returned to Spain loaded +with wealth and curses, for never had the Mexicans complained so +bitterly against any Spaniard who was commissioned to rule them. +The respectable and wealthy inhabitants of the colony were loudest +in their denunciations of an "Italian adventurer," who enriched +himself at the expense of their unfortunate country, nor was his +conduct less hateful because he had been the immediate successor +of so just and upright a viceroy as Revilla-Gigedo.</p> + +<p>The character of Branciforte was keen and hypocritical. He +tried, at times, but vainly, to conceal his avarice, while his pretended +love for the "Virgin of Guadalupe" and for the royal +family, was incessantly reiterated in familiar conversation. Every +Saturday during his government, and on the twelfth of every month, +he made pious pilgrimages to the sanctuary of the Mexican protectress. +He placed a large image of the virgin on the balcony of +the palace, and ordered a salute to be fired at daybreak in honor +of the saint on the twelfth of every December. With these cheap +ceremonials, however, he satisfied his hypocritical piety and absorbing +avarice, but he never bestowed a farthing upon the collegiate +church of the Virgin. Whenever he spoke in his court of the sovereign +of Spain it was with an humble mien, a reverential voice, +and all the external manifestations of subserviency for the royal personages +who conferred such unmerited honors upon him. Such is +the picture which has been left by Mexican annalists of one of their +worst rulers.</p> + + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<h3><span class="smcap">Don Miguel José de Azanza,<br /> +LIV. Viceroy of New Spain.</span>—1798–1800.</h3> + +<p>Azanza, who, as we have related, assumed the viceroyalty in +May, 1798, was exceedingly well received in Mexico. His +worthy character was already known to the people, and almost any +new viceroy would have been hailed as a deliverer from the odious +administration of Branciforte. Azanza was urbane towards all +classes, and his discreet conversation, at once, secured the respect + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span> +and confidence of the colonists. Besides this, the early measures +of his administration were exceedingly wise. He dissolved the +various military encampments, established and maintained at +enormous cost, by his predecessor in the neighborhood of the +eastern coasts. This heavy charge on the treasury was distasteful +to the people, while so large an assemblage of colonial +troops necessarily withdrew multitudes from agricultural and commercial +pursuits, and greatly interfered with the business of New +Spain. Anxious, however, to protect the important post of Vera +Cruz, the viceroy formed a less numerous encampment in its +neighborhood; but the greater portion of its officers and men +perished in that unhealthy climate.</p> + +<p>The war with England was not altogether disadvantageous to +Mexico, for although the royal order of the 18th of November, +1797, was repeated on the 20th of April, 1799, by which a commerce +in neutral vessels had been permitted with the colony's ports, +yet, as the seas were filled with enemy's cruisers, the Spanish +trade in national vessels was narrowed chiefly to exports from the +mother country. This course of commerce resulted in retaining +the specie of Mexico within her territory, for the precious metals +had hitherto been the principal article of export to Spain in return +for merchandise despatched from Cadiz. The <i>internal</i> trade +of Mexico was, accordingly, fostered and beneficially sustained by +the continuance of its large annual metallic products within the +viceroyalty until peace permitted their safe transmission abroad. +The beneficial retention of silver and gold in the country was not +only manifested in the activity of domestic trade, but in the improvement +of its towns and cities, and in the encouragement of +manufactures of silk, cotton and wool. In Oaxaca, Guadalaxara, +Valladolid, Puebla, Cuautitlan, San Juan Teotihuacan, Zempoala, +Metepec, Ixtlahuaca, Tulancingo, the number of looms increased +rapidly between 1796 and 1800. In Oaxaca thirty were added; in +San Juan Teotihuacan thirty-three; in Querétaro, three thousand +four hundred persons were employed; while, in the town of Cadereita, +there existed more than two hundred looms, giving employment +to more than five hundred individuals.</p> + +<p>In attending wisely and justly to the civil administration of New +Spain, and in fostering the internal trade and industry, Azanza +bestirred himself whilst the war continued. There were but few +actions between the combatants, but as the contest between the +nations sealed the ports in a great degree, Mexico was made +chiefly dependent on herself for the first time since her national + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span> +existence. The politics and intrigues of the old world thus acquainted +the colony with her resources and taught her the value of +independence.</p> + +<p>Azanza's administration was, for a while, disturbed by a threatened +outbreak among the lower classes, whose chief conspirators +assembled in an obscure house in the capital, and designed, at a +suitable moment, rising in great numbers and murdering, without +discrimination, all the wealthiest or most distinguished <i>Spaniards</i>. +This treasonable project was discovered to the viceroy, who went +in person, with a guard, to the quarters of the leaguers, and arrested +them on the spot. They were speedily brought to trial; but +the cause hung in the courts until after the departure of Azanza, +when powerful and touching intercessions were made with his successor +to save the lives of the culprits. The project of a pardon +was maturely considered by the proper authorities, and it was resolved +not to execute the guilty chiefs, inasmuch as it was believed +that their appearance upon a scaffold would be the signal for a +general revolt of the people against the dominion of the parent +country. The sounds of the approaching storm were already heard +in the distance, and justice yielded to policy.</p> + +<p>Azanza, with all his excellent qualities as a Governor in America, +did not give satisfaction to the court at home. There is no +doubt of the value of his administration in Mexico, and it is, therefore, +difficult to account for his loss of favor, except upon the +ground of intrigue and corruption which were rife in Madrid. +The reign of Charles IV. and the administration of the Prince of +Peace, are celebrated in history as the least respectable in modern +Spanish annals. Whilst the royal favorite controlled the king's +councils, favoritism and intrigue ruled the day. Among other legends +of the time, it is asserted by Bustamante, in his continuation +of Cavo's "<i>Tres Siglos de Mejico</i>," that the Mexican viceroyalty +was almost put up at auction in Madrid, and offered for eighty +thousand dollars to the secretary Bonilla. In consequence of this +personage's inability to procure the requisite sum, it was conferred, +through another bargain and sale, upon Don Felix Berenguer de +Marquina, an obscure officer, who was unknown to the king either +personally or as a meritorious servant of the crown and people.</p> + +<p>The Mexican author to whom we have just referred, characterizes +Azanza as the wisest, most politic and amiable viceroy, +ever sent by Spain to rule over his beautiful country. +<a name="FNanchor_50_50" id="FNanchor_50_50"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_50_50" class="fnanchor">[50]</a></p> + + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span></p> +<h3><span class="smcap">Don Felix Berenguer de Marquina,<br /> +LV. Viceroy of New Spain.</span><br /> +1800–1802.</h3> + +<p>Marquina took charge of the viceroyalty on the 30th of April +1800, after a sudden and mysterious arrival in New Spain, having +passed through the enemy's squadron and been taken prisoner. It +was inconceivable to the Mexicans why the vice-admiral of Jamaica +deemed it proper to release a Spanish officer who came to +America on a warlike mission; yet it is now known that in November, +of 1800, the king ordered forty thousand dollars to be paid the +viceroy to reimburse the <i>extraordinary</i> expenses of his voyage!</p> + +<p>The government of this personage was not remarkable in the +development of the colony. The war with England still continued, +but it was of a mild character, and vessels constantly +passed between the belligerants with flags of truce, through whose +intervention the Mexicans were permitted to purchase in Jamaica +the paper, quicksilver, and European stuffs, which the British +crusiers had captured from Spanish ships in the Gulf.</p> + +<p>In 1801, an Indian named Mariano, of Tepic in Jalisco, son of +the governor of the village of Tlascala in that department, attempted +to excite a revolution among the people of his class, by +means of an anonymous circular which proclaimed him king. +Measures were immediately taken to suppress this outbreak, and +numbers of the natives were apprehended and carried to Guadalajara. +The fears of Marquina were greatly excited by this paltry +rebellion, which he imagined, or feigned to believe, a wide spread +conspiracy excited by the <span class="smcap">North Americans</span> and designed to +overthrow the Spanish power. The viceroy, accordingly, detailed +his services in exaggerated terms to the home government, and it +is probably owing to the eulogium passed by him upon the conduct +of Abascal, president of Guadalaxara, that this personage was made +viceroy of Buenos Ayres, and afterwards honored with the government +of Peru and created Marques de la Concordia.</p> + +<p>A definitive treaty of peace was concluded between the principal +European and American belligerants in 1802, and soon after, Marquina, +who was offended by some slights received from the Spanish +ministry, resigned an office for the performance of whose manifold +duties and intricate labors he manifested no ability save that of a +good disposition. He was probably better fitted to govern a village +of fifty inhabitants than the vast and important empire of +New Spain.</p> + + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span></p> +<h3><span class="smcap">Don José Iturrigaray,<br /> +Lieutenant General of the Spanish Army,<br /> +LVI. Viceroy of New Spain.</span>—1803–1808.</h3> + +<p>On the morning of the 4th of January, 1803, Don José Iturrigaray +reached Guadalupe near Mexico, where he received the staff +of office from his predecessor and was welcomed by the Audiencia, +tribunals, and nobility of the capital.</p> + +<p>The revolution in the British provinces of North America had +been successful, and they had consolidated themselves into nationality +under the title of United States. France followed in the +footsteps of liberty, and, overthrowing the rotten throne of the +Bourbons, was the first European state to give an impulse to freedom +in the old world. The whole western part of that continent +was more or less agitated by the throes of the moral and political +volcano whose fiery eruption was soon to cover Europe with destruction. +In the midst of this epoch of convulsive change, Spain +alone exhibited the aspect of passive insignificance, for the king, +queen, and Prince of Peace, still conducted the government of that +great nation, and their corrupt rule has become a proverb of imbecility +and contempt. Godoy, the misnamed "Prince of Peace," +was the virtual ruler of the nation. His administration was, at +once, selfish, depraved and silly. The favorite of the king, and +the alleged paramour of the queen, he controlled both whenever it +was necessary, while the colonies, as well as the parent state, +naturally experienced all the evil consequences of his debauched +government. Bad as had been the management of affairs in +America during the reign of the long series of viceroys who +commanded on our continent, it became even worse whilst Godoy +swayed Charles IV. through the influence of his dissolute queen. +Most of the serious and exciting annoyances which afterwards +festered and broke out in the Mexican revolution, owe their origin +to this epoch of Spanish misrule.</p> + +<p>Iturrigaray was exceedingly well received in Mexico, where his +reputation as an eminent servant of the crown preceded him. +Shortly after his arrival he undertook a journey to the interior, in +order to examine personally into the condition of the mining +districts; and, after his return to the capital, he devoted himself to +the ordinary routine of colonial administration until it became +necessary, in consequence of the breaking out of the war, between +Spain and England, to adopt measures for the protection of his +viceroyalty. In consequence of this rupture Iturrigaray received + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span> +orders from the court to put the country in a state of complete +defence, and accordingly, he gathered, in haste the troops of +Mexico, Puebla, Peroté, Jalapa and Vera Cruz, and, descending +several times to the latter place, personally inspected all the encampments +and garrisons along the route. Besides this, he made +a rapid military reconnoissance of the country along the coast and +the chief highways to the interior. The road from Vera Cruz to +Mexico was constructed in the best manner under his orders, and +the celebrated bridge called <i>El Puente del rey</i>, now known as <i>El +Puente Nacional</i>, was finally completed.</p> + +<p>These preparations were designed not only to guard New Spain +from the invasions of the English, but also, from a dreaded attack +by the people of the United States. This fear seems to have been +fostered by the Marques de Casa Irujo who was Spanish envoy in +Washington at this epoch, and informed the government that the +menaced expedition against Mexico, would throw twenty thousand +men upon her shores. Nor was the attention of Iturrigaray diverted +from the enterprise which was projected by Don Francisco +Miranda to secure the independence of Caraccas; and although the +scheme failed, it appears to have aroused the whole of Spanish +America to assert and maintain its rights.</p> + +<p>It was during the government of this viceroy, that the celebrated +Baron Humboldt, visited Mexico,—by permission of the patriotic +minister D'Urquijo,—authorized, by the home government, to +examine its dominions and their archives, and to receive from +the colonial authorities all the information they possessed in regard +to America. He was the first writer who developed the resources +or described the condition of the Spanish portion of our continent, +which, until that time, had been studiously veiled from the examination +of all strangers who were likely to reveal their knowledge to +the world.</p> + +<p>In 1806, the news of the destruction of the combined fleets in +the waters of Cadiz became known in Mexico, and the resident +Spaniards, exhibiting a lively sympathy with the mother country in +this sad affliction, collected upwards of thirty thousand dollars for +the widows of their brave companions who had fallen in action. +Meanwhile, the war in Europe was not only destroying the subjects +of the desperate belligerants, but was rapidly consuming their +national substance. In this state of things America was called +upon to contribute for the maintenance of a bloody struggle in +which she had no interest save that of loyal dependence. Taxes, +duties, and exactions of all sorts were laid upon the Mexicans, and, + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span> +under this dread infliction, the domestic and foreign trade languished +notwithstanding the extraordinary yield of the mines, which, in +1805, sent upwards of twenty millions into circulation. Of all the +royal interferences with Mexican interests and capital, none seems +to have been more vexatiously unpopular, than the decree for the +consolidation of the capitals of <i>obras pias</i>, or, charitable and pious +revenues, which was issued by the court; and Iturrigaray, as the +executive officer employed in this consolidation, drew upon himself +the general odium of all the best classes in the colony.</p> + +<p>Charles IV. fell before the revolutionary storm in Europe, and +signed his abdication on the 9th of August, 1808, in favor of +his son Ferdinand VII. But the weak and irresolute monarch +soon protested against this abdication, alleging that the act had +been extorted from him by threats against his life; and, whilst the +Supreme council of Spain was examining into the validity of +Charles's renunciation, and Ferdinand was treating his father's protest +with contempt, Napoleon, who had steadily advanced to supreme +power after the success of the French revolution, took +prompt advantage of the dissentions in the peninsula, and, making +himself master of it, seated his brother Joseph on the Spanish +throne. As soon as Joseph was firmly placed in power, Ferdinand +congratulated him upon his elevation, and ordered all his Spanish +and colonial subjects to recognize the upstart king. But the servility +of Ferdinand to the ascending star of European power did +not meet with obedience from the people of Mexico, who, resolving +to continue loyal to their legitimate sovereign, forthwith proclaimed +Ferdinand VII. throughout New Spain. The conduct of +the colonists was secretly approved by the dissembling monarch, +although he ratified a decree of the Council of the Indies, commanding +the Mexicans to obey Joseph. The natives of the Peninsula, +dwelling in New Spain, were nearly all opposed to the Bourbons +and faithful to the French propagandists, whilst the creoles, +or American natives denounced the adherents of Joseph and +burned the proclamation which declared him to be their king. +The orders received at this period by Iturrigaray from Ferdinand, +Joseph, and the Council of the Indies, were, of course, all in conflict +with each other; and, in order to relieve himself from the +political dilemma in which he was placed by these mixed commands, +Iturrigaray determined to summon a <i>Junta</i> of Notable Persons, +similar to that of Seville, which was to be composed of the +viceroy, the archbishop of Mexico and representatives from the +army, the nobility, the principal citizens and the ayuntamiento of + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span> +the capital. But inasmuch as this plan of concord leaned in favor +of the people, by proposing to place the <i>creoles of America</i> upon +an equality with the <i>natives of Spain</i>, the old hatred or jealousy +between the races was at once aroused. The Europeans, who +composed the partisans of France, headed by Don Gabriel Yermo, +a rich Spaniard and proprietor of some of the finest sugar estates +in the valley of Cuernavaca, at once resolved to frustrate the viceroy's +design. Arming themselves hastily, they proceeded, on the +night of the 15th of September, 1808, to his palace, where they +arrested Iturrigaray, and accusing him of heresy and treason, sent +him as prisoner to Spain. This revolutionary act was openly +countenanced by the Audiencia, the Oidores Aguirre and Bataller, +and the body of Spanish traders. For three years, until released +by an act of amnesty in 1811, Iturrigaray continued in close confinement; +and, although he was not regarded favorably by all +classes of Mexicans, this outrage against his person by the Spanish +emigrants seems to have produced a partial reaction in his +favor among the loyal natives.</p> + +<p>The administration of Iturrigaray was not only defective, but +corrupt in many executive acts, for offices were scandalously sold +at his court,—a fact which was proved in the judicial inquiry subsequently +made into his conduct. The Council of the Indies, in +1819, sentenced him to pay upwards of three hundred and eighty-four +thousand dollars, in consequence of the maladministration +that was charged and maintained against him.</p> + + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<h3><span class="smcap">Field Marshal Don Pedro Garibay,<br /> +LVII. Viceroy of New Spain.</span>—1808.</h3> + +<p>This chief was more than eighty years of age when honored +with the viceroyalty of New Spain. He had passed the greater +portion of his life in Mexico, and rose from the humble grade of +lieutenant of provincial militia to the highest post in the colony. +He was familiar with the habits and feelings of the people; was +generally esteemed for the moderation with which he conducted +himself in office, and was altogether the most endurable viceroy +who could have been imposed upon the Mexicans at that revolutionary +period.</p> + +<p>During the government of the preceding viceroy the troubles +which began, as we have seen, in the old world, had extended to +the new, and we shall therefore group the history of the war that +resulted in Mexican independence, under the titles of the last viceroys +who were empowered by Peninsular authorities to stay, if they +could not entirely control, the progress of American liberty.</p> + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<div class="fn"> +<h4>Footnote</h4> +<p><a name="Footnote_50_50" id="Footnote_50_50"></a><a href="#FNanchor_50_50"> + <span class="label">[50]</span></a> Cavo y Bustamante: Tres Siglos de + Mejico, tomo 3<sup>o</sup>, 190.</p> +</div> + + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span></p> +<h1>BOOK III.</h1> + +<p> </p> + +<h2>CONCLUSION OF THE VICEROYAL GOVERNMENT;<br /> +HISTORY OF THE REVOLUTION AND<br /> +WAR OF INDEPENDENCE;<br /> +MEXICO UNDER THE EMPIRE OF ITURBIDE<br /> +AND UNDER THE REPUBLIC;<br /> +WAR WITH TEXAS AND THE UNITED STATES<br /> +1809–1850.</h2> + + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 278]<br />[Pg 279]</a></span></p> +<h2>BOOK III.</h2> + +<p> </p> + +<h2>CHAPTER I.<br /> +1809–1810.</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>LIANZA VICEROY.—AUDIENCIA.—VENEGAS VICEROY.—TRUE +SOURCES OF THE REVOLUTION.—CREOLES LOYAL TO FERDINAND.—SPANIARDS +IN FAVOR OF KING JOSEPH.—MEXICAN +SUBSCRIPTIONS FOR SPAIN.—SECRET UNION IN MEXICO +AGAINST SPANIARDS.—HIDALGO—ALLENDE—FIRST OUTBREAK.—GUANAJUATO +SACKED—LAS CRUCES.—MEXICO MENACED.—INDIAN +BRAVERY AT ACULCO.—MARFIL—MASSACRE +AT GUANAJUATO—CALLEJA.—INSURGENTS DEFEATED—EXECUTION +OF HIDALGO.</p> +</div> + + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<h3><span class="smcap">The Archbishop Francisco Xavier de Lianza,<br /> +LVIII. Viceroy of New Spain.<br /> +The Audiencia of Mexico, and Venegas, LIX. Viceroy.</span><br /> +1809–1810.</h3> + +<p>The pictures presented in the introductory chapter to the viceroyal +history and in the subsequent detailed narrative of that epoch, +will suffice, we presume, to convince our readers that they need not +penetrate deeply for the true causes of misery and misrule in +Spanish America. The decadence of Spain as well as the present +unhappiness of nearly all her ancient colonies may be fairly attributed +to the same source of national ruin—bad, unnatural government. +A distinguished statesman of our country has remarked that "the +European alliance of emperors and kings assumed, as the foundation +of human society, the doctrine of unalienable allegiance, whilst +our doctrine was founded on the principle of unalienable right." + <a name="FNanchor_51_51" id="FNanchor_51_51"></a><a href="#Footnote_51_51" class="fnanchor">[51]</a> +This mistaken European view, or rather assumption of royal prerogative + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span> +and correlative human duties, was the baleful origin of +colonial misrule. The house of Austria did not govern Spain as +wisely as its predecessors. The Spain that Philip I. received and +the Spain of those who followed him, present a sad contrast. As +the conquest of America had not been conceived, although it was +declared to be, in a beneficent spirit, the sovereigns continued the +system of plunder with which it was begun. Its results are +known. The Americans were their subjects, bound to them by +"unalienable allegiance;" vassals, serfs creatures, whose human +rights, in effect, were nothing when compared to the monarch's +will. This doctrine at once converted the southern portions +of our continent into a soulless machine, which the king had a right +to use as he pleased, and especially, as he deemed most beneficial +for his domestic realm. The consequence was, that, in concurrence +with the Council of the Indies, he established, as we have +seen, an entirely artificial system, which contradicted nature, and +utterly thwarted both physical and intellectual development.</p> + +<p>The Indians and creoles of Mexico and Peru, ignorant and +stupid as they were believed to be by Spain, had, nevertheless, +sense enough to understand and feel the wretchedness of their +condition. They cherished in their hearts an intense hatred for +their foreign masters. There was no positive or merely natural +enmity of races in this, but rather a suppressed desire to avenge +their wrongs.</p> + +<p>When the French seized Spain, the colonies in America were, +for a period, forced to rely upon themselves for temporary government. +They did not, at once, desire to adopt republican institutions, +but rather adhered to monarchy, provided they could free +themselves from bad rulers and vicious laws. This especially was +the case in Mexico. Her war against the mother country originated +in a loyal desire to be completely independent of France. +The news of the departure of Ferdinand VII. for Bayonne, and the +alleged perfidy of Napoleon in that city, excited an enthusiasm +among the Mexicans for the legitimate king, and created a mortal +hatred against the conqueror of Europe. All classes of original +Mexican society seem to have been united in these sentiments. +Subscriptions were freely opened and in a few months, seven +millions were collected to aid their Peninsular friends who were +fighting for religion, king, and nationality. The idea did not +strike any Mexican that it was a proper time to free his native land +entirely from colonial thraldom.<a name="FNanchor_52_52" id="FNanchor_52_52"></a> + <a href="#Footnote_52_52" class="fnanchor">[52]</a> But after a short time, the + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span> +people began to reflect. The <i>prestige</i> of Spanish power, to which +we have alluded heretofore, was destroyed. A French king sat +upon the Spanish throne. The wand of the enchanter, with which +he had spell-bound America across the wide Atlantic, was broken +forever. The treasured memory of oppression, conquest, bad +government and misery, was suddenly refreshed, and it is not +surprising to find that when the popular rising finally took place, it +manifested its bitterness in an universal outcry against the Spaniards.</p> + +<p>After the occurrences at Bayonne, emissaries from king Joseph +Bonaparte spread themselves over the continent to prepare the +people for the ratification and permanence of the French government. +These political propagandists were charged, as we have +stated with orders from Ferdinand VII. and the Council of the +Indies, to transfer the allegiance of America to France. + <a name="FNanchor_53_53" id="FNanchor_53_53"></a> + <a href="#Footnote_53_53" class="fnanchor">[53]</a> It may +be imagined that this would have gratified the masses in America, +who perhaps, had heard that the French were the unquestionable +patrons of "liberty and equality." But, the exact reverse was the +case among the creoles, whilst the <i>Spaniards</i> in America, received +the emissaries with welcome, and bowed down submissively to the +orders they brought. Blinded for centuries to all ideas of government +save those of regal character, the Mexicans had no notion of +rule or ruler except their traditionary Spanish king. They clung +to him, therefore, with confidence, for they felt the necessity of +some paramount authority, as political self control was, as yet, an +utter impossibility.</p> + +<p>A secret union among leading men was, therefore, formed in +1810, which contemplated a general rising throughout the provinces, +but the plot was detected at the moment when it was ripe +for development. This conspiracy was based upon a desire to +<i>overthrow the Spaniards</i>. "They felt," says Mr. Ward, "that +the question was not now one between themselves as subjects, +but between themselves and their fellow subjects, the European +Spaniards, as to which should possess the right of representing the +absent king," as guardians and preservers of the rights of Ferdinand. +The Europeans claimed this privilege exclusively, with +customary insolence. "The Ayuntamiento of Mexico was told by +the Audiencia that it possessed no authority except over the <i>leperos</i>"—or +mob of the capital; and it was a favorite maxim of the oidor +Battaller that "while a Manchego mule or a Castilian cobler remained +in the Peninsula, he had a right to govern."<a name="FNanchor_54_54" id="FNanchor_54_54"></a> + <a href="#Footnote_54_54" class="fnanchor">[54]</a></p> + + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span> + In those times, a certain country curate, by name Miguel Hidalgo +y Costilla, dwelt in the Indian village of Dolores, adjacent to +the town of San Miguel el Grande, lying in the province of Guanajuanto. +One of the conspirators being about to die, sent for his +priest, and confessing the plot, revealed also the names of his accomplices. +The curate Hidalgo was one of the chiefs of this +revolutionary band, and the viceroy Venegas hoping to crush the +league in its bud, despatched orders for his arrest and imprisonment, +as soon as the confession of the dead conspirator was disclosed +to him. Hidalgo's colleagues were also included in this +order, but some of the secret friends of the insurgents learned +what was occurring at court and apprised the patriot priest of +his imminent danger. The news first reached Don Ignacio Allende, +who commanded a small body of the king's troops in San +Miguel, and who hastened with the disastrous tidings to his friend +at Dolores. Concealment and flight were now equally unavailing. +The troops of Allende were speedily won to the cause of their +captain, while the Indians of Dolores rushed to defend their beloved +pastor. As they marched from their village to San Miguel +and thence to Zelaya, the natives, armed with clubs, slings, staves +and missiles, thronged to their ranks from every mountain and +valley. The wretched equipment of the insurgents shows their +degraded condition as well as the passionate fervor with which +they blindly rushed upon the enemies of their race. Hidalgo put +on his military coat over the cassock, and, perhaps unwisely, threw +himself at the head of a revolution, which rallied at the cry of +"<i>Death to the Gachupines</i>."<a name="FNanchor_55_55" id="FNanchor_55_55"></a> + <a href="#Footnote_55_55" class="fnanchor">[55]</a></p> + +<p>The result of this onslaught was dreadful. Wherever the rebellious +army passed, Spaniards and uncomplying creoles they were indiscriminately +slaughtered, and though many of the latter were +originally combined with the conspirators and eagerly longed for +the emancipation of their country, they were dismayed by the +atrocities of the wild insurgents. As the rebel chief, armed with the +sword and cross, pressed onward, immense numbers of Indians +flocked to his banner, so that when he left Zelaya, a fierce and undisciplined +mob of twenty thousand hailed him as undisputed commander. +At the head of this predatory band he descended upon +the noble city of Guanajuanto, in the heart of the wealthiest mining +district of Mexico. The Spaniards and some of the creoles resolved + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span> +upon a stout resistance, shut themselves up in the city and +refused the humane terms offered by Hidalgo upon condition of +surrender. This rash rejection led to an immediate attack and +victory. When the city fell, it was too late for the insurgent priest +to stay the savage fury of his troops. The Spaniards and their +adherents were promiscuously slaughtered by the troops, and, for +three days the sacking of the city continued, until wearied with +conquest, the rebels, at length, stopped the plunder of the town. +Immense treasures, hoarded in this place for many years, were the +fruits of this atrocious victory which terrified the Mexican authorities +and convinced them that the volcanic nature of the people had +been fully roused, and that safety existed alone in uncompromising +resistance.</p> + +<p>The original rebellion was thus thrown from the hands of the +creoles into those of the Indians. A war of <i>races</i> was about to +break out; and although there were not among the insurgents more +than a thousand muskets, yet the mere numerical force of such an +infuriate crowd, was sufficient to dismay the staunchest. The +viceroy Venegas, and the church, therefore, speedily combined to +hurl their weapons against the rebels. Whilst the former issued +proclamations or decrees, and despatched troops under the command +of Truxillo to check Hidalgo who was advancing on the +capital, the latter declared all the rebels to be heretics, and excommunicated +them in a body. Venegas ordered all the higher clergy +"to represent from the pulpit, and circulate the idea privately, that +the great object of the revolution was to destroy and subvert the holy +Catholic religion, while he directed the subaltern ministers to sow +discord in families by the confessional."<a name="FNanchor_56_56" id="FNanchor_56_56"></a> + <a href="#Footnote_56_56" class="fnanchor">[56]</a> But the arms of the +Spanish chiefs and the anathemas of the Roman church, were unequal +to the task of resistance. Hidalgo was attacked by Truxillo +at Las Cruces, about eight leagues from the capital, where the Indian +army overwhelmed the Spanish general and drove him back to +Mexico, with the loss of his artillery. In this action we find it +difficult to apportion the ferocity, with justice, between the combatants, +for Truxillo boasted in his despatch that he had defended +the defile with the "obstinacy of Leonidas," and had even "fired +upon the bearers of a flag of truce which Hidalgo sent him." + <a name="FNanchor_57_57" id="FNanchor_57_57"></a><a href="#Footnote_57_57" class="fnanchor">[57]</a></p> + +<p>The insurgents followed up their success at Las Cruces by pursuing +the foe until they arrived at the <i>hacienda</i> of Quaximalpa, +within fifteen miles of the city of Mexico. But here a fatal distrust +of his powers seems first to have seized the warrior priest. Venegas, + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span> +it is said, contrived to introduce secret emmissaries into his +camp, who impressed Hidalgo and his officers with the belief that +the capital was abundantly prepared for defence, and that an assault +upon the disciplined troops of Spain, by a disordered multitude +without fire arms, would only terminate in the rout and destruction +of all his forces. In fact, he seems to have been panic stricken, +and to have felt unable to control the revolutionary tempest he had +raised. Accordingly, in an evil moment for his cause, he commenced +a retreat, after having remained several days in sight of +the beautiful city of Mexico, upon which he might easily have +swept down from the mountain like an eagle to his prey.</p> + +<p>It is related by the historians of these wars, that in spite of all +Venegas's boasted valor and assurance, he was not a little dismayed +by the approach of Hidalgo. The people shared his alarm, +and would probably have yielded at once to the insurgents, whose +imposing forces were crowding into the valley. But in this strait +the viceroy had recourse to the well known superstitions of the +people, in order to allay their fears. He caused the celebrated +image of the Virgin of Remedios to be brought from the mountain +village, where it was generally kept in a chapel, to the cathedral, +with great pomp and ceremony. Thither he proceeded, in full +uniform, to pay his respects to the figure, and after imploring the +Virgin to take the government into her own hands, he terminated +his appeal by laying his baton of command at her feet. + <a name="FNanchor_58_58" id="FNanchor_58_58"></a><a href="#Footnote_58_58" class="fnanchor">[58]</a></p> + +<p>It is now that we first encounter in Mexican history the name +of Don Felix Maria Calleja,—a name that is coupled with all that +is shameless, bloody, and atrocious, in modern warfare. Calleja +was placed at the head of a well appointed creole army of ten thousand +men and a train of artillery, and with these disciplined forces, +which he had been for some time concentrating, he was ordered to +pursue Hidalgo.<a name="FNanchor_59_59" id="FNanchor_59_59"></a> + <a href="#Footnote_59_59" class="fnanchor">[59]</a> The armies met at Aculco, and the Indians, in +their first encounter with a body of regulars, exhibited an enthusiastic +bravery that nearly defies belief. They were almost as completely +ignorant of the use or power of fire arms as their Aztec +ancestors three hundred years before. They threw themselves +upon the serried ranks of infantry with clubs and staves. Rushing +up to the mouths of the cannon they drove their <i>sombreros</i> or hats +of straw, into the muzzles. Order, command, or discipline, were + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span> +entirely unknown to them. Their effort was simply to overwhelm +by superiority of numbers. But the cool phalanx of creoles stood +firm, until the Indian disorder became so great, and their strength +so exhausted by repeated yet fruitless efforts, that the regulars +commenced the work of slaughter with impunity. Calleja boasts +that Hidalgo lost "ten thousand men, of whom five thousand were +put to the sword." It seems, however, that he was unable to +capture or disband the remaining insurgents; for Hidalgo retreated +to Guanajuato, and then fell back on Guadalaxara, leaving in the +former city a guard under his friend Allende.</p> + +<p>Calleja next attacked the rebel forces at the hacienda of Marfil, +and having defeated Allende, who defended himself bravely, rushed +onward towards the city of Guanajuato. This place he entered as +conqueror. "The sacrifice of the prisoners of Marfil," says Robinson, +"was not sufficient to satiate his vindictive spirit." He +glutted his vengeance on the defenceless population of Guanajuato. +Men, women and children, were driven by his orders, into the +great square; and fourteen thousand of these wretches, it is alleged, +were butchered in a most barbarous manner. Their throats were +cut. The principal fountain of the city literally overflowed with +blood. But, far from concealing these savage acts, Calleja, in his +account of the conflict, exults in the honor of communicating the +intelligence that he had purged the city of its rebellious population. +The only apology offered for the sacrifice was that it would +have wasted too much powder to have shot them, and therefore, +on the principle of economy he cut their throats. Thus was this +unfortunate city, in a single campaign, made the victim of both +loyalists and insurgents.</p> + +<p>Hidalgo and his division were soon joined by Allende, and although +they suffered all the disasters of a bad retreat as well as of +Spanish victories, he still numbered about eighty thousand under +his banners. He awaited Calleja at Guadalaxara, which he had +surrounded with fortifications and armed with cannon, dragged by +the Indians, over mountain districts from the port of San Blas, on +the Pacific; but it is painful to record the fact, that in this city Hidalgo +was guilty of great cruelties to all the Europeans. Ward +relates that between seven and eight hundred victims fell beneath +the assassin's blade. A letter, produced on Hidalgo's trial, written +to one of his lieutenants, charges the officer to seize as many +Spaniards as he possibly can, and, moreover, directs him, if he has +any reason to suspect his prisoners of entertaining seditious or +restless ideas, to bury them at once in oblivion by putting such + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span> +persons to death in some secret and solitary place, where their fate +may remain forever unknown! As the cruelty of Old Spain to +the Mexicans had well nigh driven them to despair, such savage +assassinations, in turn, drove the Spaniards to revenge, or, at least +furnished them with an excuse for their horrible atrocities.</p> + +<p>Calleja, intent on the pursuit of his Indian prey, was not long in +following Hidalgo. The insurgent chief endeavored to excite the +ardor of his troops, while he preserved some show of discipline in +their ranks; and, thus prepared, he gave battle to the Spaniards, +at the bridge of Calderon, on the 17th of January, 1811. At first +Hidalgo, was successful, but the rebels were no match for the +royal troops kept in reserve by Calleja. With these he made a +fierce charge upon the Indians, and sweeping through their broken +masses he "pursued and massacred them by thousands."</p> + +<p>Calleja was not a person either to conciliate or to pause in +victory. He believed that rebellion could only be rooted out by +utter destruction of the insurgents and their seed. Accordingly +orders were issued to "exterminate the inhabitants of every town +or village that showed symptoms of adherence to the rebels," +whilst, from the pulpit, new denunciations were fulminated against +all who opposed the royal authority. The insurgent chiefs fled, +and reached Saltillo with about four thousand men. There it was +resolved to leave Rayon in command, while Hidalgo, Allende, +Aldama and Absolo endeavored to reach the United States with +an escort for the purpose of purchasing munitions of war with the +treasure they had saved from the sacking of Guanajuato. But +these fierce and vindictive soldiers were destined to end their lives +by treachery. Hidalgo's associate rebel, Ignacio Elizondo, hoping +to make his peace with the government by betraying so rich a +prize, delivered them up to the authorities on the 21st of March, +1811, at Acatila de Bajan. Hidalgo was taken to Chihuahua, and, +after being degraded from holy orders, was shot on the 27th of +July, whilst Calleja was rewarded for his victories with the title of +Conde de Calderon, won by his brilliant charge at the bridge near +Guanajuato.</p> + +<p>Such is an outline of the warfare between the Sylla and Marius +of this continent, and of some of the most prominent events in the +origin of that revolution which finally resulted in the Mexican +independence.</p> + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<div class="fn"> +<h4>Footnotes</h4> +<p><a name="Footnote_51_51" id="Footnote_51_51"></a><a href="#FNanchor_51_51"> + <span class="label">[51]</span></a> John Quincy Adams's letter to Mr. Anderson, minister to Columbia, May 27, +1823. See President's message on the Panama Congress, March, 1823.</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote_52_52" id="Footnote_52_52"></a><a href="#FNanchor_52_52"> + <span class="label">[52]</span></a> Zavala, Historia, vol. 1, p. 38.</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote_53_53" id="Footnote_53_53"></a><a href="#FNanchor_53_53"> + <span class="label">[53]</span></a> Robinson's Hist. Mex. Rev. p. 10.</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote_54_54" id="Footnote_54_54"></a><a href="#FNanchor_54_54"> + <span class="label">[54]</span></a> Ward's Mexico, vol. 1, p. 127. Id. p. 157.</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote_55_55" id="Footnote_55_55"></a><a href="#FNanchor_55_55"> + <span class="label">[55]</span></a> This term has been variously + interpreted; it is supposed to be an ancient Indian +word significant of contempt. It is applied by the natives to the European +Spaniards or their full blooded descendants. See Robinson's His. Rey. Mex., 15.</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote_56_56" id="Footnote_56_56"></a><a href="#FNanchor_56_56"> + <span class="label">[56]</span></a> Robinson Memoir Mex. Rev. 19.</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote_57_57" id="Footnote_57_57"></a><a href="#FNanchor_57_57"> + <span class="label">[57]</span></a> Ib. p. 20.</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote_58_58" id="Footnote_58_58"></a><a href="#FNanchor_58_58"> + <span class="label">[58]</span></a> Wards' Mexico in 1827, vol. i. p. 169.</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote_59_59" id="Footnote_59_59"></a><a href="#FNanchor_59_59"> + <span class="label">[59]</span></a> The creoles although unfriendly + to the Spaniards, and ready to rebel against +them, were nevertheless willing to aid them against the Indians whom they more +reasonably regarded, under the circumstances as the more dangerous of the two +classes.</p> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER II.<br /> +1810–1816.</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>VENEGAS VICEROY.—RAYON.—JUNTA IN 1811—ITS WILLINGNESS +TO RECEIVE FERDINAND VII.—PROCLAMATION BY THE +JUNTA—MORELOS.—ACAPULCO TAKEN—SUCCESSES OF THE +INSURGENTS.—SIEGE OF CUAUTLA—IZUCAR—ORIZABA—OAXACA—CHILPANZINGO.—CALLEJA +VICEROY—ITURBIDE.—REVERSES +OF INSURGENTS—MORELOS SHOT.</p> +</div> + + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<h3><span class="smcap">Lieutenant General Don Francisco Xavier Venegas,<br /> +LIX. Viceroy of New Spain.</span><br /> +1810–1813.</h3> + +<p>After Hidalgo's death the country was for a considerable +time involved in a <i>guerilla</i> warfare which extended throughout the +whole territory of Mexico, to the <i>provincas internas</i> of the north +Rayon assumed command of the fragments of Hidalgo's forces at +Saltillo and retired to Zacatecas, but he had no command, or indeed +authority, except over his own men. The whole country was +in ferment. The valley of Mexico was full of eager partisans, who +<i>lazo'd</i> the sentinels even at the gates of the town; yet, in all the +chief cities, the viceroy's authority was still permanently acknowledged.</p> + +<p>Men of reflection immediately saw that the cause of liberation +would be lost, if, amid all these elements of boiling discontent, +there was no unity of opinion and action. The materials of success +were ample throughout the nation; but they required organization +under men in whose judgment and bravery the insurgent masses +could rely.</p> + +<p>Such were the opinions of Rayon and his friends, who, in May, +1811, occupied Zitacuaro, when on the 10th of the following September, +they assembled a Junta, or, central government, composed +of five members chosen by a large body of the most respectable +landed proprietors in the neighborhood, in conjunction with the +Ayuntamiento and inhabitants of the town.</p> + +<p>The doctrines of this Junta were liberal, but they maintained a +close intimacy with Spain, and even admitted the people's willingness +to receive Ferdinand VII. as sovereign of Mexico provided he + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span> +abandoned his European possessions for New Spain. When +Morelos, joined the Junta he disapproved this last concession to +the royalists, though it was chiefly defended by Rayon as an expedient +measure when dealing with people over whom the name of +king still exercised the greatest influence. This Junta was finally +merged in the congress of Chilpanzingo. Its manifesto, directed +to the viceroy in March, 1812, is worthy of rememberance, as +it contains the several doctrines of the revolution admirably expressed +by Dr. Cos, who was its author. He paints in forcible +language the misery created by the fifteen months of civil +war, and the small reliance that Spain could place on creole +troops, whose sympathies, at present, and whose efforts, in the +end, would all be thrown into the scale of their country. He assumes +as fundamental principles that America and Spain are naturally +equal; that America has as much right to her Cortes as +Spain has to hers; that the existing rulers in the Peninsula have +no just authority over Mexico as long as their sovereign is a captive, +and, finally, he proposes that if "the Europeans will consent +to give up the offices they hold, and allow the assemblage of a +general congress, their persons and property shall be religiously +respected, their salaries paid, and the same privileges granted them +as to native Mexicans, who, on their side, will acknowledge Ferdinand +as the legitimate sovereign, and assist the Peninsula with +their treasure, whilst they will at all times regard the Spaniards +as fellow subjects of the same great empire."</p> + +<p>The alternative of war was presented to the viceroy together +with these moderate demands, but he was only requested to abate +the personal cruelties that had hitherto been committed, and to +save the towns and villages from sacking or destruction by fire. +Yet the insane Venegas would listen to no terms with the rebels, +and caused the manifesto to be burned in the great square, by the +common executioner. The principles of the document, however, +had been spread abroad among the people, and the flames of the +hangman could no longer destroy the liberal doctrines which were +deeply sown in the hearts of the people.</p> + +<p>The distinguished revolutionary chief Morelos, a clergyman, now +appears prominently upon the stage. He had been commissioned +by Hidalgo as Captain General of the provinces on the south-west +coast in 1810, and departed for his government with as sorry an +army as the troop of Falstaff. His escort consisted of a few servants +from his curacy, armed with six muskets and some old +lances. But he gathered forces as he advanced. The Galeanas + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span> +joined him with their adherents and swelled his numbers to near a +thousand. They advanced to Acapulco, and having captured it +with abundant booty, the insurgents soon found their ranks joined +by numerous important persons, and, among them the <i>Cura</i> Matamoros +and the Bravos, whose names have, ever since, been prominently +connected with the history and development of Mexico.</p> + +<p>The year 1811 was passed in a series of petty engagements; +but, in January, 1812, the insurgents penetrated within twenty-five +leagues of the capital, where Galeana and Bravo took the +town of Tasco.</p> + +<p>Morelos was victorious in several other actions in the same and +succeeding months, and pushed his advanced guards into the valley +of Mexico, where he occupied Chalco and San Agustin de +las Cuevas, about twelve miles from the metropolis. Morelos +finally resolved to make his stand at Cuautla, in the <i>tierra caliente</i>, +on the other side of the mountain ranges which hem in the valley; +and, to this place the viceroy Venegas despatched Calleja, who +was summoned from the north and west, where, as may readily be +imagined, so fiery a spirit had not been idle or innocent since the +defeat of Hidalgo.</p> + +<p>On the 1st of January, 1812, Calleja reached Zitacuaro, whence +the alarmed Junta fled to Sultepec. The insatiate Spaniard took +the town, decimated the inhabitants, razed the walls to the ground, +and burnt the dwellings, sparing only the churches and convents. +After this dreadful revenge upon a settlement which had committed +no crime but in harboring the Junta, he made a triumphal entrance +into Mexico, and, on the 14th of February, after a quarrel with the +viceroy, and a solemn Te Deum, he departed towards Morelos, +who was shut up in Cuautla de Amilpas.</p> + +<p>On the 19th Calleja attacked the town, but was forced to retreat. +He then regularly besieged the place and its insurgent visitors for +more than two months and a half. In this period, the troops on +both sides were not unoccupied. Various skirmishes took place, +but without signal results of importance to either party. Morelos +strove to prolong the siege until the rainy season set in, when he +felt confident that Calleja would be forced to withdraw his troops, +who could not endure the combined heat and moisture of the <i>tierra +caliente</i> during the summer months. Calleja, on the other hand, +supposed that by sealing the town hermetically, and cutting off all +supplies, its inhabitants and troops would soon be forced to surrender. +Nor did he act unwisely for the success of his master. +Famine prevailed in the besieged garrison. Corn was almost the + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span> +only food. A cat sold for six dollars, a lizard for two, and rats +and other vermin for one. But Morelos still continued firm, +hoping by procrastination and endurance, to preserve the constancy +of his men until the month of June, when the country is +generally deluged with rain and rendered insalubrious to all who +dwell habitually in colder regions, or are unacclimated in the lower +vallies and table lands of Mexico. His hopes, however, were not +destined to be realized, for, upon consultation, it was found absolutely +necessary to risk a general engagement or to abandon the +town. The general engagement was considered injudicious in the +present condition of his troops, so that no alternative remained but +that of retreat. This was safely effected on the night of the 2d of +May, 1812, notwithstanding the whole army of the insurgents was +obliged to pass between the enemy's batteries. After quitting the +town, the forces were ordered to disperse, so as to avoid forming +any concentrated point of attack for the pursuing Spaniards, and to +reunite as soon as possible at Izucar, which was held by Don +Miguel Bravo. Calleja entered the abandoned town cautiously +after the departure of the besieged, but the cruel revenge he took +on the innocent inhabitants and harmless edifices, is indelibly imprinted +in Mexican history as one of the darkest stains on the +character of a soldier, whose memory deserves the execration of +civilized men.</p> + +<p>From Izucar, Morelos entered Tehuacan triumphantly, whence +he passed to Orizaba where he captured artillery, vast quantities +of tobacco, and a large amount of treasure. But he was not allowed +to rest long in peace. The regular forces pursued his partizan +warriors; and we next hear of him at Oaxaca, where he took possession +of the town after a brief resistance. It was at this place +that Guadalupe Victoria, afterwards president of the republic, +performed a feat which merits special remembrance as an act of +extraordinary heroism and daring in the face of an enemy. The +town was moated and the single drawbridge suspended, so as to +cut off the approach of the insurgents. There were no boats to +cross the stagnant water; and the insurgents, as they approached, +were dismayed by the difficulty of reaching a town which seemed +almost in their grasp. At this moment Guadalupe Victoria, sprang +into the moat, swam across the strait in sight of the soldiers in the +town who seem to have been panic struck by his signal courage, +and cut the ropes that suspended the drawbridge, which, immediately +falling over the moat, allowed the soldiers of Morelos a free +entrance into the city!</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</a></span> + Here he rested for some time undisturbed by the Spaniards. +He conquered the whole of the province with the exception of +Acapulco, to which he laid siege in February, 1813, but it did not +lower its flag until the following August. The control of a whole +province, and the victories of Bravo and Matamoros, elsewhere in +1812 and 1813, considerably increased the importance and influence +of Morelos, who now devoted himself to the assemblage of a +national Congress at Chilpanzingo composed of the original Junta +of Zitacuaro, the deputies elected by the province of Oaxaca, and +others selected by them as representatives of the provinces which +were in the royalists' hands. On the 13th of November, 1813, this +body published a declaration of the absolute independence of +Mexico.<a name="FNanchor_60_60" id="FNanchor_60_60"></a><a href="#Footnote_60_60" class="fnanchor">[60]</a></p> + + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<h3><span class="smcap">Don Felix Maria Calleja,<br /> +LX. Viceroy of New Spain.</span>—1813–1816.</h3> + +<p>This was the period at which the star of the great leader, Morelos, +culminated. Bravo was still occasionally successful, and the +commander-in-chief, concentrating his forces at Chilpanzingo, +prepared an expedition against the province of Valladolid. He +departed on the 8th of November, 1813; and, marching across a +hitherto untraversed country of a hundred leagues, he reached this +point about Christmas. But here he found a large force under +Llano and <span class="smcap">Colonel Iturbide</span>,—who was still a loyalist—drawn +up to encounter him. He attacked the enemy rashly with his jaded +troops, and on the following day, was routed, with the loss of his +best regiments and all his artillery.</p> + +<p>At Puruaran, Iturbide again assailed Morelos successfully, and +Matamoros was taken prisoner. Efforts were made to save the +life of this eminent soldier, yet Calleja, who had succeeded Venegas +as viceroy was too cruelly ungenerous to spare so daring a rebel. +He was shot, and his death was avenged by the slaughter of all +the prisoners who were in the hands of the insurgents.</p> + +<p>For a while Morelos struggled bravely against adversity, his + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</a></span> +character and resources rising with every new danger, difficulty or +loss. But the die was cast. Oaxaca was recaptured by the royalists +on the 28th of March, 1814. Miguel Bravo died at Puebla on +the scaffold; Galeana fell in battle; and the Congress was driven +from Chilpanzingo to the forest of Apatzingo, where, on the 22d +of October, 1814, it enacted the constitution which bears the name +of its wild birth-place.</p> + +<p>From this temporary refuge the insurgents resolved to cross the +country by rapid marches to Tehuacan in the province of Puebla, +where Mier y Teran had gathered a considerable force, which +Morelos imagined would become the nucleus of an overwhelming +army, as soon as he joined them. But his hopes were not destined +to be realized. He had advanced as far as Tesmaluca, when the +Indians of the village betrayed his slender forces to General +Concha, who fell upon them, on the 5th of November, 1815, in the +narrow gorge of a mountain road. The assault was from the rear; +so that Morelos, ordering Nocalas Bravo to hasten his march with +the main body of the army as an escort for the ill-starred congress, +resolved to fight the royalists until he placed the national legislature +out of danger. "My life"—said he—"is of little consequence, +provided congress be saved:—my race was run when I +saw an independent government established!"</p> + +<p>The brave soldier-priest, with fifty men, maintained the pass +against Concha, until only one trooper was left beside him. So +furious was his personal bearing, during this mortal conflict, that +the royalists feared to advance until he was bereft of all support. +When finally captured, he was stripped, chained, treated with the +most shameless cruelty, and carried back to Tesmaluca. Concha, +however, was less cruel than his men. He received the rebel +chief politely, and despatched him to the capital for trial. Crowds +of eager citizens flocked to see the celebrated partizan warrior who +had so long held the Spanish forces at bay. But his doom was +sealed; and, on the 22d of December, 1815, Concha removed him +to the hospital of San Cristoval. After dining with the general, +and thanking him for his kindness, he walked to the rear of the +building, where, kneeling down, he bound a handkerchief over his +eyes and uttering the simple ejaculation, "Lord, if I have done +well, thou knowest it;—if ill, to thy infinite mercy I commend my +soul,"—he gave the fatal signal to the soldiers who were drawn +up to shoot him.</p> + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<div class="fn"> +<h4>Footnote</h4> +<p><a name="Footnote_60_60" id="Footnote_60_60"></a><a href="#FNanchor_60_60"> + <span class="label">[60]</span></a> We must mention an event, + characteristic of Bravo, which occurred during this +period. Bravo took Palmar, by storm, after a resistance of three days. Three +hundred prisoners fell into his hands, who were placed at his disposal by Morelos. +Bravo immediately offered them to the viceroy Venegas in exchange for <i>his father</i>, +Don Leonardo Bravo, who had been sentenced to death in the capital. The offer +was rejected, and Don Leonardo ordered to immediate execution. But the son at +once commanded the prisoners to be liberated,—saying that he "wished to put it +out of his power to avenge his parent's death, lest, in the first moments of grief the +temptation should prove irresistible."—Ward, 1 vol. 204.</p> +</div> + + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER III.<br /> +1816–1821.</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>APODACA VICEROY.—SPANISH CONSTITUTION OF 1812 PROCLAIMED +IN MEXICO.—CONDITION OF THE REVOLUTIONARY PARTY.—VICTORIA—MINA +LANDS AT SOTO LA MARINA—HIS EFFORTS—LOS +REMEDIOS—GUERILLAS—HE IS SHOT.—PADRE +TORRES—ITURBIDE—APODOCA SELECTS HIM TO ESTABLISH +ABSOLUTISM.—ITURBIDE PROMULGATES THE PLAN OF IGUA +LA—ARMY OF THE THREE GUARANTIES.</p> +</div> + + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<h3><span class="smcap">Don Juan Ruiz de Apodaca, Conde del Venadito,<br /> +LXI. Viceroy of New Spain.</span><br /> +1816–1821.</h3> + +<p>With the death of Morelos the hopes of the insurgents were +crushed and their efforts paralyzed. This extraordinary man, so +fertile in resources, and blending in himself the mingled power of +priest and general, had secured the confidence of the masses, who +found among his officers, none upon whom they could rally with +perfect reliance. Besides this, the congress which had been conducted +safely to Tehuacan by Bravo, was summarily dissolved by +General Teran, who considered it an "inconvenient appendage of a +camp." We cannot but regard this act of the general as unwise +at a moment, when the insurgents lost such a commander as +Morelos. By the dissolution of the congress the nation abandoned +another point of reunion; and from that moment, the cause began +to fail in all parts of the country.</p> + +<p>The <span class="smcap">Constitution</span>, sanctioned by the Cortes in 1812, had, +meanwhile, been proclaimed in Mexico, on the 29th of September +of that year; and, whilst the people felt somewhat freer under it, +they were enabled, by the liberty of the press, which lasted sixty-six +days, to expend their new-born patriotism on paper instead of + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</a></span> +in battles. These popular excitements, served to sustain the +spirits of the people, notwithstanding the losses of the army; so +that when Apodaca, assumed the reins of the viceroyalty in 1816, +the country was still republican at heart, though all the insurgent +generals were either captured or hidden in the wilderness, whilst +their disbanded forces, in most instances, had accepted the <i>indulto</i>, +or pardon, proffered for their return to allegiance.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>The remaining officers of Morelos spread themselves over the +country, as there was no longer any centre of action; and each of +them, occupying a different district, managed, for a while, to support +revolutionary fervor throughout the neighborhood. "Guerrero +occupied the west coast, where he maintained himself until the +year 1821, when he joined Iturbide. Rayon commanded in the +vicinity of Tlalpujahua, where he successively maintained two fortified +camps on the Cerro del Gallo, and on Coporo. Teran held +the district of Tehuacan, in Puebla. Bravo was a wanderer +throughout the country. The Bajio was tyrannized over by the +Padre Torres, while Guadalupe Victoria occupied the important +province of Vera Cruz."<a name="FNanchor_61_61" id="FNanchor_61_61"></a> + <a href="#Footnote_61_61" class="fnanchor">[61]</a></p> + +<p>The chief spite of the royalists,—who hunted these republican +heroes, among the forests and mountain fastnesses of Mexico, as +the Covenanters had been hunted in Scotland,—seems to have +fallen upon the last named of these patriot generals. Victoria's +haunt was chiefly in the passes near the Puente del Rey, now the +Puente Nacional, or National bridge, on the road leading from the +port of Vera Cruz to the capital. He was prepared to act either +with a large force of <i>guerillas</i>, or, with a simple body guard; and, +knowing the country perfectly, he was enabled to descend from his +fastnesses among the rocks, and thus to cut off, almost entirely, all +communication between the coast and the metropolis. At length, +superior forces were sent to pursue him with relentless fury. His +men gradually deserted when the villages that formerly supplied +them with food refused further contributions. Efforts were made +to seduce him from his principles and to ensure his loyalty. But +he refused the rank and rewards offered by the viceroy as the price +of his submission. At length he found himself alone in his +resistance, in the midst of countrymen, who, if they would no +longer fight under his banner, were too faithful to betray him. +Yet he would not abandon the cause, but, taking his sword and +a small stock of raiment, departed for the mountains, where he + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</a></span> +wandered for thirty months, living on the fruits of the forest and +gnawing the bones of dead animals found in their recesses. Nor +did he emerge from this impenetrable concealment, until two faithful +Indians, whom he had known in prosperous days, sought him +out with great difficulty, and, communicating the joyous intelligence +of the revolution of 1821, brought him back once more to +their villages where he was received with enthusiastic reverence as +a patriot raised from the dead. When discovered by the Indians +he was worn to a skeleton, covered with hair, and clad in a tattered +wrapper; but, amid all his distresses and losses, he had preserved +and treasured his loyalty to the cause of liberty and his untarnished +sword!</p> + +<p>Meanwhile another actor in this revolutionary army had appeared +upon the stage. This was <span class="smcap">Xavier Mina</span>, a <i>guerilla</i> chief of old +Spain, who fled from his country, in consequence of the unfortunate +effort to organize an outbreak in favor of the Cortes, at +Pampeluna, after the dissolution of that assembly by the king. He +landed on the coast of Mexico at Soto la Marina with a brave band +of foreigners, chiefly North Americans, on the 15th of April, 1817. +His forces amounted to only three hundred and fifty-nine men, +including officers, of whom fifty-one deserted before he marched +into the interior. Leaving one hundred of these soldiers at Soto la +Marina under the command of Major Sarda, he attempted with the +remainder, to join the independents in the heart of the country.</p> + +<p>Mina pressed onwards successfully, defeating several royalist +parties, until he reached Sombrero, whence he sallied forth upon +numerous expeditions, one of which was against the fortified +<i>hacienda</i> or plantation of the Marques of Jaral, a creole nobleman, +from which the inhabitants and the owner fled at his approach. +His troops sacked this wealthy establishment, and Mina transferred +to the public chest one hundred and forty thousand dollars, found +concealed in the house. This nobleman, it is true, had given in +his adhesion to the royal cause and fortified his dwelling against +the insurgents who hitherto refrained from attacking him. Nevertheless, +the unprovoked blow of an independent leader against a +native of the country, and especially against a man whose extensive +farming operations concentrated the interests of so large a +laboring class, was not calculated to inspire confidence in Mina +among the masses of the people.</p> + +<p>Whilst the guerilla chief was thus pursuing his way successfully +in the heart of the country, and receiving occasional reinforcements +from the natives, the garrison he left at Soto la Marina fell into the + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</a></span> +hands of Spanish levies, two thousand of whom surrounded the +slender band. Notwithstanding the inequality of forces between +the assailants and the besieged, the royalists were unable to take +the place by storm; but, after repeated repulses, General Arredondo +proposed terms which were accepted by Major Sarda, the +independent commander. It is scarcely necessary to say that this +condition was not fulfilled by the Spaniards, who sent the capitulated +garrison in irons, by a circuitous journey, to the sickly Castle +of San Juan de Ulua at Vera Cruz, whence some of the unfortunate +wretches were marched into the interior whilst others were despatched +across the sea to the dungeons of Cadiz, Melilla and +Ceuta. This was a severe blow to Mina, who nevertheless was +unparalyzed by it but continued active in the vicinity of Sombrero +to which he retreated after an illjudged attempt upon the town of +Leon, where the number of his troops was considerably diminished. +Sombrero was invested, soon after, by a force of three thousand +five hundred and forty soldiers, under Don Pascual Liñan, who +had been appointed Field Marshal, by Apodaca, and despatched to +the Bajio. This siege was ultimately successful on the part of the +royalists. The fresh supplies promised to Mina did not arrive. +Colonel Young, his second in command, died in repulsing an assault; +and, upon the garrison's attempting to evacuate the town, +under Colonel Bradburn, on the night of the 19th of August, the +enemy fell upon the independents with such vigor that but fifty of +Mina's whole corps escaped. "No quarter," says Ward, "was +given in the field, and the unfortunate wretches who had been +left in the hospital wounded, were by Liñan's orders, carried or +dragged along the ground from their beds to the square where they +were stripped and shot!"</p> + +<p>Mina, as a last resort, threw himself into the fort of Los Remedios, +a natural fortification on the lofty mountain chain rising out +of the plains of the Bajio between Silao and Penjamo, separated +from the rest by precipices, and deep ravines.</p> + +<p>Liñan's army sat down before Remedios on the 27th of August. +Mina left the town so as to assail the army from without by his +<i>guerillas</i>, whilst the garrison kept the main body engaged with the +fort. During this period he formed the project of attacking the +town of Guanajuato, which, in fact, he accomplished; yet, after his +troops had penetrated the heart of the city, their courage failed and +they retreated before the loyalists who rallied after the panic created +by the unexpected assault at nightfall. On retreating from Guanajuato, +our partizan warrior took the road to the Rancho del Venadito + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</a></span> +where he designed passing the night in order to consult upon +his future plans with his friend Mariano Herrera. Here he was +detected by a friar, who apprised Orrantia of the brave Mina's +presence, and, on the morning of the 27th of October, he was +seized and conveyed to Irapuato. On the 11th of November, +1817, in the 28th year of his age, he was shot by order of Apodaca, +on a rock, in sight of Los Remedios.</p> + +<p>At the end of December the ammunition of the insurgents in this +stronghold was entirely exhausted, and its evacuation was resolved +on. This was attempted on the 1st of January, 1818, but, with +the exception of Padre Torres, the commander, and twelve of +Mina's division, few or none of the daring fugitives escaped. The +wretched inmates of the fort, the women, and garrison hospitals of +wounded, were cut down, bayoneted, and burned. On the 6th of +March, the fort of Jauxilla, the insurgents' last stronghold in the +central parts of the country, fell, while, towards the middle of the +year, all the revolutionary chiefs were dislodged and without commands, +except Guerrero, who still maintained himself on the right +bank of the river Zacatula, near Colima, on the Pacific. But even +he was cut off from communication with the interior, and was altogether +without hope of assistance from without. The heart of +the nation, and the east coast,—which was of most importance so +far as the reception of auxiliaries by the independents was concerned,—were, +thus, in complete possession of the royalists; so +that a viceroy declared in his despatches to Spain, "that he +would be answerable for the safety of Mexico without a single additional +soldier being sent out to reinforce the armies that were in +the field."</p> + +<p>But the viceroy Apodaca, confident as he was of the defeat of +the insurrection, did not know the people with whom he dealt as +well as his predecessor Calleja,<a name="FNanchor_62_62" id="FNanchor_62_62"></a> + <a href="#Footnote_62_62" class="fnanchor">[62]</a> who, with all his cruelty, seems +to have enjoyed sagacious intervals in which he comprehended +perfectly the deep seated causes of revolutionary feeling in Mexico, +even if he was indisposed to sympathize with them or to permit +their manifestation by the people. In fact, the revolution was not +quelled. It slept, for want of a leader;—but, at last he appeared +in the person of <span class="smcap">Agustin de Iturbide</span>, a native Mexican, whose +military career, in the loyalist cause had been not only brilliant but +eminently useful, for it was in consequence of the two severe blows +inflicted by him upon the insurgents in the actions of Valladolid + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</a></span> +and Puruaran that the great army of Morelos was routed and destroyed.</p> + +<p>In 1820, Apodaca, who was no friend of the constitution, and +who suffered a diminution of power by its operation, was well disposed +to put it down by force, and to proclaim once more the absolute +authority of the king. The elective privileges, which the +constitution secured to the people, together with the principles of +freedom which those elections were calculated to foster among the +masses, were considered by the viceroy as dangerous in a country +so recently the theatre of revolution. The insurrection was regarded +by him as ended forever. He despised, perhaps, the few +distinguished persons who yet quietly manifested their preference +for liberalism; and, like all men of despotic character and confident +of power, he undervalued the popular masses, among whom there +is ever to be found common sense, true appreciation of natural +rights, and firmness to vindicate them whenever they are confident +of the leaders who are to control their destiny when embarked +upon the stormy sea of rebellion.</p> + +<p>Apodaca, in pursuit of his project to restore absolutism on this +continent, fixed his eyes upon the gallant <span class="smcap">Iturbide</span>, whose polished +manners, captivating address, elegant person, ambitious +spirit, and renowned military services, signalized him as a person +likely to play a distinguished part in the restoration of a supreme +power whose first favors would probably be showered upon the +successful soldier of a crusade against constitutional freedom.</p> + +<p>Accordingly the viceroy offered Iturbide the command of a force +upon the west coast, at the head of which he was to proclaim the +re-establishment of the king's <i>absolute</i> authority. The command +was accepted; but Iturbide, who had been for four years unemployed, +had, in this interval of repose, reflected well upon the condition +of Mexico, and was satisfied that if the creoles could be induced +to co-operate with the independents, the Spanish yoke might +be cast off. There were only eleven Spanish expeditionary regiments +in the whole of Mexico, and although there were upwards +of seventy thousand old Spaniards in the different provinces who +supported these soldiers, they could not oppose, effectually, the +seven veteran and seventeen provincial regiments of natives, aided +by the masses of people who had signified their attachment to +liberalism.</p> + +<p>Instead, therefore, of allying himself with the cause of a falling +monarchy, whose reliance must chiefly be confined to succors from +across the ocean, Iturbide resolved to abandon the viceroy and his + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</a></span> +criminal project against the constitution, and to throw himself with +his forces upon the popular cause of the country. It was a bold +but successful move.</p> + +<p>On the 24th of February, 1821, he was at the small town of +Iguala, on the road to Acapulco; and on that day, at his headquarters, +he proclaimed the celebrated <span class="smcap">Plan of Iguala</span>, the several +principles of which are:—"Independence, the maintenance +of Roman Catholicity, and Union;"—whence his forces obtained +the name of the "Army of the three Guaranties."</p> + +<p>As this is probably one of the most important state papers in the +history of Mexico, and is often referred to without being fully understood, +we shall present it to the reader entire:</p> + + +<h3><span class="smcap">Plan of Iguala.</span></h3> + +<p><span class="smcap">Article 1.</span>—The Mexican nation is independent of the Spanish +nation, and of every other, even on its own continent.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Art. 2.</span>—Its religion shall be the Catholic, which all its inhabitants +profess.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Art. 3.</span>—They shall all be united, without any distinction +between Americans and Europeans.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Art. 4.</span>—The government shall be a constitutional monarchy.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Art. 5.</span>—A Junta shall be named, consisting of individuals +who enjoy the highest reputation in different parties which have +shown themselves.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Art. 6.</span>—This Junta shall be under the presidency of his excellency +the Conde del Venadito, the present viceroy of Mexico.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Art. 7.</span>—It shall govern in the name of the nation, according +to the laws now in force, and its principal business will be to +convoke, according to such rules as it shall deem expedient, a +congress for the formation of a constitution more suitable to the +country.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Art. 8.</span>—His Majesty Ferdinand VII. shall be invited to the +throne of the empire, and in case of his refusal, the Infantes +Don Carlos and Don Francisco De Paula.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Art. 9.</span>—Should his Majesty Ferdinand VII. and his august +brothers, decline the invitation, the nation is at liberty to invite to +the imperial throne any member of reigning families whom it may +choose to select.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Art. 10.</span>—The formation of the constitution by the congress, +and the oath of the emperor to observe it, must precede his entry +into the country.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Art. 11.</span>—The distinction of castes is abolished, which was +made by the Spanish law, excluding them from the rights of citizenship. + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</a></span> +All the inhabitants are citizens, and equal, and the door +of advancement is open to virtue and merit.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Art. 12.</span>—An army shall be formed for the support of religion, +independence, and union, guaranteeing these three principles, and +therefore shall be called the army of the three guaranties.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Art. 13.</span>—It shall solemnly swear to defend the fundamental +basis of this plan.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Art. 14.</span>—It shall strictly observe the military ordinances now +in force.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Art. 15.</span>—There shall be no other promotions than those which +are due to seniority, or which are necessary for the good of the +service.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Art. 16.</span>—The army shall be considered as of the line.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Art. 17.</span>—The old partizans of independence who shall adhere +to this plan, shall be considered as individuals of this army.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Art. 18.</span>—The patriots and peasants who shall adhere to it +hereafter, shall be considered as provincial militiamen.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Art. 19.</span>—The secular and regular priests shall be continued in +the state which they now are.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Art. 20.</span>—All the public functionaries, civil, ecclesiastical, political +and military, who adhere to the cause of independence, shall +be continued in their offices, without any distinction between +Americans and Europeans.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Art. 21.</span>—Those functionaries, of whatever degree and condition +who dissent from the cause of independence, shall be divested +of their offices, and shall quit the territory without taking with +them their families and effects.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Art. 22.</span>—The military commandants shall regulate themselves +according to the general instructions in conformity with this plan, +which shall be transmitted to them.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Art. 23.</span>—No accused person shall be condemned capitally by +the military commandants. Those accused of treason against the +nation, which is the next greatest crime after that of treason to the +Divine Ruler, shall be conveyed to the fortress of Barbaras, where +they shall remain until congress shall resolve on the punishment +that ought to be inflicted on them.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Art. 24.</span>—It being indispensable to the country, that this plan +should be carried into effect, inasmuch as the welfare of that +country is its object, every individual of the army shall maintain it, +to the shedding (if it be necessary) of the last drop of his blood.</p> + +<div class="signature3">Town of Iguala, 24th February, 1821.</div> + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<div class="fn"> +<h4>Footnotes</h4> +<p><a name="Footnote_61_61" id="Footnote_61_61"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_61_61"><span class="label">[61]</span></a> Ward vol. i, 221.</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote_62_62" id="Footnote_62_62"></a><a href="#FNanchor_62_62"> +<span class="label">[62]</span></a> See Calleja's confidential letter +to the Spanish minister of war, with a private +report on the Mexican Revolution. Ward, vol. i, p. 509—Appendix.</p> +</div> + + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER IV<br /> +1821–1824.</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>O'DONOJU VICEROY.—CONDUCT OF ITURBIDE—NOVELLA.—REVOLT—TREATY +OF CORDOVA.—FIRST MEXICAN CORTES—ITURBIDE +EMPEROR—HIS CAREER—EXILED TO ITALY.—ITURBIDE +RETURNS—ARREST—EXECUTION—HIS CHARACTER +AND SERVICES.</p> +</div> + + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<h3><span class="smcap">O'Donoju, LXII. Viceroy of New Spain,<br /> +Iturbide, Emperor of Mexico.</span>—1821–1824.</h3> + +<p>It will be seen by the Plan of Iguala, that Mexico was designed +to become an independent sovereignty under Ferdinand VII. or, in +the event of his refusal, under the Infantes Don Carlos and Don +Francisco de Paula. Iturbide was still a royalist—not a republican; +and it is very doubtful whether he would ever have assented +to popular authority, even had his life been spared to witness the +final development of the revolution. It is probable that his penetrating +mind distinguished between popular hatred of unjust +restraint, and the genuine capacity of a nation for liberty, nor is it +unlikely that he found among his countrymen but few of those self-controlling, +self-sacrificing and progressive elements, which constitute +the only foundation upon which a republic can be securely +founded. His ambition had not yet been fully developed by +success, and it cannot be imagined that he had already fixed his +heart upon the imperial throne.</p> + +<p>When the Plan of Iguala was proclaimed, the entire army of the +future emperor, consisted of only eight hundred men, all of whom +took the oath of fidelity to the project, though many deserted when +they found the country was not immediately unanimous in its +approval.</p> + +<p>In the capital, the viceroy appears to have been paralyzed by the +sudden and unexpected movement of his officer. He paused, +hesitated, failed to act, and was deposed by the Europeans, who +treated him as they had Iturrigaray in 1808. Don Francisco de +Novella, an artillery officer, was installed temporarily in his stead, +but the appointment created a dissension among the people in the + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</a></span> +capital and the country, and this so completely prostrated the action +of the central authorities, who might have crushed the revolution +by a blow, that Iturbide was enabled to prosecute his designs +throughout the most important parts of the interior of the country, +without the slightest resistance.</p> + +<p>He seized a million of dollars on their way to the west coast, +and joined Guerrero who still held out on the river Zacatula with +the last remnant of the old revolutionary forces. Guerrero gave in +his adhesion to Iturbide, as soon as he ascertained that it was the +general's design to make Mexico <i>independent</i>, though, in all likelihood, +he disapproved the other features of the plan. Guerrero's +act was of the greatest national importance. It rallied all the +veteran fighters and friends of Morelos and the Bravos. Almost +all of the former leaders and their dispersed bands, came forth, at +the cry of "independence," under the banner of Iturbide. Victoria +even, for a while, befriended the rising hero; but he had +fought for a liberal government, and did not long continue on +amicable terms with one who could not control his truly independent +spirit. The clergy, as well as the people, signified their +intention to support the gallant insurgent;—and, in fact, the +whole country, from Vera Cruz to Acapulco, with the exception of +the capital, was soon open in its adhesion to him and his army.</p> + + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<h3><span class="smcap">Don Juan O'Donoju,<br /> +LXII. Viceroy of New Spain.</span>—1821.</h3> + +<p>Iturbide was now in full authority, and whilst preparing to march +on the city of Mexico, in which the viceroy, <i>ad interim</i>, was shut +up, he learned that Don Juan O'Donoju had arrived at San Juan +de Ulua to fill the place of Apodaca as viceroy. Proposals were +immediately sent by the general to this new functionary, and in an +interview with him at Cordova, Iturbide proposed the adoption of +the Plan of Iguala <i>by treaty</i>, as the only project by which the +Spaniards in Mexico could be saved from the fury of the people, +and the sovereignty of the colony preserved for Ferdinand. We +shall not pause to enquire whether the viceroy was justified or even +empowered, to compromise the rights of Spain by such a compact. +O'Donoju, though under the safeguard of a truce, was in truth a +helpless man as soon as he touched the soil of Mexico, for no +portions of it were actually under the Spanish authority except the +castle of San Juan de Ulua and the capital, whose garrisons were +chiefly composed of European levies. Humanity, perhaps, ultimately +controlled his decision, and in the name of his master, he + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</a></span> +recognised the independence of Mexico and yielded the metropolis +to the "army of the three Guaranties," which entered it peacefully +on the 27th of September, 1821. A provisional Junta of thirty-six +persons immediately elected a regency of five, of which Iturbide +was president, and, at the same time, he was created Generalissimo, +Lord High Admiral, and assigned a yearly stipend of one hundred +and twenty thousand dollars.</p> + +<p>On the 24th of February, 1822, the first Mexican Congress or +Cortes, met; but it contained within it the germ of all the future +discontents, which since that day, have harassed and nearly ruined +Mexico. Scarcely had this body met when three parties manifested +their bitter animosities and personal ambitions. The Bourbonists +adhered, loyally, to the Plan of Iguala, a constitutional monarchy +and the sovereignty of Ferdinand. The Republicans, discarded +the plan as a device that had served its day, and insisted upon a +central or federal republic; and, last of all, the partisans of the +successful soldier, still clung to all of the plan save the clause +which gave the throne to a Bourbon prince, for, at heart, they +desired to place Iturbide himself upon it, and thus to cut off their +country forever from all connection with Europe.</p> + +<p>As soon as O'Donoju's treaty of Cordova reached Spain, it was +nullified by the Cortes, and the Bourbon party in Mexico, of course +fell with it. The Republicans and Iturbidists, alone remained on +the field to contend for the prize, and after congress had disgraced +itself by incessant bickerings over the army and the public funds, a +certain Pio Marcha, first sergeant of the first regiment of infantry +gathered a band of <i>leperos</i> before the palace of Iturbide on the +night of the 18th of May, 1822, and proclaimed him Emperor, with +the title of <span class="smcap">Agustin the First</span>. A show of resistance was made +by Iturbide against the proffered crown; but it is likely that it was +in reality, as faint as his joy was unbounded at the sudden elevation +from a barrack room to the imperial palace. Congress, of course, +approved the decision of the mob and army. The provinces +sanctioned the acts of their representatives, and Iturbide ascended +the throne.</p> + +<p>But his reign was brief. Rapid success, love of power, impatience +of restraint,—all of which are characteristic of the Spanish +soldier,—made him strain the bonds of constitutional right. His +struggles for control were incessant. "He demanded," says +Ward, "a veto upon all articles of the constitution then under discussion, +and the right of appointing and removing, at pleasure, the +members of the supreme tribunal of justice. He recommended + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[Pg 304]</a></span> +also the establishment of a military tribunal in the capital, with +powers but little inferior to those exercised by the Spanish commandants +during the revolution; and when these proposals were +firmly rejected, he arrested, on the night of the 26th August, 1822, +fourteen of the deputies who had advocated, during the discussion, +principles but little in unison with the views of the government."</p> + +<p>This high handed measure, and the openly manifested displeasure +of congress, produced so complete a rupture between the emperor +and the popular representatives, that it was impossible to +conduct public affairs with any concert of action. Accordingly, +Iturbide dissolved the assembly, and on the 30th of October, 1822, +created an Instituent Junta of forty-five persons selected by himself +from amongst the most pliant members of the recent congress. +This irregularly formed body was intolerable to the people, while +the expelled deputies, who returned to their respective districts, +soon spread the spirit of discontent and proclaimed the American +usurper to be as dangerous as the European despot.</p> + +<p>In November, General Garza headed a revolt in the northern +provinces. <span class="smcap">Santa Anna</span>, then governor of Vera Cruz, declared +against the emperor. General Echavari, sent by Iturbide to crush +the future president of Mexico, resolved not to stem the torrent of +public opinion, and joined the general he had been commissioned +to capture. Guadalupe Victoria,—driven to his fastnesses by the +emperor, who was unable to win the incorruptible patriot, descended +once more from the mountain forests, where he had been +concealed, and joined the battalions of Santa Anna. And, on the +1st of February, 1823, a convention, called the "Act of Casa-Mata," +was signed, by which the re-establishment of the National +Representative Assembly was pledged.</p> + +<p>The country was soon in arms. The Marques Vibanco, Generals +Guerrero, Bravo, and Negrete, in various sections of the +nation, proclaimed their adhesion to the popular movement; and +on the 8th of March, 1823, Iturbide, finding that the day was lost, +offered his abdication to such members of the old congress as he +was able to assemble hastily in the metropolis. The abdication +was, however, twice refused on the ground that congress, by accepting +it, would necessarily sanction the legality of his right to +wear the crown; nevertheless, that body permitted his departure +from Mexico, after endowing him liberally with an income of +twenty-five thousand dollars a year, besides providing a vessel to +bear him and his family to Leghorn in Italy.</p> + +<p>Victoria, Bravo, and Negrete entered the capital on the 27th of + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[Pg 305]</a></span> +March, and were chosen by the old congress which quickly reassembled, +as a triumvirate to exercise supreme executive powers +until the new congress assembled in the following August. In +October, 1824, this body finally sanctioned the federal constitution, +which, after various revolutions, overthrows, and reforms, was readopted +in the year 1847.</p> + +<p>On the 14th of July, 1824, a vessel under British colors was perceived +on the Mexican coast near the mouth of the Santander. On +the next day, a Polish gentlemen came on shore from the ship, and, +announcing himself as Charles de Beneski, visited General Felix la +Garza, commandant of the district of Soto la Marina. He professed +to visit that remote district, with a friend, for the purpose of +purchasing land from the government on which they designed establishing +a colony. Garza gave them leave to enter the country +for this purpose; but suspicions were soon aroused against the +singular visitors and they were arrested. As soon as the friend of +the Pole was stripped of his disguise, the Emperor Iturbide stood +in front of Garza, whom he had disgraced for his participation in +the revolt during his brief reign.</p> + +<p>La Garza immediately secured the prisoner, and sent him to +Padilla, where he delivered him to the authorities of Tamaulipas. +The state legislature being in session, promptly resolved, in the +excess of patriotic zeal, to execute a decree of the congress, passed +in the preceding April, by condemning the royal exile to death. +Short time was given Iturbide to arrange his affairs. He was +allowed no appeal to the general government. He confessed to a +priest on the evening of the 19th of July, and was led to the place +of execution, where he fell, pierced with four balls, two of which +took effect in his brain and two in his heart!</p> + +<p>Thus perished the hero who, suddenly, unexpectedly, and effectually, +crushed the power of Spain in North America. It is not +fair to judge him by the standards that are generally applied to the +life of a distinguished civilian, or even of a successful soldier, in +countries where the habits and education of the people fit them for +duties requiring forbearance, patience, or high intellectual culture. +Iturbide was, according to all reliable accounts, a refined gentleman, +yet he was tyrannical and sometimes cruel, for it is recorded +in his own handwriting, that on Good Friday, 1814, "in honor of +the day, he had just ordered three hundred excommunicated +wretches to be shot!" His early life was passed in the saddle +and the barrack room; nor had he much leisure to pursue the +studies of a statesman, even if his mind had been capable of resolving + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</a></span> +all their mysteries. His temper was not calculated for the +liberal debates of a free senate. He was better fitted to discipline +an army than to guide a nation. Educated in a school in which +subordination is a necessity, and where unquestioning obedience is +exacted, he was unable to appreciate the rights of deliberative assemblies. +He felt, perhaps, that, in the disorganized condition of +his country, it was needful to control the people by force in order +to save the remnant of civilization from complete anarchy. But he +wanted conciliatory manners to seduce the congress into obedience +to his behests,—and he therefore unfortunately and unwisely +played the military despot when he should have acted the part of a +quiet diplomatist. Finding himself, in two years, emperor of +Mexico, after being, at the commencement of that period, nothing +more than commander of a regiment, it may be pardoned if he was +bewildered by the rapidity of his rise, and if the air he breathed in +his extraordinary ascent was too etherial for a man of so excitable +a temperament.</p> + +<p>In every aspect of his character, we must regard him as one altogether +inadequate to shape the destiny of a nation emerging from +the blood and smoke of two revolutions,—a nation whose political +tendencies towards absolute freedom, were at that time, naturally, +the positive reverse of his own.</p> + +<p>Death sealed the lips of men who might have clamored for him +in the course of a few years, when the insubordinate spirit that was +soon manifested needed as bold an arm as that of Iturbide, in his +best days, to check or guide it. Public opinion was decidedly opposed +to his sudden and cruel slaughter. Mexicans candidly acknowledged +that their country's independence was owing to him; +and whilst they admitted that Garza's zeal for the emperor's execution +might have been lawful, they believed that revenge for +his former disgrace, rather than patriotism, induced the rash and +ruthless soldier to hasten the death of the noble victim whom fortune +had thrown in his lonely path.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 300px;"> + <a name="illus-306.jpg" id="illus-306.jpg"></a> + <img src="images/illus-306.jpg" width="300" height="158" alt="Signature of Augustine de Iturbide" title="" /> +</div> + + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[Pg 307]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER V.<br /> +1824–1829.</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>REVIEW OF THE CONDITION OF MEXICO AND THE FORMATION OF +PARTIES.—VICEROYAL GOVERNMENT—THE PEOPLE—THE +ARMY—THE CHURCH.—CONSTITUTION OF 1824.—ECHAVARI +REVOLTS.—VICTORIA PRESIDENT—ESCOCESSES—YORKINOS—REVOLTS +CONTINUED.—MONTAYNO—GUERRERO.—GOMEZ +PEDRAZA PRESIDENT—IS OVERTHROWN.—FEDERALISTS—CENTRALISTS—GUERRERO +PRESIDENT.—ABOLITION OF SLAVERY +IN MEXICO.</p> +</div> + +<p>We must pause a moment over the past history of Mexico, +for the portion we now approach has few of the elements either +of union or patriotism which characterized the early struggles for +national independence. The revolutionary war had merited and +received the commendation of freemen throughout the world. The +prolonged struggle exhibited powers of endurance, an unceasing +resolution, and a determination to throw off European thraldom, +which won the respect of those northern powers on this continent +who were most concerned in securing to themselves a republican +neighborhood. But, as soon as the dominion of Spain was +crushed, the domestic quarrels of Mexico began, and we have +already shown that in the three parties formed in the first congress, +were to be found the germs of all the feuds that have since vexed +the republic or impeded its successful progress towards national +grandeur. After the country had been so long a battle field, it +was perhaps difficult immediately to accustom the people to civil +rule or to free them from the baleful influence which military glory +is apt to throw round individuals who render important services to +their country in war. Even in our own union, where the ballot +box instead of the bayonet has always controlled elections, and +where loyalty to the constitution would blast the effort of ambitious +men to place a conqueror in power by any other means than that +of peaceful election, we constantly find how difficult it is to screen +the people's eyes from the bewildering glare of military glory. +What then could we expect from a country in which the self-relying, +self-ruling, civil idea never existed at any period of its previous +history? The revolution of the North American colonies + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[Pg 308]</a></span> +was not designed to obtain liberty, for they were already free; but +it was excited and successfully pursued in order to prevent the +burthensome and aggressive impositions of England which would +have curtailed that freedom, and, reduced us to colonial dependence +as well as royal or ministerial dictation. Mexico, on the contrary, +had never been free. Spain regarded the country as a mine +which was to be diligently wrought, and the masses of the people +as acclimated serfs whose services were the legitimate perquisites +of a court and aristocracy beyond the sea. There had been, +among the kings and viceroys who controlled the destinies of New +Spain, men who were swayed by just and amiable views of colonial +government; but the majority considered Mexico as a speculation +rather than an infant colony whose progressive destiny it was +their duty to foster with all the care and wisdom of Christian magistrates. +The minor officials misruled and peculated, as we have +related in our introductory sketch of the viceroyal government. +They were all men of the hour, and, even the viceroys themselves, +regarded their governments on the American continent as rewards +for services in Europe, enabling them to secure fortunes with +which they returned to the Castilian court, forgetful of the Indian +miner and agriculturist from whose sweat their wealth was coined. +The Spaniard never identified himself with Mexico. His <i>home</i> +was on the other side of the Atlantic. Few of the best class +formed permanent establishments in the viceroyalty; and all of +them were too much interested in maintaining both the state of +society and the <i>castes</i> which had been created by the conquerors, +to spend a thought upon the amelioration of the people. We do +not desire to blacken, by our commentary, the fame of a great +nation like that of Spain; yet this dreary but true portrait of +national selfishness has been so often verified by all the colonial +historians of America, and especially by Pazo and Zavala, in their +admirable historical sketches of Castilian misrule, that we deem +it fair to introduce these palliations of Mexican misconduct since +the revolution.<a name="FNanchor_63_63" id="FNanchor_63_63"></a> + <a href="#Footnote_63_63" class="fnanchor">[63]</a></p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>The people of New Spain were poor and uneducated,—the +aristocracy was rich, supercilious, and almost equally illiterate. It +was a society without a middle ground,—in which gold stood out +in broad relief against rags. Was such a state of barbaric semi-civilization +entitled or fitted to emerge at once into republicanism? + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[Pg 309]</a></span> +Was it to be imagined that men who had always been controlled, +could learn immediately to control themselves? Was it to be +believed that the military personages, whose ambition is as proverbial +as it is natural, would voluntarily surrender the power they +possessed over the masses, and retire to the obscurity and poverty +of private life when they could enjoy the wealth and influence of +political control, so long as they maintained their rank in the +army? This would have been too much to expect from the self-denial +of creole chiefs; nor is it surprising to behold the people +themselves looking towards these very men as proper persons to +consolidate or shape the government they had established. It was +the most natural thing conceivable to find Iturbide, Guerrero, Bustamante, +Negrete, Bravo, Santa Anna, Paredes, and the whole host +of revolutionary heroes succeeding each other in power, either constitutionally +or by violence. The people knew no others. The +military idea,—military success,—a name won in action, and repeated +from lip to lip until the traditionary sound became a household +word among the herdsmen, rancheros, vaqueros and Indians,—these +were the sources of Mexican renown or popularity, and the +appropriate objects of political reward and confidence. What individual +among the four or five millions of Indians knew anything +of the statesmen of their country who had never mixed in the +revolutionary war or in the domestic brawls constantly occurring. +There were no gazettes to spread their fame or merit, and even if +there had been, the people were unable to buy or peruse them. +Among the mixed breeds, and lower class of creoles, an equal degree +of ignorance prevailed;—and thus, from the first epoch of independence, +the <span class="smcap">People</span> ceased to be a true republican tribunal in +Mexico, while the city was surrendered as the battle field of all the +political aspirants who had won reputations in the camp which +were to serve them for other purposes in the capital. By this +means the army rose to immediate significance and became the +general arbiter in all political controversies. Nor was the church,—that +other overshadowing influence in all countries in which religion +and the state are combined,—a silent spectator in the +division of national power. The Roman Hierarchy, a large landholder,—as +will be hereafter seen in our statistical view of the +country,—had much at stake in Mexico, besides the mere authority +which so powerful a body is always anxious to maintain +over the consciences of the multitude. The church was, thus, a +political element of great strength; and, combined with the army, +created and sustained an important party, which has been untiring + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[Pg 310]</a></span> +in its efforts to support <i>centralism</i>, as the true political principle of +Mexican government.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>On the 4th of October, 1824, a federal constitution, framed +partly upon the model of the constitution of the United States, with +some grafts from the Spanish constitution, was adopted by Congress; +and, by it, the territory comprehended in the old viceroyalty +of New Spain, the Captaincy General of Yucatan, the commandancies +of the eastern and western Internal Provinces, Upper and +Lower California, with the lands and isles adjacent in both seas, +were placed under the protection of this organic law. The religion +of the Mexican nation was declared to be, in perpetuity, the +Catholic Apostolic Roman; and the nation pledged its protection, +at the same time prohibiting the exercise of any other!</p> + +<p>Previous, however, to these constitutional enactments the country +had not been entirely quiet, for as early as January of this year, +General Echavari, who occupied the state of Puebla, raised the +standard of revolt against the Triumvirate. This seditious movement +was soon suppressed by the staunch old warrior, Guerrero, +who seized and bore the insurgent chief to the capital as a prisoner. +Another insurrection, occurred not long after in Cuernavaca, which +was also quelled by Guerrero. Both of these outbreaks were +caused by the centralists, who strove to put down by violence the +popular desire for the federal system. Instead of destroying the +favorite charter, however, they only served to cement the sections, +who sustained liberal doctrines in the different provinces or states +of the nation, and finally, aided materially in enforcing the adoption +of the federal system.</p> + +<p>Another insurrection occurred in the city of Mexico, growing +out of the old and national animosity between the creoles and the +European Spaniards. The expulsion of the latter from all public +employments was demanded by the creoles of the capital, backed +by the garrison commanded by Colonels Lobato and Staboli. The +revolt was suppressed at the moment; but it was deemed advisable +to conciliate feeling in regard to the unfortunate foreigners; and, +accordingly, changes were made in the departments, in which the +offices were given to native Mexicans, whilst the Spaniards were +allowed a pension for life of one-third of their pay. At this period, +moreover, the supreme executive power was altered, and Nicolas +Bravo, Vicente Guerrero, and Miguel Dominguez, were appointed +to control public affairs until a president was elected under the +new constitution.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[Pg 311]</a></span> + Early in 1825, the general congress assembled in the city of +Mexico. Guadalupe Victoria was declared president, and Nicolas +Bravo vice president. The national finances were recruited by a +loan from England; and a legislative effort was made to narrow +the influence of the priesthood, according to the just limits it should +occupy in a republic.</p> + +<p>All Spanish America had been in a ferment for several years, +and the power of Castile was forever broken on this continent. +Peru, as well as Mexico, had cast off the bonds of dependence, +for the brilliant battle of Ayacucho rescued the republican banner +from the danger with which for a while it was menaced. The +European forces had never been really formidable, except for their +superior discipline and control under royalist leaders,—but they +were now driven out of the heart of the continent,—whilst the +few pertinacious troops and generals who still remained, were confined +to the coasts of Mexico, Peru, and Chili, where they clung +to the fortress of San Juan de Ulua, the castle of Callao, and the +strongholds of Chiloe.</p> + +<p>Victoria was sworn into office on the 15th of April, 1825. +Several foreign nations had already recognized the independence +of Mexico, or soon hastened to do so; for all were eager to grasp +a share of the commerce and mines which they imagined had been +so profitable to Spain. The British, especially, who had become +holders of Mexican bonds, were particularly desirous to open commercial +intercourse and to guard it by international treaties.</p> + +<p>In the winter of 1826, it was discovered, by the discussions in +congress of projects for their suppression, that the party leaders, +fearing an open attempt to conduct their unconstitutional machinations, +had sought the concealment of masonic institutions in which +they might foster their antagonistic schemes. The rival lodges +were designated as Escocesses and Yorkinos, the former numbering +among its members the vice president Nicolas Bravo, Gomez Pedraza, +and José Montayno, while the Yorkinos boasted of Generals +Victoria, Santa Anna, Guerrero, Lorenzo de Zavala, and Bustamante. +The adherents of the Escocesses were said to be in favor +of a limited monarchy with a Spanish prince at its head; but the +Yorkinos maintained the supremacy of the constitution and declared +themselves hostile to all movements of a central character. The +latter party was, by far, the most numerous. The intelligent liberals +of all classes sustained it; yet its leaders had to contend with +the dignitaries of the church, the opulent agriculturists, land holders +and miners, and many of the higher officers of the army whose + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[Pg 312]</a></span> +names had been identified with the early struggles of the independents +against the Spaniards.</p> + +<p>These party discussions, mainly excited by the personal ambitions +of the disputants, which were carried on not only openly in +congress, but secretly in the lodges, absorbed for a long time, the +entire attention of the selfish but intelligent persons who should +have forgotten themselves in the holy purpose of consolidating the +free and republican principles of the constitution of 1824. The +result of this personal warfare was soon exhibited in the total neglect +of popular interests, so far as they were to be fostered or advanced +by the action of congress. The states, however, were in +some degree, free from these internecine contests; for the boldest +of the various leaders, and the most ambitious aspirants for power, +had left the provinces to settle their quarrels in the capital. This +was fortunate for the country, inasmuch as the states were in some +measure recompensed by their own care of the various domestic +industrial interests for the neglect they suffered at the hands of +national legislators.</p> + +<p>At the close of 1827, Colonel José Montayno, a member of the +Escocesses, proclaimed, in Otumba, the plan which in the history +of Mexican <i>pronunciamientos</i>, or revolts, is known by the name of +this leader. Another attempt of a similar character had been previously +made, against the federative system and in favor of centralism, +by Padre Arénas; but both of these outbreaks were not considered +dangerous, until Bravo denounced president Victoria for his +union with the Yorkinos, and, taking arms against the government, +joined the rebels in Tulancingo, where he declared himself in favor +of the central plan of Montayno. The country was aroused. The +insurgents appeared in great strength. The army exhibited decided +symptoms of favor towards the revolted party; and the church +strengthened the elements of discontent by its secret influence with +the people. Such was the revolutionary state of Mexico, when the +patriot Guerrero was once more summoned by the executive to use +his energetic efforts in quelling the insurrection. Nor was he unsuccessful +in his loyal endeavors to support the constitution. As +soon as he marched against the insurgents, they dispersed throughout +the country; so that, without bloodshed, he was enabled to +crush the revolt and save the nation from the civil war. Thus, +amid the embittered quarrels of parties, who had actually designed +to transfer their contests from congress and lodges to the field of +battle, terminated the administration of Guadalupe Victoria, the +first president of Mexico. His successor, Gomez Pedraza, the + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[Pg 313]</a></span> +candidate of the Escocesses, was elected by a majority of but two +votes over his competitor, Guerrero, the representative of the liberal +Yorkinos.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>These internal discontents of Mexico began to inspire the Spanish +court with hope that its estranged colony would be induced, or +perhaps easily compelled, after a short time, to return to its allegiance; +and, accordingly, it was soon understood in Mexico, even +during Victoria's administration, that active efforts were making in +Cuba to raise an adequate force for another attempt upon the republic. +This, for a moment, restrained the fraternal hands raised +against each other within the limits of Mexico, and forced all parties +to unite against the common danger from abroad. Suitable +measures were taken to guard the coasts where an attack was most +imminent, and it was the good fortune of the government to secure +the services of Commodore Porter, a distinguished officer of the +United States Navy, who commanded the Mexican squadron most +effectively for the protection of the shores along the gulf, and took +a number of Spanish vessels, even in the ports of Cuba, some of +which were laden with large and costly cargoes.</p> + +<p>The success of the centralist Pedraza over the federalist Guerrero, +a man whose name and reputation were scarcely less dear to the +genuine republicans than that of Guadalupe Victoria,—was not +calculated to heal the animosities of the two factions, especially, as +the scant majority of two votes had placed the <i>Escoces</i> partizan in the +presidential chair. The defeated candidate and his incensed companions +of the liberal lodge, did not exhibit upon this occasion that +loyal obedience to constitutional law, which should have taught +them that the first duty of a republican is to conceal his mortification +at a political defeat and to bow reverentially to the lawful decision +of a majority. It is a subject of deep regret that the first +bold and successful attack upon the organic law of Mexico was +made by the federalists. They may have deemed it their duty to +prevent their unreliable competitors from controlling the destinies +of Mexico even for a moment under the sanction of the constitution; +but there can be no doubt that they should have waited until +acts, instead of suspicions or fears, entitled them to exercise their +right of impeachment under the constitution. In an unregulated, +military nation, such as Mexico was at that period, men do not +pause for the slow operations of law when there is a personal or a +party quarrel in question. The hot blood of the impetuous, tropical +region, combines with the active intellectual temperament of the + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[Pg 314]</a></span> +people, and laws and constitutions are equally disregarded under +the impulse of passion or interest. Such was the case in the present +juncture. The Yorkinos had been outvoted lawfully, according +to the solemn record of congress, yet they resolved not to +submit; and, accordingly, Lorenzo de Zavala, the Grand Master +of their lodge, and Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, who was then a +professed <i>federalist</i>, in conjunction with the defeated candidate +Guerrero and Generals Montezuma and Lobato, determined to +prevent Pedraza from occupying the chair of state. Santa Anna, +who now appeared prominently on the stage, was the chief agitator +in the scheme, and being in garrison at Jalapa, in the autumn of +1828, pronounced against the chief magistrate elect, and denounced +his nomination as "illegal, fraudulent and unconstitutional." The +movement was popular, for the people were in fact friendly to +Guerrero. The prejudices of the native or creole party against the +Spaniards and their supposed defenders the Escocesses, were +studiously fomented in the capital; and, on the 4th of December, +the pronunciamiento of the Accordada, in the capital, seconded the +sedition of Santa Anna in the provinces. By this time the arch +conspirator in this drama had reached the metropolis and labored +to control the elements of disorder which were at hand to support +his favorite Guerrero. The defenceless Spaniards were relentlessly +assailed by the infuriate mob which was let loose upon them by the +insurgent chiefs. Guerrero was in the field in person at the head of +the Yorkinos. The Parian in the capital, and the dwellings of many +of the noted Escocesses were attacked and pillaged, and for some +time the city was given up to anarchy and bloodshed. Pedraza, +who still fulfilled the functions of minister of war previous to his +inauguration, fled from the official post which he abandoned to his +rival Santa Anna; and on the 1st of January, 1829, congress,—reversing +its former act,—declared Guerrero to have been duly +elected president of the republic! General Bustamante was chosen +vice president, and the government again resumed its operation +under the federal system of 1824.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p><span class="smcap">Note.</span>—Although a masked Indian slavery or + <i>peonage</i>, is permitted and encouraged +in Mexico, African slavery is prohibited by positive enactments as well +as by the constitution itself. But as it may interest the reader to know the Mexican +enactments relative to negroes, on this subject, the following documents are +subjoined for reference:—</p> +</div> + + +<h3>ABOLITION OF SLAVERY.</h3> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p><i>The President of the Mexican United States to the Inhabitants of the Republic.</i></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Be it known</span>—That, being desirous + to signalize the anniversary of independence, +in the year 1829, by an act of national justice and beneficence, which may redound + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[Pg 315]</a></span> +to the advantage and support of so inestimable a good; which may further insure +the public tranquillity; which may tend to the aggrandisement of the republic, and +may reinstate an unfortunate portion of its inhabitants in the sacred rights which +nature gave to them, and the nation should protect by wise and just laws, conformably +with the dispositions of the thirtieth article of the constituent act, employing +the extrordinary faculties which have been conceded to me, I have resolved to +decree—</p> + +<p>1. Slavery is and shall remain abolished in the republic.</p> + +<p>2. In consequence, those who have hitherto been regarded as slaves, are free.</p> + +<p>3. Whensoever the condition of the treasury shall permit, the owners of the +slaves shall be indemnified according to the terms which the law may dispose.</p> + +<div class="signature"><span class="smcap">Guerrero.</span></div> + +<div class="signature3"><i>Mexico, Sept. 15, 1829.</i></div> +</div> + + +<h3>MEXICAN LAW FOR THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY IN THE REPUBLIC.</h3> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p><span class="smcap">Art. 1.</span>—Slavery is abolished, without any exception, throughout the whole +republic.</p> + +<p>2. The owners of the slaves manumitted by the present law, or by the decree of +September 15, 1829, shall be indemnified for their interests in them, to be estimated +according to the proofs which may be presented of their personal qualities; to +which effect, one appraiser shall be appointed by the commissary general, or the +person performing his duties, and another by the owner; and, in case of disagreement, +a third, who shall be appointed by the respective constitutional alcalde; and +from the decision thus made, there shall be no appeal. The indemnification mentioned +in this article shall not be extended to the colonists of Texas, who may have +taken part in the revolution in that department.</p> + +<p>3. The owners to whom the original documents drawn up with regard to the +proofs mentioned in the preceding article, shall be delivered gratis—shall themselves +present them to the supreme government, which will authorise the general +treasury to issue to them the corresponding orders for the amount of their respective +interests.</p> + +<p>4. The payment of the said orders shall be made in the manner which may seem +most equitable to the government, with the view of reconciling the rights of individuals +with the actual state of the public finances.</p> + +<div class="signature3"><i>April 5, 1837.</i></div> +</div> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>The Constitution of 1843, or <i>Bases organicas de la Republica Mejicana</i>, of that year, +declares that: "<i>No one is a slave in the territory of the nation</i>, and that any slave who +may be introduced, shall be considered free and remain under the protection of the +laws."—<i>Title</i> 2d.</p> + +<p>The Constitution of 1847—which, in fact, is the old Federal Constitution of 1824—does +not rëenact this clause; but, in the <i>Acta de Reformas</i> annexed to it in 1847, +declares, "that <i>every Mexican</i>, either by birth or naturalization, who has attained +the age of twenty years, who possesses the means of an honest livelihood, and who +has not been condemned by legal process to any infamous punishment, <i>is a citizen</i> +of the United Mexican States."—<i>Acta de Reformas, Article 1.</i> "In order to secure +the <i>rights of man</i> which the Constitution recognizes, <i>a law</i> shall fix the guaranties +of <i>liberty</i>, security, property and <i>equality</i>, which <i>all the inhabitants of the republic enjoy</i>, +and shall establish the means requisite to make them effective."—<i>1d. Article 5.</i> The +third article provides that "the exercise of the rights of citizenship <i>are suspended</i> by +habitual intemperance; by professional gambling or vagabondage; by religious orders; +by legal interdict in virtue of trial for those crimes which forfeit citizenship, +and by refusal to fulfil public duties imposed by popular nomination" (<i>nombramiento +popular</i>.)</p> +</div> + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<div class="fn"> +<h4>Footnote</h4> +<p><a name="Footnote_63_63" id="Footnote_63_63"></a><a href="#FNanchor_63_63"> + <span class="label">[63]</span></a> Zavala's Hist. Rev. of Mex. 2 + vols.;—and Pazo's letters on the United Provinces +of South America.</p> +</div> + + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[Pg 316]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER VI.<br /> +1829–1843.</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>CONSPIRACY AGAINST GUERRERO BY BUSTAMANTE—GUERRERO +BETRAYED AND SHOT.—ANECDOTE—REVOLT UNDER SANTA +ANNA—HE RESTORES PEDRAZA AND BECOMES PRESIDENT.—GOMEZ +FARIAS DEPOSED—CHURCH.—CENTRAL CONSTITUTION +OF 1836—SANTA ANNA—HIS TEXAN DISGRACE—MEXIA.—BUSTAMANTE +PRESIDENT.—FRENCH AT VERA CRUZ.—REVOLTS +IN THE NORTH AND IN THE CAPITAL.—BUSTAMANTE +DEPOSED—SANTA ANNA PRESIDENT.</p> +</div> + +<p>Violent as was the conduct of the pretended liberals in overthrowing +their rivals the Escocesses, and firmly as it may be +supposed such a band was cemented in opposition to the machination +of a bold monarchical party, we, nevertheless, find that treason +existed in the hearts of the conspirators against the patriot hero +whom they had used in their usurpation of the presidency. Scarcely +had Guerrero been seated in the chair of state when it became +known that there was a conspiracy to displace him. He had been +induced by the condition of the country, and by the bad advice of +his enemies to assume the authority of dictator. This power, he +alleged, was exercised only for the suppression of the intriguing +Escocesses; but its continued exercise served as a pretext at least, +for the vice president, General Bustamante, to place himself at the +head of a republican division and pronounce against the president +he had so recently contributed to place in power. The executive +commanded Santa Anna to advance against the assailants; but this +chief, at first, feebly opposed the insurgents, and, finally, fraternizing +with Bustamante, marched on the capital whence they drove +Guerrero and his partisans to Valladolid in Michoacan. Here the +dethroned dictator organized a government, whilst the usurping +vice president, Bustamante, assumed the reins in the capital. In +Michoacan, Guerrero, who was well known and loved for his +revolutionary enterprises in the west of Mexico, found no difficulty +in recruiting a force with which he hoped to regain his executive +post. Congress was divided in opinion between the rival factions +of the liberalists, and the republic was shaken by the continual + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[Pg 317]</a></span> +strife, until Bustamante despatched a powerful division against +Guerrero, which defeated, and dispersed his army. This was the +conclusion of that successful warrior's career. He was a good +soldier but a miserable statesman. His private character and +natural disposition are represented, by those who knew him best, +to have been irreproachable; yet he was fitted alone for the early +struggles of Mexico in the field, and was so ignorant of the administrative +functions needed in his country at such a period, that it is +not surprising to find he had been used as a tool, and cast aside +when the service for which his intriguing coadjutors required him +was performed. His historical popularity and character rendered +him available for a reckless party in overthrowing a constitutional +election; and, even when beaten by the new usurper, and with +scarcely the shadow of a party in the nation, it was still feared +that his ancient usefulness in the wars of independence, might +render him again the nucleus of political discontent. Accordingly, +the pursuit of Guerrero was not abandoned when his army fled. +The west coast was watched by the myrmidons of the usurpers, +and the war-worn hero was finally betrayed on board a vessel by a +spy, where he was arrested for bearing arms against the government +of which he was the real head, according to the solemn +decision of congress! In February, 1831, a court martial, ordered +by General Montezuma tried him for this pretended crime. His +sentence was, of course, known as soon as his judges were named; +and, thus, another chief of the revolutionary war was rewarded by +death for his patriotic services. We cannot regard this act of +Bustamante and Santa Anna, except as a deliberate murder for +which they richly deserve the condemnation of impartial history, +even if they had no other crimes to answer at the bar of God +and their country.</p> + +<p>Whilst these internal contests were agitating the heart of Mexico, +an expedition had been fitted out at Havana composed of four +thousand troops commanded by Barradas, designed to invade the +lost colony and restore it to the Spanish crown. The accounts +given of this force and its condition when landed at Tampico, vary +according to the partizans by whom they are written; but there is +reason to believe that the Spanish troops were so weakened by +disease and losses in the summer of 1830, that when Santa Anna +and a French officer,—Colonel Woll—attacked them in the +month of September, they fell an easy prey into the hands of the +Mexicans. Santa Anna, however, with his usual talent for such +composition, magnified the defeat into a magnificent conquest. He + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[Pg 318]</a></span> +was hailed as the victor who broke the last link between Spain and +her viceroyalty. Pompous bulletins and despatches were published +in the papers; and the commander-in-chief returned to the +capital, covered with honors, as the saviour of the republic.</p> + +<p>There is an anecdote connected with the final expulsion of the +Spaniards from Mexico, which deserves to be recorded as it exhibits +a fact which superstitious persons might conceive to be the +avenging decree of retributive providence. Doña Isabel Montezuma, +the eldest daughter of the unfortunate Emperor had been +married to his successor on the Aztec throne, and, after his wretched +death, was united to various distinguished Spaniards, the last +of whom was Juan Andrade, ancestor of the Andrade Montezumas +and Counts of Miravalle. General Miguel Barragan, who afterwards +became president <i>ad interim</i> of Mexico, and to whom the +castle of San Juan de Ulua was surrendered by the European forces—was +married to Manuela Trebuesta y Casasola, daughter of the +<i>last</i> Count of Miravalle, and it is thus a singular coincidence that +the husband of a lady who was the legitimate descendant of Montezuma, +should have been destined to receive the keys of the <i>last</i> +stronghold on which the Spanish banner floated on this continent! + <a name="FNanchor_64_64" id="FNanchor_64_64"></a><a href="#Footnote_64_64" class="fnanchor">[64]</a></p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>By intrigue and victories Santa Anna had acquired so much +popular renown throughout the country and with the army that he +found the time was arriving when he might safely avail himself of +his old and recent services against Iturbide and Barradas. Under +the influence of his machinations Bustamante began to fail in popular +estimation. He was spoken of as a tyrant; his administration +was characterized as inauspicious; and the public mind was gradually +prepared for an outbreak in 1832. Santa Anna, who had, in +fact, placed and sustained Bustamante in power, was, in reality, +the instigator of this revolt. The ambitious chief, first of all +issued his <i>pronunciamiento</i> against the ministry of the president, +and then, shortly after, against that functionary himself. But Bustamante, +a man of nerve and capacity, was not to be destroyed as +easily as his victim, Guerrero. He threw himself at the head of +his loyal troops and encountering the rebels at Tolomi routed them +completely. Santa Anna, therefore, retired to Vera Cruz, and, +strengthening his forces from some of the other states, declared +himself in favor of the restoration of the constitutional president +Pedraza, whom he had previously driven out of Mexico. As +Bustamante advanced towards the coast his army melted away. + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[Pg 319]</a></span> +The country was opposed to him. He was wise enough to perceive +that his usurped power was lost; and prudently entered into +a pacific convention with Santa Anna at Zavaleta in December, +1832. The successful insurgent immediately despatched a vessel +for the banished Pedraza, and brought him back to the capital to +serve out the remaining three months of his unexpired administration!</p> + +<p>The object of Santa Anna in restoring Pedraza was not to sustain +any one of the old parties which had now become strangely +mingled and confused by the factions or ambitions of all the +leaders. His main design was to secure the services and influence +of the centralists, as far as they were yet available, in controlling +his election to the presidency upon which he had fixed his heart. +On the 16th of May, 1833, he reached the goal of his ambition. + <a name="FNanchor_65_65" id="FNanchor_65_65"></a> + <a href="#Footnote_65_65" class="fnanchor">[65]</a></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[Pg 320]</a></span> + The congress of 1834 was unquestionably federal republican in +its character, and Santa Anna seemed to be perfectly in accord +with his vice presidential compeer, Gomez Farias. But the +church,—warned by a bill introduced into congress the previous +year by Zavala, by which he aimed a blow at the temporalities of +the spiritual lords,—did not remain contented spectators while +the power reposed in the hands of his federal partizans. The +popular representatives were accordingly approached by skilful +emissaries, and it was soon found that the centralists were strongly +represented in a body hitherto regarded as altogether republican. +It is charged in Mexico, that bribery was freely resorted to; and, +when the solicitations became sufficiently powerful, even the inflexible +patriotism of Santa Anna yielded, though the vice president +Farias, remained incorruptible.</p> + +<p>On the 13th of May, 1834, the president suddenly and unwarrantably +dissolved congress, and maintained his arbitrary decree +and power by the army, which was entirely at his service. In the +following year, Gomez Farias was deposed from the vice presidency +by the venal congress, and Barragan raised to the vacant post. +The militia was disarmed, the central forces strengthened, and the +people placed entirely at the mercy of the executive and his minions, +who completed the destruction of the constitution of 1824 by +blotting it from the statute book of Mexico.</p> + +<p>Puebla, Jalisco, Oaxaca, parts of Mexico, Zacatecas and Texas +revolted against this assumption of the centralists, though they were +finally not able to maintain absolutely their free stand against the +dictator. Zacatecas and Texas, alone, presented a formidable +aspect to Santa Anna, who was, nevertheless, too strong and skilful +for the ill regulated forces of the former state. The victorious +troops entered the rebellious capital with savage fury; and, after +committing the most disgusting acts of brutality and violence +against all classes and sexes, they disarmed the citizens entirely +and placed a military governor over the province. In Coahuila +and Texas, symptoms of discontent were far more important, for +the federalists met at Monclova, and, after electing Agustin Viesca +governor, defied the opposite faction by which a military officer +had been assigned to perform the execute the duties of the state. +General Cos, however, soon dispersed the legislature by violence +and imprisoned the governor and his companions whom he arrested +as they were hastening to cross the Rio Grande. These +evil doings were regarded sorrowfully but sternly by the North +Americans who had flocked to Texas, under the sanctions and assurances + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[Pg 321]</a></span> +of the federal constitution, and they resolved not to countenance +the usurpation of their unquestionable rights.</p> + +<p>Such was the state of affairs in the Mexican Republic when +the <span class="smcap">Plan of Toluca</span> was issued, by which the federal constitution +was absolutely abolished, and the principles of a consolidated +central government fully announced. Previous to this, however, +a <i>pronunciamiento</i> had been made by a certain Escalada at Morelia, +in favor of the <i>fueros</i>, or especial privileges and rights of the +church and army. This outbreak was, of course, central in its +character; whilst another ferment in Cuautla had been productive +of Santa Anna's nomination as dictator, an office which he promptly +refused to accept.</p> + +<p>The Plan of Toluca was unquestionably favored by Santa Anna +who had gone over to the centralists. It was a scheme designed +to test national feeling and to prepare the people for the overthrow +of state governments. The supreme power was vested by it in the +executive and national congress; and the states were changed +into departments under the command of military governors, who +were responsible for their trust to the chief national authorities instead +of the people. Such was the Central Constitution of 1836.</p> + +<p>It is quite probable that Santa Anna's prudent care of himself +and his popularity, as well as his military patriotism induced him +to leave the government in the hands of the vice president Barragan +whilst the new constitution was under discussion, and to lead +the Mexican troops, personally, against the revolted Texans, who +had never desisted from open hostility to the central usurpations. +But as the history of that luckless expedition is to be recounted +elsewhere in this volume, we shall content ourselves with simply +recording the fact that on the 21st of April, 1836, the president +and his army were completely routed by General Houston and the +Texans; and, that instead of returning to the metropolis crowned +with glory, as he had done from the capture of Barradas, Santa +Anna owed his life to the generosity of the Texan insurgents +whose companions in arms had recently been butchered by his +orders at Goliad and San Antonio de Bejar.<a name="FNanchor_66_66" id="FNanchor_66_66"></a> + <a href="#Footnote_66_66" class="fnanchor">[66]</a></p> + +<p>During Santa Anna's absence, vice president Barragan filled the +executive office up to the time of his death, when he was succeeded +by Coro, until the return from France of Bustamante, who had +been elected president under the new central constitution of 1836. +In the following year Santa Anna was sent back to Mexico in a + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[Pg 322]</a></span> +vessel of the United States government. But he was a disgraced +man in the nation's eyes. He returned to his <i>hacienda</i> of Manga de +Clavo, and burying himself for a while in obscurity, was screened +from the open manifestation of popular odium. Here he lurked +until the brilliant attempt was made to disenthral his country by +Mexia, in 1838. Demanding, once more, the privilege of leading +the army, he was entrusted with its command, and, encountering +the defender of federation in the neighborhood of Puebla, he gave +him battle immediately. Mexia lost the day; and, with brief time +for shrift or communication with his family, he was condemned by +a drum-head court martial and shot upon the field of battle. This +was a severe doom; but the personal animosity between the commanders +was equally unrelenting, for when the sentence was announced +to the brave but rash Mexia, he promptly and firmly declared +that Santa Anna was right to execute him on the spot, +inasmuch, as he would not have granted the usurper half the time +that elapsed since his capture, had it been his destiny to prove +victorious!</p> + +<p>Soon after the accession of Bustamante there had been <i>gritos</i> in +favor of federation and Gomez Farias, who was, at that period, +imprisoned; but these trifling outbreaks were merely local and +easily suppressed by Pedraza and Rodriguez.</p> + +<p>In the winter of 1838, however, Mexico was more severely +threatened from abroad than she had recently been by her internal +discords. It was at this time that a French fleet appeared at Vera +Cruz, under the orders of Admiral Baudin, to demand satisfaction +for injuries to French subjects, and unsettled pecuniary claims which +had been long and unavailingly subjects of diplomacy. Distracted +for years by internal broils that paralyzed the industry of the country +ever since the outbreak of the revolution, Mexico was in no condition +to respond promptly to demands for money. But national +pride forbade the idea of surrendering without a blow. The military +resources of the country and of the Castle of San Juan de +Ulua, were, accordingly, mustered with due celerity, and the assailed +department of Vera Cruz entrusted to the defence of Santa +Anna, whose fame had been somewhat refreshed by his victory +over Mexia. Meanwhile the French fleet kept up a stringent +blockade of Vera Cruz, and still more crippled the commercial +revenues of Mexico by cutting off the greater part of its most valuable +trade. Finding, however, that neither the blockade nor additional +diplomacy would induce the stubborn government to accede +to terms which the Mexicans knew would finally be forced + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[Pg 323]</a></span> +on them, the French squadron attacked the city with forces landed +from the vessels, whilst they assailed the redoubtable castle with +three frigates, a corvette and two bomb vessels, whence, during an +action of six hours, they threw three hundred and two shells, one +hundred and seventy-seven paixhan, and seven thousand seven hundred +and seventy-one solid shot. The assaults upon the town were +not so successful as those on the castle, where the explosion of a +magazine forced the Mexicans to surrender. The troops that had +been landed were not numerous enough to hold the advantages they +gained; and it was in gallantly repulsing a storming party at the +gates of the city, that Santa Anna lost a leg by a parting shot from +a small piece of ordnance as the French retreated on the quay to +their boats.</p> + +<p>The capture of the castle, however, placed the city at the mercy +of the French, and the Mexicans were soon induced to enter into +satisfactory stipulations for the adjustment of all debts and difficulties.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>In 1839, General Canales fomented a revolt in some of the +north-eastern departments. The proposal of this insurgent was +to form a republican confederation of Coahuila, Tamaulipas, and Durango, +which three states or departments, he designed should adopt +for themselves the federal constitution of 1824, and, assuming the +title of the independent "Republic of the Rio Grande," should +pledge themselves to co-operate with Texas against Bustamante +and the centralists. An alliance was entered into with Texas to +that effect, and an expedition of united Texans and Republicans of +the Rio Grande, was set on foot to occupy Coahuila; but at the +appearance of General Arista in the field early in 1840, and after +an action in which the combined forces were defeated, Canales left +the discomfitted Texans to seek safety by hastening back to their +own territory.</p> + +<p>The administration of Bustamante was sorely tried by foreign +and domestic broils, for, whilst Texas and the Republic of the Rio +Grande were assailing him in the north, the federalists attacked +him in the capital, and the Yucatecos revolted in the south. This +last outbreak was not quelled as easily as the rebellion in the north; +nor was it, in fact, until long afterwards during another administration, +that the people of the Peninsula were again induced to +return to their allegiance. Bustamante seems to have vexed the +Yucatecos by unwise interference in the commercial and industrial +interests of the country. The revolt was temporarily successful; + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[Pg 324]</a></span> +On the 31st of March, 1841, a constitution was proclaimed in +Yucatan, which erected it into a free and sovereign state, and exempted +the people from many burdens as well as the odious intolerance +of all other religions except the Roman Catholic, that had +been imposed by both the federal constitution of 1824 and the central +one of 1836.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>The discontent with Bustamante's administration, arising chiefly +from a consumption duty of 15 per cent. which had been imposed +by congress, was now well spread throughout the republic. The +pronunciamiento of Urrea on the 15th of July, 1840, at the palace +of Mexico was mainly an effort of the federalists to put down violently +the constitution of 1836; and although the insurgents had +possession, at one period, of the person of the president, yet the +revolt was easily suppressed by Valencia and his faithful troops in +the capital.</p> + +<p>But, a year later, the revolutionary spirit had ripened into readiness +for successful action. We have reason to believe that the +most extensive combinations were made by active agents in all +parts of Mexico to ensure the downfall of Bustamante and the +elevation of Santa Anna. Accordingly, in August, 1841, a <i>pronunciamiento</i> +of General Paredes, in Guadalajara, was speedily +responded to by Valencia and Lombardini in the capital, and by +Santa Anna himself at Vera Cruz. But the outbreak was not confined +merely to proclamations or the adhesion of military garrisons; +for a large body of troops and citizens continued loyal to the president +and resolved to sustain the government in the capital. This +fierce fidelity to the constitution on the one hand, and bitter +hostility to the chief magistrate on the other, resulted in one of the +most sanguinary conflicts that had taken place in Mexico since the +early days of independence. For a whole month the contest was +carried on with balls and grape shot in the streets of Mexico, +whilst the rebels, who held the citadel outside the city, finished the +shameless drama, by throwing a shower of bombs into the metropolis, +shattering the houses, and involving innocent and guilty, +citizens, strangers, combatants and non-combatants, in a common +fate. This cowardly assault under the orders of Valencia, was +made solely with the view of forcing the citizens, who were unconcerned +in the quarrel between the factions, into insisting upon the +surrender of Mexico, in order to save their town and families from +destruction. There was a faint show of military manœuvres in the +fields adjoining the city; but the troops on both sides shrank from + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[Pg 325]</a></span> +battle when they were removed from the protecting shelter of walls +and houses. At length, the intervention of Mexican citizens +who were most interested in the cessation of hostilities, produced +an arrangement between the belligerants at Estanzuela near the +capital, and, finally, the <span class="smcap">Plan of Tacubaya</span> was agreed on by +the chiefs—as a substitute for the constitution of 1836. By the +seventh article of this document, Santa Anna was effectually invested +with dictatorial powers until a new constitution was formed.</p> + +<p>The Plan of Tacubaya provided that a congress should be convened, +in 1842, to form a new constitution, and in June, a body of +patriotic citizens, chosen by the people, assembled for that purpose +in the metropolis. Santa Anna opened the session with a speech +in which he announced his predilection for a strong central government, +but he professed perfect willingness to yield to whatever +might be the decision of congress. Nevertheless, in December of +the same year, after the assembly had made two efforts to form a +constitution suitable to the country and the cabinet, president Santa +Anna,—in spite of his professed submission to the national will +expressed through the representatives,—suddenly and unauthorizedly, +dissolved the congress. It was a daring act; but Santa +Anna knew that he could rely upon his troops, his officers, and the +mercantile classes for support. The capital wanted quietness for a +while; and the interests of trade as well as the army united in confidence +in the strong will of one who was disposed to maintain +order by force.</p> + +<p>After congress had been dissolved by Santa Anna, there was, of +course, no further necessity of an appeal to the people. The +nation had spoken, but its voice was disregarded. Nothing therefore +remained, save to allow the dictator, himself, to frame the +organic laws; and for this purpose he appointed a Junta of Notables, +who proclaimed, on the 13th of June, 1843, an instrument +which never took the name of a constitution, but bore the mongrel +title of "Bases of the Political Organization of the Mexican Republic." +It is essentially <i>central</i>, in its provisions; and whilst it is +as intolerant upon the subject of religion, as the two former fundamental +systems, it is even less popular in its general provisions than +the constitution of 1836.</p> + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<div class="fn"> +<h4>Footnotes</h4> +<p><a name="Footnote_64_64" id="Footnote_64_64"></a><a href="#FNanchor_64_64"> + <span class="label">[64]</span></a> Alaman Disertaciones, vol. i, p. 219.</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote_65_65" id="Footnote_65_65"></a><a href="#FNanchor_65_65"> + <span class="label">[65]</span></a> The following letter + from Santa Anna to a distinguished foreigner, will afford +the reader a specimen of his personal modesty and political humility. The individual +to whom it was written, was afterwards expelled by Santa Anna from the republic +during his presidency, after having been invited by him to the country:</p> + +<div class="signature">"<span class="smcap">Vera Cruz</span>, October 11th, 1831.</div> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">My Esteemed Friend:</span>—I have the pleasure to answer your favor of the 5th +ultimo, by which I perceive that my letter of the 9th of April last, came to hand. +I have received the prospectus of the "Foreign College" you contemplate to establish, +which not only meets with my entire approbation, but, considering your +talents and uncommon acquirements, I congratulate you on employing them in a +manner so generally useful, and personally honorable. I thank you cordially for +the news and observations you have had the kindness to communicate to me, and +both make me desire the continuation of your esteemed epistles. <i>Retired as I am, +on my farm, and there exclusively devoted to the cultivation and improvement of my small +estate, I cannot reply, as I desire, to the news with which you have favored me.</i> But, even +in that retirement, and though separated from the arena of politics, I could never +view with indifference any discredit thrown on my country, nor any thing which +might, in the smallest degree, possess that tendency. We enjoy at present peace +and tranquillity, and I do not know of any other question of public interest now in +agitation, than the approaching <i>elections of President</i> and Vice President. When +that period shall arrive, should I obtain a majority of suffrages, I am <i>ready to accept</i> +the honor, and to sacrifice, for the benefit of the nation my repose and the charms +of private life. <i>My fixed system is to be called</i> (ser llamado), resembling in this a +<i>modest maid</i> (modesta doncella), <i>who rather expects to be desired, than to show herself to +be desiring</i>. I think that my position justifies me in this respect. Nevertheless, as +what is written in a foreign country has much influence at home, especially among +us, in your city I think it proper to <i>make a great step on this subject</i>; and by fixing the +true aspect, in which such or such services should be regarded, as respects the +various candidates, one could undoubtedly contribute <i>to fix here public opinion, which +is at present extremely wavering and uncertain</i>. Of course, this is the peculiar province +of the friends of Mexico; and as well by this title, as on account of the acquirements +and instruction you possess, <i>I know of no one better qualified than yourself +to execute such a benevolent undertaking</i>. * * * * *</p> + +<p>"I hope you will favor me from time to time with information, which will always +give satisfaction to your <i>true friend</i> and servant, who kisses your hands."</p> + +<div class="signature">"<span class="smcap">Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna.</span>"</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_66_66" id="Footnote_66_66"></a><a href="#FNanchor_66_66"> + <span class="label">[66]</span></a> See Gen. Waddy Thompson's + Recollections of Mexico, p. 69, for Santa Anna's +wretched vindication of these sanguinary deeds.</p> +</div> + + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[Pg 326]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER VII.<br /> +1843–1846.</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>RECONQUEST OF TEXAS PROPOSED.—CANALIZO PRESIDENT AD +INTERIM.—REVOLUTION UNDER PAREDES IN 1844.—SANTA +ANNA FALLS—HERRERA PRESIDENT—TEXAN REVOLT.—ORIGIN +OF WAR WITH THE UNITED STATES.—TEXAN WAR FOR +THE CONSTITUTION OF 1824—NATIONALITY RECOGNIZED—ANNEXATION +TO THE UNITED STATES.—PROPOSITION TO MEXICO.—HERRERA +OVERTHROWN—PAREDES PRESIDENT—OUR MINISTER +REJECTED.—CHARACTER OF GENERAL PAREDES.</p> +</div> + +<p>After the foundation of the new system in 1843, the country +continued quiet for a while, and when the Mexican Congress met, +in January 1844, propositions were made by the executive department +to carry out Santa Anna's favorite project of reconquering +Texas. It is probable that there was not much sincerity in the +president's desire to march his troops into a territory the recollection +of which must have been, at least, distasteful to him. There is +more reason to believe that the large sum which it was necessary to +appropriate for the expenses of the campaign—the management of +which would belong to the administration,—was the real object he +had in view. Four millions were granted for the reconquest, but +when Santa Anna demanded ten millions more while the first grant +was still uncollected, the members refused to sustain the president's +demand. The congressmen were convinced of that chieftain's rapacity, +and resolved to afford him no further opportunity to plunder +the people under the guise of patriotism.</p> + +<p>Santa Anna's sagacious knowledge of his countrymen immediately +apprised him of approaching danger, and having obtained permission +from congress to retire to his estate at Mango de Clavo, near Vera +Cruz, he departed from the capital, leaving his friend General Canalizo +as president <i>ad interim</i>. Hardly had he reached his plantation +in the midst of friends and faithful troops, when a revolt burst out +in Jalisco, Agnas Calientes, Zacatecas, Sinaloa and Sonora, against +his government, headed by General Paredes. Santa Anna rapidly +crossed the country to suppress the rebellion, but as he disobeyed + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[Pg 327]</a></span> +the constitutional compact by taking actual command of the army +whilst he was president, without the previous assent of congress, he +became amenable to law for this violation of his oath. He was soon +at enmity with the rebels and with the constitutional congress, and +thus a three fold contest was carried on, chiefly through correspondence, +until the 4th of January, 1845, when Santa Anna finally fell. +He fled from the insurgents and constitutional authorities towards +the eastern coast, but being captured at the village of Jico, was conducted +to Peroté, where he remained imprisoned under a charge and +examination for treason, until an amnesty for the late political factionists +permitted him to depart on the 29th of May, 1845, with his +family, for Havana.</p> + +<p>Upon Santa Anna's ejection from the executive chair, the president +of the council of government, became under the laws of the +country, provisional president of the republic. This person was +General José Joaquim de Herrera, during whose administration the +controversies rose which resulted in the war between Mexico and +the United States.</p> + +<p>The thread of policy and action in both countries is so closely +interwoven during this pernicious contest, that the history of the war +becomes, in reality, the history of Mexico for the epoch. We are +therefore compelled to narrate, succinctly, the circumstances that led +to that lamentable issue.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>The first <i>empresario</i>, or contractor, for the colonization of Texas, +was Moses Austin, a native citizen of the United States, who, as +soon as the treaty of limits between Spain and our country was concluded +in 1819, conceived the project of establishing a settlement in +that region. Accordingly, in 1821 he obtained from the Commandant +General of the Provincias Internas, permission to introduce three +hundred foreign families. In 1823, a national colonization law was +approved by the Mexican Emperor Iturbide during his brief reign, +and on the 18th of February, Stephen F. Austin, who had succeeded +his father, after his death, in carrying out the project, was authorized +to proceed with the founding of the colony. After the emperor's +fall, this decree was confirmed by the first executive council in conformity +to the express will of congress.</p> + +<p>In 1824 the <i>federal</i> constitution of Mexico was, as we have +narrated, adopted, by the republican representatives, upon principles +analogous to those of the constitution of the United States; and by +a decree of the 7th of May, Texas and Coahuila were united in a +<i>state</i>. In this year another <i>general</i> colonization law was enacted + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[Pg 328]</a></span> +by congress, and foreigners were invited to the new domain by a +special state colonization law of Coahuila and Texas.</p> + +<p>Under these local laws and constitutional guaranties, large numbers +of foreigners flocked to this portion of Mexico, opened farms, +founded towns and villages, re-occupied old Spanish settlements, +introduced improvements in agriculture and manufactures, drove off +the Indians, and formed, in fact, the nucleus of an enterprizing +and progressive population. But there were jealousies between the +race that invited the colonists, and the colonists who accepted the +invitation. The central power in the distant capital did not estimate, +at their just value, the independence of the remote pioneers, +or the state-right sovereignty to which they had been accustomed +at their former home in the United States. Mexico was convulsed +by revolutions, but the lonely residents of Texas paid no attention +to the turmoils of the factionists. At length, however, direct acts +of interference upon the part of the national government, not only +by its ministerial agents, but by its legislature, excited the mingled +alarm and indignation of the colonists, who imagined that in +sheltering themselves under a republic they were protected as amply +as they would have been under the constitution of the North American +Union. In this they were disappointed; for, in 1830, an arbitrary +enactment—based no doubt upon a jealous dread of the +growing value and size of a colony which formed a link between +the United States and Mexico by resting against Tamaulipas and +Louisiana, on the north and south,—prohibited entirely the future +immigration of American settlers into Coahuila and Texas. To +enforce this decree and to watch the loyalty of the actual inhabitants, +military posts, composed of rude and ignorant Mexican soldiers, +were sprinkled over the country. And, at last, the people of Texas +found themselves entirely under military control.</p> + +<p>This suited neither the principles nor tastes of the colonists, who, +in 1832, took arms against this warlike interference with their +municipal liberty, and after capturing the fort at Velasco, reduced +to submission the garrisons at Anahuac and Nacogdoches. The +separate state constitution which had been promised Texas in 1824, +was never sanctioned by the Mexican Congress, though the colonists +prepared the charter and were duly qualified for admission. +But the crisis arrived when the centralists of 1835, overthrew the +federal constitution of 1824. Several Mexican states rose independently +against the despotic act. Zacatecas fought bravely for +her rights, and saw her people basely slain by the myrmidons of +Santa Anna. The legislature of Coahuila and Texas was dispersed + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[Pg 329]</a></span> +by the military; and, at last, the whole republic, save the pertinacious +North Americans, yielded to the armed power of the resolute +oppressor.</p> + +<p>The alarmed settlers gathered together as quickly as they could +and resolved to stand by their federative rights under the charter +whose guaranties allured them into Mexico. Meetings were held in +all the settlements, and a union was formed by means of correspondence. +Arms were next resorted to and the Texans were victorious +at Gonzales, Goliad, Bejar, Conception, Lepantitlan, San Patricio +and San Antonio. In November they met in consultation, and in an +able, resolute and dignified paper, declared that they had only taken +up arms in defence of the constitution of 1824; that their object was +to continue loyal to the confederacy if laws were made for the guardianship +of their political rights, and that they offered their lives and +arms in aid of other members of the republic who would rightfully +rise against the military despotism.</p> + +<p>But the other states, in which there was no infusion of North +Americans or Europeans, refused to second this hardy handful of +pioneers. Mexico will not do justice, in any of her commentaries +on the Texan war, to the motives of the colonists. Charging +them with an original and long meditated design to rob the republic +of one of its most valuable provinces, she forgets entirely or +glosses over, the military acts of Santa Anna's invading army, in +March, 1836, at the Alamo and Goliad, which converted resistance +into revenge. After those disgraceful scenes of carnage peace +was no longer possible. Santa Anna imagined, no doubt, that he +would terrify the settlers into submission if he could not drive them +from the soil. But he mistook both their fortitude and their force; +and, after the fierce encounter at San Jacinto, on the 21st of April, +1836, with Houston and his army, the power of Mexico over the +insurgent state was effectually and forever broken.</p> + +<p>After Santa Anna had been taken prisoner by the Texans, in +this fatal encounter, and was released and sent home through the +United States in order to fulfil his promise to secure the recognition +of Texan independence, the colonists diligently began the +work of creating for themselves a distinct nationality, for they +failed in all their early attempts to incorporate themselves with the +United States during the administrations of Jackson and Van Buren. These +presidents were scrupulous and faithful guardians of national +honor, while they respected the Mexican right of reconquest. +Their natural sympathies were of course yielded to Texas, but +their executive duties, the faith of treaties, and the sanctions of + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[Pg 330]</a></span> +international law forbade their acceding to the proposed union. +Texas, accordingly, established a national government, elected her +officers, regulated her trade, formed her army and navy, maintained +her frontier secure from assault, and was recognized as, <i>de +facto</i>, an independent sovereignty by the United States, England, +France and Belgium. But these efforts of the infant republic did +not end in mere preparations for a separate political existence +and future commercial wealth. The rich soil of the lowlands +along the numerous rivers that veined the whole region soon attracted +large accessions of immigrants, and the trade of Texas +began to assume significance in the markets of the world.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile Mexico busied herself, at home, in revolutions, or +in gathering funds and creating armies, destined, as the authorities +professed, to reconquer the lost province. Yet all these military +and financial efforts were never rendered available in the field, +and, in reality, no adequate force ever marched towards the frontier. +The men and money raised through the services and contributions +of credulous citizens were actually designed to figure in +the domestic drama of political power in the capital. No hostilities, +of any significance, occurred between the revolutionists and +the Mexicans after 1836, for we cannot regard the Texan expedition +to Santa Fé, or the Mexican assault upon the town of +Mier as belligerant acts deserving consideration as grave efforts +made to assert or secure national rights.</p> + +<p>Such was the condition of things from 1836 until 1844, during +the whole of which period Texas exhibited to the world a far better +aspect of well regulated sovereignty than Mexico herself. On +the 12th of April of that year, more than seven years after Texas +had established her independence, a treaty was concluded by President +Tyler with the representatives of Texas for the annexation of +that republic to the United States. In March, 1845, Congress +passed a joint resolution annexing Texas to the union upon certain +reasonable conditions, which were acceded to by that nation, +whose convention erected a suitable state constitution, with which +it became finally a member of our confederacy. In the meantime, +the envoys of France and England, had opened negotiations for the +recognition of Texan independence, which terminated successfully; +but when they announced their triumph, on the 20th of May, 1845, +Texas was already annexed conditionally to the United States by +the act of congress.</p> + +<p>The joint resolution of annexation, passed by our congress, was +protested against by General Almonte, the Mexican minister at that + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[Pg 331]</a></span> +period in Washington, as an act of aggression "the most unjust +which can be found in the annals of modern history" and designed +to despoil a friendly nation of a considerable portion of her territory. +He announced, in consequence, the termination of his mission, +and demanded his passports to leave the country. In Mexico, +soon after, a bitter and badly conducted correspondence took +place between the minister of foreign affairs and Mr. Shannon, our +envoy. And thus, within a brief period, these two nations found +themselves unrepresented in each other's capital and on the eve +of a serious dispute.</p> + +<p>But the government of the United States,—still sincerely anxious +to preserve peace, or at least, willing to try every effort to +soothe the irritated Mexicans and keep the discussion in the cabinet +rather than transfer it to the battle field,—determined to use +the kindly efforts of our consul, Mr. Black, who still remained in +the capital, to seek an opportunity for the renewal of friendly intercourse. +This officer was accordingly directed to visit the minister +of foreign affairs and ascertain from the Mexican government +whether it would receive an envoy from the United States, invested +with full power to adjust all the questions in dispute between +the two governments. The invitation was received with +apparent good will, and in October, 1845, the Mexican government +agreed to receive one, commissioned with full powers to settle +the dispute in a peaceful, reasonable and honorable manner.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>As soon as this intelligence reached the United States, Mr. John +Slidell was dispatched as envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary +on the supposed mission of peace; but when he reached +Vera Cruz in November, he found the aspect of affairs changed. +The government of Herrera, with which Mr. Black's arrangement +had been made, was tottering. General Paredes, a leader popular +with the people and the army, availing himself of the general animosity +against Texas, and the alleged desire of Herrera's cabinet +to make peace with the United States, had determined to overthrow +the constitutional government. There is scarcely a doubt that +Herrera and his ministers were originally sincere in their desire to +settle the international difficulty, and to maintain the spirit of the +contract they had made. But the internal danger, with which they +were menaced by the army and its daring demagogue, induced +them to prevaricate as soon as Mr. Slidell presented his credentials +for reception. All their pretexts were, in reality, frivolous, when +we consider the serious results which were to flow from their enunciation. + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">[Pg 332]</a></span> +The principal argument against the reception of our +minister was, that his commission constituted him a regular envoy, +and that, he was not confined to the discussion of the Texan question +alone. Such a mission, the authorities alleged, placed the +countries at once, diplomatically, upon an equal and ordinary footing +of peace, and their objection therefore, if it had any force, at +all, was to the fact, that we exhibited through the credentials of +our envoy, the strongest evidence that one nation can give to +another of perfect amity! We had, in truth, no questions in dispute +between us, except boundary and indemnity;—for Texas, as +a sovereignty acknowledged by the acts, not only of the United +States and of European powers, but in consequence of her own +maintenance of perfect nationality and independence, had a right to +annex herself to the United States. The consent of Mexico to acknowledge +her independence in 1845, under certain conditions, +effectually proved this fact beyond dispute.</p> + +<p>Whilst the correspondence between Slidell and the Mexican +ministry was going on, Paredes continued his hostile demonstrations, +and, on the 30th of December, 1845, president Herrera, who +anxiously desired to avoid bloodshed, resigned the executive chair +to him without a struggle. Feeble as was the hope of success with +the new authorities, our government, still anxious to close the contest +peacefully, directed Mr. Slidell to renew the proposal for his +reception to Paredes. These instructions he executed on the first +of March, 1846, but his request was refused by the Mexican +minister of foreign affairs, on the twelfth of that month, and our +minister was forthwith obliged to return from his unsuccessful +mission.</p> + +<p>All the public documents, and addresses of Paredes, made during +the early movements of his revolution and administration, breathe +the deadliest animosity to our union. He invokes the god of battles, +and calls the world to witness the valor of Mexican arms. +The revolution which raised him to power, was declared to be +sanctioned by the people, who were impatient for another war, in +which they might avenge the aggressions of a government that +sought to prostrate them. Preparations were made for a Texan +campaign. Loans were raised, and large bodies of troops were +moved to the frontiers. General Arista, suspected of kindness to +our country, was superceded in the north by General Ampudia, +who arrived at Matamoros on the 11th of April, 1846, with two +hundred cavalry, followed by two thousand men to be united with +the large body of soldiery already in Matamoros.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">[Pg 333]</a></span> + These military demonstrations denoted the unquestionable design +and will of Paredes, who had acquired supreme power by a +revolution founded upon the solemn pledge of hostility against the +United States and reconquest of Texas. His military life in Mexico +made him a despot. He had no confidence in the ability of his +fellow-citizens to govern themselves. He believed republicanism +an Utopian dream of his visionary countrymen. Free discussion +through the press was prohibited, during his short rule, and his +satellites advocated the establishment of a throne to be occupied by +an European prince. These circumstances induced our government +to believe, that any counter-revolution in Mexico, which might +destroy the ambitious and unpatriotic projects of Paredes, would +promote the cause of peace, and accordingly, it saw with pleasure, +the prospect of a new outbreak which might result in the downfall, +and total destruction of the greatest enemy we possessed on the +soil of our sister republic.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 300px;"> + <a name="illus-333.jpg" id="illus-333.jpg"></a> + <img src="images/illus-333.jpg" width="300" height="205" alt="Signature of Lopez de Santa Anna" title="" /> +</div> + + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">[Pg 334]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER VIII.<br /> +1846.</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>GENERAL TAYLOR ORDERED TO THE RIO GRANDE.—HISTORY OF +TEXAN BOUNDARIES.—ORIGIN OF THE WAR.—MILITARY PREPARATIONS—COMMENCEMENT +OF HOSTILITIES.—BATTLES OF +PALO ALTO AND RESACA.—MATAMOROS—TAYLOR'S ADVANCE.—FALL OF MONTEREY.</p> +</div> + +<p>Whilst Slidell was negotiating, and, in consequence of the +anticipated failure of his effort to be received,—as was clearly +indicated by the conduct of the Mexican government upon his arrival +in the capital,—General Taylor, who had been stationed at +Corpus Christi, in Texas, since the fall of 1845, with a body of +regular troops, was directed, on the 13th of January, 1846, to move +his men to the mouth of the Rio Grande. He, accordingly left his +encampment on the 8th of March, and, on the 25th, reached Point +Isabel, having encountered no serious opposition on the way. The +march to the Rio Grande has been made the subject of complaint +by politicians in Mexico and the United States, who believed that +the territory lying between that river and the Nueces, was not the +property of Texas. But inasmuch as Mexico still continued vehemently +to assert her political right over <i>the whole of Texas</i>, the +occupation of any part of its soil, south of the Sabine, by American +troops, was in that aspect of the case, quite as much an infringement +of Mexican sovereignty, as the march of our troops, from the +Nueces to the Rio Grande.</p> + +<p>As it is important that the reader should understand the original +title to Louisiana, under which the boundary of the Rio Grande, +was claimed, first of all for that state, and, subsequently, for Texas, +we shall relate its history in a summary manner.</p> + +<p>Louisiana had been the property of France, and by a secret contract +between that country and Spain in 1762, as well as by treaties +between France, Spain, and England, in the following year, the +French dominion was extinguished on the continent of America. +In consequence of the treaty between this country and England in +1783, the Mississippi became the western boundary of the United +States, from its source to the thirty-first degree of north latitude, + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">[Pg 335]</a></span> +and thence, on the same parallel, to the St. Mary's. France, it +will be remembered, had always claimed dominion in Louisiana to +the Rio Bravo del Norte, or Rio Grande; by virtue:—</p> + +<p>1st. Of the discovery of the Mississippi from near its source to +the ocean.</p> + +<p>2d. Of the possession taken, and establishment made by La +Salle, at the bay of Saint Bernard, west of the river Trinity and +Colorado, by authority of Louis XIV. in 1635—notwithstanding +the subsequent destruction of the colony.</p> + +<p>3d. Of the charter of Louis XIV. to Crozat in 1712.</p> + +<p>4th. Of the historical authority of Du Pratz, Champigny and +the Count de Vergennes.</p> + +<p>5th. Of the authority of De Lisle's map, and of the map published +in 1762, by Don Thomas Lopez, Geographer to the king of +Spain, as well as of various other maps, atlases, and geographical +authorities.</p> + +<p>By an article of the secret treaty of San Ildefonso in October, +1800, Spain retroceded Louisiana to France, but this treaty was +not promulgated until the beginning of 1802. The paragraph of +cession is as follows: "His Catholic majesty engages to retrocede +to the French republic, six months after the full and entire execution +of the conditions and stipulations above recited, relative to his +royal highness the Duke of Parma, the colony and province of +Louisiana, with the same extent that it already has in the hands of +Spain, <i>and that it had when France possessed it</i>, and, such as it +should be, after the treaties passed subsequently between Spain and +other powers." In 1803, Bonaparte, the first consul of the French +republic, ceded Louisiana to the United States, as fully, and in the +same manner, as it had been retroceded to France by Spain, under +the treaty of San Ildefonso; and, by virtue of this grant, Messrs. +Madison, Monroe, Adams, Clay, Van Buren, Jackson, and Polk, +contended that the original limit of the new state had been the +Rio Grande. However, by the third article of our treaty with +Spain, in 1819, all our pretensions to extend the territory of Louisiana +towards Mexico on the Rio Grande, were abandoned by +adopting the river Sabine as our boundary in that quarter.</p> + +<p>The Mexican authorities upon this subject are either silent or +doubtful. No light is to be gathered from the geographical researches +of Humboldt, whose elucidations of New Spain are in +many respects the fullest and most satisfactory. In the year 1835, +Stephen Austin published a map of Texas, representing the Nueces +as the western confine,—and in 1836, General Almonte the former + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">[Pg 336]</a></span> +minister from Mexico to the United States, published a memoir +upon Texas in which, whilst describing the Texan department of +Bejar, he says—"That notwithstanding it has been hitherto believed +that the Rio de las Nueces is the dividing line of Coahuila +and Texas, inasmuch as it is always thus represented on maps, I +am informed by the government of the state, that geographers have +been in error upon this subject; and that the true line should commence +at the mouth of the river Aransaso, and follow it to its +source; thence, it should continue by a straight line until it strikes +the junction of the rivers Medina and San Antonio, and then, pursuing +the east bank of the Medina to its head waters, it should +terminate on the confines of Chihuahua."<a name="FNanchor_67_67" id="FNanchor_67_67"></a> + <a href="#Footnote_67_67" class="fnanchor">[67]</a></p> + +<p>The true origin of the Mexican war was not this march of Taylor +and his troops from the Nueces to the Rio Grande, through the +debatable land. The American and Mexican troops were brought +face to face by the act, and <i>hostilities</i> were the natural result +after the exciting annoyances upon the part of the Mexican government +which followed the union of Texas with our confederacy. +Besides this, General Paredes, the usurping president, had already +declared in Mexico, on the <i>18th of April, 1846</i>, in a letter addressed +to the commanding officer on the northern frontier, that he +supposed him at the head of a valiant army on the theatre of action;—and +that it was indispensable to commence hostilities, <i>the +Mexicans themselves taking the initiative</i>!</p> + +<p>We believe that our nation and its rulers earnestly desired honorable +peace, though they did not shun the alternative of war. +It was impossible to permit a conterminous neighbor who owed +us large sums of money, and was hostile to the newly adopted +state, to select unopposed her mode and moment of attack. Mexico +would neither resign her pretensions upon Texas, negotiate, +receive our minister, nor remain at peace. She would neither +declare war, nor cultivate friendship, and the result was, that +when the armies approached each other, but little time was lost in +resorting to the cannon and the sword.</p> + +<p>As soon as General Taylor reached the Rio Grande he left a +command at the mouth of the river, and taking post opposite +Matamoros erected a fort, the guns of which bore directly upon the +city. The Mexicans, whose artillery might have been brought to +play upon the works, from the opposite side of the river, made no +hostile demonstration against the left bank for some time, nor did +they interrupt the construction of the fort. Reinforcements, however, + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">[Pg 337]</a></span> +were constantly arriving in the city. Ampudia and Arista +were there. Interviews were held between the Mexican authorities +and our officers, in which the latter were ordered to retire from +the soil it was alleged they were usurping. But as this was a +diplomatic, and not a military question, General Taylor resolved to +continue in position, though his forces were perhaps inadequate to +contend with the augmenting numbers of the foe. He examined +the country thoroughly by his scouting parties and pushed his reconnoissances, +on the left bank, from Point Isabel to some distance +beyond his encampment opposite Matamoros. Whilst engaged in +this service, some of his officers and men were captured or killed +by the <i>ranchero</i> cavalry of the enemy; and, on the 24th of April, +Captain Thornton who had been sent to observe the country +above the encampment with sixty-three dragoons, fell into an ambuscade, +out of which they endeavored to cut their way, but were +forced to surrender with a loss of sixteen killed and wounded. +This was the first blood spilled in actual conflict.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> + <a name="illus-337-f.jpg" id="illus-337-f.jpg"></a> + <img src="images/illus-337-f.jpg" width="400" height="232" alt="Life near the river" title="" /> + <p class="caption2">MATAMOROS.</p> +</div> +<p> </p> + +<p>Meanwhile, in the United States, the news of Taylor's supposed +danger, greatly exaggerated by rumor, was spread far and wide. +An actual war had, perhaps, not been seriously apprehended. Taylor +had been expressly commanded to refrain from aggression. It was +supposed that the mere presence of our troops on the frontier would +preserve Texas from invasion, and that negotiations would ultimately +terminate the dispute. This is the only ground upon which +we can reasonably account for the apparent carelessness of our +government in not placing a force upon the Rio Grande, adequate +to encounter all the opposing array. Congress was in session +when the news reached Washington. The president immediately +announced the fact, and, on the 13th of May, 1846, ten millions of +dollars were appropriated to carry on the war, and fifty thousand +volunteers were ordered to be raised. An "<span class="smcap">Army of the West</span>" +was directed to be formed under the command of Kearney, at fort +Leavenworth, on the Missouri, which was to cross the country to +the Pacific, after capturing New Mexico. An "<span class="smcap">Army of the +Centre</span>," under General Wool, was to assemble at San Antonio +de Bejar whence it was to march upon Coahuila and Chihuahua, +and, whilst the heart and the west of Mexico were penetrated by +these officers, it was designed that Taylor should make war on the +northern and eastern states of the Mexican republic. In addition +to these orders to the army, the naval forces, under Commodores +Stockton and Sloat in the Pacific, and Commodore Conner, in the +Gulf of Mexico, were commanded to co-operate with our land + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">[Pg 338]</a></span> +forces, to harass the enemy, and to aid, with all their power, in +the subjugation and capture of Mexican property and territory.</p> + +<p>Immediately after Thornton's surrender, General Taylor, availing +himself of authority with which he had been invested to call upon +the governors of Louisiana and Texas for military aid, demanded +four regiments of volunteers from each state, for the country in the +neighborhood of the Rio Grande was alive with belligerant Mexicans. +He then visited the fortifications opposite Matamoros, and +finding the garrison but scantly supplied with provisions, hastened +back to Point Isabel with a formidable escort, and obtaining the +requisite rations, commenced his march back to Matamoros and +the fort on the 7th of May. But, in the interval, General Arista, +had crossed the Rio Grande with his forces, and on the 8th, our +General encountered him, drawn up in battle array at Palo Alto +and ready to dispute his passage along the road. A sharp engagement +ensued between the two armies from two o'clock in the afternoon +until nearly dark, when the Mexicans withdrew from the +action for the night. Our total force in this affair, according to +official reports, was two thousand two hundred and eighty-eight, +while that of Mexico, according to the admission of the officers, +amounted to six thousand regulars with a large and probably undisciplined +force drawn, at random, from the country.</p> + +<p>The night of the 8th was passed with some anxiety in the American +camp, for the fierce conflict of the day induced many prudent +officers to believe it best either to return to Point Isabel or await +reinforcements before again giving battle to the enemy. General +Taylor heard and weighed the opinions of his most reliable officers, +but, after due reflection, determined to advance. The condition +of the fort opposite Matamoros demanded his urgent aid. The +moral effect of a retreat would be great, at the commencement of a +war, both on Mexico and our own troops; and, moreover, he had +perfect confidence in the disciplined regulars who sustained so +nobly the brunt of the first battle.</p> + +<p>Accordingly the troops were advanced early on the 9th, for they +found, at day dawn, that the Mexicans had abandoned Palo Alto +for a stronger position nearer the centre of action and interest at +Matamoros. After advancing cautiously, in readiness for immediate +battle, our men came up with the Mexicans, in the Resaca +de la Palma, or as it is properly called La Resaca del Guerrero,—the +"Ravine of the Warrior," which afforded them a natural defence +against our approach along the road. The ravine, curved +across the highway and was flanked by masses of prickly plants + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">[Pg 339]</a></span> +aloes, and undergrowth, matted into impenetrable thickets, known +in Mexico as <i>chapparal</i>. The action was begun by the infantry in +skirmishes with the foe, and after the centre of the position on the +road had been severely harassed and damaged by our flying artillery, +a gallant charge of the dragoons broke the Mexican lines and +opened a pathway to Matamoros. The engagement lasted a short +time after this combined movement of artillery and cavalry, but, +before night fall the enemy was in full flight to the river and our +garrison at the fort joyously relieved. In the interval, this position +had been bombarded and cannonaded by the Mexicans from the +opposite side of the river, and its commanding officer slain. In +memory of his valiant defence, the place has been honored with the +name of Fort Brown.</p> + +<p>After General Taylor had occupied Matamoros on the 18th of +May,—and he was only prevented from capturing it and all the +Mexican forces and ammunition on the night of the 9th by the +want of a ponton train, which he had vainly demanded,—he established +his base line for future operations in the interior, along +the Rio Grande, extending several hundred miles near that stream. +His task of organizing, accepting, or rejecting the multitudes of +recruits who flocked to his standard, was not only oppressive but +difficult, for he found it hard to disappoint the patriotic fervor of +hundreds who were anxious to engage in the war. The Quatermaster's +department, too, was one of incessant toil and anxiety; +because, called unexpectedly and for the first time into active service +in the field, it was comparatively unprepared to answer the +multitude of requisitions that were daily made upon it by the +government, the general officers, and the recruits. The whole +material of a campaign was to be rapidly created. Money was to +be raised; steamers bought; ships chartered; wagons built and +transported; levies brought to the field of action; munitions of war +and provisions distributed over the whole vast territory which it +was designed to occupy! Whilst these things were going on, the +country, at home, was ripe, and most eager for action.</p> + +<p>Nor was our government inattentive to the internal politics of +Mexico. It perceived at once that there was no hope of effecting +a peace with the administration of Paredes, whose bitter hostility +was of course, not mitigated by the first successes of our arms. +Santa Anna, it will be recollected had left Mexico after the amnesty +in 1845, and it was known there was open hostility between +him and Paredes who had contributed so greatly to his downfall. +Information was, moreover, received from reliable sources in Washington, + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">[Pg 340]</a></span> +that a desire prevailed in the republic to recall the banished +chief and to seat him once more in the presidential chair; and, at +the same time, there was cause to believe that if he again obtained +supreme power he would not be averse to accommodate matters +upon a satisfactory basis between the countries. Orders were, +accordingly issued to Commodore Conner, who commanded the +home squadron in the gulf, to offer no impediment if Santa Anna approached +the coast with a design of entering Mexico. The exiled +president was duly apprised of these facts, and when the revolution +actually occurred in his favor in the following summer and his rival +fell from power, he availed himself of the order to pass the lines of +the blockading squadron at Vera Cruz.</p> + +<p>After General Taylor had completely made his preparations to +advance into the interior along his base on the Rio Grande, he +moved forward gradually, capturing and garrisoning all the important +posts along the river. At length the main body of the army, +under Worth and Taylor reached the neighborhood of Monterey, +the capital of the state of New Leon, situated at the foot of the +Sierra Madre on a plain, but in a position which would enable it +to make a stout resistance, especially as it was understood that the +Mexican army had gathered itself up in this stronghold, which was +the key of the northern provinces and on the main highway to the +interior, in order to strike a death blow at the invaders. On the +5th of September, the divisions concentrated at Marin, and on the +9th they advanced to the Walnut Springs, which afterwards became, +for so long a period, the headquarters of the gallant "<span class="smcap">Army +of Occupation</span>."</p> + +<p>Reconnoissances of the adjacent country were immediately made +and it was resolved to attack the city by a bold movement towards +its southern side that would cut off its communications through the +gap in the mountains by which the road led to Saltillo. Accordingly +General Worth was detached on this difficult but honorable +service with a strong and reliable corps, and, after excessive toil, +hard fighting and wonderful endurance upon the part of our men, +the desired object was successfully gained. An unfinished and +fortified edifice called the Bishop's Palace, on the summit of a steep +hill was stormed and taken, and thus an important vantage ground, +commanding the city by a plunging shot, was secured.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, General Taylor seeking to withdraw or distract the +enemy from his designs on the southern and western sides of the +city, made a movement under General Butler, of Kentucky, upon +its northern front. What was probably designed only as a feint + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">[Pg 341]</a></span> +soon became a severe and deadly conflict. Our men,—especially +the volunteers,—eager to flesh their swords in the first conflict +with which the war indulged them, rushed into the city, which +seems to have been amply prepared, in that quarter, with barricades, +forts, loop-holes, and every means of defence suitable for +the narrow streets and flat roofed and parapeted houses of a Spanish +town. After the first deadly onset there was, of course, no +intention or desire to abandon the conflict, fatal as its prosecution +might ultimately become. On they fought from street to street, +and house to house, and yard to yard, until night closed over the +dying and the dead. On the second day a different system of +approach was adopted. Instead of risking life in the street which +was raked from end to end by artillery, or rendered untenable by +the hidden marksmen who shot our men from behind the walls of +the house tops, our forces were thrown into the dwellings, and +breaking onward through walls and enclosures, gradually mined +their way towards the plaza or great square of Monterey.</p> + +<p>Thus, both divisions under the eyes of Worth, Butler and Taylor, +successfully performed their assigned tasks, until it became +evident to the Mexicans that their town must fall, and, that if +finally taken by the sword, it would be given up to utter destruction +and pillage. A capitulation was therefore proposed by Ampudia +who stipulated for the withdrawal of his forces and an armistice. +Our force was in no condition to seize, hold, and support a large +body of prisoners of war, nor was it prepared immediately to follow +up the victory by penetrating the interior. General Taylor, who +was resolved not to shed a single drop of needless blood in the +campaign, granted the terms; and, thus, this strong position, garrisoned +by nearly ten thousand troops, sustained by more than forty +pieces of artillery, yielded to our army of seven thousand, unsupported +by a battering train and winning the day by hard fighting +alone. The attack began on the 21st of September, continued +during the two following days, and the garrison capitulated on the +24th. This capitulation and armistice were assented to by our +commander after mature consultation and approval of his principal +officers. The Mexicans informed him, that Paredes had been deposed,—that +Santa Anna was in power, and that peace would +soon be made; but the authorities, at home, eager for fresh victories, +or pandering to public and political taste, did not approve +and confirm an act, for which General Taylor has, nevertheless received, +as he truly merits, the just applause of impartial history.</p> + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<div class="fn"> +<h4>Footnote</h4> +<p><a name="Footnote_67_67" id="Footnote_67_67"></a><a href="#FNanchor_67_67"> + <span class="label">[67]</span></a> Memorias para la historia de la Guerra + de Tejas, vol. ii, p. 543.</p> +</div> + + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342">[Pg 342]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER IX.<br /> +1846–1847.</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>GENERAL WOOL INSPECTS AND MUSTERS THE WESTERN TROOPS.—ARMY +OF THE CENTRE.—NEW MEXICO—KEARNEY—MACNAMARA—CALIFORNIA.— + FRÉMONT—SONOMA—CALIFORNIAN +INDEPENDENCE—POSSESSION TAKEN.—SLOAT—STOCKTON.—A REVOLT—PICO—TREATY +OF COUENGA.—KEARNEY AT +SAN PASCUAL—IS RELIEVED—DISPUTES—SAN GABRIELLE—MESA—LOS ANGELES.—FRÉMONT'S +CHARACTER, SERVICES, +TRIAL.</p> +</div> + +<p>General Wool, who had been for a long period inspector general +of the United States army, was entrusted with the difficult +task of examining the recruits in the west, and set forth on his +journey after receiving his orders on the 29th of May, 1846. He +traversed the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee +and Mississippi, and, in somewhat less than two months, +had journeyed three thousand miles and mustered twelve thousand +men into service. This expedition of a hardy soldier exhibits, at +once, the powers of a competent American officer, and the facility +with which an efficient <i>corps d'armée</i>, may at any urgent moment, +be raised in our country.</p> + +<p>Nearly nine thousand of these recruits were sent to Taylor on the +Rio Grande, while those who were destined for the "Army of the +Centre," rendezvoused at Bejar, in Texas. At this place their +commander Wool joined them, and commenced the rigid system +of discipline, under accomplished officers, which made his division +a model in the army. He marched from Bejar with five hundred +regulars and two thousand four hundred and fifty volunteers, on the +20th of September, and passed onwards through Presidio, Nava, +and across the Sierra of San José and Santa Rosa, and the rivers +Alamos, Sabine, and del Norte, until he reached Monclova. He +had been directed to advance to Chihuahua, but as this place was +in a great measure controlled by the states of New Leon and Coahuila +which were already in our possession, he desisted from pursuing +his march thither, and, after communicating with General +Taylor and learning the fall of Monterey, he pushed on to the fertile +region of Parras and thence to the headquarters of General +Taylor, in the month of December, as soon as he was apprised of +the danger which menaced him at that period.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343">[Pg 343]</a></span> + We have already said that it was part of our government's original +plan to reduce New Mexico and California,—a task which +was imposed upon Colonel Kearney, a hardy frontier fighter, long +used to Indian character and Indian warfare—who, upon being +honored with the command was raised to the rank of Brigadier +General. This officer moved from Fort Leavenworth on the 30th +of June, towards Santa Fé, the capital of New Mexico, with an +army of sixteen hundred men, and after an unresisted march of +eight hundred and seventy-three miles, he reached his destination +on the 18th of August. Possession of the place was given without +a blow, and it is probable that the discreet Armijo yielded to the +advice of American counsellors in his capital, in surrendering +without bloodshed to our forces. Kearney had been authorized to +organize and muster into service a battalion of emigrants to Oregon +and California, who eagerly availed themselves of this favorable +military opportunity to reach their distant abodes on the shores of +the Pacific. After organizing the new government of Santa Fé, +forming a new code of organic laws, and satisfying himself of the +stability of affairs in that quarter, Kearney departed on his mission +to California. But he had not gone far when he was met by an +express with information of the fall of that portion of Mexico, and +immediately sent back the main body of his men, continuing his +route through the wilderness with the escort of one hundred +dragoons alone. In September of this year, a regiment of New +York volunteer infantry had been despatched thither also, by sea, +under the command of Colonel Stevenson.</p> + +<p>There is evidence in existence that shortly before the commencement +of this war, it had been contemplated to place a large +portion of the most valuable districts of California, indirectly, under +British protection, by grants to an Irish Catholic clergyman named +Macnamara, who projected a colony of his countrymen in those +regions. He excited the Mexicans to accede to his proposal by +appeals to their religious prejudices against the Protestants of the +north, who, he alleged, would seize the jewel unless California +was settled by his countrymen whose creed would naturally unite +them with the people and institutions of Mexico. "Within a +year, he declared, California would become a part of the American +nation; and, inundated by cruel invaders, their Catholic institutions +would be the prey of Methodist wolves." The government +of Mexico granted three thousand square leagues in the rich valley +of San Joaquin, embracing San Francisco, Monterey, and Santa +Barbara, to this behest of the foreign priest; but his patent could + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344">[Pg 344]</a></span> +not be perfected until the governor of California sanctioned his +permanent tenure of the land.</p> + +<p>In November, 1845, Lieutenant Gillespie was despatched from +Washington with verbal instructions to Captain Frémont who had +been pursuing his scientific examinations of California, and had +been inhospitably ordered by the authorities to quit the country. +Early in March of 1846, the bold explorer was within the boundaries +of Oregon, where he was found, in the following May, by Gillespie, +who delivered him his verbal orders and a letter of credence +from the Secretary of State.</p> + +<p>In consequence of this message, Frémont abandoned his camp +in the forest, surrounded by hostile Indians, and moved south to +the valley of the Sacramento, where he was at once hailed by the +American settlers, who, together with the foreigners generally, had +received orders from the Mexican General Castro, to leave California. +Frémont's small band immediately formed the nucleus of a +revolutionary troop, which gathered in numbers as it advanced +south, and abstaining guardedly from acts which might disgust the +people, they injured no individuals and violated no private property. +On the 14th of June, Sonoma was taken possession of, and +was garrisoned by a small force, under Mr. Ide, who issued a proclamation, +inviting all to come to his camp and aid in forming a +republican government. Coure and Fowler, two young Americans, +were murdered about this period in the neighborhood, and +others were taken prisoners under Padilla. But the belligerants +were pursued to San Raphael by Captain Ford, where they were +conquered by the Americans; and, on the 25th of June, Frémont, +who heard that Castro was approaching with two hundred +men, joined the camp at Sonoma. Thus far, every thing had +been conducted with justice and liberality by our men. They studiously +avoided disorderly conduct or captures, and invariably +promised payment for the supplies that were taken for the support +of the troopers. The Californians were in reality gratified by the +prospect of American success in their territory, for they believed +that it would secure a stable and progressive government, under +which, that beautiful region would be gradually developed.</p> + +<p>On the 5th of July, the Californian Americans declared their +independence, and organizing a battalion, of which Frémont was +the chief, they raised the standard of the Bear and Star.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> + <a name="illus-366-f.jpg" id="illus-366-f.jpg"></a> + <img src="images/illus-366-f.jpg" width="400" height="231" alt="A distant community near the mountains" title="" /> + <p class="caption2">MONTEREY.</p> +</div> +<p> </p> + +<p>Frémont, at the head of his new battalion, moved his camp to +Sutter's Fort on the Sacramento and whilst he was preparing, in +July, to follow General Castro to Santa Clara, he received the joyful + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_345" id="Page_345">[Pg 345]</a></span> +news that Commodore Sloat had raised the American flag on +the 7th of the month at Monterey, and that war actually existed +between Mexico and the United States. The Californian Americans +of course immediately abandoned their revolution for the +national war, and substituted the American ensign for the grisly +emblem under which they designed conquering the territory.</p> + +<p>On the 8th of July, Commander Montgomery took possession +of San Francisco, and soon after, Frémont joined Commodore +Sloat at Monterey. Sloat, who had in reality acted upon the faith +of Frémont's operations in the north, knowing that Gillespie had +been sent to him as a special messenger, and having heard, whilst +at Mazatlan, of the warlike movements on the Rio Grande, was +rather fearful that he had been precipitate in his conduct; but he +resolved to maintain what he had done; and accordingly, when +admiral Sir George Seymour, arrived in the Collingwood at Monterey, +on the 6th of July, the grants to the Irish clergyman were +not completed, and the American flag was already floating on every +important post in the north of California. Seymour took Macnamara +on board his ship, and thus the hopes of the British partizans +were effectually blighted when the Admiral and his passenger sailed +from the coast.</p> + +<p>Commodore Stockton arrived at Monterey during this summer +and Sloat returned to the United States, leaving the Commodore +in command. Frémont and Gillespie, who were at the head of +forces on shore determined to act under the orders of the naval +commander, and Stockton immediately prepared for a military +movement against the city of Los Angeles, where, he learned, that +General Castro and the civil governor Pico had assembled six hundred +men. Frémont and the Commodore, embarking their forces +at Monterey, sailed for San Pedro and San Diego, where, landing +their troops, they united and took possession of Los Angeles on +the 13th of August. The public buildings, archives and property +fell into their possession without bloodshed, for Castro, the commanding +general, fled at their approach. Stockton issued a proclamation +announcing these facts to the people on the 17th of +August, and having instituted a government, directed elections, +and required an oath of allegiance from the military. He appointed +Frémont, military commandant and Gillespie, secretary. On +the 28th of August he reported these proceedings to the government +at Washington, by the messenger who was met by General +Kearney, as we have already related, on his way from Santa Fé to +the Pacific. Carson, the courier, apprised the General of the conquest + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_346" id="Page_346">[Pg 346]</a></span> +of California, and was obliged by him to return as his guide, +whilst a new messenger was despatched towards the east, with the +missives, escorted by the residue of the troop which was deemed +useless for further military efforts on the shores of the Pacific.</p> + +<p>But before Kearney reached his destination, a change had come +over affairs in California. Castro returned to the charge in September +with a large Mexican force headed by General Flores, and +the town of Los Angeles and the surrounding country having +revolted, expelled the American garrison. Four hundred marines +who landed from the Savannah under Captain Mervine, were repulsed, +while the garrison of Santa Barbara, under Lieutenant +Talbott had retired before a large body of Californians and Mexicans. +Frémont, immediately resolving to increase his battalion, +raised four hundred and twenty-eight men, chiefly from the emigrants +who moved this year to California. He mounted his troopers +on horses procured in the vicinity of San Francisco and Sutter's +Fort, and marched secretly but quickly to San Luis Obispo, where +he surprised and captured Don Jesus Pico, the commandant of that +military post. Pico having been found in arms had broken his +parole, given during the early pacification, and a court-martial +sentenced him to be shot; but Frémont, still steadily pursuing his +humane policy towards the Californians, pardoned the popular and +influential chieftain, who, from that hour, was his firm friend +throughout the subsequent troubles.</p> + +<p>On Christmas day of 1846, amid storm and rain, in which a +hundred horses and mules perished, Frémont and his brave battalion +passed the mountain of Santa Barbara. Skirting the coast +through the long maritime pass at Punto Gordo,—protected on +one flank by one of the vessels of the navy, and assailed, on the +other, by fierce bands of mounted Californians,—they moved +onward until they reached the plain of Couenga where the enemy +was drawn up with a force equal to their own. Frémont summoned +the hostile troops to surrender, and after their consent to a +parley, went to them with Don Jesus Pico and arranged the terms +of the capitulation, by which they bound themselves to deliver their +arms to our soldiers and to conform, at home, to the laws of the +United States, though no Californians should be compelled to take +an oath of allegiance to the United States, until the war was ended +and the treaty either exonerated them or changed their nationality.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile General Kearney, on his westward march from Santa +Fé, had reached a place called Warner's <i>Rancho</i>, thirty-three miles +from San Diego, where a captured Californian mail for Sonoma +apprised him that the southern part of the territory was wrested + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_347" id="Page_347">[Pg 347]</a></span> +from our troops. The letters exulted over our discomfiture, but it +was supposed that, as usual in Mexico, they exaggerated the misfortune +of the Americans. Kearney's small troop was much enfeebled +by the long and fatiguing journey it had made from Santa +Fé amid great privations. From Warner's Rancho the commander +communicated with Stockton by means of a neutral Englishman, +and, on the 5th of December, was joined by Gillespie, who informed +him, that a mounted Californian force, under Andres Pico, +was prepared to dispute his passage towards the coast. On the +6th the Americans left the <i>rancho</i>, resolving to come suddenly upon +the enemy, and confident that the usual success of our troops would +attend the exploit;—but the fresh forces of this hardy and brave +Californian band, composed perhaps, of some of the most expert +horsemen in that region, were far more than a match for the toil-worn +troopers of Kearney. Eighteen of our men were killed in +this action at San Pascual, and thirteen wounded. For several +days the camp of the Americans was besieged by the fierce and +hardy children of the soil. The provisions of the beleagured band +were scant, and it was almost entirely deprived of water. Its position +was, in every respect, most disastrous, and, in all probability, +it would have perished from famine or fallen an easy prey to the +Mexicans, had not the resolute Carson, accompanied by Lieutenant +Beale and an Indian, volunteered to pass the dangerous lines of the +enemy to seek assistance at San Diego. These heroic men performed +their perilous duty, and Lieutenant Grey, with a hundred +and eighty soldiers and marines, reached and relieved his anxious +countrymen on the 10th of December, bringing them, in two days, +to the American camp at San Diego.</p> + +<p>As soon as the band had recruited its strength, Kearney naturally +became anxious to engage in active service. He had been sent to +California, according to the language of his instructions, to conquer +and govern it; but he found Commodore Stockton already in the +position of governor, with an ample naval force at his orders, +whilst the broken remnant of the dragoons who accompanied him +from Santa Fé, was altogether incompetent to subdue the revolted +territory. By himself therefore, he was altogether inadequate for +any successful military move. Stockton, quite as anxious as Kearney +to engage in active hostilities, was desirous to accompany the +general as his aid; but Kearney declined the service, and, in turn, +volunteered to become the aid of Stockton. The commodore, less +accustomed, perhaps, to military etiquette than to prompt and useful +action at a moment of difficulty, resolved at once to end the game of +idle compliments, and accepted the offer of General Kearney; but, + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_348" id="Page_348">[Pg 348]</a></span> +before they departed, Stockton agreed that he might command the +expedition in a position subordinate to him as commander-in-chief.</p> + +<p>On the 29th of December, with sixty volunteers, four hundred +marines, six heavy pieces of artillery, eleven heavy wagons, and +fifty-seven dragoons composing the remains of General Kearney's +troop, they marched towards the north, and, on the 7th of January, +found themselves near the river San Gabrielle, the passage of which +the enemy, with superior numbers under General Flores, was prepared +to dispute. It was a contest between American sailors and soldiers, +and California horsemen, for the whole Mexican troop was +mounted; yet the Americans were successful and crossed the river. +This action occurred about nine miles from Los Angeles, and our +men pushed on six miles further, till they reached the Mesa, a level +prairie, where Flores again attacked them and was beaten off. Retreating +thence to Couenga, the Californians, refusing to submit to +Stockton and Kearney, capitulated, as we have already declared to +Colonel Frémont, who had been raised to this rank by our government. +On the morning of the 10th of January, 1847, the Americans +took final possession of Los Angeles. Soon after this a government +was established for California, which was to continue until the +close of the war or until the government or the population of the +region changed it.</p> + +<p>The disputes which arose between Stockton, Kearney, and Frémont, +as to the right to command in California, under the orders +from their respective departments, are matters rather of private and +personal interest than of such public concern as would entitle them +to be minutely recounted in this brief sketch of the Mexican war. +It is impossible to present a faithful idea of the controversy and its +merits without entering into a detail of all the circumstances, but +for this, we have no space, in the present history. Strict military +etiquette appears to have demanded of Kearney, immediately upon +his arrival, the assertion of his right to command as a general officer +operating in the interior of the country. This was a question solely +between Stockton and himself, in which Frémont, a subordinate +officer, recently transplanted from the Topographical corps into the +regular army as a Colonel, had of course, no interest save that of +duty. Nevertheless he became involved in the controversy between +the claimants, and although raised to the rank of Governor of California, +by Commodore Stockton, he was deprived of his authority +when General Kearney subsequently assumed that station. The +disputes between the Commodore and the General seem to have +arisen under the somewhat conflicting instructions of the War and + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_349" id="Page_349">[Pg 349]</a></span> +Navy Departments, and were calculated, as distinguished officers +afterwards declared officially, to "embarrass the mind, and to excite +the doubts of officers of greater experience" than the Colonel.</p> + +<p>Although Frémont's services were lost for a while on the shores +of the Pacific, he was not forgotten either there, or at home. What +he had done for his country in that remote region by exploring its +solitudes with his hardy band; what he added to geographical and +general science; what regions he almost revealed to American +pioneers; what services he rendered in securing a happy issue to +the war in California—have all been recollected with gratitude and +rewarded with the virgin honors of the new born State. But, at +that time, this brilliant officer who combined the science of Humboldt +with the energy and more than the generosity of Cortéz, was +doomed to suffer more than the temporary deprivation of power. +After the war was in reality over, after Commodore Stockton had +departed and General Kearney had assumed the governorship which +was subsequently given to Colonel Mason—Frémont was refused +permission to continue his scientific pursuits in California or to join +his regiment on the active fields of Mexico. When General Kearney +turned his face homewards, towards the close of the spring of +1847, Frémont was ordered to follow in his train across the mountains, +and was finally arrested at Fort Leavenworth, on the borders +of civilization. During the next winter he was tried by a Court +Martial on charges of mutiny, disobedience, and conduct to the +prejudice of good order and military discipline, and being found +guilty was sentenced to be dismissed the service. A majority of +the court, however, considering all the circumstances of the case, +recommended him to the lenient judgment of the President, who not +being satisfied that the facts proved the military crime of mutiny—though +he sustained the court's opinion otherwise—and recognizing +Frémont's previous meritorious and valuable services, released him +from arrest, restored his sword and ordered him to report for duty. +But Frémont, feeling unconscious, as he declared, of having done +any thing to merit the finding of the court, declined the offered +restoration to the service, as he could not, "by accepting the +clemency of the President, admit the justice of the decision against +him."</p> + + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_350" id="Page_350">[Pg 350]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER X.<br /> +1847.</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>VALLEY OF THE RIO GRANDE.—SANTA ANNA AT SAN LUIS.—SCOTT +COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF.—PLAN OF ATTACK ON THE EAST +COAST.—GENERAL SCOTT'S PLAN.—DONIPHAN'S EXPEDITION.—BRACITO—SACRAMENTO.—REVOLT +IN NEW MEXICO.—MURDER +OF RICHIE.—SELECTION OF BATTLE GROUND—DESCRIPTION +OF IT.—BATTLE OF ANGOSTURA OR BUENA VISTA.—MEXICAN +RETREAT—TOBASCO—TAMPICO.</p> +</div> + +<p>We return from the theatre of these military operations on the +shores of the Pacific, to the valley of the Rio Grande and the headquarters +of General Taylor. The armistice at Monterey had +ceased by the order of our government, and the commander of our +forces, leaving Generals Worth and Butler at Monterey and Saltillo +which had been seized, hastened with a sufficient body of +troops to the gulf for the purpose of occupying Tampico, the capital +of the state of Tamaulipas. But he did not advance further +than Victoria, when he found that Tampico had surrendered to +Commodore Conner on the 14th of November.</p> + +<p>In the meanwhile the political aspect of Mexico was changed +under the rule of Santa Anna who had returned to power, though +he had not realized the hopes of our president by acceding to an +honorable peace. A secret movement that was made by an agent +sent into the country proved altogether unsuccessful, for the people +were aroused against this union, and would listen, willingly, to no +advances for accommodation. Santa Anna, cautiously noted the +national feeling, and, being altogether unable to control or modify +it,—although he studiously refrained from committing himself +prior to his return to the capital,—he resolved to place himself at +the head of the popular movement in defence of the northern frontier. +Accordingly, in December, 1846, he had already assembled +a large force, amounting to twenty thousand men, at San Luis +Potosi, the capital of the state of that name south of Monterey, on +the direct road to the heart of the internal provinces, and nearly +midway between the gulf and the Pacific.</p> + +<p>The news of this hostile gathering which was evidently designed + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_351" id="Page_351">[Pg 351]</a></span> +to assail our Army of Occupation, soon reached the officers who had +been left in command at our headquarters during Taylor's absence; +and, in consequence of a despatch sent by express to General +Wool at Parras for reinforcements, that officer immediately put his +whole column in motion, and, after marching one hundred and +twenty miles in four days, found himself at Agua Nueva, within +twenty-one miles of Saltillo. Thus sustained, the officers in command, +awaited with anxiety, the movements of the Mexican chief +and the return of General Taylor.</p> + +<p>But, in the meantime, the administration at home, seeing the +inutility of continuing the attacks upon the more northern outposts +of Mexico,—which it was, nevertheless, resolved to hold as indemnifying +hostages, inasmuch as they were contiguous to our own +soil and boundaries,—determined to strike a blow at the vitals of +Mexico by seizing her principal eastern port and proceeding +thence to the capital. For this purpose, General Scott, who had +been set aside at the commencement of the war in consequence of +a rupture between himself and the war department whilst arranging +the details of the campaign,—was once more summoned into the +field and appointed commander-in-chief of the American army in +Mexico. Up to this period, November, 1846, large recruits of +regulars and volunteers had flocked to the standard of Taylor and +were stationed at various posts in the valley of the Rio Grande, +under the command of Generals Butler, Worth, Patterson, Quitman +and Pillow. But the project of a descent upon Vera Cruz, +which was warmly advocated by General Scott, made it necessary +to detach a considerable portion of these levies, and of their most +efficient and best drilled members. Taylor and his subordinate +commanders, were thus, placed in a mere defensive position, and +that, too, at a moment when they were threatened in front by the +best army that had been assembled for many a year in Mexico.</p> + +<p>It is probable that the government of the United States, at the +moment it planned this expedition to Vera Cruz and the capital, +was not fully apprised of the able and efficient arrangements of +Santa Anna, or imagined that he would immediately quit San +Luis Potosi in order to defend the eastern access to the capital, +inasmuch as it was not probable that Taylor would venture to +penetrate the country with impaired forces, which, in a strictly +military point of view, were not more than adequate for garrison +service along an extended base of three hundred miles. But, +as the sequel showed, they neither estimated properly the time +that would be consumed in concentrating the forces and preparing + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_352" id="Page_352">[Pg 352]</a></span> +the means for their transportation to Vera Cruz, nor +judged correctly of the military skill of Santa Anna, who naturally +preferred to crush the weak northern foe with his overwhelming +force than to encounter the strong battalions of veterans who were +to be led against him on the east by the most brilliant captain of +our country.</p> + +<p>The enterprise of General Scott was one of extraordinary magnitude +and responsibility. With his usual foresight he determined +that he would not advance until the expedition was perfectly complete +in every essential of certain success. Nothing was permitted +to disturb his equanimity or patient resolution in carrying out the +scheme as he thought best. He weighed all the dangers and all +the difficulties of the adventure, and placed no reliance upon the +supposed weakness of the enemy. This was the true, soldier-like +view of the splendid project; and if, at the time, men were found +inconsiderate enough to blame him for procrastinating dalliance, +the glorious result of his enterprise repaid him for all the petty +sneers and misconceptions with which his discretion was undervalued +by the carpet knights at home. There is but one point +upon which we feel justified in disagreeing with his plan of campaign. +He should not have weakened the command of General +Taylor in the face of Santa Anna's army. It was almost an invitation +to that chief for an attack upon the valley of the Rio Grande; +and had the Army of Occupation been effectually destroyed at Buena +Vista, scarcely an American would have remained, throughout +the long line of Taylor's base, to tell the tale of cruelties perpetrated +by the flushed and revengeful victors.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>Whilst events were maturing and preparations making in the +valley of the Rio Grande and the island of Lobos, we shall direct +our attention again for a short time to the central regions of the +north of Mexico in the neighborhood of Santa Fé.</p> + +<p>A considerable force of Missourians had been organized under +the command of Colonel Doniphan, and marched to New Mexico, +whence it was designed to despatch him towards Chihuahua. +Soon after General Kearney's departure from Santa Fé for California, +Colonel Price, who was subsequently raised to the rank of +general, reached that post with his western recruits and took command, +whilst Doniphan was directed, by orders from Kearney, +dated near La Joya, to advance with his regiment against the +Navajo Indians, who had threatened with war the New Mexicans, +now under our protection. He performed this service successfully; + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_353" id="Page_353">[Pg 353]</a></span> +and, on the 22d of November, 1846, made a treaty +with the chiefs, binding them to live in amity with the Spaniards +and Americans. Reassembling all his troops at Val Verde, he +commenced his march to the south, in the middle of December, +and, after incredible difficulties and great sufferings from inadequate +supplies and equipments he reached Chihuahua, fighting, on the +march, two successful actions against the Mexicans at Bracito, and +Sacramento. Having completely routed the enemy in the latter +contest, Chihuahua fell into his power. Here he tarried, recruiting +his toil-worn band, for six weeks, and, as the spring opened, +pushed onwards to the south until he reached the headquarters of +Taylor, whence he returned with his regiment to the United States. +His army marched five thousand miles during the campaign, and +its adventures form one of the most romantic episodes in the war +with Mexico.</p> + +<p>Whilst Doniphan was advancing southward, the command of +Price was well nigh destroyed in New Mexico and the wild region +intervening between its borders and the frontiers of the United +States. A conspiracy had been secretly organized, among the +Mexican and half-breed population, to rise against the Americans. +On the 19th of January, 1847, massacres occurred, simultaneously, +at Taos, Arroyo Hondo, Rio Colorado and Mora. At Taos, +Governor Charles Bent, one of the oldest and most experienced +residents in that region was cruelly slain, and a great deal of valuable +property destroyed by the merciless foe. Price received intelligence +of this onslaught on the 20th, and rapidly calling in his +outposts, marched with a hastily gathered band of about three +hundred and fifty men against the enemy, whom he met, attacked +and overawed on the 24th, at Cañada. Reinforced by Captain +Burgwin from Alburquerque, he again advanced against the insurgents; +and on the 28th, defeated a Mexican force estimated at fifteen +hundred, at the pass of El Embudo. Passing, thence, over +the Taos mountain, through deep snows, in midwinter, the resolute +commander pursued his way unmolested through the deserted settlement +which had been recently ravaged by the rebels, nor did he +encounter another force until he came upon the enemy at Pueblo, +when he stormed the fortified position, and gained the day but +with the loss of the gallant Burgwin and other valuable officers. +Mora was reduced again to subjection, early in February, by Captain +Morin; and, in all these rapid but successful actions, it is estimated +that near three hundred Mexicans paid the forfeit of their lives +for the cruel conspiracy and its fatal results.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_354" id="Page_354">[Pg 354]</a></span> + From this moment the tenure of our possessions in New Mexico +was no longer considered secure. The troops in that district were +not the best disciplined or most docile in the army, and, to the +dangers of another sudden outbreak among the treacherous Mexicans, +was added the fear of a sudden rising among the Indian +tribes who were naturally anxious to find any pretext or chance for +ridding the country of a foe whom they feared far more, as a permanent +neighbor, than the comparatively feeble half-breeds and +Mexicans.</p> + +<p>In December of 1846, Lieutenant Richie, who bore despatches +to Taylor apprising him of the meditated attack upon Vera Cruz, +was seized and slain by the Mexicans whilst on his way to the +headquarters, and, thus, Santa Anna became possessed of the plan +of the proposed campaign. The Army of Occupation had been +sadly impaired by the abstraction of its best material for future action +on the southern line under the commander-in-chief. But +General Taylor resolved at once to face the danger stoutly, and to +manifest no symptom of unsoldierlike querulousness under the injustice +he experienced from the government. Nevertheless,—prudent +in all things, and foreseeing the danger of his command, of +the lower country, and of the <i>morale</i> of the whole army, in the +event of his defeat,—he exposed the error of the war department +in his despatches to the adjutant general and secretary, so that +history, if not arms, might eventually do justice to his discretion +and fortitude.</p> + +<p>The note of preparation preceded, for some time, the actual advent +of Santa Anna from San Luis Potosi, and all was bustle in +the American encampments which were spread from Monterey to +Agua Nueva beyond Saltillo, in order to give him the best possible +reception under the circumstances. Wool was encamped with a +force at Agua Nueva, in advance on the road from Saltillo to San +Luis, about thirteen miles from the pass of Angostura, where the +road lies through a mountain gorge, defended, on one side, by a +small table land near the acclivities of the steep sierra and cut with +the channels of rough barrancas or ravines worn by the waters as +they descend from the summits, and, on the other by an extensive +net work of deep and impassable gullies which drained the +slopes of the western spurs.</p> + +<p>This spot was decided upon, as the battle ground in the event +of an attack, and the encampment at Agua Nueva, in front of it +was kept up as an extreme outpost, whence the scouts might be +sent forth to watch the approach of Santa Anna.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> + <a name="illus-354-f.jpg" id="illus-354-f.jpg"></a> + <img src="images/illus-354-f.jpg" width="400" height="232" alt="A mass of troops" title="" /> + <p class="caption2">SIERRA MADRE PASS.</p> +</div> +<p> </p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_355" id="Page_355">[Pg 355]</a></span> + On the 21st of February, the positive advance of that chief was +announced. The camp was immediately broken up, and all our +forces rapidly concentrated in the gorge of Angostura. Our troops +did not amount to more than four thousand six hundred and ninety +efficient men, while we had reason to believe that Santa Anna +commanded nearly five times that number and was greatly superior +to us in cavalry, a part of which, had been sent by secret paths +through the mountains, to the rear of our position, so as to cut off +our retreat, in the event of our failure in the battle.</p> + +<p>The great object of Taylor in selecting his ground and forming +his plan of battle, was to make his small army equal, as near as +possible, to that of Santa Anna, by narrowing the front of attack, +and thus concentrating his force upon any point through which the +Mexicans might seek to break. In other words, it was his design +to dam up the strait of Angostura with a living mass, and to leave +no portion of the unbroken ground on the narrow table-land undefended +by infantry and artillery. The battle ground that had been +selected was admirably calculated for this purpose; and his foresight +was justified by the result. It was not necessary for Taylor +to capture, or annihilate his enemy, for he was victor, if with, but +a single regiment, he kept the valley closed against the Mexicans. +The centre of the American line was the main road, in which was +placed a battery of eight pieces, reduced, during the action to five, +supported by bodies of infantry. On the right of the stream, which +swept along the edge of the western mountains, was a single regiment +and some cavalry, with two guns, which it was supposed, +would be sufficient, with the aid of the tangled gulleys to arrest the +Mexicans in that quarter. On the left of the stream, where the +ravines were fewer, and the plain between them wider, stood two +regiments of infantry, suitably furnished with artillery, and extending +from the central battery on the road, to the base of the eastern +mountains, on whose skirts an adequate force of cavalry and riflemen +was posted.</p> + +<p>In order to break this array, Santa Anna divided his army into +three attacking columns, each of which nearly doubled the whole of +Taylor's force. One of these, was opposed to the battery of eight +guns in order to force the road, and the other two were designed to +outflank our position by penetrating or turning the squadrons +stationed at the base of the mountains.</p> + +<p>On the afternoon of the 22d of February, the attack began by a +skirmishing attempt to pass to the rear of our left wing; but as the +Mexicans climbed the mountain, in their endeavor to outflank us + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_356" id="Page_356">[Pg 356]</a></span> +in that quarter, they were opposed by our infantry and riflemen, +who disputed successfully every inch of ground, until night closed +and obliged the Mexicans to retire. General Taylor, fearing an +attack from the cavalry upon Saltillo, immediately departed with a +suitable escort to provide for its safety, and left General Wool to +command during his absence.</p> + +<p>After day dawn, on the 23d, Santa Anna again commenced the +battle, by an attack upon the left wing, and, for a while, was withstood, +until a portion of our forces, after a brave defence, mistaking +an order to retire, for an order to retreat, became suddenly panic-struck, +and fled from the field. At this moment, Taylor returned +from Saltillo, and found the whole left of our position broken, +whilst the enemy was pouring his masses of infantry and cavalry +along the base of the eastern mountains towards our rear.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile the battery in the road had repulsed the Mexican +column sent against it, and spared three of its guns for service on +the upper plain. The regiment, on the right of the stream, had +been brought over to the left bank with its cannons, and was now, +in position with two other regiments, facing the mountains, between +which and this force, was a gap, through whose opening, +the Mexicans steadily advanced under a dreadful fire. Nearly all +the artillery had been concentrated at the same place, while, in +other parts of the field and nearer to the <i>hacienda</i> of Buena Vista, +in the American rear, were bodies of our cavalry, engaged in conflict +with the advancing foe.</p> + +<p>As Taylor approached this disastrous scene, he met the fugitives, +and speedily made his dispositions to stop the carnage. With a +regiment from Mississippi, he restrained a charge of Mexican cavalry, +and ordered all the artillery, save four guns, to the rear to +drive back the exulting Mexicans. This manœuvre was perfectly +successful, and, so dreadfully was the enemy cut up by the new +attack, that Santa Anna, availed himself of a <i>ruse</i>, by a flag of +truce, in order to suspend the action, whilst he withdrew his men.</p> + +<p>The transfer of so large a portion of Taylor's most efficient +troops to the rear of his original line, had greatly weakened his +front, in the best positions, where the inequalities of ground sustained +his feeble numbers. Santa Anna was not unmindful of the +advantage he had gained by these untoward events, and prepared +all his best reserves, which were now brought for the first time into +action, for another attack. Taylor had with him three regiments +and four pieces of artillery. His front was rather towards the +mountain than the open pass, while his back was towards the road + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_357" id="Page_357">[Pg 357]</a></span> +along the stream. On his right was the whole Mexican army; on +his left, far off in the rear, were the troops that had repulsed and +cut up the Mexican column; and the great effort, upon whose success +all depended, was to bring these dispersed squadrons again +into action, whilst he maintained the position against the assault +of the fresh reserves. As Santa Anna advanced with his inspirited +columns, he was met by regiments of infantry, which stood firm, +until, overwhelmed by numbers and driven into a ravine, they +were cruelly slaughtered. After the American infantry had been +overcome, the last hope was in the artillery, and, with this, the +Mexican advance was effectually stopped and the battle won.</p> + +<p>The whole day had been spent in fighting, and when night +came, the field was covered with dead. It was an anxious season +for our battered troops, and whilst all were solicitous for the event +of a contest, which it was supposed would be renewed on the morrow, +the greatest efforts were not only made to inspirit the troops +who had borne the brunt of two days' battle, but to bring up reinforcements +of artillery and cavalry that had been stationed between +Saltillo and Monterey. At day dawn, however, on the 24th, the +enemy was found to have retreated.</p> + +<p>This wonderful battle saved the north of Mexico and the valley +of the Rio Grande; for Miñon and Urrea were already in our rear +with regular troops and bands of <i>rancheros</i>, ready to cut up our +flying army, and descend upon our slender garrisons. Urrea captured +a valuable wagon train at Ramos, in the neighborhood of +Monterey. From the 22d to the 26th of February, he continually +threatened our weakened outposts, and from that period until the +7th of March inflicted severe injuries upon our trains and convoys +from the gulf. In the meantime Santa Anna retreated to San Luis +Potosi with the fragments of his fine army, and not long after, +General Taylor retired from a field of service, in which he was no +longer permitted to advance, or required except for garrison duty.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>In the months of October and November, 1846, Tobasco and +Tampico had yielded to our navy; the former after a severe attack +conducted by Commodore Matthew C. Perry, and the latter without +bloodshed.</p> + + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_358" id="Page_358">[Pg 358]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XI.<br /> +1846–1847.</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>SANTA ANNA'S RETURN—CHANGES HIS PRINCIPLES.—SALAS +EXECUTIVE.—CONSTITUTION OF 1824 RESTORED—PAREDES.—PLANS +OF SALAS AND SANTA ANNA—HIS LETTER TO ALMONTE—HIS +VIEWS OF THE WAR—REFUSES THE DICTATORSHIP—COMMANDS +THE ARMY.—STATE OF PARTIES IN MEXICO—PUROS—MODERADOS—SANTA +ANNA AT SAN LUIS.—PEACE +PROPOSITIONS—INTERNAL TROUBLES.—FARIAS'S CONTROVERSY +WITH THE CHURCH.—POLKO REVOLUTION IN THE +CAPITAL—VICE PRESIDENCY SUPPRESSED—IMPORTANT DECREE.</p> +</div> + +<p>When General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna landed from the +steamer Arab, after having been permitted to pass the line of our +blockading fleet at Vera Cruz he was received by only a few +friends. His reception was in fact not a public one, nor marked +by enthusiasm.</p> + +<p>By the revolution which overthrew Paredes, General Salas came +into the exercise of the chief executive authority, and as soon as +Santa Anna arrived he despatched three high officers to welcome +him, among whom was Valentin Gomez Farias, a renowned +leader of the federalist party, in former days a bitter foe of the +exiled chief. Santa Anna, in his communications with the revolutionists +from Cuba, had confessed his political mistake, in former +years, in advocating the central system. "The love of provincial +liberty," said he, in a letter to a friend dated in Havana on the 8th +of March, 1846, "being firmly rooted in the minds of all, and the +democratic principle predominating every where, nothing can be +established in a solid manner in the country, which does not conform +to these tendencies, nor can we without them attain either +order, peace, prosperity or respectability among foreign nations.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> + <a name="illus-359-f.jpg" id="illus-359-f.jpg"></a> + <img src="images/illus-359-f.jpg" width="400" height="232" alt="A military camp" title="" /> + <p class="caption2">FIELD OF BUENA VISTA.</p> +</div> +<p> </p> + +<p>"To draw every thing to the <i>centre</i>, and thus to give unity of +action to the republic as I at one time deemed best, is no longer +possible; nay, more, I say it is dangerous; it is contrary to the +object I proposed to myself in the Unitarian system, because we +thereby expose ourselves to the separation of the northern departments +which are most clamorous for freedom of internal administration. +* * * * I therefore urge you to use all your influence +to reconcile the liberals, communicating with Señor Farias and his + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_359" id="Page_359">[Pg 359]</a></span> +friends, in order to induce them to come to an understanding with +us. * * * * I will in future, support the claims of the +masses; leaving the people entirely at liberty to organize their +system of government and to regulate their offices in a manner that +may please them best."</p> + +<p>These declarations, and the knowledge of Santa Anna's sagacity +and influence with the masses had probably induced Farias to adhere +to the project of his recall which was embraced in the movements +of the revolutionists. And, accordingly, we find that upon +his landing, Santa Anna published a long manifesto to the people +which he concludes by recommending that, until they proclaim a +new constitution, the federal constitution of 1824 be readopted for +the internal administration of the country.</p> + +<p>Salas, who had previously ordered the governors of the departments +to be guided solely by the commands of Santa Anna, immediately +issued a <i>bando nacional</i>, or edict, countersigned by the acting +secretary of state, Monasterio, which embodied the views of the +returned exile, and proclaimed the constitution of 1824, in accordance +with his recommendation.</p> + +<p>Paredes, meanwhile, who had been taken prisoner on the 5th of +August, 1846, whilst attempting to fly the country, was held in +close confinement at the castle of Peroté. Some persons proposed +to treat him severely in consequence of his monarchical notions; +but Salas averted dexterously all the spiteful blows that were aimed +at him, and he was finally allowed to retire to Europe, where he +remained until a later period of the war, when he returned to yield +no significant services to his invaded country. Since the termination +of the contest he has paid the great debt of nature, on his +native soil, and a merciful pen will conceal the faults of a mixed +nature which was not unadorned by virtues, and, under other circumstances +and with different habits, might have made him a useful +ruler in Mexico.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>General Salas, who exercised supreme command from the 7th to +the 20th of August, professed to have done as little as possible +of his own will, and only what was urgently demanded by the necessity +of the case. He boasted, however, that he had effected +what he could "to aid the brave men who, in Monterey, have +determined to die rather than succumb to the invasion and perfidiousness +of the Americans." In his communications to Santa +Anna he urged him to hasten to Mexico as soon as possible to assume +his powers, and the Mexican gazettes commend him for refusing + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_360" id="Page_360">[Pg 360]</a></span> +to accept the pay of president while discharging the functions +of his office.</p> + +<p>On the 15th of August, Salas issued a proclamation, in which he +announced to his countrymen that a new insult had been offered to +them, and that another act of baseness had been perpetrated by the +Americans. He alluded to the Californias, which, he said, "the +Americans have now seized by the strong hand, after having villanously +robbed us of Texas." He announced that the expedition +which had been so long preparing would set forth in two days for +the recovery of the country, and that measures would be taken to +arrange the differences existing between the people of the Californias +and the various preceding central administrations. In conclusion, +he appealed eloquently to the Californians to second with +their best exertions the attempt which would be made to drive out +the Americans, and to unite their rich and fertile territories forever +to the Republic.</p> + +<p>During the administration of this chief, various proclamations +were issued to arouse the people to take part in the war, by enlisting +and by contributing their means. Efforts were also made +to organize the local militia, but with little effect.</p> + +<p>Santa Anna, in his reply to Salas on the 20th of August, accepts +the trust which is formally devolved upon him, and approves of the +acts of the latter, especially in sending forward all the troops to +Monterey, New Mexico, and California, and in summoning a Congress +for the 6th of December. These, he says, are the two first +wants of the nation, the formation of a constitution for the country, +and the purification of the soil of the country from foreign invaders. +These ends gained, he will gladly lay down his power. "My +functions will cease," he says, "when I have established the nation +in its rights; when I see its destinies controlled by its legitimate +representatives, and when I may be able, by the blessing of heaven, +to lay at the feet of the national representatives laurels plucked on +the banks of the Sabine—all of which must be due to the force +and the will of the Mexican people."</p> + +<p>Santa Anna at length quitted his hacienda, where he had doubtless +been waiting for the opportune moment to arrive when he +could best exhibit himself to the inhabitants of the capital, and profit +by their highest enthusiasm, pushed to an extreme by alternate +hopes and fears. On the 14th of September he reached Ayotla, a +small town distant twenty-five miles from the city of Mexico. +Here he received a communication from Almonte, the secretary +of war, <i>ad interim</i>, proposing to him the supreme executive + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_361" id="Page_361">[Pg 361]</a></span> +power, or dictatorship. This offer was made on the part of the +provisional government.</p> + +<p>Santa Anna immediately replied in the following strain to the +missive of his partizan:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>General <span class="smcap">Santa Anna</span>, commander-in-chief of the Liberating Army, +to General <span class="smcap">Almonte</span>, minister of war of the republic of Mexico.</p> + +<div class="signature"><span class="smcap">Ayotla</span>, 1 o'clock, A. M., Sept. 14, 1846.</div> + +<p><span class="smcap">Sir</span>: I have received your favor of this date, acknowledging a +decree issued by the supreme government of the nation, embracing +a programme of the proceedings adopted to regulate a due celebration +of the re-establishment of the constitution of 1824, the assumption +by myself of the supreme executive power, and the anniversary +of the glorious <i>grito</i> of Dolores.</p> + +<p>My satisfaction is extreme to observe the enthusiasm with which +preparations are made to celebrate the two great blessings which +have fallen upon this nation—her independence and her liberty—and +I am penetrated with the deepest gratitude to find that my arrival +at the capital will be made to contribute to the solemnities of +so great an occasion. In furtherance of this object I shall make +my entrée into that city to-morrow at midday, and desire, in contributing +my share to the national jubilee, to observe such a course +as may best accord with my duties to my country—beloved of my +heart—and with the respect due to the will of the sovereign people.</p> + +<p>I have been called by the voice of my fellow-citizens to exercise +the office of commander-in-chief of the army of the republic. I +was far from my native land when intelligence of this renewed confidence, +and of these new obligations imposed upon me by my country +was brought to me, and I saw that the imminent dangers which +surrounded her on all sides, formed the chief motive for calling me +to the head of the army. I now see a terrible contest with a perfidious +and daring enemy impending over her, in which the Mexican +republic must reconquer the insignia of her glory and a fortunate +issue, if victorious, or disappear from the face of the earth, if so +unfortunate as to be defeated. I also see a treacherous faction +raising its head from her bosom, which, in calling up a form of +government detested by the united nation, provokes a preferable +submission to foreign dominion; and I behold, at last, that after +much vacillation, that nation is resolved to establish her right to +act for herself, and to arrange such a form of government as best +suits her wishes.</p> + +<p>All this I have observed, and turned a listening ear to the cry of +my desolated country, satisfied that she really needed my weak + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_362" id="Page_362">[Pg 362]</a></span> +services at so important a period. Hence I have come, without +hesitation or delay, to place myself in subjection to her will; and, +desirous to be perfectly understood, upon reaching my native soil, +I gave a full and public expression of my sentiments and principles. +The reception which they met convinced me that I had not deceived +myself, and I am now the more confirmed in them, not from +having given them more consideration, but because they have found +a general echo in the hearts of my fellow-citizens.</p> + +<p>I come, then, to carry my views into operation, and in compliance +with the mandate of my country. She calls me as commander-in-chief +of the army, and in that capacity I stand ready to +serve. The enemy occupies our harbors—he is despoiling us of +the richest of our territories, and threatens us with his domination! +I go, then, to the head of the Mexican army—an army the offspring +of a free people—and joined with it, I will fulfil my utmost +duty in opposing the enemies of my country. I will die fighting, +or lead the valiant Mexicans to the enjoyment of a triumph to +which they are alike entitled by justice, by their warlike character, +and by the dignity and enthusiasm which they have preserved, of a +free nation. The war is a necessity of immediate importance; +every day's delay is, an age of infamy; I cannot recede from the +position which the nation has assigned me; I must go forward, +unless I would draw upon myself the censure due to ingratitude for +the favors with which I have been overwhelmed by my fellow-citizens; +or, unless I would behold her humbled and suffering +under a perpetuation of her misfortunes.</p> + +<p>Your excellency will at once perceive how great an error I +should commit in assuming the supreme magistracy, when my duty +calls me to the field, to fight against the enemies of the republic. +I should disgrace myself, if, when called to the point of danger, I +should spring to that of power! Neither my loyalty nor my honor +requires the abandonment of interests so dear to me. The single +motive of my heart is to offer my compatriots the sacrifice of that +blood which yet runs in my veins. I wish them to know that I +consecrate myself entirely to their service, as a soldier ought to do, +and am only desirous further to be permitted to point out the course +by which Mexico may attain the rank to which her destinies call her.</p> + +<p>In marching against the enemy, and declining to accept power, +I give a proof of the sincerity of my sentiments; leaving the +nation her own mistress, at liberty to dispose of herself as she +sees fit. The elections for members of a congress to form the constitution +which the people wish to adopt, are proceeding. That + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_363" id="Page_363">[Pg 363]</a></span> +congress will now soon convene, and while I shall be engaged in +the conflict in armed defence of her independence, the nation will +place such safeguards around her liberties as may best suit herself.</p> + +<p>If I should permit myself for a single moment, to take the reins +of government, the sincerity of my promises would be rendered +questionable, and no confidence could be placed in them.</p> + +<p>I am resolved that they shall not be falsified, for in their redemption +I behold the general good, as well as my honor as a Mexican +and a soldier. I cannot abandon this position. The existing +government has pursued a course with which the nation has shown +itself content, and I have no desire to subvert it by taking its place. +I feel abundant pleasure in remaining where I am, and flatter myself +that the nation will applaud my choice. I shall joyfully accept +such tasks as she shall continue to impose upon me; and while she +is engaged in promoting the objects of civilization, I will brave +every danger in supporting its benefits, even at the cost of my +existence.</p> + +<p>Will your excellency have the goodness to tender to the supreme +government my sincere thanks for their kindness? I will personally +repeat them to-morrow, for which purpose I propose to call at +the palace. I shall there embrace my friends, and hastily pressing +them to my heart, bid them a tender farewell, and set out to the +scene of war, to lend my aid to serve my country, or to perish +among its ruins.</p> + +<p>I beg to repeat to your excellency assurances of my continued +and especial esteem.</p> + +<div class="signature"><span class="smcap">Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna.</span></div> +</div> + +<p>On the 15th of September, Santa Anna arrived at the capital, +amid rejoicings more enthusiastic than had ever been witnessed +before. The people seemed to behold in him their saviour, and +were almost frantic with joy. The testimonies of attachment to +his person were unbounded, and the next day the most vigorous +measures, so far as declarations go, were adopted by the provisional +government.</p> + +<p>A levy of thirty thousand men to recruit the army was ordered. +Requisitions were forthwith transmitted to all the principal places +in the republic, for their respective quotas of men. Puebla, and +the whole of the towns within a circuit of fifty or sixty leagues of +the metropolis, are stated to have complied with the requisition for +troops, with the greatest alacrity. To facilitate the arming and +equipping of this large body, the government ordered that duties +on all munitions of war shall cease to be levied, until further notice.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_364" id="Page_364">[Pg 364]</a></span> + Santa Anna was thus once more in the capital and effectually at +the head of power; but he remained only a short time to attend to +political matters, and dreading, doubtless, to assume openly the +management of the government or to trust himself away from the +protection of the military, he hastened to surround his person with +the army;—as commander-in-chief, he effectually controlled all +the departments of the government.</p> + +<p>In order to perceive distinctly the perilous position of Santa +Anna, we must understand the state of parties in Mexico. The +revolution which placed him in power was brought about by a +union of the federalists with his partizans. Santa Anna, of course, +retained an influence over his adherents after arriving in Mexico; +but the federalists were divided into two parties—the <i>Puros</i> and +<i>Moderados</i>, or, democrats and conservatives. The dissensions in +these sections enabled Santa Anna, in a degree, to hold the balance +between them. <span class="smcap">Salas</span>, the acting executive, was a conservative, +and Gomez Farias, president of the council of government, was a +democrat. Intrigue after intrigue occurred in the cabinet and +elsewhere among the <i>ultras</i> to supplant Salas, and several resignations +gave evidence of the ill feeling and dissensions betwixt the +ministers—Cortina and Pacheco, both conservatives, resigned—and +so did Rejon and Farias. The National Guard intimated its +discontent with the condition of things very manifestly, and the +new cabinet was filled with old enemies of Santa Anna. Meanwhile +Almonte, the ablest man in the country, retained the ministry +of war.</p> + +<p>About this time the state of San Luis Potosi pronounced against +the presidency of General Salas, demanding that General Santa +Anna should assume the executive functions, or that some one +should be named by him. As a precaution against the apprehended +attempts upon his life, Salas retired on the 25th of October from +the capital to Tacubaya. The greater part of the permanent garrison +of the capital took up its quarters in the same place. Santa +Anna was probably determined that General Salas should not +obtain too absolute an ascendancy. Report said that Salas was +honest enough to attempt to carry into effect all the guaranties of +the revolution of Jalisco and the citadel, and that his policy did not +suit the chief; but Santa Anna professed to act in the utmost harmony +with him.</p> + +<p>This outbreak against the provisional government of General +Salas was soon suppressed, and Santa Anna remained in command +of the army at San Luis Potosi, but without making any attack + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_365" id="Page_365">[Pg 365]</a></span> +upon our forces on the Rio Grande after the defeat of Ampudia at +Monterey, or endeavoring to prevent our subsequent capture of +Victoria and Tampico.</p> + +<p>On the 23d of December congress voted, by states, for provisional +president and vice president. Each state had one vote in this election, +determined by the majority of its deputies. Twenty-two +states voted, including the federal district of Mexico, and two territories. +Santa Anna's opponent, Francisco Elorriega, was the +choice of nine states, and Gomez Farias was elected vice president. +The day before the election the members of the cabinet +threw up their portfolios; and, in the midst of his evident political +unpopularity with the politicians Santa Anna seems to have been +left by the authorities at San Luis Potosi with an army destitute of +efficient arms, of military knowledge, and of the means of support. +Santa Anna accepted the provisional presidency.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile our army had been advancing steadily since the battles +of Resaca de la Palma and Palo Alto on the 8th and 9th of +May, 1846. California had fallen into our hands, and New Mexico +had been subjugated. Tampico was, also, ours, and Taylor had +pushed his victorious army to Saltillo. Santa Anna stood, at bay, +in San Luis Potosi; for he was not yet prepared to fight, and +popular opinion would not permit him to negotiate. In this forlorn +condition he resorted to the usual occupation of the Mexican government +when in distress, and issued, despatch after despatch to +stimulate congress, the cabinet and the people in the lingering war.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>Nor was the government of the United States, meanwhile, inattentive +to this position of affairs in Mexico, or indisposed to afford the +government an opportunity to reconcile our difficulties by negotiation. +Two distinct efforts were made by Mr. Buchanan, our secretary +of state in the summer of 1846, and in January, 1847; but +both proved abortive, and we were therefore obliged to continue +hostilities.</p> + +<p>At length, when Santa Anna perceived the enfeebled condition +of General Taylor, and believed that Scott would be for a long +time hindered from effecting his attack upon Vera Cruz, he marched +to Buena Vista and experienced the sad reverse which we have already +recounted. As soon as the battle was over the wily and +discomfited chief immediately began to repair the losses of his +arms by the eloquence and adroitness of his pen. In a long account +of the battle he treats the affair as almost a victory, and +leaves the public mind of Mexico in doubt as to whether he had + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_366" id="Page_366">[Pg 366]</a></span> +been beaten or victorious. The few trophies, taken in the saddest +moments of the action, were sent in triumph to the interior and +paraded as the <i>spolia opima</i> in San Luis and the city of Mexico. +The public men of the country knew that Angostura had in reality +been lost, and Miñón who was seriously assailed in the press by +Santa Anna for not co-operating at the critical moment, published +a reply in which he treated Santa Anna in the plainest terms and +denounced, as false, the general's statement that his troops were +famishing for food on the 24th of February, and that his failure to +destroy Taylor's army was only owing to this important fact! +This system of mutual denunciation and recrimination was quite +common in Mexico, whenever a defeat was to be accounted for or +thrown on the shoulders of an individual who was not in reality +answerable for it.</p> + +<p>When Santa Anna returned to San Luis Potosi, he entered that +city with not one half the army that accompanied him on his departure +to the north. It was moreover worn out and disorganized +by the long and painful march over the bleak desert, and had entirely +lost its habit of discipline. Such was the condition of things +at San Luis in the month of March, when Santa Anna found himself +compelled to organize another force to resist the enemy on the +east; but whilst his attention was diligently directed to this subject +the sad news reached him, that Mexico was not only assailed from +without, but that her capital was torn by internal dissensions.</p> + +<p>The peace between the president, and the vice president, Don +Valentin Gomez Farias, had been cemented by the good offices +of mutual friends, though it is not likely that any very ardent friendship +could have sprung up suddenly between men whose politics +had always been so widely variant. Nor was there less difference +between the moral than the political character of these personages. +Santa Anna, the selfish, arrogant military chieftain,—a man of +unquestionable genius and talent for command,—had passed his +life in spreading his sails to catch the popular breeze, and by his +alliances with the two most powerful elements of Mexican society,—the +army and the church,—had always contrived to sustain his +eminent political position, or recover it when it was temporarily +lost. Such was the case in his return to power after the invasion +of the French, in the attack upon whom he fortunately lost a limb +which became a constant capital upon which to trade in the corrupt +but sentimental market of popular favor. Valentin Gomez +Farias, on the contrary was a pure, straightforward, uncompromising +patriot, always alive to the true progressive interests of the + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_367" id="Page_367">[Pg 367]</a></span> +Mexican nation, and satisfied that these could only be secured by +the successful imitation of our federal system, together with the +destruction of the large standing army, and the release of the large +church properties from the incubus of mortmain.</p> + +<p>There was much discontent in Mexico with the election of these +two personages to the presidency and vice presidency. Reflecting +men thought the union unnatural, and although the desperate times +required desperate remedies, there was something so incongruous +in the political alliance between Farias and Santa Anna, that little +good could be expected to issue from it. The clergy were alarmed +for its wealth, and the moderate party was frightened by the habitual +despotism of Santa Anna. The latter personage was in fact, +regarded with more favor at the moment by all classes, than Farias, +because the country had reason to believe him a man of action, and +familiar in times of danger and distress, with all its resources of +men and money; and as he was entirely occupied with the organization +and management of the army at San Luis, the opposition +party directed all its blows against the administration of the vice +presidency.</p> + +<p>A few days after the installation of the new government, the +agitation of the mortmain question was commenced in congress. +The Puro party united with the executive, made every effort to +destroy the power of the clergy, by undermining the foundation of +its wealth, while the Moderados became the supporters of the ecclesiastics, +under the lead of Don Mariano Otero.</p> + +<p>At length the law was passed, but it was not a frank and decided +act, destroying at once the privileges of the clergy and declaring +their possessions to be the property of the republic. In +fact it was a mere decree for the seizure of ecclesiastical incomes, +which threatened the non-complying with heavy fines if they did +not pay over to the civil authorities, the revenues which had formerly +been collected by the stewards of convents and monks.</p> + +<p>This act, comparatively mild as it was, and temporary as it +might have been considered, did not satisfy the clergy, even in this +moment of national peril. They resorted to the spiritual weapons +which they reserved for extreme occasions. They fulminated excommunications; +and published dreadful threats of punishment +hereafter for the crime that had been committed by placing an impious +hand upon wealth which they asserted belonged to God +alone. This conduct of the religious orders had its desired effect +not only among the people, but among the officers of government; +for the chief clerk of the finance department, Hurci, refused to + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_368" id="Page_368">[Pg 368]</a></span> +sign the law, and it was sometime before a suitable person could +be found to put the law in operation. Santa Anna adroitly kept +himself aloof from the controversy, and wrote from San Luis, that +he merely desired support for the army, and that in other questions, +especially those touching the clergy, he had no desire to enter, but +would limit himself to the recommendation, that neither the canons, +nor the collegiate establishment of Guadalupe, should be molested, +inasmuch as he entertained the greatest friendship for the one, and +the most reverential devotion for the other.</p> + +<p>But the executive, fixed in its intention to liberate the property +held in mortmain, took every means to carry the law into effect, +and experienced the utmost resistance from the incumbents, especially +when the property happened to belong to the female sex, +which is always averse from intercourse or dealings with persons +who are regarded as inimical to the church.</p> + +<p>This rigorous conduct of the executive, and the opposition it encountered +from the Moderados, fomented by that powerful, spiritual +class which has so long controlled the conscience of the +masses, gave rise, at this period, to the outbreak in the capital, +which is known as the revolution of the Polkos. It began on +the 22d of February, 1847, in Mexico, whilst Santa Anna was +firing the first guns at Angostura; and its great object was to +drive Farias from executive power. The forces on both sides, +amounted to six thousand men, and were divided between the +Polkos and the partizans of the government. Funds were found +to support both factions, and from that time to the 21st of March, +the city of Mexico was converted into a battle field. On the morning +of that day Santa Anna, who had already despatched a portion +of his broken army towards the coast, and who had been approached +on his journey from the capital, by emissaries from both +factions, arrived at Guadalupe, and immediately the contest +ceased. The stewards of the convents refused to expend more +money for the support of their partizans, and the treasury of the +government was closed against its adherents. The personal influence +of Santa Anna thus put an end to a disgraceful rebellion +which threatened the nationality of Mexico, within, whilst a +foreign enemy was preparing to attack its most vital parts from +the gulf.</p> + +<p>The conflict of arms was over, but the partizans of the clergy +did not intermit their efforts to get rid of the obnoxious vice-president; +and at length, they effected pacifically, what they had been +unable to do by force.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_369" id="Page_369">[Pg 369]</a></span> + They brought in a bill declaring that "the vice presidency of +the republic, created by the decree of the 21st December, 1846, +should be suppressed." The debate upon this was of the most +animated nature, the friends and enemies of Farias showing equal +vehemence in sustaining their views. On the 31st day of March +the vote was taken, and the proposition carried by a vote of thirty-eight +to thirty-five.</p> + +<p>The following day a decree was passed embodying the above +proposition and others:</p> + +<p>1. Permission is granted to the actual president of the republic +to take command in person of the forces which the government +may place under his command, to resist the foreign enemy.</p> + +<p>2. The vice presidency of the republic, established by the law +of 21st December last, is suppressed.</p> + +<p>3. The place of the provisional president shall be filled by a +substitute, named by congress according to the terms of the law +just cited.</p> + +<p>4. If in this election the vote of the deputations should be tied, +in place of determining the choice by lot, congress shall decide, +voting by person.</p> + +<p>5. The functions of the substitute shall cease when the provisional +president shall return to the exercise of power.</p> + +<p>6. On the 15th day of May next the legislatures of the states shall +proceed to the election of a president of the republic, according to +the form prescribed by the constitution of 1824, and with no other +difference save voting for one individual only.</p> + +<p>7. The same legislatures shall at once transmit to the sovereign +congress the result of the election in a certified despatch.</p> + +<p>This decree having been passed, it was at once signified to congress, +through a minister, that Santa Anna was desirous of assuming +the command of the army immediately and marching to the +east to provide for the national defence. Congress went at once +into permanent session, in order to choose a substitute for the president. +The election resulted in the choice of Señor D. Pedro Anaya. +He received sixty votes and General Almonte eleven, voting by +persons, and eighteen votes against three, counting by deputations. +The result being promulgated, permission was granted that +Señor Anaya should at once take the oath of office. This was on +the 1st of April, and on the 2d, Anaya entered upon his duties. He +dispensed with the usual visits of congratulation and ceremony on +account of the pressure of public business, and Santa Anna left the +capital for the army in the afternoon of the same day.</p> + + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_370" id="Page_370">[Pg 370]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XII.<br /> +1847.</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>GENERAL SCOTT AT LOBOS—LANDING AT AND SIEGE OF VERA +CRUZ—CAPITULATION AND CONDITION OF VERA CRUZ—CONDITION +OF MEXICO—ALVARADO, ETC., CAPTURED—SCOTT'S ADVANCE—DESCRIPTION +OF CERRO GORDO—MEXICAN DEFENCES +AND MILITARY DISPOSAL THERE—BATTLE OF CERRO GORDO.—PEROTÉ +AND PUEBLA YIELD—SANTA ANNA RETURNS—CONSTITUTION +OF 1824 READOPTED—MEXICAN POLITICS OF THE +DAY—WAR SPIRIT—GUERILLAS—PEACE NEGOTIATIONS—TRIST—SANTA +ANNA'S SECRET NEGOTIATIONS.</p> +</div> + +<p>The extraordinary genius of Santa Anna, and the influence he +possessed over his countrymen were perhaps never more powerfully +manifested than in the manner in which, amid all these disasters, he +maintained his reputation and popularity, and gathered a new army +to defend the eastern frontier of Mexico. But whilst he was engaged +preparing in the interior, we must return to the scene of General +Scott's operations on the coast. The small island of Lobos, +about a hundred and twenty-five miles from Vera Cruz, had been +selected for the rendezvous of the several corps which were to compose +the American invading army; and the magnitude of the enterprize +may be estimated from the fact, that one hundred and sixty-three +vessels were employed as transports. On the seventh of +March, Scott embarked his troops in the squadron under Commodore +Connor, and on the ninth, landed the army upon the coast +below the island of Sacrificios without the loss of a man, and without +opposition from the neighboring city of Vera Cruz, which he +summoned in vain to surrender. Having planted his batteries, and +placed them under the command of Colonel Bankhead, as Chief of +Artillery, he commenced a vigorous bombardment of the city on the +eighteenth, aided, afloat and on shore, by the guns of the fleet which +had been transferred from Commodore Connor to the command of +Commodore Perry. The town was thus invested by land and water, +and although the Mexican castle, city walls and forts, were but poorly +garrisoned and provided, they held out bravely during the terrible +siege, which nearly converted Vera Cruz into a slaughter-house. +On the morning of the twenty-sixth, when no hope remained for the + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_371" id="Page_371">[Pg 371]</a></span> +Mexicans, General Landero, the commander, made overtures for a +capitulation, which being satisfactorily arranged, the principal commercial +port, and the most renowned fortress in Mexico were surrendered, +together with four hundred guns, five thousand stand of +arms and as many prisoners who were released on parole.</p> + +<p>General Scott had endeavored to mitigate the dangers of this terrific +attack upon Vera Cruz by the employment of such a force as +would honorably satisfy the inefficient garrison of the town and +castle that it was in truth unable to cope with the American forces. +He delayed opening his batteries to allow the escape of non-combatants; +he refrained, moreover, from storming the town, a mode +of assault in which multitudes would have fallen on both sides in +the indiscriminate slaughter which always occurs when an enemy's +town is invaded in hot blood and with a reckless spirit of conquest +and carnage. Yet, weak and badly provided as was the garrison +of both strongholds, the walls of the city, its batteries and its +guardian castle held out for sixteen days, during which time it is +estimated that our army and navy, threw into the town about six +thousand shot and shells, weighing upwards of 463,000 pounds. +On the side of the Mexicans the slaughter was exceedingly great. +Nearly a thousand fell victims during the siege; and, among the +slain, numerous unfortunate citizens, women and children, were +found to have perished by the bombs or paixhan shot which destroyed +the public and private edifices, and ruined many important +portions of the city.</p> + +<p>When this new disaster was reported in the capital and among +the highlands of Mexico, it spread consternation among the more +secluded masses who now began to believe that the heart of the +country was seriously menaced. They had doubtless trusted to the +traditionary, proverbial strength of San Juan de Ulua, and believed +that the danger of disease and storm on the coast would serve to +protect Vera Cruz from the attack of unacclimated strangers, during +a season of hurricanes. Indeed, it was fortunate that our troops were +landed from the transports and men-of-war as early as they were in +March, for almost immediately afterwards, and during the siege, one +of the most violent <i>northers</i> that ever ravaged these shores raged +incessantly, destroying many of the vessels whose warlike freight +of men and munitions had been so recently disembarked.</p> + +<p>But if the people were ignorant of the true condition and strength +of Vera Cruz or its castle, such was not the case with the military +men and national authorities. They had made but little effort to +guard it against Scott, of whose designed attack they had been long + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_372" id="Page_372">[Pg 372]</a></span> +apprised, and they were probably prevented from doing so chiefly +by the plans of Santa Anna, who supposed that Taylor would fall +an easy prey to the large Mexican forces in the field at Buena Vista, +especially as the American army had been weakened by the abstraction +of its regulars for the operations at Vera Cruz. Victorious at +Buena Vista, he could have hastened, by forced marches, to attack +the invaders on the eastern coast, and under the dismay of his anticipated +victory in the north, he unquestionably imagined that they +too would have fallen at once into his grasp. Besides these military +miscalculations, Mexico was so embarrassed in its pecuniary affairs, +and disorganized in its Central Civil Government, that the proper +directing power in the capital,—warned as it was,—had neither +men nor means at hand to dispose along the coast of the Gulf, or to +station at points in its neighborhood whence they might quickly be +thrown into positions which were menaced.</p> + +<p>It was at this juncture that Santa Anna's voice was again heard +in the council and the field. At the conclusion of the last chapter +we left him hastening to the new scene of action; and when he announced +the capitulation of the vaunted castle and sea port of the +Republic, he declared in his proclamation, that although "chance +might decree the fall of the capital of the Aztec empire under the +power of the proud American host, yet the <i>Nation</i> shall not perish." +"I swear," continues he, "that if my wishes are seconded by a sincere +and unanimous effort, Mexico shall triumph! A thousand +times fortunate for the nation will the fall of Vera Cruz prove, if the +disaster shall awaken in Mexican bosoms, the dignified enthusiasm, +and generous ardor of true patriotism!" This was the tone of appeal +and encouragement in which he rallied the credulous and vain +masses, the disheartened country, the dispersed troops of the north, +and reanimated the broken fragments of the army which still continued +in the field.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, General Scott placed Vera Cruz under the command +of General Worth; opened the port to the long abandoned commerce +which had languished during the blockade; established a +moderate tariff, and together with the forces of the navy took possession +of the ports of Alvarado and Tlacotlalpam on the south, and +directed the future capture of Tuspan on the north of Vera Cruz. +All his arrangements being completed, and these captures made and +projected, he marched a large portion of his twelve thousand victorious +troops towards the capital.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> + <a name="illus-372-f.jpg" id="illus-372-f.jpg"></a> + <img src="images/illus-372-f.jpg" width="400" height="235" alt="Boats on the water" title="" /> + <p class="caption2">VERA CRUZ.</p> +</div> +<p> </p> + +<p>When the road to the interior leaves Vera Cruz, it runs for a mile +or two along the low, sandy, sea-beaten shore, and then strikes off, + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_373" id="Page_373">[Pg 373]</a></span> +nearly at a right angle, in a gap among the sand-hills towards the +west. For many miles it winds slowly and heavily through the +deep and shifting soil, until, as the traveller approaches the river +Antigua, the country begins to rise and fall by gentle elevations like +the first heavy swells of the ocean. Passing this river at Puente +Nacional over the noble and renowned bridge of that name, the aspect +of the territory becomes suddenly changed. The nearer elevations +are steeper and more frequent, the road firmer and more rocky, +while, in the western distance, the tall slopes of the Sierras rise +rapidly in bold and wooded masses. All the features of nature are +still strictly tropical, and wherever a scant and thriftless cultivation +has displaced the thick vines, the rich flowers, and the dense foliage +of the forest, indolent natives may be seen idling about their cane-built +huts, or lazily performing only the most necessary duties of +life. Further on, at Plan del Rio the geological features of the +coast assume another aspect. Here the road again crosses a small +streamlet, and then suddenly strikes boldly into the side of the +mountain which is to be ascended. About seven leagues from Jalapa +the edge of one of the table lands of the Cordillera sweeps down +from the west abruptly into this pass of the river Plan. On both +sides of this precipitous elevation the mountains tower majestically. +The road winds slowly and roughly along the scant sides which +have been notched to receive it. When the summit of the pass is +attained one side of the road is found to be overlooked by the Hill +of the Telegraph, while on the other side the streamlet runs in an +immensely deep and rugged ravine, several hundred feet below the +level of the table land. Between the road and the river many ridges +of the neighboring hills unite and plunge downwards into the impassable +abyss. At the foot of the Hill of the Telegraph, rises +another eminence known as that of Atalaya, which is hemmed in by +other wooded heights rising from below, and forming, in front of +the position a boundary of rocks and forests beyond which the sight +cannot penetrate.</p> + +<p>When Don Manuel Robles left Vera Cruz, after its fall, he was +desired by General Canalizo to examine the site of Cerro Gordo. +After a full reconnoissance it was his opinion that it afforded a favorable +spot in which the invaders might be at least injured or +checked, but that was not the proper point to dispute their passage +to the capital by a decisive victory. The most favorable position +for resistance he believed to be at Corral Falso.</p> + +<p>These views, however, did not accord with the opinions of the +commander-in-chief, who when the ground was explored under his + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_374" id="Page_374">[Pg 374]</a></span> +own eye, resolved to fortify it for the reception of the Americans. +The brigades of General Pinzon and Ranjel; the companies of Jalapa +and Coatepec, commanded by Mata; and the veterans of the +division of Angostura arrived also about this period, and their last +sections reached the ground on the 12th. Meanwhile all was activity +in the work of hasty fortification. Robles constructed a parapet +at the edge of the three hills, but failing to obtain all requisite +materials for such a work, his erection merely served to mark +the line of the Mexican operations, and to form a breast-work +whence the artillery and infantry might command the ground over +which, as the defenders supposed, the Americans would be obliged +to advance. Colonel Cano had already cut off the access by the +road at the point where it turned on the right slope of the Telegraph, +by placing a heavy battery. He also formed a covered way +leading to the positions on the right, while General Alcorta constructed +a circular work on the summit of the eminence and established +within it a battery of four guns. In the centre of this the +national flag was hoisted, and off to the left nothing was seen but +thick, thorny dells and barrancas, which were regarded by Santa +Anna as impassable.</p> + +<p>Such was the Mexican line of defences extending on the brink of +these precipices for nearly a mile, and, throughout it, the commander-in-chief +hastened to distribute his forces. The extreme +right was placed under the command of General Pinzon, the next +position under the naval captain, Buenaventura Aranjo, the next +under Colonel Badillo, the next under General Jarero, the next +post, at the road, under General La Vega, and finally the extreme +left, at the Telegraph, under Generals Vazquez, Uraga and Colonel +Palacios. The forces thus in position, according to the Mexican +account, amounted to three thousand three hundred and seventy +men with fifty-two pieces of ordnance of various calibre. The remainder +of the army, with the exception of the cavalry, which remained +at Corral Falso until the 15th, was encamped on the sides +of the road at the <i>rancheria</i> of Cerro Gordo, situated in the rear of +the position. In this neighborhood was placed the reserve, composed +of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th light infantry, comprising 1,700 +men; and the 1st and 11th regiments of the line, with 780 men, +together with their artillery. It is said that the army was badly +provided with food and suffered greatly from the climate and the +innumerable insects which infest the region.</p> + +<p>As Scott advanced against this position the dangers of his enterprize +became manifest, and he caused a series of bold reconnoissances + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_375" id="Page_375">[Pg 375]</a></span> +to be made by Lieutenant Beaurgard and Captain Lee, of +the engineers. He found that the deep rocky ravine of the river +protected the right flank of the Mexican position, while abrupt and +seemingly impassable mountains and ridges covered the left. Between +these points, for nearly two miles, a succession of fortified +summits bristled with every kind of available defence, while the top +of Cerro Gordo commanded the road on a gentle slope, like a <i>glacis</i>, +for nearly a mile. An attack in front, therefore, would have been +fatal to the American army, and Scott resolved, accordingly, to cut +a road to the right of his position so as to turn the left flank of the +Mexicans. To cover his flank movements, on the 17th of April, he +ordered General Twiggs to advance against the fort on the steep +ascent, in front, and slightly to the left of the Cerro. Colonel Harney, +with the rifles and some detachments of infantry and artillery, +carried this position under a heavy fire, and, having secured it, elevated +a large gun to the summit of the eminence, and made a demonstration +against a strong fort in the rear. Early on the 18th, +the columns moved to the general attack. General Pillow's brigade +assaulted the right of the Mexican entrenchments, and although +compelled to retire, produced a powerful impression on that part of +the enemy's line. General Twigg's division stormed the vital part +of Cerro Gordo, pierced the centre, gained command of the fortifications +and cut them off from support; while Colonel Riley's brigade +of infantry rushed on against the main body of the foe, turned +the guns of their own fort against them, and compelled the panic +stricken crowd to fly in utter confusion. Shields' brigade, meanwhile, +assaulted the left, and carrying the rear battery, aided materially +in completing the rout of the enemy. The whole American +force, in action and reserve, was 8,500. Three thousand prisoners, +four or five thousand stand of arms, and forty-three pieces of artillery, +fell into Scott's hands. In the two days of conflict our loss amounted +to 33 officers and 398 men, of whom 63 were killed. The enemy's +loss was computed at 1,000 at least, while among the prisoners no +less than two hundred and eighty officers and five generals were included. +Santa Anna, and General Ampudia who was in the action, +escaped with difficulty; and the commander-in-chief, accompanied +by a few friends and a small escort, finally reached Orizaba in +safety, after encountering numerous dangers amid the mountains and +lonely paths through which he was obliged to pass.</p> + +<p>This very decisive victory opened the path for the American army +to the highlands of the upper <i>plateau</i> of Mexico, and, accordingly, +our forces immediately pushed on to Jalapa and Peroté, both of + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_376" id="Page_376">[Pg 376]</a></span> +which places were abandoned by the Mexicans without firing a gun. +General Worth took possession of Peroté on the 22d of April, and +received from Colonel Velasquez, who had been left in charge of the +fortress or castle of San Carlos de Peroté by his retreating countrymen, +54 guns and mortars of iron and bronze, 11,065 cannon balls, +14,300 bombs and hand grenades, and 500 muskets. On capturing +the post he learned that the rout at Cerro Gordo had been complete. +Three thousand cavalry passed the strong hold of Peroté in deplorable +plight, while not more than two thousand disarmed and famishing +infantry had returned towards their homes in the central regions +of Mexico. From Peroté Worth advanced towards Puebla on the +direct road to the capital.</p> + +<p>Thus was Mexico again reduced to extreme distress by the loss +of two important battles, the destruction of her third army raised +for this war, and the capture of her most valuable artillery and munitions. +But the national spirit of resistance was not subdued. If +the government could no longer restrain the invaders by organized +armies, it resolved to imitate the example of the mother country +during Napoleon's invasion, and to rouse the people to the formation +of guerilla bands under daring and reckless officers. Bold as +was this effort of patriotic despair, and cruelly successful as it subsequently +proved against individuals or detached parties of the Americans, +it could effect nothing material against the great body of the +consolidated army. Meanwhile the master spirit of the nation—Santa +Anna—had not been idle in the midst of his disheartening +reverses. In little more than two weeks, he gathered nearly three +thousand men from the fragments of his broken army, and marched +to Puebla, where he received notice of Worth's advance from Peroté. +Sallying forth immediately with his force, he attacked the +American general at Amozoque, but, finding himself unable to +check his career, returned with a loss of nearly ninety killed and +wounded. On the 22d of May, Puebla yielded submissively to +General Worth, and Santa Anna retreated in the direction of the +national capital, halting at San Martin Tesmalucan, and again at +Ayotla, about twenty miles from Mexico. Here he learned that the +city was in double fear of the immediate assault of the victorious +Americans and of his supposed intention to defend it within its +own walls, a project which the people believed would only result, in +the present disastrous condition of affairs, in the slaughter of its +citizens and ruin of their property. The commander-in-chief halted +therefore at Ayotla, and playing dexterously on the hopes and fears +of the people in a long despatch addressed to the minister of war, + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_377" id="Page_377">[Pg 377]</a></span> +he at length received the Presidential and popular sanction of his +return to Mexico.</p> + +<p>In truth, the nation at large had no one but Santa Anna, at that +moment of utter despair, in whose prestige and talents—in spite +of all his misfortunes and defeats—it could rely for even the hope +of escape from destruction, if not of ultimate victory.</p> + +<p>Whilst the Mexican nation had been thus sorely vexed by intestinal +commotions and foreign invasion an Extraordinary Constituent +Congress—<i>Congreso Extraordinario Constituyente</i>—had +been summoned and met in the capital, chiefly to revise the Constitution, +or the "Bases of Political Organization," of 1843, which +had been superseded by the temporary adoption of the Federal +Constitution of 1824, according to the edict issued by Salas, +under the direction of Santa Anna soon after that personage's return +from exile. This Extraordinary Congress readopted the old +Federal Constitution of 1824 without altering its terms, principles, +or phraseology, and made such slight changes as were deemed +needful by an <i>Acta Constitutiva y de Reformas</i>, containing thirty +articles, which was sanctioned on the 18th, and proclaimed on the +21st of May by Santa Anna, who had reassumed the Presidency. +By this approval of the Federal System the Executive entirely +abandoned the Central policy for which he had so long contended, +but which, as we have seen in the 11th chapter, he no longer believed, +or feigned to believe, suitable for the nation.</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding this submission to popular will, and apparent +desire to deprive the Central Government of its most despotic prerogatives, +the conduct of Santa Anna did not save him entirely from +the machinations of his rivals or of intriguers. Much discontent +was expressed publicly and privately, and the President, accordingly +tendered his resignation to Congress, intimating a desire to +hasten into private life! This stratagetic resignation was followed +by the retiracy of General Rincon and General Bravo, who commanded +the troops in the city. Acts of such vital significance upon +the part of the ablest men in the Republic, in an hour of exceeding +danger, at once recalled Congress and the people to their senses; +and if they were designed, as they probably were, merely to throw +the anarchists on their own resources and to show them their inefficiency +at such an epoch, they seem to have produced the desired +effect, for they placed Santa Anna and his partizans more firmly in +power. Congress refused to accept his resignation. Unfortunate +as he had been, it perhaps saw in him the only commander who was +capable in the exigency of controlling the Mexican elements of resistance + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_378" id="Page_378">[Pg 378]</a></span> +to the invaders, and he was thus enabled to form his plans, +to collect men, means and munitions, and to commence the system +of fortifications around the capital. "War to the knife," was still +the rallying cry of the nation. The Congressional resolutions which +had been passed on the 20th of April, immediately after the battle +of Cerro Gordo, proclaimed "every individual a traitor, let him be +private person or public functionary, who should enter into treaties +with the United States!" Parties in the capital were, nevertheless, +not unanimous upon this subject. There were wise men and +patriots who foresaw the issue, and counselled the leaders to come +to honorable terms before the capital was assaulted. Others craved +the continuance of the war with the hope that its disasters would +destroy the individuals who conducted it to an unfortunate issue; +and, among these, they saw that Santa Anna was finally pledged to +abide that issue for weal or woe. Nor were politicians wanting in +the Republic who honestly looked to the prolongation of the conflict +as a blessing to Mexico, believing that it would result in the complete +subjugation of the whole country by American arms and its +final annexation to our Union.</p> + +<p>In June a coalition was formed at Lagos by deputies from Jalisco, +San Luis Potosi, Zacatecas, Mexico and Querétaro, in which these +States combined for mutual defence; but, while they opposed peace, +they resolved to act independently of the General Government. +Many other parts of the republic looked on the scene with apathy. +There was no longer a revenue from foreign commerce. The products +of the mines were smuggled from the west coast in British +vessels. Disorder and uncertainty prevailed every where in regard +to the collection of the national income from internal resources. +Individuals, and not States, corporations or municipalities, were +now to be relied on for support; and, as the most important parts +of the nation on the north and east were virtually in the enemy's +hands, the whole effort of the frail authorities was confined to the +protection of the capital. In the midst of all this complication of +confusion Santa Anna found that the election for President, which +was held by the States on the 15th of May, had resulted unfavorably +to his pretensions, and, by an adroit movement, he prevailed +on Congress to postpone the counting of the votes from the 15th of +June until January of the following year! All who opposed his +schemes of defence or resistance, were disposed of by banishment, +persecution or imprisonment, nor did he fail to establish so severe a +censorship of the press, that, in July, it is believed, but one paper +was allowed to be issued in the capital, and that one, of course, entirely + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_379" id="Page_379">[Pg 379]</a></span> +under his control. Throwing himself, like a true military +demagogue, publicly, if not at heart, at the head of popular feeling +in regard to the war with the United States, he adopted every measure +and availed himself of every resource in his power to place the +city in a state of defence, and to fan the flame of resistance. In +the meanwhile the <i>guerilla</i> forces, organized on the eastern coast, +chiefly under a recreant clergyman named Jarauta, harassed every +American train and detachment on their way to the interior, and rendered +the country insecure, until a fearful war of extermination was +adopted by our garrisons on the line.</p> + +<p>The government of the United States had, during the whole of +this unfortunate contest, availed itself of every supposed suitable +occasion to sound Mexico in relation to peace. In July, 1846, and +in January 1847, overtures were made to the national authorities +and rejected; and again, early in the spring of 1847, as soon as the +news of the defeat at Cerro Gordo reached Washington, Mr. Nicholas +P. Trist was despatched by the President upon a mission which +it was hoped would result in the restoration of international amity. +The commissioner reached Vera Cruz while the American army +was advancing towards the interior, but it was not until the forces +reached Puebla, and General Scott had established his head quarters +in that capital, that he was enabled, through the intervention of +the British Minister, to communicate with the Mexican government. +The stringent terms of the decree to which we have already alluded, +of course, prevented Santa Anna, powerful as he was, from entertaining +the proposals in the existing state of the public mind, and, +accordingly, he referred the subject to Congress, a quorum of whose +members was, with difficulty, organized. On the 13th of July, +seventy-four assembled, and voted to strip themselves of the responsibility +by a resolution that it was the Executive's duty to receive +ministers, and to make treaties of peace and alliance, and that their +functions were confined to the approval or disapproval of those +treaties or alliances when submitted in due form under the constitution. +But Santa Anna, still adhering to the letter of the mandatory +decree passed after the battle of Cerro Gordo in April, alleged his +legal incapacity to treat, and recommended the repeal of the order, +inasmuch as the American commissioner's letter was courteous, +and the dignity of Mexico required the return of a suitable reply. +Before the appeal could reach Congress, its members had dispersed, +foreseeing probably, the delicacy, if not danger, of the dilemma in +which they were about to be placed. Without a constitution tribunal +to relieve him from his position, the President finally referred + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_380" id="Page_380">[Pg 380]</a></span> +the matter to a council of general officers of the army. This body, +however, was quite as timorous as Congress, and dismissed the project +by declaring that "it was inexpedient to enter into negotiations +for peace, until another opportunity had been afforded Mexico to +retrieve her fortunes in the field."</p> + +<p>These were the negotiations that met the public eye, and are +reported in the military and diplomatic despatches of the day; but +there was a secret correspondence, also, which denotes either the +duplicity or strategy of Santa Anna, and must be faithfully recorded. +It seems that the Mexican President, about the time that the public +answer was proclaimed, sent private communications to the American +head quarters at Puebla, intimating that if a million of dollars +were placed at his disposal, to be paid upon the conclusion of a +treaty of peace, and ten thousand dollars were paid forthwith, he +would appoint commissioners to negotiate! The proposal was received +and discussed by General Scott, Mr. Trist, and the leading +officers, and being agreed to, though not unanimously, the ten thousand +dollars were disbursed from the secret service money which +Scott had at his disposal, and communications were opened in cypher, +the key of which had been sent from Mexico. Intimations +soon reached Puebla, from Santa Anna, that it would be also necessary +for the American army to advance and threaten the Capital;—and, +finally, another message was received, urging Scott to penetrate +the valley and carry one of the outworks of the Mexican line +of defences, in order to enable him to negotiate! + <a name="FNanchor_68_68" id="FNanchor_68_68"></a><a href="#Footnote_68_68" class="fnanchor">[68]</a></p> + +<p>The sincerity of these proposals from the Mexican President, is +very questionable, and we are still in doubt whether he designed +merely to procrastinate and feel the temper of the Americans, or +whether he was in reality angling for the splendid bribe of a million +which he might appropriate privately, in the event of playing successfully +upon the feelings or fears of the masses. The attempt, +however, proved abortive; and although both General Scott and +Mr. Trist deemed it proper to entertain the proposal, the commander-in-chief +never for a moment delayed his military preparations for +an advance with all the force he could gather. Thus were the last +efforts of the American authorities in Mexico and Washington repulsed +in the same demagogue spirit that hastened the rupture between +the nations in the spring of 1846, and nothing remained but +to try again whether the sword was mightier than the pen.</p> + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<div class="fn"> +<h4>Footnote</h4> +<p><a name="Footnote_68_68" id="Footnote_68_68"></a><a href="#FNanchor_68_68"> + <span class="label">[68]</span></a> See Major Ripley's History of the War + with Mexico, p. 148. et. seq.</p> +</div> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 400px;"> + <a name="illus-381-f.jpg" id="illus-381-f.jpg"></a> + <img src="images/illus-381-f.jpg" width="400" height="651" alt="Map of the + Valley of Mexico with a plan of the Mexican defence and line of U. S. Army's operations" title="" /> +</div> + + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_381" id="Page_381">[Pg 381]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XIII.<br /> +1847.</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>SCOTT AT PUEBLA—TAMPICO AND ORIZABA TAKEN—SCOTT's +ADVANCE—TOPOGRAPHY OF THE VALLEY OF MEXICO—ROUTES +TO THE CAPITAL—EL PEÑON—MEXICALZINGO—TEZCOCO—CHALCO—OUTER +AND INNER LINES AROUND THE +CITY—SCOTT'S ADVANCE BY CHALCO—THE AMERICAN ARMY +AT SAN AGUSTIN.</p> +</div> + +<p>The American forces, as we have stated, had concentrated at +Puebla on the main road to the city of Mexico, but their numbers +had been thinned by desertion, disease and the return of many volunteers +whose term of service was over or nearly completed. +Meanwhile the Mexican army was increased by the arrival of General +Valencia from San Luis with five thousand troops and thirty-six +pieces of artillery, and General Alvarez with his Pinto Indians from +the south and south-west, all of which, added to the regiments in +the city and its immediate vicinity, swelled the numbers of the +Mexican combatants to at least twenty-five or thirty thousand. It +was discovered that General Taylor would not advance towards the +south, and consequently the presence of Valencia's men was of more +importance at the point where the vital blow would probably be +struck.</p> + +<p>Whilst the events we have related were occurring in the interior, +Commodore Perry had swept down the coast and captured Tobasco, +which, however, owing to its unhealthiness, was not long retained +by the Americans. But every other important port in the Gulf, from +the Rio Grande to Yucatan, was in our possession, while an active +blockade was maintained before those in the Pacific. Colonel Bankhead +subsequently, occupied Orizaba, and seized a large quantity +of valuable public property. It had been the desire of the American +authorities, from the earliest period of the war, to draw a large portion +of the means for its support from Mexico, but the commanding +Generals finding the system not only annoying to themselves but + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_382" id="Page_382">[Pg 382]</a></span> +exasperating to the people and difficult of accomplishment, refrained +from the exercise of a right which invaders have generally used in +other countries. Our officers, accordingly, paid for the supplies +obtained from the natives. Nor did they confine this principle of +action to the operations of the military authorities alone whilst acting +for the army at large, but, wherever it was possible, restrained +that spirit of private plunder and destruction which too commonly +characterizes the common soldier when flushed with victory over a +weak but opulent foe. When the ports of Mexico, however, had +fallen into <i>our possession</i> and the blockade was raised, they were at +once opened to the trade of all nations upon the payment of duties +more moderate than those which had been collected by Mexico. +The revenue, thus levied in the form of a military contribution from +Mexican citizens upon articles they consumed, was devoted to the +use of our army and navy. It was, in effect, the seizure of Mexican +commercial duties and their application to our necessary purposes, +and thus far, only, was the nation compelled to contribute +towards the expense of the war it had provoked.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>Early in August, General Scott had been reinforced by the arrival +of new regiments at Puebla, and on the 7th of that month, he resolved +to march upon the capital. Leaving a competent garrison in +that city, under the command of Colonel Childs, and a large number +of sick and enfeebled men in the hospitals, he departed with +about ten thousand eager soldiers towards the renowned Valley of +Mexico.</p> + +<p>In the same month, three hundred and twenty-eight years before, +Hernando Cortéz and his slender military train, departed from the +eastern coasts of Mexico, on the splendid errand of Indian conquest. +After fighting two battles, with the Tlascalans who then +dwelt in the neighborhood of Puebla, and with the Cholulans whose +solitary pyramid,—a grand and solemn monument of the past,—still +rises majestically from the beautiful plain, he slowly toiled +across the steeps of the grand volcanic sierra which divides the valleys +and hems in the plain of Mexico. Patiently winding up its +wooded sides and passing the forests of its summit, the same grand +panoramic scene lay spread out in sunshine at the feet of the American +General that three centuries before had greeted the eager and +longing eyes of the greatest Castilian soldier who ever trod the +shores of America.</p> + +<p>In order to comprehend the military movements which ended the +drama of the Mexican war, it will be necessary for us to describe + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_383" id="Page_383">[Pg 383]</a></span> +the topography of the valley with some minuteness, although it is +not designed to recount, in detail, all the events and personal heroism +of the battles that ensued. This would require infinitely more +room than we can afford, and we are, accordingly, spared the discussion +of many circumstances which concern the merits, the opinions, +and the acts of various commanders.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>Looking downward towards the west from the shoulders of the +lofty elevations which border the feet of the volcano of Popocatepetl, +the spectator beholds a remarkable and perfect basin, enclosed +on every side by mountains whose height varies from two hundred +to ten thousand feet from its bottom. The form of this basin may +be considered nearly circular, the diameter being about fifty miles. +As the eye descends to the levels below, it beholds every variety of +scenery. Ten extinct volcanoes rear their ancient cones and craters +in the southern part of the valley, multitudes of lesser hills and +elevations break the evenness of the plain, while, interspersed +among its eight hundred and thirty square miles of arable land and +along the shores of its six lakes of Chalco, Xochimilco, Tezcoco, +San Cristoval, Xaltocan and Zumpango, stretching across the valley +from north to south, are seen the white walls of ten populous cities +and towns. In front of the observer, about forty miles to the west, +is the capital of the Republic, while the main road thither descends +rapidly from the last mountain slopes, at the Venta de Cordova, +until it is lost in the plain on the margin of Lake Chalco near the +Hacienda of Buena Vista. From thence to the town of Ayotla it +sweeps along the plain between a moderate elevation on the north +and the lake of Chalco on the south.</p> + +<p>On the 11th of August, General Scott, after crossing the mountains, +concentrated his forces in the valley. General Twiggs encamped +with his division in advance, on the direct road, at Ayotla, +near the northern shore of Lake Chalco; General Quitman was +stationed with his troops a short distance in the rear; General +Worth occupied the town of Chalco on the western shore of its +lake, while General Pillow brought up the rear by an encampment +near Worth.</p> + +<p>This position of the army commanded four routes to the capital +whose capture was the coveted prize. The first of these, as well +as the shortest and most direct, was the main post road which +reaches the city by the gate or <i>garita</i> of San Lazaro on the east. +After passing Ayotla this road winds round the foot of an extinct +volcanic hill for five miles when it approaches the sedgy shores and + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_384" id="Page_384">[Pg 384]</a></span> +marshes of Lake Tezcoco on the north, thence it passes over a +causeway built across an arm of Tezcoco for two miles, and, by another +causeway of seven miles finally strikes the city. The road is +good, level, perfectly open and comfortable for ordinary travelling, +but the narrow land between the lakes of Chalco and Tezcoco, compressed +still more by broken hills and rocks, admits the most perfect +military defence. At the end of the first causeway over the arm of +Tezcoco which we have just described, is the abrupt oblong volcanic +hill styled El Peñon, four hundred and fifty feet above the +level of the lake, its top accessible in the direction of Ayotla at only +one point, and surrounded by water except on the west towards +Mexico. It is a natural fortress; yet Santa Anna had not neglected +to add to its original strength, and to seize it as the eastern key of +his defences. Three lines of works were thrown up, at the base, +at the brow, and on the summit of the eminence. The works at the +base, completely encircling El Peñon, consisted of a ditch fifteen +feet wide, four and a half feet deep, and a parapet fifteen feet thick +whose slope was raised eight and a half feet above the bottom of the +ditch. Ample breastworks formed the other two lines of the bristling +tiara. In addition to this, the causeway across the arm of +Tezcoco, immediately in front, had been cut and was defended by a +battery of two guns, while the fire from all the works, mounting +about sixty pieces, swept the whole length of the causeway.</p> + +<p>The second road to the capital was by Mexicalzingo. After +leaving Ayotla the highway continues along the main post road for +six or seven miles and then deflects southwardly towards the village +of Santa Maria, whence it pursues its way westwardly towards Istapalapan, +but, just before reaching Mexicalzingo, it crosses a marsh +formed by the waters of Lake Xochimilco, on a causeway nearly a +mile long. This approach, dangerous as it was by its natural impediments, +was also protected by extensive field works which made +it almost as perilous for assault as the Peñon.</p> + +<p>The third route lay through Tezcoco. Leaving Chalco and the +Hacienda of Buena Vista, it strikes off from the main route directly +north, and passing through the town of Tezcoco, it sweeps westwardly +around the shores of the lake of that name until it crosses +the stone dyke of San Cristoval, near the lake and town of that +name; thence, by a road leading almost directly south for fifteen +miles, through the sacred town of Guadalupe Hidalgo, it enters the +capital. It is an agreeable route through a beautiful country, yet +extremely circuitous though free from all natural or artificial obstacles, +until it reaches Santiago Zacualco within two miles of Guadalupe. + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_385" id="Page_385">[Pg 385]</a></span> +But at the period of Scott's invasion of the valley, General +Valencia, with the troops that were afterwards convened at Contreras, +was stationed at Tezcoco, either for the purpose of observation, +or to induce an attack in that quarter, and thus to draw our forces +into a snare on the northern route, or to fall on the rear of the American +commander if he attacked El Peñon, or advanced by the way +of Mexicalzingo. At Santiago Zacualco, west of the lake and +on the route, formidable works were thrown up to defend the entire +space between the western shore of lake Tezcoco and the mountains; +while on the road to Querétaro, at the mountain pass north +of Tenepantla, other defences were erected, so as to screen the +country on all sides of the group of hills which lies west of the +lakes of Tezcoco and San Cristoval and north of the town of Guadalupe +Hidalgo.</p> + +<p>The fourth and last advance to the city was that which turned to +the south from the Hacienda of Buena Vista, and passing by the +town of Chalco, led along the narrow land intervening between +the shores of lake Chalco and the first steeps of the mountains +forming the southern rim of the valley, until it fell at right angles, +at Tlalpam or San Agustin de las Cuevas, into the main road +from the city of Mexico towards the southern States of the +Republic.</p> + +<p>All these routes were boldly reconnoitred by the brave engineers +accompanying the American army, and, where they could not extend +their personal observations, the officers obtained from the people +of the country, information upon which subsequent events +proved that they were justified in relying. From the knowledge +thus gained as to the route south of the lake of Chalco, they were +induced to believe, although it was rough, untravelled, difficult, and +narrowly hemmed in between the lake and the mountains, yet that +the long and narrow defile, which was open to resistance at many +points, was not sufficiently obstructed or fortified to prevent our +passage. All the routes on the lower lands, it should also be remembered, +were liable to increased difficulties from the deluging +rains prevailing at this season on the highlands of Mexico, and +which sometimes convert the highways and their borders, for many +leagues, into almost impassable lagunes.</p> + +<p>Santa Anna and his engineers had probably supposed that this +southern route would not be adopted, but a reasonable explanation +of his conduct is given by one of the most competent commentators +upon the valley of Mexico and the march of the American army. + <a name="FNanchor_69_69" id="FNanchor_69_69"></a><a href="#Footnote_69_69" class="fnanchor">[69]</a> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_386" id="Page_386">[Pg 386]</a></span> +"When an enemy is in front of El Peñon, the communication +between it and troops on the other routes <i>is only by way of the +city of Mexico itself</i>; in other words, the American troops being at +Ayotla, General Santa Anna's forces at El Peñon were one day's +march distant from those at Mexicalzingo, three from those under +General Valencia, and would have been about four days' march from +troops thrown forward on the Chalco route. Fords on these different +routes were by no means within supporting distances of each +other. Holding the position that General Scott then did, it would have +required, of an equal enemy, four times his own force, to have opposed +successfully his further advance. The Mexican forces were +not numerically equal to this, and, accordingly, they were concentrated +at the threatened point. It is evident that as long as the +American troops were in front of El Peñon, the enemy <i>necessarily</i> +held to their position. In moving off, the former could gain one +day the start. This brought the only difficult parts of the Chalco +route actually nearer General Scott than the Mexican chief. If to +this we add the delay necessary in moving heavy artillery and breaking +up from a fortified position, it would seem that, instead of oversight, +it was rather impossible for General Santa Anna to meet our +forces sooner than he did."</p> + +<p>The description of the various routes to the capital has necessarily +acquainted the reader with the important Mexican defences on +the north, the east, and the north-east of the capital, both by military +works hastily thrown up after Santa Anna's retreat from Cerro +Gordo, and by the encampment of large bodies of soldiery. We +thus, already know a part of the external line of defences at El +Peñon, Mexicalzingo, Tezcoco, Santiago Zacualco, and the Pass +north of Tenepantla. But in addition to these, there are others +that must be noticed on the south and west of the capital, which it +should always be recollected is situated in the lap of the valley, but +near the western edge of the gigantic rim of mountains.</p> + +<p>Along the Chalco route there were no more fortifications, but +west of lakes Chalco and Xochimilco, a line of entrenchments had +been commenced, connecting the fortified <i>hacienda</i>, or massive stone +plantation house of San Antonio, about six miles south of the city, +with the town of Mexicalzingo. West of this <i>hacienda</i>, the Pedregal, +a vast, broken field of lava, spread out along the edge of the + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_387" id="Page_387">[Pg 387]</a></span> +main road, and skirting it to San Agustin, extended high upon +the mountain slopes still further west near San Angel and Contreras, +whose neighboring fields were cut into deep ravines and barrancas +by the wash from the declivities. The Pedregal was a most +formidable obstacle in the march or manœuvres of an army. But +few levels of arable land were found among its rocky wastes. It +admitted the passage of troops at but few points, and was entirely +impracticable for cavalry or artillery, except by a single mule-path. + <a name="FNanchor_70_70" id="FNanchor_70_70"></a><a href="#Footnote_70_70" class="fnanchor">[70]</a> +North of San Angel and the edge of the Pedregal, at the distance +of about four miles, rose the solitary hill and castle of Chapultepec, +which had been amply prepared for defence; and still further north +on the same line, frowned the stern ridges of the <i>sierra</i>, cut by barrancas +and profound dells, until the ring of the outer series of military +works was thus finally united at the pass beyond Tenepantla. +But inside of this formidable barrier of outworks, nearer the city, +another line of fortifications had been prepared to dispute the American +march. The first, and perhaps the most important of these, +was at Churubusco, a scattered village lying midway between San +Agustin and the city of Mexico, directly on the road, at a spot +where the stream or rivulet of Churubusco runs eastwardly from a +point on the road from San Angel to the capital, towards the lake +of Xochimilco. The sides of the water course were planted with +the prickly maguey, and one of the most western buildings in the +village was a strong massive stone convent, whose walls had been +cut for musketry, and whose parapets, azotéas or flat roofs, and +windows, all afforded suitable positions for soldiery. Large quantities +of ammunition were stored within the edifice. The enclosure +of the church and convent was defended by about two thousand +men, and mounted seven guns, while, towards the east was a beautiful, +solid and scientifically constructed tête de pont which covered +the bridge over the stream by which the road led to the capital. +In this work three heavy guns were mounted, while the neighborhood +is said to have swarmed with troops.</p> + +<p>We have already mentioned the garita or gate of San Lazaro, +which was the entrance to the city by the main road from the east, +passing the hill and fortification of El Peñon. This garita was +strengthened by strong works on the road, with platforms and embrasures +for heavy cannon, which would have swept the path, while +the marshes on the south were protected by redoubts and lunettes +extending to the garita or entrance of La Candelaria on the canal + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_388" id="Page_388">[Pg 388]</a></span> +from Xochimilco. North of San Lazaro strong works hemmed in +the city to the garita of Peralvillo, and connected with defences and +fortified houses reaching to the garita of Santiago. Other advanced +works were begun in that quarter, while the ground in front of +the main line was cut into <i>troux de loups</i>.</p> + +<p>On the west of the city are the garitas of San Cosmé and Belen. +"Works had been commenced to connect that of San Cosmé, the +most northerly of the two, with that of Santiago, and the nature of +the country and of the buildings, formed obstructions to any advance +between San Cosmé and Belen. Belen was defended principally +by the citadel of Mexico, a square bastioned work with wet +ditches, immediately inside the garita. Barricades had also been +commenced; but the great obstacle to an entrance by either garita, +was presented in the rock and castle of Chapultepec, two miles +south-west of the city. From this hill two aqueducts extend to the +capital, the one, north-east, in a direct line to Belen, and the other, +north, to the suburb of San Cosmé, where, turning at right angles, +it continued onward and entered at the garita. The roads from the +west ran along the sides of the aqueducts. Two roads enter the +city from the south, between the garita of San Antonio and Belen, +one at Belen and the other at the garita of El niño Perdido, neither +of these roads have branches to the Acapulco road south of the +Pedregal and the Hacienda of San Antonio, and, therefore, had +been left comparatively unfortified."<a name="FNanchor_71_71" id="FNanchor_71_71"></a> + <a href="#Footnote_71_71" class="fnanchor">[71]</a></p> + +<p>These defences, overlooked by the lofty sierras and the barrancas +which broke their feet, hemmed in the capital, and the Mexicans +readily imagined that they could not be turned by an army marching +from the east, so as to reach the city on the west, except by a +tedious circuit which would allow them time to complete their protective +works in that quarter. The east had claimed their chief and +most natural attention, and thus the south and the west became unquestionably +their weakest points.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>Such were the Mexican lines, natural and artificial, around the +capital in the valley in the middle of August, 1847, and such was +the position of the American troops in front of them. The Mexicans +numbered then, with all their levies, probably more than thirty +thousand fighting men, while the Americans did not count more +than ten thousand—under arms at all points. The invaders had +prepared as well as circumstances admitted, and their <i>materiel</i> for + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_389" id="Page_389">[Pg 389]</a></span> +assault or siege had been gathered carefully, and transported slowly +into the interior, through the country intervening between Vera +Cruz and Puebla, every train being usually attacked by guerillas, +and fighting its way boldly through the most dangerous passes.</p> + +<p>The equipments of the Mexicans, except the weapons saved from +the wreck of former battles, had been chiefly prepared at the cannon +foundries and powder factories of the country, and it is quite +amazing to notice how completely a great exigency brought forth +the latent energies of the people, teaching them what they might +ordinarily effect, if guided by a spirit of industry and progress. +Under the most disheartening depression, but fired by the stimulus of +despair, by an overpowering sense of patriotic duty, and by religious +enthusiasm which had been excited by the crusading address of the +clergy of San Luis Potosi, issued in the month of April, they manifested +in their last moments, a degree of zeal, calmness, and foresight +that will forever redound to their credit on the page of history.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>The Mexican preparations for defence were not, of course, as +completely known to the Americans as we now describe them. +Through spies, scouts and reconnoisances of our engineers, some of +the exterior, and even of the interior lines were ascertained with +tolerable accuracy; but sufficient was known to satisfy General +Scott that of all the approaching routes to the capital, that which +led along the southern shores of lake Chalco was the only one he +ought to adopt.<a name="FNanchor_72_72" id="FNanchor_72_72"></a> + <a href="#Footnote_72_72" class="fnanchor">[72]</a></p> + +<p>Accordingly, on the 15th of August, the movement was commenced +in the reverse order from that in which the army had entered +the valley from Puebla. Worth's division passing Pillow's, led the +advance, Pillow and Quitman followed, while Twiggs' brought up +the rear. Scott took his position with Pillow, so as to communicate +easily with all parts of the army. Water transportation, to +some extent, had been obtained by General Worth at Chalco, by +the siezure of market boats which plied between that place and the +capital. When Twiggs moved he was assailed by Alvarez and his +Pintos, but soon drove them off, while the advance columns, after +passing San Gregorio, were frequently assailed by the enemy's light +troops in their front, and harassed and impeded by ditches that had +been hastily cut across the road, or by rocks rolled down from the + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_390" id="Page_390">[Pg 390]</a></span> +mountains. These obstacles necessarily consumed time, but the +simple-minded Indians of the neighborhood, who had just been compelled +by the Mexicans to throw the impediments in the Americans' +way, were perhaps more easily induced to aid in clearing the path +for the invaders, than their ancestors had been in the days of Cortéz. +On the afternoon of the 17th, Worth, with the advance, reached +San Agustin, at the foot of the mountains, and at the intersection +of the southern road from Mexico to Cuernavaca and Acapulco—a +point whose topography we have already described;—and, on the +18th, the rear division entered the town.</p> + +<p>As soon as Santa Anna discovered Scott's advance by the Chalco +route, and that the attack on Mexico would be made from the south +instead of the east, he at once perceived that it was useless to attack +the American rear, whilst passing the defiles between the lake and +the mountains even if he could possibly come up with it, and consequently, +that it was best for him to quit his head quarters at El +Peñon, while he also recalled General Valencia with the most of the +troops at Tezcoco and at Mexicalzingo, which were no longer menaced +by the foe. Santa Anna himself, established his quarters +at the fortified hacienda of San Antonio, and ordered Valencia to +march his whole division, cavalry, infantry and artillery, to the town +of San Angel and Coyoacan, so as to cover the whole west and centre +of the valley in front of Mexico.</p> + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<div class="fn"> +<h4>Footnotes</h4> +<p><a name="Footnote_69_69" id="Footnote_69_69"></a><a href="#FNanchor_69_69"> + <span class="label">[69]</span></a> See the admirable Map and Memoir of + Lieutenant M. L. Smith, and Brevet Captain +E. L. F. Hardcastle, published in the Senate Document, No. 11 of the first session +of the 31st Congress: 1849 '50.</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote_70_70" id="Footnote_70_70"></a><a href="#FNanchor_70_70"> + <span class="label">[70]</span></a> Ripley's War with Mexico, vol. 2, 181.</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote_71_71" id="Footnote_71_71"></a><a href="#FNanchor_71_71"> + <span class="label">[71]</span></a> Ripley, 2d vol., 182.</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote_72_72" id="Footnote_72_72"></a><a href="#FNanchor_72_72"> + <span class="label">[72]</span></a> General Scott had set his heart, even at + Puebla, on the Chalco route, but he resolved +not to be obstinate, if, on a closer examination of the ground, a better route +was presented. The last information of his spies and officers, <i>in the valley</i>, satisfied +him as to the propriety of advancing by Chalco.</p> +</div> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> + <a name="illus-391-f.jpg" id="illus-391-f.jpg"></a> + <img src="images/illus-391-f.jpg" width="400" height="231" alt="A view of the land" title="" /> + <p class="caption2">PLAIN OF MEXICO. P LOOMIS, SC.</p> +</div> + + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_391" id="Page_391">[Pg 391]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XIV.<br /> +1847.</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>DIFFICULTIES OF THE ADVANCE—THE PEDREGAL—SAN ANTONIO—HACIENDA—RELATIVE +POSITION OF AMERICAN AND MEXICAN ARMIES—PATH +OVER THE PEDREGAL TO CONTRERAS—VALENCIA DISCONCERTS +SANTA ANNA'S PLAN OF BATTLE—AMERICAN ADVANCE +AND VICTORY AT CONTRERAS—SAN ANTONIO TURNED BY WORTH—BATTLE +OF CHURUBUSCO—BATTLE AT THE CONVENT AND TETE DE +PONT—THEIR CAPTURE—FLIGHT OF THE MEXICANS.</p> +</div> + +<p>In order to understand the ensuing military movements, it will be +proper for the reader to study the map of the valley, and acquaint +himself fully with the relative posture of both parties. The plans +of both generals in chief were well made; but the blunders and +obstinacy of the Mexican second in command disconcerted Santa +Anna's desired combination, and ultimately opened the ground to +the American advance with more ease than was anticipated.</p> + +<p>We will sketch rapidly the military value of the arena upon which +the combatants stood on the 18th of August, 1847.</p> + +<p>Let us imagine ourselves beside General Scott, standing on one +of the elevations above the town of San Agustin de las Cuevas, +at the base of the southern mountain barrier of the valley, and looking +northward towards the capital. Directly in front, leading to +the city, is the main road, the left or western side of which, even +from the gate of San Agustin to the Hacienda of San Antonio, and +thence westwardly to San Angel, forms, together with the bases of +the southern and western mountains about St. Geronimo and Contreras, +a vast basin, ten or twelve square miles in extent, covered +with the Pedregal or the field of broken lava which we have already +mentioned. This mass of jagged volcanic matter, we must +remember, was at that time barely passable with difficulty for infantry, +and altogether impassable for cavalry or artillery, save by a +single mule path. North, beyond the fortified <i>hacienda</i> and headquarters +of Santa Anna at San Antonio, the country opened. A line +of field works, the lake of Xochimilco, a few cultivated farms, and +vast flooded meadows, were on its right to the east, but from the +<i>hacienda</i>, a road branches off to the west, leading around the northern +edge of the <i>Pedregal</i> or lava field through Coyoacan and San +Angel, whence it deflects southwardly to Contreras. The main +road, however, continues onward, northwardly, from the hacienda +of San Antonio, until it crosses the Churubusco river at the strong + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_392" id="Page_392">[Pg 392]</a></span> +fortification we have described. Beyond Churubusco the highway +leads straight to the gate of San Antonio Abad, whence a work had +been thrown north-westwardly towards the citadel. The city of +Mexico, built on the bed of an ancient lake, was on a perfect level, +nor were there any commanding or protecting elevations of importance +around it within two or three miles, and the first of these, beyond +this limit, were chiefly on the north and west.</p> + +<p>Thus, General Santa Anna, in front, on the main road to the city, +at the massive fortified <i>hacienda</i> of San Antonio, blocked up the +highway in that direction, protected on his right by the barrier of +the Pedregal; and by the lake of Xochimilco, the field works, and +the flooded country on his left. General Valencia had been placed +by him with his troops at San Angel, on the western edge of the +valley, and at the village of Coyoacan, a little further east in the +lap of the valley, on roads communicating easily with his position +at San Antonio, while they commanded the approaches to the city +by the circuitous path of the Pedregal around the edge of the valley +from San Agustin de las Cuevas, through Contreras or Padierna. +Valencia and Santa Anna were consequently within supporting distance +of each other; and in their rear, in front of the city, were the +fortifications of Churubusco. General Scott, with the whole American +army was, therefore, apparently hemmed in between the lakes +and the Pedregal on his flanks; the Mexican fortifications and army +in front; and the steep mountains towards Cuernavaca in his rear. +He was obliged, accordingly, either to retreat by the defiles through +which he had advanced from Chalco,—to climb the steeps behind +him and pass them to the <i>tierra caliente</i>,—to force the position in +front at the hacienda of San Antonio,—or to burst the barrier of +the Pedregal on his left, and, sweeping round the rim of the valley, +to advance towards the capital through the village of San Angel. +Such were some of the dangers and difficulties that menaced Scott +on his arrival at San Agustin. He was in the heart of the enemy's +country, in front of a capital aroused by pride, patriotism and despair, +and possessing all the advantages of an accurate knowledge +of the ground on which it stood, or by which it was surrounded. +Scott, on the other hand, like the mariner in storm on a lee shore, +was obliged to feel his way along the dangerous coast with the lead, +and could not advance with that perfect confidence which is ever +the surest harbinger of success.</p> + +<p>The reconnoissances of the American engineers which had been +pushed boldly, in front, on the main road, to the north, by the hacienda +of San Antonio, soon disclosed the difficulty in that direction. + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_393" id="Page_393">[Pg 393]</a></span> +But among the mass of information which the American General +received at Puebla, his engineers learned that <i>there was</i> a pathway +through this Pedregal whose route had been indicated by the spies +with sufficient distinctness and certainty to justify a hope that he +might be able to render it practicable for his whole army, and, thus, +enable him to turn the right flank of the Mexicans' strongest positions. +There is no doubt, as subsequent events demonstrated, that +the ground in the neighborhood of Contreras, where the road descends +from the mountains and barrancas towards San Angel was +of great importance to the Mexicans in the defence of the various +modes of access to the city, and it is unquestionable that a strong +post should have been placed in that quarter to cripple the American +advance. It is stated by Mexican writers, that General Mendoza, +with two members of his topographical corps had reconnoitred +this route and pass, and pronounced it "absolutely indefensible." +It is probable, therefore, that no general action, involving the fortunes +of a division, or of a large mass of the Mexican army, should +have been risked among the ravines between the mountains and the +Pedregal near Contreras; yet we do not believe that it should have +been left by Santa Anna without a force capable of making a staunch +resistance.</p> + +<p>We are now acquainted with the ground, and with the positions +of the two armies. Scott's plan was to force a passage by either +or both of the two adits to the levels of the valley in front of the +city, while Santa Anna's, according to his manifesto dated <i>subsequently</i> +on the 23d of August, was to have made a concerted retrograde +movement with his troops, and to have staked the fortunes +of the capital on a great battle, in which all his fresh, enthusiastic, +and unharmed troops would have been brought into a general action +against the comparatively small American army, upon an open +ground where he would have had full opportunity to use and manœuvre +infantry, cavalry and artillery.</p> + +<p>But this plan was disconcerted at first, and probably destroyed, +both in its <i>materiel</i> and <i>morale</i>, by the gross disobedience of General +Valencia, who forgot as a soldier, that there can never be two +commanders in the field. Valencia, apparently resolving to seize +the first opportunity to attack the Americans, in spite of the reported +untenable character of the ground about Padierna or Contreras, left +his quarters at Coyoacan and San Angel, and advanced, without +consulting his commander, to Contreras, upon whose heights he +threw up an entrenched camp! As soon as Santa Anna learned this +fact, he ordered the vain and reckless officer to retire, but finding + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_394" id="Page_394">[Pg 394]</a></span> +him obstinately resolute in his insubordination, the commander-in-chief +suffered him, in direct opposition to his own opinion, to remain +and to charge himself with the whole responsibility of the consequences. +Thus, if Scott advanced upon the main road, he would +meet only Santa Anna in front, and the efficiency of Valencia's +force, on his left flank, would be comparatively destroyed. If he +conquered Valencia, however, at Contreras, after passing the Pedregal, +he would rout a whole division of the veterans of the north—the +remnants of San Luis and Angostura,—while the remainder of +the army, composed of recent levies and raw troops, disciplined for +the occasion, would, in all likelihood, fall an easy prey to the eager +Americans.</p> + +<p>The reconnoissances of the American army were now completed +both towards San Antonio over the main northern road, and towards +Padierna or Contreras over the southern and south-western edge of +the Pedregal. That brave and accomplished engineer, Captain—now +Colonel Robert E. Lee—had done the work on the American +left across the fields of broken lava, and being convinced that a +road could be opened, if needed, for the whole army and its trains, +Scott resolved forthwith to advance.</p> + +<p>On the 19th of August, General Pillow's division was commanded +to open the way, and advancing carefully, bravely and +laboriously over the worst portion of the pass,—cutting its road as +it moved onward,—it arrived about one o'clock in the afternoon +at a point amid the ravines and barrancas near Padierna or Contreras +where the new road could only be continued under the direct +fire of twenty-two pieces of Mexican artillery, most of which were +of large calibre. These guns were in a strong entrenched camp, +surrounded by every advantage of ground and by large bodies of +infantry and cavalry, reinforced from the city, over an excellent road +beyond the volcanic field. Pillow's and Twiggs's force, with all +its officers on foot, picking a way along the Mexican front and extending +towards the road from the city and the enemy's left, advanced +to dislodge the foe. Captain Magruder's field battery of +twelve and six-pounders, and Lieut. Callender's battery of mountain +howitzers and rockets, were also pushed forward with great +difficulty within range of the Mexican fortifications, and, thus, a stationary +battle raged until night fell drearily on the combatants amid +a cold rain which descended in torrents. Wet, chilled, hungry and +sleepless, both armies passed a weary time of watching until early +the next morning, when a movement was made by the Americans +which resulted in a total rout of Valencia's forces. Firing at a + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_395" id="Page_395">[Pg 395]</a></span> +long distance against an entrenched camp was worse than useless +on such a ground, and although General Smith's and Colonel Riley's +brigades, supported by Generals Pierce's and Cadwallader's, had +been under a heavy fire of artillery and musketry for more than three +hours along the almost impassable ravine in front and to the left of +the Mexican camp, yet so little had been effected in destroying the +position that the main reliance for success was correctly judged to be +in an assault at close quarters. The plan had been arranged in the +night by Brigadier General Persifer F. Smith, and was sanctioned +by General Scott, to whom it was communicated through the indefatigable +diligence of Captain Lee, of the Engineers.</p> + +<p>At 3 o'clock A. M. of the 20th August, the movement commenced +on the rear of the enemy's camp, led by Colonel Riley and +followed successively by Cadwallader's and Smith's brigades, the +whole force being commanded by General Smith.</p> + +<p>The march was rendered tedious by rain, mud and darkness; +but, about sun rise, Riley reached an elevation behind the Mexicans, +whence he threw his men upon the works, and, storming the entrenchments, +planted his flag upon them in seventeen minutes. +Meanwhile Cadwallader brought on the general assault by crossing +the deep ravine in front and pouring into the work and upon the fugitives, +frequent volleys of destructive musketry. Smith's own brigade +under the temporary command of Major Dimick, discovered, opposite +and outside the work, a long line of Mexican cavalry drawn up +in support, and by a charge against the flank, routed the horse completely, +while General Shields held masses of cavalry, supported by +artillery, in check below him, and captured multitudes who fled +from above.</p> + +<p>It was a rapid and brilliant feat of arms. Scott,—the skilful +and experienced General of the field,—doubts in his despatch +whether a more brilliant or decisive victory is to be found on record, +when the disparity of numbers, the nature of the ground, the artificial +defences, and the fact that the Americans accomplished their +end without artillery or cavalry, are duly and honestly considered. +All our forces did not number more than 4,500 rank and file, while +the Mexicans maintained, at least, six thousand on the field, and +double that number in reserve under Santa Anna, who had advanced +to support but probably seeing that it was not a spot for his theory of +a general action, and that an American force intervened, declined +aiding his disobedient officer. The Mexicans lost about 700 killed, +813 prisoners, including 4 Generals among 88 officers. Twenty-two +pieces of brass ordnance, thousands of small arms and accoutrements, + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_396" id="Page_396">[Pg 396]</a></span> +many colors and standards, large stores of ammunition, 700 +pack mules, and numbers of horses fell into the hands of the victors.</p> + +<p>The rage of Santa Anna against Valencia knew no bounds. He +ordered him to be shot wherever found; but the defeated chief fled +precipitately towards the west beyond the mountains, and for a long +time lay in concealment until the storm of private and public indignation +had passed. The effect of this battle, resulting in the loss +of the veterans of the north, was disastrous not only in the city, but +to the <i>morale</i> of the remaining troops of the main division under +Santa Anna. It certainly demonstrated the importance of Padierna +or Contreras as a military point of defence; but it unquestionably +proved that the works designed to maintain it should have been differently +planned and placed at a much earlier day, after mature deliberation +by skilful engineers. The hasty decision and work of +Valencia, made without preconcert or sanction of the General-in-chief, +and in total violation of his order of battle, followed by the +complete destruction of the entire division of the northern army, +could only result in final disaster.</p> + +<p>Whilst the battle of Contreras was raging early in the day, +brigades from Worth's and Quitman's divisions had been advanced +to support the combatants; but before they arrived on the field the +post was captured, and they were, accordingly, ordered to return to +their late positions. Worth, advanced from San Agustin, in front +of San Antonio, was now in better position, for a road to the rear +of the <i>hacienda</i> had been opened by forcing the pass of Contreras. +Moving from Contreras or Padierna through San Angel and Coyoacan, +Pillow's and Twiggs's divisions would speedily be able to attack +it from the north, while Worth, advancing from the south, +might unquestionably force the position. Accordingly while Pillow +and Twiggs were advanced, General Scott reached Coyoacan, about +two miles, by a cross road, in the rear of the hacienda of San Antonio. +From Coyoacan he despatched Pillow to attack the rear of +San Antonio, while a reconnoissance was made of Churubusco, on +the main road, and an attack of the place ordered to be effected by +Twiggs with one of his brigades and Captain Taylor's field battery.</p> + +<p>General Pierce was next despatched, under the guidance of Captain +Lee, by a road to the left, to attack the enemy's right and rear +in order to favor the movement on the Convent of Churubusco and +cut off retreat to the capital. And, finally, Shields, with the New +York and South Carolina volunteers, was ordered to follow Pierce +and to command the left wing. The battle now raged from the +right to the left of our whole line. All the movements had been made + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_397" id="Page_397">[Pg 397]</a></span> +with the greatest rapidity and enthusiasm. Not a moment was lost +in pressing the victory after the fall of Contreras. Shouting Americans +and rallying Mexicans were spread over every field. Every +one was employed; and, in truth, there was ample work to do, for +even the commander-in-chief of our forces was left without a reserve +or an escort, and had to advance for safety close in Twiggs's rear.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, about an hour earlier, Worth, by a skilful and daring +movement upon the enemy's front and right at the hacienda of San +Antonio, had turned and forced that formidable point whose garrison +no doubt was panic struck by the victory of Contreras. The enterprise +was nobly achieved. Colonel Clarke's brigade, conducted by +the engineers Mason and Hardcastle, found a practicable path +through the Pedregal west of the road, and, by a wide sweep, came +out upon the main causeway to the capital. At this point the three +thousand men of the Mexican garrison at San Antonio, were met in +retreat, and cut by Clarke in their very centre;—one portion being +driven off towards Dolores on the right, and the other upon Churubusco +in the direct line of the active operations of the Americans. +Whilst this brave feat of out-flanking was performed, Colonel Garland, +Major Galt, Colonel Belton, and Lieutenant Colonel Duncan +advanced to the front attack of San Antonio, and rushing rapidly +on the flying enemy, took one General prisoner, and seized a large +quantity of public property, ammunition and the five deserted guns.</p> + +<p>Thus fell the two main keys of the valley, and thus did all the +divisions of the American army at length reach the open and comparatively +unobstructed plains of the valley.</p> + +<p>Worth soon reunited his division on the main straight road to the +capital, and was joined by General Pillow, who, advancing from +Coyoacan to attack the rear of San Antonio, as we have already related, +soon perceived that the hacienda had fallen, and immediately +turned to the left, through a broken country of swamps and ditches, +in order to share in the attack on <span class="smcap">Churubusco</span>. And here, it was +felt on all sides, that the last stand must be made by Mexico in front +of her capital.</p> + +<p>The hamlet or scattered houses of Churubusco, formed a strong +military position on the borders of the stream which crosses the +highway, and, besides the fortified and massive convent of San +Pablo, it was guarded by a <i>tête de pont</i> with regular bastions and +curtains at the head of a bridge over which the road passes from +the <i>hacienda</i> of San Antonio to the city. The stream was a defence;—the +nature of the adjacent country was a defence;—and +here the fragments of the Mexican army,—cavalry, artillery and + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_398" id="Page_398">[Pg 398]</a></span> +infantry, had been collected from every quarter,—panic stricken, it +is true,—yet apparently resolved to contest the passage of the last +outwork of importance in front of the <i>garita</i> of San Antonio Abad.</p> + +<p>When Worth and Pillow reached this point, Twiggs had already +been sometime hotly engaged in attacking the embattled convent. +The two advancing Generals immediately began to manœuvre closely +upon the <i>tête de pont</i>, which was about four hundred and fifty +yards east of the convent, where Twiggs still earnestly plied the +enemy. Various brigades and regiments under Cadwallader, Lieutenant +Colonel Smith, Garland, Clark, Major White and Lieutenant +Colonel Scott continued to press onward towards the <i>tête de pont</i>, +until by gradual encroachments under a tremendous fire, they attained +a position which enabled them to assault and carry the formidable +work by the bayonet. But the convent still held out. +Twenty minutes after the <i>tête de pont</i> had been taken, and after a +desperate battle of two hours and a half, that stronghold threw out +the white flag. Yet it is probable that even then the conflict would +not have ended, had not the 3d infantry under Captains Alexander, +J. M. Smith, and Lieutenant O. L. Shepherd, cleared the way by +fire and the bayonet to enter the work.</p> + +<p>Whilst this gallant task was being performed in front of the +Mexican defences, Generals Pierce and Shields had been engaged +on our left, in turning the enemy's works so as to prevent the escape +of the garrisons, and to oppose the extension of numerous corps +from the rear, upon and around our left. By a winding march of a +mile around to the right, this division under the command of Shields, +found itself on the edge of an open, wet meadow, near the main +road to the capital, in the presence of nearly four thousand of the +enemy's infantry, a little in the rear of Churubusco. Shields posted +his right at a strong edifice, and extended his left wing parallel to +the road, to outflank the enemy towards the capital. But the Mexicans +extended their right more rapidly, and were supported by +several regiments of cavalry, on better ground. Shields, accordingly, +concentrated his division about a hamlet, and attacked in +front. The battle was long and bravely sustained with varied success, +but finally resulted in crowning with victory the zeal and courage +of the American commander and his gallant troops. Shields +took 380 prisoners, including officers; while at Churubusco seven +field pieces, some ammunition, one standard, three Generals, and +1261 prisoners, including other officers, were the fruits of the sharply +contested victory.</p> + +<p>This was the last conquest on that day of conquests. As soon + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_399" id="Page_399">[Pg 399]</a></span> +as the <i>tête de pont</i> fell, Worth's and Pillow's divisions rushed onward +by the highway towards the city, which now rose in full sight +before them, at the distance of four miles. Bounding onward, +flushed and exultant, they encountered Shields' division, now also +victorious, and all combined in the headlong pursuit of the flying +foe. At length the columns parted, and a small part of Harney's +cavalry, led by Captain Kearney of the 1st dragoons, dashed to the +front and charged the retreating Mexicans up to the very gates of +the city.</p> + +<p>Thus terminated the first series of American victories in the valley +of Mexico.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p><span class="smcap">Note.</span>—It is ungracious to criticize unfavorably the conduct of a conquered foe, +but there are some things in Santa Anna's behavior at Contreras and Churubusco, +which must not be passed silently. At Contreras, he came with aid, by a short and +fine highway, to the field at a late period, when the Americans, moving slowly over +an unknown and broken country, had already outflanked with a strong force, Valencia's +left, and he then made no effort whatever, with his <i>large support</i>, to relieve the +beleagured general. If he did not design doing any thing, why did he come at all; +and, if as he says, he believed Valencia could, during the night, withdraw all his +forces, after spiking his guns, by a secret path of which he apprised him, why did +he not take the same path to aid him? Did he believe that it was best to lose Valencia +and his division only, without risking the loss of the large support under his +own command? In the <i>morning</i> of the 20th it was certainly too late for action, but +Santa Anna must have been convinced, when he <i>ordered the retreat</i> from the Hacienda +of San Antonio, and thus voluntarily opened a gate for Worth's advance, that now, +if ever, had arrived the moment for a general action in front of the city, the key of +which, on the main road, was the convent of Churubusco and the adjacent works. +The loss of Valencia's army and <i>materiel</i> was undoubtedly disheartening, but, according +to his own account, Santa Anna had been prepared for an event which he +<i>foresaw</i>. This should not have destroyed his self-possession if he sincerely desired +victory. When Contreras fell, he had, in reality, only lost a division consisting of +five or six thousand men. The whole centre and left wing of his army were untouched, +and these must have numbered at least 20,000. Yet, if we admit the brave +resistance of the garrison, only hastily thrown into the convent and works at Churubusco, +it may then be asked what masterly effort Santa Anna made (at the moment +when he had actually drawn the American army into the valley) to bring on a <i>general +action</i> with all the fresh troops either under his own command or under that of +obedient, brave, skilful, and patriotic officers? The Mexican accounts of these actions, +and in fact, his own despatch from Tehuacan, dated 19th Nov. 1847, exhibit +no able manœuvres on the last field with which he was perfectly and personally familiar. +The Americans stormed a single point,—and the battle was over, though +bravely fought by those who were under cover and by the traitor battalion of San +Patricio, formed of renegades from our army. The despatches of Santa Anna, like +most of the Mexican despatches after military or political disaster, seem rather designed +to criminate others, and to throw the whole blame of <i>ultimate</i> complete defeat +on Valencia, than to point out the causes of conquest in spite of able generalship +<i>after the fall of Contreras</i>. See Santa Anna's despatches, Mexico 23 Aug. 1847; and +Tehuacan, 19 Nov. 1847, in Pillow's Court Martial, pp. 532 and 540. See also +<i>Apuntes para la historia de la guerra</i>, &c., &c., chapters XVII-XVIII-XIX, and +Ripley's History of the War, vol. 2, p. 256; "<i>No part of the Mexican force was +ready for battle</i>, except Rincon's command," says this writer.</p> +</div> + + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_400" id="Page_400">[Pg 400]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XV.<br /> +1847.</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>WHY THE CITY WAS NOT ENTERED ON THE 20TH—CONDITION +OF THE CITY—DELIBERATION OF THE MEXICAN CABINET AND +PROPOSALS—REASONS WHY GENERAL SCOTT PROPOSED AND +GRANTED THE ARMISTICE—DELIBERATIONS OF COMMISSIONERS—PARTIES +AGAINST SANTA ANNA—FAILURE OF THE NEGOTIATION—MEXICAN +DESIRE TO DESTROY SANTA ANNA.</p> +</div> + +<p>It was late in the day when the battles ended. One army was +wearied with fighting and victory; the other equally oppressed by +labor and defeat. The conquered Mexicans fled to their eastern +defences or took refuge within the gates of their city. There was, +for the moment, utter disorganization among the discomfited, while +the jaded band of a few thousand invaders had to be rallied and reformed +in their ranks and regiments after the desperate conflicts of +the day over so wide a field. It surely was not a proper moment +for an unconcentrated army, almost cut off from support, three hundred +miles in the interior of an enemy's country, and altogether +ignorant of the localities of a great capital containing nearly two +hundred thousand inhabitants, to rush madly, at night fall, into the +midst of that city. Mexico, too, was not an ordinary town with +wide thoroughfares and houses like those in which the invaders had +been accustomed to dwell. Spanish houses are almost castles in +architectural strength and plan, while from their level and embattled +roofs, a mob, when aroused by the spirit of revenge or despair, may +do the service of a disciplined army. Nor was it known whether +the metropolis had been defended by works along its streets,—by +barricades, impediments and batteries,—among which the entangled +assailants might be butchered with impunity in the narrow passages +during the darkness and before they could concentrate upon any +central or commanding spot. Repose and daylight were required +before a prudent General would venture to risk the lives of his men +and the success of his whole mission upon such a die.</p> + +<p>Accordingly the army was halted; the dispersed recalled, the +wounded succored, the dead prepared for burial, and the tired +troops ordered to bivouack on the ground they had wrested from the +enemy.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> + <a name="illus-401-f.jpg" id="illus-401-f.jpg"></a> + <img src="images/illus-401-f.jpg" width="400" height="243" alt="A view of the volcanic mountains" title="" /> + <p class="caption2">VIEW OF THE VOLCANOES FROM TACUBAYA.</p> +</div> +<p> </p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_401" id="Page_401">[Pg 401]</a></span> + Meanwhile the greatest consternation prevailed within the city. +When Santa Anna reached the Palace, he hastily assembled the +Ministers of State and other eminent citizens, and, after reviewing +the disasters of the day and their causes, he proclaimed the indispensable +necessity of recurring to a truce in order to take a long respite. +There was a difference of opinion upon this subject; but it +was finally agreed that a suspension of arms should be negotiated +through the Spanish Minister and the British Consul General. +Señor Pacheco, the Minister of Foreign Relations, accordingly addressed +Messrs. Mackintosh and Bermudez de Castro, entreating +them to effect this desired result. During the night the British Consul +General visited the American camp, and was naturally anxious +to spare the effusion of blood and the assault by an army on a city +in which his country had so deep an interest. On the morning of +the 21st, when General Scott was about to take up battering or assaulting +positions, to authorize him to summon the capital to surrender +or to sign an armistice with a pledge to enter at once into +negotiations for peace, he was met by General Mora y Villamil and +Señor Arrangoiz, with proposals for an armistice in order to bury +the dead, but without reference to a treaty. Scott had already determined +to offer the alternative of assault or armistice and treaty to +the Mexican government, and this resolution had been long cherished +by him. Accordingly he at once rejected the Mexican proposal, +and, without summoning the city to surrender, despatched a note to +Santa Anna, expressing his willingness to sign, on reasonable terms, +a short armistice, in order that the American Commissioner and the +Mexican Government, might amicably and honorably settle the international +differences, and thus close an unnatural war in which too +much blood had already been shed. This frank proposal, coming +generously from the victorious chief, was promptly accepted. Commissioners +were appointed by the commanders of the two armies on +the 22d; the armistice was signed on the 23d, and ratifications exchanged +on the 24th; and thus, the dispute was for a while transferred +once more from the camp to the council chamber. On the morning +of the 21st, the American army was posted in the different villages +in the vicinity. Worth's division occupied Tacubaya. Pillow's +Mixcoac, Twiggs's San Angel, while Quitman's remained still at +San Agustin, where it had served during the battles of the 19th +and 20th in protecting the rear and the trains of the army. Tacubaya +became the residence of General Scott, and the headquarters +of the commander-in-chief were established in the Bishop's Palace.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_402" id="Page_402">[Pg 402]</a></span> + There are critics and politicians who are never satisfied with +results, and, whilst their prophecies are usually dated after the +events which they claim to have foreseen, they unfortunately find +too much favor with the mass of readers who are not in the habit +of ascertaining precisely what was known and what was not known +at the period of the occurrences which they seek to condemn. +General Scott has fallen under the heavy censure of these writers +for offering the armistice and avoiding the immediate capture of the +capital, the practicability of which they <i>now</i> consider as demonstrated. +We propose to examine this question, but we believe that +the practicability or impracticability of that event does not become +one of the primary or even early elements of the discussion.</p> + +<p>If we understand the spirit of this age correctly, we must believe +that mankind, purified by the progressive blessings of Christianity +and modern civilization, desires the mitigation rather than the increase +of the evils of war. It does not seek merely to avert danger +or disaster from the forces of one party in the strife, but strives to +produce <i>peace</i> with as little harm as possible to all who are engaged +in warfare. It is not the mission of a soldier to kill, because his +profession is that of arms. It is ever the imperative duty of a +commander to stop the flow of human blood as soon as he perceives +the slightest chance of peace; and if his honorable efforts +fail entirely, through the folly or obstinacy of the foe, he will be +more fully justified in the subsequent and stringent measures of +coercion.</p> + +<p>The Mexican masses, mistaking vanity for true national pride, +had hitherto persevered in resisting every effort to settle the international +difficulties. Diplomacy, with such a nation, is extremely +delicate. If we exhibited symptoms of leniency, she became presumptuous;—if +we pushed hostilities to the extreme, she grew +doggedly obstinate. On the 21st of August her capital was in +Scott's power. His victorious army was at her gates. Two terrible +battles had been fought, and the combatants on both sides had +shown courage, skill and endurance. The Mexican army was +routed, but not entirely dispersed or destroyed. At this moment it +doubtless occurred to General Scott, and to all who were calm spectators +of the scene, that before the last and fatal move was made, it +was his duty to allow Mexico to save her point of honor by negotiating, +ere the city was entered, and while she could yet proclaim to +her citizens and the world, that her capital had never been seized +by the enemy. This assuaged national vanity, and preserved the +last vantage ground upon which the nation might stand with pride + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_403" id="Page_403">[Pg 403]</a></span> +if not with perfect confidence. It still left something to the conquered +people which was not necessary or valuable to us.</p> + +<p>There are other matters, unquestionably, that weighed much in +the very responsible deliberations of General Scott. If our army +entered the city triumphantly, or took it by assault, the frail elements +of government still lingering at that period of disorganization, would +either fly or be utterly destroyed. All who were in power, in that +nation of jealous politicians and wily intriguers would be eager to +shun the last responsibility. If Santa Anna should be utterly beaten, +the disgrace would blot out the last traces of his remaining prestige. +If so fatal a disaster occurred, as subsequent events proved, the +Americans would be most unfortunately situated in relation to peace, +for there would be no government to negotiate with! Santa Anna's +government was the only <i>constitutional</i> one that had existed in +Mexico for a long period, and with such a legalized national authority +peace must be concluded. It was not our duty to destroy a +government and then gather the fragments to reconstruct another +with which we might treat. If a revolutionary, or <i>provisional</i> authority +existed, what prospect had we of enduring pacification? +What guaranty did we hold in a treaty celebrated with a military +despot, a temporary chief, or a sudden usurper, that such a treaty +could be maintained before the nation? What constitutional or +legal right would an American general or commissioner have, to +enter into such a compact? Was it not, therefore, Scott's duty to +act with such tender caution as not to endanger the fate of the only +man who might still keep himself at the head of his rallied people?</p> + +<p>Besides these political considerations, there are others, of a military +character, that will commend themselves to the prudent and the +just. The unacclimated American army had marched from Puebla +to the valley of Mexico during the rainy season, in a tropical zone, +when the earth is saturated with water, and no one travels who can +avoid exposure. Our men were forced to undergo the hardships of +such a campaign, to make roads, to travel over broken ground, to +wade marshes, to bivouack on the damp soil with scarce a shelter +from the storm, to march day and night, and finally, without an +interval of repose, to fight two of the sharpest actions of the war. +The seven or eight thousand survivors of these actions,—many of +whom were new levies—demanded care and zealous husbanding +for future events. They were distant from the coast and cut off from +support or immediate succor. The enemy's present or prospective +weakness was not to be relied on. Wisdom required that what was +in the rear should be thought of as well as what was in advance.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_404" id="Page_404">[Pg 404]</a></span> + May it not then be justly said that it was a proper moment for a +heroic general to pause in front of a national capital containing two +hundred thousand people, and to allow the civil arm to assume, for +a moment of trial, the place of the military? Like a truly brave +man, he despised the eclat of entering the capital as Cortéz had +done on nearly the same day of the same month, three hundred and +twenty-six years before. Like a wise man, he considered the history +and condition of the enemy, instead of his personal glory, and +laid aside the false ambition of a soldier, to exhibit the forbearance +of a christian statesman.<a name="FNanchor_73_73" id="FNanchor_73_73"></a> + <a href="#Footnote_73_73" class="fnanchor">[73]</a></p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>The American Commissioner unquestionably entered upon the +negotiations in good faith, and it is probable that Santa Anna was +personally quite as well disposed for peace. He, however, had a +delicate game to play with the politicians of his own country, and +was obliged to study carefully the posture of parties as well as the +momentary strength of his friends and enemies. Well acquainted +as he was with the value of men and the intrigues of the time, he +would have been mad not to guard against the risk of ruin, and, +accordingly, his first efforts were directed rather towards obtaining +the <i>ultimatum</i> of the United States, than to pledging his own government +in any project which might prove either presently unpopular +or destroy his future influence. The instructions, therefore, that +were given to General José J. de Herrera, Bernardo Couto, Ignacio +Mora y Villamil and Miguel Atristain, the Mexican commissioners, +were couched in such extreme terms, that much could be yielded +before there was a likelihood of approaching the American demands. +In the meanwhile, as negotiations progressed, Mexico obtained time +to rally her soldiers, to appease those who were discontented with +the proposed peace, and to abjure the project if it should be found +either inadmissible or impossible of accomplishment without loss of +popularity.</p> + +<p>For several days consultations took place between Mr. Trist and +the commissioners, but it was soon found that the American pretensions +in regard to the position of Texas, the boundary of the Rio +Grande and the cession of New Mexico and Upper California, were + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_405" id="Page_405">[Pg 405]</a></span> +of such a character that the Mexicans would not yield to them at the +present moment. The popular feeling, stimulated by the rivals of +Santa Anna, his enemies, and the demagogues, was entirely opposed +to the surrender of territory. Sensible as the President was, that +the true national interests demanded instantaneous peace, he was +dissuaded by his confidential advisers from presenting a counter +projét, which would have resulted in a treaty. Congress, moreover, +had virtually dissolved by the precipitate departure of most of its +members after the battles of the 20th.</p> + +<p>All the party leaders labored diligently at this crisis, but none of +them with cordiality for Santa Anna, in whose negotiations of a +successful peace with the United States, they either foresaw or +feared the permanent consolidation of his power. The <i>puros</i>, or +democrats, still clung to their admiration of the constitution of our +Union; to their opposition to the standing army; to their desire +for modifying the power and position of the church and its ministers, +and to their united hostility against the President. They were loud +in their exhortations to continue the war, while Olaguibel, one of +their ablest men and most devoted lovers of American institutions, +issued a strong manifesto against the projected treaty. This was +the party which, it is asserted, in fact desired the prolongation of +the war until the destroyed nationality of Mexico took refuge from +domestic intrigues, misgovernment and anarchy, in annexation to +the United States.</p> + +<p>The <i>monarquistas</i>, who still adhered to the church and the army, +proclaimed their belief in the total failure of the republican system. +Revolutions and incessant turmoils, according to their opinions, +could only be suppressed by the strong arm of power, and in their +ranks had again appeared General Mariano Paredes y Arrellaga, +who, returning from exile, landed in disguise at Vera Cruz, and +passing secretly through the American lines, proceeded to Mexico +to continue his machinations against Santa Anna, whom he cordially +hated.</p> + +<p>The <i>moderados</i> formed a middle party equally opposed to the ultraisms +of monarchy and democracy. They counted among their +number, many of the purest and wisest men in the republic, and although +they were not as inimical to the United States as the <i>monarquistas</i>, +or as many of the <i>puros</i> pretended to be, yet they cordially +desired or hoped to preserve the nationality and progressive republicanism +of Mexico. In this junto Santa Anna found a few partizans +who adhered to him more from policy than principle, for all +classes had learned to distrust a person who played so many parts in + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_406" id="Page_406">[Pg 406]</a></span> +the national drama of intrigue, war, and government. As a party, +they were doubtless unwilling to risk their strength and prospects +upon a peace which might be made under his auspices.</p> + +<p>In this crisis the President had no elements of strength still firmly +attached to him but the army, whose favor, amid all his reverses, he +generally contrived to retain or to win. But that army was now +much disorganized, and the national finances were so low that he +was scarcely able to maintain it from day to day. The mob, composed +of the lower classes, and the beastly <i>leperos</i>, knowing nothing +of the principles of the war, and heedless of its consequences,—plied +moreover by the demagogues of all the parties,—shouted +loudly for its continuance, and thus the president was finally forced +to yield to the external pressure, and to be governed by an impulse +which he was either too timid or too weak to control.</p> + +<p>The armistice provided that the Americans should receive supplies +from the city, and that no additional fortifications should be +undertaken during its continuance; nevertheless the American trains +were assailed by the populace of the city, and, it is alleged, that +Santa Anna disregarded the provision forbidding fortifications. +When it became evident to the American commissioner and General +Scott, that the Mexicans were merely trifling and temporizing,—that +the prolongation of the armistice would be advantageous to the +enemy, without affording any correspondent benefits to us,—and +when their supplies had been increased so as to afford ample support +for the army during the anticipated attack on the city,—it was +promptly resolved to renew the appeal to arms. Accordingly, on +the 6th of September, General Scott addressed Santa Anna, calling +his attention to the infractions of the compact, and declaring that +unless satisfaction was made for the breaches of faith before noon of +the following day, he would consider the armistice terminated from +that hour. Santa Anna returned an answer of false recriminations, +and threw off the mask. He asserted his willingness to rely on +arms;—he issued a bombastic appeal to the people, in which he +announced that the demands of the Americans would have converted +the nation into a colony of our Union. He improved upon the pretended +patriotic zeal of all the parties—puros, moderados, monarquistas +and mob—who had proclaimed themselves in favor of the +war. Instead of opposing or arguing the question, he caught the +war strain of the hour, and sent it forth to the multitude in trumpet +tones. He was determined not to be hedged or entrapped by those +who intrigued to destroy him, and resolved that if he must fall, his +opponents should share the political disaster. Nor was he alone in + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_407" id="Page_407">[Pg 407]</a></span> +his electioneering gasconade, for General Herrera—a man who had +been notoriously the advocate of peace, both before and since the +rupture,—addressed the clergy and the people, craving their aid +by prayer, money, fire and sword, to exterminate the invaders! +All classes were, thus, placed in a false and uncandid position.</p> + +<p>This is a sad picture of political hypocrisy based upon the misnamed +popular will of a country which had for twenty years been +demoralized by the very chieftain who was about to reap the direful +harvest he had sown in the hearts of his people. Every man, every +party, acknowledged, privately, the impolicy of continued hostilities, +yet all men and all parties were resolved that <i>Santa Anna</i> +should not make the peace whilst an American army remained in +the country to sustain it, or an American government dispensed millions +to pay for the ceded territory. Distrusting his honesty and +patriotism, they believed that the money would only be squandered +among his parasites, or used for the prolonged corruption and disorganization +of their country. With gold and an army they believed +him omnipotent; but, stripped of these elements of power in Mexico, +the great magician dwindled into a haggard and harmless witch.</p> + +<p>Combinations arose readily and bravely against the man whose +sway was irresistible <i>as long as he dealt with his countrymen alone</i> +or preserved a loyal army and dependant church, whose strength and +wealth were mutual supports. The sky was dark and lowering +around him, and he must have acknowledged secretly, that the political +parties of his country, if not his countrymen universally, were +more anxious to destroy him than the Americans. The army of the +invaders, they hoped, might perform a task in this drama, which the +Mexicans themselves could not achieve; and there are multitudes +who would have been glad to see its end become tragic by the death +of one whom they feared in prosperity, and despised in adversity.</p> + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<div class="fn"> +<h4>Footnote</h4> +<p><a name="Footnote_73_73" id="Footnote_73_73"></a><a href="#FNanchor_73_73"> + <span class="label">[73]</span></a> It will be remembered that even + Cortéz had paused in the precincts of the ancient +capital of the Aztecs, in order to give them a chance of escape before striking the +fatal blow. See Prescott, vol. 3, p. 199. It is a little remarkable also, that the dates +of Scott's and Cortéz's victories coincide so closely. Cortéz's victory was on the +13th of August, 1521, Scott's on the 20th of August, 1847. The date of Cortéz's +achievement is given according to the Old Style, but if we add ten days to bring it +up to New Style, it will be corrected to the 23d of August!</p> +</div> + + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_408" id="Page_408">[Pg 408]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XVI.<br /> +1847.</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>MILITARY POSITION OF THE AMERICANS AT THE END OF THE ARMISTICE—MEXICAN +DEFENCES—PLAN OF ATTACK—RECONNOISSANCES +OF SCOTT AND MASON—IMPORTANCE OF MEXICAN +POSITION AT MOLINO DEL REY—SCOTT'S SCHEME OF CAPTURING +THE CITY—BATTLE OF MOLINO DEL REY—REFLECTIONS AND +CRITICISM ON THIS BATTLE—PREPARATIONS TO ATTACK CHAPULTEPEC—STORMING +OF CHAPULTEPEC AND OF THE CITY GATES +OF SAN COSMÉ AND BELEN—RETREAT OF THE MEXICAN ARMY +AND GOVERNMENT—AMERICAN OCCUPATION OF THE CITY OF +MEXICO.</p> +</div> + +<p>At the termination of the armistice the position of the American +forces was greatly changed from what it had been on the morning +of the 20th of August. The occupation of San Agustin had +been followed by that of Contreras, San Angel, Coyoacan and +Churubusco in the course of that day, and on the next, Mixcoac +and Tacubaya were taken possession of. Thus the whole southern +and south-western portion of the valley, in front of Mexico, were +now held by the Americans; and this disposition of their forces, +commanding most of the principal approaches to the capital, +enabled them, for the first time to select their point of attack.</p> + +<p>In reconnoitering the chief outworks of the Mexicans by which +he was still opposed, General Scott found that there were several +of great importance. Directly north of his headquarters at Tacubaya, +and distant about a mile, arose the lofty, isolated hill of +Chapultepec, surrounded by its massive edifice, half castle, half +palace, crowned with cannon. This point, it was known, had +been strongly fortified to maintain the road leading from Tacubaya +to the <i>garita</i> of San Cosmé on the west of the city. Westwardly, +beyond the hill of Chapultepec, whose southern side and feet are +surrounded by a dense grove of cypresses, and on a rising ground +within the military works designed to strengthen the castle, was the +Molino del Rey, or King's Mill, which was represented to be a +cannon foundry to which large quantities of church bells had been +sent to be cast into guns. Still further west, but near the Molino +or Mill, was the fortified Casa Mata, containing a large deposit of +powder.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_409" id="Page_409">[Pg 409]</a></span> + These,—together with the strong citadel, lying near the <i>garita</i> +of Belen in the south-western corner of the city,—were the principal +external defences still remaining beyond the immediate limits +of the capital. The city itself stands on a slight swell between lake +Tezcoco and the western edge of the valley, and, throughout its +greater extent, is girdled by a ditch or navigable canal extremely +difficult to bridge in the face of an enemy, which serves the Mexicans +not only as a military defence but for drainage and protection +of their customs. Each of the eight strong city gates were protected +by works of various character and merit. Outside and +within the cross fires of these gates there were other obstacles +scarcely less formidable towards the <i>south</i>. The main approaches +to the city across the flat lands of the basin are raised on causeways +flanked by wide and deep ditches designed for their protection and +drainage. These causeways, as well as the minor cross roads +which are similarly built, were cut in many places and had their +bridges destroyed so as to impede the American's advance and to +form an entangling net work; while the adjacent meadows were in +this rainy season either filled with water in many places or liable to +be immediately flooded by a tropical storm.</p> + +<p>With these fields for his theatre of action, and these defences still +in front of him, it was an important and responsible question, whether +General Scott should attack Mexico on the west or on the south.</p> + +<p>There can be hardly a doubt that the capture of the hill and +castle of Chapultepec, before assaulting the city, was imperatively +demanded by good generalship. If the capital were taken <i>first</i>, +the Mexicans instead of retreating towards Guadalupe and the +north, when we attacked and captured from the <i>south</i>, would of +course retire to the avoided stronghold of Chapultepec; and, if our +slender forces were subsequently obliged to leave the city in order +to take the fortress, our sick, wounded and thinned regiments would +be left to the mercy of the mob and the <i>leperos</i>. Chapultepec would +thus become the nucleus and garrison of the whole Mexican army, +and we might be compelled to fight two battles at the same time,—one +<i>in</i> the city, and the other at the castle. But, by capturing the +castle first, and seizing the road northward beyond it, we possessed +all the most important outworks in the lap of the valley, and cut +off the retreat of the Mexicans from the city either to the west, to +the castle, or towards our rear in the valley. We obtained, moreover, +absolute command of two of the most important entrances to +the capital, inasmuch as from the eastern foot of the hill of Chapultepec +two causeways, and aqueducts raised on lofty arches, diverged + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_410" id="Page_410">[Pg 410]</a></span> +northeastwardly and eastwardly towards the city. The +northernmost of these entered Mexico by the <i>garita</i> of San Cosmé, +while the other reached it by that of Belen near the citadel.</p> + +<p>In attacking Chapultepec, it was important to consider the value +of the Molino del Rey or King's Mill, and Casa Mata, both of +which, as we noticed, lie on rising ground within the works designed +to protect Chapultepec. Upon examination it will be found +that the Molino del Rey, or King's Mill, bears the relation of a very +strong western outwork both to the castle of Chapultepec and its +approaches by the inclined plain which serves to ascend its summit. +As the Molino del Rey is commanded and defended by the castle, +so it reciprocally, commands and defends the only good approach +to the latter.<a name="FNanchor_74_74" id="FNanchor_74_74"></a> + <a href="#Footnote_74_74" class="fnanchor">[74]</a> As long as the Molino was held by the Mexicans, +it would of course, form an important stronghold easily reached +from the city around the rear of Chapultepec; so that if Scott attacked +the castle and hill from the south, where the road that ascends +it commenced, he would be in danger of an attack on his +left flank from the Mexicans in the defences at Molino and Casa +Mata.</p> + +<p>If the King's Mill fell, the result to the enemy would be that, in +addition to the loss of an important outwork and the consequent +weakening of the main work, its occupants or defenders would be +driven from a high position above the roads and fields into the low +grounds at the base of Chapultepec, which were completely commanded +from the Molino, and thus the Mexicans would be unable +to prevent the American siege pieces from taking up the most +favorable position for battering the castle. It was important, +therefore, not only that the foundry should be destroyed, but, in a +stratagetic view, it was almost indispensable in relation to future +operations that the position should be taken. It is undeniable, as +following events showed, that the Mexicans regarded it as one of +their formidable military points. The capture of Chapultepec and +the destruction of the post at Molino del Rey were, accordingly, +determined on as preliminary to the final assault upon the city.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>As soon as the armistice was terminated bold reconnoissances +were made by our engineers in the direction of Chapultepec and +the Molino or King's Mill and Casa Mata. On the 7th of September +Santa Anna's answer to Scott's despatch was received, and on +the same day the Commander-in-Chief and General Worth examined +the enemy's formidable dispositions near and around the castle-crowned + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_411" id="Page_411">[Pg 411]</a></span> +hill. The Mexican array was found to consist of an extended +line of cavalry and infantry, sustained by a field battery of +four guns, either occupying directly or supporting a system of defences +collateral to the castle and summit; <i>but as the lines were +skilfully masked a very inadequate idea of the extent of the forces was +obtained</i>. Captain Mason's reconnoissance on the morning of the +same day, represented the enemy's left as resting on and occupying +the group of strong stone buildings at the Molino adjacent to the +grove at the foot of Chapultepec and directly under the castle's +guns. The right of his line rested on the Casa Mata, at the foot +of the ridge sloping gradually to the plain below from the heights +above Tacubaya; while, midway between these buildings, were +the field battery and infantry forces disposed on either side to support +it. This reconnoissance indicated that the <i>centre</i> was the +weak point of the position, and that its left flank was the strongest. +In the Mill or Molino, on the left, was the brigade of General +Leon, reinforced by the brigade of General Rangel; in the Casa +Mata, on the right, was the brigade of General Perez; and on the +intermediate ground was the brigade of General Ramirez, with several +pieces of artillery. The Mexican reserve was composed of +the 1st and 3d light, stationed in the groves of Chapultepec, while +the cavalry consisting of 4,000 men, rested at the hacienda of Morales, +not very far from the field. Such was the arrangement +of the Mexican forces made by Santa Anna in person on the 7th +of September, though it has been alleged by Mexican writers that +it was somewhat changed during the following night. The wily +chief had not allowed the time to pass during the negotiation between +Trist and the Commissioners in political discussion alone. +Regarding the failure of the treaty as most probable, he had striven +to strengthen once more the military arm of his nation, and the first +result of this effort was demonstrated in his disposition of troops at +El Molino del Rey. The Americans' attack upon Chapultepec, as +commanding the nearest and most important access to the city had +been foreseen by him as soon as the armistice ended, and as a military +man, he well knew that the isolated hill and castle could not be +protected by the defenders within its walls alone or by troops stationed +either immediately at its base or on the sloping road along +its sides.</p> + +<p>General Scott's plan of assault upon the city seems now to have +been matured, though it required several days for full development +according to the reconnoissances of his engineers. He designed to +make the main assault on the west and not on the south of the city. + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_412" id="Page_412">[Pg 412]</a></span> +Possessing himself suddenly of the Molino del Rey and the adjacent +grounds he was to <i>retire</i> after the capture <i>without carrying Chapultepec</i>, +the key of the roads to the western <i>garitas</i> of San Cosmé +and Belen. The immediate capture of Chapultepec would have +been a signal to Santa Anna to throw his whole force into the western +defence of the city; but by retiring, after the fall of the Molino or +King's Mill, and by playing off skilfully on the south of the city in +the direction of the garita of San Antonio Abad, Scott would effectually +divert the attention of the Mexicans to that quarter and thus induce +them to weaken the western defences and strengthen the southern. +At length, at the proper moment, by a rapid inversion of his +forces from the south to the west, he intended to storm the castle-crowned +hill, and rush along the causeways to the capital before the +enemy could recover his position.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>In pursuance of this plan, an attack upon El Molino del Rey and +La Casa Mata was the first great work to be accomplished, and as +soon as Santa Anna's reply closing the armistice was received on +the 7th the advance towards that place was ordered for the following +morning. This important work was entrusted to General +Worth, whose division was reinforced by three squadrons of dragoons; +one command of 270 mounted riflemen under Major Sumner; +three field pieces under Captain Drum; two twenty-four pounders +under Captain Huger, and Cadwallader's brigade 784 strong. The +reconnoissances had been completed; at three o'clock in the morning +of the 8th of September the several columns were put in +motion on as many different routes, and when the gray dawn enabled +them to be seen they were as accurately posted as if in midday +for review. Colonel Duncan was charged with the general +disposition of the artillery, while the cavalry were under Major +Sumner.</p> + +<p>At the first glimmer of day Huger's powerful guns saluted the +walls of El Molino and continued to play in that quarter until this +point of the enemy's line became sensibly shaken. At that moment +the assaulting party, commanded by Wright of the 8th Infantry, +dashed forward to assault the centre. Musketry and cannister were +showered upon them by the aroused enemy, but on they rushed, +driving infantry and artillerists at the point of the bayonet, capturing +the field pieces and trailing them on the flying foe, until the +Mexicans perceiving that they had been assailed by a mere handful +of men suddenly rallied and reformed. In an instant the reassured +and gallant foe opened upon the Americans a terrific fire of musketry, + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_413" id="Page_413">[Pg 413]</a></span> +striking down eleven out of the fourteen officers who composed +the command, and, for the time, staggering the staunch assailants. +But this paralysis continued for an instant only. A light battalion +which had been held to cover Huger's battery, commanded by Captain +E. Kirby Smith, rushed forward to support, and executing its +bloody task amid horrible carnage, finally succeeded in carrying +the line and occupying it with our troops. In the meanwhile Garland's +brigade, sustained by Drum's artillery assaulted the enemy's +left near the Molino, and after an obstinate contest drove him from +his position under the protecting guns of Chapultepec. Drum's +section and Huger's battering guns advanced to the enemy's position, +and his captured pieces were now opened on the retreating +force. While these efforts were successfully making on the Mexican +centre and left, Duncan's battery blazed on the right, and +Colonel Mackintosh was ordered to assault that point. The advance +of his brigade soon brought it between the enemy and Duncan's guns, +and their fire was of course discontinued. Onwards sternly and +steadily moved the troops towards the Casa Mata, which, as it was +approached, proved to be a massive stone work surrounded with +bastioned entrenchments and deep ditches, whence a deadly fire +was delivered and kept up without intermission upon our advancing +troops until they reached the very slope of the parapet surrounding +the citadel. The havoc was dreadful. A large proportion of the +command was either killed or wounded; but still the ceaseless fire +from the Casa Mata continued its deadly work, until the maimed +and broken band of gallant assailants was withdrawn to the left of +Duncan's battery where its remnants rallied. Duncan and Sumner had +meanwhile been hotly engaged in repelling a charge of Mexican +cavalry on the left, and having just completed the work, the brave +Colonel found his countrymen retired from before the Casa Mata +and the field again open for his terrible weapons. Directing them +at once upon the fatal fort he battered the Mexicans from its walls, +and as they fled from its protecting enclosure he continued to play +upon the fugitives as relentlessly as they had recently done upon +Mackintosh and his doomed brigade.</p> + +<p>The Mexicans were now driven from the field at every point. La +Casa Mata was blown up by the conquerors. Captured ammunition +and cannon moulds in El Molino were destroyed. And the +Americans, according to Scott's order previous to the battle, returned +to Tacubaya, with three of the enemy's guns, (a fourth being spiked +and useless,) eight hundred prisoners including fifty-two commissioned +officers, and a large quantity of small arms, with gun and + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_414" id="Page_414">[Pg 414]</a></span> +musket ammunition. Three thousand two hundred and fifty-one +Americans, had on this day, driven four times their number from +a selected field; but they had paid a large and noble tribute to +death for the victory. Nine officers were included in the one +hundred and sixteen of our killed, and forty-nine officers in the six +hundred and sixty-five of our wounded. The Mexicans suffered +greatly in wounded and slain, while the gallant General Leon and +Colonel Balderas fell fighting bravely on the field of battle. + <a name="FNanchor_75_75" id="FNanchor_75_75"></a><a href="#Footnote_75_75" class="fnanchor">[75]</a></p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>The battle was over by nine o'clock in the morning. The Americans, +after collecting their dead and wounded, retired from the +bloody field, but they were not allowed to mourn over their painful +losses. They had suffered severely, yet the battle had been most +disastrous to the Mexicans. The fine commands of Generals Perez +and Leon and of Colonel Balderas, were broken up; the position +once destroyed, could not serve for a second defence, and the <i>morale</i> +of the soldiers had suffered. The Mexicans were beginning to +believe that mere formidable masses, if not directed by skilful chiefs, +were, in truth, but harmless things, and not to be relied on very +confidently for national defence. The new levies, the old regular + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_415" id="Page_415">[Pg 415]</a></span> +army, and the volunteers of the city, had all been repeatedly beaten +in the valley both before and since the armistice. Nevertheless, +Santa Anna, in spite of all these defeats and disasters at the Molino +and Casa Mata, caused the bells of the city to be merrily rung for +a victory, and sent forth proclamations by extraordinary couriers, in +every direction, announcing the triumph of Mexican valor and arms!</p> + +<p>On the morning of the 11th, Scott proceeded to carry out the +remainder of his projected capture of the capital. His troops had +been already for some time hovering around the southern gates, and +he now surveyed them closely covered by General Pillow's division +and Riley's brigade of Twigg's command, and then ordered Quitman +from Coyoacan to join Pillow by <i>daylight</i>, before the southern +gates. <i>By night</i> however, the two Generals with their commands +were to pass the two intervening miles between their position and +Tacubaya where they would unite with Worth's division, while +General Twiggs was left, with Riley, Captain Taylor and Steptoe, +in front of the gates to manœuvre, threaten, or make false attacks +so as to occupy and deceive the enemy. General Smith's brigade +was halted in supporting distance at San Angel, in the rear, till the +morning of the 13th, so as to support our general depot at Mixcoac. +This stratagem against the south was admirably executed +throughout the 12th and until the afternoon of the 13th, when it +was too late for Santa Anna to recover from his delusion.</p> + +<p>In the meanwhile preparations had been duly made for the operations +on the west by the capture of Chapultepec. Heavy batteries +were established and the bombardment and cannonade under +Captain Huger, were commenced early on the morning of the 12th. +Pillow and Quitman had been in position, as ordered, since early on +the night of the 11th, and Worth was now commanded to hold his +division in reserve near the foundry to support Pillow, while Smith +was summoned to sustain Quitman. Twiggs still continued to +inform us with his guns that he held the Mexicans on the defensive +in that quarter and kept Santa Anna in constant anxiety. Scott's +positions and strategy perfectly disconcerted him. One moment on +the south—the next at Tacubaya—then reconnoitering the south +again—and, at last, concentrating his forces so that they might be +easily moved northward to Chapultepec or southward to the gate +of San Antonio Abad. These movements rendered him constantly +sensible of every hour's importance, yet he would not agree with +the veteran Bravo who commanded Chapultepec and was convinced +that the hill and castle would be the points assailed. During the +whole of the 12th the American pieces, strengthened by the captured + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_416" id="Page_416">[Pg 416]</a></span> +guns, poured an incessant shower of shot into the fortress +until nightfall, when the assailants slept upon their arms, to be in +position for an early renewal on the 13th.</p> + +<p>At half-past five in the morning the American guns recommenced +upon Chapultepec; but still Santa Anna clung to the +southern gates while Scott was silently preparing for the final assault +according to a preconcerted signal. About 8 o'clock, judging that +the missiles had done the work, the heavy batteries suddenly ceased +firing, and instantaneously Pillow's division rushed forward from +the conquered Molino del Rey, and overbearing all obstacles, and +rapidly clambering up the steep acclivities, raised their scaling ladders +and poured over the walls.<a name="FNanchor_76_76" id="FNanchor_76_76"></a> + <a href="#Footnote_76_76" class="fnanchor">[76]</a></p> + +<p>Quitman, supported by Generals Shields and Smith, was meanwhile +advancing rapidly towards the south-east of the works, over +a causeway with cuts and batteries defended by an army strongly +posted outside the works towards the east. But nothing could +resist the impulse of the storming division, though staunchly opposed +and long held at bay, and whilst it rushed to complete the work, +the New York, South Carolina, and Pennsylvania volunteers, under +Shields, crossed the meadows in front amid a heavy fire, and entered +the outer enclosure of Chapultepec in time to join the enterprise +from the west. The castle was now possessed at every +point. The onslaught had been so rapid and resistless, that the +Mexicans stood appalled as the human tide foamed and burst over +their battlements. Men who had been stationed to fire the mines +either fled or were shot down. Officers fell at their posts, and the +brave old Bravo, fighting to the last, was taken prisoner with a +thousand combatants.</p> + +<p>Santa Anna was at last undeceived. He detached at once the +greater portion of his troops from near the garita of San Antonio +Abad; but it was too late;—the key to the roads of San Cosmé and +Belen had fallen; the advance works were weak, and the routed +troops of Chapultepec fled rapidly along the causeways and over + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_417" id="Page_417">[Pg 417]</a></span> +the meadows. Still as they retreated they fought courageously, and +as our men approached the walls, the fresh troops in the neighborhood +poured their volleys from behind parapets, windows and steeples. +Nevertheless, Santa Anna dared not withdraw all his forces +in the presence of Twigg's threatening division on the south.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile Worth had seized the causeway and aqueduct of San +Cosmé, while Quitman advanced by the other towards the garita of +Belen. The double roads on each side of these aqueducts which +rested on open arches spanning massive pillars, afforded fine points +for attack and defence. Both the American Generals were prompt +in pursuing the retreating foe, while Scott, who had ascended the +battlements of Chapultepec and beheld the field spread out beneath +him like a map, hastened onward all the stragglers and detachments +to join the flushed victors in the final assault.</p> + +<p>Worth speedily reached the street of San Cosmé and became +engaged in desperate conflict with the enemy from the houses and +defences. Ordering forward Cadwallader's brigade with mountain +howitzers, preceded by skirmishers and pioneers with pick-axes +and crow bars to force windows and doors and to burrow through +the walls, he rapidly attained an equality of position with the +enemy; and by 8 o'clock in the evening, after carrying two batteries +in this suburb, he planted a heavy mortar and piece of artillery +from which he might throw shot and shells into the city during +the night. Having posted guards and sentinels and sheltered his +weary men, he at length found himself with no obstacle but the +gate of San Cosmé between his gallant band and the great square +of Mexico.</p> + +<p>The pursuit by Quitman on the road to the gate of Belen had +been equally hot and successful. Scott originally designed that +this General should only manœuvre and threaten the point so as to +favor Worth's more dangerous enterprise by San Cosmé. But the +brave and impetuous Quitman, seconded by the eager spirits of his +division, longing for the distinction of which they had been hitherto +deprived, heeded neither the external defences nor the more dangerous +power of the neighboring citadel. Onward he pressed his +men under flank and direct fires;—seized an intermediate battery +of two guns;—carried the gate of Belen,—and thus, before two +o'clock, was the first to enter the city and maintain his position +with a loss proportionate to the steady firmness of his desperate +assault. After nightfall, he added several new defences to the point +he had won so gloriously, and sheltering his men as well as he was + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_418" id="Page_418">[Pg 418]</a></span> +able, awaited the return of daylight under the guns of the formidable +and unsubdued citadel.</p> + +<p>So ended the battles of the 13th of September, 1847, and so, in +fact, ended the great contests of the war. Santa Anna had been +again "disconcerted" in his plan of battle, by Scott, as he had +previously been thwarted by Valencia's disobedience and wilfulness. +Scott would not attack the south of the city where he expected him, +and consequently the American chief conquered the point where +he had not expected him!</p> + +<p>When darkness fell upon the city a council of disheartened officers +assembled in the Mexican citadel. After the customary crimination +and recrimination had been exhausted between Santa Anna +and other officers, it was acknowledged that the time had come to +decide upon future movements. Beaten in every battle, they now +saw one American General already within the city gate, while +another was preparing to enter on the following morning, and kept +the city sleepless by the loud discharges of his heavy cannon or +bursting bombs as they fell in the centre of the capital. General +Carrera believed the demoralization of his army complete. Lombardini, +Alcorta and Perez coincided in his opinion, and Santa +Anna at length closed the panic stricken council by declaring that +Mexico must be evacuated during the night and by naming Lombardini +General-in-Chief, and General Perez second in command. +Between eight and nine o'clock Señor Trigueros called at the citadel +with his coach, and bore away the luckless military President +to the sacred town of Guadalupe Hidalgo, three miles north of the +capital.</p> + +<p>The retreat of the Mexican army began at midnight, and not +long after, a deputation from the Ayuntamiento, or City Council, +waited upon General Scott with the information that the federal +government and troops had fled from the capital. The haggard +visitors demanded terms of capitulation in favor of the church, the +citizens and the municipal authorities. Scott refused the ill-timed +request, and promising no terms that were not self imposed, sent +word to Quitman and Worth to advance as soon as possible on the +following morning, and, guarding carefully against treachery, to +occupy the city's strongest and most commanding points. Worth +was halted at the Alameda, a few squares west of the Plaza, but +Quitman was allowed the honor of advancing to the great square, +and hoisting the American flag on the National Palace. At 9 +o'clock the Commander-in-Chief, attended by his brilliant staff, rode +into the vast area in front of the venerable Cathedral and Palace, + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_419" id="Page_419">[Pg 419]</a></span> +amid the shouts of the exulting army to whose triumphs his prudence +and genius had so greatly contributed. It was a proud moment for +Scott, and he might well have flushed with excitement as he ascended +the Palace stairs and sat down in the saloon which had been +occupied by so many Viceroys, Ministers, Presidents and Generals, +to write the brief order announcing his occupation of the capital of +Mexico. Yet the elation was but momentary. The cares of conquest +were now exchanged for those of preservation. He was +allowed no interval of repose from anxiety. His last victories had +entirely disorganized the Republic. There was no longer a national +government, a competent municipal authority, or even a police force +which could be relied on to regulate the fallen city. Having +accomplished the work of destruction, the responsibility of reconstruction +was now imposed upon him; and first among his duties +was the task of providing for the safety and subordination of that +slender band which had been so suddenly forced into a vast and +turbulent capital.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p><span class="smcap">Note.</span>—We shall record as very interesting historical facts, the numbers with +which General Scott achieved his victories in the valley.</p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Forces.</span></p> +<table class="toc2" summary="Statistics"> +<tr> +<td class="c1">He left Puebla with</td> +<td class="c2">10,738 rank and file.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1">At Contreras and Churubusco, there were</td> +<td class="c2">8,497 engaged.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1">At El Molino del Rey and La Casa Mata,</td> +<td class="c2">3,251 "</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1">On 12th and 13th September, at Chapultepec,&c.</td> +<td class="c2">7,180 "</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1">Final attack on city, after deducting killed, wounded, garrison of Mixcoac and Chapultepec,</td> +<td class="c2">6,000</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Losses.</span></p> +<table class="toc3" summary="Statistics"> +<tr> +<td class="c1">At Contreras and Churubusco,</td> +<td class="c2">137 killed.</td> +<td class="c3333">877 wounded.</td> +<td class="c444">38 missing.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1">At El Molino, &c.,</td> +<td class="c2">116 "</td> +<td class="c3333">665 "</td> +<td class="c444">18 "</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1">September 12th, 13th, and 14th,</td> +<td class="c2">130 "</td> +<td class="c3333">703 "</td> +<td class="c444">29 "</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="c1"> </td> +<td class="c2" rowspan="2">Grand total of losses, 2,703.</td> +<td class="c444"> </td> +</tr> +</table> + +<p>"On the other hand," says Scott in his despatch of 18th September, 1847, "this +small force has beaten on the same occasions, in view of the capital, the whole Mexican +army, composed, at the beginning, of thirty odd thousand men, posted always in +chosen positions, behind entrenchments or more formidable defences of nature and +art;—killed or wounded of that number more than 7,000 officers and men,—taken +3,730 prisoners, one-seventh officers, including 13 generals, of whom 3 had been +Presidents of this Republic;—captured more than 20 colors and standards, 75 pieces +of ordnance, besides 57 wall pieces, 20,000 small arms, and an immense quantity of +shot, shells and powder." See Ex. Doc. No. 1 Senate, 30th Congress, 1st Session, +p. 384.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<div class="fn"> +<h4>Footnotes</h4> +<p><a name="Footnote_74_74" id="Footnote_74_74"></a><a href="#FNanchor_74_74"> +<span class="label">[74]</span></a> See Lieut. Smith's Memoir, ut antea, p. 8.</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote_75_75" id="Footnote_75_75"></a><a href="#FNanchor_75_75"> +<span class="label">[75]</span></a> This was a great but a <i>rash</i> victory. +The American infantry relying chiefly on +the bayonet and expecting to effect its object by surprise and even at an earlier hour +of the morning, advanced with portions of the three thousand two hundred and fifty-one +men to attack at least eleven or twelve thousand Mexicans upon a field selected +by themselves, protected by stone walls and ditches, commanded by the fortress of +Chapultepec and the ground swept by artillery, while four thousand cavalry threatened +an overwhelming charge! We have no criticism to make as to inequality of +numbers, but although we believe that our officers did not anticipate so strong +a resistance, we are satisfied that it would have been better to rely at <i>first</i> upon the +fatal work of mortars and <i>siege</i> pieces, of which we had abundance, and, <i>then</i>, to +have permitted the bayonet to complete the task the battering train had begun. If the +difficulty of moving rapidly to the scene of action in the night, prevented a <i>night</i> attack +and surprise, it would probably have been better to change the plan of battle +even at a late hour. In the end, Duncan's great guns, effectually destroyed a post +which had been the slaughter house of many a noble American soldier. The Mexican +cavalry behaved shamefully. In Colonel Ramsey's notes on the translation of +the Mexican <i>Apuntes para la historia de la Guerra</i>, &c., p. 347, he says: "it is <i>now +known</i> in Mexico that Santa Anna was in possession of General Scott's order to +attack the Molino del Rey in a few hours after it was written, and during the whole +of the 7th, troops were taking up their positions on that ground. It is believed further +that Santa Anna knew the precise force that was to attack. When, therefore, Scott +supposed that Worth would surprise the Mills and Casa Mata, he was met by what? +Shall the veil be raised a little further? There was a traitor among the list of high +ranking officers in the Mexican army, and for gold he told the Mexican force. Scott +had been betrayed by one not an American, not an officer or soldier, but Santa Anna +was betrayed by one of his own officers and a Mexican. Santa Anna believed the +information he received and acted on it. General Scott did <i>not</i> believe what he +learned at night, and—the victory was won!"</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote_76_76" id="Footnote_76_76"></a><a href="#FNanchor_76_76"> +<span class="label">[76]</span></a> The importance of the <i>previous</i> capture of +El Molino del Rey was proved in this +assault upon Chapultepec, for Pillow's division started from this very Mill, from +within the enemy's work, and found itself on an equality with the foe up to the very +moment of scaling the walls at the crest of the mount, whereas the other assaulting +column under Quitman taking the only remaining road to the castle, a causeway +leading from Tacubaya, was successfully held at bay by the outworks defending this +road at the base of the hill, until after the castle was taken, and the opposing force +was taken in rear by troops passing through and around Chapultepec. Had El +Molino still been held by the Mexicans, the siege pieces would not have been allowed +to play uninterruptedly, nor would the assaulting parties been able to take position or +attack with impunity. See Lieut. Smith's Memoir, ut antea p. 8.</p> +</div> + + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_420" id="Page_420">[Pg 420]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XVII.<br /> +1847–1850.</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>ATTACK OF THE CITY MOB ON THE ARMY—QUITMAN GOVERNOR—PEÑA +PRESIDENT—CONGRESS ORDERED—SIEGE OF PUEBLA—LANE'S, +LALLY'S AND CHILDS'S VICTORIES—GUERRILLEROS +BROKEN UP—MEXICAN POLITICS—ANAYA PRESIDENT—PEACE +NEGOTIATIONS—SCOTT'S DECREE—PEÑA PRESIDENT—SANTA +ANNA AND LANE—SANTA ANNA LEAVES MEXICO FOR JAMAICA—TREATY +ENTERED INTO—ITS CHARACTER—SANTA CRUZ DE ROSALES—COURT +OF INQUIRY—INTERNAL TROUBLES—AMBASSADORS +AT QUERÉTARO—TREATY RATIFIED—EVACUATION—REVOLUTIONARY +ATTEMPTS—CONDITION OF MEXICO SINCE THE +WAR—CHARACTER OF SANTA ANNA—NOTE ON THE MILITARY +CRITICS.</p> +</div> + +<p>Scarcely had the divisions of the American army, after the +enthusiastic expression of their joy, begun to disperse from the great +square of Mexico in search of quarters, when the populace commenced +firing upon them from within the deep embrasures of the +windows and from behind the parapet walls of the house tops. This +dastardly assault by the mob of a surrendered city lasted for two +days, until it was terminated by the vigorous military measures of +General Scott. Yet it is due to the Mexicans to state that this horrible +scheme of assassination was not countenanced by the better +classes, but that the base outbreak was altogether owing to the liberation +of about two thousand convicts by the flying government +on the previous night. These miscreants,—the scum and outcasts +of Mexico—its common thieves, stabbers and notorious vagrants,—banded +with nearly an equal number of the disorganized army, had +already thronged the Palace when Quitman arrived with his division, +and it was only by the active exertion of Watson's marines, +that the vagrant crowd was driven from the edifice.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> + <a name="illus-420-f.jpg" id="illus-420-f.jpg"></a> + <img src="images/illus-420-f.jpg" width="400" height="229" alt="The city's center" title="" /> + <p class="caption2">GREAT SQUARE OF MEXICO.</p> +</div> +<p> </p> + +<p>General Quitman was immediately appointed civil and military +Governor of the conquered capital, and discharged his duties under +the martial law proclaimed by Scott on the 17th September. The +general order of the Commander-in-Chief breathes the loftiest spirit +of self-respect, honor and national consideration. He points out +clearly the crimes commonly incident to the occupation of subdued +cities, and gives warning of the severity with which their perpetrators +will be punished. He protects the administration of justice +among the Mexicans in the courts of the country. He places the + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_421" id="Page_421">[Pg 421]</a></span> +city, its churches, worship, convents, monasteries, inhabitants and +property, under the special safeguard of the faith and honor of the +American army. And finally, instead of demanding, according to +the custom of many generals in the old world, a splendid ransom +from the opulent city, he imposed upon it a trifling contribution of +one hundred and fifty thousand dollars,—twenty thousand of which +he devoted to extra comforts for the sick and wounded; ninety +thousand to purchase blankets and shoes for gratuitous distribution +among the common soldiers, while but forty thousand were reserved +for the military chest. This act of clemency and consideration is +in beautiful contrast with the last malignant spitefulness of the conquered +army, whose commander, unable to overthrow the invaders +in fair combat, had released at midnight, the desperadoes from his +prisons, with the hope that assassination might do the work which +military skill and honorable valor had been unable to effect.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile Santa Anna despatched a circular from the town of +Guadalupe recounting to the Governors of the different States the +loss of the capital, and, on the 16th, he issued a decree requiring +Congress to assemble at Querétaro, which was designated as the +future seat of government. As president and politician, he at once +saw that he could do nothing more without compromising himself +still further. Resigning, therefore, the executive chair in favor of +his constitutional successor, Señor Peña-y-Peña, Chief Justice of +the Supreme Court, he despatched General Herrera with four thousand +troops to Querétaro, and departed to assail the Americans in +Puebla. On the 18th he evacuated Guadalupe, and took the road +to the eastward, with two thousand cavalry commanded by General +Alvarez. He knew that the communication with our base of operations +in that quarter was seriously interrupted if not entirely cut +off; and he vainly hoped to recover his military prestige by some +brilliant feat of arms over detached or unequal squadrons.</p> + +<p>When Scott marched into the valley of Mexico, Puebla was left +in charge of Colonel Childs, with four hundred efficient men and +nearly eighteen hundred in his hospitals. The watchful commander +and his small band preserved order until the false news of Mexican +success at Molino del Rey was received. But, at that moment, +the masses, joined by about three thousand troops under General +Rea, a brave and accomplished Spaniard, rose upon, and besieged +the slender garrison. On the 22d, Santa Anna arrived, and increasing +the assailants to nearly eight thousand, made the most vigorous +efforts during the six following days and nights to dislodge the +Americans from the position they had seized.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_422" id="Page_422">[Pg 422]</a></span> + About the middle of the month, Brigadier General Lane left Vera +Cruz with a fresh command, and at Jalapa joined the forces of Major +Lally, who with nearly a thousand men and a large and valuable +train, had fought his way thither against Jarauta and his guerrilleros +at San Juan, Paso de Ovejas, Puente Nacional, Plan del Rio, Cerro-Gordo +and Los Animas. As soon as the news of Puebla's danger +reached these commanders they marched to support the besieged +band, while Santa Anna believing that Rea could either conquer or +hold Childs in check until his return, departed in quest of the advancing +columns of Lane and Lally, who were reported to have convoyed +from the coast an immense amount of treasure. The combined +lust of glory and gold perhaps stimulated this last effort of the +failing chief. Rea continued the siege of Puebla bravely. Santa +Anna, advancing eastward, and apparently confident of success, established +his headquarters at Huamantla; but whilst manœuvering +his troops to attack our approaching columns, Lane fell upon him +suddenly on the 9th of October, and after a sharp action, remained +victor on the field. On the next day our eager general continued his +march to Puebla, and entering it on the 13th of October, drove the +Mexicans from all their positions and effectually relieved the pressed +but pertinacious commander of the beleagured Americans.</p> + +<p>It was now the turn of those who had been so long assailed to +become assailants. Rea retired to Atlixco, about twenty-five miles +from Puebla, but the inexorable Lane immediately followed in his +steps, and reaching the retreat at sunset on the 19th, by a bright +moonlight cannonaded the town from the overlooking heights. +After an hour's incessant labor, Atlixco surrendered,—the enemy +fled,—and thus was destroyed a nest in which many a guerrillero +party had been fitted out for the annoyance or destruction of Americans.</p> + +<p>Mexico possesses a wonderful facility in the creation of armies, +or in the aggregation of men under the name of soldiers. Wherever +a standard is raised, it is quickly surrounded by the idlers, the +thriftless, and the improvident, who are willing, at least, to be supported +if not munificently recompensed for the task of bearing arms. +At this period, and notwithstanding all the recent disgraceful and +disheartening defeats, a large corps had been already gathered in +different parts of the republic. The recruits were, however, divided +into small, undisciplined, and consequently inefficient bodies. +It is reported that Lombardini and Reyes were in Querétaro with a +thousand men; Santa Anna's command, now turned over to General +Rincon by order of President Peña-y-Peña, consisted of four + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_423" id="Page_423">[Pg 423]</a></span> +thousand; in Tobasco and Chiapas there were two thousand; Urrea, +Carrabajal and Canales commanded two thousand; Filisola was at +San Luis Potosi with three thousand; Peña y Barragan had two +thousand at Toluca; one thousand were in Oajaca, while nearly +three thousand guerrilleros harassed the road between Puebla and +Vera Cruz and rendered it impassable after the victories in the +valley. The conflict was now almost given up to these miscreants +under Padre Jarauta and Zenobio, for, in the eastern districts, General +Lane with his ardent partizans held Rincon, Alvarez, and +Rea in complete check.</p> + +<p>These guerrilla bands had inflicted such injury upon our people +that it became necessary to destroy them at all hazards. This severe +task was accomplished by Colonel Hughes and Major John R. +Kenly who commanded at Jalapa, and by General Patterson, +whose division of four thousand new levies was shortly to be reinforced +by General Butler with several thousand more. Patterson +garrisoned the National Bridge in the midst of these bandit's +haunts, and having executed, at Jalapa, two paroled Mexican officers +captured in one of the marauding corps, and refused the surrender +of Jarauta, he drove that recreant priest from the neighborhood +into the valley of Mexico, in which Lane pursued and destroyed +his reorganized band.</p> + +<p>Whilst these scattered military events were occurring, Peña-y-Peña, +as President of the Republic, had endeavored, both at Toluca +and at Querétaro, to combine once more the elements of a congress +and a government. He summoned, moreover, the Governors of +States to convene and consult upon the condition of affairs; he suspended +Santa Anna; ordered Paredes into nominal arrest at Tololopan; +directed a court martial upon Valencia for his conduct at Contreras; +attempted to reform the army, and in all his acts seems to +have been animated by a sincere spirit of national reorganization +and peace. Nevertheless, among the deputies who were assembled, +the same quarrels that disgraced former sessions again arose between +the Puros, the Moderados, the Monarquistas, and Santannistas +or friends of Santa Anna, who now formed themselves into a +zealous party, notwithstanding the disgraceful downfall of their +leader. These contests were continued until early in November, +when a quorum of the members reached Querétaro and elected +Señor Anaya, the former President substitute, to serve until the +month of January, to which period the counting of votes for the +Presidency had been postponed, as we have already stated, by the + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_424" id="Page_424">[Pg 424]</a></span> +intrigues of Santa Anna. Anaya's election was a triumph of the +Moderados.</p> + +<p>Congress broke up after a few day's session, having provided +for the assemblage of a new one on the 1st of January, 1848; but, +unfortunately most of the leaders did not depart from Querétaro +which was henceforth for many months converted into a political +battle field for the benefit or disgrace of the military partizans. +The Puros, led by Gomez Farias, were joined by the disaffected +officers of the army ready for revolution, <i>pronunciamientos</i>, or any +thing that might prolong the war with the same ultimate views that +animated them during the armistice in August. But Peña-y-Peña +and Anaya were both firm, discreet and consistent in their resistance. +The assembled Governors of States resolved to support +the President, his opinions, and acts, with their influence and means, +while the mass of substantial citizens and men of property throughout +the republic joined in an earnest expression of anxiety for +peace. Guanajuato, San Luis Potosi, and Jalisco, under the lead +of Santannistas and Puros who mutually hated each other, alone +continued hostile to a treaty.</p> + +<p>Mr. Trist, soon after the capture of Mexico, had sounded Peña-y-Peña +in relation to the renewal of negotiations; but it was not until +the end of October that the prudent President thought himself justified +in expressing, through his minister, Don Luis de la Rosa, a simple +but ardent wish for the cessation of war. When Anaya assumed +the presidency, a few days afterwards, Peña-y-Peña did not disdain +to enter his cabinet as minister, and, on the 22d of November, +offered to our envoy the appointment of commissioners. But in +the meanwhile our government at home believing that the continuance +of Mr. Trist in Mexico was useless, and probably discontented +with his conduct, had recalled him from the theatre of action. The +American commissioner hastened, therefore, to decline the negotiation +and apprised the Mexicans of his position. But, mature +reflection upon the political state of Mexico, as well as upon the +real desires of his government and people, induced Mr. Trist to +change his views, and accordingly he notified the Mexican cabinet +that, in spite of his recall, he would assume the responsibility of a +final effort to close the war. Good judgment at the moment, and +subsequent events, fully justified our envoy's diplomatic resolve. +Commissioners were at once appointed to meet him, and negotiations +were speedily commenced in a spirit of sincerity and peace. +General Scott, nevertheless, though equally anxious to terminate +the conflict, did not for a moment intermit his military vigilance. + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_425" id="Page_425">[Pg 425]</a></span> +The capital, and the captured towns were still as strictly governed; +the growing army was organized for future operations, and a general +order was issued demanding a large contribution from each of +the states for the support of our army. This military decree, moreover, +reformed and essentially changed the duties, taxation, collection +and assaying of the nation; it indicated the intention of our +government to spread its troops all over the land; and while it reasserted +the supremacy of law, and the purity of its administration, +it announced instant death, by sentence of a drum-head court-martial, +to all who engaged in irregular war. This decree satisfied reflecting +Mexicans, who noticed the steady earnestness and increase +of our army, that their nationality was seriously endangered, and +greatly aided, as doubtless it was designed to do, in stimulating the +action of the cabinet and commissioners.</p> + +<p>Thus closed the eventful year of 1847. On the 1st of January, +1848, only thirty deputies of the new congress appeared in their +places; and on the 8th,—the day for the decision of the presidency,—as +there was still no quorum in attendance, and Anaya's +term had expired, he promptly resigned his power to his minister of +foreign affairs, Peña-y-Peña, who reassumed the executive chair, +as he formerly had done, by virtue of his constitutional right as +chief justice. Anaya at once came into his cabinet as minister of +war, while De la Rosa took the port-folio of foreign relations. All +these persons were still sincere coadjutors in the work of peace.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>The destiny of Santa Anna was drawing to a close. Huamantla +had been perhaps his last battle field in Mexico. About the middle +of January General Lane received information of the lurking place +of the chieftain, who now, with scarcely the shadow of his ancient +power or influence, was concealed at Tehuacan in the neighborhood +of Puebla. The astute intriguer's admission into the Republic had +once been considered a master stroke of American policy; but his +death, capture, or expulsion, was now equally desired by those who +had watched him more closely and knew him better. Lane, accordingly, +with a band of about three hundred and fifty mounted +men, undertook the delicate task of seizing Santa Anna and had +he not received timely warning, notwithstanding the secrecy of the +American's movements, it is scarcely probable that he would have +quitted his retreat alive. Among the corps of partizan warriors +who went in search of the fugitive there were many Texans who +still smarted under the memory of the dreary march from Santa Fé +in 1841, the decimation at Mier, the cruelties of Goliad and the + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_426" id="Page_426">[Pg 426]</a></span> +Alamo; and the imprisonments in Mexico, Puebla, or Peroté in +1842. But when Lane and his troopers reached Tehuacan, the +game had escaped, though his lair was still warm. All the personal +effects left behind in his rapid flight, were plundered, with the +exception of his wife's wardrobe, which, with a rough though chivalrous +gallantry, was sent to the beautiful but ill matched lady. A +picked military escort, personally attached and doubtless well paid, +still attended him. But, beyond this, he had no military command, +and as a soldier and politician, his power in Mexico had departed.</p> + +<p>Having sought by public letters to throw, as usual, the disgrace +of his defeats at Belen and Chapultepec, upon General Terres and +the revolutionary hero Bravo, he aroused the united hatred of these +men and the disgust of their numerous friends. Public opinion +openly condemned him every where. After Lane's assault he took +refuge in Oajaca; but the people of that region were equally inimical +and significantly desired his departure. Thus, broken in fame +and character, deprived of a party, personal influence, patronage, +and present use of his wealth, the foiled Warrior-President stood +for a moment at bay. But his resolution was soon taken. From +Cascatlan he wrote to the minister of war on the 1st of February, +demanding passports, and at the same time he intimated to the +American Commander-in-chief his willingness to leave an ungrateful +Republic and to "seek an asylum on a foreign soil where he +might pass his last days in that tranquillity which he could never +find in the land of his birth." The desired passports were granted. +He was assured that neither Mexicans nor Americans would molest +his departure; and, moving leisurely towards the eastern coast with +his family, he was met near his Hacienda of Encero by a select +guard, detailed by Colonel Hughes and Major Kenly, and, escorted +with his long train of troopers, domestics, treasure and luggage to +La Antigua, where he embarked on the 5th of April, 1848, on +board a Spanish brig bound to Jamaica. One year and eight +months before, returning from exile, he had landed from the steamer +Arab in the same neighborhood, to regenerate his country! + <a name="FNanchor_77_77" id="FNanchor_77_77"></a> + <a href="#Footnote_77_77" class="fnanchor">[77]</a></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_427" id="Page_427">[Pg 427]</a></span> + But before his departure probably forever from Mexico, Santa +Anna had been doomed to see the peace concluded. The complete +failure of the Mexicans in all their battles, notwithstanding the +courage with which they individually fought at Churubusco, Chapultepec, +and Molino del Rey, impressed the nation deeply with +the conviction of its inability to cope in arms with the United +States. The discomfiture of Paredes, the want of pecuniary resources, +the disorganization of the country, the growing strength +of the Americans who were pouring into the capital under Patterson, +Butler and Marshall, and the utter failure of the arch-intriguer,—all +contributed to strengthen the arm of the executive +and to authorize both the negotiation of a treaty and the arrangement +of an armistice until the two governments should ratify the +terms of peace. Mr. Nicholas P. Trist, Don Luis G. Cuevas, Don +Bernardo Couto, and Don Miguel Atristain, signed the treaty, thus +consummated, on the 2d of February, 1848, at the town of Guadalupe +Hidalgo. Its chief terms were 1st, the re-establishment of +peace; 2d, the boundary which confirmed the southern line of +Texas and gave us New Mexico and Upper California; 3d, the +payment of fifteen millions by the United States, in consideration +of the extension of our boundaries; 4th, the payment by our government +of all the claims of its citizens against the Mexican Republic +to the extent of three and a quarter millions, so as to discharge +Mexico forever from all responsibility; 5th, a compact to +restrain the incursions and misconduct of the Indians on the northern +frontier. The compact contained in all, thirty-three articles +and a secret article prolonging the period of ratification in Washington +beyond the four months from its date as stipulated in the +original instrument.</p> + +<p>This important treaty, which, we believe, history will justly characterise +as one of the most liberal ever assented to by the conquerors +of so great a country, was despatched immediately by an intelligent +courier to Washington; and, notwithstanding the irregularity +of its negotiation after Mr. Trist's recall, was at once sent to +the Senate by President Polk. In that illustrious body of statesmen +it was fully debated, and after mature consideration, ratified, with +but slight change, on the 10th of March. Senator Sevier and Mr. +Attorney General Clifford, resigned their posts and were sent as + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_428" id="Page_428">[Pg 428]</a></span> +Plenipotentiaries to Mexico to secure its passage by the Mexican +congress.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile the last action of the war was fought and won on the +16th of March, in ignorance of the armistice, by General Price at +Santa Cruz de Rosales, near Chihuahua; and the diplomatic and +military career of two of our most distinguished citizens was abruptly +closed on the theatre of their brilliant achievements. Scott, +the victor of so many splendid fields, was suspended from the +command of the army he had led to glory, and General William +O. Butler was ordered to replace him. Hot dissensions had occurred +between the Commander-in-chief, Worth, Pillow, and other +meritorious officers, and although our government might well have +avoided a scandalous rupture at such a moment in an enemy's capital, +a Court of Inquiry was, nevertheless, convened to discuss the +battles and the men who had achieved the victories! Nor was Mr. +Trist, the steadfast, persevering and successful friend of peace, +spared when he had accomplished all that his government and countrymen +desired. Learned in the language of Spain; intimate with +the character of the people; familiar, by long residence, with their +tastes, feelings and customs, he had been selected by our Secretary +of State in consequence of his peculiar fitness for the mission and +its delicate diplomacy. Yet he was not allowed the honor of finishing +his formal task at <i>Querétaro</i> but was ordered home almost in +disgrace. History, however, will render the justice that politicians +and governments deny, and must honestly recognize the +treaty which crowned and closed the war as emphatically the result +of his skill and watchfulness. The fate of the four most eminent +men in this war illustrates a painful passage in the story of our +country, for whilst Frémont, the pacificator of the west, was +brought home a prisoner, and Taylor converted into a barrack +master at Monterey,—Scott was almost tried for his victories in the +presence of his conquered foes, and Trist disgraced for the treaty +he had been sent to negotiate! But the private or public griefs of +our commanders and diplomatists should properly find no place in +these brief historical sketches, nor must we dwell upon them, even +in passing. The great victors and the able negotiators are secure +in the memory and gratitude of the future.</p> + +<p>While the court of inquiry pursued its investigations in the capital, +and the United States Senate, at home, was engaged in ratifying +the treaty, President Peña-y-Peña and his cabinet still labored +zealously to assemble a Congress at Querétaro. The Mexican President +resolved, if necessary to obtain a quorum, to exclude New + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_429" id="Page_429">[Pg 429]</a></span> +Mexico, California, and Yucatan from representation; the two first +being in possession of the United States and the latter in revolt. +The disturbance in Yucatan which had been for some time fermenting, +broke out fiercely in July, 1847, and became, in fact, a long +continued war of castes. The Indian <i>peones</i> and <i>rancheros</i>, under +their leaders Pat and Chi, carried fire and sword among the thinly +scattered whites, until relief was afforded them by Commodore +Perry, the Havanese, the English of Jamaica and some enlisted +corps of American volunteers returning from the war. About Tuspan +and Tampico on the east coast,—in the interior State of Guanajuato,—and +on the northern frontiers of Sonora, Durango, and +San Luis, the wild Indians, and the semi-civilized Indian laborers +were rebellious and extremely annoying to the lonely settlers. +There were symptoms everywhere, not only of national disorganization, +but almost of national dissolution. Yet, difficult as was the +position of the government, amid all these foreign and domestic +dangers, every member strove loyally to sustain the nation and its +character until the return of the ratified treaty. Money was contributed +freely by the friends of peace, who sought a renewal of +trade and desired to see the labors of the mines and of agriculture +again pursuing their wonted channels. The clergy, too, who +feared national ruin, annexation, or complete conquest, grudgingly +bestowed a portion of their treasures; and thus the members of +Congress were supplied with means to assemble at the seat of +government.</p> + +<p>On the 25th May, a brilliant <i>cortége</i> of American cavalry was +seen winding along the hills towards Querétaro as the escort of the +American commissioners, who were welcomed to the seat of government +by the national authorities, and entertained sumptuously in +an edifice set apart for their accommodation. The town was wild +with rejoicing. Those who had been so recently regarded as bitter +foes, were hailed with all the ardor of ancient, and uninterrupted +friendship. No one would have imagined that war had ever been +waged between the soldiers of the north and south who now shared +the same barracks and pledged each other in their social cups. If +the drama was prepared for the occasion by the government, it was +certainly well played, and unquestionably diverted the minds of the +turbulent and dangerous classes of the capital at a moment when +good feeling was most needed.</p> + +<p>Congress was in session when our commissioners arrived, and +on the same day the Senate ratified the treaty, which, after a +stormy debate, had been previously sanctioned by the Chamber of + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_430" id="Page_430">[Pg 430]</a></span> +Deputies. On the 30th of May the ratifications were finally exchanged, +and the first instalment of indemnity being paid in the +city of Mexico, our troops evacuated the country in the most orderly +manner during the following summer.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>It cannot be denied that the Mexican Government, whose tenure +of power was so frail, almost trembled at the sudden withdrawal of +our forces and the full restoration of a power for which, as patriots, +they naturally craved. The sudden relaxation of a firm and dreaded +military authority in the capital, amid all those classes of intriguing +politicians, soldiers, clergymen, and demagogues, who had +so long disturbed the nation's peace before Scott's capture of Mexico, +naturally alarmed the president and cabinet, who possessed no +reliable army to replace the departing Americans. But the three +millions, received opportunely for indemnity, were no doubt judiciously +used by the authorities, while the men of property and +opulent merchants leagued zealously with the municipal authorities +to preserve order until national reorganization might begin. One +of the first steps in this scheme was the election by Congress of +General Herrera,—a hero of revolutionary fame,—as Constitutional +President, and of Peña-y-Peña as Chief Justice of the Supreme +Court. These and other conciliatory but firm acts gave +peace at least for the moment to the heart of the nation; but beyond +the capital all the bonds of the Federal Union were totally +relaxed. Scarcely had the National Government been reinstalled +in the city of Mexico, when General Mariano Paredes y Arrillaga +unfurled the standard of rebellion in Guanajuato, under the pretext +of opposing the treaty. The administration, possessing only the +skeleton of an army, did not halt to consider the smallness of its +resources, but promptly placed all its disposable men under the +command of Anastasio Bustamante, who with Miñon, Cortazar, +and Lombardini, not only put down the revolution of Paredes, but, +by their influence and admirable conduct imposed order and inspired +renewed hopes for the future wherever they appeared. In +the same way the strong arm of power was honestly used to destroy +faction wherever it dared to lift its turbulent head,—and the National +Guard of the Federal District faithfully performed its duty in +this patriotic task. Paredes disappeared after his fall in Guanajuato, +and remained in concealment or obscurity until his death.</p> + +<p>Various outbreaks occurred in Mazatlan, on the western coast; +in the State of Tobasco; in Chiapas, and among the Indians of +Puebla; in the Huasteca of the State of Mexico; and in the + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_431" id="Page_431">[Pg 431]</a></span> +Sierra Gorda belonging to the States of Querétaro, San Luis, and +Guanajuato. These, like the revolt in Yucatan, threatened a war +of castes, but the energetic government found means to subdue the +rebels, and to reduce their districts to order.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>Thus, for more than two years, has the government of President +Herrera maintained its respectability and authority in spite of a +failing treasury, political factionists, and domestic rebellion. The +attempted task of national reorganization has been honestly and +firmly, if not successfully carried out. The army, that canker of +the nation, has been nearly destroyed, and its idle officers and men +discharged to earn their living by honest labor. A great change +has passed over Mexico. Santa Anna lives abroad in almost compulsory +exile. Canalizo and Paredes are dead. Bustamante, +without political strength or party, retains a military command. +The force in garrison does not amount to more, probably, than five +or six thousand. The prestige of the army was blurred and +blighted by the war. Nearly all the old political managers and intriguers +are gradually passing from the stage, and, with the new +men coming upon it, to whom the war has taught terrible but salutary +lessons, we may hope that another era of civilization and progress +is about to dawn upon this great country. This hope +is founded on the establishment of order and official responsibility +by a strong government which will neither degenerate into despotism +nor become corrupt by the uninterrupted enjoyment of power. +The true value of the representative system will thus become rapidly +known to Mexico as she develops her resources, by the +united, constitutional, and peaceful movement of her state and +national machinery.</p> + +<p class="cen">*****</p> + +<p>Among all the agitators of the country no one has been, by turns, +so much courted and dreaded as Santa Anna. His political history, +sketched in this volume, discloses many but not all the features of +his private character. He possessed a wilful, observant, patient +intellect, which had received very little culture; but constant intercourse +with all classes of men, made him perfectly familiar with +the strength and weaknesses of his countrymen. There was not a +person of note in the Republic whose value he did not know, nor +was there a venal politician with whose price he was unacquainted. +Believing most men corrupt or corruptible, he was constantly busy +in contriving expedients to control or win them. A soldier almost +from his infancy, during turbulent times among semi-civilized troops, + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_432" id="Page_432">[Pg 432]</a></span> +he had become so habitually despotic that when he left the camp +for the cabinet he still blent the imperious General with the intriguing +President. He seemed to cherish the idea that his country could +not be virtuously governed. Ambitious, and avaricious, he sought +for power not only to gratify his individual lust of personal glory, +but as a means of enriching himself and purchasing the instruments +who might sustain his authority. Accordingly, he rarely distinguished +the public treasure from his private funds. Soldier as he +was by profession, he was slightly skilled in the duties of a commander +in the field, and never won a great battle except through +the blunders of his opponents. He was a systematic revolutionist; +a manager of men; an astute intriguer;—and, personally timid, he +seldom meditated an advance without planning a retreat. Covetous +as a miser, he nevertheless, delighted to watch the mean combat +between fowls upon whose prowess he had staked his thousands. +An agriculturist with vast landed possessions, his chief rural pleasure +was in training these birds for the brutal battle of the pit. +Loving money insatiably, he leaned with the eagerness of a gambler +over the table where those who knew how to propitiate his +greediness learned the graceful art of losing judiciously. Sensual +by constitution, he valued woman only as the minister of his pleasures. +The gentlest being imaginable in tone, address, and demeanor +to foreigners or his equals, he was oppressively haughty to +his inferiors, unless they were necessary to his purposes or not absolutely +in his power. The correspondence and public papers +which were either written or dictated by him, fully displayed the +sophistry by which he changed defeats into victories or converted +criminal faults into philanthropy. Gifted with an extraordinary +power of expression, he used his splendid language to impose by +sonorous periods, upon the credulity or fancy of his people. No +one excelled him in ingenuity, eloquence, bombast, gasconade or +dialectic skill. When at the head of power, he lived constantly in +a gorgeous military pageant; and, a perfect master of dramatic +effect upon the excitable masses of his countrymen, he forgot the +exhumation of the dishonored bones of Cortéz to superintend the +majestic interment of the limb he had lost at Vera Cruz. + <a name="FNanchor_78_78" id="FNanchor_78_78"></a><a href="#Footnote_78_78" class="fnanchor">[78]</a></p> + +<p>It will easily be understood how such a man, in the revolutionary +times of Mexico, became neither the Cromwell nor the Washington +of his country. The great talent which he unquestionably possessed, +taught him that it was easier to deal corruptly with corruptions +than to rise to the dignity of a loyal reformer. He and his + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_433" id="Page_433">[Pg 433]</a></span> +country mutually acted, and reacted upon each other. Neither a +student nor a traveller, he knew nothing of human character except +as he saw it exhibited at home, and there he certainly sometimes +found excuses for severity and even despotism. It is undeniable +that he was endowed with a peculiar genius, but it was that kind +of energetic genius which may raise a dexterous man from disgrace, +defeat or reverses, rather than sustain him in power when he has +reached it. He never was popular or relied for success on the democratic +sentiment of his country. He ascertained, at an early day, +that the people would not favor his aspirations, and, abandoning federalism, +he threw himself in the embrace of the centralists. The army +and the church-establishment,—combined for mutual protection +under his auspices,—were the only two elements of his political +strength; and as long as he wielded their mingled power, he was enabled +to do more than any other Mexican in thoroughly demoralizing +his country. As a military demagogue he was often valuable even to +honest patriots who were willing to call him to power for a moment +to save the country either from anarchy or from the grasp of more +dangerous aspirants. Until the army was destroyed, Santa Anna +could not fall, nor would the military politicians yield to the civil. +As long as this dangerous chief and his myrmidons remained in +Mexico, either in or out of power, every citizen felt that he was +suffering under the rod of a Despot or that the progress of his +country would soon be paralyzed by the wand of an unprincipled +Agitator. But with the army reduced to the mere requirements of +a police system, and Santa Anna beyond the limits of the Republic, +the nation may breathe with freedom and vigor. + <a name="FNanchor_79_79" id="FNanchor_79_79"></a><a href="#Footnote_79_79" class="fnanchor">[79]</a></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p><span class="smcap">Note.</span>—These historical sketches + of the late war with Mexico are designed to present +a rapid view of the chief <i>events</i> and <i>motives</i> of the international conflict rather +than to portray the separate actions of civil and military men who were engaged in +it. We have, therefore, not been as minute as might be desired either by ourself or +by interested individuals. This, however, will be remedied in the general "History +of the War between Mexico and the United States," which we design +publishing.</p> + +<p>In narrating the battles we have sketched them <i>according to the published plans of +the commanders on both sides</i>. This is the fair system of describing and judging; but +whether those plans <i>were always the most judicious</i>, is a matter for military criticism +in which we have not present space to indulge. Resaca de la Palma, Monterey, +Buena Vista, Vera Cruz, Molino del Rey, Chapultepec, and the <i>time</i> as well as the +<i>mode</i> of capturing the capital, have all been discussed and condemned by the prolific +class of fault finders—most of whose judgments, when at all correct, are founded +upon knowledge acquired or assured subsequently to the actions, and which was entirely +inaccessible to the commanders when they fought the battles that are criticised. +One thing, however, should gratify our Generals exceedingly, and it is that in truth +they <i>did</i> fight and <i>win</i> the several actions in question, notwithstanding their blunders +and notwithstanding the fact that their junior civil and military critics could have +fought them so much better! They had, it seems, a double triumph—one over +their own stupid ignorance and another over the enemy!</p> +</div> + +<hr class="hr2" /> +<div class="fn"> +<h4>Footnotes</h4> +<p><a name="Footnote_77_77" id="Footnote_77_77"></a><a href="#FNanchor_77_77"> + <span class="label">[77]</span></a> In his letter to the Secretary of War + on the 1st of February from Cascatlan, he +says: "to enable me to live out of the way of the banditti travelling about here in +large parties, I have had to spend more than two thousand dollars, necessary to +maintain a small escort, when, through the scarcity of means in the treasury, <i>I +served my country without pay</i>." This is a singular illustration of Santa Anna's characteristic +avarice. Perhaps no man ever served his country for more liberal and certain +pay than this chieftain. We have been informed by one of our highest officers, +who was in the capital after its occupation by our troops, and had access to the Mexican +archives, that, amid all Santa Anna's political and military distresses he never +forgot his pecuniary interests. The books of the treasury showed that, at the moment +when the city was about to fall and when there was scarcely money enough to +maintain the troops, <i>he paid himself the whole of his salary as President up to that date, +and all the arrears which he claimed as due to him, as President also, during the period of +his residence in exile at Havana</i>!</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote_78_78" id="Footnote_78_78"></a><a href="#FNanchor_78_78"> + <span class="label">[78]</span></a> See page 91, vol. 1, and Mexico as it + was and as it is, p 207.</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote_79_79" id="Footnote_79_79"></a><a href="#FNanchor_79_79"> + <span class="label">[79]</span></a> See vol. 2, chapter xii, p. 155. + Reflections upon the Republic.</p> + </div> + + +<hr /> +<div class="tn"> +<h4>Transcriber's Note</h4> +<ul class="corrections"> +<li>Obvious punctuation and spelling errors repaired.</li> +<li>Footnotes moved to end of respective chapters.</li> +<li>Notes moved to end of respective paragraphs.</li> +<li>Notes normalized to include — (Example: Note.—)</li> +<li>Hyphenation of words normalized.</li> +<li>Pg <a href="#In">226</a>: "1512" changed to "1712" in "In 1512, Philip V. found himself...."</li> +</ul> +</div> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Mexico, Aztec, Spanish and Republican +Vol. 1 of 2, by Brantz Mayer + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MEXICO, AZTEC, SPANISH AND *** + +***** This file should be named 37887-h.htm or 37887-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/7/8/8/37887/ + +Produced by Julia Miller, Larry B. 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