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diff --git a/40032-0.txt b/40032-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0b8c816 --- /dev/null +++ b/40032-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11496 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40032 *** + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 40032-h.htm or 40032-h.zip: + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/40032/40032-h/40032-h.htm) + or + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/40032/40032-h.zip) + + + + + +The Story of the Nations. + +MEXICO + + + * * * * * * + +THE STORY OF THE NATIONS. + +_Large Crown 8vo, Cloth, Illustrated, 5s._ + + +1. ROME. ARTHUR GILMAN, M.A. +2. THE JEWS. Prof. J. K. HOSMER. +3. GERMANY. Rev. S. BARING-GOULD, M.A. +4. CARTHAGE. Prof. A. J. CHURCH. +5. ALEXANDER'S EMPIRE. Prof J. P. MAHAFFY. +6. THE MOORS IN SPAIN. STANLEY LANE-POOLE. +7. ANCIENT EGYPT. Canon RAWLINSON. +8. HUNGARY. Prof. A. VAMBÉRY. +9. THE SARACENS. A. GILMAN, M.A. +10. IRELAND. Hon. EMILY LAWLESS. +11. CHALDÆA. Z. A. RAGOZIN. +12. THE GOTHS. HENRY BRADLEY. +13. ASSYRIA. Z. A. RAGOZIN. +14. TURKEY. STANLEY LANE-POOLE. +15. HOLLAND. Prof. J. E. THOROLD ROGERS. +16. MEDIÆVAL FRANCE. Prof. GUSTAVE MASSON. +17. PERSIA. S. G. W. BENJAMIN. +18. PHOENICIA. Canon RAWLINSON. +19. MEDIA. Z. A. RAGOZIN. +20. THE HANSA TOWNS. HELEN ZIMMERN. +21. EARLY BRITAIN. Prof. A. J. CHURCH. +22. THE BARBARY CORSAIRS. STANLEY LANE-POOLE. +23. RUSSIA. W. R. MORFILL, M.A. +24. THE JEWS UNDER ROMAN RULE. W. D. MORRISON. +25. SCOTLAND. JOHN MACKINTOSH, LL.D. +26. SWITZERLAND. Mrs. LINA HUG and RICHARD STEAD. +27. MEXICO. SUSAN HALE. + + +London: T. FISHER UNWIN, Paternoster Square, E.C. + + * * * * * * + + +[Illustration: THE CONVENT OF CAPUCHINAS. (LAST PRISON OF MAXIMILIAN.)] + + +MEXICO + +by + +SUSAN HALE + + + + + + + +London +T. Fisher Unwin +Paternoster Square +New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons +MDCCCXCI + +Entered at Stationers' Hall +By T. Fisher Unwin + +Copyright by G. P. Putnam's Sons +(For the United States of America). + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +I. + PAGE +THE SUBJECT 1-11 + +View from a steamer, 1--Seen by Fernando Cortés, 2; his +ambition, 3--Inhospitable coast, 3--Vera Cruz, 4--Departure, +4--Climate we leave, 5--Climate we are seeking, 5--Three +climates of Mexico, 6--Anahuac, 6; _Tierra templada_, +7--Scenery of the plateau, 7--Its early inhabitants, 8--Destroyed +by Cortés, 8--Traditions of Anahuac, 9--_Teocallis_ +changed to cathedrals, 9--The _Conquistadores_, 10--Spanish +rulers, 10--Two emperors, 10--Mexico a republic, 11; +its past and future, 11. + + +II. + +SHADOWY TRIBES 12-23 + +Meaning of Anahuac, 12--Tula, formerly Tollan, 13--The +Toltecs, 13--Cholula: its legends, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, +20--Mound builders, 21--Legends of the Nahuas, 21--Huehue-Tlapallan, +22--Atlantis, 22--Noah of the Mexican +tribes, 22--Universal fable of the deluge, 23. + + +III. + +TRADITIONS OF THE TOLTECS 24-37 + +Their wanderings, 24; ruins of their capital, 26; their resources, +26; language, 27; early faith, 27--Cuernavaca, 28--Toluca, +28--Power of their ruler, 29--Quetzalcoatl, +The Shining Snake, 29; legends of his career, 30; +possible facts, 32; mystery of his departure, 32; image in the +museum, 33; his attributes, 33--Evil days of the Toltecs, +34--The Agave Americana, 34; its properties, 35--Maguey, +35--Xochitl, 36; her beverage, 36--Deterioration of the +Toltecs, 37; dates of their wanderings, 37. + + +IV. + +CHICHIMECS 38-44 + +A new dynasty, 38--The Chichimecs, 39; occupations and +customs, 39--The mark of a warrior, 39--The Serpent of +the Clouds, 40--The invasion of Xolotl, 40--Fall of Tollan, +41--Territory of Xolotl, 41--New waves of emigration, +42--Wise rulers, 42--Texcuco, 42--The Aztecs, 43--War +with Atzcapotzalco, 44--Kingdom of Texcuco, 44. + + +V. + +NEZAHUALCOYOTL 45-52 + +The young prince, 45; in captivity, 45; a faithful friend, +46--Tlaxcaza, 46--The plateau to-day, 46--The Malinche, +46--The Land of Bread, 47--A wise tutor, 47--Maxtla, +48--The homage of Nezahualcoyotl, 48--Maxtla's plot, 48--Open +enmity, 49--Nezahualcoyotl's escape, 49; his +hiding, 50--Tyranny of Maxtla, 50--The true prince +triumphant, 51--Maxtla defeated and killed, 51--The +kingdom of Texcuco Acolhuacan, 52. + + +VI. + +TEXCUCO 53-61 + +The Golden Age, 53--The government, 53--Council of +Music, 53--Texcucan literature, 54--Lost treasures, 54--A +royal poet, 55--The Laughing Hill, 56--Artificial lakes, +56--Ruins of Tezcotzinco, 56--Baths of Montezuma, 57--A +blot on Nezahualcoyotl's fame, 57; a Mexican Haroun +al Raschid, 58; his religion, 59--From anarchy to civilization, +59--Nezahualpilli, 59--Decline of Texcuco, 60--A +Texcucan historian, 60--Legend or fact? 61. + + +VII. + +MICHOACAN 62-69 + +The Land of Fish, 62--Lonely lakes, 62--Patzcuaro, 63--The +Place of Delights, 64--The first settlers, 64--Iré +Titatacamé, 65--A dusky princess, 65--Tixiacurí, the first +king of Michoacan, 66--The kingdom divided, 66--Tzintzuntzan, +67--The glorious reign of Zovanga, 67--A city of +birds, 67--Fruitless excavations, 68--The Tarascans, 68. + + +VIII. + +MAYAS 70-82 + +The first wave of migration, 70--Traces of Mayas in +Yucatan, 70--A great empire, 71--Nachan, the town of serpents, +72; its ruins discovered, 72--Palace at Palenque, 72--Lofty +chambers and strange bas-reliefs, 73--The Temple of +the Cross, 74--An emblem of Christian faith, 75--Meaning +of the tablets, 75--Chichen-Itza, 76--A religious centre, 77--Paintings +and bas-reliefs, 78--Chaak Mool, the tiger-chief, +78--The beautiful Kinich, 78--Tomb of Chaak +Mool, 78--Paved roads of Yucatan, 79--Votan and Zamna, +80--Mayan legends, 80--Weapons and armor, 81--War +with the Toltecs, 82. + + +IX. + +AZTECS 83-95 + +Best known of the Anahuac tribes, 83--Aztlan, 83--The +migration, 84--Six centuries of wanderings, 84--The name +Mexican, 84,--Their adopted home, 84--Chapultepec, 86--Driven +to the islands, 87--A wretched life, 87--Valor of +the slaves, 87--An abiding city, 87--Tenochtitlan, or +Mexico, 88--Advances in civilization, 88--Results of modern +research, 89--A king chosen, 90--Early years of the +kingdom, 91--The Princess of Cloth, 92--_Canoas_, 92--Chimalpopoca, +94--The usurpation, 94--Maxtla, 95. + + +X. + +MEXICANS 96-110 + +Itzcoatl, 96--Alliance with Texcuco, 96--War with Maxtla, +96--Victory of the allies, 97--Fall of the Tepanec +monarchy, 97--"The Valley Confederates," 98--Reign of +Motecuhzoma, 98--Height of the Mexican power, 98--Conquest +of the Chalcas, 99--Inundation and famine, 99--Raid +upon neighboring provinces, 100--Laws of Motecuhzoma, +100; his successor, 101--Tizoc, 101--The Drinking-cup +of the Eagle, 101--Human sacrifice, 102--Temple +built by Tizoc, 105--Dikes, 105--A despot, 106--Extent of +the kingdom, 106--Religious fanaticism, 108--Doubtful +records, 109. + + +XI. + +AZTEC CHARACTER 111-123 + +Unreliable testimony, 111--Hieroglyphics, 111--Paintings, +112--"Wanderings of the Aztecs," 112--Religion, 114--A +future life, 114--Funeral customs, 114--Domestic life, 115--Laws, +115--Music, 115--The Aztec calendar, 115--Divisions +of time, 116--Names of days, etc., 117--Opinions of +antiquarians, 117--The cycle, 118--Unlucky days, 118--Agriculture, +119--Irrigation, 119--A gentle race, 120--The +Priestesses, 121--Coatlicue, the goddess of the earth, 122--Source +of Aztec greatness, 122--A fatal policy, 123. + + +XII. + +THE LAST OF THE MONTEZUMAS 124-134 + +Motecuhzoma Xocoyotzin, 124; his character, 124--A +coronation festival, 125--Royal robes, 125--The life of +an Aztec king, 126; his capital, 126--Diaz's description, 127--A +life of pleasure, 128--State correspondence, 128--Chapultepec, +129--Montezuma's cypress, 129--Clouds on the +horizon, 130--Sinister predictions, 130--The coming of the +white men, 131--An unhappy monarch, 131--Landing of +the strangers, 132--Velasquez de Léon, 132; his expedition +to Yucatan, 133--Grijalva visits Mexico, 133--Montezuma's +embassy, 133. + + +XIII. + +CORTÉS 135-144 + +Birth, 135; enters the army, 135; visits Cuba, 135--An +attractive portrait, 135--Defects of character, 136--Velasquez +and Grijalva's expedition, 136--A love story, 137--Cortés +receives a commission, 137; his companions, 137--Jealousy +of Velasquez, 137--The squadron, 138--Jérome +d' Aguilar, 138--First conflict with the Aztecs, 139--Palm +Sunday, 139--A happy people, 140--Rumors of danger, +140--Presents to the strangers, 141--Cortés as Quetzalcoatl, +141--Easter, 141--A perplexed council, 142--Mistaken +policy, 142--Vera Cruz, 142--Cortés visits Cempoallan, +143--Tlaxcalla, 143--The ships destroyed, 144. + + +XIV. + +MALINTZI 145-150 + +Her birthplace, 145--The little duchess is made a slave, +145--Life in Tabasco, 146--Arrival of Cortés, 146--Treaty +of alliance, 146--The heiress-slave becomes a Christian, 146--Marina +or Malinche, 146--A new interpreter, 147--A +beautiful picture, 147--Splendid gifts, 148--Malintzi's +beauty, 149; her devotion to Cortés, 149; its result, 149. + + +XV. + +TLAXCALLA 151-157 + +An isolated province, 151--Exaggerated reports, 151--Efforts +for the friendship of the Tlaxcallans, 152--A trap +for the Spaniards, 152--A battle, 152--Defeat of the Tlaxcallans, +153--Peace concluded, 153--Christianity introduced, +153--Cholula, 154--Slaughter of the Cholultecas, +154--Alliance with Ixtlilxochitl, 154--Cacamatzin imprisoned, +155--Cortés reaches Mexico, 156--Cortés and Montezuma, +157--A lesson and a vow, 157. + + +XVI. + +LA NOCHE TRISTE 158-165 + +Overtures of friendship, 158--Bold measures, 159--Montezuma +in the power of the Spaniards, 159--A rival in the +field, 159--Alvarado, 160--The feast of Huitzilopochtli, +160--The Spaniards in danger, 160--Death of Montezuma, +161--Mexican traditions, 162--Cortés abandons the city, +163--A desperate struggle, 163--_La Noche Triste_, 164--The +scene of the battle, 164; the losses, 165. + + +XVII. + +CONQUEST 166-179 + +An interval of peace, 166--The new emperor, 166--A +legacy of the Spaniards, 167--Cortés _in extremis_, 167--The +Aztec army, 168--Battle at Otumba, 170--The Spaniards +victorious, 170--Preparations for defence, 171--The Spaniards +in Tlaxcalla, 171--Ixtlilxochitl, 171--Cortés at +Texcuco, 172--A new army and a new fleet, 172--The +campaign against Mexico, 173--Suffering in the city, 174--Surrender, +174--The city destroyed, 175--Cortés at +Coyoacán, 175--Search for treasures, 175--The kings +tortured, 175--Military rule, 176--Subjugation of Michoacan, +176--Later conquests, 177--Death of the Aztec kings, +178--Later life of Cortés, 178; return to Spain, 178; death, +178; burial in Mexico, 179. + + +XVIII. + +DOÑA MARINA 180-183 + +Her position in the camp, 180--After the victory, 180--Life +at Coyoacán, 180--Arrival of Doña Catalina, 181; +her death, 182--Insurrection in Honduras, 182--Marriage +of Marina, 183; her later life and her death, 183--Cortés +visits Spain, 183--A second marriage, 183. + + +XIX. + +INDIANS 184-190 + +The conquest complete, 184--The name Indian, 184--Origin +of the Nahuatl tribes, 185--Distinguished from the +North American Indian, 186--Military government, 188--The +_Ayuntamiento_, 188--The _Audiencia_, 188--Nuño de +Guzman, 189; his cruelty to the natives, 189--Guadalajara +founded, 189--A second _Audiencia_, 189--A viceroy appointed, +190--Extent of New Spain, 190. + + +XX. + +THE FIRST OF THE VICEROYS 191-202 + +Antonio de Mendoza, 191; his family and character, 191--Reforms +instituted, 191--Industries encouraged, 192--The +Franciscans, 192--Fray Pedro, 192--Foundation of schools +and colleges, 193--Guadalajara and Valladolid, 193--Michoacan +and its people, 194--The founding of a city, +195--Spanish families in Mexico, 196--Jews and Moors +banished, 196--Vasco de Quiroga, 197; his life in Tarasco, +197; his church at Tzintzuntzan, 198--A wonderful picture, +198--The cathedral at Morelia, 199--Cortés goes to Spain, +200--Popularity of the viceroy, 200--First Mexican book, +202--Departure of Mendoza, 202. + + +XXI. + +FRAY MARTIN DE VALENCIA 203-213 + +Don Luis de Velasco, second viceroy, 203--New institutions +and industries, 203--Puebla de los Angeles, 204; the +tradition of its founding, 204; the situation, 206--The early +ecclesiastics, 207--The worship of the Virgin, 207--The +"twelve apostles of Mexico," 208--Fray Martin of +Valencia, 208; his life in Amecameca, 209; his death, 210--Relics +of Fray Martin, 211--An object of reverence, 212--Death +of Velasco, 212--A well-regulated government, 213. + + +XXII. + +OTHER VICEROYS 214-223 + +Events in Spain, 214--Philip II., 214--The character of the +viceroys, 215--The Inquisition, 216--The _Quemadero_, 216--Death +of Philip, 217--Inundations, 217--Martinez and his +canal, 218--Successors of Philip, 219--Wars of succession, +220--Revillagigedo, 220; anecdotes of his administration, +221. + + +XXIII. + +HUMBOLDT 224-232 + +A distinguished visitor, 224; he arrives in Mexico, 225--Remarks +on the carving, 225--Academy of fine arts, 226; its +later history, 227--The cathedral, 227--Humboldt at +Chapultepec, 228; The market, 228--Teotihuacan, 229--Mexican +mines, 229--Valenciana, 229--At Patzcuaro, 230--The +birth of a volcano, 231. + + +XXIV. + +REVOLUTIONS 233-237 + +Charles III. of Spain, 233; his successor, 233--Branciforte +and the statue of Charles IV., 234--Napoleon invades +Spain, 235--A change of government, 235--_Juntas_, 235--The +Bourbons restored, 235--Iturrigaray and his administration, +236--Revolt in the air, 237--The policy of Spain, +237--Venegas, 237. + + +XXV. + +HIDALGO 238-249 + +Birth and education, 238--Colegio de San Nicholas, 238--He +takes orders, 238; life at Dolores, 240; bold schemes, +240--Ignacio Allende, 241; An important step, 241--The +_Grito de Dolores_, 242--A new army, 242--Attack on +Guanajuato, 243--A brave boy, 243--The new viceroy, +243--Hidalgo excommunicated, 244--Valladolid taken, +245--Monte de la Cruces, 245--The insurgents defeated at +Aculco, 246--Hidalgo declared Generalissimo, 246--Battle +of Calderon, 247--Capture and death of the chiefs, 248--End +of the struggle for independence, 248. + + +XXVI. + +MORELOS 250-257 + +Birth and family, 250--Morelia, 251--Muleteer and student, +251--Morelos joins Hidalgo, 251--Siege of Cuautla, 252--Acapulco, +252--First Mexican Congress, 252--Declaration +of independence, 253--Attack on Valladolid, 253--Mishaps, +254--Morelos a prisoner, 254--Death of Morelos, +255; his character and aims, 255; his object achieved, 256. + + +XXVII. + +YTURBIDE 258-271 + +The close of Calleja's administration, 258--The insurgents +dispersed, 258--Apodaca and Guerrero, 259--Affairs in +Spain, 259--Agustin de Yturbide, 260; early services, +260; meets Guerrero, 261--"Plan of Iguala," 261--The +"three guaranties," 261--Advance of the insurgents, 262--The +viceroy deposed, 262--A successful campaign, 263--O'Donojú, +263--Treaty of Cordova, 264--Yturbide enters +the capital, 264--The Regency, 264--The Mexican Empire +founded, 265--Work of the new government, 265--Second +Mexican Congress, 265--Yturbide proclaimed Emperor, +266--Signs of dissatisfaction, 267--Santa Anna, 267--The +Casa-Mata, 268--Yturbide banished, 268; his return to +Mexico, 270; his execution, 270; character of Yturbide, 271. + + +XXVIII. + +SANTA ANNA 272-280 + +A confused story, 272--Santa Anna, 273; his connection +with Yturbide, 273--The Constitution, 273--"Guadalupe" +Victoria, 273--Expulsion of the Spanish, 274--A +presidential election, 274--Mutiny in the capital, 275--Colonization +of Texas, 276--Pedraza, 276--A Spanish invasion, +277--Santa Anna made Commander-in-Chief, 277--Bustamente, +278--Guerrero betrayed and shot, 278--Santa +Anna becomes President, 278--Farías, 279--Insurrection +in Texas, 279. + + +XXIX. + +STILL SANTA ANNA 281-289 + +Louis Philippe, 281--_Reclamacion de los pasteles_, 281--The +French repelled, 281--Santa Anna's home, 282--Bustamente +recalled, 282--Trouble again, 283--Mejia, 283--A +revolution described, 284--Bustamente resigns, 288--Santa +Anna triumphant, 288. + + +XXX. + +SOCIETY 290-300 + +Madame Calderon's journal, 290--An ambassador from +Spain, 290--State of society, 291--The Paséo, 291--The +Viga, 292--Women in Mexico, 292--Good-Friday in +Mexico, 294--Robbers, 297--_Guardias Rurales_, 298--A +monarchy proposed, 299. + + +XXXI. + +RUMORS OF WAR 301-310 + +Results of the Spanish rule, 301--Playing at independence, +301--The appeal to arms, 302--The country exhausted, 302--Misfortunes, +304--The United States, 304--Spread of its +territory, 304--Colonization of Texas, 305--Moses Austin, +304--Revolt against Mexico, 305--Houston and Santa +Anna, 305--Texas independent, 305--Annexed to the +United States, 306--Herrera, Farías, and Paredes, 307--The +Mexican army, 308. + + +XXXII. + +WAR BEGUN 311-322 + +The beginning of hostilities, 311--Palo Alto and Resaca de +la Palma, 311--The war carried into Mexico, 312--Difficulty +of negotiation, 312--"Indemnity for the past," 313--California, +313--Policy of the United States, 313--Monterey +taken, 314--Fremont enters the capital, 316--Taylor's +campaign, 316--Siege of Monterey, 318--Ampudia's proclamation, +319,--Paredes and his "Plan," 319--Santa Anna +again, 320--Fall of Paredes, 321--Santa Anna at the capital, +321--A new army, 321. + + +XXXIII. + +PUEBLA LOST 323-332 + +Scott before Vera Cruz, 323--Buena Vista, 323--Raising +money, 323--The religious orders and their influence, 324--Wealth +of the Church, 326--Ecclesiastical property seized, +327--Bombardment of Vera Cruz, 328--The city surrenders, +328--Cerro Gordo, 330--Santa Anna at Puebla, 330--Puebla +occupied by the Americans, 331--Guadalupe and its +surroundings, 331--Santa Anna as Dictator, 332--Patriotism +aroused, 332. + + +XXXIV. + +CHAPULTEPEC TAKEN 333-341 + +The approach to the capital, 333--Churubusco, 333--Docile +Indians, 333--Another victory for the Americans, 334--Molino +de Rey, 334--Chapultepec taken, 336--Occupation +of the capital, 336--Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, 338--Discovery +of gold, 338--Effects of the war, 339--Attempts +to capture Santa Anna, 340--Santa Anna retires to Jamaica, +341--Grant in the Mexican war, 341. + + +XXXV. + +BENITO JUAREZ 342-347 + +Peace restored, 342--Herrera and his administration, 342--Santa +Anna again Dictator, 344--An epoch of reform, 344--_Clerigos_ +and _liberales_, 344--Benito Juarez, 344; his early +life, 345; governor and exile, 345; restored to office, 346--A +new Constitution, 346--Juarez becomes President, 346--Foreign +intervention, 347. + + +XXXVI. + +FRENCH INTERVENTION 348-356 + +A foreign squadron, 348--The pretext and the cause, 348--Spain +and England withdraw, 349--The policy of Napoleon +III., 349--A proposed empire, 349--Maximilian, 350; +dreams of "the right divine," 352--The French troops +advance on the capital, 353--Divisions in Mexico 353--The +_Cinco de Mayo_, 354--A bold attack, 355--Defence of +Puebla, 356. + + +XXXVII. + +THE EMPIRE UNDER PROTECTION 357-364 + +The sovereigns arrive, 357--The imperialist party, 357--Reception +of Maximilian, 358--Relics of royalty, 359--Military +affairs, 360--The new government, 362--Chapultepec +restored, 363--Society at the capital, 363--Apparent +prosperity, 364. + + +XXXVIII. + +THE UNPROTECTED EMPIRE 365-372 + +Action of the United States, 365--Responsibility for the +intervention, 366--The final word of Napoleon, 367--Carlotta +goes to Europe, 368--Her interview with Napoleon, +369--Maximilian leaves the capital, 370--At Orizaba, 371--Father +Fischer, 371--The Emperor's manifesto, 372. + + +XXXIX. + +MAXIMILIAN 373-382 + +The French army withdrawn, 373--Advance of Juarez, 374--The +Emperor and his attendants, 374--Investment of +Querétaro, 375--Márquez and Diaz, 375--Personal appearance +of the Emperor, 376--The treachery of Lopez, 377--Maximilian +a prisoner, 378; his death, 380. + + +XL. + +END OF THE EPISODE 383-385 + +General Vidaurri, 383--The escape of Márquez, 384--General +Diaz, 384--Puebla, 385--Vigor of the liberal government, +385. + + +XLI. + +THE LAST OF SANTA ANNA 386-391 + +Juarez enters the capital, 386--Peace established, 387--Santa +Anna in retirement, 387; his exile and death, 388--Character +of Juarez, 389--Civil war again, 390--Death of +Juarez, 390--Lerdo becomes President, 391. + + +XLII. + +PORFIRIO DIAZ 392-401 + +A new "Plan," 392--Birthplace of Diaz, 392--Scenery of +Oaxaca, 393--The Zapotecas, 393--Ruins of Mitla, 394--Early +life of Diaz, 394; his military achievements, 395--An +escape from hostile troops, 396--Triumph of the opposition, +396--Diaz proclaimed President, 397--Presidency +of Gonsalez, 398--Policy of Diaz, 399--Chapultepec at the +present day, 399--Hope for the Indian, 400--Prospects of +development, 401. + + +XLIII. + +PHYSICAL ADVANTAGES 402-411 + +Climate and vegetation, 402--Mexican flora, 403--The +market-place, 404--A family group, 404--Native pottery, +405--The _cargador_, 405--Wearing apparel, 406--_Serape_ +and _rebozo_, 406, 407--The cotton industry, 408--The +source of Mexican wealth, 409. + + +XLIV. + +FUTURE 412-419 + +Influence of the Catholic Fathers, 412--Extinction of +monasteries, 412--The parish priest, 413--The Mozarabic +liturgy, 413--A missionary field, 414--The policy of the +government, 414--Schools, 415--Literature in modern +Mexico, 416--The Mexican-Spaniard, 417--Railways, 418--Brighter +days to come, 419. + +INDEX 421 + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. + + +PAGE + +THE CONVENT OF CAPUCHINAS _Frontispiece_. +VALLEY OF TULA 15 +COLUMN FROM TULA 24 +RUINS FOUND AT TULA 25 +QUETZALCOATL 31 +PORTICO AT KABOH 43 +VASE IN THE NATIONAL MUSEUM, WASHINGTON 63 +CASA DEL GOBERNADOR, UXMAL 71 +STATUE FROM PALENQUE 73 +TABLET OF CROSS AT PALENQUE 74 +MAYAN BAS-RELIEF 77 +STATUE OF CHAAK MOOL 79 +ZAMNA 81 +ORGAN CACTUS 85 +IDOL IN TERRA-COTTA 89 +CANAL OUTSIDE THE CITY OF MEXICO 93 +STONE OF TIZOC 103 +SCULPTURE REPRESENTING HUMAN SACRIFICE 107 +COURT OF THE MUSEUM AT MEXICO 113 +VASE. MUSEUM AT MEXICO 120 +PYRAMID AT TEOTIHUACAN 169 +EARLY POTTERY 187 +CATHEDRAL AT MORELIA 201 +PUEBLA DE LOS ANGELES 205 +TEMPLE OF XOCHICALCO 225 +CACTUS HEDGE 239 +PANORAMA OF PUEBLA 269 +INDIAN HUT IN THE TIERRA CALIENTE 283 +CATHEDRAL, CITY OF MEXICO 289 +THE VIGA 293 +VALLEY OF MEXICO 303 +MONTEREY, MEXICO 315 +GENERAL TAYLOR 317 +GENERAL SCOTT 325 +SIEGE OF VERA CRUZ 329 +BATTLE OF MOLINO DEL REY 335 +STORMING OF CHAPULTEPEC 337 +BENITO JUAREZ 343 +ARCHDUKE MAXIMILIAN[A] 351 +SAN LUIS POTOSI 359 +CHAPULTEPEC IN THE TIME OF MAXIMILIAN 361 +HEAD-QUARTERS OF JUAREZ AT SAN LUIS DE POTOSI 379 +THE CONVENT OF CAPUCHINAS 381 +ZAPOTEC ORNAMENT 393 +IMAGE OF A ZAPOTEC CHIEF 394 +PRESIDENT PORFIRIO DIAZ 397 +AQUEDUCT IN THE CITY OF MEXICO 410 + +[Footnote A: From "The Fall of Maximilian's Empire." By permission of +the author, Seaton Schroeder, Lieut. U. S. N.] + + For a number of these illustrations the publishers are + indebted to the courtesy of Messrs. Hochette & Co., + publishers of "Le Voyage au Mexique," by Jules Leclercq. + + + + +THE STORY OF MEXICO. + + + + +I. + +THE SUBJECT. + + +The steamer stops, and we are lying off Vera Cruz, in the Gulf of +Mexico. Half a mile off, the long, low shore stretches north and south, +with the white town upon it, flat roofs making level lines on the houses +glaring in the morning sunlight, domes and church towers rising above +the rest; glimpses of bright green tree-tops are to be seen, but outside +the city all is barren and waste. The plain behind rolls up, however, +and the background is the peak of snow-capped Orizaba, silent, lofty, +17,356 feet above our level. + +This is what we see to-day, leaning over the bulwark of our large +luxurious steamer which has brought us, easily, from Havana in a few +days, over the smooth, green waters of the Gulf. Our only anxiety has +been the possible chance of a "Norther," which may break loose at any +time in that region, sweeping over the waters with fury and driving the +Stoutest vessels away from the coast they would approach. Our only +exertion has been to keep cool upon the pleasant deck, and to take +enough exercise to be able to enjoy the frequent food provided by the +admirable _chef_ of the steamer. + +The scenery is the same that Fernando Cortés looked upon, some three +hundred years ago, when he, too, cast anchor about half a mile from the +coast, and scanned the shore with an anxious eye, to find a suitable +landing. Orizaba rose before him, as now we see it, stately, majestic, +cold and forbidding, under its mantle of snow. + +We must envy the adventurer, in spite of our advantages in the way of +ease and comfort. He stood upon the cramped deck of his little vessel, +surrounded by a handful of men, with a limited amount of provisions, and +great uncertainty about the next supply. No town stretched out its +sheltering walls before him; there was scarcely harborage for his ships. +Yet he had the advantage of absolute novelty in his undertaking from the +moment he himself, with his little band, led the way up the steep slope +to Anahuac. + +Every true traveller has some of the instincts of the explorer in him, +and these instincts must make us envy the prospect which lay before +Cortés as he approached in the Bay of Vera Cruz the real beginning of +his enterprise. There was the shore of the new country, where he might +plant his "rich city of the true cross." There was the cold mountain +which might contain in its depths the treasure he was seeking, and +beyond it was the rumored Empire he longed to conquer. At that moment, +no fear, no discouragement, held back the eager steps with which he +sprang into his boat, and beckoned his companions to follow him. + +Cortés fulfilled his ambition, achieved his task, with what +difficulties, through what straits and failures, we shall have later to +see. He scaled the sides of Orizaba, reached the lofty plateau, and +seized the ancient citadel of the Montezumas. Civilization has trodden +smooth the rough path he first opened, and railroads now make it easy to +climb the pass so arduous for him. If our journey lacks the element of +constant discovery which belonged to his, we have gained that of wonder +and amazement at the difficulties he surmounted. Moreover, he came in +ignorance of what he was to find, with a blind desire for conquest, +investing the region he approached with imaginary attractions. We know +beforehand, as we begin to explore the country, that its legends and +romances are as fascinating as its mines are deep; that its story is as +picturesque as the lofty ranges and deep rolling valleys which make the +charm of its scenery. + +An inhospitable coast borders the treacherous, though beautiful, Gulf of +Mexico. Its waters look smiling and placid, but at any season the +furious "Norther" may break loose, sweeping with fearful suddenness over +its surface, lashing its lately smiling waves into fury, threatening +every vessel with destruction. Low sand-bars offer little shelter from +the blast. Ships must stand off the coast until the tempest shall be +past. + +The country offers nothing better to its landed guests. _Vomito_ lurks +in the streets of Vera Cruz to seize upon strangers and hurry them off +to a wretched grave. All the pests of a tropical region infest the low +lands running back from the sea. Splendid vegetation hides unpleasant +animals, and snakes are lurking among the beautiful blue morning-glories +that festoon the tangled forests. Let us hasten away from these dangers, +and climb the slope that leads to a purer air. + +We have escaped the terrors of the custom-house at Vera Cruz, from +which, by the way, Cortés was exempt, and after a doubtful night in the +hotel, serenaded by swarms of Vera Cruz mosquitoes, at early dawn we +creep stealthily from our chambers, not to disturb the few misguided +guests who mean to stay a little longer, and follow the dusky +_cargadores_, bearing our baggage on their backs, down into the silent +street. In Mexico there is no effort on the part of an hotel proprietor +to speed the parting guest. He signs the bill overnight and betakes +himself to repose, undisturbed by the exodus in early morning. The +_cargadores_ who have agreed to attend to the luggage rouse their +sleeping prey and lead them through a wide, straight street to the +railroad station. There is no sign of breakfast at the hotel. Nobody is +stirring but one sleepy innkeeper. Hard by the station, as in every +Mexican town, is a café, where excellent hot coffee is furnished, with +plenty of boiled milk and good bread in many and various forms. Here we +may sit and refresh ourselves with cup after cup, if we like, until the +short, sharp whistle of the steam-engine warns us to take the train. +Heavy baggage was, or should have been, weighed and registered +overnight. + +It is but six o'clock as we move out of the station. A big sun is slowly +rising over the dry, hot _chapparral_ outside the city. Although it is +early April, all is parched like midsummer. Soon, however, we begin to +climb, and, as we ascend, pass through forests of wonderful growth. +Sugar-cane and coffee plantations now appear; and the trees are hung +with orchids, tangled with vines bright with blossoms, many of them +fruit-trees now in flower, one mass of white or pink. The road crosses +water-falls, winds round ravines, under mountains, through tunnels, +climbing ever higher and higher, until Córdoba is reached at an +elevation of over 2,000 feet. This town is surrounded and invaded by +coffee plantations and orange groves. At the station baskets of +delicious fruits are offered us--oranges, bananas, grenaditas, mangoes. +Here we bid farewell to the tropics, and forget the snakes and the fear +of _vomito_. + +The climate we are seeking is not a tropical one. Whoever associates +Mexico with the characteristics of heat, malaria, venomous reptiles, has +received a wrong impression of it. Such places, with their drawbacks, +exist within the geographical limits of the country, but it is wholly +unnecessary to seek them; for the towns of historical and picturesque +interest are above the reach of tropical dangers, for the most part, +while there are seasons of the year when even the warmer portions can be +visited with safety and delight. At Orizaba the climate is temperate, +fresh, and cool, beginning to have the elements of mountain altitudes. +It is well to stop here for a day or two to become accustomed to the +rarer air. It is a summer place of recreation for the inhabitants of +Vera Cruz, while in winter it is a favorite excursion from the places +higher up on the plateau. + +As we are travelling only in imagination, we may safely, without pause, +press upward to the great plateau where most of the scene is laid of our +story. For Mexico, with the exception of the narrow border of sea-coast +we have just crossed, is a lofty table-land between two oceans, a +mountain ridge continued up from the Andes in South America, contracted +at the Isthmus of Panama to a narrow chain of granite, to grow broad in +Mexico as it stretches to the northwest, until it spreads, at an +elevation from 4,000 to 8,000 feet, almost from ocean to gulf. This is +Anahuac, the so-called table-land of Mexico, a broad plateau upon which +the picturesque romantic drama of Mexican history has been played. Upon +this high plateau, which is by no means level, rise the crests of the +great volcanic ridges, of which the highest are Popocatepetl and +Istaccíhuatl. The table-land rolls off northward at first, keeping its +high level, growing narrower, gradually sinking as it approaches the Rio +Grande, until at the boundary line of the United States it has fallen to +3,000 feet. + +Thus Mexico possesses three well defined climates, due to variation in +altitude: the _tierra caliente_, or hot lands of the coast; the _tierra +templada_, or temperate region; and the _tierra fria_, the cold regions +of the mountain tops, more than 6,000 feet above the level of the sea. +These climates, moreover, are modified by the latitude, so that between +the cold altitudes of the northern portions, and the warm tropical +levels of the south, there is a vast range of atmospheric change. + +Our story has its stage, for the most part in the _tierra templada_, +where the year is divided into two seasons: the dry season, from +November to May; the rainy one, from June to October. The pleasanter one +is the rainy one, in spite of its name. The rains are not continuous, +but fall usually late in the afternoon and during the night, leaving the +morning bright and clear, and the air deliciously fresh and cool. All +the year roses bloom in the city of Mexico, and there are places where +you may eat strawberries every day in the three hundred and sixty five. + +Spreading over the greater part of this lofty region, there are broad, +level plains of rich verdure, bright with all imaginable wild-flowers +growing in profusion; large lakes, as picturesque as those of Northern +Italy, surrounded by hills that are mountains, reckoning from the sea +level; lofty mountain peaks, eternally snow-covered, barren and rocky +below their snow-summits, then clothed with pine, and nearer at hand +with fine oaks and other trees of temperate climates. Brawling streams +water the valleys, and at the edge of the plateau make deep barrancas, +whose depths reach to the lower level, their dangerous chasms hidden by +rich growths. + +On this elevated plateau, which with all its variety seems a world of +its own, until within the period of modern inventions all but +inaccessible to the lower country and the ocean beyond, we find the +traces of an ancient civilization, reaching backward until it is lost in +legend. Long before the invasion of Anahuac by Cortés, it was inhabited +by intelligent races of men. The mystery which hangs about these people +makes the search for their history full of interest. In the present +native population, we seek to find some clue to the manners and customs +of the first inhabitants, by which to read the meaning of the monuments +they have left. They are gone, their institutions overthrown by a power +stronger than they were, by reason of the resources of advancing +civilization, their idols and temples overturned by the zealots of +another belief. + +Outraged by the human sacrifices of the Mexican tribes, Cortés +destroyed, with a reckless hand, all the evidences of what he regarded +heathen worship. In so doing, the records of the race were lost, +together with carved images of gods. It is unfortunate that his zeal was +not tempered with discrimination, for it is now difficult, through the +clouds of exaggeration surrounding the Spanish Conquistadores, to find +out what sort of people they were, who preceded them on Anahuac. + +Empires and palaces, luxury and splendor fill the accounts of the +Spaniards, and imagination loves to adorn the halls of the Montezumas +with the glories of an Oriental tale. Later explorers, with the fatal +penetration of our time, destroy the splendid vision, reducing the +emperor to a chieftain, the glittering retinue to a horde of savages, +the magnificent capital of palaces to a pueblo of adobe. The discouraged +enthusiast sees his magnificent civilization devoted to art, literature, +and luxury, reduced to a few handfuls of pitiful Indians, quarrelling +with one another for supremacy, and sighs to think his sympathies may +have been wasted on the sufferings of an Aztec sovereign dethroned by +the invading Spaniard. + +Yet perseverence, after brushing away the sparkling cobwebs of +exaggerated report, finds enough fact left to build up a respectable +case for the early races of Mexico. Visible proofs of their importance +exist in the monuments, picture writings, and, above all, their +traditions, which, at all events, remain a pretty story, with a sediment +of facts the student may precipitate for himself. These traditions make +of the early settlers of Anahuac a very interesting study, all the more +from their shadowy nature, leaving still much margin for fancy. + +They were overwhelmed by the Spaniards, but not destroyed, for the +descendants of the conquered races still form a large proportion of the +population of Mexico. Their _teocallis_ and hideous carved gods gave way +to Roman Catholic cathedrals and images of the Holy Virgin. Spanish +viceroys, after the first atrocities of military discipline, ruled the +gentle descendants of the Aztecs with a control for the most part mild +and beneficent. The Catholic fathers who crossed the ocean to labor for +the spiritual welfare of the natives, wisely engrafted upon the +mysteries of their own faith the legends and superstitions of the older +belief. Thus we find in many of the religious ceremonies in Mexico, a +wild, picturesque element, which is lacking in the church festivals of +the Old World. + +When the Conquistadores took possession of the New Spain in the name of +their royal master, the Emperor Charles V., he was one of the most +powerful of earthly monarchs. His son, Philip II., received the country +as a part of his inheritance, along with realms which made him even +greater than his father. But the successors of Philip II. knew not how +to hold the possessions their fathers had won. Piece by piece their +distant provinces were lost to them. Mexico, after two hundred years of +neglect and mismanagement, shook herself free from Spanish rule; since +the early part of this century she has called herself independent, with +the exception of the two brief periods when the ambition of two men, +differing widely from each other in their antecedents and aims, caused +them to attempt the rôle of "Emperor of Mexico." Iturbide was the former +of these; the latter, the ill-advised Maximilian. For the last twenty +years, since the fall of Maximilian, Mexico has been a republic, with +all the varying fortunes that attend a young institution struggling with +inexperience and difficulty. A native population with an inheritance of +superstition, prejudice, and oppression, mixed with a race whose +traditions are all in favor of arbitrary government, supplemented by +immigrants from every other nation who have come, often with lawless +intent, seldom with disinterested motives, and never inspired by any +feeling that could be called patriotism, must wait long for that +unanimity of public opinion and harmony of interest which ensure good +government. + +At times it has seemed that no good could emerge from such opposing +elements; yet nature has furnished to Mexico material for a long siege; +broad territory with a faultless climate, mountains rich in every +mineral resource, valleys well adapted for cultivation and grazing, a +land where every industry may, under a stable government, be pursued +with success. The character of the descendant of the Aztecs is mild and +docile, capable, as many people think, of high development by education; +such bad qualities as Mexicans have developed from Spanish inheritance +are, it is hoped, giving way before the progress of civilization and +education. + +The past of the people who live upon Anahuac is wrapped in mystery. So +is their future. Both are interesting problems, to be worked out from +the legends of old time, and the narrative of the present. + + + + +II. + +SHADOWY TRIBES. + + +Anahuac means "by the water." It is the ancient name for the great tract +of land surrounding the lakes in the lofty valley of Mexico,--Chalco and +Xochimilco, which are but one lake, properly speaking, the large Lake of +Texcuco, and the smaller ones Zumpango and San Christobal. At first the +name Anahuac was applied only to the neighborhood of the lakes, but +later it came to be applied to the whole plateau. + +The Conquistadores, according to their own glowing account, found upon +the shores of these lakes a busy population, with all the evidences of +industry and prosperity. Temples, erected for worship, containing the +images of strange gods, stood in the lofty places. Their monarch lived +in a palace of luxury, surrounded by his guards; he controlled a large +army, which did battle for him against his enemies. His swift-footed +messengers, without steam, without even horses, did his bidding even to +the shores of the distant sea. Without printing, or telegraph, he +received prompt information of distant events by pictures made on the +spot by his special artist. Here was a civilization which had received +nothing from the courts of Europe, whose forms and ceremonies, while as +rigid and as grand, borrowed nothing from the traditions of the royal +house of Spain. + +Whence came this proud people which had conquered for itself a place in +that valley of the perfect climate? + +About fifty miles from the city of Mexico is a town named Tula, formerly +Tollan, which means perhaps "the place of many people." A road, shaded +by great ash-trees leads across the river Tula, through a narrow pass to +some ruins of an ancient civilization, ruins already when the city of +Montezuma, which Cortés found flourishing, arose. A building of ancient +stone is still there, laid in mud and covered with hard cement of a +ruddy tint, with which the floors are also covered. The largest room in +the building is not more than fifteen feet square. Another building +farther on, larger than the first, is called the _Casa Grande_; it +contains about thirty small rooms, connected by stairways, as their +height above the ground varies. The plaza of the little town Tula +contains the portion of a column and the lower half of a colossal +statue, which belong, as well as the buildings just described, to the +period of the Toltecs, whose capital was the ancient Tollan. Their city +was abandoned a hundred years before the Aztecs entered it, and its +founders scattered. Whence came the shadowy race whose history vaguely +underlies that of later Mexican races? + +The great mound which since Humboldt's time has been called the pyramid +of Cholula, of which every child has seen a picture in his geography, +has now all the appearance of a natural hill. It is overgrown with +verdure and trees; torrents of water in the rainy seasons have cut +crevices in its sides, and laid bare wide spaces. A good paved road now +leads to the summit, where a pretty modern church looks down upon the +little town of Cholula huddled round the base of the pyramid. The church +and the road leading to it are the work of the Spaniards, but +examination proves the whole mound to be built by men out of earth, +broken limestone, little pebbles, and small bits of lava. Sun-dried +bricks were employed, of varying sizes and different make, which aids +the idea that the mound was built slowly and by differing methods. On +the platform at the top, which was reached by five successive terraces, +Cortés found a temple, which he caused to be destroyed. The dates fixed +for the erection of this pyramid vary from the seventh to the tenth +century of our era. Conjecture only offers explanation of the purpose +for which it was erected. Legends which the neighboring Indians preserve +say that it was built in preparation for a second deluge. Another +version is that men dazzled by the splendor of the scene sought to erect +a tower which should reach the firmament; the heavenly powers, wroth +with their audacity, destroyed the edifice and dispersed the builders. +Cholula was one of the important cities of the Toltecs, but its +construction is attributed to an earlier people. + +[Illustration: VALLEY OF TULA.] + +Another monument of the ancient civilization is Xochicalco, seventy-five +miles southwest of the city of Mexico. In the middle of a plain rises a +cone-shaped height from three to four hundred feet high, whose base has +an oval form two miles in circumference. Two tunnels piercing the side +of the mound open towards the north; the first has been explored only +eighty-two feet. The second penetrates the calcareous hill by a large +gallery nine feet and a half high, with several branches in different +directions. The ground is paved. The walls are supported by mason-work +cemented and covered with red ochre. The principal gallery leads to a +hall eighty feet long, whose ceiling is kept in place by the aid of two +pilasters. In one corner of this hall is a little recess, excavated like +the rest out of the solid rock, with an ogival dome of Gothic aspect. + +So much for the interior. Outside are five successive terraces of +mason-work sustained by walls surmounted by parapets. At the summit +stand upon a broad platform the ruins of the temple for which the mound +was apparently destined; it is a rectangular building constructed of +blocks of porphyritic granite placed on each other without the aid of +mortar, with such skill that the joinings were scarcely visible. In 1755 +the temple still preserved five stories; at the top was a stone, which +might have served as a seat, covered like the rest of the building with +strange ornaments carved in the stone. + +Works evidently for defence testify to the constant fighting which must +have been waged over Anahuac. In the province of Vera Cruz, at Huatusco, +there are traces of fortifications stretching towards the north. Ceutla +seems to have been one of the chief points chosen for defence. The plain +is covered with ruins. A forest conceals and at the same time protects +several pyramids of stone bound with mortar. These pyramids are the most +striking feature of this ancient architecture. The teocallis or palaces +at Palenque and Copan, ruins found in Yucatan and Honduras, are erected +on truncated pyramids like those of Anahuac. They are all of one +primitive type, although differing in details of material and form. + +These ruins, still left to attest the power of the great vanished +nations who erected them, are rapidly disappearing. The Spanish +conquerors were amazed at their size and importance--so much so that in +their description they often exaggerated their splendor. Some of them +Cortés destroyed; whatever he spared, gradually falls away, through +neglect, theft, or other ravage of time. Forests of tropical growth have +hidden the wonders of Palenque from destruction. Other such places may +yet exist all undiscovered; and it is probable that the researches of +scientific explorers will in time bring to light much information about +the builders of these monuments. Meanwhile we must again turn to +conjecture, and in the absence of facts to keep it within bound, we may +indulge our imagination, and play with legend. + +Far away from some distant home, early in the dim traditional annals of +Anahuac, men came to settle upon its plains. They found there a race of +giants--strange, fierce men, of immense strength,--whose ancestors +perhaps had struggled with prehistoric beasts, of which the bones lie +buried deep below the present surface. This race of giants was wild and +rude; they lived by hunting, and devoured raw the flesh of the game they +secured with bows and arrows; they were brave, daring, and agile, but +were given over to the vice of drunkenness. + +We cannot stop to be very much interested in this rudimentary people, +called Quinames, who have left us scarcely more than a name, and little +even of legend to charm us. The pyramid of Cholula and that of +Teotihuacan are ascribed to them, rather by way of pushing back these +monuments to an ancient period. Their conception and execution show +ambition, perhaps veneration, as well as determination and perseverance. + +Whence they came, therefore, it is vain to speculate: how long they were +there, what manner of men they were. A wave of life more civilized swept +down upon them from the north and exterminated the whole race, so that +we have nothing more to tell about them. The tribes which have the +credit of destroying the giants bear the names of Xicalancas and +Ulmecas. They paused a while upon the plateau, and passed on to people +the coasts of the Gulf of Mexico. + +Next came the Mayas, still always from the north. Although they left +some traces upon Anahuac, they too moved farther on, to establish in +Yucatan and the territory between Chiapas and Central America their +greatly advanced civilization. Of this great family the many different +branches speak dialects varying from the mother tongue, but allied to +each other. + +The Otomis, still with the same northern origin, spread themselves very +early over the territory which is now occupied by the states of San +Luis, Potosi, Guanajuato, and Querétaro, reaching Michoacan, and +spreading still farther. These were a rough people who lurked among the +mountains, avoiding the life of large communities. They have left no +record of progressive civilization. Their descendants are still traced +in the regions which they chiefly occupied, by peculiarities of dialect. +Mixtecas and Zapotecas are names of other peoples who came to occupy +Anahuac, but the Toltecs are the first of these ancient tribes +distinguished for the advancement of their arts and civilization, of +which their monuments and the results of excavation give abundant proof. + +The legends of those tribes who came to Mexico over the broad path +leading down from the north refer to an ancient home, of which they +retained a sad, vague longing, as the Moor still dreams of the glories +of Granada. They preserved the tradition of their long migrations in +their hieroglyphics and pictured writings. These traditions bear a +strong resemblance to each other, and the dialects of the successive +races which appeared in Mexico are so similar that it is probable they +all belong to the same language, which is called Nahuatl. All these +races are generalized as the Nahuas. + +One of the traditions relates that seven families alone were saved from +the Deluge. Their descendants, after long and weary wanderings, fixed +themselves at Huehue-Tlapallan (the Old, Old, Red Rock), a fertile +country and agreeable to live in, near a broad and endless river, +flowing from mountains far away to an ever distant sea. On the shore of +the river were broad plains where cattle grazed. The mountains, with +summits reaching to the heavens, were full of game. The winters were +long, but the summers mild and agreeable. There the parents of the +Nahuas dwelt long and happily, but at last enemies, whose attacks they +had been obliged from time to time to resist, overcame them, and drove +them from their homes. It was then they descended towards the south, +seeking a land which should remind them of their favored home. Only when +they reached the plateau of Anahuac, near the great lakes which reminded +them of their mighty river, could they rest. + +Such legends as these, and the forms of the pyramids found in Mexico and +Yucatan, lead naturally to the guess that these races were the +descendants of the Mound Builders of the Mississippi Valley, Ohio, and +Missouri. The monuments of these prehistoric men are not unlike the +teocallis and pyramids of the Nahuas. The "mounds" are artificial hills +of earth, constructed with mathematical regularity, round, oval, or +square. They are finished at the top by platforms, destined, apparently, +to religious rites. Like those in Mexico, the Mounds, in their form and +the great number of them, bear evidence to the prolonged existence of +the race who built them, to long years of labor, and thousands of +workmen employed in their construction. Excavation has brought to light +implements of war and household use, which show both taste and skill, +and these objects are much alike in their general aspect, whether found +in the valley of the Mississippi or of Mexico. Such conjectures are +full of attraction; but they have, as yet, no solid foundation. As for +the Mound Builders, their name, by which we now designate them, is but a +modern label. Their own is effaced from the memory of men. Their origin +is equally lost, and the time of their existence, the date of their +monuments, are vanished in a vague past. + +To associate, then, these Mound Builders with the early wandering tribes +who descended to the plateau of Anahuac, is no help, at present, to the +student of Mexican antiquity. Yet the idea is pleasing to the +imagination; and it is even reason to hope that future discoveries in +either region may throw light upon the early stay of the other. + +Had we sure knowledge that the Mound Builders and the Nahuas were of the +same race, we should still have to inquire whence came they all before +they settled in the Mississippi valley, were driven out by their +enemies, and migrated to the Mexican plateau? Such speculations are the +pastime of the student of lost races. For him to dream of the possible +homes of a set of people where traces are but faintly to be discerned, +is as fascinating as building airy castles in Spain. + +The theory of a submerged continent beneath the Azores, opposite the +mouth of the Mediterranean, which might be the island described by +Plato, Atlantis, the region where man first emerged from a condition +like that of beasts to a constantly advancing state of civilization, +plays a part in the fancies of those who are wondering about the origin +of the Nahuatl tribes of Anahuac. + +The distant home of which they all preserved the legend under one name +or another, one of which was Aztlan, the musical title given it by the +Mexicans, was, perhaps, Atlantis, the broad and mighty realm where +mankind in its childhood lived for generations in tranquillity and +happiness. Huehue-Tlapallan, Aztlan, Atlantis, these names represent the +universal tradition of this early home. The world before the Deluge, the +Garden of Eden, the Garden of the Hesperides, the Elysian Fields, +Olympus, Asgard,--all these are but different terms to express the vague +vision in men's minds of a happy past. If the theory of Atlantis could +be true, these were not mere visions but traditions preserving a +consistent recollection of real historical events, of a populous and +mighty cradle of nations which peopled the shores of the Gulf of Mexico, +the Mississippi, the Amazon, and the Pacific coasts of South America, as +well as the older world. + +Atlantis, according to the story, perished in a terrible convulsion of +nature, in which the whole island sank into the ocean with nearly all +its inhabitants. Only a few persons escaped in ships and rafts to lands +east and west of the catastrophe. Each of these separate survivors +became, in the legend of his descendants, the solitary Noah or Coxcox of +a tradition representing the destruction of an entire world. The Nahuatl +legend helps out the theory of Atlantis to willing minds. The Noah of +the Mexican tribes was Coxcox, who, with his wife Xochiquetzal, alone +escaped the deluge. They took refuge in the hollow trunk of a cypress +(_ahuehuete_), which floated upon the water, and stopped at last on top +of a mountain of Culhuacan. They had many children, but all of them were +dumb. The great spirit took pity on them, and sent a dove, who hastened +to teach them to speak. Fifteen of the children succeeded in grasping +the power of speech, and from these the Toltecs and Aztecs are +descended. + +Another account describes a deluge in which men perished and were +changed to fish; the earth disappeared, and the highest mountain tops +were covered with water. But before this happened, one of the Nahua +gods, called Tezcatlipoca, spoke to a man named Nata and his wife Nana, +saying: "Do not busy yourselves any longer making _pulque_, but hollow +out for yourselves a large boat of an _ahuehuete_ tree, and make your +home in it when you see the waters rising to the sky." The Mexican +historian, Ixtlilxochitl, has conceived that after the dispersion of the +human race, which succeeded the attempt to build the Tower of Babel, +seven Toltecs reached America, and became the parents of that race. Thus +having learned of the Tower of Babel from his Catholic instructors, +Ixtlilxochitl skilfully pieces the Hebrew legend upon the Toltec fabric. + +The friends of the Atlantis theory in like manner seize upon the +universal fable of the deluge to weave into their tissue. It remains for +every reader to decide for himself whether to regard these theories as +the airy fabric of a vision, or made up out of the whole cloth. + + + + +III. + +TOLTECS. + + +A somewhat connected chain of events begins with the traditions of the +Toltecs upon the plateau of Anahuac. Their farthest ancestors, they +supposed, founded the city of Huehue-Tlapallan far to the north, perhaps +on the shores of the Colorado River. There they lived from generation to +generation, nobody knows how long, until great civil wars broke out in +their nation, and a part, deserting their ancient homes, wandered down +towards the south. This was in the year 544 of our era. + +[Illustration: COLUMN FROM TULA.] + +Guided by their great chief Huematzin, the Toltecs wandered over the +sandy plains in the north of Mexico till they came to the land "near the +water," fertile and promising, and finally settled in a place they +called Tollanzinco. Not far off, in the course of time, they founded +their great city of Tollan, now Tula, which became the centre of the +Toltec nation. + +[Illustration: RUINS FOUND AT TULA.] + +These people built so well and so much that the name became the word to +mean builders. The few ruins left of their capital attest their skill. +They felt themselves to be a superior race to that they found in their +new home. The Toltecs were tall, robust, and well-formed, of +light-sallow complexion, with but little hair on their face. They were +wonderful for running, and could run at the greatest speed for hours. +Their manners were gentle and refined, as well as their tastes. Yet they +were cruel in war as well as brave. + +Arrived in their new country, they set themselves to work to till the +ground and plant it with all the crops the favorite climate permits. +They had Indian corn, chile, _frijoles_, the beans so beloved to this +day by the Mexicans, and other vegetables; these they cultivated with +better processes than the former inhabitants had known. Nevertheless, +and although the proud Toltecas must have looked down on the native +tribes, they took a step dictated by a wise diplomacy, in order to +preserve harmony and good-fellowship with their neighbors. They invited +the ruler of the Chichemecs, a tribe to the north of them, to provide +them a chief from his family, and, much flattered, he sent them his +second son. + +Some Toltec Richelieu must have planned this scheme, with the intention +of keeping the real power in his own hands. + +Precious-stone-who-shines (Chalchiuhtlatonac), well pleased to sparkle +in a new setting, came to them from the powerful neighboring tribe of +the Chichemecs, and governed peacefully for the space of fifty-two +years, while the Toltecs planted and reaped, and pursued their gentle +way. + +They spoke the tongue Nahuatl, giving to it their own dialect. They +wrote, and studied the stars, by which they regulated their division of +time. It is said they were the first in all Anahuac who knew geography. +How much they knew we never shall know, still less how little those +before them knew. They knew the properties of plants, how to heal the +sick by using them, how to keep well. They were excellent carpenters; +they worked precious stones with skill; they wove their garments out of +strong or delicate fabrics in many colors and designs, demanding and +creating for themselves not only the necessities of life, but the +adornments of art and taste. In fact, the Toltecs were a worthy people, +averse to war, allied to virtue, to cleanliness, courtesy, and good +manners. They detested falsehood and treachery, and held their gods in +reverence. + +The early faith of the Toltecs was the adoration of the sun, moon, and +stars. Especially the power (_tecuhtli_) which warmed the earth and made +it fruitful, giving them thus their chief blessings, they worshipped +under the name Tonacatecuhtli, to whom they offered flowers, fruits, and +sacrifices of small animals. Polytheism, and the sacrifice of human +beings, which was later engrafted on this simple belief by other tribes, +had no part in the early religion of the Toltecs. + +At the end of the tenth century, when in England the Danes were +beginning to trouble the Anglo-Saxons, and Ethelreds and Edreds were +retreating before Canutes and Hardicanutes; when across the channel Hugh +Capet had put an end to the feeble dynasties of the Carlovingian kings, +and was taking for himself the crown of France, began to rule +Tecpancaltzin, the eighth of the Toltec chiefs. We cannot tell what +manner of court he held, whether rude or splendid. His territory +stretched over large distances, and counted many flourishing cities, +among them Teotihuacan, Cholollan, Cuernavaca, and Toluca. + +Cuernavaca, "where the eagle stops," at an elevation of nearly five +thousand feet above the sea, is built upon a headland projecting into a +valley between two sharp barrancas. The region is richly watered, and +produces now, as in the time of the Toltecs, abundant crops. Fruits also +abound there. The winter climate is delightful. The place was captured +by Cortés before he laid siege to the city of Mexico. It became his +favorite resort, and the valley was included in the royal reward he +received for his Mexican conquests. It was here that he began in Mexico +the cultivation of the sugar-cane, and here the Conquistador passed the +last years of his life. Traces of the ancient civilization are still to +be seen. Behind a house in the town called the Casa de Cortés is a +solitary rock upon which are prehistoric carvings; on the crest of a +little hill near by is a lizard about eight feet long carved in stone. +Eighteen miles from Cuernavaca are the ruins of Xochicalco, before +mentioned. + +Toluca is forty-five miles west of the city of Mexico, at an elevation +of 8,600 feet above the level of the sea. The scenery all the way from +Mexico is of the finest description. The two volcanoes which dominate +the valley, covered with snow, are behind, and before us is the equally +beautiful Nevada de Toluca, nearly as high as they. It is an extinct +volcano, the crater of which is now a lake with a whirlpool in the +middle of it. Here the Toltecs had a palace of stone decorated with +hieroglyphics. Such was the broad territory over which ruled +Tecpancaltzin. The lakes in the valley, much larger than they are now, +were his, and all the fertile valleys around them, which his people knew +well how to cultivate. His swift runners brought him from sunny +Cuernavaca fruits of the tropics. Snow from the Nevadas, even in the hot +days of summer, was at his disposition. His warriors kept his neighbors +in proper awe, and he lived at peace with all men. + +It was then, according to some reckonings, that the mysterious +Quetzalcoatl appeared in Tollan. He must have been a real personage, for +the tale is deeply rooted in the traditions of the country, of the white +man with a long beard who came from the East, and disappeared as +mysteriously as he had come, over the Atlantic Ocean. The Toltecs were +dark, with scanty beards and short; this stranger was absolutely unlike +them. He remained with them twenty years, teaching them the arts of a +better civilization. Recent study has busied itself with extinguishing +the beams which surround the bright image of this wonderful being. +Before the traditions of his greatness are thus swept away, we will +preserve them for a little longer. + +Quetzalcoatl (The Shining Snake) is sometimes described as one of the +four principal gods who shared with the terrible Huitzilopochtli the +work of the first creation. Elsewhere he is represented as a man who +came to live among the Toltecs, and who disappeared as mysteriously as +he came. Between the two accounts of him, then, is every shade of +matter-of-fact and miraculous in the tales that are preserved of him. +One, shown in an ancient painted writing, now lost, depicted him a +youth, fasting seven years alone among the hills, and drawing his blood, +because the gods made of him a great warrior, showed how he became chief +of Tula, selected by the inhabitants on account of his bravery, and how +he built them a great temple. "While he was doing this, Tezcatlipoca +came to him, and said that towards Honduras, in a place called Tlapalla, +he was to establish his home, and that he must leave Tula and go thither +to live and die, and there he should be held to be a god. To this he +replied that the heavens and the stars had told him to go within four +years. So, after four years were past, he left, taking along with him +all the able-bodied men of Tula. Some of these he left in the City of +Cholula, and from those the inhabitants are descended. Reaching +Tlapalla, he fell sick the same day, and died the following one. Tula +remained waste and without a chief nine years." + +A legend adds that "his ashes were carried to heaven by handsome birds; +the heart followed, and became the morning star." + +[Illustration: QUETZALCOATL.] + +Baudelier concludes him to have been a prominent gifted Indian leader, +perhaps of Toltec origin, perhaps Olmec. He suggests that his career +began in the present state of Hidalgo, in which are the ruins of ancient +Tula, and that his first stay was there, after which he left that people +and moved farther south, and settled at Cholula; perhaps founding there +the first settlement, perhaps elevating the tone of the village Indians +already settled there. The beneficial effects of the coming of +Quetzalcoatl were the introduction, or improvement, of the arts of +pottery, weaving, stonework, and feather-work; the organization of +government of a higher type, and the introduction of a mode of worship +free from human sacrifice. Perhaps his aversion to this bloody custom +made him withdraw to the mythical Tlapalla, a place on no map and only +known to tradition, which puts it on the sea-coast, and generally on the +Gulf of Mexico. + +The mystery of his departure and death led to his deification, and the +worship of his person became the leading feature of the religion at +Cholula. + +It is likely that The Shining Serpent developed, if he did not +originate, many of the gentle and graceful forms of worship, which still +have a great part of the religion of the simple Indians of Mexico, of +sacrificing the fruits and flowers of each season to its appropriate +divinity and festival. + +In Holy Week, now, in the city of Mexico, the shores of the canal +leading to the town are decorated with flowers. Native boats float over +the water heaped with bright blossoms, and the dark heads of the Indian +girls are crowned with wreaths of poppies. They bring these blossoms in +masses to decorate the altars of Nuestra Señora in the churches. Her +image is the symbol of their divinity transferred from the earlier idols +their remote ancestors worshipped. + +In the National Museum in Mexico is an image in the form of a coiled +serpent in pyramidal form--its body covered with feathers--carved of +basaltic porphyry. This model, which appears in many of the old +monuments, is regarded as the symbol of the mysterious Shining Serpent. + +Whatever were his serious claims to distinction, his worshippers +invested him with wonderful attributes. His sojourn in their land marked +its most prosperous period. In his time the seasons were the fairest, +the earth the most productive. Flowers blossomed, fruits ripened without +the toil of the gardener. The cotton in its pod turned blue, red, or +yellow without the trouble of the dyer, so that the fabrics lightly +woven and without fatigue took on rich and harmonious tints. The air was +continually filled with perfumes and the songs of sweet birds. Every man +loved his neighbor, and all dwelt in peace and harmony together. These +were the halcyon days of Anahuac. For twenty years the Toltecs knew no +disaster, but flourished and spread under the influence of their strange +protector. And then, one day the strange god disappeared from among +them, descending to the shores of the Gulf of Mexico, where he bade +farewell to the crowd that had followed him, promising, as he did so, +that in the fulness of time his descendants, white men like himself, +with full beards, should return and instruct them. Then he stepped into +a magic bark made of the skins of serpents, and sailed away over an +ocean unknown to these simple men towards the fabled land of Tlapalla. + +So Lohengrin vanished to the upper air, and as with those he left +behind, all their good luck was over for the Toltecs. + +They did their best to preserve the memory of Quetzalcoatl. On the top +of the pyramid of Cholula, which perhaps their fathers found standing +when they reached the haven of their pilgrimage, the Toltecs raised an +image of their deity, with features of ebony, although he was white; +with a mitre on its head waving with plumes of fire; with a resplendent +collar of gold around its neck, turquoise ear-rings, a sceptre all +jewelled in one hand, and in the other a strange shield. Such is the +description of the Conquistadores, who saw it; and as they destroyed it, +and tumbled it down from its lofty site, they should know. + +Evil days were coming to the Toltecs. + +The traveller in Mexico to-day sees growing all along the sides of the +railway huge stiff bunches of the _Agave Americana_. The leaves are long +and pointed with prickles along the edge, growing in a tuft like huge +artichokes. Their blue, rather than green, surface has a whitish bloom +over it, which makes the plants look as if they had been made of tin and +painted some time ago. Sometimes the leaves are very large, and the +bunches enormous. When the time comes a stem shoots up from the heart of +the tuft to a great height, putting out branches at the top, which +blossom in a cluster of yellowish flowers. These branches are +symmetrical, and the effect is like a lofty branched candlestick, +sometimes forty feet high. The blossoms fade; the dying stalk, like the +framework of last year's fireworks, remains a long time; and when these +plants, as they often are, are set along the railways, the line of tall +bare stems looks not unlike a row of telegraph poles. The blue tin +leaves are ever green, and last through many a year. + +This agave, or American aloe, is the century-plant, so called from the +popular error that it blossoms only once in a hundred years. It is only +true so far that each plant blossoms only once and then dies. In +tropical regions this process proceeds rapidly; in colder countries, +where it is raised artificially, it takes a long time to complete its +perfect growth. + +The agave is native in the whole region between the tropics of America, +where it flourishes from the sandy soil by the sea to table-lands and +mountain altitudes. From its natural region it has been transplanted +everywhere, and even in cold climates it is cultivated as a green-house +plant. In Spain, where it was early transplanted, among the other +novelties which the Conquistadores introduced from their new land, it is +absolutely at home. Its lofty candelabra are an ornament to Andalusian +roadsides, and a barrier for wandering cattle. In Spain it is called +_pita_, which must be a different variety, if not a totally distinct +genus from the common plant of Mexico, for the use of its juices for a +beverage is totally unknown in the old country, and this certainly would +have been discovered there if such properties had not been wanting in +the Spanish plant. + +For the agave of the Mexicans is their _maguey_, from which they extract +pulque, the national beverage. The agave has served them for many other +purposes, from the earliest times. Its bruised leaves, properly dressed +and polished, make a sort of paper; its leaves furnish a strong +protecting thatch for the roofs of houses; thread can be drawn from its +long fibrous texture; the thorns furnish a fair substitute for the pin +and needle; and the root, well prepared, is nutritious and palatable as +food. + +Of all these properties of the agave the Toltecs were cognizant. If +their wise friend, The Shining Serpent, knew of other attributes it had, +he kept silent. It was reserved for a woman to reveal to her race the +fatal gift which lay hidden in the blue-green stubborn leaves of the +prickly plant. + +Xochitl was the name of the woman who showed to the king, Tecpancaltzin, +how to extract from the heart of the maguey a sweet honey to drink, +which, from that time to this, has been the delight and the curse of +Mexicans. The plains of Apan are celebrated for the production of the +finest pulque, in itself a thoroughly wholesome drink, suited to the +climate of high regions, and beneficial when taken in moderation. From +the root of the maguey, however, strong distilled liquors can be made, +called _mezcal_ and _tequila_, and of these it is best not to drink too +much. + +The new beverage found favor with the chief of the Toltec tribe, and +spread its cheerful influence over his people. He married Xochitl, the +woman who had offered him honey extracted from maguey. + +The result of this discovery, and the consequence of the marriage, were +ruin and dispersion for the proud race of the Toltecs. Meconetzin, (Son +of Maguey) ruled at first with prudence and practical wisdom, but his +habits deteriorated little by little; he became vicious, and revealed +himself to be an insupportable tyrant. The honey in the maguey had begun +to ferment. + +The Toltecs thenceforth deteriorated in the most disastrous manner. +Famines and pests fell upon the land, and invasions of strange peoples. +The population was thinned, harried, scattered. Its last chieftain was +Topiltzin-Meconetzin (Son of Maguey), who, with his wife, Xochitl, was +slain in a sanguinary battle against overpowering enemies. And this was +the end of the Toltecs. This may have been in the year 1116 of our era, +after a duration of about five hundred and fifty years. + +Some historians consider that the Toltecs were not a great race, but +simply a tribe of sedentary Indians, more advanced than their neighbors, +whose traditions have become with time exaggerated into the tale of a +great and powerful nation. How this may be, the tourist at Tula may +judge, according to his disposition, romantic or prosaic, by the +importance of the ruins left by the vanished race. + +The excellent _compendios_ of history written by Payne and Zarate for +the use of schools in Mexico still give the dynasties of the kings of +Tula, as well as of the other early tribes, as if they were sovereigns +of a well-established monarchy, accompanied by a list of the royal +succession. According to this, the kingdom of the Toltecs lasted from +720 A.D., the date fixed for the end of their wanderings from +Huehue-Tlapallan to Tollan, until 1116 A.D., when their destruction was +accomplished and their people dispersed. + + + + +IV. + +CHICHIMECS. + + +According to the old version of Anahuac story, the proud, brilliant +dynasty of the Toltecs shone like a jewel upon the background of the +savage tribes surrounding it, who remained during the period it +flourished in the same condition as when the Toltecs came. It was from +one of these less cultivated races that the Toltecs took their first +chief, Chalchiuhtlatonac, son of the so-called Emperor of the +Chichimecs, to whose account is attributed a line of fourteen monarchs, +and a duration of over two hundred years, but all this is very uncertain +and vague; on the other hand, Baudelier is of opinion that there was no +Chichimecan period in Mexico. The word Chichimecatl signifies +indiscriminately a savage, a good hunter, or a brave warrior. The +far-off region from which they immigrated like the other tribes upon +Anahuac, called by them Amaquemecan, like the Huehue-Tlapallan of the +Toltecs, was a fertile country of their dreams, pleasant to work in, and +free from earthly disasters. + +Probably they came from the same region as the Toltecs; their language +is classed with the Nahuatl, though their dialect was their own. They +called themselves the Eagles. They not only had no culture, but scorned +it, preferring the advantages of barbarism. Their occupation was +hunting, which was fully furnished them by the game in the mountain +regions, which they found unclaimed, and took possession of. They lived +upon the flesh of wolves and pumas,--their smaller dishes were weasels, +moles, and mice, without objecting to lizards, snakes, grasshoppers, and +earthworms. + +The Chichimecs seem to have wandered about completely naked, with skins +of beasts to protect them from the occasional cold of their mild +climate. Their houses were, for the most part, caves or cracks in the +rocks, but they knew how to build rude huts, roofed with palm leaves. +Gourds were their drinking vessels, and they could make a rude sort of +pottery, out of which they fashioned jugs, and also little balls used +for bullets in war, which could make dangerous wounds. They were always +at war with their neighbors, and protected their own territory from +incursions with their bows and arrows, and clubs, which they handled +with great vigor. + +Each warrior of the Chichimecs wore a bone at his waist, which carried a +mark for every enemy he had killed. Competition was sure to keep these +bones well marked, as it was a distinction to bear the record of the +most victims. Their battles were bloodthirsty. Prisoners were scalped +upon the field of battle, and their heads carried in triumph back to +camp, while dances of victory were performed. They had the reputation of +eating the flesh and drinking the blood of their victims. + +The several tribes of the Chichimecs acknowledged no authority, other +than obedience to the warrior they themselves selected to lead them to +battle. Their wives were their slaves; and though they limited +themselves to one wife at a time, they reserved to themselves the +liberty of changing one for another at any moment. The women prepared +the food, cut down trees, brought wood and water, and made the +pottery--bullets as well as pots and pans. The Chichimecs feared and +worshipped the sun as a supreme deity, and the spirit of the thunder and +lightning, whom they rudely depicted with bolts in his hands, like +Jupiter, and called Nixcoatl, (the Serpent of the Clouds). + +These were the people who lived side by side with the Toltecs, their +better-behaved neighbors, despised as inferiors, and regarded with +disgust for their coarseness and horror for their bloody practices. By +these, the Toltecs were conquered and destroyed. + +Xolotl, the leader of the Chichimecs, to use the greatly exaggerated +reports gathered from historic paintings, which depicted these things, +came to invade the realm of the Toltecs with a million warriors under +six great chiefs, and twenty thousand or so of inferior officers. He had +under his command more than three million men and women, not counting +the children who came along with their mothers. The Toltecs were much +deteriorated since their proud days. Allies whom they had oppressed had +deserted them; a religious sect which differed from the prevailing +belief had sought elsewhere a place of independent worship; the +sovereign and his favorites were delivered over to dissipation. But +even the royal family gave proof of energy and resolution when the hour +of danger came. + +An old chief, named Ayaxitl, called the country to arms, inspiring them +with tales of the deeds of their ancestors. Old men and young boys took +up arms; and old Xochitl herself, the mother of the inefficient king, +led forth to battle a legion of Amazons, and was slain at their front. +But all this show of bravery came too late. The Toltecs were entirely +defeated after a prolonged conflict, which was renewed for several days. +Tollan was taken, the whole country surrendered, and its ruling race +entirely exterminated. + +The Toltecs were no more, and the Chichimecs ruled in their stead. But +these people, recovering from their barbarism in a measure, took on the +advanced customs of their conquered enemies, entered into their palaces, +and enjoyed the fruits of their civilization. + +Xolotl took the title of Chichimecatl Tecuhtli, the great chief of the +Chichimecs; and his descendants added to this the name Huactlatohani +(Lord of the Whole World). The territory claimed for him included a +large part of the present Mexico, the states Morelos and Puebla, a +portion of Vera Cruz, the greater part of Hidalgo, the whole of +Tlaxcalla, and the valley of Mexico. He strengthened his power by +marrying his son to a daughter of the late Toltec sovereign, saved from +the destruction of the race, and altogether showed wisdom and judgment +not to be expected from the antecedents of his people. Such conduct +inclines students of this remote period to think that these Chichimecs +were not the barbarous tribe who lived in caves and ate lizards, but a +later arrival from the mysterious north. + +During the reign of Xolotl new tribes came wandering down from these +remote regions. These successive waves of emigration give the idea of a +constantly renewed struggle for supremacy far off in the unknown +Amaquemecan, resulting in the migration of the conquered side. Xolotl +received these new arrivals with benign hospitality, gave them lands to +plant, and encouraged them to settle in his realm. Among these were the +Aculhuas and Tepanecs, who founded the kingdoms, afterwards important, +of Atzcapotzalco and Tlacopan. + +Xolotl had the credit of reigning from 1120 to 1232, when he died. This +would make him at least one hundred and twenty years old at his death. +And some people from this imagine that there were several Xolotls that +succeeded one another. Let us believe that he lived to this great age. +The name means "Eye of great vigilance." + +For three generations his immediate successors ruled the kingdom with +firmness and judgment, compelling their people to cultivate the land, +thus protecting agriculture, which was their chief source of wealth, and +building towns to put an end to wandering habits inherited from the men +who lived in caves on the mountain side. + +[Illustration: PORTICO AT KABOH.] + + +Quinatzin, in the beginning of the thirteenth century, established the +capital of the kingdom of the Chichimecs in Texcuco. It was during his +reign that the Aztecs, or Mexicans, whom we now hear of for the first +time, established themselves in Tenochtitlan, which was on the site of +what is now the city of Mexico, though their arrival made but little +stir in the neighborhood. The Chichimecs were troubled by quarrels with +the new kingdom of Atzcapotzalco, but for a century they maintained +their good standing, always advancing in civilization and the arts of +peace, and it was not until 1409 that one of their kings, +Ixtlilxochitl, found these rising neighbors too strong for him. The +Tepanecs and the Aztecs united, and swore together a conspiracy to +overwhelm him. He was assassinated, and his throne was usurped by +Tezozomoc, the king of Atzcapotzalco. + +The Chichimecs may be said to come to an end here; for, after the return +of the legitimate line, their realm was called the kingdom of Texcuco, +where their capital was already established. This city was occupied by +the invaders, who made it their principal seat. The usurper at his death +was succeeded upon his stolen throne by his wicked son Maxtla. The +adventures of Nezahualcoyotl, the rightful heir, are told by a native +historian descended in a direct line from the sovereigns of Texcuco, +Ixtlilxochitl, whose writings, though probably not over accurate, are +more tangible evidence than the faint reports of previous legends. + + + + +V. + +NEZAHUALCOYOTL, THE HUNGRY FOX. + + +When the city of Texcuco was seized, the young prince Nezahualcoyotl, +the heir to the crown, was but fifteen years old. He fled before the +turbulent crowd of Tepanecs as they rushed into the palace gardens, and +hid himself in the branches of a tree which most luckily happened to +come in his way. From his hiding-place among its thick leaves he saw his +father, Ixtlilxochitl, left alone for the moment, turn and face his +furious enemies. They seized and killed him on the spot, and the +frightened boy saw the bleeding body carried off, a victim, as he well +knew, for future sacrifice. Filled with horror and burning with thoughts +of vengeance, he fled from the spot, seeking safety for the moment, with +the firm resolve of turning later upon the assassins of his father and +the usurpers of his inheritance. + +As the country was full of the triumphant army, in a few days the young +prince fell into the hands of his pursuers, who knew too much to leave +him at large. He was seized and imprisoned temporarily, until some +decision should be taken as to his fate. The prison was a strong place +guarded by the same governor who had held it in the previous reign, for +the new government had not yet had time to change such offices. This old +man knew the prince well, and was devoted to his line. He helped him to +escape and took his place in the dungeon cell. It was long enough before +the change was discovered for the prince to be far out of reach of +pursuit. The good old governor lost his head, but Nezahualcoyotl found +shelter in the neighboring province of Tlaxcalla, whose rulers were for +the moment friendly to his family. + +This is the place which later offered to Cortés protection and aid in +his enterprise of conquest. Prescott calls it a republic in the midst of +many small monarchies, dwelling apart on a system of government wholly +independent. + +Climbing by rail the ascent from Vera Cruz, the modern traveller, after +reaching the barren plateau of the cold region, and crossing a dreary, +dismal country, strikes an insensibly downward grade, which gradually +leads him to the central basin of Mexico. The Malinche presides over the +landscape, an isolated peak, which all the year conceals beds of snow in +the crevices of its summit, though unseen below, rising more than +thirteen thousand feet above the level of the sea. Less majestic than +the two great volcanoes, it yet has wonderful beauty of outline, and +from its solitary position gains importance. + +This mountain was long the object of worship for the tribes who lived +around its base, among them the Tlaxcallans, whose home lies to the +northwest of it, in a deep valley surrounded by barren ridges. Their +so-called social organization and mode of government, which have given +their country the name of a kind of Mexican Switzerland, is now thought +to have differed little from those of their neighbors. Their chiefs were +elected from an hereditary house of rulers, and two of them formed the +nominal head of the tribe, while the true power lay in a council. Their +territory consisted of narrow valleys spreading into fertile fields, +where they maintained long their independence, subject to the attacks of +neighboring tribes. Tlaxcalla means "the land of bread." Its rich +products naturally were tempting to the neighboring tribes, whose limits +included land not so good for cultivation. Their next neighbors were the +Cholulans, who dwelt under the great pyramid. The Tlaxcallans had the +reputation of triumphing over their foes in battle, for they were both +bold and strong. + +It was with the friendly Tlaxcallans that the wandering prince lived, +unmolested in the companionship of a brave man who followed the fortunes +of his young master. He had been the family preceptor ever since the +birth of the prince. This tutor was wise as well as learned; although he +was strongly prejudiced in favor of the legitimate family and against +the usurpation of the fierce Tepanec, he counselled restraint and +patience, and caused his pupil to lead a quiet life without attracting +attention, while he was giving him lessons in the art of governing and +training in all the qualities good for a monarch to possess. + +Meanwhile, the son of the usurper grew up untrained and indulged in the +royal palace, humored but feared by all who surrounded him. Maxtla was +born of a race of no gentle attributes; he cared little for study, and +knew no discipline. He knew the rightful prince, and hated him on +account of his better claim to the throne, while he despised his reserve +and modesty, which he set down to weakness, knowing nothing of the +qualities of self-restraint and reserved force. When Tezozomoc died, he +bequeathed his empire to his son Maxtla. On the accession of the new +sovereign, all the great families hastened to do him homage, and among +them came Nezahualcoyotl, then twenty-three years old, with a present of +flowers, which he laid at the feet of the young king. Maxtla sprang up +and spurned the flowers with his foot, and then turned his back upon the +true prince, who had self-control enough to withdraw quietly, admonished +by signs from all the royal attendants, with whom he was a favorite. He +lost no time in leaving the royal palace, and hastened back to the +deserted one at Texcuco. + +But Maxtla could not fail to see that the sympathies even of his own +followers were with his rival, whose manners, indeed, were those to win, +while his own repelled the affection of courtiers and inferiors. He +resolved to do away with him, and formed a plan which failed through the +vigilance of the wily old tutor. When the prince was invited to an +evening entertainment by Maxtla, the tutor was sure that more was meant +than a friendly attention. He could not permit his pupil to go, but +accepted the invitation for him, and sent in his stead a young man he +had at hand who singularly resembled Nezahualcoyotl. This youth, +perhaps, was pleased to attend a royal feast, dressed in the rich robes +which the son of a king, even if lacking a throne, might wear; but there +must have been a moment, just as he felt the deadly _iztli_ weapon at +his throat, when he perceived the game was not worth the candle; for the +guest was assassinated as he came to the table, before the substitution +could be perceived; and thus the true prince escaped. His descendant, +who tells us the story, does not let us know whether Nezahualcoyotl was +a party to the deception. We will leave the blame on the shoulders of +the wily old tutor, in order to preserve the honor of our hero +unsullied. + +When Maxtla found that his rival was not dead, like a prince in a fairy +tale, he gave up secret plots, and boldly sent a band of armed soldiers +to the old palace at Texcuco, to seize the young man whose popularity he +feared. The tutor, always on the watch, arranged everything as usual, +and when the emissaries of Maxtla arrived, they found the prince playing +ball in the court of the palace. He received them courteously, as if he +thought they came on a friendly visit, and invited them to come in, +while he stepped into a room which opened on the court, as if to give +orders for refreshments for them. They seemed to be seeing him all the +time, but, by the directions of the old tutor, a censer which stood in +the passage was so fed and stirred by the servants that it threw up +clouds of incense between the guests and their host, between which +Nezahualcoyotl disappeared into a secret passage which communicated with +a great pipe made of pottery, formerly used to carry water into the +palace. He stayed there till after dark, when he could escape without +being seen, and found safety in a cottage belonging to an old subject +loyal to his father's name. A price was set upon his head, and a reward +offered to him who should take him dead or alive, in the shape of a +marriage with some lady of birth and broad possessions. This bride never +came to her wedding, for the prince was not found. Too many faithful +vassals watched over him, in spite of the temptation of such a brilliant +match; they hid him under heaps of magueys, and furnished him with every +means of escape. They turned their heads away when they saw him pass, +lest they should be forced to betray the knowledge; they put food for +him in places where he might steal forth and find it. They hid him once +in a large thing like a drum, around which they were dancing as if to +amuse themselves. In fact, no one would give him up; the whole +population connived to protect him and hide him from his half-hearted +pursuers, forced to the task by their sovereign. It was a poor sort of +life he led, and his own sufferings were increased by his tender heart +for the difficulties these caused his loyal protectors. + +Most of the chiefs of the regions round about were, from policy, allied +to the usurper, but the dethroned prince had friends, and the party on +his side grew large as the tyranny of Maxtla and his oppressions caused +defections among his followers. When the time came for a general rising, +Nezahualcoyotl found himself at the head of a courageous band which +gained in size and strength, until it seemed safe to attack the regular +forces of Maxtla. In the battle which took place the tyrant was routed, +and the true prince triumphant. As soon as this was known all the chiefs +flocked to do him homage, and he entered his capital in triumph, +crossing to the sound of military music the spot where he had passed an +evening under a drum, and entering by the royal gates the palace he had +left through a water-pipe. Horses were not known in Anahuac until after +the advent of the Conquistadores. The young victor was borne in a sort +of palanquin by four of the chief nobles of the kingdom. + +Thus did Nezahualcoyotl return to the throne of his fathers. The +Mexicans, who had helped his former enemies to overthrow the rule of his +father, now joined forces with him, abandoning without hesitation +Maxtla, whose oppression and exaction made him an uncomfortable ally. A +league of the other neighboring tribes, combining with the Mexicans, +under the lead of the true prince of Texcuco, utterly routed the forces +of Maxtla, and this tyrant who himself assassinated the father was slain +by the hand of the son. + +Maxtla was killed in 1428. The usurpation of the throne of the +Chichimecs by Tezozomoc first, and afterwards by Maxtla, his son, had +lasted ten years. By this event the kingdom of Atzcapotzalco came to an +end, having lasted not more than two hundred and sixty years. + +The kingdom which Nezahualcoyotl regained from the usurpers, whose kings +traced their lineage back to the Chichimec Xolotl (Eye of great +Vigilance), now became the kingdom of Texcuco Aculhuacan, by which it +was known when Cortés, with his conquering legions, appeared on the +plains of Anahuac. + + + + +VI. + +TEXCUCO. + + +Now followed the Golden Age of Texcuco. The Fox, no longer hungry nor +hunted, proved himself a very Lion, a King of Beasts; he ruled his +kingdom with wisdom, as he had fought with bravery, and endured +adversity with patience. + +On coming to the throne, he proclaimed a general amnesty, pardoned the +rebels, and even gave some of them posts of honor. He repaired the ruin +wrought by the usurper, and revived what was worth revival in the old +form of government. He made a code of laws well suited to the demands of +his time, which was written in blood. It was accepted by the two other +powers with whom he now entered into alliances, Mexico and Tlacopan. His +adjustment of the different departments of government was remarkable for +the time, or indeed for any time, providing councils for every +emergency; of these the most peculiar was the Council of Music, devoted +to the interests of all arts and science. Its members were selected from +the best instructed persons of the kingdom, without much reference to +their ranks. They had the supervision of all works of art, all writings, +pictorial or hieroglyphic, and had an eye on all professors to keep +them up to their work. This Council of Music had sessions when it +listened to poems and historical compositions recited by their authors, +who received prizes according to the merit of their work. + +The literary men of Texcuco became celebrated throughout the country, +and its archives were preserved with the greatest care in the palace. +These records, which would have told us all we want to know of the early +story of the people of Anahuac, were, for the most part, inscribed upon +a fine fabric, made of the leaves of the American aloe, the maguey which +also gave them their favorite beverage. The sheets made from it were +something like the Egyptian papyrus, and furnished a smooth surface like +parchment, upon which the picture-writings were laid in the most +brilliant tints. These manuscripts were done up in rolls sometimes, but +were often folded like a screen, and enclosed in wooden covers, not very +unlike our books. Quantities of such manuscripts were stored up in the +country, not only by the Texcucans, but by all the inhabitants of the +different kingdoms. Probably no race has made better provision for +handing down its traditions and history than these people who wandered +from the mysterious North. All this is lost to us by the infatuation of +the Spanish Conquistadores, as we shall see later on. + +As if barbarians, ignorant of types and bindings, should descend upon +the British Museum or Bibliotèque Nationale, and, perceiving therein +countless parallelograms of calf containing wicked little dots upon +countless white leaves, should order them to be destroyed, as +foolishness or blasphemy. So the first priests of the Christian religion +arriving in New Spain destroyed these playthings of the idolaters, which +they conceived to be probably precious, but at all events useless. + +Only chance specimens of these wonderful picture-writings escaped the +general destruction, and from which is gleaned whatever is surmised of +the earliest life of the tribes of Anahuac. + +Texcuco led all the other nations in its literary culture, or rather +pictorial skill, since letters were unknown. The Texcucan idiom was the +purest of all the many dialects from the Nahuatl root. Among its poets, +the king himself, Nezahualcoyotl, was distinguished. He not only +belonged to the Council of Music, but appeared before it with other +competitors. Perhaps some folded screen enclosing an ode by his hand +lies hidden yet somewhere in Mexico, or even among the dusty archives of +Old Spain. Some few have come to light, and one of them exists in +Spanish, translated by a Mexican. It is hard to be sure of the import of +the original through the change of expression inevitable in translating, +but we may guess something of it. + +"Rejoice," he says, "O Nezahualcoyotl, in the enjoyable, which now you +grasp. With the flowers of this lovely garden crown thy illustrious +brows, and draw pleasure from those things from which pleasure is to be +drawn." + +This garden of the no longer hungry Fox was a wonderful Place of +Delights, and the remains of it may be seen to this day. About three +miles from the capital rises the Laughing Hill of Tezcotzinco. Here are +left the remains of terraced walls, and stairways wind around the hill +from the bottom to the top. In shady nooks among the rocks seats are +hollowed out of the stone, and ingenious contrivances can be traced on +all sides for enhancing the natural advantages of the situation. The +most curious of all the vestiges of Nezahualcoyotl's garden is a round +reservoir for water at an elevation of eighty or one hundred feet. It is +about five feet across and three feet deep. Channels led from it in all +directions to water and refresh the terrace-gardens below. + +The country all about is full of artificial embankments, reservoirs and +aqueducts for leading water about, and developing the attractions of the +place. A magnificent grove of lofty _ahuehuetes_, at some distance from +the central part of the grounds, surrounds a large quadrangle, now dry, +which was probably an artificial lake in the time of the great king, for +whose pleasure these things were planned. He was rich enough to pay for +all the costly works he commanded, by reason of successful wars and +judicious management of domestic industry, and so was justified in +indulging his taste for magnificence in architecture. The ruins of +Tezcotzinco faintly attest the truth of the descriptions of this royal +residence, which tell of hanging gardens approached by steps of +porphyry, reservoirs sculptured with the achievements of the monarch, +and adorned with marble statues. There stood a lion of solid stone more +than twelve feet long, with wings and feathers carved upon them. He was +placed to face the east, and in his mouth he held a stone face, which +was the very likeness of the king himself. This was his favorite +portrait, although many other representations of him had been made in +gold, wood, or feather-work. On the summit of the hill was the carved +representation of a _coyotl_, the hungry fox which gave to the monarch +his name so tedious to us to pronounce. + +The remains of Tezcotzinco are now shown as the Baths of Montezuma; but +this is a purely modern application of the title of a chief more +commonly known. The baths belonged to Nezahualcoyotl, and if by chance +any Montezuma made use of them, it was only as a passing guest. + +Nezahualcoyotl, this wise, good, æsthetic king, committed a deed which +his descendant and historian regards as a great blot upon his fame. He +remained unmarried for a long time, on account of an early +disappointment in love, and was no longer young when he conceived a +violent passion for a noble maiden whom he met at the house of one of +his vassals. This vassal wished the fair lady for his own bride; he had +in fact brought her up with that intent, but the king, regardless of the +laws of honor, caused the old man to be killed by his own men in a +battle with the Tlaxcallans, which he set on foot chiefly for this +purpose. The young princess was then invited to the royal palace, where +she received in due form and time an offer of marriage from the +monarch. The wedding was celebrated with great pomp, not long after the +funeral of the vassal. + +This is the only anecdote that reflects discredit on the monarch, and +there are many which tell to his advantage. It was his custom, as with +the Eastern Khalif, to go about in disguise among his people to find out +their wants in order to alleviate them. + +One day as he was walking through a field with one of his friends he met +a small boy picking up sticks here and there. "There are many more in +the forest yonder," he said; "why do not you go there to get them?" + +"The forest belongs to the king," said the boy, "and it would be worth +my life to take his property." + +The king advised him to disregard the law and go and take what wood he +wanted, as nobody would find him out, but the boy was too honest or too +cautious to follow the advice, and steadily went a gleaning as he could +in the open field. + +When the king returned to the palace he sent for the boy and his +parents. The parents were praised for bringing up such a boy, the boy +was praised and rewarded, and the king passed a law allowing unlimited +picking up chips. + +In short, Nezahualcoyotl was a model monarch. He pardoned all his +enemies, was humane and clement; he formed a code of wise and just laws, +and instituted tribunals for the prompt administration of justice; he +established schools and academies for the diffusion of all sorts of +knowledge, and generously encouraged science and art. As for his +religious belief, he abjured the barbarous creed which prevailed at the +time, and announced his conviction of the existence of one God, author +of the universe. He erected a superb temple to this deity, and composed +hymns in his praise. + +Nezahualcoyotl died in 1472. It was nearly half a century since he had +rescued his throne from the usurper. He had raised his kingdom from the +anarchy in which he found it to a brilliant station, and saw it, at the +close of his life, growing stronger and going farther in the path of +advanced civilization. He had brought this about by his wise and +judicious rule and might well contemplate with satisfaction the results +of his wisdom and judgment. + +His only legitimate son was about eight years old at the time of his +father's death. His name was Nezahualpilli. He became as learned as his +father, was liberal and charitable; even more severe in the +administration of justice, going so far as to condemn to death two of +his own sons who had infringed the law. In his time he was held to be +the wisest monarch of the epoch, and amongst his subjects he had +moreover the reputation of being a magician. + +He reigned forty-four years, and died in 1516, leaving the kingdom to +the oldest of his four legitimate sons. + +The reign of Nezahualcoyotl is the most glorious period of the kingdom +of Texcuco, and of all the kingdoms of Anahuac. + +Its splendors have been confounded with those of the Aztec Court, and, +as we see in the names now given to the ruins of the king's garden, even +the name of the Montezumas is mixed up with the Texcucan annals. It is +well, however, to keep the different dynasties distinct, in order to +understand, when we come to the Conquest, the various parts these +distinct peoples played in that exciting drama. + +Texcuco maintained for some time its place and distinction, but never +surpassed the height it reached in the fifteenth century. After that it +began to diminish; family dissensions in the royal house, and external +warfare, together with too much prosperity and the relaxation that comes +with it, were preparing this nation for the tempest and change already +gathering afar off. + +This glowing account of the splendors of Texcuco is gathered by Prescott +from the writings of Fernando de Alva Ixtlilxochitl, who traced his +descent, in direct line, from the royal house of Texcuco. He lived in +the sixteenth century, occupying the position of interpreter to the +Viceroy, being familiar with the Indian dialects, and of course with the +Spanish language. + +He was in other respects a man of cultivation and learning, had a +library of his own, and pursued diligently the study of the +picture-writings, hieroglyphics, and legends of his ancestors, with the +object of throwing light on the obscure places of their story. He wrote, +in Spanish, various books about the primitive races of Anahuac, among +them the "Historia Chichimeca," which has been used as a source of +authority since it was first written. + +As a Christian, Ixtlilxochitl has given to the legends of the +Quetzalcoatl and other mysteries of the early Mexican races, a color +evidently borrowed from the light of Christian traditions, and the +author has cast over his picture of the Golden Age a glow which is +hardly justified by the cold light of modern research. His story is now +regarded as unreliable in many particulars. Yet as a legend it retains +its charm; and as history the graceful fabric need not be utterly +destroyed while the monuments at Texcuco and the manuscripts of +Nezahualcoyotl attest the existence of such a king and such a court. +Until the diligent research of those explorers who are now busy in +searching for the facts of early Mexican history, have fully established +them, we may enjoy the tale of past magnificence upon the plateau of +Anahuac. + +The period of the Golden Age of Texcuco is ascribed to the fifteenth +century; the date assigned to Nezahualcoyotl's accession being 1430. The +Spanish invasion took place in 1516 A. D. + +During that century the red rose of Lancaster was warring with the white +rose of York; Joan of Arc, in France, grew up in her village home, to +win back for the French king his lost provinces. Isabella and Ferdinand, +by uniting the two houses of Castile and Aragon, made Spain the powerful +kingdom, which was to discover the New World. + +All these princes and potentates, busy with their own wars and +marriages, lived their lives without thought of any form of high +civilization across an untravelled ocean. Even Columbus, as he urged +upon the queen his longing to cross that ocean to find out what was +beyond it, did not suggest to her the vision of a cultivated court with +a king who wrote poetry in an unknown tongue, and had carved lions upon +his marble stairways. + + + + +VII. + +MICHOACAN. + + +West of the city of Mexico and the state of the same name lies +Michoacan, one of the largest of the present divisions of the country. +It begins on the plateau, but stretches down the steep western slope to +the shores of the Pacific Ocean, seamed with deep _barrancas_ between +the upper and the lower portions, so steep and impassable that the +railway which is already engineered to connect the capital with Colima +on the western coast, waits long to gather courage for the leap. On the +higher land mountain-peaks divide fertile lofty valleys, in which large +lakes sparkle in the soft light of the climate. Michoacan signifies in +Tarascan Land of Fish. These broad sheets of water are even now as still +and lonely as when the early wanderers from the unknown North settled +upon their borders, except when the shriek of a modern steam-engine +disturbs their silence, and frightens the many birds who live there. As +the train passes along the edge of Lake Cuitzao, eighteen miles long, +clouds of winged creatures start up surprised, but not much frightened +from the rushes by the water. Perhaps a rose-colored flamingo may be +seen standing on one leg, undisturbed by the noise, because he is +unaccustomed to fear. Across the lake glows a brilliant scarlet behind +graceful mountain outlines. By the many curves of the road these forms +appear, vanish, and recur, till the day has faded. + +[Illustration: VASE IN THE NATIONAL MUSEUM, WASHINGTON.] + +Farther from the capital, Patzcuaro and its lake have hidden their +charms still longer. It was only in 1886 that the railroad penetrated to +them. They are nearer the middle of the upper part of Michoacan, at an +elevation of seven thousand feet above the sea. The heights in this +region, though they seem hills, because their base is on so high a +level, attain to numbers of measurement belonging to mountains. The +Place of Delights, as the name of Patzcuaro is translated from the +Tarascan language of its old inhabitants, is a lonely little city now, +containing no more than eight thousand natives, many of whom are +descended from the first inhabitants, and speak the Tarascan tongue. The +town is built on hilly broken ground, with narrow crooked streets, from +which glimpses are constantly to be had of the beautiful lake stretching +out below. Abundant springs water the town and flow through the +fountains in the market-place, an open square surrounded by noble +ash-trees. Just outside the town stone seats have been placed at a point +overlooking a lovely view of the clustering town, the long irregular +lake with jutting points clothed throughout the year with verdure, and +dotting islands upon its surface. + +This place of delights was long the seat of the native chiefs of +Michoacan, who, though they did not attain such a reputation for +learning and cultivation as Ixtlilxochitl the Texcucan narrator has +given his ancestors, had yet taste and intelligence enough to enjoy the +beauty of their home. + +In the beginning, wandering tribes may have settled on the borders of +the lake for the mere casual advantages of satisfying their hunger, for +the lake abounds with fish, and feathered game frequent its shores from +time immemorial. The first have been supposed to be Chichimecs, either +before or after their dealings with the Toltecs. The region was too +attractive for one tribe to possess it unmolested. Other men, perhaps +fresh from the same mysterious North, perhaps driven out by force or +discontent from former homes upon Anahuac, came to dispute the fruitful +territory. Such contests were decided by the triumph of the stronger; +intermarriages healed the wound, and brief peace settled on the shore of +the lake, to be broken by and by with similar incursions, followed by +similar results. Out of such sequence, a name and date emerge as pegs to +hang some facts on, in the hitherto accepted story. + +Iré-Titatacamé was this first chief of this first people with a name +which could last. He made friends with a neighboring chief, and married +his daughter, the Princess of Naranjan. We may imagine her, like her +remote descendants, a dusky maiden, rather small, with straight black +hair, which she knew how to braid in two long tresses to hang along her +back. Did her grandmother learn the art from the same coiffeur that +prepared the mother of Ramses for her morning care? Her eyes were +intelligent, piercing, but soft, two rows of brilliant white teeth +lighted her face when she smiled, as she gathered herself poppies for a +wreath on the borders of the Lake of Delights. + +This princess became the mother of Sicuiracha, who was born in 1202, +they say, about the time that the little English prince, Arthur, was +being murdered at Rouen by the order of his wicked uncle. The little +prince of Naranjan-Chichimeca was not ten years old when a tribe of +Tarascans assaulted his father's city, and slew that monarch. He grew +up to console his mother, avenge the deed, and to control his own +subjects and the conquered tribe, which however impressed its language +and dialect upon the nation, so that in that region, Tarascan survived. + +Sicuiracha lived to a good old age, and in peace. He died at the close +of the thirteenth century, leaving two sons. + +One of these married an island woman of the lake, and her son preserved +the royal line; for his father and uncle were put to death by a +chieftain of the neighborhood who desired the fair Place of Delights for +his own. But Tixiacurí was hidden by priests, who taught him the great +art of war, so that in due time he came forth at the head of armies, +destroyed his enemies, took to himself all the territory of the king who +slew his father, and extended his own even beyond these, thus first +really governing the wide kingdom of Michoacan, which goes down to the +sea. + +Tixiacurí, at his death, divided the territory, giving parts of it to +two nephews, one of whom, Hicuxaxé, got Patzcuaro, and called himself +king of it. Tangoxoan, the son of the late king summoned his court to +Tzintzuntzan, fifteen miles up the lake. He is counted the fifth of the +chiefs of Michoacan, and leaves no other record but that all his sons +died violent deaths. + +In the next period the provinces given to Tixiacurí's nephews came +together again under one head, and the tribes thus united grew and +prospered. Zovanga, the seventh ruler, held sway over the whole extent +of Michoacan. Its capital was Tzintzuntzan, and its fullest limit +touched the waters of the western ocean. This king constructed the +celebrated walls of Michoacan to shut in his territories; he advanced +agriculture, and brought his army to such excellence that it triumphed +over his enemies, even the Mexicans, who, by this time powerful rivals, +undertook an expedition into Michoacan in 1481. In a bloody battle which +lasted two whole days the Mexicans were utterly routed. + +The reign of Zovanga is described as long and glorious, and he left his +country in a state of peace and prosperity when he died, near the +beginning of the sixteenth century. The eighth and last Tarascan monarch +of Michoacan, Tangoxoan II., was the contemporary of Montezuma; like +him, unfortunate enough to live to see the invasion of the +Conquistadores. He was called by them Calzonzi, which is only the +Tarascan word for any chief or leader. + +His capital was at Tzintzuntzan, a city with a population of forty +thousand inhabitants, it is said, at the time of the conquest. Its name +is an imitation of the noise of humming birds, which, in the Tarascan +days, as now, darted in multitudes over the gay flowers that border the +lake in profusion. This people loved birds as they did flowers, and +excelled in the delicate feather-work still practised in Mexico, in +which bright-colored plumage is daintily made to serve instead of +paints. The monarch of Michoacan held court at Tzintzuntzan, but his +pleasure-house was at Patzcuaro, eighteen miles away. Legend says that +when he chose to have a collation there, a line of servants was +stationed all along the way between the two palaces, to pass the dishes +from the royal kitchen to the royal table. However this may be, there +are traces of a subterranean passage which perhaps connected the capital +with the other town. Some years ago an excavation was attempted at +Tzintzuntzan, with the hope of discovering this passage, but the natives +quietly resisted this work by always filling up the place as soon as it +was dug out. From generation to generation these people transmit the +traditions of the ancient grandeur of their race, and silently preserve +what they can of its traces. They have no written language of their own, +and no orators. What they know of the past they do not wish to tell to +outsiders; but their villages are full of legends, which the old people +hand down to the younger ones in their strange Tarascan speech. They are +tenacious of their manners and customs, and preserve in their church +festivals the forms and rites which the early priests allowed them to +transfer from their old religion to the ceremonials of the newly +acquired Catholic faith. The Tarascans are skilful in carving in bone. +They make tiny boxes, neatly fitted with lock and key, of wood. Their +canoes are dug out of tree-trunks, and they kill the wild fowl which +swarm and herd in quantities upon their lake, with a long wooden javelin +hurled with skill. Their pottery, like that of all the Mexicans, is +simple in design, graceful in form, and tasteful in color. From time +immemorial they have possessed the knowledge of handling clay and +making their utensils of it. + +Such are the descendants of the old Tarascan tribes, little changed as +yet by the changes of government that have swept over their country +since the invasion of the Conquistadores. + + + + +VIII. + +MAYAS. + + +There is another race of which something must be said before we begin +upon the Aztecs, that branch of the Nahuatl family which took the +leading part in the struggle with the Conquistadores. + +Although the Mayan civilization was established outside the limits of +the present Mexico, it is necessary to know something of it in +connection with the other tribes who built up the civilization of +Anahuac. + +The Mayas are thought to have been the earliest of the Nahuatl family to +migrate from their northern home. Their language differs from the other +Nahua dialects, and so do their traditions, monuments, and +hieroglyphics, but these differences were probably caused by the +difference in time in the departure of these races from their common +starting-point. The resemblance outweighs the disparity, and we can only +imagine that the deviations were caused by a long separation from the +original stock. Their descendants live in Yucatan, and the early +monuments of the Mayas are found in that country and its neighborhood. + +[Illustration: CASA DEL GOBERNADOR, UXMAL.] + +They are supposed to have migrated from the shores of the Atlantic to +the region now the state of Chiapas, the farthest south of all the +states, adjoining Guatemala, in the midst of a rich and fertile country. +Their empire grew to be one of great importance, so that at one time +even the proud Tula was tributary to it. It extended over the greater +part of Central America. Mayapan and Copan were the other chief tribes +of their confederacy, of which Nachan, or Town of Serpents, was the +capital or chief. + +This great city was already in ruins, buried in the thick wilderness, +its site and very existence forgotten before the arrival of the +Conquistadores. Cortés must have marched close to it once when he was on +his way to Honduras, but he probably had no notion of its existence. The +ruins were discovered by chance in the middle of the eighteenth century, +by a curate of the little town Palenque in the neighborhood. + +In 1764, the Spanish government sent explorers to visit these ruins, and +since then they have been carefully studied. The importance and extent +of the buildings seem to show that the ancient city was once the capital +and centre of the ancient state of Mayapan. Traces of streets extend for +a length of six leagues or more, following the course of mountain +streams, which doubtless furnished the inhabitants with water. + +The most important building at Palenque is the Palace. It rests on a +truncated pyramid about fifty feet high, of which the base measures +three hundred and ten feet by two hundred and sixty. Subterranean +galleries penetrated the interior of the pyramid. It is made of earth, +with external faces of large slabs; steps lead up to the top, on which +is the chief building, a quadrilateral of two hundred and twenty-eight +feet by one hundred and eighty; the walls are from two to three feet +thick, ornamented with a frieze between two double cornices, covered +with painted stucco, either red, blue, black, or white. There are +fourteen entrances in the eastern front, which is the principal one, +separated by pillars ornamented with figures more than six feet in +height. Over their heads are hieroglyphics which contain the key to +their meaning, still hidden to us. + +The inside of the palace corresponds with the outside, galleries run all +round the court, and the lofty chambers are decorated with strange +bas-reliefs in granite thirteen feet high or more, strange and grotesque +to us, but full of meaning and expression to the race which understood +them. + +[Illustration: STATUE FROM PALENQUE.] + +Over the palace rises a tower of three stories, thirty feet square at +the base, decorated profusely with symbols no longer suggestive. A +strange thing about the palace is that the staircases look new, the +steps whole and unworn, as if the people who built it had suddenly taken +flight soon after they erected their chief buildings. + +[Illustration: TABLET OF CROSS AT PALENQUE.] + +One other of the monuments of Palenque should be mentioned, the Temple +of the Cross. It rises from a truncated pyramid, and forms a +quadrilateral separated by pilasters, ornamented with hieroglyphics and +human figures. The openings lead through an inside gallery to three +little rooms, of which the middle one contains an altar, ornamented with +a frieze. Above this altar until recently stood three marble slabs, of +which one is now in the Smithsonian Institute at Washington, the central +stone at the National Museum in the city of Mexico, and the third still +remains at Palenque. They are six feet four inches in height, four feet +wide, and six inches thick, of cream-colored stone of a fine grain. The +central stone now in Mexico gives a striking representation of the +Christian cross on a pedestal in the midst of a tangle of hieroglyphics, +with a priestly figure, nearly life size, which in the stone still at +Palenque is continued by another figure of a priest and six rows of +hieroglyphics running from top to bottom. The piece at Washington is +covered with similar rows of hieroglyphics, and contains ornaments to +match the human figure on the left of the central stone. The startling +resemblance to a cross on this tablet has excited much discussion; it is +said that the presence of the emblem of the Christian faith caused it to +be torn down and cast forth into the forest, which crowds around the +ruins of the ancient city. But such representations of the symbol of an +earlier date than the Christian era, have been found elsewhere in +America. The cross was looked upon by the Mayas as the sign of the +creative and fertilizing powers of nature, and has no affinity with the +Christian one. Some attempts have been made to decipher the meaning of +the Palenque tablets, considering the three pieces as a whole. The +figure on the left (still at Palenque) is said to be the Sun with his +grand mitre. He presents an offering in his hand, and appears to be +blowing with his mouth or breathing incense. At his back are two +astronomical signs, representing, one the four phases of the moon, and +the other the great Period of the Sun. The figure at the right (in the +museum at Mexico) is larger than the other. It stands erect with +outstretched arms offering a child before the cross. This priest differs +from the other in being without the sacred mask and the robe of +_ocelotl_ skin. Both figures open their lips in prayer to the deity, the +cross, here united with the sign Acatl, an arrow thrust through the +upper half making another smaller cross. At the right of the cross are +the signs of the four seasons of the year, vernal equinox, summer +solstice, autumnal equinox, and winter solstice. The bird above the +cross is the star of the morning, and the strange figure below may be a +skull, to represent the star of the evening. According to this +explanation the famous tablet of Palenque, with its accidental likeness +to the Christian cross, was dedicated to the Sun as the great creative +power, and to the Year with its four seasons, and change of morning and +evening. Palenque is by no means the only monument of the ancient people +in this region. Yucatan is covered with interesting ruins, the remains +of different branches of the mighty Mayan race. It can hardly be +doubted, moreover, that extensive ruins lie yet hidden in the unexplored +regions of the peninsula. Chichen-Itza is one of the few towns which has +preserved its ancient Mayan name, from _chichen_, opening of a well, and +Itza, one of the chief branches of Mayapan confederacy. Itza maintained +its independence, after the destruction of the confederacy, for two +centuries after the Conquest. It was then taken by the Spaniards and +completely destroyed. + +[Illustration: MAYAN BAS-RELIEF.] + +Over an extent of several miles are seen masses of rubbish, broken +sculptures, overturned columns, of which nearly five hundred bases have +been counted. Chichen was one of the religious centres of Yucatan, which +accounts for the number and magnificence of its temples. The walls, in +many cases, are covered with paintings, in black, red, yellow, and +white; they represent processions of warriors or priests, with black +heads, strange head-dresses, and wide tunics on their shoulders. The +faces on the bas-reliefs are remarkable as giving a different type from +the pointed heads and retreating foreheads of those at Palenque. The +heads on the Yucatan monuments as those of the present inhabitants are +better developed. The sculpture is rich; the bas-reliefs give an idea of +the head-dress of the natives. + +A flight of steps is ornamented with a balustrade of interlaced +serpents. + +Chaak Mool, also known under the name of Balam, the tiger-chief, was one +of three brothers who shared between them the government of Yucatan. He +was married to Kinich Katmò, a woman of marvellous beauty. + +Now Aak, the brother of Chaak Mool, fell in love with the fair Kinich, +the wife of his brother. In order to possess her, he caused her husband +to be assassinated, hoping thus to win the hand of the widow. But +Kinich, far from yielding to the persuasions of Aak, remained faithful +to the memory of Chaak, and out of conjugal devotion caused his statue +to be made. Moreover she caused her palace to be adorned with paintings +representing the chief events in the life of her departed spouse, and +the sad scene of his death. In one of these paintings we may see the +wicked Aak, holding in his hand three spears, to symbolize the three +wounds, by means of which his brother was despatched. + +The painting is accompanied by hieroglyphics, which an explorer in 1875, +Dr. Le Plongeon, succeeded in deciphering far enough to learn that the +tomb of Chaak Mool was to be found at a place some four hundred yards +from the palace. He at once set about excavations at this spot. At first +were found several bas-reliefs representing cats and birds of prey; +about twenty feet lower down was an urn of stone containing ashes, and +last of all the statue of a man reclining upon a slab of stone. This +statue is now in the National Museum of Mexico, under the title of Chaak +Mool, as if it were the image made by order of the devoted Kinich Katmò; +but the type of the face, the costume, head-dress, and sandals are +altogether different from the usual Yucatan models, and moreover other +little Chaak Mools have been found in different parts of Mexico, so that +the wise are led to suppose that it represents some unknown divinity +rather than a king of Yucatan. + +[Illustration: STATUE OF CHAAK MOOL.] + +The Spaniards found throughout Yucatan roads made for the convenience of +travellers, probably to the religious centres of the country. Some of +these roads are _calzadas_, like those of which traces exist in many +parts of Mexico, dating far beyond the Spaniards. The remains of one of +these were used in building the modern city of Merida in Yucatan. This +highway measured from between seven and eight yards in width; it was +made of blocks of stone covered with mortar, and a layer of cement about +two inches thick. Solid bridges of masonry spanned the rivers of Mexico +and Yucatan, of which the massive piers have been seen standing during +the last century. + +Such are the monuments of the Mayan people, of whom not many facts are +to be disentangled from the early legends. Like the traditions of the +Mexican tribes, the Mayas tell of a supernatural being, who came from +the other side of the Caribbean seas, from a land of shadows. His name +was Votan, in the Mayan tradition. He found a people in the extreme of +barbarism living in caves, feeding upon the bloody flesh of animals they +killed in hunting; he taught them many things, so that by his example, +and for generations after he left them by his precepts, they advanced to +high civilization. According to his instructions, the only sacrifices +offered to the gods were the flowers and incense, sometimes birds and +animals. Votan is described as a great warrior, leading his people to +one triumph after another. Votan, it would seem, had a companion and +disciple called Zamna, to whom also the inhabitants of Yucatan ascribe +their ancient progress. It was he, they say, who invented hieroglyphics, +and he was the first to attach names to men and things. He was buried, +according to the account of the natives, at Izamal, one of the sacred +towns of Yucatan, beneath three different pyramids. Under one is his +right hand, the head under another, and the heart is beneath the third. +A huge head carved in stone has been found at Izamal, which perhaps +represents the Prophet Zamna. + +[Illustration: ZAMNA.] + +The Mayas used copper and gold. Their weapons were slings, spears, and +arrows with points made of obsidian or bone. Their warriors wore armor +of well-padded cotton, their shields were round and decorated with +feathers, or the skins of animals. They made boats by hollowing out the +trunks of trees, large enough to hold fifty people, which they guided +with great skill. Votan was regarded as a god after his death, like +Quetzalcoatl, with the Toltecs. Fierce wars waged between votaries of +the two as time went on. The Mayan legends and the few manuscripts +preserved tell of nothing but wars and conquests, struggles and defeats. +The confederation invaded by other tribes who triumphed over it +declined. Their religion deteriorated, as the traditions of Votan and +his precepts faded away, and the people returned to the custom of human +sacrifice, as bloody and terrible with them as with the other American +races. + +In their monuments we can trace these evidences of their civilization; +they are remarkable for number and dimension, and the taste and skill +shown in their ornamentation implies a condition above that of savage +tribes warring against each other to defend the necessities of mere +existence. + + + + +IX. + +AZTECS. + + +We now come to the tribe best known among those who lived on the great +plateau of Anahuac, the Aztecs, also called Mexicans. The latter name +has come so generally to include the inhabitants of the whole country, +that a distinction must be made. + +This people was one of those which formed the great family of the +Nahuas; its emigration from the mysterious regions of the northeast +towards Anahuac, like that of the other tribes which recognize the same +traditions, rests on the same authority. Their origin is no clearer than +that of the rest. It seems certain that previous to migrating they dwelt +in a land far to the northeast of Lake Chapala. This region, hallowed in +their traditions with all the memories and all the attractions of a +far-off, long-lost home, they called Aztlan, and from this name were +they called Aztecs. + +Why they abandoned this delightful home is entirely unknown, except to +conjecture and the probabilities of human life; the date is equally +uncertain, but to it has been assigned the middle of the seventh +century, and even the year 648 of our era is given. + +The Aztecs having left their old habitations wandered vaguely off +towards the southwest, guided by the inspirations or indications of +their priests. They paused whole years in different places, building in +each houses and temples, of which traces are still found to mark their +path. They left behind them, indeed, settlements which still exist. But +the great body of these emigrants had not yet found a permanent +resting-place. They continued to move on, with intervals of pause, from +generation to generation, always impelled by the restlessness which +caused their first fathers, and the priests, their guides, to leave +Aztlan. It was six hundred years after the date commonly given for their +exodus that the Aztecs came to their final resting-place in 1243. The +tribe was already called Mexicas as well as Aztec, because the priests +received an order from one of their gods, Mexitli, that they should +receive a name like his. From Mexi or Mexicas was derived the word +Mexican. This name has attached itself, not only to the town they +founded, but to the broad valley in which it lies, and to the whole +country stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific; yet when they came +there the ancient tribe of the Toltecs already possessed the land, and +farther south the Mayas had attained a high degree of civilization. They +themselves were but a handful of men, despised by surrounding races for +the customs of their religion, even then regarded as barbarous and +horrible by the older inhabitants. They gained and maintained a foothold +in the place they had chosen against many enemies and countless +difficulties, triumphed over all these, and established themselves so +firmly as to imprint a name upon the whole region. + +[Illustration: ORGAN CACTUS.] + +It is no wonder that the broad, lofty valley where they found themselves +made so strong an impression upon them that they at once decided to +adopt it; though the exact spot they selected for their capital has been +often condemned by posterity. + +They saw a vast oval of more than forty leagues' circumference, +surrounded, like an amphitheatre, with a girdle of mountains. On the +east rose the two proud volcanoes, Popocatepetl and Iztaccíhuatl, +covered with perpetual snow, their sides clothed with forests. When the +Aztecs came, one vast lake occupied the basin of the broad plateau, too +wide to be called a valley, as well as too elevated, for the lowest part +is more than six thousand feet above the level of the sea. + +They saw a rocky height rising above the wet soil near the lake, out of +which were doubtless even then growing huge cypress-trees, _ahuehuetl_, +making a dense and pleasant shade; a large spring of water flowed +constantly from the rock. Here they stopped and named the place +Chapultepec, which means the Hill of the Grasshopper. In the +picture-writings of the Aztecs it is depicted as a small hill with a +huge grasshopper standing all over it. + +Here the Mexicans, or Aztecs, remained for a few years, but their place +was contested by the neighboring tribes, who also all of them saw the +merits of the site, and valued as much as the new-comers the spring of +sparkling water. The Mexicans made themselves odious by their religious +practices, and a combined array of Chichimecs and other tribes +dispossessed them of the Grasshopper Hill. They betook themselves to a +group of low islands in the lake, and there led a miserable existence +for many years, covered with rags, living on such fishes and insects as +they could lay hold of from the lake, and dwelling in wretched huts made +out of reeds and rushes. They were nothing more than the slaves of the +Tepanecs and Culhuas, surrounding tribes, and it is extraordinary that +from such a life they roused themselves to any thing better. In the +course of a battle between two of their tyrant tribes, they, the +miserable slaves, the despised eaters of insects, gave such proof of +unconquerable valor on the side of their masters, that these were +terrified and gave them their liberty. This was nearly one hundred years +after they had been driven from Chapultepec. They now shook off the yoke +of their oppressors, gathered themselves together, and leaving the +wretched island where they had languished so long, set forth once more +in search of a permanent dwelling-place. + +The story has often been told of the way in which they fixed upon its +position. The priests declared that their great god, Huitzilopochtli, +had decreed for the situation of their abiding city, a _nopal_ growing +from a rock, upon which should be sitting an eagle with a snake in his +beak. The _nopal_ is one kind of cactus. When they suddenly came upon +this very combination of objects, the priests declared it to be the +preordained spot, and there they settled themselves after all the long +wanderings of their race, far from the shadowy Aztlan. The situation is +low, and too near the lake, which in those early days extended much +farther than at present. It has now been made to subside, leaving much +territory formerly under water spread out as barren marsh-land. Several +lakes, divided by low lands have taken the place of the broad inland sea +overlooked by the Mexican capital. + +Here the Mexicans built their capital city, which in time grew to be the +centre of a great confederacy. They called it Tenochtitlan, which means +Place of the Stone and the Nopal. Its name was also Mexico early in its +history, from the old god Huitzilopochtli, who was also called Mexitli. + +Tenochtitlan covered about one fourth of the ground now occupied by the +city of Mexico. Its founders divided it into four quarters or divisions, +to which were given the names of Cuepopan, Atzacualco, Moyotla, and +Zoquipan. In the centre rose the great teocalli dedicated to the god +Huitzilopochtli. The cathedral of the present city of Mexico stands on +the site of this ancient temple, but not a trace of the Aztec town is +now visible. The names of the quarters above given remain in those of +the suburbs of the modern town. + +Little by little smaller islands were united to the larger ones by means +of stone- and earth-works. From a life of misery, by industry and energy +the Mexicans advanced their condition. They devoted themselves to +fishing and hunting, and exchanged the product of these labors with the +neighboring people for wood, stone and such things as they wanted. + +Up to this time they had obeyed their priests, or certain chiefs who +controlled them. The last of these was Tenoch. + +[Illustration: IDOL IN TERRA-COTTA.] + +The rulers who followed have been called kings, their government a +monarchy, their homes palaces, their places of worship, temples. The +Conquistadores described the civilization they found upon Anahuac with +such wealth of words, that the Halls of the Montezumas have been ever +since the type of all that is rich and magnificent. Their realm was an +empire, their sway was absolute, their lives were one of luxury and +ease. + +Later investigations take away from the early Aztec dynasty all its +splendors, one by one, until the poor Mexican kings have scarcely a +shred of regal dignity left them. Even their warfare is reduced to the +pitiful raids of one savage tribe against another, their title of +Emperor, no longer hereditary, although, it is admitted, kept in one +family, is reduced to that of chief; their capital city is a _pueblo_, +their palaces as low buildings of adobe, their teocallis are mounds. + +For the sake of preserving the succession hitherto accepted, and to +avoid confusion in the mind of the reader, we will continue the +narration of the kings of Mexico, as if they still retained that title, +shorn as it is of its rays. + +Tenoch died in 1363, thirty-eight years after the foundation of the +city. As his name forms part of the word Tenochtitlan, some authorities +give, as explanation, that the city was named after the chief, rather +than for reason of the nopal, the eagle, and the snake. But the valuable +legend remains, and is preserved on the national banner of the Mexicans +to-day. + +Mexitzin succeeded Tenoch in command, who, as by this time the people +had greatly grown in importance, counselled them to follow the example +of the nations round about them, and choose a ruler to rule over them, +after the manner of their neighbors, the Tepanecs, and those of Texcuco, +across the lake. The proposal was favorably accepted, and Acamapichtli +was made king--the first monarch of the Mexican dynasty, in +Tenochtitlan, in 1376, fifty years after the foundation of the city. He +was Mexican upon his father's side, Chichimec, through his mother's +family. He was, according to the account of his chroniclers, one of the +most prudent and illustrious personages of his time. He married a +daughter of a most noble Aculhuan, and as all the monarchs of the valley +practised polygamy, allowed himself two other wives. Of one of these +wives the son Huitzilihuitl was the immediate successor to the throne, +and his half-brother, son of another wife, reigned next, named +Chimalpopoca. A third son, born of a slave to the king, lived to reign +in his stead after the death of the half-brothers. But the father of +these sons lived himself to reign for twenty years, if reigning it can +be called, to keep in hand a handful of poor Indians just escaping from +barbarism and degeneration of the lowest sort. Their one city was but +fifty years old. They had no capital, no resources beyond the toil of +their hands in fishing and hunting. They were regarded as interlopers by +the petty kingdoms which surrounded them, and their lives were made +miserable by the tyranny of any one of their neighbors who felt himself +strong enough to exact tribute. Yet some great vital force was in them +to hold them together and bring them increase. + +Their belief in their old god, Huitzilopochtli, was strong as ever; +probably their fortunes rose and fell with the intelligence or the lack +of it in the priests who transmitted to the people the will of this +deity. Through them it was decreed that the tribute demanded by the +Tepanecs should be paid. These neighbors were pacified, and the Mexicans +could go on unmolested in their work of improving their city, which they +did by building temples and houses, and cutting canals through their +island that the water of the lake might circulate freely. + +In the next reign, Huitzilihuitl, son of the first king, not only +followed but improved upon the example of his father in marrying a +daughter of some rival monarch. He sent ambassadors to various courts +asking the hand of each princess in marriage. The result was good. By +marrying a daughter of the king of the Tepanecs he relieved his people +of the heavy tribute they had been forced to pay. His other wife, +Cuauhnahuac, brought with her the knowledge of cotton for making wearing +apparel, for the district she came from produced it in abundance, and +her people understood the use of it. It is due to her, therefore, that +the Mexicans became well clothed. Specimens of the wearing of their +early times are preserved in the National Museum at Mexico. Her son was +the famous Motecuhzoma Ilhuicamina, better known to us as Montezuma I. +This king, who married the Princess of Cloth, greatly advanced his +nation. He compiled laws, regulated religious ceremonies, systematized +the army, with his brother at its head, thus establishing a custom which +was always afterwards followed, that a brother of the monarch should be +general-in-chief. In his day canoas, hollowed from trunks of trees, were +put into general use for war as well as for traffic. The system thus +introduced made his army a valuable accession to his neighbors when they +went to battle. By the service they rendered to the Aculhuans in such a +case, the Mexicans gained a high reputation as dangerous warriors. They +were still tributary to the Tepanecs of Atzcapotzalco, then in the hands +of the tyrant Maxtla, whom careful readers will remember. This usurper, +jealous of the growing power of his vassal, and afraid of its results, +caused the death of the little son and daughter of the Mexican monarch. +"The king, Huitzilihuitl," says the authority, "dissimulated this cruel +offence, considering that this was no time to expose his people to open +war with the Tepanecs, thus giving proof of a patriotism equal to +personal sacrifice." + +[Illustration: CANAL OUTSIDE THE CITY OF MEXICO.] + +This was however not the end of the matter for after the death of his +father, Chimalpopoca, who reigned in his stead became implicated in a +conspiracy against Maxtla. It was discovered, and the punishment that +the young king had to endure was to assume certain garments of the style +worn by women sent him by Maxtla, as signs of effeminacy and cowardice, +while Maxtla carried off and took to himself one of his wives. +Chimalpopoca waited to avenge these insults, and life being +insupportable to him, resolved to sacrifice himself to the great god of +his fathers, Huitzilopochtli; but Maxtla anticipated his intention, and +seizing him, shut him up in a wooden case, such as was used for common +criminals. The Mexican king, however, succeeded in his intent, by +hanging himself from a bar of his disgraceful prison. + +This chief had reigned but ten years; during this time he had an +aqueduct constructed to bring clear water from Chapultepec to the city, +and built a fine _calzada_, or paved road, to make direct communication +between Tenochtitlan and Tlacopan. + +This was the period of the usurpation of Tezozomoc, king of +Atzcapotzalco, who wrested the throne of the Chichimecs from +Ixtlilxochitl, and killed this brave but unfortunate prince. Maxtla, +the tyrant, was the son and heir of Tezozomoc, and as we have seen he +poured his wrath upon Nezahualcoyotl, the legitimate heir to the throne +of the Chichimecs, the monarchy of Texcuco or Aculhuacan. + + + + +X. + +MEXICANS. + + +After the death in prison of their king Chimalpopoca, the Mexicans did +not hesitate to elect as his successor, Itzcoatl, the third son of their +first sovereign, brother to their last, and general-in-chief of their +armies, in which capacity he had shown himself of great force and valor. + +When Maxtla heard of this he was full of wrath, having vainly imagined +that the murder of the late king's children would have put an end to +that line forever. He immediately began to make preparations to destroy +utterly the Mexicans, still nominally his vassals. + +Itzcoatl at once sent messengers to Nezahualcoyotl, the rightful heir of +the Texcucans, proposing an alliance for the overthrow of the tyrant. +Nezahualcoyotl, as we have seen, had already recovered a part of his +inheritance, and feeling himself strong enough for the effort, he +accepted the proposals of the Mexican sovereign. + +Maxtla, to anticipate this step, sent open commands to his vassals, the +Mexicans, that they should hold themselves in readiness to join his +whole army in an attack upon Texcuco, since, as he announced, he was +determined now to possess himself of the whole of the ancient kingdom of +the Chichimecs. + +The chronicles say that the Mexicans were greatly terrified, so intense +was the terror inspired by Maxtla and his cruel warriors. The people +burst into tears and lamentations at being forced into so unwelcome a +war. + +Itzcoatl, with the greatest skill, calmed their agitation, and summoned +them to another combat, which should decide the fate of the still +youthful monarchy of the Mexicans. + +A great battle was fought against the Tepanecs with Maxtla at their +head. Opposite him were arranged the united forces of the Mexicans, the +Chichimecs, and their allies, of the neighboring little state of +Tlatelolco, as well as a great body of auxiliary troops, which ranged +themselves on the side of justice and against the terrible tyrant. The +allied army sallied forth to the encounter, but was driven back, and the +city of Tenochtitlan was about to fall into the hands of Maxtla, when +the three chiefs, Nezahualcoyotl, Itzcoatl and Motecuhzoma, followed by +their bravest warriors, plunged into the thickest of the fray, and by +the fury of their attack caused the Tepanecs to flee with all haste. + +The battle was continued the next day, victory declaring itself for the +allies, who pursued the Tepanecs even into their own capital +Atzcapotzalco, where they set fire to the houses, sacking them first, +and killing the inhabitants. The king Maxtla himself fell under the +stroke of Nezahualcoyotl, who thus avenged the murder of his father. +The taking of the capital city was the end of the kingdom of the +Tepanecs. This took place in 1428. + +By the downfall of this monarchy, Nezahualcoyotl was reinstated upon the +throne of his ancestors, at Texcuco, henceforth called the kingdom of +Acolhuacan; a small new kingdom arose, upon the ruins of the old, called +that of the Tepanecs of Tlacopan; these two formed with the Mexicans a +triple alliance which lasted for more than a century. + +This alliance is called that of the "Valley Confederates," who by their +united strength could crush the surrounding isolated tribes with perfect +success. + +Itzcoatl died in 1440, much lamented by his people. His obsequies were +performed with great solemnity. He was justly celebrated for his great +gifts, and the services he rendered his country. An old author says of +him that he was "a man so excellent that there is no language sufficient +for his praises." + +On the death of this ruler, the Mexicans again came together to choose a +king, and unanimously selected Motecuhzoma Ilhuicamina, brother of the +late king, and son of the first one. His election was received with +enthusiasm, because he was a great general, who had filled the minds of +the people with his brilliant deeds in emancipating them from the tyrant +control of the Tepanecs. + +Under this king the fortunes of the Mexicans reached their height. He +was a great warrior, and by force of arms he subdued many surrounding +tribes, and extended the power of his kingdom. He was an intense fanatic +in religion, and a true despot, and carried his convictions to an +extreme which, while it extended his power, alienated the other peoples +of Anahuac, so that in the dark days of the future, they were ready +rather to be against the Mexicans than for them. + +His first act, having resolved to erect a great temple to the god +Huitzilopochtli, in gratitude for the success of the recent conflicts, +was to send messages to all the country round about, summoning the +neighbors to come and lend their aid in bringing the great work to an +end. All obeyed with alacrity, except the Chalcas, a little tribe upon +the lake, who entirely refused to contribute aid. The king instantly +made war upon these people, and after bloody contests took possession of +Amecameca, their capital, an ancient town at the very base of the +volcanoes. Other towns fell into the hands of the Mexicans. Meanwhile, +the influence of the Texcucan court, aided by the natural development +that comes with success, had much advanced the Aztec from the pitiful +state of squalor in which his race made their entrance into the Valley +of Anahuac only a century before. Without believing the exaggerated +accounts of the Spaniards describing the splendors they found in Mexico, +we may at least allow the Aztecs a degree of intelligence and +cultivation on a level with the civilization of their time. + +In the middle of the fifteenth century, the Mexicans suffered from an +infliction which has since many a time caused trouble to their capital. +Abundant rains so swelled the lake that the city was inundated, many +buildings destroyed, and inhabitants drowned. The king of Texcuco +advised the building of a great dike, so thick and strong as to keep out +the water. The next year the chronicles relate that a heavy snow fell +for six days and nights, destroying all vegetation, and a great number +of human beings and animals. The loss of crops for these years caused +such a famine, that in spite of the great liberality of the king and his +grandees, many people emigrated to the south. + +These disasters furnish but a poor excuse for the human sacrifice with +which the Aztecs sought to appease the wrath of their god. The Mexican +king used to sally forth at fixed intervals to battle with the sole +object of seizing prisoners for sacrifice, without laying any claim to +lands or kingdoms. He extended these raids as far as the valley of +Tlaxcalla, and the neighboring city of Cholula, carrying off victims, +but leaving the government of these provinces as he found them. This +explains the cause of the continued independence of these provinces, in +spite of their constant warfare with Mexico, and also shows what reason +these people had for hating a neighbor who made himself so disagreeable. +Motecuhzoma made the power of his arm felt even to the shores of the +Gulf, and enlarged his territory in all directions. He framed a code for +repressing crime, made laws regulating the dress and ornaments of his +subjects, invented any number of new religious rites and sacrifices +hitherto unheard of, built many temples, and strove to establish the +principles of his religion throughout Anahuac. Thus the poor and +miserable little tribe of a century before, at the death of Motecuhzoma +Ilhuicamina had greatly gained in strength and extent. + +Three sovereigns followed Motecuhzoma, in due course, and in practice of +the same methods of government. They extended their depredations all +over the country, sometimes meeting with resistance, as in the case of +Michoacan, in 1479, when the Mexicans were utterly routed by the +Tarascos in a bloody battle which lasted two days. The king at that time +was Axayacatl, who died soon after his disastrous defeat. He left two +sons destined to play a part in the last scene of the history of Mexican +monarchy--Motecuhzoma the Second and Cuitlahuac. + +The immediate successor of Axayacatl was his brother, Tizoc, who, as was +the custom, left the position of general-in-chief to become king. He was +a brave warrior, stern and uncompromising in character, zealous in +gathering victims to sacrifice to his gods. + +In the museum of Mexico is a monument which preserves the name and deeds +of this great warrior king. It is a large carved stone, which was found +in the course of excavation for a sewer, almost a hundred years ago in +the principal plaza of the city of Mexico. It is called the Cuauhxicalli +of Tizoc, which means the Drinking cup of the Eagle. On its upper face +is carved an image of the sun. On the carved sides are fifteen groups, +each group of two persons, the conquering warrior grasping by the hair a +prisoner. The warrior is in each the same figure repeated. The fifteen +prisoners represent fifteen conquered tribes. The conqueror is Tizoc, +seventh king of Mexico, who occupied the throne from 1481 to 1486. +There is a theory that these carvings have a further allegorical +meaning. The evening star and the moon are represented as two warriors +engaged in a struggle, in which the former makes the attack, and the +latter defends himself. Tizoc is intended by the morning star, and the +moon represents the conquered nations. The evening star wears the sacred +mask; the part of his face left uncovered, as well as his hands and +feet, are smeared with a black ointment peculiar to priests and gods. +His body is covered with a tiger skin, which is always an attribute with +the natives of the morning star, which draws captive after it all the +other stars, so that the sky spotted with light seemed to them typified +by the spotted skin of the tiger. The warrior has in one hand a sword of +obsidian, and in the other a shield bearing the symbols of the planet. +The face and garments of the vanquished warrior are white like the rays +of the moon. His feet are bound, but in one hand he holds high his sword +of obsidian, while the other grasps the standard and mirror of the moon. + +The use to which the stone was applied by Tizoc was less purely +fanciful. In his time, among the Aztecs, there existed an order of +nobles whose title was the eagles. The sun was their patron saint. +During certain ceremonies they sacrificed to the sun a human victim, +upon this stone, the drinking-cup of the Eagles. This victim was chosen +from the prisoners taken in war. He was brought forward, at the sound of +music, surrounded by illustrious noblemen. His legs were painted with +red and white stripes, and half his face was painted red; a white plume +was stuck in his hair. In one hand he carried a walking-stick, gay with +ribbons and plumes; in the other, a shield covered with cotton. His +thighs were bound round with little bundles containing gifts. He was led +to the bottom of the grand staircase of the temple and thus addressed: + +[Illustration: STONE OF TIZOC.] + +"Sir, what we desire is that thou goest before our god, the sun, to +salute him for us. Tell him that his sons and chief gentlemen here +supplicate him to remember them, hoping he will accept the small +_recuerdo_ we send him. Give him the walking-stick, the shield, and the +other things in the little bundle." + +The victim then went slowly up the steps, receiving fresh instructions +as to what he should say to the sun. At the top was the drinking-cup, +and towards this he advanced. In a loud voice, addressing at once the +real sun and its image carved upon the stone, he delivered the message +just given him. Then came four attendants, who seized him by hands and +feet, and having taken away the cane, the shield, and little bundles, +they ascended with him the four steps of the stone, where the +high-priest cut his throat, commanding him thus to go with his message +to the real sun in the other life. The blood flowed down the basin in +the stone through a canal to the side where the image of the sun was +carved, so that this was quenched with blood. Meantime, the +_sacrificador_ opened the breast of the victim and plucked out the +heart, holding it aloft until it became cold, thereby offering it to the +sun. Thus went on his way the luckless messenger. + +Tizoc began the construction of a great temple in honor of +Huitzilopochtli, a superb edifice, according to the chronicles, the most +lofty in the city, covering all the site of the present cathedral, and +moreover extending over much of the ground now occupied by the Plaza +Mayor. Tizoc was poisoned, at the instigation of some neighboring kings, +by women who brought him a fatal drink. He died suddenly, after a brief +reign of four years. + +Ahuitzotl, his brother and successor, hastened to bring the great +teocalli to completion, and its dedication was the occasion of a great +feast and celebration. Kings and caciques of the allied people came, +bringing rich offerings to the Mexican monarch, who displayed the +greatest magnificence in receiving his guests. The chief feature of the +occasion was the great slaughter of four days of victims made prisoners +of war on purpose for the sacrifice to the god to whom the temple was +reared. + +Ahuitzotl was troubled with inundations of the lake, and by the advice +of Nezahualpilli the Wise, he caused huge dikes to be constructed, which +averted the danger. The monarch himself was overtaken by water bursting +into one of the lower chambers of his palace. As he rushed suddenly out +of the room to avoid the flood, he received a blow on the head by +striking a beam, which caused his death a few years after. + +This monarch was passionately devoted to war, and by his conquests he +extended widely the dominions of the crown. He was violent, vengeful, +and cruel, the terror of the people he conquered, jealous to preserve +untouched his authority, pitiless in exacting tribute and collecting +taxes; in a word, a despot, holding absolute control over the lives and +actions of his subjects. In compensation for these unattractive +characteristics his historians give him credit for greatly embellishing +his capital city. He was fond of music, liberal to the needy, and +generous to such soldiers as distinguished themselves in his wars. + +At the death of Ahuitzotl the kingdom ruled of his ancestors had reached +the height of its extent, splendor, and power. On the north, its +frontier extended to the 21st degree of latitude. On the east, with the +exception of the kingdom of Texcuco, and the independent tribes of +Cholula, Tlaxcalla, and Huexotzinco, it reached the Gulf of Mexico, +including all the shore, from the semi-independent Cuextecas to the +border of the Coatzacoalco River. On the southeast the kingdom extended +to Xoconochco, towards the south its boundary touched Mexcalla, and on +the west its barrier was the haughty kingdom of Michoacan, against which +the armies of the Mexicans fought always in vain. + +Such a point of power had reached the Aztec tribe in the course of one +hundred years. From their small beginning as a handful of hunted +creatures, hiding in the rushes of a swamp, they had grown to be an +all-powerful nation, carrying a triumphant warfare throughout the land, +and enlarging their boundaries with every triumph. The shocking features +of their sanguinary religion make them odious to our minds. It is +difficult to accommodate it to the gentle traits of the Aztec character, +which shows them to be of domestic tastes, affectionate and mild in +temper. Such a stain upon the nation is only to be explained, not +excused, by the power of religious fanaticism. Other religions in other +parts of the world, were exercising a control as arbitrary, with results +the same in quality though not in degree. In 1480, in Spain, the Holy +Inquisition was established against apostates, that is, persons +converted from any other religion to that of the Roman Catholic Church, +who, after baptism, reverted to Judaism or the faith of Islam. The +tribunal of Seville, alone, between 1480 and 1520, consigned four +thousand victims to the flames. + +[Illustration: SCULPTURE REPRESENTING HUMAN SACRIFICE.] + +Louis XI. of France wore little images of saints and angels in his cap, +while he did not hesitate to shut up his enemies for life in a wooden +cage. As his death drew near in 1483, he shuddered at the thought of the +victims, more than five thousand, whom he had caused to be put to death, +for his own ends, without the plea of religious ardor. + +Richard III., in England, during a short reign of two years from 1483 to +1485, not only murdered his young nephews, but put to death his brother, +the Duke of Clarence, Lord Hastings, Jane Shore, and his own friend and +ally the Duke of Buckingham. + +It is of course idle to compare the civilization of the two continents +at that period; widely separated as they were, and each ignorant of the +very existence of the other. European society emerged from the barbarism +of the dark ages was, according to its interpretation of them, based +upon the teachings of the faith of Christ. No such advantages, as yet, +had reached the plateau of Anahuac. The most elevating influence shed +over its people was from the traditional Quetzalcoatl, whose teachings +of mild and gentle manners left a deep and pervading impression. +Otherwise, the struggle for life, rude contact with the lower instincts +of the less developed with the better informed, gave an always downward +tendency to the institutions of their society. + +It is all very obscure, now more than ever, because new information is +disturbing the accepted theory of Aztec culture given by writers of +Mexican history up to nearly the present time. For a true knowledge of +early life in Mexico, we must wait till explorers and archæologists have +fully established their discoveries by facts. Such an exposition, which +is pretty sure to come, will be of great importance to those interested +in the future, as well as the past, of the native races of Mexico. + +Meanwhile, in a book like this, which is permitted to gather up legend +as well as fact, in order to present the attractive, even romantic, side +of its subject, it would be a pity to wholly set aside the accounts of +the Aztecs, as they have hitherto been given in current history, as +worthless and superseded. This would be to leave a gap at the very +beginning of authentic story, to take away the lowest step of the ladder +we wish to climb. If the "Last of the Montezumas" is to be reduced to a +chieftain of a sedentary tribe, we, in this story of Mexico, may regard +him as one once invested with the glories of an empire. Our chief object +in examining the early periods written of in the preceding chapters, is +to gather clear impressions of the character of the people we are +reading about. For this end it is of vast importance to know whether the +native races now forming a large part of the population of Mexico, are +descended from a cultivated line of kings, or whether they merely +inherit the manners and customs of illiterate tribes. The reader must +for himself create from the stories drawn from Spanish accounts, and +evidences given by picture-writings, and the description of monuments +and ruins, his own idea of the Aztec character, giving due weight to the +substance of the legends about Mexican greatness, while he brushes off +with modern ruthlessness the cobwebs which obscure the truth of the +story, however brightly they may sparkle, and adorn the tale. + + + + +XI. + +AZTEC CHARACTER. + + +It is impossible with our present knowledge to form an estimate of the +civilization of the Aztecs at their highest point. The reports given by +the Spaniards at the time of the conquests are not to be relied upon, as +they paint in the exaggerated colors they thought most likely to give +glory to their own achievements. Unfortunately they felt called upon to +destroy most of the picture-writings they found, which would have been +as valuable in forming an opinion of the manners and customs of the race +they depicted, as the volumes we find in European libraries are to +enlighten us upon the manners and customs of contemporary races in +Europe. + +The Aztecs knew no alphabet, but instead of letters they used certain +signs or hieroglyphics by which they wrote on every subject--religion, +history, geography, poetry, feasts, famines, wars, and the arts of +peace. This fashion of writing was handed down from father to son, and +taught in colleges or by the priests. The artists who executed the +manuscripts were treated with general consideration, and the sovereign +even paid them honor. They worked on paper made of the fibre of the +maguey, or on linen cloth, with a sort of pen like the stylus of the +Romans. The colors were procured from vegetable dyes, in general. They +had little variety of tint, but were vivid and permanent. + +These paintings, of which several of the small remnant in existence of +the great quantity destroyed by the Conquistadores are in the museum at +Mexico, are extremely interesting, both as works of art from a point of +view entirely different from our European prejudices, and also as +recording events with wonderful simplicity and directness. + +The one called the Wanderings of the Aztecs, is absolutely authentic, +and is wholly interpreted. It is forty-eight feet long and nine inches +wide done on maguey paper, all in black, with no other colors, except +that the line of travel is marked in red. This painting gives the route +of the Aztecs, from their departure from Aztlan until their arrival in +the valley of Mexico. On an island, in the land of Aztlan, stands a +teocalli, like the temples of worship in Mexico. The chronology year by +year is given, and the various halts made by the wanderers, with the +principal events that befell them. A short piece at the end is torn off +and missing, which probably depicted the founding of Tenochtitlan. + +Another painting depicts a range of mountains among which is one pouring +forth smoke from its summit. On the left is a city entirely surrounded +by water, with the cactus growing on the rock, which always signifies +Tenochtitlan. The mountain doubtless in Popocatepetl, which by its name +signifies Hill that gives Smoke. Another painting gives the chronology +of the kings of Mexico and Texcuco; it is long, stretching half across +the large room of the museum in which it is exhibited. + +[Illustration: COURT OF THE MUSEUM AT MEXICO.] + +If we only had more of these paintings, the daily life of the Aztecs +would be before us, just as we can read on the Egyptian monuments every +detail of such remote living. + +In the usual accounts of the religion of the Aztecs, more stress is laid +upon the horror of their human sacrifice than upon its other features, +which, however, deserve notice. They firmly believed in a future life. +While some of the Nahuatl races imagined that after death the common +people would be transformed into insects, the chiefs into birds, the +Aztecs conceived of graduated stages of happiness for mankind. Warriors +slain in battle were immediately to dwell in the house of the sun; less +distinguished souls went to live in the various planets. But these +starry houses were only temporary. For four years after the death of a +relative the friends offered meat, wines, flowers, and perfumes to the +dead in certain months of the year, one of which was dedicated to dead +children, and the other to warriors killed in battle. + +When a chief died among the Aztecs great care was taken in ornamenting +the body, as if preparing it for a long journey. Several papers are +presented to the corpse: one as a passport across the defile between the +two mountains; one with which to avoid the great serpent; the third was +to put to flight the alligator; the fourth would give a safe crossing +over the eight great deserts and the eight hills. A little red-haired +dog was killed, a leash put about his neck, and he was buried near the +corpse. Always the little dog, for rich or poor, warrior or slave, to +guide his master across the nine great torrents which every departed +soul must encounter. + +Domestic life, we may infer, was happy with the Aztecs. Every man was +bound to marry when he reached the age of twenty years. Polygamy was not +forbidden; a man could have as many wives as he could afford to support. +There were no patronymic names. Mothers chose names for their children +as soon as they were born; these names were generally connected with the +month in which the child was born, or some circumstance connected with +the event. When each boy grew up, he was given a name by the medicine +man, and by an act of especial bravery he might gain a third name. + +The laws against stealing and other crimes were strictly enforced, +although unwritten, the penalties probably assigned in accordance with +ancient customs. + +The Aztecs were essentially musical, as their descendants are now. Their +songs and hymns transmitted the traditions of their race, and are +carefully taught in the schools. They had a sort of theatrical +exhibition, in which the faces of the actors were hid with masks +representing birds or animals. + +The relic which gives the best testimony of the mental powers of the +Aztecs is their calendar, preserved for centuries from destruction, and +now built into the cathedral of the city of Mexico. It was carved in the +year 1512 A.D., and brought to the ancient Tenochtitlan from the spot +where it was made. When it had nearly reached its destination, it broke +down the floating bridge on which it was loaded, and was precipitated +into the lake. The priest superintending the moving, and many of his +assistants, were drowned, but it was raised with great difficulty from +the water, and brought to the great temple located by Tizoc and +Ahuitzotl, where it was inaugurated with human sacrifices. + +Not many years later this temple, like many others, was destroyed, and +the huge calendar with other objects of heathen worship were buried in +the surrounding marshes as the best way to get rid of them, by the order +of the Christian priests. It lay hidden for two centuries, until the +17th of December, 1790, when the grade of the pavement in front of the +cathedral was lowered, and it came to light. The Spanish Viceroy then +controlling Mexican affairs allowed the commissioners of the cathedral +to build it into their sacred edifice, on condition that it should be +always preserved and exposed in a public place. It is now, however, +considered as the property of the National Museum. + +This zodiac or calendar is twelve feet in diameter, made of a piece of +basalt of immense weight. It gives a clear exposition of the division of +time understood by the Aztecs, into cycles, years, and days. Fifty-two +years constituted a cycle, the year had three hundred and sixty-five +days, with five very unlucky intercalary days, wholly devoted to human +sacrifice. Each year had eighteen months of twenty days each, and these +months four weeks of five days each. The days had delightful names, +such as "Sea Animal," "Small Bird," "Monkey," "Rain,"; not recurring +every week, but different for the twenty different days of the month. +The cardinal points were named "Reed," "House," "Flint," "Rabbit," for +east, west, north, and south. Thus an Aztec might say, "I am going House +on Sea-Animal," which would merely mean that he was starting for the +west on Monday. The months likewise had descriptive names: thus the +third month, which might correspond to our March, was called "Victims +flayed alive," while the more agreeable title for the sixth month, which +we call July, was "Garlands of corn on the necks of idols." As their +writing was by pictures instead of by combinations of letters selected +from an alphabet, they could give a long name in brief space with a few +adroit turns of their writing instrument. + +The Mexican archæologist, Leony Gama, considers the stone not only to be +a calendar, but a solar clock, which by means of shadows cast in a +certain manner gave eight intervals of the day between the rising and +setting sun. He adds that the stone clearly shows the dates of the +vernal and autumnal equinoxes, summer and winter solstice. On the other +hand, the antiquarian Chavero is of opinion that the stone could not +have been used as a calendar on account of lacking certain indispensable +elements for the computation of time. He considers it a gigantic votive +monument to the sun, above which sacrifices were offered. Whatever was +the original intention of the sculptures of this great stone, it has +survived them to bear testimony to their attentive notice of the +movements of the earth and heavenly bodies, of their interest in +astronomy, and their accuracy in arithmetical calculation, as well as +their skill in carving and design, and their power to overcome the +mechanical difficulty of moving so huge a mass of stone. + +The cycle of the Aztecs was a period of fifty-two years. They believed +that some great catastrophe would occur at the end of one of these +cycles, and therefore approached the termination of each one, at the +interval of fifty-two years, with terror and dismay. On the arrival of +the five unlucky days at the close of the year when the end of the cycle +recurred, they abandoned themselves to despair. They broke in pieces the +little images of their household gods, lighted no fires in their +dwellings, and allowed the holy fires in the temples to burn out. They +destroyed every thing they possessed, and tore their garments, as if +there was to be no further use for earthly comforts. + +On the evening of the fifth day a procession moved from the city to the +top of a hill six miles south of the city. There, at midnight, just as +the constellation of the Pleiades reached the zenith, a new fire was +kindled by rubbing sticks over the breast of a human victim. The body of +this victim was thrown to the flames which sprang up from the new-born +fire. Shouts of joy and delight burst forth from the surrounding hills, +the housetops, and terraces, which were crowded with the populace +watching for the result. Torches lighted at the blazing pile were +carried to every home, and kindled with fresh flame every hearthstone. +The sun rose, the new cycle commenced, and the Aztecs felt safe for +fifty-two years more. + +Then came the house-cleaning. All the destroyed pots and pans were +replaced by new ones. New clothes, prepared, we must fear, beforehand, +took the place of the old ones. The people, gayly dressed and crowned +with flowers, thronged to the temples to offer up their thanksgiving. +All was joy and merriment; dances and songs were the order of the day, +gifts exchanged. The last celebration of this festival was in 1506. + +While the warriors of the Mexicans were engaged in ceaseless raids upon +neighboring tribes, the true occupation of the people was agriculture, +which in their delightful climate well repaid their toil and skill. All +the inhabitants, even in the cities, cultivated the soil, except the +soldiers and the great nobles. The men did all the heavy work, the women +helping them by scattering seed, husking maize, and such light matters. +Canals were cut through sterile lands, for they fully understood the +importance of artificial irrigation, to aid the influence of their rainy +season. The forests which covered the country were preserved by severe +penalties. Ample granaries were provided to contain their harvests. + +Such crops, etc., as were available for their lands were known to the +Aztecs, and developed to their full extent. They thoroughly appreciated +and enjoyed the wealth of flowers which nature scattered over the soil. +Flowers were to them an important part of their religious ceremonies; +their soft, brilliant, or gaudy colors had each its peculiar +significance. Out of them the women wove wreaths for the head, and long +festoons for decoration, heaping blossoms in greatest profusion wherever +was festivity and rejoicing. In fact in the Aztec disposition is found +an inheritance of gentleness and mildness, brought with them from +Aztlan, shown in their consideration for women, their industry, their +taste in ornament, and their devotion to flowers. The ferocity of their +religious sacrifices has nothing in common with these other traits of +character. It is as if this dismal feature of their creed were picked up +somewhere on the way during their long wanderings, a dark, bloody thread +interwoven in the soft, tender fabric of their composition. The women +were not oppressed, but ruled their homes peaceably, assisting in the +lighter work of the field, and taking care of the children, preparing +food, and all household requirements. + +[Illustration: VASE. MUSEUM AT MEXICO.] + +Among the Aztecs was an order of priestesses, who withdrew from the +world for one or more years at the age of twelve or thirteen, and went +to live shut up within the inner courts of the teocalli. Their hair was +cut in a set fashion, common to all, but they were allowed to let it +grow again after one cutting; they were draped in white, without any +decoration or ornament, and always slept in their clothes, "in order to +be ready for work in the morning." The life was one of abstinence and +toil; they carried their eyes always cast down, and bore themselves with +great modesty of deportment, always watched by the sharp eye of a +lady-superior within the walls of their retreat, and outside by vigilant +old men who stood guard by day and night. Their food was plain and +sparing, only at feast-time were they allowed meat, and then because +their accustomed routine was interrupted by unusual exertion. They +assisted at the religious dances of these festivals, their feet and +hands adorned with feathers, and their cheeks painted red. On days of +penance they pricked their ears, and put the blood on their cheeks "as a +religious rouge," says the account; washing it off in a particular basin +destined for that purpose. The slightest variation from the path +prescribed to them was punished by death. Some of the Nahuatl deities +are goddesses, which shows that the sexes were not unequally reverenced. +An important goddess, Coatlicue, or She of the Skirt of Serpents, has a +statue in the court of the museum at Mexico, which is regarded as one +of the best specimens of Aztec workmanship. Like the calendar, it was +found buried in the Plaza Mayor, not far from the cathedral, doubtless +tumbled there by the Spaniards when they destroyed the great teocalli. +It is not beautiful according to ideas of symmetry formed from the Venus +of Milo; it is strange and interesting on account of the quantity of +symbols by which it is overwhelmed. Coatlicue, or Cihuatcotl, or +Cihuacoatl, is the serpent woman, mother of the first human pair in the +world; she is the goddess of the earth, in the night-time, after sunset. +She is, therefore, the mistress of the dead. And then she is the mother +of Quetzalcoatl, the god and hero of the early Nahuatl. This sounds +better than it looks. The upper part is the head of a serpent, whose +body is entwined with that of a woman. The skirt is a web of snakes, +adorned with tassels and feathers. The figure has many hands, as a +symbol of the production-giving power of the earth. The skull at the +girdle shows that on her breast repose her children after death in +eternal slumber. + +Such were the Aztecs in 1500, after little more than a century of life +in their new land. Much of their civilization, many of their customs, +they must have caught from the older, longer established, refined court +of the Texcucans, their neighbors at the other end of the lake, whose +dynasty was much older, and whose traditions came down unimpaired from +the cultivated Toltecs, whose remote ancestors, if they came from the +same stem as the Aztecs and wandered to Anahuac from the same shadowy +Aztlan or Huehue-Tlapallan, had yet the advantage of a couple of +centuries of development, and a longer abstinence from the bloody rites +of a savage religion. + +The Mexicans were in some sort _parvenus_ on the plateau. They won their +way by their valor in battle, and insisted on recognition by the other +tribes, by superior force or ferocity conquering to themselves a large +portion of the happy land. The neighboring people made way for them, a +few to be their allies; but their ferocious warfare had made them +detested by those who feared them in all the surrounding country, so +that these other kingdoms, republics, or sedentary races saw not +unwillingly the downfall of the haughty Aztec house, even if they did +not actively help its invaders. + +In the end, this policy was fatal to all. Once they had gained a +foothold on the plateau, the Conquistadores stopped not until the whole +country was within their grasp. + + + + +XII. + +THE LAST OF THE MONTEZUMAS. + + +Ahuitzotl died in 1502. His successor was Motecuhzoma II., the son of +the famous warrior King Axayacatl. Motecuhzoma took the surname of +Xocoyotzin to distinguish him from the first king with his name. + +He was thirty-four years old when he came to the throne. He had been +general-in-chief of the armies, as was usual with the heir-apparent to +the throne, and when he was elected king he was fulfilling the office of +high-priest, which was unusual. His demeanor was grave, calm, and +taciturn. He was inflexible in his determination, and admitted no +contradiction, stern and cruel in exacting obedience to his commands; +but extremely credulous and timid to cowardice when his superstitious +fears were aroused. + +He is said to have been handsome, of a fine form, slight rather than +robust, with great dignity of manner. His well-formed features wore an +habitual expression of sadness or gloom, even in the early days of his +reign, when the shadow of his destiny had not to all appearance yet +fallen upon him. + +When his election was announced to him, he was found sweeping down the +stairs in the great teocalli. He received the message with assured +humility, as one unfit for so high a station. The usual great +preparations were made for his coronation, which was more splendid than +those of his predecessors, graced by the sacrifice of a horde of +captives, won by the young monarch in battle for this purpose. +Nezahualpilli, the wise king of Texcuco, the valued relative and adviser +of the Aztec royal house, made an address at the coronation which has +been preserved. + +"Who can doubt," he exclaimed at the close, "that the Aztec empire has +reached the zenith of its greatness! Rejoice, happy people, and thou, +happy youth, doubt not that our Great Deity will keep thee safe upon thy +throne through many long and glorious years." + +Now let us try to imagine this young heir to a splendid kingdom, just +ascending the steps of the throne, clothed in all the majesty which the +customs of his country allowed. Soft robes of well chosen colors hung +about him, and over all the beautiful mantle of feather-work which the +Aztecs knew how to make out of the plumage of all the brilliant tropical +birds within their reach. There was no stint of splendor in his +ornaments, neck, wrists, ankles enclasped with gold, and set with +precious stones. A superb head-dress, over which waved a bunch of +feathers, stuck with sparkling jewels, added dignity to his haughty +carriage and grave features. + +One hundred years of successful government had made the Aztecs proud. +Their enemies feared them. Surrounding nations sought their friendship +for the sake of peace. The great house of Texcuco had allied itself with +their king in marriage. Mingled in the veins of Montezuma with the +savage blood of the worshippers of Huitzilopochtli, the terrible god of +war, was a gentler strain of the delicate culture of the family of +Nezahualcoyotl. The career of the young monarch seemed clear before him; +it was to be a life of stirring excitement in battle,--a warfare not for +conquest or slaughter on the field, but a holy enterprise to bring back +the necessary material for sacrifice to the gods, in whom he believed so +firmly that the horror of such wholesale destruction of life made not +the slightest impression. In the Aztec wars their enemies were seldom +killed in battle; the great object was to save prisoners alive, in order +to lay them upon their altars. + +But these fearful raids upon surrounding populations were only episodes +in the life he proposed to himself. He inherited a splendid palace in a +great city; for although we are now taught to consider the accounts of +Tenochtitlan given by the Spaniards as grossly exaggerated, we must +accept the assumption that in the estimation of himself and his people +his palace was splendid, and that the city was great, and upon this +foundation, since the Spanish statements are unreliable, and accurate +information is lacking, we may draw upon fancy to fill up the picture. + +All splendor is comparative; the halls of the Montezumas, never in +contact with the palaces of the Old World, were to be judged upon a +scale of their own. Tenochtitlan was, undoubtedly, the richest city +upon Anahuac. It was built, like Venice, in the midst of waters, upon an +island intersected with canals, and communicating with the mainland by +means of four broad causeways. An aqueduct from Chapultepec brought +fresh water, as the lake was brackish. The streets were laid out in +straight lines and at right angles, following the direction of the +causeways; some of them were the intersecting canals themselves, with +houses facing at once upon the water, and on the other side the street. +Upon the canals floated canoas for pleasure or business, coming from the +suburbs laden with food, vegetables, and fruit, the cargo heaped always +with a profusion of flowers, bright-hued poppies, sweet peas, and the +deep-red blossoms of clover. Above the houses, which were not high, with +flat roofs, or _azoteas_, rose the lofty teocalli, and the walls of the +royal palace which dominated the other buildings. + +Bernal Diaz, the companion of Cortés, who is charged with much garrulity +and exaggeration, says that when the Spaniards arrived at the great +causeway leading to the capital they paused, struck with admiration on +seeing so many cities and villages rising from the soil, with the +splendid highway, perfectly level, stretching on to Mexico. They +compared the scene to the enchanted castles described in "Amadis of +Gaul," and as they gazed at the lofty towers, the great temples, and the +white buildings gleaming in the sun and reflected in the waters of the +lake, they asked each other if it was not all a dream. The old +chronicler ends his account with this brief remark: "Now, the whole of +this city is destroyed and not a bit of it left standing." + +The life that Montezuma proposed to himself was one of enjoyment and +pleasure. Upon his people he wasted little thought. The country was +prosperous and they were happy, always a docile and domestic population +busy with agriculture, their crops, and their families. It is said that +he used to go out among them like the Sultan in the "Arabian Nights," +disguised, to see what the occupations of his subjects were, and hear +what they talked about. But this must have been chiefly to fill up his +time, for there was no danger of sedition or conspiracy among the +citizens of his capital. A walk _incognito_ outside its walls, through +the lanes of any one of the surrounding pueblos would have revealed to +him a state of hostility and a longing for his overthrow which might +have taught him something for the future. + +In the palace was luxurious living; fruits of the warmer climate, and +even fresh fish from the Gulf, it is said, were brought by swift-footed +runners up the steep path that the steam-engine now requires fourteen +hours to climb; music and the enjoyment of society, occupied leisure +hours. The state correspondence of the Aztec court consisted in picture +writings brought by messengers from all parts of the country, depicting +in realistic forms the events requiring attention. Montezuma could go to +the lovely Grasshopper Hill over the fine causeway under the aqueduct +built by his ancestors; not as the gay, fashionable world now makes the +excursion on horseback before breakfast, for air and exercise, but +carried in a palanquin by four strong bearers. It has been thought that +the Aztec kings had a royal villa at Chapultepec; but the wise men have +given that up now, because they find no traces of any. Lately, however, +have been discovered fragments of the effigy of Ahuitzotl, Montezuma's +uncle and predecessor, who was doubtless buried there. It was carved in +half-relief, a full-length figure life-size, stretched out on a ledge of +natural rock. The carving is much mutilated, the top having been blasted +off apparently, but beneath, distinctly visible, is the date +corresponding to 1507, with the name, Ahuitzotl. + +This chieftain died in 1502. The monument was erected therefore by the +direction of his successor, Montezuma, in the spot well-beloved by all +generations of Aztecs, under the trees protected and guarded by them. + +There is now standing an ancient cypress, or _ahuehuete_, huge among the +other great trees of the grove, which goes by the name of Montezuma's +cypress. Its gnarled trunk must measure more than ten feet across, and +its branches themselves are as big as trees. The leaves of this great +tree are small and delicate, like those of the acacia; they hang from +slender stems drooping over the great limbs down to the ground. Long +trailing gray moss now droops from the branches, which, with the dense +foliage, shuts out the rays of the sun, so that a gloomy half-light +pervades the place. Perhaps it was more cheerful in the heyday of +Mexico, or did coming events cast their shadows before, as Montezuma +paced those silent alleys? + +It may well have been, for misfortunes began to obscure the sky of his +prosperity like little clouds coming up on the horizon. His almost +constant wars were not always successful. Each victory left behind it +bitterness and discontent, so that the same field had soon to be fought +over again. In 1516, Nezahualpilli, the wise sovereign of Texcuco, who +had always been a safe and strong adviser of the Aztec king, during his +long reign of forty-four years, left the kingdom to the eldest of four +sons, Cacamatzin; the honor was coveted by another son, Ixtlilxochitl, +who contested the throne. Montezuma took the side of Cacamatzin, as +rightful heir, in a civil war. The matter was settled by a division. +Cacamatzin kept that part of the kingdom of the Aculhuas which stretched +south of the capital Texcuco; while his rebellious brother obtained the +part towards the north, among the mountains. This division of the +kingdom becomes important to us by and by. + +About this time all minds in Anahuac were occupied by sinister presages, +constantly repeated, of dreadful events soon to occur. Temples were in +flames, comets appeared unexpectedly; there were inundations, +earthquakes all over the land, and the people dreamed strange dreams. + +Above all hovered the rumor that men of great stature, white and with +beards, were on their way to subjugate all the nations of the earth. +This rumor was perfectly in accordance with the universal tradition +about Quetzalcoatl (the Bright Shining Serpent), the bearded white man, +clothed in raiment covered with crosses, who had taught the Toltecs awe, +industry, and skill. He predicted with supreme authority before he +disappeared from them, the arrival of men white and bearded as he was, +who would take possession of the country, and destroy their temples and +their gods. + +This event was a part of the Mexican belief, a something in the future +to be hoped for in a certain way, yet dreaded as the inception of great +changes in the manners of the people. The races subjugated by the power +of Montezuma might look forward to the coming of the strangers as to +deliverance; but that monarch himself became penetrated with the +conviction that his wealth and prosperity were to disappear in the +course of his lifetime. + +This foreboding took possession of his mind and undermined its peace; he +became unhappy and brooded over his fate as he wandered among the gloomy +cypresses of Chapultepec. He had consulted the wise Nezahualpilli before +his death upon the meaning of the portents which pervaded the air, but +from him he had received no consolation. The sage shook his head +gravely, and when urged, confirmed his fears by translating these +prodigies as warnings of the downfall of empires. + +It might well be that these things pervaded the air, for it was +twenty-five years at the time of Nezahualpilli's death since Columbus +had set foot on American soil. The strange apparition of white men armed +with thunder and lightning, would be sure to spread from mouth to mouth +and from nation to nation. The fleet-footed messengers of the Mexican +king would be sure to bring such news along with fresh fish and fruit up +from the shores of the Gulf. And while these things were more and more +weighing upon the king's mind, there came the report, swift, certain, +and not to be denied, that men in boats had landed by the river Tabasco. + +Twenty years after the discovery of the Antilles by Columbus, these +islands were fully under the control of the Spanish. Cuba, the most +important of them, was a flourishing colony, under the administration of +Diégo Velasquez de Léon. + +In 1517, three Spanish adventurers armed three vessels of discovery at +Cuba. The governor Velasquez joined himself to this enterprise. These +explorers discovered the eastern point of Yucatan, which they named Cape +Catoche, after a wood which they heard spoken of by one of the natives. +They were filled with amazement at the civilization of the buildings and +the costumes, and hastened to land, but being received by a shower of +arrows they as quickly went back to their boats. At Campeche they were +received more kindly, and exchanged gifts with the natives. Later, +Cordova, the leader of this expedition, was wounded in an encounter with +the natives, and returning to Havana died ten days after. Velasquez +heard from the others such an account of the wealth and resources of +Yucatan, that he resolved to take possession of it. + +He sent out a little squadron in the charge of Juan de Grijalva, one of +his relatives, to make further explorations. They coasted along the +shore of Yucatan, admiring its fertile fields and the cities and +villages in the midst of them, soon arriving at the mouth of the Tabasco +River. At first the natives seemed inclined to give them a rough +reception, but Grijalva propitiated them by friendly messages, and on +disembarking met a brilliant reception. Green copal was burnt before +him, in the way of incense, and the natives brought him game, fish, and +corn-bread. The prince made him a present of some gold necklaces and +ornaments carved in the shape of birds and lizards. + +Grijalva and his followers came next into the country belonging to the +Mexican crown, and saw for the first time the royal standard of +Montezuma, with the nopal and the eagle. They now for the first time +began to hear of this great prince, and of the riches of Anahuac. + +Such were the tidings brought to the poor Montezuma, already depressed +by vague forebodings. He received the news with positive anguish, as he +contemplated the evidences of their power. Reporters at Tabasco had +already prepared on great maguey canvasses graphic pictures of the ship +of the strangers, their costumes and arms, which were hurried with +telegraphic promptness to the great sovereign in his capital. + +The council was assembled. It met in dismay. Finally they decided to +send to the shore an embassy laden with gifts of gold, feathers, and +splendid stuffs, but bearing messages urging them not to penetrate +farther into the country, where they would be exposed to constant +danger. The messengers were charged to lay great stress on the +difficulties and perils of travel in these regions. Thus, while they +tempted with one hand full of gifts, they repulsed with the other. +Temptation and warning were for the moment unheeded. When they reached +the coast, Grijalva, who had no authority from Velasquez to involve him +in negotiations with the Aztec monarch, had sailed away. + + + + +XIII. + +CORTÉS. + + +Fernando Cortés was born in 1485 at Medellin, the principal town of the +province of Estramadura, in Spain. His father was a gentleman of old +blood, but poor. He sent his son to the University of Salamanca, but +Fernando had no taste for study, and of his own will entered the army, +with the intention of serving under the great captain Gonsalvo of +Cordova in the campaign of Naples, but an injury caused by falling from +a roof prevented his starting with the fleet. As soon as he was well +enough he set off in quest of adventure for the West Indies, then a new +and tempting discovery, and joined a relative in St. Domingo, who +happened to be governor there. This was in 1504. He passed several years +there, and in 1511 accompanied Diégo Velasquez to Cuba when the latter +was appointed to colonize that island. + +The contemporaries of Fernando Cortés draw an attractive portrait of +him. He was well built and skilful in all manly exercises. The wonderful +beauty of his glance enhanced the charm to his fine and regular +features. With unequalled bravery he combined wonderful penetration +which never failed him. He was eloquent and persuasive, with the faculty +of making himself beloved and respected by all who surrounded him, over +whom he exercised an irresistible influence. His conceptions were vast; +he never renounced a project after he had recognized it as practicable, +but he tempered his audacity of design with an extreme prudence in +execution. Reverses he endured with heroism, while he never suffered +himself to be made giddy by his successes. The inviolable fidelity which +Cortés preserved towards his legitimate sovereigns tempered his personal +ambition, great as it was, and his love of money though great did not +prevent his showing liberality when the interest of his glory demanded +it. + +This is the bright side of the picture: great defects of character +tarnish it. His acts of cruelty towards his enemies, and his greed of +plunder are not to be overlooked in forming an estimate of this +wonderful man. + +Velasquez had already sent an expedition of discovery towards the west, +and Grijalva, its leader, had entered the river of Tabasco, where he +disembarked, but, feeling he had no authority to treat with the natives, +he returned to report what he had seen and ask further instructions. + +Velasquez was displeased with Grijalva for this moderation, without +appreciating a loyalty which he regarded as stupidity; and excited by +the accounts of the new country, he resolved upon another undertaking in +the same direction. He sent to Spain to ask for wider powers, and to +obtain for himself the government of the lands he expected to conquer. +He offered the command of this expedition to several of his relatives. +They all refused it. It was then that he addressed himself to Fernando +Cortés. + +There is a story that Cortés was in love with a young lady named Doña +Catalina Juarez, who afterwards became his wife, and that the governor, +Velasquez, also devoted to the Doña, subjected his brilliant rival to a +terrible persecution, and even had him seized and put in prison, that +Cortés escaped and took refuge in the church, a few days afterwards he +was again seized, and then incarcerated in a ship with a chain about his +foot. Escaping in a skiff and afterwards by swimming he reached the +shore and again hid himself in a sanctuary. In the end he married Doña +Catalina, goes this tale, was reconciled with the governor, and made +Alcalde of Santiago de Cuba. + +However this may have been, Cortés received and accepted the commission +now offered. His reputation for bravery and great popularity gathered +about him young and old, the bold spirits of Cuba, some among them +former companions of Grijalva in his expedition; Bernal Diaz, the first +historian of the Conquest, Olid, Alvarado, and other men of the greatest +bravery, destined to play great parts in the epic of the New World. + +Velasquez, even before the departure of his commander, began to distrust +him, jealous again of his great powers, but they parted on good terms, +and Cortés embarked at San Jago de Cuba on the 18th November, 1518. He +had not gone far when an emissary of Velasquez was sent after the +expedition to arrest Cortés, but encouraged by his companions, who +urged him to remain at their head, he sent off the messenger and started +without taking any further notice of the jealousy of his chief. + +The squadron of Cortés was composed of eleven small vessels. There were +110 sailors, 553 soldiers, of which thirteen were armed with muskets, +and thirty-two with arquebuses, the others with swords and pikes only. +There were ten little field-pieces, and sixteen horses. Such were the +forces with which the bold adventurer set forth to conquer a vast +empire, defended by large armies, not without courage, according to the +report of Grijalva. But the companions of Cortés were unfamiliar with +fear. Cortés followed the same route as Grijalva. At Cozumel, an island +off Yucatan, he learned by signs from the natives that white captives, +with beards, had been lately seen by them. Cortés left a letter for +these men with a boat and some soldiers, and the result was their +finding a white man named Jérome d' Aguilar, whom they restored to +liberty. He told them that he was a native of Ecija, in Spain, +ship-wrecked in 1511, seven years before. Thirteen of his companions +escaped drowning and starvation, only to be exposed to the danger of +being eaten by Mayas, from which also they escaped by the toleration of +a cacique, who treated them well. All the rest died but one, and this +one refused to join Cortés, having a wife and children, his face +tattoed, and wearing ear-rings. He preferred to continue in the way of +life first forced upon him, but Aguilar gladly joined the adventurers, +and proved a valuable acquisition, for though he knew but little of the +country, he had much to tell of the manners and customs of the people, +and moreover served as interpreter, of which the commander was in sore +need. During his long captivity, Aguilar had acquired the language of +the country, and could now bring Cortés into communication with its +inhabitants. + +At the Tabasco River, which the Spanish called Rio de Grijalva, because +that explorer had discovered it, they had a fight with some natives who +resisted their approach. These natives fought bravely, but the +fire-arms, and above all the horses, which they conceived to be of one +piece with their riders, caused them extreme terror, and the rout was +complete. According to Spanish tradition, the Christian soldiers saw at +the opening of the battle their patron, Saint James, mounted on a white +horse, and fighting for them. This not only inspired them with bravery, +but their adversaries with fear, so that they fled in alarm. The native +prince, overcome, sent gifts to the conqueror, and, without much knowing +the extent of his agreement, acknowledged himself as vassal of the king +of Spain, the most powerful monarch of the world. + +Cortés passed in this place Palm Sunday, urging Aguilar, who called +himself a deacon of the church, to explain to the prince and the lords +of the land the mysteries of religion, and to make them comprehend the +vanity of worshipping idols. The anniversary was then solemnized, with +high mass, received with grave reverence by the natives, much impressed +by the ceremonies of the strange religion. + +Meanwhile a brief calm had settled over the court and capital of +Mexico. The white-faced strangers had left the coast, and it was to be +hoped they might never come back. The nobles took up their train of +pleasure and the common people went on with their peaceable, happy +lives, floating over the canals with their produce-laden, flower-heaped +boats, singing low chants of the past in a melancholy, minor key, +peculiar to the Mexican music. + +But one day, in the end of March, 1519, swift messengers came up the +steep ascent between the tropical flat shore and the cool plateau of +Anahuac, and demanded instant audience with the king. Montezuma knew +well what was coming. During the interval since the departure of the +white men, he had felt that it was only a respite, and that the terror +of their presence was only a premonition of worse things to come. So he +received the messengers with a calm smile, and simply said to them: +"Speak." These messengers were wonderfully well informed. Without giving +the precise details we now know, they could describe the conflict, the +terror of the Tabascans, and above all the strange animals, unlike any +thing they had seen before, which bore their riders into battle, +perhaps, in fact, a part of the same machinery, turning, plunging, +advancing as if by magic, and, as they thought, invulnerable to all +weapons. Also the thunder and lightning of the new-comers was something +supernatural, destructive flashes of fire under their control, +accompanied by a bursting sound, and followed by instant death. + +These tidings appeared incredible, yet must be believed, and, what was +more, acted upon. The king, after due counsel with his advisers, +resolved to send envoys, as before, to the strangers. The presents +prepared for Grijalva, which had reached the shore too late, were, alas! +all ready. To these were now added the ornaments used in the decoration +of the image of Quetzalcoatl, on days of solemnity, regarded as the most +sacred among all the possessions of the royal house of Mexico. + +Cortés accepted the rôle of Quetzalcoatl and allowed himself to be +decorated with the ornaments belonging to that god without hesitation. +The populace were convinced that it was their deity really returned to +them. A feast was served to the envoys, with the accompaniment of some +European wine which they found delicious. + +The adventurers landed on Good Friday, and celebrated Easter on shore +with great pomp and solemnity. The intendant of the province brought +offerings to the great stranger, and presents were exchanged. Cortés +sent to Montezuma a gilt helmet with the message that he hoped to see it +back again filled with gold. During the feast native painters were busy +depicting every thing they saw to be shown to their royal master. The +bearer of this gift and communication, returning swiftly to the court, +reported to the monarch that the intention of the stranger was to come +at once to the capital of the empire. Montezuma at once assembled a new +council of all his great vassals, some of whom urged the reception of +Cortés, others his immediate dismissal. The latter view prevailed, and +the monarch sent, with more presents to the unknown invader, benevolent +but peremptory commands that he should go away immediately. Having sent +off the messenger, poor Montezuma retreated to the depths of his palace +and refused to be comforted, foreseeing that the great empire of Anahuac +was about to fall. + +Meanwhile the Spanish camp was feasting and reposing in huts of cane, +with fresh provisions, in great joy after the weariness of their voyage. +They accepted with enthusiasm the presents of the emperor, but the +treasures which were sent had an entirely different effect from that +hoped for by Montezuma; they only inflamed the desire of the Spaniard to +have all within his grasp, of which this was but a specimen. + +It was now that the great mistake in policy was apparent, by which the +Aztec chieftain had for years been making enemies all over the country, +invading surrounding states, and carrying off prisoners for a horrible +death by sacrifice. These welcomed the strangers, and encouraged their +presence, thinking they might be valuable allies against the oppressive +power of the tyrant. They made a dreadful mistake of course, for Cortés +ruined all the native populations of Mexico, while he grasped at the +wealth of Montezuma; but the extent of his daring and powers were little +imagined at his first coming. + +Cortés made himself captain-general of his forces, and established the +site of Vera Cruz, the rich city of the True Cross. While reposing here, +he was delighted to receive an invitation from the cacique of +Cempoallan, "a very fat man, and an enemy of Montezuma," says the +chronicle, to enter his domains as a friend, and visit his capital +city. + +The site of this city, a _pueblo_, is now unknown, one or two places +being attributed to it. In fact, the route of Cortés from the coast to +the interior has never been thoroughly traced. The account of the place +and his reception in it by Cortés, is now thought to be greatly +exaggerated; doubtless the satisfaction of finding himself in a place of +any comfort, and in hospitable hands, led him to depict the place with +glowing colors. He accepted the invitation with alacrity, set forth for +Cempoallan, delighted as well as were his men to leave the hot and sandy +shores of the Gulf of Mexico for higher ground, fresher air, and finer +climate. The next day they entered the city, where they were received as +the avengers and liberators of an oppressed country. The first lords of +the court, richly dressed, bearing superb bunches of flowers in their +hands, came to meet them outside the town, begging Cortés to accept the +excuses of their sovereign's health, who would receive them at home, +being obliged to give up the pleasure of coming out on account of his +extreme fatness. + +The reporters of the time of the conquest describe Cempoallan as they do +every thing else, with the glow of enthusiasm. They represent themselves +amazed at the beauty of the streets, the dazzling whiteness of the +houses, and the magnificence of the gardens. All the population came +forth to await them, throwing flowers at their feet, presenting garlands +and sometimes more valuable gifts. + +At Cempoallan, during his visit, Cortés learned of the existence of the +republic of Tlaxcalla, hostile to Mexico, and immediately resolved to +avail himself of these people if necessary. He determined, in spite of +the repeated requests of Montezuma that he should go away, to +march to Anahuac, and personally visit the monarch, and he set +forth from Cempoallan on the 16th of August, 1519, on his way to +Tlaxcalla,--probably taking the road to Jalapa. Jalapa is an old town, +over four thousand feet above the level of the sea, with a superb view +of the lofty peaks of Orizaba and the Cofre di Perote, covered always +with snow, rising behind hills and valleys and lesser mountains; it is +probable that the Spaniards regarded less the splendor of the prospect +than the difficulties it presented to their passage. + +Before leaving the sea-coast, Cortés with great resolution destroyed the +greater part of his ships by beaching them. This was to put an end to +any scheme of retreat which might have sprung up in the breasts of +discontented members of his party. Three months had now passed since he +arrived in Mexico. The ships, with the exception of one of the smallest, +were destroyed. There was no chance to turn back; and the conqueror +boldly prepared for his enterprise. + +The body of men which he called his army was composed of 415 infantry, +and 16 horses; they took with them 7 cannon. With this handful of men he +risked himself in a hostile country, inhabited by people wholly unknown +to him in manner and language. He began by destroying his only means of +escape, in case of defeat; relying only on his own courage, and the +devoted bravery of his little band. + + + + +XIV. + +MALINTZI. + + +While Cortés and his followers are resting themselves at Cempoallan, +while Montezuma is awaiting their approach with superstitious dread, we +will stop to make the acquaintance of the gentle woman who was so +important to the daring invader of the heights of Anahuac. + +She was born at Païnala, now a picturesque village buried in forests on +the borders of the Coatzacoalco River, about 1502. This pueblo, as well +as others in its neighborhood, belonged, it is said, to her father, one +of the great vassals to the crown, then worn by Montezuma II. Thus the +little duchess, for so she might be called, lived until her eleventh +year, in ease and comfort. Then her father died, and her mother, +marrying again, transferred all her maternal care and affection to a +boy, the child of the new union. In order that this boy should inherit +the family wealth and estates, reports were spread of the death of the +other child. The body of a slave who had just died was substituted for +the heiress, and the funeral celebrated with pomp. Meanwhile the +disinherited girl was given over or sold to travelling merchants, who +in their turn transferred her to the chief of the Tabascans, to whom she +became a slave. In the Tabascan kingdom she grew up, and with her great +intelligence acquired readily the Mayan language used at Tabasco without +forfeiting her native tongue, that spoken at the Aztec court. + +Like the Aztec maidens of good birth, she had been carefully trained up +to the time when she was abandoned to slavery. Her new position did not +reduce her to humiliating tasks, or forced labor, and she probably led a +happy life in the soft climate of her new home, surrounded by trees +always blossoming, rich vegetation, and new friends, who, although her +keepers, were gentle and indulgent after the manner of the Mayan tribes. + +In 1519, just as the pretty maiden was reaching her seventeenth year, +Cortés arrived at Tabasco. After the first fright of their coming was +over, followed by futile efforts at resistance, the Tabascans were +willing to make peace. A treaty of alliance was concluded, as we have +seen, and with the gifts of the chief to the conqueror, came twenty +young slave-girls, whose business it was to grind the corn to make bread +for their new masters. Cortés at once ordered that these women should be +taught the truths of the Christian religion, and among the rest the +heiress of Païnala was converted by Aguilar, and baptized by her new +name, Marina. Marina, for the Indians became Malina, as their tongues do +not accept the _R_. Afterwards Cortés himself acquired the nickname of +Malintzin, that is, the master of Malina, and with them the word +Malintzi, or Malinche, has attached itself to her as well. + +When the Spaniards again landed, a grave difficulty presented itself. +Aguilar, the interpreter, knew Mayan, but not one word did he understand +of the Aztec dialect now spoken. Suddenly one of the young women +presented by the Tabascan chief was seen conversing fluently with the +visitors who crowded round the boats of the new-comers. She was +instantly summoned by the commander, and at once became very important +as interpreter, translating for Aguilar what he could easily render into +Spanish. Through her was transmitted the first message of Montezuma to +the dreaded white woman. It makes a pretty picture--this graceful Aztec +girl standing between the two parties: on one side the Indians, richly +dressed, to impress the stranger, in robes of gay colors, adorned with +feathers and ornaments; on the other Cortés, in the armor of the time, +assuming all the haughtiness of demeanor possible; grouped about him his +band of stalwart followers, curiosity on their features, making up by +their eyes for the uselessness of their ears, which were of no use to +them for understanding what was going on. The Aztecs speak and announce +the will of their monarch. Marina, with intelligence in her glance, +listens attentively, then with her grave smile reports the matter to +Aguilar. Aguilar must have been in rags, for his long sojourn with the +Indians had brought him to a low estate. He gathers the Mayan message +from the lips of Marina translated from Nahuatl, and gives it in good +sound Spanish to the captain. His reply is conveyed by the same double +interpreting back to the messengers. The substance of the colloquy is, +on the part of Montezuma, a welcome, and lavish offering of gifts, +through which appears his unconcealed anxiety to speed the parting +guest. From Cortés the reply of scanty thanks for benefits received, and +the determination to press on to the plateau. + +If we were allowed to believe good old Bernal Diaz, the visible +testimonials of the conference needed no interpreter. The gifts of the +messengers are described as splendid--shields, helmets, cuirasses +embossed with pure gold ornaments, sandals, fans, crests of gaudy +feathers interwoven with gold and silver threads, and strewed with +pearls and precious stones. The helmet sent back by Cortés had come +again filled to the brim with grains of gold. + +Two round plates of gold and silver, as big as carriage wheels, excited +the most delight. The gold one represented the sun, and was richly +carved with plants and animals. Where are all these things now? So +utterly disappeared that many people believe they only existed in the +imagination of the chronicler of the Conquest. + +No wonder that such startling treasures proved an invitation more potent +than the twice translated prayer to go away which accompanied them. + +The Spaniards were impatient to move at once. Cortés, charmed with the +grace and intelligence of the young interpreter, encouraged her by every +sign of favor, and she, young, forlorn, deserted, expanded under the +warmth of his kindness and flattery. In a very short time she acquired +enough Spanish to interpret directly for her lord and master, who became +the object of her intense adoration. + +Marina was very beautiful, according to the description of the Spanish +chroniclers. If she were at all like the descendants of her race, she +wore, doubtless, a white loose garment, embroidered in the square neck +and sleeves with red; her black hair was braided in two long tresses +interwoven with pearls and coral. Her slightly copper-colored tint was +clear enough for a soft play of rose in her cheeks; her large soft eyes +beamed, and her white teeth flashed as she smiled; while, for the most +part, her oval face remained grave, almost sad, in its expression. She +was slight, graceful, with small hands and feet. + +From this time forward Malintzi was always at the side of the conqueror, +aiding him not only as interpreter, but with her surprising vigilance, +and perception of the tendency of events due to the knowledge of the +natives. She was always full of courage, and had the endurance of a man, +sharing all the sufferings of the little army with patience and even +gayety. In fact, she had never been so happy before, and the hardships +of the camp were nothing compared with the trials of her earlier life. +She witnessed the slaughter of her countrymen with grief, and interceded +always in favor of the conquered; but no thought of patriotism troubled +her mind as she deliberately surrendered the land to the hands of its +enemies. + +Later, Malintzi lived to contemplate the ruin she had helped to make, +in a time when she had outlived the brief happiness of her sojourn with +the Conquistadores. But we will leave her now, full of joy, affection, +courage, the proudest, most useful of petted interpreters, in order not +to anticipate the current of the story. + + + + +XV. + +TLAXCALLA. + + +As we have seen, the little province of Tlaxcalla was situated in an +isolated position among the mountains, holding itself independent, and +always hostile to the Confederates of the Valley, as the Mexicans and +their allies are now called. The Conquistadores describe it as a +formidable state, bearing the name of a republic, of ancient origin and +advanced civilization. They speak of its capital as a splendid city, +divided into four quarters, each governed by an hereditary chieftain, +who exercised his authority over a number of dependent villages assigned +to him. They give to the little republic, which contained scarcely fifty +square miles, the dignity of a confederacy of four separate states with +one common head. + +In this constant exaggeration we must remember that Cortés was in the +hands of the interpreters, one of them Malintzi, who may have used the +word for republic when she meant tribe, and splendid city instead of +pueblo. We may allow ourselves to think that. + +The Tlaxcallans were an orderly, excellent people; to gain the +friendship of such a tribe was highly important to the Spanish +conqueror. To their loyalty and good faith he applied the arts of his +eloquence and bravery, and awaited at a distance the results of an +embassy which he sent forward. There was a stormy discussion in the +councils of Tlaxcalla, between the chiefs who welcomed allies against +their great enemy, Montezuma, and those who feared the intervention of +unknown warriors, come from afar, of whose intentions they had no means +of judging. Those which prevailed were for a third course, by which a +trap was laid for the Spaniards without implicating at first the +Tlaxcallans. + +Cortés, impatient of delay, pressed forward without waiting for his +answer, and found himself, September 2, 1519, before an army of Otomis, +a tribe friendly to the Tlaxcallans, whom they had persuaded to attack +the strangers, without mixing in the fight themselves. Cortés easily +repulsed this savage band, and without pressing his advantage, again +attempted negotiations with the republic; but by this time a haughty +message was returned to him that "the strangers which the sea had thrown +up could come if they chose to the great city, to become sacrifices to +the gods and served up at a sacred festival." Cortés, of course, was +firm, and on the 5th of September, 1519, took place the first real +struggle between the army of the old world, which in this case appeared +the new one, and the brave descendants of an ancient race. + +The Tlaxcallans, led by the young and brave General Xicotencatl, fought +bravely, but the result was in favor of the little band of Spaniards, +after a hot contest of but four hours. The Tlaxcallans returned to +their city, and consulted their oracle. The head priest pronounced that +their enemies were children of the sun, and invincible during the day, +while their father was shining in the sky, but that by night they would +lose their strength and be like other mortals. + +The next night, encouraged by this divine decree, an attack was made, +but Cortés was on his guard. The enemy, who, relying on their priests, +had imagined they were marching to certain victory, took flight, in +abject terror. + +After this, the Tlaxcallans made no further resistance. Peace was +solemnly concluded, and the republic recognized as a vassal to the crown +of Castile, pledging itself to sustain Cortés in all his expeditions. +Mass was celebrated, and the conclusion of the treaty was an occasion of +great joy. This alliance was absolutely important to Cortés. The +Tlaxcallans remained to the end faithful to it; later on, without their +support, and their chief city to fall back upon, the conqueror must have +inevitably failed in his enterprise. + +The Tlaxcallans consented to accept the God of the Christians, but were +unwilling to give up their old protecting divinities for fear of +appearing ungrateful to them. Cortés insisted upon the abolition of +human sacrifices, and himself made a chapel in the palace assigned to +him and erected in it the cross. The first mass celebrated there +attracted immense crowds, and many natives, especially young girls of +good birth, were voluntarily baptized. + +The Conquistadores entered Tlaxcalla the 22d of September, receiving +demonstrations of the greatest friendship. Here Cortés rested awhile, +but only in order to cement his good relations, and to obtain +information how best to proceed. He himself is said to have been so ill +from fever that he could hardly keep his seat in the saddle, but this +man of iron habitually disregarded the troubles of the flesh. + +His next step was to Cholula, where he was received with apparent +cordiality; but Malintzi's vigilance discovered a plot for the +destruction of the Spanish army. Cortés resolved to punish this +treachery by an example. He collected all the principal Cholultecas in a +large court, accused them of perfidy, and, without listening to +explanations, put them to general slaughter, so that "in two hours," +according to the letter of Cortés describing the affair, "perished more +than three thousand natives." The body of the Tlaxcallans who had joined +themselves to this expedition, gathered rich booty from it, and returned +home well content with the prowess of their new ally. + +Cortés then issued a general pardon. Calm returned to the streets of +Cholula, and the people of the surrounding villages poured in to do +honor to the terrible conqueror. Emissaries from Mexico, who witnessed +this bloody triumph, were not slow to describe it to their sovereign, +who became more and more frightened and despairing. + +Cortés stayed two weeks in Cholula, before setting out again for Mexico. +It was thus early that he received overtures of alliance from +Ixtlilxochitl, king of a portion of Texcuco, who was in constant warfare +with his brother Cacamatzin. These young men, it will be remembered, +were nephews of Montezuma, who, in the quarrel between them had defended +the cause of Cacamatzin, so that the neglected brother detested him. +Like all the rest of Montezuma's kindred who played into the hands of +his enemy, Ixtlilxochitl had later reason to regret his hasty +recognition of the stranger, who came to seize and adopt for his own +every thing, regardless of small quarrels and petty animosities. This +early alliance with one of the neighboring chiefs was of great advantage +to Cortés though he scarcely understood then its importance. + +Ixtlilxochitl sent ambassadors as far as Tlaxcalla to invite Cortés to +pass through his territory on his way to Mexico. Cacamatzin, on the +other hand, indignant at the disregard shown to the wishes of his royal +uncle by the Europeans, hastened to Texcuco, resolved to collect an army +and declare war against them, but Montezuma, with a faithlessness not to +be excused by his terror, himself set an ambuscade for his nephew, and +handed him over to Cortés, who had him loaded with chains and +imprisoned. + +Through the influence of Montezuma, Cortés allowed a third son of the +late King Nezahualpilli to occupy his throne. This was Cuicuicatzin, +twelfth king at Texcuco. He was loyal to the Spaniards. It would seem +that he stayed by them even through the terrors of the _noche triste_; +and that returning to Mexico after that sad night, being considered, +with some reason, to be a spy of the Spaniards, he was killed by the +order of the successor of Montezuma. + +Followed by a horde of Cholulans and Tlaxcallans, Cortés set out on his +difficult journey across the plateau, impeded by tempests and +sandstorms. The view they got of the fair valley of Mexico made them +forget all their fatigues. At their feet were noble forests; farther on +they saw cultivated fields, and in the centre of an immense fertile +basin the lakes, bordered with cities and villages; in the middle of the +panorama was the city, Mexico the Proud, resting upon its waters, and +crowned with towers and pyramidal temples. Above the capital rose, on +the hill Chapultepec, the favorite resort of the Mexican monarch, +surrounded by its great cypresses. Farther off was seen Texcuco, not +less fair than Tenochtitlan, and, round about all, the girdle of +irregular mountains which enclose and form this incomparable picture. + +Cortés was seized with enthusiasm at the sight. This was his promised +land. Boldly he pressed onward to success, in spite of his feeble means. + +At Ayotzinco, Cacama came forth to meet the strangers, King of Texcuco, +loyal to Montezuma, a splendid young man of twenty-five, richly dressed. +He brought presents for the invaders, but urged them even then to turn +back. Cortés replied with courtesy but firmness that nothing would deter +him from entering Mexico. "In that case," replied Cacama, "I will return +to the court"; and without any thing which could be considered an +invitation, he withdrew with his suite. + +On the 8th of November the Spaniards found themselves on the great +avenue leading to the capital. Here Montezuma came to meet them with +the greatest splendor, of costume and retinue. Magnificent carpets were +spread on the ground, the monarch descended from his palanquin with a +bouquet in his hand, supported on either side by his brother and nephew. +Cortés approached him with respect and put about his neck a chain of +gold ornamented with paltry colored beads. + +Montezuma, calm and dignified at this critical moment, welcomed Fernando +to his capital, where the gods had long announced his coming. Then he +entered his palanquin again, leaving the two princes to escort the +Spaniards to the palace he destined to receive them. + +The adventurers followed with their eyes the royal _cortége_ as it +vanished along a wide street which they describe as lined with sumptuous +palaces. No one was looking on in the streets, and the silence of death +reigned in the city. By royal command the whole population abstained +from coming out to welcome these audacious intruders. + +Cortés understood the lesson, and it is said that he then and there made +a vow, that if he should escape safely from this enterprise he would +erect a church upon that very spot. + +He built in fact later the hospice and church of Jesu-Nazareno--in +compliance with this vow. + + + + +XVI. + +LA NOCHE TRISTE. + + +The ancient palace of Axayacatl was prepared to receive the strangers, +within whose walls were ample accommodations for the leaders of the +little host. + +Cortés proceeded at once to explore the capital, its paved causeways and +lagoons. He devoted himself to gaining the friendship of Montezuma, and +strove to incline him to embrace the Catholic religion and become a +subject of the king of Spain. The bewildered king listened to these +persuasions, transmitted to him through the lips of Malintzi-Marina, +with amazement and dread. He scarcely understood the import of the +words, and the doctrine of the Cross, thus suddenly presented to him, +was only a puzzle. Cortés had but little patience with his pupil. His +own situation was full of peril, in the midst of a large population who +showed no cordiality towards the Spaniards. He resolved upon the bold +measure of seizing the person of Montezuma. + +Having found a pretext for a visit, Cortés waited on the monarch in his +palace. An audience was readily granted. He was graciously received by +Montezuma, who entered into light conversation through the interpreters, +and gave little presents to the Spanish general and his attendants. He +readily listened to the complaints brought by Cortés against certain +caciques who had killed some Spaniards. Cortés then coolly suggested +that it would be better for Montezuma to transfer his residence to the +palace occupied by the Spaniards, as a sign to his people of his perfect +confidence, as well as a proof to the king and master of Cortés that he +was loyal to the strangers. + +Montezuma listened to this proposal with looks of profound amazement. He +became pale under his dark skin, but in a moment his face flushed with +resentment; and he utterly declined the proposal. The visit was +prolonged in discussion and persuasion, always gentle on the part of +Cortés, but one of his companions, Velasquez de Léon, to cut short the +matter, proposed seizing the king, with such fierce note and gesture, +that Montezuma, alarmed, asked Marina what had been said. She strove to +explain the exclamation in a gentle fashion, and besought him so +tenderly to yield, that the poor king finally consented to quit his own +palace and allowed himself to be led away. With their sovereign thus in +his power, Cortés, with his wonderful tact and resource, might have +succeeded in his plan of peaceably subjugating the Mexicans, but +unfortunately at that time he had to leave the capital for Vera Cruz, +where Narvaez, an emissary from the governor of Cuba, had just landed, +with directions to dispossess Cortés of his command. The affair took +only a little while, for Cortés surprised the new-comer in his own +quarters at Cempoallan, routed him entirely, and carried off to join +his own troops the forces sent against him from Cuba, a very timely +addition, especially the horses, of which he was greatly in need. + +This despatched, he returned in all haste to Mexico, which he had left +in the hands of Don Pedro de Alvarado, whose unflinching bravery was +spoiled by his cruel and sanguinary temper. Entirely lacking the good +judgment of Cortés, he had in his absence involved the Spaniards in +ruin. The month of May had arrived, in which the Mexicans were +accustomed to hold a great festival in honor of Huitzilopochtli. By this +time, the supremacy of the Spaniards had become so established, through +the weakness of Montezuma that they asked the permission of Alvarado to +have it. He consented, but in the middle of the night, when they were +all assembled in the temple, unarmed and carelessly engaged in dancing +and the festive ceremonies of the occasion, Alvarado entered with fifty +Spaniards and in wholesale destruction killed them all. The population +arose, and when Cortés came back he found Alvarado and the army besieged +in their quarters and at the point of being overcome by the enraged +populace. + +Cortés, in dismay, disgusted with the folly of his lieutenant, knew not +how to escape from its result. For several days the Mexicans attacked +the Spaniards in their head-quarters. Cortés made several sallies and +engaged in terrible combats with compact masses of the natives, but +always had to retreat to his quarters, with losses that daily diminished +his small army. + +At last he persuaded Montezuma to ascend to the _azotea_, a flat roof of +the palace, in order there to address his subjects and exhort them to +suspend the attack. With repugnance the humbled monarch yielded, and +emerged on the parapet. Opposite to him, he could easily discern +animating the crowd who surged below, Cuitlahuatzin, his own brother, +according to custom the general in chief, and probable successor to the +throne. + +Montezuma was clothed in his imperial robes; his mantle of white and +blue flowed over his shoulders, held together by a rich clasp of green +stone. Emeralds set in gold profusely ornamented his dress. The royal +diadem was on his brow, and golden sandals on his feet. He was preceded +by the golden wand of office, and surrounded by a few Aztec nobles. His +presence was instantly recognized by the people, and a sudden change +came over the scene. A death-like stillness pervaded the whole assembly, +so that the voice of the monarch was distinctly heard. He addressed the +people mildly, but when they found that he was urging mercy toward the +stranger, the calm was turned to fury, the populace redoubled its cries +and threats, and arrows and stones were aimed even at the Emperor, one +of which wounded him fatally in the head. + +The unhappy prince was borne to his apartment below. He had tasted the +bitter cup of degradation. It may have been the simple effect of the +wound, or his despair, which determined him to tear off the bandages, +or, as the Aztecs think, a Spanish dagger which finally despatched him. +Not many days after this supreme insult by his people, he died on the +30th of June, 1520. + +Due respect was shown to his memory; his body was committed to the +charge of his subjects, and borne by nobles, it is said, to Chapultepec, +to be laid among the tombs of his ancestors, under the sad _ahuehuetes_. +At least, this is the received account. A Mexican story says that on the +night of the departure of the Spaniards the corpse of the monarch was +dashed to pieces, by his enraged people, upon a tortoise of stone which +stood in a corner of the palace of Axayacatl. And here, say the +_indios_, wanders the melancholy spirit of Montezuma, under the gloomy +cypress, restless and unable to sleep the sleep of death, lamenting the +lost Tenochtitlan and the happy days of the Aztecs. Here comes also +Malintzi, whom, when she meets him, the sad shade accosts: "Why, +Malintzi, didst thou betray me to the stranger why didst thou plead with +me for his cause?" + +And the other sighs and wrings her hands and asks herself the same vain +question. + +There are other shadows, too, that frequent the moss-hung alleys of +Chapultepec, but these are creatures of a later day and unheeded by the +sorrowful phantoms of the victims of the Conquest. + +As this is the story of the Mexicans, and not of the Conquest only, and +as moreover that period of Mexican history is fully elsewhere described, +we must pass slightly over the continued adventures of Cortés. + +When the adventurer saw that the presence of the monarch had produced no +good effect upon his subjects, he withdrew to head-quarters, and after a +consultation with his captains, resolved to abandon the city and to cut +a passage for himself and his army, through the enraged assemblage of +his enemies. This difficult and dangerous task was effected on the night +of July 1, 1520. + +It was impossible to conceal so great a movement from the Mexicans. As +soon as they became aware of it, they attacked the little army on its +march, destroyed bridges before them, while suddenly the lagoons were +covered with canoas from which showered arrows upon the Spaniards. Many +soldiers were killed or drowned. They set out loaded with booty which +they had seized in their palace, and their treasures impeded their +progress, so that every Spaniard had to choose between abandoning these +precious objects or saving his life. Quantities of gold and precious +things according to the report, were thrown into the canals. + +Cortés, himself under a thousand dangers, succeeded in effecting his +escape from the city to a spot where, under a large tree, he threw +himself down to rest, and there reviewed the whole extent of his +misfortune, recognized the loss of his most faithful and bravest +companions, and faced the maimed condition of the last of his army. +Tears came to the eyes of the bold commander, and for a moment all his +vigor and energy abandoned him. + +Some few of his companions, however, were left to him. Alvarado, on whom +rests the real blame in this disaster, had escaped by a miraculous leap +across a breach in the causeway which it was necessary to pass. Pressing +his long lance firmly on the bottom of the shallow lake, strewed with +wrecks of every sort, he sprang across the chasm to the amazement of the +beholders. Several others were there, and above all, Marina was safe in +the hands of some Tlaxcallans who had faithfully protected her. + +This fearful escape is called universally the _Noche triste_. The tree +under which Cortés sat and wept is a venerable cypress still alive. It +has been in perfect health until a few years ago, when a fire was +lighted underneath it, by some foolish pic-nic party, which burned into +its huge trunk. Since then an iron railing has been put up to protect +it. The picturesque old Church of San Esteban stands near it. It is at +Popotla, a suburb of the modern city easily attained by tram-cars, +through crowded modern streets, where nothing is to be recognized of the +calzadas of the Aztecs. The line of houses is broken in one place on the +way to Popotla by a space shut in with a low wall and iron grating. +Here, says tradition, is the very point in the causeway where Alvarado +leaped the breach. As there is no indication nor tradition of the actual +width of the chasm, our wonder is without any limit. + +Cortés did not allow himself time to repose or despair. As the dawn +broke he mounted his horse, and gathering together such stragglers as he +could find, he led them out into the country to the Cerro of +Otoncalpolco, now the Sanctuary de los Remedios. Here, weary and +discouraged as he was, he attacked with his little band the natives who +were defending the teocalli there was there, and drove them out. In this +shelter he took care of his wounds and those of his men, and united the +dispersed remnants of his army. + +This sanctuary is now the abode of an image of the Holy Virgin, of which +the legend is that it was brought to Mexico by one of the soldiers of +Cortés, and that during the first stay of the Spaniards in Tenochtitlan +it was permitted to be set up in a shrine of the great teocalli among +the Aztec gods. It was carried thence on the fatal _Noche triste_, by +its possessor, when he sought shelter in this very temple with the rest +of the shattered Spanish army. And there he left it hidden under a +maguey, being too sorely wounded to carry it farther, where it was found +and made an object of veneration. + +The accounts of losses in this conflict are varying. According to our +present authority, the Spaniards lost four hundred and fifty men, +twenty-six horses, and about four thousand allied Indians. On the +Mexican losses it is impossible to speculate, but the artillery and +fire-arms of their enemies must have made frightful havoc in the crowds +of people who swarmed through the streets during the night. + + + + +XVII. + +CONQUEST. + + +The Mexicans drew a long breath after the departure of the enemy. It is +true their emperor was ignominiously slain, covered with the contempt +and scorn of his own subjects. His two sons, whom Cortés carried with +him as prisoners, perished in the flight. The streets ran with blood and +were strewn with corpses. The beautiful city was defaced, the causeways +shattered, the bridges destroyed, and many of the houses burnt down. But +it was freed from the odius presence of the stranger, who they imagined +would never return. In fact the Aztecs conceived him and his army to be +absolutely annihilated. They set about restoring their tumbled down gods +to their places, and contemplated appeasing Huitzilopochtli for the +indignity with which he had been treated, by a new course of sacrifices. + +Cuitlahuatzin, brother of Montezuma, was elected emperor. He had fought +valiantly in the struggle, and shown heroic courage in driving Cortés +from the capital, which it was his determination to enforce. He began +the slow task of gathering the army together, and bringing order out of +confusion, but a few days only after the great battle, he was attacked +by small-pox. This disease, never before known among the Aztecs, was one +of the misfortunes bequeathed to them by the Spaniards. A negro, who had +just come up with Cortés, on his return from Vera Cruz, one of his +recruits belonging to Narvaez, had the malady, and died of it, spreading +contagion in the capital. + +Cuahtemoc succeeded, the thirteenth and last king. He was of a different +stock, the sons of Axayacatl all being destroyed, of the family of the +friendly kings of the little neighboring state of Tlaltelolco. He +embraced with enthusiasm the cause of his country, and attacked +vigorously the work of restoration. He was but little more than twenty +years old. + +The tranquillity of the capital was but brief. In less than a week +rumors came that the terrible white warrior was not killed, but alive, +strong and determined as ever. Many of the Aztecs conceived him to be +immortal, and it is scarcely to be wondered at. Cortés had gathered +together the little remnant of his army, who crept along a winding route +north of the city absolutely ignorant of their way, and what they might +encounter. When light came, so that they were observed, stones and +arrows were aimed at them by chance natives from above. For several days +and nights they slowly advanced, living on the few ears of maize they +found; for all provision was carried off from the deserted villages they +passed through by the inhabitants as soon as they saw them approach. +Cortés was always brave, cheerful, and even encouraging in these dark +days. In this toilsome march seven days were passed, and then they came +upon the strange pyramid of the sun and moon, at San Juan Teotihuacan, +supposed to be the work of the earliest dwellers upon Anahuac, older +than the Toltecs. These they make no mention of in their narrative, and +we may well suppose they scarcely noticed them, for a sight more +impressive and awe-inspiring soon after met their eyes, as they turned +the crest of a ridge they had been climbing,--a full-fledged army +stretched out before them, filling up the valley of Otumba, and giving +it the appearance of being covered with snow, for the warriors were +dressed in white cotton mail. + +Cuitlahua had lost no time. As soon as he heard of the survival of the +invader's army, he wasted not a moment. No puerile fear, no fatalistic +paralysis restrained his understanding. Ably seconded by the warriors of +the army, now roused to the importance of the occasion, he gathered a +noble army. Every chief took the field with his whole force, and in a +wonderfully short space of time a large army was collected and marched +against the fugitives, having learned their course among the mountains. + +[Illustration: PYRAMID AT TEOTIHUACAN] + +The Spaniards were but a handful, and the few Tlaxcallans who were with +them increased the force but little. Gathering themselves together, they +dashed directly into the midst of the Aztec army, on their horses, with +the intention of cutting themselves a path through the ranks. Flight, +and not conquest, was their only thought. They were soon surrounded, but +defended themselves desperately. Several hours had passed, when the +chief of the army was seen advancing on a litter, richly dressed, with +plumes upon his head, a mantle of feather-work, and the banner of +Tenochtitlan floating from his shoulders. Around him, to protect his +sacred person, were a body of young warriors, richly dressed. It was a +shining mark, and Cortés sprang towards it on his charger. Coming down +upon the prince, and overturning his bearers, he struck him through with +his lance and threw him to the ground. One of his men sprang from the +saddle, seized the banner, and gave it to Cortés quick as a flash. It +was all over in a moment. A panic ensued. The whole Mexican army fled in +confusion, convinced that they fought against odds too great, human +skill against the power of the immortals. + +The Spaniards followed up the flying army, killing right and left, and +then returned to the battle-field to gather up booty from the rich +costumes of the dead and wounded left upon the field. This was the +famous battle of Otumba, one of the most extraordinary in history, +fought on the 8th of July, 1520. This encounter at Otumba is regarded by +Baudelier as grossly exaggerated. He reduces the number of the attacking +army to a much smaller proportion, but does credit to the bravery of +Cortés and his men. He considers the episode, the fall of the +standard-bearer deciding the fight, as completely in accordance with +Indian modes of warfare. + +Whatever remained to tell the melancholy tale came back to the capital. +The inhabitants were filled with their old terror, but Cuahtemoc +retained his courage, and only made more vigorous exertions than +before, seeing that his work was not only to restore the capital, but to +prepare the country for another conflict. He collected great stores of +corn in the warehouses, fortified all the places he considered exposed +to attack, shattered the calzadas, or causeways, and got ready a large +fleet of canoas. He worked with all diligence, for he was kept well +informed of the proceedings of the enemy, and knew that Cortés had +arrived safe within the boundaries of Tlaxcalla. And, indeed, before the +end of the year the renewed attack began. + +The distance from Otumba to Tlaxcalla was short, and the Spaniards were +not further interrupted. The returned Tlaxcallans were received at home +with great honors, and in spite of the disasters of the Spaniards, they +remained faithful to the stranger. Cortés reposed among them, recovering +from his own wounds, and giving his companions time to rest and refresh +themselves. Meanwhile, he was forming new projects and drawing closer +the bond of friendship with his hosts. The wise old Maxixcatzin, his +first friend and constant supporter, died at that time, but the other +Tlaxcallans continued their favor. + +By December, only six months from his return to Tlaxcalla, Cortés had +succeeded in making a new army of respectable proportion. Ixtlilxochitl +now ruled undisturbed over the whole of Texcuco, after the death of his +brothers, who had resisted the cause of the invaders. He was the +fourteenth and last monarch of his country, of which he was the greatest +enemy, fatal to it as well as to his own race and family. From the +beginning a prudent ally of Cortés, after the retreat of the Spanish +army to Texcuco, he sent him renewed offers of aid, and raised a large +troop of soldiers for the invading army. Without them and other +indigenous bands Cortés would have been badly off. Thus increased, his +new army reached the reputed number of two hundred thousand men. With +these he came to Texcuco, by two days' march, halting at a little +village at the base of Iztaccíhuatl, the companion volcano of +Popocatepetl, which, stretched like a corpse in its shroud of +everlasting snow, bears the name of the White Woman. The Spanish army +entered Texcuco on the last day of the year, December 31, 1520, and here +was conducted to the palace of Nezahualpilli, a building spacious enough +to accommodate all the Spaniards. The town, as on his first entrance at +Tenochtitlan, was deserted, and Cortés learned that whole families were +leaving in boats and by the mountain paths. A weaker heart might have +sunk at the repetition of such intimations of dislike, but the Spanish +conqueror's heart was inflexible. Ixtlilxochitl received him with all +cordiality, and presented to him the body of fifty thousand men he had +raised, a substantial gift, which was in itself encouraging. + +It was a great advantage to Cortés to have Texcuco for his +head-quarters. He had caused to be made in Tlaxcalla thirteen +brigantines for crossing the lake. These were put together after his +arrival and launched upon the water, through a little stream which had +to be enlarged by the work of thousands of Indians, which led from the +gardens of Nezahualcoyotl to the lake. These brigantines, constructed +in part of the timbers of his own ships which he had left scuttled at +Vera Cruz, supplemented by quantities of native canoas, made a +respectable fleet. During these preparations Cortés was bringing the +whole neighborhood into his control, either by conquest or negotiation. +As we have seen, the Mexicans were by no means beloved by the smaller +powers. It was not until the latter part of May, 1521, that the regular +siege of the city of Mexico began. The first division of the army was +given to the formidable Pedro de Alvarado, called by the Mexicans +Tonatiah, which means the sun, or all powerful. The second division was +assigned to Christobal de Olid, and the third to Gonzalo de Sandoval. +These three were all his trusty companions, who had shown themselves +from the first as daring, as enduring, as invincible as himself. Only in +the characteristics of superior forethought, judgment, and tact did +Cortés exceed them. To himself he reserved the conduct of the +brigantines upon the lake. + +The whole campaign against Mexico lasted eight months, while the siege +proper was maintained for eighty days. The Spaniards attacked time and +again with their artillery, and slew thousands of Mexicans. They +penetrated even to the heart of the capital but were driven back. Cortés +himself, and all his captains, ran several times great risk of being +slain or taken prisoners. The native allies could not be, or were not, +restrained from plundering and burning houses and killing men, women, +and children. + +Upon the lake the brigantines besides assisting the land attack, +mastered and sank the canoes of the enemy in great numbers. The temples +were burned; the new images of the gods, put in place since the first +sack of the teocalli, were thrown down and hustled into the lake; whole +streets were demolished, and with their ruins the canals were filled up. + +Cortés made various propositions of peace to Cuahtemoc, but the brave +young monarch, in spite of the hunger which reigned in the besieged +city, the multitude of corpses heaped in the streets, although he saw +before him the inevitable ruin of his kingdom, was unwilling to +surrender until the supreme moment came when further resistance was +impossible. On the 13th of August, 1521, Cuahtemoc was concealed in a +_piragua_, or boat, leaving the attack, in order to command elsewhere. +His presence there was suspected and the boat followed. Just as the +pursuers were aiming their cross-bows, a young warrior, fully armed, +rose and said, "I am Cuahtemoc, lead me to your chief." On landing, he +was escorted to the presence of Cortés, who was stationed on an _azotca_ +where he could survey the combat. Marina was by his side as interpreter. +Cuahtemoc approached with a calm bearing and firm step, a noble, +well-proportioned youth, it is said, with a complexion fair for one of +his race. Without waiting to be addressed he said: "I have done my best +to defend my people. Deal with me as you will," and touching the dagger +in Cortés' belt, he added, "Despatch me at once, I beseech you." + +The wife of the captive king was now sent for; she was one of the +daughters of Montezuma, and of wonderful beauty it is said. The captive +pair were treated with kindness, rest and refreshment offered to them. + +It was the hour of vespers when the Aztec monarch surrendered. This was +the end of the contest. During that night a tremendous tempest burst on +the fallen city of Tenochtitlan. Thunder and lightning shook the +shattered teocallis and levelled them to the ground. The elements +finished what the Conquistadores had begun,--the ancient city of the +Aztecs was in ruins. + +After the surrender of Tenochtitlan, Cortés withdrew to Coyoacán, still +a picturesque old town in the suburbs of the modern city. There he +remained while the capital was rebuilt. It is said that he gave a +banquet to his captains in honor of the victory they had achieved, an +occasion made genial by some good wine which opportunely arrived just +then at Vera Cruz. The house he occupied with Marina, is still to be +seen on the northern side of the plaza of the little town. Over the +doorway are carved the arms of the conqueror, much obscured by repeated +coats of whitewash. In the church-yard is a stone cross set up on a +little mound, said to have been placed there by Cortés himself. His +first labor was to cleanse the city and dispose of the dead, then to +clear away the ruins in order to erect new buildings. The Spaniards were +greatly disappointed not to find vast treasures belonging to the Aztec +crown, which they were convinced were somewhere concealed. To his +everlasting dishonor Cortés allowed Cuahtemoc to be tortured by putting +his feet in boiling oil, in order that he might reveal where such +treasure was to be found. The king of Tlacopan was tortured also for the +same object, but with no result. Both victims were of opinion that the +precious objects so coveted by the Spaniards, if they existed at all, +must have been thrown into the lake, but the Spaniards explored in vain +the bottom of the shallow expanse and found nothing. If such treasures +were there, there they still remain. + +The country was put under military rule, although the Mexican chiefs +were allowed to retain their titles and nominal authority. Cortés +assumed the titles of Governor, Captain General, and Chief-Justice, in +all of which he was later confirmed by the King of Spain. He had next to +make sure of the subjugation of the other tribes of Anahuac. He +organized expeditions and embassies to all the peoples thereabouts, and +among others to Michoacan, where, as we have seen, was a kingdom of +strength and power, which had never surrendered to the Aztecs. Tangaxoan +II., when he heard of the conquest of Mexico, awaited his own turn with +terror. Cortés at first sent a peaceful ambassador, led by a soldier +named Montaño, who returned after some dangers with a detailed account +of the wonders of Calzonzi--the name given this monarch by the +Spaniards. Shortly afterwards Christobal de Olid was sent out with +seventy horses and two hundred foot soldiers; this force was sufficient +to subjugate the monarch and make him swear allegiance to the King of +Spain. Afterwards Calzonzi came to Mexico on a visit to Cortés; he +beheld with amazement the ruins of the great city which he had never +seen in the days of its splendor. The destruction of his hereditary +rival gave him much to reflect upon, and hastened his willingness to +accept the religion of the Conquistadores. In his ancient capital of +Tzintzuntzan there is a pathetic picture, crude and of course not +ancient, which depicts the Tarascan king accepting the cross. + +During the rule of Cortés, Tangaxoan lived peacefully, enjoying the +nominal control of his vast kingdom. In the course of three years, +Cortés greatly extended the dominion of Castile in New Spain, as it was +then called; for all his conquests were of course referred to his +sovereign, Charles V. of Spain, to whom from time to time he sent +presents of gold, specimens of the wealth of the new possessions. His +power extended as far as Honduras, where Christobal de Olid was put in +power. At a safe distance from his chief, Olid conceived the foolish +idea of asserting his personal control, and made himself king of the +colony. Olid lost his life in this attempt; and Cortés determined to go +himself to Honduras. It was on this expedition that, without knowing it, +he passed close to the ruins of the serpent city, Nachan, now Palenque. +But, as we have seen, Cortés was more in the way of making ruins on his +own account, than of regarding the mighty ones wrought by time; and had +he known of the existence of the city, it is doubtful whether he would +have stopped to cut away the massive growth in which it was concealed. +In Izancapac, a Tabascan town, Cortés suddenly ordered the death of the +three royal captives of Anahuac, whom he had brought thus far with him, +perhaps for this purpose. On the charge of a conspiracy to restore the +Aztec rule, they were hung upon a ceyba tree,--Cuahtemoc, and the kings +of Tacuba and Texcuco,--all denying any thought of conspiracy. + +This was the sad end of the life of Cuahtemoc, the last of the Aztec +kings. The rest of the native chiefs died off gradually, so that in a +few years, all the old governments of the country were obliterated. Few +of the other states discovered by the Spaniards made resistance, and +none of them any thing like that of the Mexican. Remains of various +uncivilized tribes retreated to the sierras or the deserts of the north, +where they continued for generations in perpetual war with the white +race. + +During the remainder of his life, Cortés made several voyages to Spain +to defend his interests and arrange his affairs. In Mexico he employed +the greater part of his time and fortune in the discovery of new lands +in the neighborhood of Jalisco and the western coast. Finally, +considering himself neglected and overlooked, he returned to Spain to +make one more attempt at recognition at court. He was but coldly +received by his sovereign. His time had gone by. The wonders of Peru had +eclipsed the glory of the Mexican Conquest. He was taken ill, perhaps as +much of disappointment as disease, and withdrew to Seville; afterwards +to a small town in that neighborhood, Castilleja de la Cuesta, where he +died on the 2d of December, 1547. His body was carried thence in great +state and buried in the chapel of the Dukes of Medina Sidonia. But +Cortés had ordered in his will that his bones should be brought in ten +years time from his death to Mexico, and this wish was fulfilled, and +the remains were interred at Texcuco. On the 2d of July, 1794, the bones +of the great Conquistador were placed in a marble sepulchre which had +been prepared for them in the church of Jesu-Nazareno, which he had +founded himself. Even then they did not rest, for in the first years of +the revolution, so great was the popular hatred of everything Spanish, +safety required that they should be hidden; they were secretly removed, +by the orders of the heirs of Cortés, and by last advices, they are now +at rest in Italy, in the vaults of the Dukes of Monteleone, his +descendants. + + + + +XVIII. + +DOÑA MARINA. + + +During the two years occupied, with varying fortunes, in the conquest of +Mexico, Cortés was always accompanied by Malintzi, who was indeed +indispensable to him as interpreter. Her tent was always near that of +the commander. His lieutenants treated her with consideration and +respect, always giving her the title of Doña. + +Through his reverses, and on the terrible _Noche triste_, it is said, +that Malintzi never lost her courage. She was put in charge of some +brave Tlaxcallans, by Cortés, who could not have her with him at the +head of the fray, and their devotion brought her through the wild +confusion of flight. + +The long struggle over, Cortés, as we have seen, went to live at +Coyoacán. Doña Marina was with him. + +Now she is happy. Her hero rules triumphant over millions of men. She +lives in a palace, with her guards, her maids of honor, her pages, and +esquires. The long, sad days of her youth of slavery are at an end, she +has resumed her rank. She has a son, baptized under the name of Martin +Cortés, whom she tenderly loves, and with this child and his father, +now at peace with all the vast empire he has conquered for his +sovereign, she passes a tranquil, happy life. + +Suddenly, to break in upon this dream, comes the news that Doña Catalina +Juarez Cortés has landed at Vera Cruz, and is approaching the capital. + +Very likely Cortés had forgotten to mention his marriage to Marina. +Perhaps he had forgotten it himself. But the reader will remember Doña +Catalina, the cause of the jealousy of Velasquez in the early days of +Fernando's career. It is said that his first ardor for her cooled off +after a time, and that the marriage would never have taken place but for +the persistence of the Doña. It was not happy, and the adventurer sailed +away, without regret for the cheerless home he left behind in Cuba. + +Her name was never mentioned during the long period which passed between +the landing of the Spaniards and their successful establishment in +Mexico. But the deeds of Fernando Cortés were known to all the world, +and especially sounded about in the island whence he set out. Doña +Catalina, with every right on her side, set out to join her recusant +spouse, encouraged by Diégo Velasquez, who saw with no pleasure the +continued triumphs of Cortés. + +Bernal Diaz says that Cortés hated his wife, but he dared not bring down +upon himself the wrath of the Church by ignoring her, and Doña Catalina +was received on her arrival with all the honors due to the wife of the +great conqueror. She made a splendid entrance into the capital, and at +once stepped into the position of head of his household, and succeeded +to the homage of maids of honor, pages, and esquires. + +Malintzi withdrew, persuaded of the necessity by the good father Olmedo, +who baptized her, trained her in the Christian faith, and now, in the +hour of trial, stood by her side. + +Doña Catalina was not destined to enjoy long her new state. The air of +the lofty plateau did not suit her constitution, accustomed to the lower +atmosphere of Cuba. She died suddenly. + +At Coyoacán there is a tale that Doña Catalina was drowned by her +husband, and the well is even shown to tourists into which she is +supposed to have been thrown. This legend is probably of later date than +the time of her death, but even then rumors arose that it had been a +violent one, and reports were rapidly circulated about Cortés likely to +injure his reputation and, moreover, that of the Malintzi. + +At that time Cortés was thinking of a return to Spain. He was +thirty-five, still young enough to thirst for a full recognition at home +of his great deeds. While making his preparation for departure, he heard +of the insurrection of his lieutenant Olid in Honduras, who had declared +himself independent. It was necessary for him to hasten at once to +chastise his boldness. Aguilar, the interpreter, was dead, and Cortés, +who had never troubled himself to acquire the Mexican dialects, had to +send for Marina to accompany him, as interpreter only. This caused the +rumors about the death of his wife to circulate more than before. +Cortés, warned of the danger, took a decisive step to silence all such +insinuations. At Orizaba, he caused the sudden marriage of Marina with +one of his officers, Don Juan de Jaramillo. + +Poor Marina was required to carry her devotion, her absolute obedience +to her chief, to the extreme point of marrying a man she scarcely knew. +She yielded. It is said that she never lived with her husband, but +withdrew at once to her birthplace, at Païnala, where her own family +still lived; that her guilty relatives threw themselves at her feet, +afraid that she would have them destroyed by the Spaniard. She forgave +them, and passed the rest of her life far away from the capital, in +obscurity. She died young, when Cortés was yet at the height of his +fame, before he had suffered the mortification of seeing himself +overlooked by the court of Spain. + +Not long after the expedition to Honduras, Cortés carried out his +intention of crossing to Spain. On this first visit he was, as we have +seen, received with acclamations, and loaded with praise and honors. +When he again entered Mexico, with the title of Marquess of the Valley +of Oaxaca, he brought with him a Spanish bride, Doña Juana de Zuñiga, +daughter of the second Count of Aguilar, and niece of the Duke de Bejar. + +So Malintzi, if her shade returns to wander under the _ahuehuetes_ of +Chapultepec, has her own grief to mourn, in addition to the ruin she +helped to bring upon her people. + + + + +XIX. + +INDIANS. + + +The Conquest was complete. Tenochtitlan was no more, and the Aztec kings +with their dynasty were blotted out. So were all the other independent +states of Anahuac, for if here and there a petty chieftain were allowed +still to call himself lord of his domains, it was a mere form, to keep +him and his people contented, while in reality the Spaniard controlled +every thing throughout the conquered land. The terrible war gods were +overthrown, their temples and images thrown down and hidden under +ground. Even the annals of the country, the picture-writings, which the +Spaniards imagined to be impious scrolls connected with the heathen +belief of the savages, were destroyed. Before long distinctive names of +the separate tribes were wiped out, as details of no importance, and all +the native races of the country went by the common title of Indios. + +This of course is the Spanish word for Indians, with the same source. +Columbus in seeking a new world believed that when found it would be +India, little thinking that the earth he had rightly guessed to be +round, was big enough to contain a whole continent between the western +shore of Europe and the Indies, a remote land almost fabulous for its +riches and precious stones. + +The first natives Columbus encountered in the Western World, he +therefore naturally called Indios, and this name attaches to all the +indigenous tribes of America. So the first settlers farther north, on +the shores of the Atlantic, called the red men who came to meet them +Indians. But the Red Men of the north are a distinctive race from the +Indios of Anahuac. If allied at all, they are but distant relatives. +Their color, their skulls, their brains, their manners and customs are +all different. As we have seen, the Nahuatl tribes that migrated from +Aztlan belonged, with scarce a doubt, to a people antecedent to the Red +Indians of North America. + +Nevertheless, the word Indian is so fixed in the minds of most of the +people of the United States, as belonging to the savage of the tomahawk +and war-whoop, that it is rather common to fancy the Mexican Indios to +be of the same stock. Many a reader of Prescott's "Conquest" has been +surprised to find that the natives who were terrified at the approach of +Cortés on his war-horse, were not first cousins to the Mohawks and +Algonquins whom Parkman has described. + +It is necessary to dwell on this, in order that any fair opinion should +be formed of the native races of Anahuac, belonging to the different +tribes of Indios, descendants of Tarascans, Otomies, Zapotecs, Mextecs, +Mazahuans, Popolocs, Zotzils, Mayas, etc., which now form a large part +of the population of Mexico. + +Whatever are or have been their virtues, they are wholly different from +those of the North American Red Man. Whatever their vices, they are +equally so, or if similar, similar on account of like conditions of +life. Climate, inheritance, and the vicissitudes of their fortunes, +would have caused them to be somewhat different by this time, even if +they had come from a common stock, but this is absolutely not the case, +and long before the time of the Conquest, the characteristics of the +Nahuatl race, which still cling to their present descendants, were as +strongly marked as those of the Red Man, while they were widely remote +from them. + +The indigenous inhabitants of Mexico, however, have as good a right to +the name, wholly unappropriate in either case, of _Indian_, as the +"North American Savage" has. This latter title would be totally +misapplied in connection with the native Mexicans, because for long +generations, these have been above the level of wild men. After the +Conquest, for years the Spaniards were disturbed by remaining savage +tribes who, resisting civilization, had retreated to the woods and +mountains; but these tribes have been long exterminated. Their +successor, the highway robber of roads and mountain passes, was of +another breed, imported, with other products of civilization, from old +Spain. + +The Aztec dynasty, then, was extinct, but the Aztec nation, a large +population, even after the great diminution in the wars of the Conquest, +remained on the plateau to begin a new life under the influences of +Christian rulers. The horrid rites of their old religion were utterly +done away with, relinquished, it would seem, with no great regret, by +the common people. To them there had been no glory, no gratification, in +the wholesale slaughter of the sacrifices to Huitzilopochtli. The part +of their ceremonies which appealed to their source of enjoyment was the +feasting and dancing, and general rejoicing on such occasions. + +[Illustration: EARLY POTTERY.] + +The first government of the Spaniards was a military one, whose chief +was Fernando Cortés. He had wisely surrounded himself by a body of +advisers or approvers, in the early time of founding Vera Cruz when he +established the _Ayuntamiento_, composed of his companions of the +voyage. This organization was maintained during the time of Cortés' +administration. Its duties were to found new cities, parcel out lands +and farms among the colonists, establish markets, regulate sanitary +conditions, and enforce the laws; thus standing between the natives and +new settlers, who began to enter the country. Many of the rules and +ordinances of the early Ayuntamientos are still in force. + +On account of complaints which reached the court of Spain, against the +rule thus established by Cortés, the king resolved to put the new +country in the hands of a body of magistrates who should be obeyed by +all the governors of provinces, representing the person of the monarch +and enforcing his authority. The members of the first _Audiencia_ +arrived in Vera Cruz on the 6th of December, 1528. There were five of +them; their president was Nuño de Guzman, a cruel and sanguinary man, +whose despotism left the most bitter recollections throughout the +country. With his _oidores_, as the other members were called, he +displayed the greatest cruelty toward the Indians, in direct +disobedience to his instructions, which were to treat them with the +greatest gentleness; he continued the traffic in slaves, by which he and +his Audiencia expected to enrich themselves. They quarrelled with the +ecclesiastics and religious orders, so that they were excommunicated by +the bishop, in return for which they broke up by force a religious +procession in the streets of the capital. In short, they made themselves +intolerable alike to natives and colonists. Nuño de Guzman, finding +himself thus unpopular, went away from Mexico in 1529, and paid a visit +to Michoacan, where he strove to extort quantities of gold from +Calzonzi, who, as we know, had hitherto escaped the violence of the +invaders, and was living happily in his palaces of Tzintzuntzan and +Patzcuaro, nominal sovereign of his Tarascans. + +Calzonzi could not or would not satisfy the greed of the cruel Guzman, +whereupon he was burned alive, as is shown in the same picture where he +embraces the cross, in the town-hall of Tzintzuntzan. Nuño went away +without any treasures or precious stones, and made war upon the natives +of Jalisco, founding in that country a town which he called the Holy +Ghost. This afterwards became Guadalajara, now one of the finest cities +in the whole of Mexico. + +This career of destruction and tyranny came to an end by the arrival of +the second Audiencia, sent in response to the volume of complaints which +reached the court of Spain. This second body had for its task to undo +all that the first had done. + +It published a royal decree which declared all the Indians free, and +condemned to death all those who had made slaves of them. It had the +care of diffusing instruction among the natives, and establishing the +teaching of Latin in a college founded for the education of the natives. +Its authority was used only for beneficial ends, and was of good effect +in calming the agitation caused by its predecessors. The archbishops and +bishops, by their religious character, also exercised a great influence +over both colonists and Indians, with whom they were objects of +veneration and respect. + +Complaints, however, still reached the court of Spain, which, weary of +so much dissension, resolved to send a viceroy as the supreme head of +the colony, to represent in every thing the person of the king, subject +only to the orders received from home, and controlling all affairs, +civil and military, connected with the government. Difficulties often +arose from quarrels between the viceroy and the Audiencia, and in +extreme cases the will of the latter prevailed, while advices from the +parent government were on their way from Spain; but in general the +functions of the Audiencias were from this time limited to the simple +administration of justice. + +The country of New Spain, at the time of the the arrival of the first +viceroy, had a wide extent; large tracts at that time unknown, were +afterwards explored and included in its territory, through colonization +by settlers. These lands extended over the immense prairies of the +north, and included Texas, Alta California, Louisiana, and New Mexico, +which now belong to the United States. + + + + +XX. + +THE FIRST OF THE VICEROYS. + + +Antonio de Mendoza, Conde de Tendilla, was the first viceroy sent by +Charles V. to New Spain. He arrived in the autumn of 1535. + +He belonged to the great Spanish family of Mendoza, which counted +twenty-three generations, and claimed descent from the Cid himself. +Better than this, he had a well-balanced and moderate character, and +governed the country with justice and generosity combined. He had no +intention of enriching himself by his position, but at heart put the +interests of the Spanish colonists before every other consideration, +except those of the Indians, for whose welfare he had from the first a +genuine regard. It would seem that Charles V., harassed as he was with +the intrigues and difficulties of his own empire, already revolving the +design which he put in practice later, of retiring from the world, had +himself selected for his first representative in the new country a man +whom he knew personally to be equal to the task, one not only of noble +blood, but honorable character. + +Mendoza set himself to reform the abuses which had already appeared, +protected the Indians from the humiliations which the newly arrived +Spaniards were disposed to put upon them; he stimulated all branches of +agriculture, and finding the natives were already well informed in the +cultivation of land, he encouraged them in this pursuit by all possible +efforts. + +In order to develop the growth and manufacture of wool he caused sheep +of fine breed to be brought from Spain; he encouraged the silk industry, +and all employments coming from the productions of the earth, which the +climate of Mexico greatly favors. + +Before his arrival the Franciscan brotherhood had founded several +convents. As early as 1521 Cortés, after the conquest of Tenochtitlan, +had sent home an urgent request that priests should be sent from Spain +to convert the heathen in the new province. For Cortés, through all his +undertaking, earnestly regarded his mission as a crusade against the +unbeliever; he never hesitated to destroy the temples and gods of the +Aztecs, and his first step after victory was to forcibly baptize all his +prisoners and the inhabitants of conquered cities into the Christian +religion. + +As soon as the knowledge of so wide a field was noised abroad, five +missionaries of the Franciscan order started for New Spain. One of them +was Fray Pedro, of Ghent, a nation of Flanders, who of all the early +missionaries in Mexico was the most able and zealous. He was especially +endeared to the Emperor Charles V. on account of the holiness and +usefulness of his life, and from him he was greatly aided in his work by +grants of land and sums of money. Later twelve missionaries were sent +out by order of the Emperor, and protected by a Bull from the Pope. +These "twelve apostles of Mexico," as they are usually called, arrived +in 1524. Their leader was Fray Martin de Valencia, who bore the title of +Vicar of New Spain. + +To the religious orders in Mexico is due in great measure the firm base +upon which the government of Spain was established there. The new +viceroy fully recognized this, and encouraged the foundations of +colleges and schools already undertaken by them. + +In every way he promoted the prosperity and growth of the country, and +had the satisfaction in the course of his government, which lasted +fifteen years, to see every thing bear the marks of his judgment and +enterprise. + +It was he who founded two cities which have reached great importance. +The first was Guadalajara, near the site where Nuño de Guzman had +established a town under the name Espiritu Santo, in the state of +Jalisco. Mendoza removed it from its first situation to the one it now +occupies. It has become one of the largest and most flourishing cities +in Mexico, and at the present time it is one of the most interesting, +because, as it has been until very lately remote from railroad +communication, it has preserved all the early characteristics of +Spanish-Mexican civilization which attended its foundation and first +growth. There may still be seen many customs and peculiarities of old +Spanish life, which are fast disappearing from the Peninsula. The +citizens are well educated, highly cultivated, with the manners of the +pure hidalgo, and the houses contain relics and mementos of the past of +Mexico, such as are nowhere else to be found. + +Mendoza also founded the city of Valladolid, in the late kingdom of +Michoacan, of which the poor King Calzonzi had lately been sacrificed to +the greed of Nuño de Guzman. This latter received the just punishment +for his cruelty. He was imprisoned in 1537, and shortly after died, "in +misery and oblivion," says the chronicle. + +The large province of Michoacan, now one of the states of Mexico, called +by the same name, stretches from the state of Mexico to the Pacific +ocean. It contains some of the most beautiful scenery to be found in the +whole country, now revealed by the National Railway, which runs from the +city of Mexico to Morelia, the capital of Michoacan, and farther on to +Patzcuaro. The ultimate destination of the road is Colima, near the +Pacific coast. The country of Michoacan was peopled by Tarascans, who, +as we have seen, preserved their kingdom until after the Conquest. They +have always been known for their sturdy independence, like other +mountaineers, for their state is traversed by ridges of lofty hills, +making picturesque effects of scenery. It was in suppressing the Indians +of Michoacan and the neighboring Jalisco that the ferocious Pedro de +Alvarado received a blow, from which he died in 1541. + +Mendoza the better to civilize these turbulent tribes, chose a site for +a city in the midst of their population. The royal parchment exists, +sent from Spain by Queen Juana, under the date of October 27, 1537, in +which permission is given to the viceroy--"Insomuch as I am informed by +the relation you have made to me, that in these lands you have found or +discovered a most beautiful site towards the part of the Chichimecas, in +the Province of Michoacan, in which, as it is a place both attractive +and convenient, you wish to establish and found a city with more than +sixty Spanish families and nine religious advisers, for this purpose +acknowledging the service of God and of the Royal Crown, we give and +concede faculty and license to the viceroy, Don Antonio de Mendoza, to +establish and people the said city." + +The day being fixed for the ceremonial of founding the city, all the +pueblos in the neighborhood were summoned, and a great conference of +people, both Indians and Spaniards, assembled to listen to the royal +mandate, which was read aloud. Then the commissioners and the governors +of the Indios kissed the parchment in sign of obedience; a mass was +celebrated upon an altar, which had been improvised for the occasion +under a canopy made of the branches of trees, for the ceremony took +place in the open air. Thereupon followed festivities, which lasted +several days; the plan of the city was laid out, and lots assigned to +the "more than sixty families," who took possession at once. + +Among the lists of these families, of which the names remain, is Don +Diego Hurtado de Mendoza, a connection, we may assume, of the viceroy. +Other noble families were later sent to occupy the new city, so that +Valladolid had every reason to hold itself high as a town of +distinction. + +It was named Valladolid after the birthplace of Mendoza in Spain, and +called always Valladolid de Michoacan, in distinction from the town in +the old country, until the name was changed, in this century, to +Morelia, for reasons we shall understand better further on in the story. + +It is hard to account for the presence in Mexico of the "more than sixty +families," and many, many more which served as nucleus for all the +cities founded by the Spaniards. In the prosperous condition of Spain at +that time, when the empire of Charles V. was at the greatest period of +glory, it is a question to solve why any noble families took the trouble +to risk a perilous voyage, in those days long and, to say the least, +uncomfortable, in order to make a new life in the recently conquered +colony. Doubtless the reports given by the Conquistadores of the great +wealth of the new land attracted many adventurers, who left their +country for their country's good, thus seizing a short cut to wealth; +but this does not account for whole families, in numbers sufficient to +settle city after city over the newly grasped possessions in the hands +of the viceroy. Religious liberty was not the motive, for here the +strong arm of the Church was stretched as firmly as at home. As early as +1527 a royal order was issued, by which all Jews and Moors were banished +from New Spain. The Inquisition was established in 1570, but although +the _auto da fé_ was of frequent occurrence during two centuries, the +institution never flourished with the vigor it acquired in the old +country. + +The city of Valladolid flourished exceedingly. Its native population to +this day has the reputation of being industrious, docile, and +self-restrained. While moderate, at the same time true to heroism, +jealous of independence and liberty, restless under oppression, but +easily led by gentleness and reason. The character of the Spanish +families is hospitable, their manners open and attractive, while at the +same time they are exclusive and tenacious of their birth, position, and +religious belief. + +The church of Michoacan was created by a bull of the Pope Paul III. in +1536. The queen of Spain decreed that a cathedral should be constructed +in a suitable place, to be selected by the viceroy and the good Bishop +Vasco de Quiroga, who was known as a friend of the Tarascans. + +Among the members of the second Audiencia, which retrieved by its wisdom +the evil deeds of Nuño and his assistants, was an eminent lawyer, the +Licenciado Vasco de Quiroga. As the proceedings of Guzman were fresh in +everybody's mind, he heard of them, and at once went into the +neighborhood of Tzintzuntzan to relieve, if possible, the condition of +the people of Calzonzi. They had fled in terror from their homes, +deserting the towns and hiding in the mountains. Quiroga, with great +perseverance and gentleness, found them out, and prevailed at last upon +the poor Tarascans, who came to love him with passionate devotion. He +lived among them until 1536, when he was made their bishop, having been +quickly passed through the successive grades of promotion necessary for +that purpose, for he was, to begin with, a layman and not under orders. +While still _oidor_ of the Audiencia he assumed the cares of his office; +by the end of the same year he had received all the necessary orders, +from the tonsure to the priesthood. + +The city of Tzintzuntzan was first selected for the foundation of the +cathedral, as the pueblo of the largest population thereabout. It is now +a forlorn Indian village, with straggling rows of adobe huts running +down a slope towards the lonely Lake Patzcuaro. Pottery is made there by +the simplest methods from clay which abounds in the neighborhood; the +people are ignorant, gentle Indians, pursuing their humble lives with +the content which characterizes the native Mexican. But behind an +orchard of large old olive-trees neglected and decaying, is the parish +church, which contains a wonderful picture, so wonderful as to be +startling among such incongruous surroundings. In the sacristy, and +lighted by one little window with small panes of glass, is a large and +impressive canvas, representing the entombment of our Saviour. +Surrounding the dead Christ are the Virgin, the Magdalen, St. John, and +other figures, all life size. One of the figures in the background is +said to be the bishop of Philip II., and tradition asserts positively +that the picture is by Titian. The composition, grouping, and treatment +are certainly like Titian, especially the introduction of a bit of +landscape in the upper left-hand corner. It is possible that the picture +is by the great master; even if not, the interest attaching to it is +great, for it is beautiful, whoever painted it, and far beyond, as well +as utterly different from, many of the altar pieces and "old masters" +which abound in Mexico without any value whatever. It is possible that +Philip II. sent the picture, or more likely that before his time Charles +V., who personally knew Quiroga, and possibly loved him, caused the +picture to be sent him for his Indians by reason of his devotion to +them, and the eloquence with which he reported their cause to his royal +master. This would account for its being in the little church at +Tzintzuntzan, where the documents say Quiroga was bishop only for one +year. If Charles sent the picture, the likeness of Philip was taken +before he had come to the throne, and was only Prince Imperial. As for +its remaining at Tzintzuntzan, instead of finding a fit place in the +cathedral of Morelia, the Indians have in every generation absolutely +refused to have it removed. It would be a brave archbishop, or secular +authority who should endeavor now to take it away from them. Unguarded, +it hangs in the bare little sacristy, safe and uninjured by irreverent +touch. + +The cathedral was begun at Patzcuaro, and was to be, says the account, +"so magnificent that it has entirely filled the imagination of all those +who can remember it." But it was decided that the ground it was on was +too near the lake to support so great a structure. In 1550 the king of +Spain sent to command a suspension of the works, and it was finally +built at Valladolid, where it now stands, a beautiful building, superior +to the cathedral in the city of Mexico. It was only completed in 1744. +It stands in an open space between two plazas, where the effect of the +two lofty well-proportioned towers is uninterrupted by other buildings. +The Mexicans delight in church bells, and the towers of the Morelia +cathedral are well provided with them, great and small, for all +occasions. On a feast-day of the Church these bells are ringing +continuously, filling the air of the town with their joyous clangor. + +Cortés was away when the Viceroy Mendoza arrived in Mexico. He still +retained his title of governor, with the same powers always conferred +upon him; but his long absences from the capital made it necessary, as +he fully recognized, that some other strong authority should be +established there. Nevertheless, he never got on very well with such +other authorities, and on his return soon became at odds with Mendoza, +who, in his opinion, interfered with his prerogatives. It was then that +Cortés bade farewell to his family, and taking with him his eldest son +and heir, Don Martin, then eight years old, he embarked for Spain, +leaving Mendoza undisturbed in the execution of his office. + +It is evident that the rule of the viceroy was judicious and well +adapted to grafting a new civilization upon the old. The native tribes +were made peaceable without a great deal of contention, and by the +adroit and gentle management of the viceroy, ably helped by the +religious orders who came to his assistance, readily transferred their +old beliefs to the mysteries and miracles of the Roman Catholic faith. + +[Illustration: CATHEDRAL AT MORELIA.] + +There was genuine enthusiasm for the viceroy on the part of the Indians. +On the Central Railway, about five hours out from the city of Mexico, is +a station called Cazadero, which means "place for pursuing game." The +name clings to it since 1540, when an immense hunt took place there upon +the broad plain which stretches out in all directions. This hunt was a +pleasant attention from the Indians to the viceroy to express their +approval of his ways with them. + +In 1536 was issued the first book printed in Mexico, on a press imported +by Mendoza, and put into the hands of one Juan Pablos. In the same year +both silver and copper coins were stamped, the latter in the form of an +irregular polygon. In 1550 this good ruler sailed away from Mexico, +where he had done so much to advance the interests of his royal master. +He passed on to take charge of the government of Peru, by a practice +which came to be quite common--a sort of diplomatic succession by which +the viceroys of New Spain were promoted to the post at Peru. + + + + +XXI. + +FRAY MARTIN DE VALENCIA. + + +Don Luis de Velasco, second viceroy of New Spain, made his entrance into +the capital with great pomp, at the end of the year 1550. He, like his +predecessor, had been selected with care by the orders of Charles V., if +not from his personal knowledge, and he brought to his new position +qualities as admirable. His first decree was one liberating one hundred +and fifty Indians from slavery, who were working chiefly in the mines, +and when the objection was raised that this industry would be paralyzed +by the step, he stated that the liberty of the Indians was of more +importance than all the mines in the world, and that the rents due to +the crown were not of such a nature that for them must be interrupted +laws human and divine. + +He established in Mexico, for the security of travellers upon the +highway, the tribunal of the Holy Brotherhood, instituted in Spain for +the same purpose in the time of Isabella. He founded the Royal +University of Mexico, and the Royal Hospital for the exclusive use of +the natives. He recognized the capacity of these Indians for developing +lands hitherto uncultivated, and, in fact, favored them by every means +in his power, while he encouraged the development of all the resources +of the country, especially the mines, of which some important +discoveries were made in his time. + +The building of the cathedral at Puebla was pushed with great activity +under this viceroy, although the building was not finished until the +middle of the next century. + +Puebla de los Angeles, second in importance in all Mexico to Guadalajara +only, receives its name from the tradition that before the light of +Christianity was shed on New Spain, the heathen used to see visions of +angels marshalled in mighty hosts in the heavens above the spot where +the city stands. It is in the Province of Tlaxcalla, where Cortés found +his first friends and stanch allies, on the highway between the coast +and the capital. + +Of the founding of the city a local chronicler writes that the +illustrious Fray Julian Garces, the first bishop who came to Tlaxcalla, +fully shared the project for establishing a town somewhere in these +parts that might be a resting-place in the long and weary walk from the +coast to the city of Mexico; yet he was uncertain in his mind as to +where the town had best be, until one night in a vision he beheld a most +lovely _vega_, a plain, bounded by the slope of the great volcanoes on +the west, broken by two little hills, and dotted by many springs, and +cut by two rivers which gave abundant water, and made all things fresh +and green. And as he gazed in pleased amazement, the dream revealed two +angels, who with line and rod were measuring boundaries on the ground, +as if they were marking out the place for streets and squares, and for +the founding of great buildings. + +[Illustration: PUEBLA DE LOS ANGELES.] + +Upon this the bishop awoke, and luckily coming in his search upon the +very site that his vision had shown him, chose it for the place of +Puebla de los Angeles. + +The city is beautifully situated with fine views of the volcanoes; the +pyramid of Cholula is eight miles from it. It is a purely Spanish town, +founded at the earnest request of the Franciscan friars, who entreated +to be allowed to make a town of Spaniards, who should cultivate the +earth in the manner and fashion of Spain, without the assistance of +Indian labor or the unworthy practice of Indian slavery, thus giving +employment to many Spanish good-for-nothings who were going about the +country without finding any thing for their hands to do. + +The second Audiencia, in whose time the request was made, readily +granted it, and the city was founded in 1532. Forty families of Spanish +birth assembled, and the plan of the city was marked out, accompanied by +the celebration of mass, as at Valladolid. The Indians of the +surrounding towns willingly helped the Spaniards in great multitudes, +bringing them materials for the first houses, and singing joyfully as +they gave their assistance. + +Puebla is so placed with regard to the capital that in the frequent +battles of the country it has been time and again fought for or +invested. During these periods it is to be feared that its angels have +been sometimes compelled to avert their faces. Its present name is +Puebla de Zaragoza, in honor of the brave general who defended it +against the French, on the 5th of May, 1862. + +Thus the efforts of the viceroys were ably seconded by the zeal of the +first ecclesiastics of the church of Mexico. Fray Juan de Zumárraga was +the first bishop presented by the emperor to Pope Clement VII., in 1527. +The next year he arrived at Vera Cruz, bearing the titles of +bishop-elect and protector of the Indians, honors which he fairly earned +by his interest in them and his devotion to their cause. + +These holy men worked zealously with the natives and by adroitly +substituting for their heathen superstitions, the legends and miracles +of the Catholic Church succeeded in engrafting the new faith upon the +old without violence. The Indians accepted readily the narration of the +life of the Saviour, his miraculous power, his spotless life, his death +upon the cross, but their favorite object of worship and reverence was +from the first the Holy Virgin, the mother of Jesus. To her they +transferred all the fervor of their idolatry. Her image has always been +to them most sacred, her shrine the constant place for votive offerings +of flowers, ribbons, and all small objects of familiar use. To the +superstitious minds of these people, it was possible to introduce every +form of miracle without danger of incredulity; they were soon closely +bound to the Church by their faith in the supernatural interference of +the heavenly powers, and above all of the Virgin. These superstitions +still remain in Mexico, and are so closely held by the Indians, that no +government, however "advanced" in religious thought, has dared to +interfere with certain rites and ceremonials, pieced upon their ancient +garment of faith, in the earliest time of the first viceroys and +bishops. The "twelve apostles," godly men who devoted their lives to +Christianizing the Indians, have themselves become objects of tradition, +and their deeds, as handed down from generation to generation, are as +miraculous as any of those they revealed in their day to the simple and +credulous Aztecs. + +Of all the Apostles the memory of good Fray Martin de Valencia is most +highly valued, and many are the traditions concerning his life and +works. + +An early history of the Indians of New Spain, written in 1541, tells of +his life in Amecameca, an Indian village several hours by rail south of +the capital, which still preserves all the simplicity of its earliest +days. It was in existence long before the Conquest. The Spanish army +stopped there a couple of days on their first approach to the city, +kindly received by the Cacique in "large commodious stone buildings." Of +these latter we must doubt. Near here, Fray Martin loved to dwell +"because," as the narrative relates, "it is a very quiet place, most +appropriate to prayer, for it is in the side of a little mountain, and +is a devout hermitage. Close to this house is a cave devoted to and very +suitable for the service of God. In this he used at times to give +himself to prayer; and at times he used to go out of the cave into a +grove, and amongst those trees there was one which was very large, under +which he went to pray early in the morning; and it is asserted that as +soon as he placed himself there to pray, the tree swarmed with birds +which by their songs made sweet harmony, through which he felt much +consolation, and praised and blessed the Lord; and when he went away +from there the birds went also; and so, after the death of this servant +of God nevermore gathered there in this manner. Both these things were +noted by many who used to hold converse there with the servant of God, +as well seeing them come and go before him, as their not appearing after +his death. I have been informed by a monk of good life that in this +hermitage of Amecameca, there appeared to the man of God Saint Francisco +and Saint Antonio, who leaving him much comforted departed from his +presence." + +"Just outside Amecameca, is a hill, rising abruptly from the plain and +closely covered with a growth of ancient trees, some of them +_ahuehuetes_ which rival those at Chapultepec in size and venerable +aspect. This hill is called the Sacro Monte; there is room for thinking +that it was sacred to the Aztec deities even before the coming of the +Spanish priests, and that they adopted it to carry on the traditions +belonging to it. However, this may be, it was one of Fray Martin's +favorite retreats for retiring sometimes to an oratory which he had made +in a cave on the mountain, to give himself to special exercises of the +highest contemplation and rigorous penance. He continued to labor in +teaching the Indios, especially boys, for whom he manifested singular +love; he remained there but little time, because in the following year, +1533, he was attacked with the pneumonia which caused his death. This +was accompanied by very particular circumstances. A few days before he +fell ill, with a few brief words, being in Amecameca, he manifested to +his companion that now had arrived the term of his life; and he not +having understood this, very soon believed it by seeing the calentura of +the servant of God. As the illness increased he was forced to conduct +him to the convent of Tlalmanalco, where the evil having declared +itself, the holy sacraments were administered. The holy man seeing this +case, resolved to bear him to the infirmary of Mexico; and, in fact, +upon shoulders of Indians, with much toil, they bore him to the shore at +Ayotzinco, two leagues from the pueblo, and laid him in a canoa to carry +him by the lake. Scarcely had he entered it when, feeling his hour +arriving, he begged them to bring him to land. Yielding to his +entreaties, they disembarked, although he was in a dying state, and +putting himself upon his knees and causing them to recommend his soul to +God, his spirit joined the Lord, falling into the arms of his companion, +St. Antonio Ortiz, verifying the prophecy he had made many years before, +in Spain, that he was to die in his arms in the middle of a field. As +soon as the monks had notice of his death they took his corpse, and with +millions of tears of their own and the Indians, gave it sepulture in the +church in bare ground, without any precaution to preserve relics so +precious. After some time the custodian learned this, and hastening to +Tlalmanalco, had him exhumed, and finding him in as good condition as +when alive, putting the corpse in a box and separate sepulchre, had a +great stone put over it with a corresponding epitaph. + +"The body was afterwards secretly moved to the Cave of Amecameca, where +it awaits the glorious day of triumph for saints and confusion to +reprobates. Many miracles are related of the saint, but more than for +these his name will be forever glorious in our country for his great +virtues, and above all for the grand services which the order he founded +for the glory of God had given to the Mexicans during more than three +hundred years." + +A further account confirms the devotion with which the Indians, +encouraged by the _padres_, preserved the relics of the holy father. + +"In this cave are guarded, night and day, by the Dominican monks, +certain relics of this friar: a leather _celicio_, a coarse and rough +tunic, and two chasubles of native linen cloth, in which the servant of +God said mass; and on the other side is a great box, locked, which +serves as the sepulchre of a wooden Christ.... This sainted man died in +the year 1534 and was buried in the convent of Tlalmanalco, where his +body remained untouched for the space of more than thirty years, since +when it has not appeared, nor does any one know where it is nor who +disturbed it." In fact, for fifty years the Indians of Amecameca guarded +the relics with great devotion, but in secret, passing them from hand to +hand, but without giving them up either to Franciscans or Dominicans, +until in 1884 they were discovered by the vicar, who collected them and +put them in this chapel of the Sacro Monte. + +The Indians of Amecameca and of all the surrounding pueblos greatly +reverenced, with strange ceremonies, an image of Christ made by the +Indians of Amecameca, and carefully preserved by them year after year. A +legend states that long ago certain muleteers who were carrying this +image to a southern town, missed the mule upon whose pack it had been +placed. When the mule was discovered he was standing quietly in the cave +upon the sacred mountain, surrounded by all the people of the town, who, +conceiving the Christ had chosen their cave for his abode, purchased the +image from the muleteers, and constructed for it in that spot a shrine, +where it still remains after three centuries. A great pilgrimage is made +to the shrine on the top of the sacred Mount. Every year, in Holy Week +and on Ash Wednesday, the image is brought down to the parish church. +The annual fair is held at this time in the Market Place, doubtless a +continuation of some ancient Aztec festival in honor of the return of +the Sun. All the country around assembles, and the culmination of the +feast is on Good Friday, when the Christ is returned to his shrine on +the mountain. + +The good Viceroy Velasco died in 1564, having governed the country for +fourteen years. Both Mexicans and Spaniards sincerely mourned his loss, +giving him the affectionate title of the Father of the country. + +During the government of this ruler and his predecessor all the +administration of New Spain, political, civil, and religious was +established upon so firm a foundation that it could go on in daily +action like a well regulated machine. An interregnum occurred, owing to +the death of Velasco, which was filled by the government of the +Audiencia, always on hand to come to the surface on such occasions. +There were two years in which they had the management, but they did not +succeed in very much deranging the harmony so well inaugurated by the +two viceroys. + + + + +XXII. + +OTHER VICEROYS. + + +Events in Spain underwent great changes during these years. On the 25th +of October, 1555, Charles V., executed an instrument by which he ceded +to his son, Philip II., the sovereignty of Flanders. It was in Brussels +that the ceremony took place, with all the pomp and solemnity suited to +it. On the following 16th of January, in the presence of such of the +Spanish nobility as were at the court, the emperor gave up also the +sovereignty of Castile and Aragon, and then retired to the Convent of +Yuste, weary of the cares of government. + +By this act, Philip became master of the most widely extended and +powerful monarchy in Europe. He was king of Spain, comprehending under +that name Castile, Aragon, and Granada, which, for centuries independent +states, had been brought under one sceptre in the reign of his father, +Charles V. He was king of Naples and Sicily, duke of Milan, lord of +Franche Comté and the Low Countries; he had important possessions in +Africa; in the true Indias he owned the Philippine and Spice Islands; +and in America, besides his possessions in the West Indies, he was +master of Mexico and Peru. + +In all this multiplicity of affairs entailed upon the sovereign, Philip +II. has maintained the reputation for admirable management, constant +attention to public affairs, and the strictest sense of justice. It may +well be believed, however, that he had not the same interest in the +remote acquisition to his territories which his father had. Charles knew +Cortés personally; received the first exciting reports of the discovery +of the new country and the rich gifts which were sent him as trophies +and specimens of the advantages to be derived from the conquests. Philip +had had no part in these things. Much of his early life was passed +elsewhere, absorbed in other more closely personal events. + +By the time he became king the exciting days of the Conquest were over. +Cortés was dead. The government of New Spain was established. The vital +interest to the monarch of Spain in his American colonies was to secure +the large sums of gold and silver that were expected from them, and the +mines of Peru by that time so far exceeded those of Mexico, that the +latter had to take a second place. + +Rumors of discontent that rose to him from the distant colony sounded to +him "like a tale of little meaning, though the words were strong." + +Under these circumstances, the character of the viceroys was lowered +from the high standard adhered to when Charles the Emperor selected them +himself. To follow the long list of them would be most tedious and +useless, as they passed in rotation, governing according to the best of +their lights for several years in Mexico, and then passing on, either by +death or by promotion to Peru. + +In 1571 the Inquisition was fully established, the period marked, by the +way, with a formidable eruption of Popocatepetl, and the next year the +Jesuits arrived. + +The matter of the Inquisition had been under discussion for many years, +a council, as early as the year 1529, having solemnly declared it to be +"most necessary that the Holy Office of the Inquisition shall be +extended to this land, because of the commerce with strangers here +carried on, and because of the many corsairs abounding upon our coasts, +which strangers may bring their evil customs among both natives and +Castilians, who, by the grace of God, should be kept free from heresy." + +The full fruit of the declaration ripened only in 1570, when Don Pedro +Moya de Contreras was appointed Inquisitor-General, with head-quarters +in the city of Mexico. The Indians were especially exempted from its +jurisdiction, only heretics from other nations falling under the ban. + +The _Quemadero_, a burning place in the city of Mexico, upon land since +included in the Alameda, was a square platform in a large open space, +where the spectacle could be witnessed by the population. The first +_auto-da-fé_ was celebrated in the year 1574, when, as its chronicler +mentions cheerfully, "there perished twenty-one pestilent Lutherans." + +From this time such ceremonies were of frequent occurrence, but the +Inquisition never reached the point it did in Old Spain. Although large +numbers undoubtedly perished in these, _autos-da-fé_, the number of +those actually burned to death was comparatively small and insignificant +compared to that of the victims to this religious fury in Europe. Early +in the present century the Holy Office was suppressed throughout Spain +and all Spanish dependencies, and, although the Inquisition was again +established, it was only for a short time. + +Philip II. died just before the end of the century. With him ends the +greatness of Spain, which from that time declined rapidly. Naturally the +remote provinces felt the loosening of the firm hand which had +controlled them, yet it is to be observed that the viceroys of New Spain +under Philip III. were, for the most part, men of judgment and +moderation. While the government at home, in the hands of profligate +favorites, was growing weaker and weaker, that of Mexico was becoming +more firmly established. Spanish blood had descended into a new +generation, with Mexican habits, thoughts, and impressions. The national +character, as always happens with colonists remote from their origin, +was becoming modified into a new shape by change of climate and +environment. Meanwhile the Indians were undoubtedly greatly improved by +the genial influence of their new religion. They were like children, for +it was not the intention of the Church to teach them to think, as they +were only too ready to acquire the knowledge of how to obey. + +In the beginning of the sixteenth century the city of Mexico was +overwhelmed by inundations such as had from time to time caused the +Aztecs great trouble. Their works were quite ineffectual against the +floods which invaded the city, and it was evident that some vigorous +measure must be taken. There was question, once more, of removing the +whole city to the solid ground of Tacubaya; but this plan was open to +great objections. + +The engineer Enrico Martinez offered a plan for the rescue of the city +which was accepted. It was to reduce the highest of the several lakes +belonging to the network in the valley of Mexico, by diverting its +waters elsewhere, and thus prevent its overflow. Work was begun in 1607. +Fifteen thousand Indians were set to sinking shafts at intervals in +order to bore a tunnel, to lead off the water, more than four miles +long, and eleven feet wide by thirteen in height. It was completed in +eleven months, and the event was celebrated by the presence of the +viceroy himself with great pomp, who gave the first stroke with his +spade. Mass was said, and there were great rejoicings. This cut was call +the _desaguë_ of Huehuetoca, a small village near the hills of +Nochistongo. + +The canal proved too small, and several schemes were tried for enlarging +and strengthening it, with varying and moderate success. The novelty of +the enterprise having worn out, people began to think, during a series +of dry years, that the peril from the lakes after all was not so great. +The engineer Adrian Boot was sent from Spain to visit the canal of +Huehuetoca; having done so, he qualified it as insufficient, in which he +shared the opinion of those who had not come so far. He failed in making +it more efficacious, for, in 1629, came another inundation. In 1614, +the rainy season having set in with unusual violence, Martinez, the +engineer, himself gave orders to close the mouth of the tunnel, perhaps +to rouse the people to its importance, and the importance of not +neglecting it. The result was frightful. The whole city was instantly +under water, and for five years it was converted into an unwilling +Venice, during which the streets were passable only in boats. + +Martinez, who was put in prison for blocking the tunnel, was released in +order to open it again. This he did, and erected a strong dyke which +afforded some relief, but inundations were always recurring at +intervals, until the whole plan of the work was altered by an open cut +to replace the tunnel. This work was undertaken vigorously in 1767, and +pressed to a conclusion by 1789. The _tajo_ of Nochistongo, as it is +called, can be seen from the Central Railway, whose track runs through +it, at an elevation of fifty feet or more above the stream. + +Owing to such drainage, and the process of evaporation, the large lake +of Texcuco has greatly subsided, and the waters which surrounded +Tenochtitlan have given place to nothing more than a marsh. + +The lovely river Lerma, which winds through the valley of Toluca, with +fine views of a beautiful mountain, the Nevada de Toluca, bears the name +of the worthless favorite of Philip III. + +This Philip died, and his son, Philip IV., succeeded him, continuing the +line of royal favorites, and spending the imported wealth of Mexico and +Peru in the extravagances of his court, and the exhausting demands of +frequent wars with England, Holland, and France. He left the crown to +his son, Charles II., who died without an heir in 1700; and then began +the troublous wars of the Succession, which involved the whole of +Europe. This ended the reign of the house of Austria. The king whose +cause triumphed was a Bourbon, Philip V., and Bourbons continued to +reign in Spain until the latter half of the present century. + +Mexico took no part in the war of succession. When Charles II. died, the +ruling viceroy was the Conde de Moctezuma, whose title was from his +wife, the great-great-great-granddaughter of the last emperor of the +name. Events in Europe caused no disturbance in his mind; he quietly +went on ruling, and awaited the result. It has been said that Philip the +Bourbon at one time thought of running away from his difficulties at +home, and taking refuge in Mexico. + +Only one more of the viceroys need be mentioned, the Conde de +Revillagigedo, Don Juan Vicente de Güemes Pacheco de Padilla, whose +deeds are worth remembering. He found the city in 1787 in a wretched +condition, unlighted, undrained, unpaved. Even a part of the viceregal +palace was useless, being occupied by the stalls of Indian women selling +things to eat, such as tortillas, and _mole_. The viceroy corrected all +these disorders, both in the accounts and the morality of the +metropolis. + +Revillagigedo was honored for his justice, renowned for his energy, and +feared for his severity; at the same time he was extremely eccentric, +and many anecdotes survive of his day. It is said he had the habit, +like Montezuma and Haroun al Raschid, of going about incognito, with one +or two aides-de-camp, to detect abuses in order to correct them. Walking +one evening in the Calle San Francisco, he met a monk taking his +pleasure much after the hour permitted for monks to be abroad. The +viceroy went directly to the convent, where, on making himself known, he +was received by the abbot with all due respect. + +"How many monks, father, have you in your convent?" he asked. + +"Fifty, your Excellency." + +"There are now only forty-nine. Call them over and see which is the +missing brother, that his name may be struck out." + +The list was produced, the roll was called, and only forty-five monks +presented themselves. By the order of the viceroy, when the five +appeared they were refused admission to the convent, and never permitted +to return. + +A poor Indian came to the viceroy and told him he was in difficulty, +reproached with stealing some money. He said he had found a bag full of +golden ounces in the street, and seeing an advertisement containing the +promise of a handsome reward for the finder, he carried them to the +person therein mentioned as the owner. The Don received the bag, and +counted the ounces. In doing so, not unobserved by the Indian, he +slipped two into his pocket, and then accused the poor man of having +stolen a part of the money, and turned him out of the house as a thief +and a rascal. + +The viceroy kept the Indian while he immediately sent for the Don, and +asked him to relate the circumstances. + +"May it please your Excellency, I lost a bag of gold. This Indian +brought it to me in hopes of a reward, but he first stole part of the +contents, and I drove him from my house." + +"Stay," said the viceroy, "there is some mistake here. How many ounces +did you have in your bag?" + +"Twenty-eight." + +"And how many are there here?" + +"Twenty-six." + +"Count them down. I see it is as you say. The case is clear, we have all +been mistaken. Had the Indian been a thief he would never have brought +back the bag and kept two ounces; he would have kept the whole. It is +evident this is not your bag, but another which this poor man has found. +Continue to search for yours. Good-morning." + +And sweeping up the gold pieces he gave them to the Indian to keep for +himself. + +Many such tales are still current of this kind, eccentric viceroy. He +rendered substantial services to the country, and especially to the city +of Mexico, which continued to maintain the better standard for +cleanliness and order he introduced. Revillagigedo was calumniated and +persecuted by certain enemies, and withdrew to Spain in 1794. + +Mexico during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries offers no +picturesque situations to describe at length. In fact, the history of +the country is like some pictures with admirable background and sky +full of clouds and light, the foreground crowded with emotional detail, +all of great interest, but absolutely lacking in middle distance. + +The early study of Mexico is, to those who can view it from its romantic +side, and put up with its troublesome, unpronounceable names, as +attractive as the landscape of the plateau, where the two lofty +volcanoes, snow-capped, are enhanced by the movement of heavy clouds, +and the play of sunshine on their lineaments. In the foreground may be +seen well-built cities, with the domes and towers of many a church, +regular streets, pleasant _plazuelas_ shaded with trees, bright and +perfumed with flowers. Between, there is nothing but a level plain, its +monotony scarcely relieved by rows of maguey with stiff, bristling +leaves. We will hasten over the uninteresting plain, and come to the +emotional foreground. + +There were in all sixty-four viceroys, beginning with Don Antonio de +Mendoza, 1535, and ending with Juan O'Donojú in 1822. For nearly three +centuries they ruled New Spain, and ruled it pretty well, according to +their lights and those from whom they received their authority. + + + + +XXIII. + +HUMBOLDT. + + +In the time of Iturrigaray, very near the close of the viceregal period, +a little while before Napoleon invaded Spain, Alexander von Humboldt +visited Mexico. He was a close observer of men and customs, as well as +of the natural phenomena belonging to his scientific explorations. His +account of the country gives a good idea of the state of society in +Mexico at the time he was there, and records the progress it had reached +under Spanish rule, in the hands of the viceroys. The revolutions, then +so soon about to begin, destroyed much of this civilization; from the +ruin brought by many a battle and riot, the country is yet but slowly +recovering. We may study the description of Humboldt as we might an old +daguerreotype, somewhat faded, but preserving forms and images in +reality passed away. + +[Illustration: TEMPLE OF XOCHICALCO.] + +Humboldt and his friend, Bonpland, a botanist, left Europe in the early +summer of 1799, armed with all sorts of scientific instruments, with +letters and passports to admit them everywhere, for an extended journey +of scientific exploration in America. After nearly three years in South +America, they left it for Mexico, arriving by water at Acapulco at the +beginning of 1803. Acapulco is on the Pacific Coast in the state of +Guerrero. Humboldt had letters from the court of Spain, which gave him +every facility then accessible for travelling in Mexico. They passed +through Cuernavaca, stopping to see the monument of Xochicalco in its +vicinity. Humboldt notes the heads of crocodiles spouting water carved +among the ornaments of this temple, with the comment that it was strange +to find such figures employed on a plain four thousand feet above the +sea and away from the haunts of these creatures, instead of the plants +and animals belonging to the neighborhood. + +Without delay Humboldt and his companion reached the capital, where they +were delighted with all they saw. The Academy of Fine Arts was then in a +flourishing condition. Government had assigned it a spacious building, +and it had a collection of casts, finer, Humboldt says, than was at that +time to be found in Germany. + +A small school of engraving was opened in the Mint, as early as 1779, by +royal order. General interest in this school became so great as to lead +the Viceroy Mayorga to project an academy of the three fine arts, +painting, sculpture, and architecture. In 1783, under the rule of the +good Galvez, royal approval was granted, and license was given for the +existing institution under the name of: "Academia de las Nobles Artes de +San Carlos de la Nueva España." + +The academy was formally opened with suitable ceremony in 1785, removed +a few years later to the building it still occupies. Charles III. +himself sent the collection of casts admired by Humboldt. For twenty +years it flourished in the hands of competent artists sent from the +mother country. Then the end of that protection, and the turbulent days +of civil war, disturbed its even tenor. + +Humboldt says that every night in its spacious halls, well illumined by +Argand lamps, hundreds of young men were assembled, some sketching from +plaster-casts or from life, others copying designs of furniture, +candelabra, and bronze ornaments; admission was free to all; class, +colors, and races were mingled together; the Indian beside the white +boy, the son of the poorest mechanic beside that of the richest lord. In +1839 all this was changed. Madame Calderon described the casts as +mutilated, the engravings injured, and the building in disorder and +abandoned. In this state it remained until the return to power of +Juarez, since when, with an annual allowance of $35,000, the institution +is doing fairly well. The name is changed to the "National School of +Fine Arts"; prizes are given for good work; all teaching is free. + +The equestrian statue of Charles IV. was completed just at the time of +Humboldt's visit. He was present when it was cast, and saw it on its way +to the plaza. + +The Cathedral was then new, and its massive towers, with the fine plaza +in front of it, excited the admiration of the enthusiastic traveller. A +few years only before his visit, the great idol, Teoyamiqui, had been +discovered, in the time of the eccentric Viceroy Revillagigedo; he would +have placed it in the University, but the professors there were +unwilling to have it seen by Mexican youths, and they buried it again in +one of the corridors of the Colegio. They were persuaded to dig it up in +order that Humboldt should see and make a sketch of it. + +The Aztec calendar, the stone of sacrifice, and the manuscripts in +hieroglyph much interested the great man, but more the natural +attractions of the city. One of his favorite haunts was Chapultepec, +then in good order, as it was left by the Viceroy Galvez, who first made +a pleasure-house there, where Humboldt delighted in the broad view of +plain and volcano. He loved to go, as every one does now, to the +market-place, to see the stalls of the Indians all hung with verdure. No +matter what they sell--fruit, roots, pulque--their booths are ornamented +with flowers. He describes the hedge a yard high of fresh herbs and +delicate leaves built around the fruit-stalls, and the garlands of +flowers, which divided the alleys of the market, spread upon the ground +with little nosegays stuck at intervals, making a sort of carpet of +flowers. The fruit, in small cages of wood, was ornamented on top with +flowers. He describes the pretty sight, at sunrise, of the Indians +coming along the Viga Canal in boats loaded with fruits and flowers, +from Istacalco and Chalco; and gives an account of the _chinampas_, or +floating gardens, on the marshy banks of these lakes. This invention is +attributed to the early Aztecs, who cultivated the ground on loose +tracts of earth, bound together by roots which were either driven about +by the winds or moored to the shore. Similar ones, he says, are to be +met with in all the zones. In our day the _chinampas_ do not float, but +have the appearance of low, wet gardens, intersected by many channels of +water; they are, however, pretty patches of gay flowers cultivated, with +vegetables, for the city market, and a trip to Santa Anita, over the +still waters of the Viga, must not be omitted from the excursions around +Mexico; the scene is charming in itself, and haunted moreover by the +long succession of gentle Indians, who for centuries have heaped their +boats with flowers, and floated over the dark water chanting low songs. + +Humboldt went to inspect the pyramids of the sun and moon at +Teotihuacan, and afterwards gave a prolonged study to mines, visiting +first Moran and Real del Monte, northeast of the capital, and afterwards +Guanajuato. Long before the arrival of the Spaniards, the natives of +Mexico were acquainted with the working of subterranean veins to find +metal. Cortés says that gold, silver, copper, lead, and tin were all +sold in the markets of Tenochtitlan. They either collected grains of +native gold in small baskets of slender rushes, or melted the metal into +bars, like those now used in trade, represented in Mexican paintings. +Humboldt found the methods of mining not advanced from the sixteenth +century, without any of the improvements known in his time. The hard +work was performed by Indians, the beasts of burden of the mines. They +carried out the metal in bags on their backs, going up and down +thousands of steps, in long files of fifty or sixty, men of seventy +years old, and children of ten or twelve. + +The mine of Valenciana, in Humboldt's time the most celebrated of +Guanajuato, and the richest then known in Mexico, was not much wrought +until the end of the eighteenth century, although it had been somewhat +worked by the early Indians and the first Spanish settlers. In 1760, a +poor man named Obregon, a Spaniard, began to explore a new vein. As he +was a worthy man, he found friends willing to advance small sums from +time to time to carry on his work. For several years the cost was much +greater than the produce, but the pit grew rich as it became deep, and +at last yielded quantities of sulphuretted silver. When Obregon, or, as +he came to be called, the Count of Valenciana, began to work the vein, +goats were browsing over the hill-tops all about the ravine of San +Xavier. Ten years after, on the same spot, the climbing streets of +Guanajuato sheltered a large population; and at present it is a +flourishing city, surrounded by a region all rich in minerals. The +produce from the mine at Valenciana has fallen behind that of other +later veins, and scarcely covers the outlay. + +Humboldt went from Guanajuato to Valladolid, which had not yet changed +its name in honor of the mule-driver, Morelos, who had, however, already +begun to study in the Colegio of San Nicholas. Valladolid was a small +city of eighteen thousand inhabitants. Humboldt says it contained +nothing worthy of notice, but an aqueduct and a bishop's palace. He +could not fail to admire the lofty picturesque arches of that aqueduct +of warm yellow stone, whose long lines vanish in perspective, shaded by +great ash trees. He does full justice to the beauty of Patzcuaro, which +he declares would alone have repaid him for his voyage across the ocean. +Humboldt spent some time there, and his memory of his visit is still +preserved in the name of a lofty hill overlooking the lake, named +Humboldt's mountain. The hospitable, courteous citizens of Patzcuaro +still point out with pride his favorite points of view. They fully +appreciate, as he did, the attractions of their lovely lakes. + +The volcano Jorullo, twenty leagues south of Patzcuaro, was first made +known to men of science in Europe by Humboldt's account of it. + +In the middle of the eighteenth century the site of this volcano was +covered with peaceful fields of sugar-cane, cotton, and indigo, watered +by artificial means, belonging to the plantation of San Pedro de +Jorullo. In June, 1759, for the first time, hollow noises from under the +ground began to make themselves heard, and in September a tract of +ground three or four square miles in extent humped up like a bubble. +Thick vapors, smoke, and flames were seen to issue from this area, which +rose and fell like the ocean. Large masses of rock and earth sprung up +as if from a chasm, and the highest of these developed into a volcano, +which burned steadily, throwing up lava and hot ashes for several +months. + +The Indians were greatly terrified by such a spectacle, as well they +might be. Flames were seen at Patzcuaro, and even at Querétaro, many +miles away. The roofs of houses were covered with ashes, and the rich +plantations of San Pedro reduced to a barren plain. They believed that +some missionary monks who were ill received at the plantation poured out +horrid imprecations upon the fertile spot, and prophesied that it should +be swallowed up by flames rising out of the earth. Whether these +vindictive monks had anything to do with it or no, the hacienda of +Jorullo was destroyed, all the trees thrown down and buried in sand and +ashes from the volcano. The field and roads were covered with sand, +crops destroyed, and flocks perished, unable to drink the infected +water. + +The eruptions grew gradually less and ceased during the following year, +but the mountain, with its extinct crater, remains in the place of the +once fertile hacienda. + +Humboldt and his companion inspected also the great volcano, the pyramid +of Cholula, and the picturesque town of Jalapa. They left Mexico by the +port of Vera Cruz, and went to Havana, spending nearly a year in the +United States. + + + + +XXIV. + +REVOLUTIONS. + + +Mexico could not always remain indifferent to the current of events in +Spain. Changes which shook Europe to its uttermost limit raised a +tempest whose waves broke with violence even on the remote shores of the +province. + +Spain, after Philip V., was governed by three of his sons in succession, +the last of whom, Charles III., held the throne until 1788. He was a +prince of excellent intentions and blameless morals, and through his +ministers he brought the country to a degree of prosperity to which it +was little accustomed since the days of Philip II. + +His good works extended as far as Mexico, where he caused to be founded, +in the capital, the Academy of Fine Arts, still in existence. His memory +in the days of the viceroys was preserved in New Spain as that of the +greatest and wisest of monarchs. His son, Charles IV., succeeded him. It +must not be forgotten that the Emperor Charles V. was Charles I. of +Spain--fifth Charles only of those of Austria. + +Charles IV., in no sense a relative of Charles V., being a Bourbon with +instincts and traditions wholly different, was a weak and pitiful +sovereign. During his reign came the French Revolution, following close +upon the Declaration of Independence of the United States of North +America, events which gave cause for reflection to all vassals of +crowned heads, and especially to all colonized provinces remote from +their heads. Yet Mexico remained loyal in spite of the petty tyranny of +the viceroy sent from the court of Charles, Branciforte, an Italian +adventurer of low bearing and reputation, who obtained his appointment +through the interest of the royal favorite Godoy, "Prince of Peace." +This viceroy requested permission to erect a statue of his royal master +in the Plaza Mayor of the Mexican capital, nominally himself assuming +the charges of the work, though nearly the whole expense finally came +upon the city and private individuals. It is an equestrian statue cast +in bronze. The king is dressed in classic style, wearing a laurel +wreath, and in his hand he holds a raised sceptre. Thus a pretentious +statue of a sovereign for whom they cared nothing was forced upon the +Mexicans, while his predecessor, Charles III., was left without such +honor. + +In 1822 the statue was inclosed in a great wooden globe painted blue, so +that the sight of a tyrant in his robes need not offend the new-born +patriotism of the city. But such feelings have now passed away, and it +stands in the _plazuela_ for the observation of loyalist or rebel. + +Charles had a son, Ferdinand, with whom, as is frequent in the history +of crown princes, he could not agree. Thus when Napoleon Bonaparte, who, +passing from conquest to conquest, turned his attention to Spain, both +father and son sought the aid, or at least sympathy, of the great +conqueror in their family quarrel. Accepting this pretext for +intervention, Napoleon carried his armies into the peninsula in 1808. +The king and court fled from Madrid, with the intention, very decided +for a short time, of seeking refuge in Mexico. This project fell +through. Charles abdicated in favor of his son, Prince Ferdinand, who +became Ferdinand VII. But Napoleon wanted no Ferdinand VII., and made +him renounce the crown. French troops took possession of the capital, +and Joseph Bonaparte governed Spain under the title of king until 1813. +But the Spanish people resisted the French invasion. Councils were +assembled, assuming royal authority, to govern in the name of Ferdinand. +This was the beginning of the _Juntas_ which have since played so +important a part in Spanish affairs at home and in her colonies. + +We will not follow the matter in Spain further than to add that she was +freed from the burden of the Bonapartes by the aid of the English in +1814. A year after, the power of Napoleon was at an end. + +The Bourbon dynasty was restored in Spain, as well as in France, and +Ferdinand VII. was reinstated, with limited powers, however, for in the +course of this period of agitation the Spanish people had tasted the cup +of independence, and the ancient arbitrary rule of monarch and favorite +was no longer tolerated by them. The Marquis of Branciforte, no longer +viceroy, declared himself in favor of Joseph Bonaparte, and emigrated to +France. His Mexican property was confiscated later and handed over to +the authorities. + +Here we must leave Spain to fight her own battles. + +In the beginning of the new century, Don José de Iturrigaray took +possession of the viceregal seat. He was a man of public spirit, and an +excellent ruler. He greatly improved the highroad from Vera Cruz to the +capital, built the Puente del Rey, since called the National Bridge, +protected commerce, and encouraged home industry. He organized a +militia, greatly developed the army, and showed himself devoted to the +interests of his charge. + +But the audiencia then existing, and many Spaniards, as soon as the news +of Napoleon's invasion of Spain reached them, imagined that Iturrigaray, +who had thus brought the army to an available condition, had conceived +the idea of seizing Mexico, and assuming an independent crown for +himself. Acting upon this idea, they rose in revolt, took possession of +the palace and seized Iturrigaray and all his family, shutting him up in +the fortress of San Juan de Ulóa, until opportunity offered to send him +back to Spain. An old marshal of the army, Garibay, was made viceroy in +his place, but he ruled but a few months, when the central Junta of +Spain ordered him superseded by the Archbishop of Mexico. Whatever were +the rights of this question, the act of revolt set an example +persistently followed in Mexico through the first half of this century. +In this experience it was discovered how easy it was to overturn a +government; the Mexicans, delighted with their success, wondered why +they had never done it before. In this first case, it was the +Spaniards, of pure blood, who took the matter into their own hands. + +Revolt, independence, were in the air. The policy of Spain had been +rigorous in the extreme. Enormous taxes oppressed the people, the +colonists had no voice in the making of the laws, which were arbitrary; +and their exaction depended on the cruelty or generosity of the reigning +viceroy. These rulers, constantly changing, had no opportunity to +incorporate themselves with the people. At the best, it was a rule of +strangers, in which the individuality of the colony had no chance. Pure +Spaniards alone constituted society in Mexico; those of mixed blood were +regarded with contempt; while the Indians, native to the soil, counted +for nothing. + +It was inevitable, then, that revolutions in Mexico should follow those +in the rest of the civilized world, but it was hard upon the +public-spirited Iturrigaray that its first outburst should fall upon his +head. Great agitation followed, and the Archbishop of Mexico had hard +work to make good his title received from the Junta Central. He was +superseded by the Regency established at home, and Don Francisco Venegas +entered the capital as viceroy in 1810. + + + + +XXV. + +HIDALGO. + + +Miguel Hidalgo was born in the rancho of San Vicente, between the +eastern shore of the river Turbio and the hacienda of Cuitzeo de los +Naranjos, in the jurisdiction of Penjamo in Guanajuato, on the 8th of +May, 1753, the day of the archangel Miguel, whom we call Saint Michael. +His father was a well-to-do farmer, Christobal Hidalgo y Costilla, and +his mother, Ana Maria Gallega. Miguel was baptized on the 16th of the +same month of the year, in the chapel of Cuitzeo de los Naranjos, and +passed his childhood at home with his parents. At a proper age he was +sent to school in Valladolid, at the Colegio de San Nicholas, where he +pursued his studies until he came to be head of the institution. This +school was founded by the good Bishop Quiroga, at the time the Cathedral +was transferred from Tzintzuntzan, and was therefore one of the first in +the country. This fact, and the greater one, that the Benemérito cura +Hidalgo not only taught but lived within the walls, where no doubt he +first formed his ideas of independence, makes Morelia very proud of its +seminary. + +[Illustration: CACTUS HEDGE.] + +Miguel went to Mexico in 1779 to take sacerdotal orders and the degree +of bachelor in theology. This was but three years after the declaration +of independence in the United States. He served as curate in several +places, and on the death of his brother Joaquin received the curacy of +the little pueblo of Dolores. + +He was a man of intellectual gifts, and good instruction. He knew +French, which was uncommon at that time in his class, and his opinions +on all subjects were advanced beyond the average of the period. + +His predilection was the pursuit of agriculture, and at Dolores it was +his pleasure to cultivate the vine and the mulberry. He established a +manufacture of bricks and earthenware in the place, and made himself +generally beloved by his gentle and affable deportment, notwithstanding +his radical ideas, which were regarded as extreme by his people. In the +year 1800, he was denounced before the Committee of the Inquisition for +maintaining dangerous opinions, without, however, any serious result. +Bold schemes he formed for the rescue of his country from the bondage in +which she was held by Spain. In the solitude of his pueblo his strong, +well-trained glance fixed itself upon the light which was flooding the +world from the rising republic on his own continent. This man, sprung +from the people, dared to think of a government by the people. He longed +to throw off the yoke, not only of an alien government, but of a haughty +class. He wanted Mexico to be Mexico, and not a helpless dependency of a +rapidly deteriorating Spain. + +Such dreams and ideas Hidalgo imparted to a few other persons, and they +became plans. Those who talked these things fell under suspicion, and in +Querétaro, an attempt was made to seize a small knot of such men. They +were warned, and fled or concealed themselves. Hidalgo, hearing of this, +instead of following their example, determined to delay no longer, but +to declare independence at once. In this resolve he was supported by +another patriotic spirit. + +Ignacio Allende was born in San Miguel el Grande the 20th of January, +1779. His father was a Spaniard, Narciso Allende, his mother, Mariana +Uraga. Of a noble family, with wealth and good position, he was destined +for a soldier, and reached the grade of captain of dragoons. + +Fired by the ideas of independence which were smouldering everywhere, +Allende made frequent visits to Hidalgo, and with him planned the +details for the important step they were meditating. Two officers in the +regiment of Allende were of his opinion, and became confidants of the +plan. + +On the night of the 15th of September, 1810, roused by Allende or +Aldama, another of the plotters, Hidalgo rose from his bed, dressed +himself quietly, and calling his brother to his aid, with ten armed men, +besides their few friends, went straight to the prison and liberated +certain men, arming them with swords. This was Saturday night, or rather +the dawn of Sunday. At early mass, all the parish were informed of what +had happened, and every countryman in the neighborhood took the side of +Hidalgo, who thus became the leader, if not of an army, at least of a +respectable force of Mexicans. The little band hastened to San Miguel el +Grande, which they reached before nightfall the same day. + +This movement, started by Hidalgo, is called the _Grito de Dolores_. The +little body of eighty men, which soon increased to three hundred, bore +for a banner a picture of the Holy Virgin of Guadalupe, belonging to a +little village church. Their cry, the _Grito_, was "Up with True +Religion, and Down with False Government." + +Nothing like this had happened ever before in Mexico. That common men, +not appointed by the court of Spain, should dare to have an opinion +about letters, religion, or government was a thing unheard of. For a +while amazement prevented any vigorous steps against them. At San +Miguel, the regiment of Allende joined the little band, and a crowd of +laborers from the field, armed with slings, sticks, and spades. Out of +this raw material Hidalgo organized an army, with himself at its head +under the title of general, and Allende as his lieutenant. + +At Celaya, their numbers had increased to fifty thousand men--some say +more. With such a force and supported by the enthusiasm which prevailed, +Hidalgo resolved to march upon Guanajuato, an already rich and +flourishing city, the capital of the second largest mining state in +Mexico. It is built in a deep, narrow ravine, the houses crowded in +steep streets like stairways. + +Its inhabitants saw with terror and astonishment a mass of men +advancing towards it, armed with strange weapons, but holding the order +and discipline of an organized army. The Spaniards, that is the +representatives of government, resolved to defend the town, and prepared +for the attack. + +The Independents were driven back several times. The besieged had +entrenched themselves in the strong place, Alhóndiga de Grenaditas, used +for storing grain, with the governor of the town at their head; and +there defended themselves so well that things were going badly for their +opponents, until a little boy, called Pipita, on all fours, with a +lighted brand in his hand, shielding himself with a flat tile torn up +from the pavement, succeeded in reaching the great gate and setting fire +to it, in spite of the bullets which fell about him. Amidst the blaze, +the insurgents seized the stronghold by force of arms, and killed or +made prisoners all within it. The populace of Guanajuato rose, rushing +about the streets and sacking houses and shops. Hidalgo, however, +succeeded in restoring order by severe edicts. He established himself in +this his first stronghold, to collect supplies of arms and money for his +volunteer host. The whole province of Guanajuato declared in his favor, +and three squadrons of the regiment del Principe swelled the numbers of +his troops. + +Just before, on the 13th of September, a new viceroy had arrived in the +city of Mexico, little thinking what the nature of his new duties were +to be, or that he should be so soon called upon to execute them. Don +Francisco Javier Venegas, lieutenant-general of the Spanish forces, had +distinguished himself in the war between the armies of Spain and +Napoleon. He sailed away from confusion at home, and imagined, very +likely, that he was going to settle down to the peaceable monotony of a +life in the provinces. He began by calling a Junta of prominent persons +in the capital, and among other things proclaimed to them that the +Regency of Spain begged the aid of money from their loyal Americans to +sustain the war against Napoleon. + +Three days afterwards independence was declared in the Grito de Dolores. +The viceroy learned that Mexico was not behind the age in revolutions, +and that he must call upon his military skill to suppress a formidable +rising in its cradle. He ordered all the troops then in garrison at +Mexico to Querétaro, increased these forces with rural troops, and sent +for marines to Vera Cruz, while he summoned forces from San Luis Potosi, +at the north, and even those of Guadalajara, in the west, to hold +themselves in readiness. + +He further published a decree of the Regency, liberating all Indians +from taxation, and put a price upon the heads of Hidalgo, Allende, and +Aldama of ten thousand dollars, promising also indulgence to such +Independents as should at once lay down arms. + +The Mexican clergy allied themselves with the civil authorities on this +issue; the bishops excommunicated Hidalgo and his companions, and +furious sermons were preached against them in the churches. The +Inquisition renewed all the charges against Hidalgo which they had +found in 1800, and cited him to appear before them. Yet his cry was not +against religion, but bad government. The Bishop of Michoacan also +excommunicated him, and set at once upon preparing the defence of +Valladolid as soon as he heard the echo of the Grito de Dolores. + +In fact, excomunication from various dioceses rattled round the heads of +the insurgents, who kept on their way little heeding so much mighty +sound. + +On the 17th of October the Independent troops entered Valladolid without +resistance, the valiant bishop having fled to Mexico at the first sign +of his approach, together with the civil and military authorities, and +many Europeans settled in that hitherto peaceful town. Hidalgo compelled +the canons in the absence of the bishop to remove the excommunication +fulminated against him and his companions. He established his authority +in the place, and in ten days, with his ever-swelling army, took the +bold step of advancing upon the capital. + +As this terrible band approached, the inhabitants of Mexico, remembering +Guanajuato, were filled with fear. Some hid their plate in the convents; +others hid themselves; many fled the city. The brave and military +viceroy sent his army forward, commanded by Trujillo. Upon the Monte de +la Cruces, outside of the city, the forces met, and a terrible battle +ensued. The insurgents were swept by the fire of their opponents' +artillery; but their immense numbers bore up against all resistance, +inspired by enthusiasm in the cause, and triumphed completely, the +soldiers of the viceroy abandoning the field with many losses. The +commanding general, Trujillo, owed his life to his excellent horse, +which bore him swiftly back to Mexico. Had Hidalgo marched immediately +upon Mexico, then in a state of panic and confusion most advantageous to +his cause, it might have been for him the victorious end of the +struggle. Unfortunately, he decided to withdraw towards Querétaro, +fearing the approach of reinforcements from the capital. + +In fact, at Aculco he was vigorously attacked by the division of Calleja +arriving from the north, and, after a hot combat, the insurgents were +overcome, losing all their artillery and many men. The huge army melted, +and Hidalgo went back to Valladolid with but a handful of men. + +Calleja followed Allende to Guanajuato, where he attacked him with the +same vigor, so that he was obliged to abandon the city and retreat to +Zacatecas, which had already proclaimed independence. A cruel +retaliation was taken by Calleja upon the inhabitants of Guanajuato. + +Hidalgo again assembled an army, and went to Guadalajara, where the +Independents had already declared themselves. No sooner had he left +Valladolid than it was again occupied by royalist troops. + +In Guadalajara Hidalgo organized a government, taking for himself the +title of Generalissimo, and appointing ministers. He sent immediately a +commissioner to the United States Government; but this emissary had not +gone far before he was seized and made prisoner by the Spaniards. +Hidalgo exerted himself vigorously to collect arms and means for +reorganizing his army. But the royalists, with equal energy and +resources far better, had their forces ready to advance under the orders +of Calleja, while Hidalgo's army were still in the rough. Nevertheless +he resolved to attack without waiting for the royalists, against the +opinion of Allende and others, who thought the risk too great. He +sallied from Guadalajara with his large but undisciplined force on the +16th of January, to the Puente de Calderon, whence at the fall of +evening could be discerned the regular troops of Calleja, to the number +of ten thousand men, in the best discipline, and perfectly armed and +equipped. The next day was fought the battle of Calderon. + +The result was a foregone conclusion. The insurgents fought bravely; the +battle was undecided for some hours, but the rout was complete, the +vanquished Independents retreating in all directions. + +Calleja entered Guadalajara. The insurgents were put down in various +places, and the revolution for the time was suppressed. + +Hidalgo set forward towards Zacatecas. On the way, he encountered +Allende, Jimenez, and other chiefs of the insurrection, who had escaped +with many perils from the fatal Puente de Calderon. It is said that +their differences of opinion concerning the plan of campaign caused +dissatisfaction among them. They agreed, however, to hasten towards the +United States with such troops and money as they had left, there to +recruit and discipline an army with which to return and conquer. + +With a large convoy of mules and baggage, some pieces of artillery, and +a considerable escort, they were overtaken and surprised by the Spanish +troops not far from the frontier they longed to cross, and were made +prisoners in a dismal desert spot called Las Norias de Bajan, in the +state of Coahuila which borders upon the Rio Grande. The chiefs of +conspiracy were secured and conducted under a strong escort to +Chihuahua, where they were tried and condemned to death. + +On the 26th day of June, 1811, Allende, Aldama, and Jimenez were shot in +Chihuahua, and upon the 31st of July perished Hidalgo, showing in his +last moments great bravery and self-possession. + +The heads of these four illustrious chiefs were carried to Guanajuato, +and nailed upon the four corners of the Alhóndiga de Grenaditas, where +they remained for ten years. Later the remains, as those of martyrs, +received solemn burial beneath the altar of the sovereigns in the grand +cathedral of Mexico. + +The execution of these men closed the first period of the struggle for +independence in Mexico. The royalist troops had everywhere triumphed; +the voices which had uttered the Grito de Dolores were silent. Order +might now resume its course, and Venegas, the viceroy, settle into that +quiet living he had proposed for himself in the provinces. + +It is interesting to wonder what would have happened if the insurgent +chief had succeeded in crossing the frontier into the vague regions of +the West, under the protection of the American flag. The Government of +the United States in 1811 was scarcely in a condition to render +efficient aid to straggling patriots from other countries. Moreover, +the lands between the Rio Grande and the new republic were but a +wilderness, in which a little handful of men, however brave, however +independent, might easily have perished by starvation or cold. The death +that came upon them was martyrdom to their cause, more efficient as an +incentive to future patriotism than lives of prolonged incomplete +effort. + +The Alhóndiga de Grenaditas is now used for a prison. In its walls is +still to be seen the spike from which for ten years hung the head of +Hidalgo. Before the entrance stands a bronze statue of the first +liberator of his country. + + + + +XXVI. + +MORELOS. + + +The Independents were not all destroyed. Before the end of the year +which witnessed the execution of the three chiefs, the name of Morelos +began to be noised abroad. + +The father of Morelos was a carpenter living in Valladolid with his wife +Juana Pavon. They were of low birth and poor. On the 30th of September +Juana Pavon, on her way to the market-place, was obliged to enter a +house on the corner of the street where she chanced to be, in order that +her son should be born immediately. This house now has a stone inserted +over the doorway thus inscribed: + +_The immortal +José M. Morelos was born in this house +on the 30th of September 1765. +16th of September 1881._ + +In 1801, this son, then a curate in the neighborhood, bought another +house in the town, which he rebuilt and made comfortable. This house +remains in the hands of the relatives of the hero, who also possess his +portrait and a piece of the cloth with which his eyes were bandaged on +the 22d of December, 1815. Over the door is inscribed: + +_Morelos the illustrious! +Immortal Hero. +In this house, honored by thy presence, +Salute you the grateful people of Morelia._ + +For the grateful people of his birthplace changed the time-honored name +of their city to Morelia in honor of their patriotic citizen, thus +paying a worthy tribute to his memory, although slighting that of the +good viceroy who established its foundations. + +The parents of Morelos dedicated him to the career of a muleteer, as the +local history expresses it, and a muleteer he remained until he was +thirty years old. At that advanced age he had the courage to enter the +Colegio de San Nicholas, where Hidalgo was then superintendent. It is +easy to see that other lessons were taught there besides those of the +school curriculum; Morelos made rapid progress in all branches of +education, was ordained to the church, and obtained several successive +curacies. Thus employed, when the Grito de Dolores sounded over Anahuac, +he offered his services to the Generalissimo Hidalgo on the side of +independence. He was sent to raise the standard of liberty on the +Pacific coast, and starting from his village with twenty-five men, +arrived at Acapulco with a thousand. + +In various encounters with the royalists, Morelos and his men were +successful. He showed great perception in the management of troops, and +marched from one triumph to another as far as Cuautla, a picturesque +town eighty-five miles southeast of the city of Mexico. Its lower level +makes it tropical and picturesque, with lanes winding about among the +adobe huts of the Indians, hedged with banana and orange trees, and hung +with all manner of wandering vines and brilliant blossoms. Water +trickles everywhere, and across the broad valley rises toward the north +the peak of Popocatepetl. + +Here Morelos sustained a siege against the well trained army of Calleja, +still in the field, and ripe with the honors of victory in the campaigns +at Hidalgo. The Independents held out from the 19th of February to the +2d of May, with great valor and endurance, repulsing three assaults, and +sustaining daily attacks, while their sufferings were great from lack of +food and water. The fame of Morelos, heroic defender of Cuautla, spread +far and wide. After sixty-two days of steady resistance, Morelos, +recognizing that he must abandon the place, succeeded in coming out at +night without molestation, retiring in order towards the north. + +Until the end of the year 1812, Morelos was engaged in leading his army +from one victory to another, and gathering everywhere additions to his +forces. The next year he ventured as far as Acapulco, scene of his first +expedition. The garrison there capitulated, and he took possession of +the fortress of San Diego in August, 1813. + +On the 14th of September, Morelos called together the first Mexican +Congress, at Chilpantzingo, not very far from the Pacific coast. Among +its members were many whose names have since been repeatedly before the +Mexicans as liberals. The first act of this Congress was to nominate +Morelos Captain-General of the Independent forces. It was thought +significant that on the same date, September 15th, three years before, +Hidalgo had placed himself in the same post of honor and difficulty. + +The declaration of independence issued by this Congress was as follows: + +"The Congress of Anahuac, lawfully installed in the city of +Chilpantzingo, of North America, solemnly declares, in the presence of +God, arbitrator of kingdoms and author of society, who gives and takes +away according to the inscrutable designs of his providence, that, +through the present circumstances of Europe, it has recovered the +exercise of its sovereignty, hitherto usurped, its dependence upon the +throne of Spain being thus forever disrupted and dissolved." + +During this year the viceroy, Venegas, was recalled by the regency, and +the office conferred upon Calleja, who had so valiantly defended the +royalist cause. + +The plan of Morelos was to take Valladolid, and establish there the seat +of Congress. Bringing together all his forces, he approached the capital +of Michoacan on the 23d December, and demanded its surrender. But the +city was now occupied by the royalist forces of two commanders, one of +whom was Agustin de Yturbide, already renowned for his repeated +victories over the insurgents and the unrelenting vigor with which he +pursued them. These forces attacked the army of Morelos, and completely +routed it on Christmas eve. + +Morelos escaped, and with a few soldiers returned to Acapulco. The +prestige of his army was lost; apparently his star was declining. One +mishap after another followed, and the royal forces pursued him with +unrelenting vigilance, which he evaded several times with very narrow +escapes. The campaign of Yturbide was vigorous; several of the best +captains of the Independents were captured, and paid with their lives +for their devotion to the cause of liberty. Among them was Matamoras. +Meanwhile the first Mexican Congress, like many another, was not +harmonious; divisions arose between its deputies and its general. The +patriot was learning that it is harder to keep a government well in hand +than it is to seize it by force. + +In 1815 this Congress decided it would like to move to Tehuacan, and +assigned to Morelos the task of escorting it thither with all the troops +he held at his disposition. This strange march set forth in mystery and +concealment on the 29th of September; but in spite of the stratagems of +Morelos, the royalist forces discovered its route, and intercepted it. +Morelos gave front to the enemy, that the honorable deputies and members +of his Congress might have a chance to escape. His force was routed, he +himself betrayed by a deserter. + +Morelos was taken to Mexico; the ecclesiastical tribunes covered him +with ignominy, and he was handed over to the military authorities. By +them he was at once sentenced to death, and on the 22d of December, +1815, he was shot in the small town San Cristóbal Ecatepec, dying with +the bravery of a hero. + +This was the end of the dark period, called the second, of Mexican +independence. Its life was in its chief, the daring, patriotic Morelos. + +There is no doubt that Morelos had many of the great qualities for a +successful leader of men. He was born in poverty, with no antecedents of +greatness; untaught, even in the rudiments of learning, until he was +thirty; up to that time patiently driving mules along the steep paths of +his native state. Whoever has watched the slow, though sure, progress of +these animals, and the enforced loitering in the pace of him who +accompanies them, must be impressed with the idea that patience is a +virtue likely to be developed in such training. + +Great ideas then pervaded society. It is probable that Morelos was more +than dazzled by the brilliancy of Napoleon's career. Military success +inflamed many hearts and turned many heads in those days. There was the +making of a military commander in the stuff of which Morelos was +compounded. With the opportunities of Napoleon for creating large +armies, well equipped with all the appurtenances of warfare developed by +the skill and science of the time, Morelos might have arrived at his +object, the liberty of his country. + +There is no reason to suppose that a personal ambition animated him. He +made himself general-in-chief of his army, but that was a necessary step +for the furtherance of his designs. His fixed idea was that of an +independent Mexico. So little was he tempted by the trials of +prosperity, it is impossible to say whether success, the sparkling foam +of flattery, would have turned his head, as they did so many others, in +the supreme hours of attainment. + +As it was, he died the death of a hero, leaving behind him a reputation +pure and unsullied by the taint of personal ambition. + +His career was in no sense a failure. The object of his sacrifice was +achieved in effect; the independence of Mexico, although not within his +own grasp, was sure. Another idea of great importance was impressed upon +the Spanish in Mexico, the Spaniards in the mother country and the world +looking on: that the blood of the native Mexican was capable of great +deeds, that the descendants of the Aztecs were something better than +_peones_, slaves without the name. The lower class of the population of +Anahuac raised their heads and listened. Low murmurs, as of a distant +ocean, told them that the tide of their destiny was turned, that the day +was coming when it would break with force against the bulwarks built up +against it. + +Morelos could die content. He had achieved for himself no proud seat on +the throne of the Montezumas; he asked no such reward. + +He had forcibly impressed upon his country the ideas first given to him +and them by the Curate Hidalgo. The impression was not washed out, but +made fast by the blood he caused to be shed, and his own. + +If glory was his aim, that he has attained. The Mexicans adore Morelos. +His native town is baptized anew with his name, and the state bears the +name of Morelos, which contains Cuautla, the town he defended for +sixty-two days with the patience of the muleteer and the obstinacy of +his animals. + +If the subsequent leaders of Mexican independence have not been always +true to the example he gave them, of unselfish devotion to his cause, +the great population has never wavered in its devotion to his memory. + +In the public square of Morelos, capital of the state which also bears +his name, is a marble statue of the hero, set up during the French +occupation, on September 30, 1865, the one hundredth anniversary of the +birth of Morelos. The Emperor Maximilian presided on the occasion. + + + + +XXVII. + +YTURBIDE. + + +Calleja remained several months at the head of government and then +returned to Spain, having taken vigorous measures to extinguish forever, +as he thought, the flames of insurrection. In the last days of his +administration he arrested and sent to a convent two women distinguished +for their devotion to the cause of independence; one of them, Doña +Josefa Dominguez, the wife of the man who began with Hidalgo the +agitation of the subject. + +Calleja returned to Spain, where he was made Conde de Calderon. He was +cruel and despotic, and has left in Mexico a name much detested. + +The struggle for independence continued in several parts of the country, +but the Spanish government, with good troops and ample resources, either +dispersed or routed the rebellious forces. Some of the chiefs of the +insurrection abandoned the cause, accepting the indulgence offered them +by the viceroy, while others retired to the mountains, like Pelayo in +the early days of Spain, when the Moors swept over the Peninsula, to +keep active for happier days the sacred fire of liberty. + +The successor of Calleja, Apodaca, by his conciliatory and humane +conduct, did much to tranquillize society near the capital, but ideas of +independence were still working all over the country. Guerrero, who must +be counted among the heroes of the movement, showed an unwearying +activity in the campaign. Many times his forces were routed; many times +they triumphed; neither success nor defeat made him waver. He was +covered with wounds, but heeded them not; he was deaf to proposals of +clemency from the royalists. In the mountains of the south, to which he +retired, he kept up constant warfare upon the Spanish troops, and even +set up a new national government. This he continued without falling into +the hands of the royalists until 1820, when the course of Yturbide put a +stop to a warfare which had lasted ten years and soaked in blood the +soil of Anahuac. + +The French had been driven from Spain in 1814, and Ferdinand VII. was +again upon the throne, but there was a revolution in 1820, by which he +was compelled to surrender much of the authority which he had taken upon +himself in spite of his oaths and promises. He was obliged to convoke +the Cortés, to change his ministers for liberals, to abolish the +Inquisition, free the press, and re-establish the national militia. + +Such events awoke again the demand for a liberal government in Mexico. +It was then that an officer in the royalist army, a native Mexican, who +had hitherto distinguished himself on that side, now changed his +allegiance, and took up the cause of independence. + +The concessions forced on King Ferdinand were celebrated in Mexico on +the 31st of May, 1820, the suppression of the Inquisition and the +liberty of the press being subjects of great rejoicings. The independent +party saw in these reforms an opportunity to avail themselves of the new +element to realize their most ardent visions. A great division was +produced among the resident Spaniards of the country, for while some of +these declared in favor of the constitution, the greater part showed +themselves hostile to it, still clinging to ideas of absolute power, and +foreseeing that so great a political change would hasten the +independence of Mexico. + +Agustin de Yturbide was born in the city of Valladolid, not then +re-named Morelia, on the 27th of September, 1783. His parents were of +native Mexican blood, Joaquin de Yturbide, born in Pamplona, and Ana +Arámburu. + +He had entered a royalist regiment before he was sixteen years old, and +until 1808 he showed himself a vigorous opponent of the liberal party, +serving with his troops in different parts of the country, always +signalizing himself by his valor, his activity, and his adroit +combinations to bring about the defeat of the cause opposed to his own. +Through the intervening grades he passed to be colonel, and held +commands of importance at Guanajuato and Valladolid. + +In the diversity of opinions of 1820, Yturbide was among those who +accepted the idea of a complete separation for Mexico from the +Peninsula. Just at that time the viceroy conferred upon him the grade of +brigadier, and gave him command of a body of troops destined to operate +against the insurgents of Guerrero in the south. + +Yturbide left the capital in November, and a month later found himself +confronted by an enemy of something like three thousand men. After +several encounters unfavorable to his command, Yturbide entered into an +active correspondence with the opposing chief, the result of which was +an interview for friendly conference. Both generals found themselves in +accord, for, to the surprise of Guerrero, his opponent revealed an +ardent desire to proclaim independence. Guerrero, without personal +ambition, willingly handed over the command to the renegade, who +announced, on February 24th, the so-called "Plan of Iguala." + +Three essential articles made up this proposal: (1) the preservation of +the Roman Catholic Church, with the exclusion of other forms of +religion; (2) the absolute independence of Mexico under the government +of a moderate monarchy with some member of the reigning house of Spain +upon the throne; and (3) the amicable union of Spaniards and Mexicans. +These three clauses were called the "three guaranties." When the +national Mexican flag was devised later, its colors represented these +three articles of the national faith--white for religious purity, green +for union, and red for independence. The army of Yturbide was known as +the army of the three guaranties. + +Upon this basis the contest was resumed. It found favor in many parts of +Mexico, and the independent troops, with their chiefs, very generally +gave in their adherence at once to the Plan of Iguala. + +As soon as the viceroy could recover from his surprise on waking up one +day to find a brigadier of his own troops concerting a revolution, he +issued manifestoes against the undertaking, and at once set about +raising an army of six thousand men, which advanced but slowly to the +field of action in the south, where the troops of the late brigadier had +joined the insurgent forces. This gave time for the Independents to +collect together the various forces of Bustamente and other chiefs of +their way of thinking. Valladolid was compelled to capitulate for the +third or fourth time in twenty years; afterwards Querétaro, and, +finally, Puebla, which, besieged by the troops of Bravo and Herrera, +surrendered to Yturbide, who made a triumphal entry into the city on the +2d of August, 1821. This was the first of the sieges which the City of +the Angels has sustained, its position with regard to the capital +exposing it to every ill wind that blows in that direction. + +The viceroy, Apodaca, hearing of the rapid triumphs of the insurgents, +adopted defensive measures. He established a permanent Junta of war, +stopped the liberty of the press, and decreed the enforced enlistment of +all men between sixteen and sixty. But desertions were constant, the +public spirit was aroused against government, and except that the pure +Spaniards were in favor of it, all social classes were decided to +overthrow the old regime. Even the garrison of Mexico, losing faith in +the viceroy, conspired against him. A meeting inspired by these +discontented troops invaded the viceregal palace, and informed Apodaca +that his charge was at an end. Francisco Novella, sub-inspector of +artillery, was hastily set up into his place; the deposed viceroy left +the capital next day with his family, and returned, with such haste as +they could bring to pass, to Spain. + +The sub-inspector of artillery went to bed in the palace of the royal +viceroy; when he rose the next morning he found little or nothing to do. +Like his deposed predecessor, he went on dictating measures, which +nobody noticed, to check the revolution; but this had advanced too far +for sub-inspectors to lay hands upon. + +Not only the old insurgents came to the front, but the greater part of +the chiefs of the royalists, Spanish as well as Mexican, declared for +independence, Santa Anna, at Vera Cruz, among others. Yturbide placed +himself at the head of all, and with such resources the campaign was +swift and successful. Thus passed the month of July. On the 30th arrived +at Vera Cruz a new viceroy, sent in advance, before insurrection was +dreamed of at home, to replace Apodaca, the last governor ever sent from +Spain, Juan O'Donojú, sixty-fourth viceroy since the coming of Mendoza. + +He disembarked, took the oath of office before the governor of Vera +Cruz, and assumed the position of governor and captain-general. + +Yturbide hastened to meet him at Cordova on his way to the capital, and +convinced him by the eloquence of his arguments and the proof of his +power, visible in the ample number of troops within his control, that +discretion was the better part of valor. The Treaty of Cordova, then +and there settled between these two men, declared the independence of +Mexico, with Ferdinand VII. or some other for its independent sovereign, +establishing a Junta of government, to which O'Donojú stipulated to +belong, provisional until a king should be found. + +These things settled, Yturbide and O'Donojú, hand in hand, as Yturbide +and Guerrero had come before, approached the capital. Sub-inspector +Novella was summoned outside the city to a conference, and not +unwillingly surrendered his brief authority to the two harmonious +chieftains. + +Yturbide paused at Toluca to collect all his forces and to draw in such +Spanish troops as were now ready to accept him. On the 27th of +September, his birthday, he made a triumphal entry into the capital with +the army of the Independents, consisting of some sixteen thousand men, +with sixty-eight pieces of artillery. They were received with immense +enthusiasm, and great demonstrations of rejoicing signalized the end of +Spanish domination, which had lasted three hundred years. + +On the next day, the 28th of September, the provisional Junta met, and +declared itself installed under the presidency of Yturbide. Its +thirty-eight members accepted by oath the Plan of Iguala and the Treaty +of Cordova, and further issued an Act of Independence of the Mexican +Empire, subscribed to by all the Junta. A government was formed, called +the Regency, composed of Don Agustin de Yturbide, president, and five +other members, among them Don Juan O'Donojú. The latter died the next +month, and thus ended his very brief career in Mexico; his place was +taken by the Bishop of Puebla. + +Thus was formed, at a stroke, the Mexican Empire, whose wide territory +extended from Guatemala on the south, over lands now included in Texas, +the two Californias, and New Mexico at the north. + +Many Spaniards, disgusted with this turn of affairs, returned to Europe +with their families. Others concluded to accept the situation, and +remained to watch the course of events. + +The new government set to work in good earnest to strengthen its +foundations and extend its influence. The province of Chiapas, on the +Pacific coast, declared its emancipation from Spain, and of its own +accord withdrew from Guatemala and incorporated itself with Mexico. It +still remains a Mexican state. Guatemala also declared its wish to join +the Mexican Empire, and the Guatemalian representatives accordingly took +their seats in the first Mexican Congress; but the next year this +province concluded to become an independent nation on its own account, +and took itself away from the empire. + +The solemn installation of this second Mexican Congress took place in +February, 1822. Its first act was to interfere with the proceedings of +the Regency. Ill-feeling, produced by want of harmony, increased daily, +forming parties which strongly adhered either to one side or the other. +Of these, the original Independents, and such Spaniards as sincerely +desired the fulfilment of the Plan of Iguala, by which a Spanish prince +was to be chosen their ruler, manifested more and more their disapproval +of the President of the Regency; while the other party, composed of the +army, the clergy, and some Spaniards, had already accepted the idea of +elevating Yturbide to a throne. + +A ferment of discordant opinions, conflicting interests, and personal +ambitions arose, in the midst of which came the news, naturally to be +expected, that the Cortés of Spain declared null and void the Treaty of +Cordova, concerted by Yturbide and O'Donojú. + +This gave Yturbide his opportunity. On the night of the 18th of May, a +movement was begun by a sergeant of one of the regiments, echoed +immediately by various garrison corps, proclaiming Yturbide Emperor. The +leader modestly referred these applicants to the decision of Congress, +and this body, the next day, with soldiers all around, in the highest +state of impatient excitement, declared, by a vote of sixty-seven +against a minority of fifteen, the Emperor, under the title of Agustin +I. + +Thus by rapid steps had Yturbide climbed from the position of a simple +soldier without rank to the throne of the Montezumas. Wholly different +from Morelos, he cannot be called a patriot in the highest sense. +Probably his motive from the very beginning was personal ambition, in +which loyalty to a king or to a cause had no part. He too, doubtless, +had watched the career of Napoleon Bonaparte, at that time a dangerous +light shining in the eyes of all men. Yet it must not be forgotten that +if Yturbide worked for himself, he yet achieved, at the same time, the +independence of his country. His throne was an unsteady one, but the +dais erected for it to rest upon became the solid platform of liberty. + +Agustin I. took the oath of office before the Mexican Congress, which +proceeded to pass decrees establishing the succession to the throne, the +titles and forms of address to be held toward the members of the +imperial family, as well as their endowments, corresponding to their +rank, details which turned out to be of no permanent value. + +On the 21st of July, Yturbide and his wife were anointed and crowned in +the Cathedral, with all the solemnities and forms which have been +observed in Europe on such occasions for centuries. + +But the Emperor was not firmly established upon his throne. As soon as +they had recovered from their fright and surprise, many of the deputies, +who had voted unwillingly with the majority, began to impede the course +of Yturbide. All parties who had any reason for discontent made common +cause against the Emperor. Signs of dissatisfaction reached Yturbide, +who invited the struggle by dissolving Congress. In place of this +assembly he established a Junta more under his own control; and, rid of +the troublesome Congress, proceeded to issue edicts, and make forced +loans to carry on his empire. + +Suddenly, on the 6th of December, the Republic was proclaimed at Vera +Cruz. Yturbide happened to be in Puebla at the time. He hastened to +Mexico, and sent a division of troops to Vera Cruz to defend his title +and put down the insurrection. + +Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna was at the head of this movement, a general +in the Spanish army, who had lately come into the views of the +revolutionists. At Vera Cruz a plan was formed called the Casa-Mata, +approved of by Bravo, Guerrero, and other generals, which, in substance, +proclaimed the deposition of Yturbide; everywhere it was accepted by the +generals of armies throughout the country, so that, by the end of a +month, Yturbide found himself alone in the city of Mexico. Unwilling to +light the fires of civil war, he acknowledged himself vanquished, and +abdicated, retiring from the capital with his family. Congress closed in +behind him, pronounced the whole episode of the Empire a work of +violence and force, so that the hereditary succession was null. Yturbide +was declared banished from the country, while, at the same time, a life +annuity was voted to him of $25,000 in recognition of his services to +the nation. + +Thus disappeared, as suddenly as it had risen, the phantom of a second +Empire in the realm of the Aztecs. + +Yturbide left the country with his family upon an English vessel bound +for Leghorn. A few months later he wrote from London to the home +government, warning them of European schemes to restore Spanish rule in +Mexico, and offering his services to his country should such an attempt +be made. + +The ruling powers were afraid of a popular revulsion in his favor, and +regarded it as altogether safest to keep him at a distance. The reply of +Congress to this letter was to pass a decree declaring Yturbide a +traitor to his country, as such to be put to death whenever he should +return to Mexico. + +[Illustration: PANORAMA OF PUEBLA.] + +Wholly in ignorance of this decree, and sanguine of the good effect his +letter might produce, the unsuspecting ex-Emperor did return to Mexico +with the intention of fulfilling his offer of usefulness--it may be in +the hope of a return to favor. On the 14th of July, 1824, Yturbide, with +all his family, arrived at the little port of Soto la Marina in an +English sailing-vessel. He was recognized by the general of the troops +of Tamaulipas, the state in which he was, and disembarked. A few moments +afterwards an official presented himself, with hesitation, saying it was +his duty to inform him that he must prepare to die, in conformity with +the decree issued against him in the month of April. + +In vain Yturbide protested he was utterly ignorant of the decree. He was +taken to Padilla, where the Congress of the state of Tamaulipas was +summoned to an extraordinary session to deliberate upon his case. A hot +discussion resulted in the decision that Yturbide must be shot, and +without the slightest delay this decree was executed close to the church +in the streets of Padilla. + +His last words were: "Mexicans! in the very moment of my execution I +recommend to you the love of our country and devotion to our holy +religion, that thus we shall be led to glory. I die because I came to +help you. I die gladly, because I die among you. I die with honor, not +as a traitor. I leave no stain of treason to my children. No. I am not a +traitor!" + +It is impossible not to pity the hard fate of Yturbide and his violent +death. He was not a traitor to his country in the worst sense of the +term, and deserves the title less than many another of his +contemporaries who have met a milder judgment. Although he turned the +government into an Empire for the sake of his own personal ambition, he +had in his short career as Emperor done it no harm; on the other hand, +he resigned quietly for the sake of peace. Doubtless a little delay +would have averted the tragedy, as those who wished him out of the way +were well aware. His life might have promoted the future welfare of his +country; his death certainly produced no good result. Too many hands +were grasping at the prize he had coveted for his to be missed when it +was forcibly beaten off. + +He was personally brave and active, handsome, fond of display, and full +of vanity, which caused him to delight in the splendor of state. He was +at the height of his ambition when he was proclaimed Emperor, the horses +taken from his carriage, and the crowd, drawing him along the streets, +shouting vivas for the new Emperor. He forgot, at a time when it is +easiest to forget, how cheap are such manifestations of enthusiasm from +an easily excited and mobile population. He forgot that as he had +conspired against others, others in their turn not only could, but +would, seek to pull him down. + +Whatever his faults or failings, it is nevertheless true that his act +freed the country from the control of Spain. This is fully recognized in +his birthplace, Morelia, where the house of his birth bears the +inscription: + + "LIBERTADOR DE MEXICO." + + + + +XXVIII. + +SANTA ANNA. + + +The story of Mexico becomes so confused after the fall of the Empire of +Agustin I. that it is difficult to understand. "Plans," pronunciamentos, +revolutions, restorations, followed each other in quick succession. +Generals, dictators, presidents, sprang from the soil ready-made, to +exercise for a few days their brief authority, and vanish as quickly. + +A few prominent names constantly recur, clinging to the wheel of +fortune, which turned at that time in Mexico with singular swiftness. +Each of these went down one day and the next up. Still with pertinacity +they held on, each rejoicing in his own turn at the top, not only on his +own account, but in the satisfaction of seeing the others beneath him. +In their wild merry-go-round they seem to have lost sight of the value +of the position itself, which made the object of their revolutions. Was +it a crown, a dictator's chair, the simple dignity of a president's wand +of office, they heeded little. The thought of establishing a genuine +republic was far enough from anybody's mind in the early days of the +century. To guide us through the puzzling labyrinth at this period in +Mexican affairs, we will follow the thread of one career--the life of a +man who, without the highest characteristics of a real hero, was mixed +up in every event which took place on the plateau of Anahuac, from the +beginning of the struggle to the end. + +Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna was born in Jalapa, Feb. 21, 1798, sixty-six +years to a day after the birth of George Washington, whose footsteps, if +he followed at all, it was in an erring manner. He first made his +appearance in public, as we have seen, fighting in the war of +independence; it was he who, in 1821, expelled the royalists from Vera +Cruz, and took possession of the city. Yturbide thus owed to him, in +part, his success, but it was no intention of Santa Anna's to make an +emperor of him, and he applied the same vigor in pulling him down from +the throne, that he had to smooth the way to it. This effected, he +withdrew to his estates in Jalapa, accepting the federal government +decreed by Congress the 4th of October, 1824. + +This Constitution, wisely drawn up in accordance with the best models, +provided an excellent system of government, if it could be adhered to. +Don Felix Fernandez Victoria, an army general, called by the people +Guadalupe Victoria, on account of the intervention in his favor against +the Spanish, as they believed, of the patron saint of Mexico, Our Lady +of Guadalupe, assumed office in 1824, and kept it for two years without +any commotion. He is described by Madame Calderon as a plain, +uneducated, well-intentioned man, brave and enduring. She gives an +anecdote to his credit. When Yturbide, alone, fallen, and a prisoner, +was banished from Mexico, General Bravo, who had the charge of +conducting him to Vera Cruz, treated him with every species of +indignity. Victoria, on the other hand, who had been the sworn foe of +the Emperor during his prosperity, now, when orders were given him to +see Yturbide embarked, surrounded him with respectful attentions; so +that Yturbide himself, after expressing his warm esteem for the +General's generous conduct, presented him with his watch, as a memorial +of his gratitude. + +During his term, the legislature decreed the expulsion of the Spanish +from Mexico. Many military chiefs were violently anxious for this +measure, and it became a law before the end of the year. In consequence +of this arbitrary decision, worthy of an earlier century and of Philip +III., who drove out of Spain the Moriscoes to the lasting injury of the +country, many families left Mexico, taking with them their wealth, and +the source of income caused by their requirements. It is said that a +great many Spaniards settled in Bordeaux which thus increased in size +and prosperity. Between two countries, of which neither claimed them, +although to each they had a claim, these exiles are to be regarded as +victims of the injudicious legislation of the first republican Congress +of Mexico. + +The close of Victoria's term was disturbed by one or two conspiracies, +civil wars, pronunciamentos, and "Plans." The presidential election of +1828 was marked by formidable divisions. The extreme liberals and the +conservatives formed two great political powers, which, with others +representing every shade of possible opinion, kept the country in a +state of disturbance. The unfortunate precedent of appealing to arms +after an election, instead of submitting to the result of the ballot, +became so established that the elections were little more than a farce. +Pedraza, the conservative candidate, was chosen against Guerrero, +liberal, by a majority of two. Santa Anna upon this _pronounced_ in +Perote, declaring the election of Guerrero valid. Attacked by the troops +of the regular army, if such it may be called, he entrenched himself in +Oaxaca, in the Convent of St. Domingo, where he defended himself with +the greatest bravery and ingenuity, until events made it useless to +contest him any longer, and he was released. + +A mutiny broke out in the capital, Pedraza fled to Vera Cruz and thence +to New Orleans; flames burst forth all over the city, threatening its +destruction, while the populace ran about crying "Viva la Libertad!" The +Parian, where great wealth of gold, jewels, and rich stuff were stored, +was utterly destroyed. From December 3d for several days the town was +given over to pillage, the doors of the warehouses were driven in, and +every thing seized. The greatest confusion, anarchy in fact, reigned in +the capital, beyond any effort on the part of the revolutionary leaders +to restrain the disorder. For more than a month afterward stolen goods +from the Parian were openly sold in the public squares. The desolation +of the city on the night after the first outburst is described by one of +the principal actors. The sack, which had begun in the morning of the +3d, had ceased for the night. Sepulchral silence reigned in the vast +city. In the palace was General Victoria, alone, abandoned even by his +servants. The shops and warehouses stood open and empty, with shattered +doors, their contents carried off and strewn about the streets. Not a +voice was to be heard but the sound of the hour announced by the +_sereno_, from time to time breaking the silence which had fallen upon +the inhabitants of the capital. + +Thus closed the year 1828, and the government of the first President. +During his term Texas was colonized by Austin, with three hundred +families, an event to be remembered on account of its connection with +the war of the United States. In the same year the government of the +United States recognized the independence of Mexico. + +Manuel Gomez Pedraza, by virtue of his majority of two, assumed the +office of President. As an officer in the Spanish army he was +distinguished for his severe discipline and strict moral conduct. He had +supported Yturbide, who made him Commander-General of Mexico. He was +Minister of War under Victoria, in which office he was distinguished for +his great activity. + +The ferment which succeeded the election was increased by the reports of +Santa Anna's conduct at Oaxaca. The army besieging him melted and ran +off. Both Pedraza and Guerrero disappeared. + +Pedraza left the Republic. After another revolution, hearing that "the +Constitution and laws were established," he returned to Vera Cruz, but +was met by an order which forbade him to enter the country, and he +withdrew to New Orleans, to bide his time, while Congress declared in +favor of Guerrero, who ventured to return and try his hand as President. + +Santa Anna distinguished himself by resisting the troops sent by Spain, +somewhat late, after the _mañana_ methods of both countries, to resent +the secession of their dependent colony. A Spanish force from Cuba, by +royal mandate of King Ferdinand, landed at Tampico. This invasion +aroused the patriotism of the country. Santa Anna, without waiting for +any orders, fitted out a force in Vera Cruz and advanced against the +invaders, combining on his way with the troops of government. Their +action was vigorous, and the Spanish commander, Barradas, capitulated +after two days, and returned to Cuba with what was left of his army. +This was the only attempt made by Spain to win back her lost province. +The wealth which Cortés had poured into her coffers had long ceased to +flow with regularity, and its source was now shut off from her. + +In reward for this good service, Santa Anna was made Minister of War and +Commander-in-Chief by President Guerrero, but instead of being grateful, +he turned his powers against him, and with the army overthrew his +government and put Bustamente in his place. This general was already +Vice-President; he and Santa Anna _pronounced_ the Plan of Jalapa, at +that place. Guerrero set out at the head of a few troops, but scarcely +had he left the city when the garrison there _pronounced_ in favor of +one Bocanegro. Between two pronunciamentos, Guerrero once more withdrew +to the mountains of the south, where he took arms against his enemies, +and Bustamente became President. It was under his government that a +disgraceful method was taken to get rid of Guerrero. Persuaded that they +could not conquer him in open field, the ruling party bribed a Genoese +sailor to decoy Guerrero on board his little bark, _Colombo_, in the bay +of Acapulco. The General was invited to dinner as a guest, and accepted +in good faith. No sooner was the meal over than he was told of the plot. +Without power to resist, he saw the sails set, and was carried forcibly +to the little bark, on which he was forcibly detained, heading towards +another port, where he was handed over to his enemies. A few officials +went through the form of a military trial and condemned him to death. He +was shot, in the pueblo of Cuilapa, on the 15th of February, 1831. +Guerrero is regarded as one of the martyrs of the country, and two +monuments in his honor adorn the city of Mexico. + +Bustamente did not long enjoy his repose. Santa Anna _pronounced_ again +in favor of his former opponent, Pedraza, who, in the opinion of many, +had never stopped being President. But early in 1833 our Mexican +Warwick, yielding to popular pressure, consented to be President +himself. He now left the radical party and, like many another reformer +in office, became conservative and joined the Centralists. He was a +favorite with the army, who after a time made him Dictator, in spite of +the distrust of the nation, who believed that he aimed at imperial +dignities. + +The Vice-President at this time was Valentin Gomez Farías, whose merits +deserve notice. He was a native of Guadalajara, born in February, 1781. +He studied medicine, and made good advances in the scientific +discoveries of his time. He was appointed to the Cortés of Spain; but +organized instead a battalion in aid of Hidalgo in the cause of +independence, sacrificing to it his career and his personal fortune. He +was elected deputy to the Congress of Morelos, and afterwards made +governor of the state of Zacatecas. In 1833 he was chosen +Vice-President, and, events afterwards bringing him to occupy the first +place in the government, he displayed great capacity for business and +the cares of office, repressing pronunciamentos, unmasking intrigues, +and preserving always an honorable reputation. Forced to abandon the +presidency, he escaped to the United States to avoid assassination, +selling his ample library to raise funds, thus leaving Santa Anna in +full possession of the field. The Federal Constitution was done away +with, state legislatures abolished, and the governors of the states +became dependent upon central power. + +The insurrection in Texas now broke out into open rebellion. Santa Anna +took the field in person, reaching the Rio Grande del Norte with an army +of six thousand men in February, 1836. He at first was successful, but +after one or two triumphs his army was completely routed, and he himself +made prisoner by the Texan army under Houston. Santa Anna was taken to +the United States by his conquerors. During his captivity he made a +treaty with the Texans, which amounted to nothing at all, as his +functions were suspended by the Mexican government. The next year he was +set at liberty and returned to his native country. He was coldly +received, and at the presidential election that year received only two +electoral votes out of sixty-nine. + +He again retired to his estate near Jalapa, twenty-seven miles from Vera +Cruz; and, we may suppose, contemplated with content a period of repose +after action, and an opportunity to renew the acquaintance of his +family, from which a life of such variety had separated him. + + + + +XXIX. + +STILL SANTA ANNA. + + +The Bourbons had regained possession of the government of France, and +Louis Philippe, under the title of King of the French, was upon the +throne. He was the head of the younger branch of the Bourbons, Duke of +Orleans. Military glory was a requisite to his security upon the throne; +among other enterprises the government sent an expedition to Mexico to +settle by force a long-pending discussion of demands due them since +their civil wars, as damages incurred by French citizens. One of the +items of this claim was sixty thousand dollars demanded by a French cook +for pastry stolen from him by revolutionists. The claim received the +name of the _reclamacion de los pasteles_, a claim for pie. It was +denied _in toto_ by the Mexican government. The French squadron, +commanded by the Prince de Joinville, captured the fortress of San Juan +de Ulóa, and occupied Vera Cruz on the 5th of December. + +Out came Santa Anna and offered his services, and taking command after +the fall of the castle, he repelled the French from the city and forced +them to return to their ships. In this encounter he received a wound in +the leg, which made it necessary to amputate it, and afterwards he +always wore a wooden leg. Mexico in the end consented to make a treaty +of peace by paying the sum demanded,--and the French fleet sailed away. + +Madame Calderon describes the home of Santa Anna at Manga la Clava, +twenty-seven miles from Vera Cruz, approached through a wilderness of +trees and flowers, the growth of the _tierra caliente_, and passing over +leagues of natural garden, the property of Santa Anna. + +The house was pretty and in nice order. General Santa Anna was a +gentlemanly, good-looking, quietly dressed, rather melancholy-looking +person, with a wooden leg. Knowing nothing of his past history, he might +have been thought a philosopher, living in dignified retirement, one who +had tried the world and found it all vanity, one who had suffered +ingratitude, and who, if he were ever persuaded to emerge from his +retreat, would only do so, like Cincinnatus, for the benefit of his +country. + +It was only now and then in conversation that the expression of his eye +was startling, especially when he spoke of his leg, which was cut off +below the knee. He gave an account of the wound, and in alluding to the +French his countenance assumed an alarming appearance of bitterness. + +[Illustration: INDIAN HUT IN THE TIERRA CALIENTE.] + +In 1837 Bustamente was recalled. On the succession of Pedraza to the +presidency, he had been banished, and went away to pursue his medical +studies in France; for he, like Farías, had received a diploma as doctor +of medicine, and had been the family physician of the viceroy Calleja. +He returned to Mexico on the outbreak of the Texan revolution, was made +President, and filled the office with dignity and respectability, +whenever he was allowed to, by his untiring enemy, or rival, Santa Anna, +who, however, was sometimes on his side. In 1840 there was trouble +again, with Santa Anna at the head of the government forces. Against him +was arrayed General Mejia, a Mexican known for his valor, which amounted +to rashness. He was a rival and personal enemy to Santa Anna, and the +struggle between them was a duel _à la mort_. Fate was against Mejia +and he perished. Taken prisoner on the field of battle at the hacienda +La Blanca, he was shot. It is said that, being informed of the sentence +of death passed upon him, he asked when he was to be shot. + +"In three hours," answered the official. + +"If Santa Anna had fallen into my power, I should have given him only +three minutes," was his reply. + +There have been other generals of the same name and family who have +shown equal bravery in death. + +In September, 1841, occurred another brief revolution, so fully +described by Madame Calderon, that it may serve as a specimen. She says: + +"This revolution is like a game of chess, in which kings, castles, +knights, and bishops are making different moves, while the pawns are +looking on and taking no part whatever. + +"To understand the state of the board, it is necessary to explain the +position of the four principal pieces,--Santa Anna, Bustamente, Paredes, +and Valencia. The first move was made by Paredes, who published his +'Plan,' and _pronounced_ on the 8th of August, at Guadalajara. Shortly +after a newspaper of Vera Cruz, entirely devoted to Santa Anna, +_pronounced_ in favor of the 'Plan' of Paredes, and Santa Anna, with a +few miserable troops, and a handful of cavalry, arrived at Perote. Here +he remains for the present, kept in check by the government forces. +Meanwhile Paredes, with about six hundred men, left Guadalajara and +marched upon Guanajuato, and there a blow was given to the government +party through the defection of General Cortazar, who thought fit thus to +show his grateful sense of having just received the rank of general of +brigade, with the insignia of this new grade, which the President put on +with his own hands. Another check to the President. Once begun, +defection spread rapidly, and Paredes and Cortazar, having advanced upon +Querétaro, found that the General there had _pronounced_ just at the +moment he was expected in Mexico to assist the government. + +"Meanwhile General Valencia, pressed to declare his 'Plan,' has replied +that he awaits the announcement of the intention of the Generals Paredes +and Santa Anna, and for his own part he only desires the dismissal of +Bustamente. + +"This, then, is the position of the three pronounced chiefs, on this +second day of September of the year of our Lord, 1841: Santa Anna in +Perote, hesitating whether to advance or retreat, and in fact prevented +from doing either; Paredes in Querétaro, with the other revolted +generals; Valencia in the citadel of Mexico with his _pronunciados_; +while Bustamente, the mark against which all these hostile operations +are directed, is determined, it is said, to fight to the last. + +"Mexico looks as if it had got a general holiday. Shops shut up and all +business at a stand. The people with the utmost apathy are collected in +groups talking quietly; officers are galloping about, generals in a +somewhat party-colored dress, with large gray hats (sombreros), striped +pantaloons, old coats, and generals' belts, fine horses, and crimson +velvet saddles. The shopkeepers in the square have been removing their +goods and money. An occasional shot is heard, sometimes a volley, +followed by a dead silence. The archbishop shows his reverend face now +and then upon the balcony of his palace, looks out a little while, and +then retires. The chief effect so far is universal idleness for man and +beast, the soldiers and their quadrupeds excepted. + +"It is said that the Federalists are very much elated, hoping for the +eventual triumph of their party in consequence of a proclamation by +Valencia which appeared two days ago. Since then the revolution has +taken the name of liberal and is supported by men of name, the Pedrazas, +Belderas, Riva Palacio, which is of great importance to Valencia. +Besides this it is said that certain rich bankers, on the side of the +_pronunciados_ are constantly supplying the citadel with cart-loads of +copper. + +"The conduct of the people is a constant source of surprise. Left +entirely uncurbed, no one to direct them, thousands out of employment, +many without bread, they do not complain, and scarcely seem to feel any +interest in the result. How easily might such a people be directed for +their good! It is said that all their apathetic sympathies are in favor +of Bustamente." + +Several days later she describes the army of the _pronunciados_ on their +way to the capital: "The infantry, it must be confessed, was in a ragged +and rather drunken condition; the cavalry, better clad, have borrowed +fresh horses as they went along, which, with their high saddles, bronzed +faces, and picturesque attire, had a fine effect as they passed along +under the burning sun. The sick followed on asses, and amongst them +various masculine women, with _serapes_ and large straw hats, tied down +with colored handkerchiefs, mounted on mules or horses. The +sumpter-mules followed, carrying provisions, camp-beds, etc., and Indian +women trotted on foot in the rear, carrying their husbands' boots and +clothes. The game is nearly up now. Check from two knights and a +castle--Santa Anna and Paredes in Tacubaya, and Valencia in the citadel. + +"The end of this, after some little firing on both sides, was a +capitulation. Bustamente renounced the presidency, and Santa Anna was +triumphant. He made his solemn entry into the capital, with the Generals +Valencia and Canalizo at the head of the forces. Not a solitary viva was +heard as they passed along the streets, nor afterwards, during his +speech in Congress. Immediately after the ceremony Santa Anna retired to +the archbishop's palace, in Tacubaya, in a splendid coach, drawn by four +beautiful white horses, a retinue of other carriages, brilliant +aides-de-camp, and an immense escort of cavalry. + +"Thus ended the revolution of 1841: but no one felt that its results +were going to be permanent. + +"On the 4th of November a great _function_ was given in the opera of the +capital in honor of his Excellency. The theatre was brilliantly +illuminated with wax lights. Two principal boxes were thrown into one +for the President and his suite, and lined with crimson and gold, with +draperies of the same. The staircase leading to the box was lighted by +rows of footmen all the way up, in crimson and gold livery. A crowd of +gentlemen stood waiting in the lobby for the arrival of the hero of the +fête. He came at last, in regal state, carriages and outriders at full +gallop, himself, staff, and suite in splendid uniforms. As he entered, +the libretto of the opera was presented to him, bound in red and gold. +His expression was resigned and rather melancholy, his manner grave but +agreeable; surrounded by pompous officers, he alone looked quiet, +gentlemanly, and high-bred. + +"The theatre was crowded to suffocation--boxes, pit, and galleries. +There was no applause as he entered. One solitary voice in the pit said: +'Viva Santa Anna!' but it seemed checked by a slight movement of +disapprobation, scarcely amounting to a murmur. + +"The generals, in their scarlet and gold uniforms, sat, like peacocks, +surrounding Santa Anna, who looked modest and retiring, as if quite +unaccustomed to public gaze." + +General Bustamente, as usual, resigned his power to Santa Anna without +further struggle, and withdrew to Europe, where he remained several +years. After the fall of Santa Anna in 1845, he returned to his country, +establishing his residence in the interior. He died a natural death in +San Miguel de Allende in 1853. + +We will leave Santa Anna in his opera-box, surrounded by brilliant +officers and fair ladies sparkling with diamonds until the time comes to +take up his story again. + +[Illustration: CATHEDRAL--CITY OF MEXICO.] + + + + +XXX. + +SOCIETY. + + +A clear picture of the state of society in Mexico, at this period is +given in the journal, before quoted, of Madame Calderon de la Barca, +published without her name in 1843, with a preface by Prescott, the +historian. + +For some time after the violent separation of the colony from the mother +country, Spain made no effort to recognize her truant, grown-up Mexico. +It was not until 1839 that its independence was finally acknowledged, +and its right to be regarded as a friendly state, by Spain. In that year +Señor Don Calderon de la Barca was sent by Ferdinand VII. as accredited +Ambassador to the Republic of Mexico where Bustamente was then +President. The occasion was hailed with satisfaction by all parties as a +signal of peace between the two countries; the remaining Mexicans of +Spanish blood especially hailed the arrival of such an agreeable +accession to society as Madame Calderon, a very accomplished woman, +whose lively letters, not at all intended for publication, give an +account of Mexican scenery and manners, useful to help us in our +knowledge of them at that time, a sort of interregnum between the old +Spanish influences and the present full-fledged condition of the +Republic. Civil war had already much disturbed the old Spanish +landmarks, but much remained of the customs of provincial society, +especially among the higher class in the capital. Balls, receptions, the +opera, were kept up with something of the splendor of viceregal days, +their revival stimulated by this fresh arrival from a European court. + +Madame Calderon loved to wander under the cypresses of Chapultepec. In +her day the viceregal apartments were lonely and abandoned, for the +governor, in whose hands they then were, did not care to live there. The +walls were falling to ruin, the glass of the windows and the carved work +of the doors had been sold, so that the interior was exposed to every +wind that blew around the lofty height. + +She describes the gayety of the Paséo, a long, broad avenue planted with +trees, with a large stone fountain, whose sparkling waters were cool and +pleasant, ornamented by a gilt statue of Victory. Here, every evening, +but more especially Sundays and fête days, were to be seen two long rows +of carriages filled with ladies, crowds of gentlemen on horseback riding +down the middle between them, soldiers at intervals keeping order, and +multitudes of common people and beggars on foot. The carriages were for +the most part extremely handsome--European coaches with fine horses and +odd liveries, others in the old Mexican fashion, heavy and covered with +gilding. Hackney-coaches drawn by mules were seen among the finer +equipages. Most families had both horses and mules in their stables, the +latter animal requiring less care than a horse, and capable of enduring +more fatigue. _Carratelas_, open at the sides, with glass windows, were +filled with ladies in full toilet, without mantillas, their heads +uncovered and generally _coiffées_ with flowers as jewels. Equestrians, +on fine horses and handsome Mexican asses, passed and repassed the +carriages without stopping for conversation. Her favorite promenade was +the Viga, where, as in Montezuma's time and long before, in Humboldt's, +in our own, the Indians, early in the morning, brought flowers and +vegetables to market by the canal. There was profusion of sweet peas, +double poppies, blue-bottles, stock gilly-flowers and roses. Each Indian +woman in her _canoa_ looked as if seated in a floating flower-garden, +crowned with garlands of roses or poppies. "Those who sit in the +market," she says, "selling their fruit or vegetables, appear as if in +bowers formed of fresh green branches and many-colored flowers. In the +poorest village church the floor is strewed with flowers, and with +flowers are adorned the baby at its christening, the bride at the altar, +the dead body upon the bier." + +In answer to questions about the society women of Mexico, Madame +Calderon writes: "I must put aside exceptions, which are always rising +up before me, and write _en masse_. Generally speaking, the Mexican +señoras and señoritas write, read, and play a little; sew, and take care +of their houses and children. When I say they read, I mean they know how +to read; when I say they write, I do not mean that they can always +spell, and when I say they play, I do not assert that they have a +general knowledge of music. The climate inclines every one to indolence, +both physical and moral. One cannot pore over a book when the blue sky +is constantly smiling in at the open windows." She says that there are +no women in the world more affectionate in their manners than the +Mexicans, and that they invariably make excellent wives, if they are +settled at home with their husbands. + +[Illustration: THE VIGA.] + +Madame Calderon describes the appearance of the Plaza on Good-Friday: + +"The most beautiful and original scene was presented towards sunset in +the great square, and it is doubtful whether any other city in the world +could present a _coup d'oeil_ of equal brilliancy. The Plaza itself, +even on ordinary days, is a noble square, and but for its one fault, a +row of shops called the Parian, which breaks its uniformity, would be +nearly unrivalled. Every object is interesting. The eye wanders from the +Cathedral to the house of Cortés (the Monte de Piedad), and from thence +to a range of fine buildings, with lofty arcades to the west. From a +balcony we could see all the different streets that branch out from the +square covered with gay crowds pouring in that direction to see a great +procession which was expected to pass in front of the palace. Booths, +filled with refreshments and covered with green branches and garlands of +flowers, were to be seen in all directions, surrounded by a crowd +quenching their thirst with orgeat, lemonade, or pulque. The whole +square, from the Cathedral to the _portales_, was covered with thousands +and tens of thousands of figures, all in their gayest dresses, and as +the sun poured his rays down upon their gaudy colors, they looked like +armies of living tulips. Here was to be seen a group of ladies, some +with black gowns and mantillas, others, now that their church-going duty +was over, equipped in velvet or satin, with their hair dressed--and +beautiful hair they have; some leading their children by the hand, +dressed--alas, how they were dressed! Long, velvet gowns trimmed with +blonde, diamond ear-rings, high French caps befurbelowed with lace and +flowers, or turbans with plumes of feathers. Now and then, the head of a +little thing that could hardly waddle alone, might have belonged to an +English dowager-duchess in her opera-box. Some had extraordinary +bonnets, and as they toddled along, top-heavy, one would have thought +they were little old women, without a glimpse caught of their lovely +little brown faces and blue eyes. The children here are very beautiful; +they have little color, with swimming black or hazel eyes, and long +lashes resting on the clear pale cheek, and a mass of fine dark hair +plaited down behind. + +"As a contrast to the señoras, with their over-dressed beauties, were +the poor Indian women, trotting across the square, their black hair +plaited with dirty red ribbon, a piece of woollen cloth wrapped round +them, and a little mahogany baby hanging behind, its face upturned to +the sky, and its head jerking along, somehow, without its neck being +dislocated. The most resigned expression on earth is that of an Indian +baby. All these groups are collected by hundreds, the women of the +shop-keeper class in their small white embroidered gowns, with white +satin shoes and neat feet and ankles, _rebozos_, or bright shawls, +thrown over their heads; the peasants and countrywomen, with short +petticoats of two colors, generally scarlet and yellow, thin satin shoes +and lace-trimmed chemises, or bronze-colored damsels, all crowned with +flowers, strolling along, tingling light guitars. + +"Add to this motley crowd, men dressed _à la Mexicaine_, with large +ornamented hats and _serapes_, or embroidered jackets, sauntering along, +smoking their cigars; _léperos_, in rags, Indians in blankets, officers +in uniform, priests in their shovel hats, monks of every order; +Frenchmen exercising their wit upon the passers-by; Englishmen looking +on, cold and philosophical; Germans gazing through their spectacles, +mild and mystical; Spaniards, seeming pretty much at home, abstaining +from remarks; and it may be conceived that the scene, at least, presents +variety. + +"Suddenly the tinkling of a bell announces the approach of _Nuestro Amo_ +(the Host). Instantly the whole crowd are on their knees, crossing +themselves devoutly. Disputes are hushed, flirtations arrested, and to +the busy hum of voices succeeds a profound silence, filled only by the +rolling of coach-wheels and the sound of the little bell." + +This scene is almost the same to-day in the public square on +Good-Friday. The costumes of the higher class have now surrendered to +conventional Paris models, but there is a tendency to gaudiness and +display, defying fashion, which makes a Mexican crowd bright with +variegated color. + +Madame Calderon's accounts of the unsettled state of the country are +comforting, as showing the immense advance in this respect, in the forty +years since she was in Mexico. + +Describing an hacienda not far from the capital, she says: "It is under +the charge of an _administrador_, who receives from its owner a large +annual sum, and whose place is by no means a sinecure, as he lives in +perpetual danger from robbers. He is captain of a troop of soldiers, and +as his life has been spent in persecuting robbers, he is an object of +intense hatred to that free and independent body. He gave us a terrible +account of night attacks from these men and of his ineffectual attempts +to bring them to justice. He lately told the President that he thought +of joining the robbers himself, as they were the only persons in the +Republic protected by government." + +"This pestilence of robbers," she says, "which infests the Republic, has +never been eradicated. They are, in fact, the outgrowth of the civil +war. Sometimes, in the guise of insurgents, taking an active part in the +independence, they have independently laid waste the country, robbing +all they met. As expellers of the Spaniards, these armed bands infested +the roads between Vera Cruz and the capital, ruined all commerce, and +without any particular inquiry into political opinions, robbed and +murdered in all directions. Whatever measures have been from time to +time taken to eradicate this evil, its causes remain, and the idle and +unprincipled will always take advantage of the disorganized state of +the country to obtain by force what they might gain by honest labor." + +Frequent crosses by the roadside were marks of murders committed by +these highwaymen, yet the Mexican robbers had the reputation of being +kind and considerate bandits. She relates, as a proof of their +occasional moderation, that some ladies "were travelling from Mexico +with a _padre_, when they were met by a party of robbers, who stopped +the coach, and seized every thing, amongst other articles of value, a +number of silver dishes. The _padre_ observed to them that as the plate +did not belong to the ladies, but was lent them by a friend, they would +be obliged to replace it, and requested that one might be left as a +pattern. The reasonable creatures instantly returned one dish and a +cover. + +"Another time, having completely stripped an English gentleman and his +servant, and tied them both to a tree, observing that the man appeared +distressed at the loss of his master's shoes, they politely returned and +laid the shoes beside the gentleman." + +This drawback to Mexican travel, the terrible bug-bear which still +deters many timid people from venturing themselves in the country, has +ceased to exist since the establishment of real law and order in the +Republic, and especially since railroads have penetrated all the +important parts of the country. The _Guardias Rurales_, a mounted troop +of patrols, is now one of the finest military organizations in the +world. It is said that General Diaz sent for the chiefs of brigandage, +notorious leaders of pillaging bands, and after inquiring how much they +earned on an average by their profession, asked them if they had any +objection to receiving that sum honestly, in a settled income. The +result was the organization, out of this material, of a body of guards +to protect the rural districts. They are stalwart men, with splendid +leather suits and gray sombreros, all ornamented with silver. Their +horses are beautiful animals, all of the same color in one band, +handsomely caparisoned. The men ride well, and the effect of this strong +body, united in the defence of order, instead of lurking apart in +defiance of it, is in the highest degree reassuring. The result is +satisfactory. Tales of highway robbery are relegated to the same shadowy +region as the legends of Aztec atrocities. In the northern, desolate +regions of Mexico, murders and robberies are still perpetrated. It is +often the case that these are committed by other races than Mexicans, +and very seldom, in proportion, can they be charged upon Indians. + +Elsewhere is quoted Madame Calderon's observation of a pronunciamento. +The following note has an importance further on in our story, of which +she was at the time unconscious: + +"The whole world is talking of a pamphlet written by Señor Gutierrez +Estrada, which has just appeared, and seems likely to create a greater +sensation in Mexico than the discovery of the gunpowder plot in England. +Its sum and substance is the proposal of a constitutional monarchy in +Mexico, with a foreign prince (not named) at its head, as the only +remedy for the evils by which it is afflicted. The pamphlet is written +merely in a speculative form, inculcating no sanguinary measures, or +sudden revolution; but the consequences are likely to be most disastrous +to the fearless and public-spirited author." + + + + +XXXI. + +RUMORS OF WAR. + + +We now come to the disastrous period of the war with the United States. +Nothing more unfortunate could have befallen the struggling Republic of +Mexico than to become involved in a foreign quarrel. + +For three centuries the country had been under the hands of the Spanish +government which though arbitrary, oppressive, and sometimes tyrannical, +was in general firm and equable, and above all, safe. Laws, such as they +were, were enforced. Personal property, perhaps ill-gotten, was +respected. In spite of plenty of abuses and defects, the daily life of +the inhabitants of Anahuac under the viceroys was comfortable and +secure. + +Suddenly, imbued with the ideas of the centuries, the Mexicans began to +play at independence, like children lighting matches. At the instigation +of a few leaders, some of them it is true with high aims, actuated by +the desire of doing good for their country, they drove away their +viceroys, rejected the strong arm of the Spanish authority, and +undertook the difficult task of governing themselves. The trouble was, +not one of them understood the rudiments of the art. There were plenty +of applicants for the highest post of office. Many were tried, but all +were found wanting. Some gave it up themselves; others returned again +and again to the futile task of making stable the shifting sands of +popular opinion. + +The only appeal was to arms. Blood was shed, powder and ball were spent, +and a crop of military heroes sprung up, full of ardor, ready to +_pronounce_ at the slightest occasion, and bring an army to the field at +a moment's notice. The sound of rolling cannon was familiar to every ear +in Mexico. The smell of powder had nothing alarming about it. The very +children were satiated with the sight of soldiery, and scarcely troubled +themselves to run to the door to see a regiment go by. + +But this was not warfare, real and serious. These armies were not +thoroughly trained to the discipline of battle, and the generals were +not educated in the science of war. Brave they undoubtedly were, and +familiar with scenes of danger and bloodshed; too familiar, it may be, +to value at its proper cost the waste of life and property caused by so +much fighting. Exaggerated ideas of honor and glory, inherent to the +Latin race, pervaded society, and the impression prevailed throughout +the country that the Mexican arms were invincible, because every +regiment and every general had, in turn, put to rout every other in the +country. + +[Illustration: VALLEY OF MEXICO] + +In this game of independence, the Mexican peoples had exhausted their +resources, destroyed in a great measure the industries of the country, +spent their money, and wasted rivers of blood. Many of their best +generals were either driven from the country, or dead upon the field. +They might have gone on, it is true, _pronouncing_ and killing each +other indefinitely, but for the sharp lesson that was taught them by the +cruel exigencies of a foreign war. + +That some lesson should come was perhaps inevitable, like a quick, sharp +box on the ears, to bring such naughty children to their senses, and +stop their foolish trifling with life and reputation. But it was hard +that the blow should come from the hand of a nation which ought to have +taken the place of an elder brother to these foolish and heedless +children,--a hand which should have gently led them to peace and +reconciliation instead of promoting discord. + +The Mexicans, undoubtedly, helped to bring upon themselves the +misfortunes that came swiftly upon them. Like all people whose own folly +has put them on the wrong track, they were sure to do the wrong thing. +They were heavily punished accordingly. + +The United States had in a hundred years spread over the great western +lands of North America with surprising rapidity, and now approached the +regions which Cortés had laid claim to three centuries before. This +claim was but vague, for the deserts and plains of the north were not +accessible or inviting; still some posts were established, while the +boundary line which should put a stop to the encroachments of either +country was still unsettled. The territory west of the Sabine River and +east of the Rio Grande came under discussion. + +Moses Austin, born in Durham, Connecticut, a southwestern pioneer, +applied to the Mexican Commandant-General in Monterey in 1820 for +permission to colonize three hundred families in Texas. Without waiting +for his answer, he set out towards the Sabine River, was robbed and +abandoned in that deserted waste, and died of the disease he caught by +exposure soon after finding his way back to Louisiana. The grant was +made, and given to his son, who had it confirmed in the city of Mexico, +and it was he who founded the colony which has since become the capital +of Texas, named Austin after him. More grants of land were willingly +made by the Mexican government, who thought well of encouraging settlers +as protectors against the savage hordes that infested the northern part +of their country; and colonization went on, chiefly by people of the +United States, until these emigrants to Texas far outnumbered the +Mexicans. The difference of race and education was strongly marked +between these sturdy settlers of Anglo-Saxon origin, and the chance +stragglers from Mexico, not the best specimens of the Latin race. This +population had no sympathy with the pronunciamentos and jealousies of +the capital, and the result, as we have seen, was a revolt against +Mexican rule in 1835, in consequence of the acts of the Federal +government. + +Santa Anna hastened to the scene with his army, but the rebellious +forces, under the brilliant command of "Sam" Houston, General, Governor, +and afterward President, were everywhere triumphant, and Texas declared +herself an independent Republic, which maintained its separate existence +between the two great powers on each side of it till 1844, recognized +not only by these, but by the European states. + +The subject of the annexation of Texas to the United States began to be +spoken of and strongly urged by the Texans themselves, but the movement +was wholly disapproved by the party in that country opposed to the +extension of slavery, since by the agreement then existing, all new +territory south of a certain line permitted slavery, while the States +north of it abjured it. In spite of the opposition of the North, +however, Texas was admitted into the American Union by an act ratified +in Congress in March 1845. + +This act was regarded by the Mexicans as an act of aggression. As Texas +was at the time wholly independent of Mexico, its right was undoubted to +annex itself to another country; but on the part of the United States +the act is scarcely to be justified according to the laws of honor and +international good faith. It was at any rate approved only by one +section of the country, the other regarding every additional step +leading to a foreign war with a neighboring government hitherto +friendly, with regret and displeasure. + +The party which favored the measure began to make preparations for +hostile demonstrations with alacrity. The American Republic had now long +been at peace. Prosperous, safe from enemies abroad, peaceful at home, +with plenty of money in her treasury, her military schools training a +small body of officers in the latest science of the art of war, she was +in perfectly good condition to resist an attack, and had the cause been +a popular one, every State in the Union would have offered with alacrity +volunteer troops for the field. + +The correspondence between the two countries grew embittered, and as +time went on more and more unfriendly. During the negotiation of the +treaty for annexation, war was permitted to go on in Texas; the +government of the United States protested. In the war of words which +followed, the Mexicans made and unfortunately reiterated the declaration +that they should consider the ratification of the treaty as equivalent +to a declaration of war. + +During this period of agitation and irritation, the Mexicans went on +with "Plans" and pronunciamentos. Herrera was President during 1844, +during which short period Congress decreed the destruction of Santa +Anna. Farías returned to the Republic from a voluntary exile abroad. +General Paredes on his way to the north with an army to check the +approach of United States forces _pronounced_ a revolution and "Plan" at +San Luis, and returned to Mexico to enforce it. He was made President, +and remained in office six months, giving way then to a pronunciamento +against him which resulted in putting General Don Nicholas Bravo at the +head of government. + +In all this confusion, hurrying to and fro to find a government, there +was no true leader of affairs to dictate wise and moderate steps in such +an emergency. Santa Anna, the military genius of the country, was ready +to serve it in his own way, by placing himself at the head of an army. + +Troops were not wanting, for popular indignation was roused, and popular +vanity stimulated by the idea of a war with the powerful neighboring +Republic. It was pretty generally thought in the cities and towns that +the result of the combat would be an easy victory. The one thing +Mexicans were sure of about themselves was that they could fight, and +the popular impression about the United States on the other hand, was +that they could not. They had long been at peace, and without practice +in arms, while it was well known that the war was unpopular in the +Northern States. + +The Mexicans therefore rushed to arms with their usual alacrity, little +fearing the result. The Indians, all unconscious of the horrors of an +invading army swarming over their villages and devastating the country, +saw armies marching towards the north through their pueblos with +indifference. Their eyes and ears were but too familiar with the sound +of drum and the flying colors of the national flag. Their interests, +their liberty, had little to do with the tempests that raged over them. + +The Mexican army was characterized by many of the necessary qualities of +good soldiery. Patient and suffering, requiring but little subsistence, +with great capacity for enduring fatigue, and with enough physical +courage to enable them to encounter danger without fear, the Mexican +soldiers when properly led compared well with the troops of other +nations. But corruption existed among their officers from the highest to +the lowest grade; commissions were sometimes given by the functionaries +of government as rewards for private services, discreditable to the +giver and recipient. The army included, besides the troops of the line, +the active battalions of the different states and the local national +guards of the cities. + +The cavalry had a high reputation, both at home and abroad. Many other +corps were well disciplined, and the men were expert in all feats of +horsemanship, since riding is now a universal accomplishment in the +country where, three hundred years ago, the horses of the Conquistadores +were regarded as supernatural creatures. Those of Mexico are considered +inferior in speed and power, though possessing endurance in a remarkable +degree. The carbines with which the cavalry were armed were, for the +most part, of a model behind the times, and useless when accuracy of aim +was necessary. + +The Mexican artillery contained many foreigners among its officers; its +juniors were the pupils of the Military College at Chapultepec, where +they were well taught the theory of arms. Mexican revolutions had given +them plenty of practice, and in gunnery they were exceedingly +proficient. Their guns were fine, but clumsily mounted, and therefore +hard to move. Light artillery, as practised by modern troops, was but +little known or used among the Mexicans until it was taught them by the +enemy. + +The infantry was in many respects tolerably well drilled, and severe +discipline was enforced with the privates. Ceremonious etiquette and +detail duties were punctiliously observed. The muskets of the infantry +were inferior, and the men were by no means proficient in their accurate +use. + +The organization of the staff depended much on the general who happened +to be in command. There existed an enormous disproportion of generals, +and their number was so great that it was said at the time they had +rather a brigade of generals than generals of brigade. The country was +full of arms and munitions of war, such as they were, of ancient +manufacture; but for replenishing the supply, Mexico had no resources, +beyond the repair of partial damages. Such an establishment as a +national armory was unknown in the country. + +Of maritime power Mexico was and is utterly destitute. A few steamers +and sailing vessels were on her list at the beginning of hostilities, +but they were not put upon a war footing, and no attempt was made at +naval warfare. + + + + +XXXII. + +WAR BEGUN. + + +In the spring of 1846, General Taylor of the regular army of the United +States was sent to the mouth of the Rio Grande, or Rio Bravo del Norte, +as it is also called, with a small force. Mexican troops also assembled +there, and a conflict was precipitated by a Mexican ambuscade on the +Texas side of the river, which attacked a small party of dragoons, +reconnoitering. In this skirmish sixteen Americans were killed or +wounded, and the whole force was captured. This was the beginning of +hostilities. The Mexican army crossed the Rio Grande, and on the 8th of +May the battle of Palo Alto was fought, and that of Resaca de la Palma +on the next day. Both of these places are on the Texas side of the +river. The Mexicans were defeated in each engagement, and they left the +field with a better opinion of the capacity of American troops than the +one they held before. The rout of the Mexicans was complete; their +pieces of light artillery, their camp, and five hundred pack-mules and +saddles remained in the hands of their enemies. General Arista, the +commander of the Mexican force, lost his personal baggage, plate, and +public correspondence. The number of killed and wounded was estimated +at more than a thousand. + +After this action, both parties crossed the river, and Mexico became the +theatre of warfare. The Mexican army withdrew at first to Matamoras, at +the mouth of the Rio Grande, and afterward to San Luis de Potosi; Arista +was deprived of his command, and brought to trial before a council of +war. + +This was the opening of the conflict, and this might well have been the +end, if Mexico had been capable of rational negotiation. But there was +no government long enough in place to be negotiated with. The special +envoy sent from Washington, agreeably to an intimation on the part of +one President, that negotiations would be cordially entered upon, was +refused an audience by the new President who had usurped the place of +the other one. Such weakness in Mexican high places furnished an excuse +to the American government for continuing the war, while this same +weakness on the part of their antagonist made it almost discreditable +for the United States to continue an aggressive warfare upon forces so +unequal. + +However, the war was begun. Hostilities had been opened by Mexico, and +the American people of all parties were aroused. Bills were promptly +passed in Washington providing men, money, and munitions with alacrity, +as if there were but one opinion of the justice of the cause. The +President was authorized to call for volunteers, in any number not +exceeding fifty thousand, to serve for the period of one year, or during +the war, and volunteers readily answered the appeal to arms. + +"Indemnity for the past and security for the future," is the watchword +of the United States in its wars with foreign nations. As indemnity for +the wrongs inflicted by Mexico,--that is, her objection to the admission +of Texas to the Union, it was determined to cross her boundary line and +seize upon her territory. + +California, then sparsely settled, and comparatively unknown, at a long +distance from the central and civilized part of Mexico, had been +explored already by American travellers, who brought back accounts of +its climate, fertile soil, and mineral resources that showed it to be +worth having. The harbors on its coasts were known to be the only good +ones on the shores of the Northern Pacific Ocean. California lay +immediately south of the United States territory of Oregon, with no +defined natural boundary between them. Many Americans were already +settled there, and altogether it seemed well to transfer this goodly +region to the keeping of the United States. New Mexico, another +department of the Mexican Republic, lying upon the direct route to +California, and in great part included in the boundaries claimed by +Texas upon her admission to the Union, was also another territory that +claimed attention. + +It would be too much to say that the United States began hostilities +with a neighboring republic, shaken by internal discord, its government +little better than anarchy, and weak from continuous civil war, for the +sake of snatching from that country a large part of its territory to +enlarge its own already wide proportions. But since the Mexicans, +foolishly and wickedly, had given fair pretext for quarrel, and +afterwards, with the obstinacy of naughty children, refused to recede, +and persisted in resorting to arms, actually making the first attack, it +seemed well to the United States government to call this the inevitable, +and accept it with all the benefits arising from such a course. + +Their general plan of operations was to seize and occupy the coveted +territories as "indemnity for the expenses of war," while an army +invading the heart of Mexico should force an agreement to terms of +peace. + +In pursuance of this plan, an American squadron appeared before the fort +of Monterey, on the Pacific, in Alta California, on the 7th of July, two +months after the first shots of warfare on the Rio Grande. This Monterey +must not be confounded with the other Mexican town of the same name. The +Mexicans evacuated the place with the few soldiers who constituted the +garrison. On the same day two hundred and fifty seamen landed, and took +possession, and hoisted the American flag. This course was in pursuance +of instructions from the Secretary of the Navy to the commander of the +Pacific squadron, thus expressed in a letter, written as early as June +24, 1845: "It is the earnest desire of the President to pursue the +policy of peace, and he is anxious that you, and every part of your +squadron, should be assiduously careful to avoid any act which could be +construed into an act of aggression. Should Mexico, however, be +resolutely bent on hostilities, you will be mindful to protect the +persons and interests of citizens of the United States, and should you +ascertain beyond a doubt that the Mexican government has declared war +against us, you will employ the force under your command to the best +advantage. The Mexican ports on the Pacific are said to be open and +defenceless. If you ascertain with certainty that Mexico has declared +war against the United States, you will at once blockade or occupy such +ports as your force may admit." + +[Illustration: MONTEREY, MEXICO.] + +Other ports were taken with equal ease; and the navy having joined +forces with the army of Colonel Fremont, the Americans entered the +capital of Alta California, on the 13th of August, and took possession +of the government house without a show of opposition, issuing at once a +proclamation announcing the conquest of the department. + +Meanwhile General Taylor, greatly reinforced by volunteer troops sent +from the United States, advanced into the interior of the country though +the state of Nueva Leon, bordering upon the Rio Grande and the Gulf of +Mexico, and approached its capital, the other Monterey. It lies at the +eastern base of a range of hills, in a valley of great fertility, which +is capable of supporting a large population. The main road from the Rio +Grande to the city of Mexico leads from the east through a cultivated +country, directly through the city, and continues by a pass through the +Sierra, by Saltillo, and on to a desert region between Saltillo and San +Luis de Potosi. A rivulet, the San Juan de Monterey, rises in this pass +and crosses the valley. Monterey stands on the northern bank of this +rivulet, and extends along the stream. At the time of the battle it +contained about two thousand inhabitants. A spur of the mountain Sierra +juts out above the city to the west, and on this is perched the +picturesque Obispado Viejo, or Old Palace, built by a bishop of the last +century for his pleasure-seat. + +[Illustration: GENERAL TAYLOR.] + +General Ampudia had the charge of the defence of the place, with over +ten thousand men. The town was plentifully supplied with ammunition, and +in the various batteries forty-two guns were mounted. Subsistence for +some days, beef, cattle, and sheep, had been introduced into the city. +The attacking force was known to be too small to completely invest the +town. + +The American army made a vigorous onslaught which was bravely resisted +by the Mexicans. The siege lasted for four days, during which the +position of the bishop's palace was keenly contested by both parties. +This was stormed on the morning of the 22d, and carried by a brilliant +attack; but the fate of the siege was not decided until the 25th, when +the Mexican garrison evacuated the citadel, and retreated to Saltillo. + +The force with which General Taylor had marched on Monterey was about +six thousand five hundred men. The loss to the American army was twelve +officers and one hundred and eight men killed, and thirty-one officers +and three hundred and thirty-seven men wounded. The number of Mexicans +who fell was probably over one thousand. + +Both sides fought with great bravery, and the Mexicans contested the +occupation of their town with determination, during the long and +unceasing conflict. The result was terribly discouraging to the soldiers +of the Mexican army, who were discovering, with every new essay, that +the United States soldiers could fight. + +General Ampudia, after the defeat, issued a proclamation announcing it +frankly, with humble apologies for his capacity. He gave a short account +of the operations, highly extolling the valor of his troops, and +attributing the defeat to a series of accidents, concluding with the +assurance to his countrymen that the loss of Monterey was of little +importance, and would soon be forgotten in fresh triumphs of the Mexican +arms. + +He soon received orders to march his troops to San Luis de Potosi, on +the backward way towards the capital. + +The operations at Monterey, in spite of the opinion of the Mexican +general, had nevertheless a great effect on the progress of the war. It +must have been discouraging to the Mexican people; on the other hand, it +made the war more popular in the United States, where the bravery of the +troops was a subject of national congratulation. + +The officers in the army of General Taylor became heroes, and their +military glory was everywhere sounded. + +During these events Don Maria Paredes was President of Mexico. His +"Plan" for his country was a monarchy, and apparently heedless, or at +any rate indifferent, to the approach of hostile troops toward his +capital, he occupied himself with forming a ministry favorable to his +scheme, with the intent of making sooner or later a radical change in +the political institutions of the country. + +Such intentions had aroused a violent opposition to his administration. +Santa Anna, apparently amusing himself at Havana, but always well +informed by his partisans of what was going on at home, sent home +letters declaring himself in favor of the Constitution of 1824, and +ready, as usual, to serve his country. The American government, hearing +of this, thought it well to encourage Santa Anna, in opposition to +Paredes, for they looked with no favor on the idea of a monarchy in +Mexico, and moreover saw that all negotiations for peace were futile +during the stay of Paredes in power. The Gulf of Mexico was already +blockaded by an American squadron, but orders were issued to permit +Santa Anna to come in, if he wanted to. This order was given before the +battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma, and must be taken as a sign +of willingness on the part of the United States for a pacific +accommodation. + +But Santa Anna's gifts were those of a military nature, not for peaceful +solutions. If he was to serve his country, it must be by waving the +battle flag and not the olive branch. + +The defeats of the army reminded Paredes of the need of regaining his +prestige. He began to put forth some energy in raising men and money, +and gave out that he should repair to the field of action himself to +conduct operations against the invaders in person. Raising money with +great difficulty, and assembling a large army, he made ready to leave +the capital on the 31st of July. On that day the garrison of Vera Cruz +_pronounced_ in favor of Santa Anna, the whole garrison of the city of +Mexico joined in the pronunciamento and seized upon the citadel. Farías, +whom we have known as a patriotic man, lent all his influence to support +this rebellion. The Vice-President, Bravo, and the old ministry, made +some opposition on paper, but it was fruitless, and Paredes was made +prisoner. He was soon liberated and left the country. + +Jack-in-the-box Santa Anna was still at Havana, whence he popped up at +once and sailed for Mexico with his suite. He landed at Vera Cruz on the +16th of August, having passed the blockading squadron without question +or delay. Of course he issued a manifesto denouncing the monarchical +schemes of Paredes and the course of the United States, and explaining +the merit of his own conduct. He then retired to his box to await the +course of events, while he sent interested allies to the capital for the +purpose of controlling them. State after state declared in favor of +Santa Anna. + +Every nerve was now strained to raise money and troops for the war. +Santa Anna approached the capital, and was met by offers of the supreme +power from the provisional government. They were declined on the ground +that Santa Anna willed to serve his country in the army. He declared +that he would not abandon the post of danger for the post of power, and +closed his answer with assurances of his disinterested patriotism. This +paved the way for his reception at the capital. He was received with a +show of enthusiasm worthy of the regeneration of his country. + +This parade of military ardor took place on the 15th of September, while +General Ampudia was strengthening Monterey for the attack. A week later +it had come, and on the 25th the city had capitulated. + +On the 8th of October General Santa Anna arrived at San Luis de Potosi +with the troops which had marched from Mexico. He at once set about +organizing the large army called into the field, pledging a part of his +private property as one means of raising money, which was sorely needed +and hard to get. + + + + +XXXIII. + +PUEBLA LOST. + + +On the 18th of February, 1847, General Winfield Scott presented himself +before Vera Cruz with a formidable army of American troops. On the 22d +Santa Anna lost the battle of Angostura, or Buena Vista as it is better +known by Americans, and was forced to retire with his troops upon San +Luis. On the 28th the American forces in the north met the Mexicans at +Sacramento and beat them, soon after occupying the important town of +Chihuahua. These events following close upon one another filled the +Mexicans with alarm, but their determination held out, and all the +opportunities for peace offered them by the American government were +waived as an indignity to their national honor. + +To raise money was the great difficulty. Calls were made upon the +separate states and upon individuals. The government journals adopted +the motto _Ser o no ser_ ("to be or not to be," literally rendered), and +were filled with articles urging the hearty support of the war. One plan +for raising money was the sequestration of Church property. + +As the various religious orders came over to New Spain from the old +country they built churches, monasteries, convents, and hospitals; in +the early period after the Conquest their work and influence, as we have +seen, were most favorable to the establishment of the colony. To the +Franciscans, in great part, belongs the honor of establishing the power +of Spain on a firm basis in the new country. Their wise course with the +Indians, establishing a cordial and even affectionate intercourse with +them, engrafting gently the tenets of the new religion upon whatever was +good and healthy of the old stock, gave them a strong hold upon their +converts, and thus confirmed by love and reason the position won in the +first place by arms and superior force. The several orders of +Hospitallers established all over the country houses of shelter for the +sick, admirably appointed and administered conscientiously with the +greatest zeal. + +The Jesuits encouraged learning in Mexico, founded colleges and schools, +and inspired even the lowest class with the possibility of raising +themselves by developing their mental faculties. The Dominicans, by +their furious zeal for the Inquisition, doubtless hastened the end of +the Spanish rule, for the soil of the New World has never been favorable +for the taking root of this institution. + +[Illustration: GENERAL WINFIELD SCOTT.] + +"Broadly speaking," Mr. Janvier says, in his admirable "Mexican Guide," +"the influence of the religious orders upon the colony was beneficial +during its first century, neutral during its second, harmful during its +third." It must always be remembered that Cortés, with all his personal +ambition and greed of gold, was deeply religious, and that he never lost +sight of his highest aim in conquering New Spain, which was in all +sincerity to plant the cross upon its soil. The impulse given by his +determination lasted a long time, but in another century this had lost +its force, while with the decline of the power of the Church at home, +the ambassadors from Spain had less religious fervor. In the last +century all institutions of the Church had deteriorated to a degree +fatal to her interests, as well as to those of the country. + +By this time so much of the wealth of Mexico had come into the +possession of the Church that this locking up of capital really blocked +the channels of trade. Money accepted, or extorted, by the priests +stopped circulating, and was lost in the coffers of churches, or +converted into superb ornaments for altars. The practical thought of the +time, in the stress for money required to pursue the war, turned to the +scheme of converting all this splendor into funds for the equipment of +armies. + +The clergy became alarmed at the first sound of such proposals, and used +all their powerful influence against them. For this course they were +accused by the government journals of want of patriotism, of aiding and +abetting the monarchists, and fomenting the discords which were daily +becoming more dangerous. + +This was not without reason, for although the priests feared and hated +the "Northern heretics," as they called the enemy, they feared and hated +still more the loss of their property. The monarchical preferences of +the great dignitaries of the Church are well known. They have never +favored the innovation of the Republic in Mexico. + +In spite of the strong opposition of the priests, an attempt was made to +carry the plan into effect. Government required a contribution from the +property of the clergy to the amount of two millions of dollars, and +issued drafts amounting to that sum on the different bishops of the +country. These prelates really were not able to pay immediately in ready +money, even if they had inclination; they begged for delay, and meantime +incited the clergy to defeat further measures in Congress. Nevertheless +a bill was passed in January, 1847, "to hypothecate or sell in mortmain +Church property" in amounts necessary to obtain fifteen millions for the +support of the national war against the United States. Government, +determined to carry the matter through, took the first step by seizing a +priest who was stirring up an insurrection in the capital, and casting +him into prison. Such acts stifled the general outcry, and the clergy +were compelled to work in secret. But the property consisted almost +entirely of real estate, and, even when seized or mortgaged, it was +difficult to raise money on it, for the clergy made it unsafe for +individuals to encourage the government by purchase. No great quantity +of money was raised at that time, and Congress was induced to consider +ways of making the law less obnoxious. In the middle of their conference +they broke up, and left government to obtain resources as it might. + +Thus the first great blow was struck at the accumulation of Church +wealth; the wedge admitted which must weaken the structure in time. + +On the 22d of March General Scott, having landed his troops, began to +bombard the city of Vera Cruz. At the time of the attack the city was +but scantily supplied with subsistence. The governor of the state had +endeavored to provide it with provisions, in the little time he had +after the appearance of American vessels in the harbor, but amid the +clamor at the capital his small voice was unheeded. General Morales, the +Commandant, with good courage resolved to keep up the defence as long as +possible, trusting for aid to the coming of the _vomito_, which early +every spring makes Vera Cruz unhealthy, rather than to any hope of a +relieving army. + +On the day General Scott summoned the city to surrender, General Morales +returned a peremptory refusal, saying that he would make good his +defence to the last, informing his Excellency that he could commence +operations in the manner which he might consider most advantageous. Soon +after, the bombardment began. For four days a shower of shells poured +upon the city, and the violence instead of diminishing daily increased. +The inhabitants for protection crowded upon the mole, and into the +northern part of the town. For twelve days the place was closely +invested. Many poor people who, without the necessaries of life, were +prowling about the streets in search of food, fell before the American +fire, as well as women and children, who were not safe even in their +houses. On the 28th the city surrendered. The Mexican troops were +permitted to march out of the city with the honors of war, to the field +where the surrender of arms was to take place, and to salute their flag +when it was struck. The civil and religious rights of Vera Cruz were +guaranteed to its inhabitants. The troops laid down their arms, and +General Worth's command entered and took possession of the city and the +neighboring Castle of San Juan d' Ulóa. + +[Illustration: _SIEGE OF VERA CRUZ_] + +By this capture, General Scott obtained a base of operations for direct +advance upon the city of Mexico, and, moreover, inflicted another blow +upon the courage of the Mexican nation. + +Santa Anna, who, by the way, had been made President, leaving political +affairs in the hands of Governor Farías, Vice-President, hastened from +the defeat at Buena Vista to the encounter of another American army, met +General Scott between Jalapa and Vera Cruz, and sustained a new defeat +at Cerro Gordo. He himself escaped and fled to Orizaba, where he made +strenuous efforts to assemble anew an army, for his troops were utterly +dispersed, and not a barrier remained between the enemy and the capital. +The Americans, in fact, slowly advanced, occupying the country as they +went towards the capital. Santa Anna arrived first at Puebla with all +the force which he had collected at Orizaba. He found the Poblanos +indifferent, and tried to rouse their patriotism, telling them, with +good reason, that he knew they could fight if they chose, for not three +years before they had beaten him, Santa Anna, off the town although he +was backed by an army of 12,000 men. Notwithstanding his eloquence, the +American army marched into Puebla without any fighting at all. The +Ayuntamiento of the city met General Worth outside the city, and +favorable terms were agreed upon. + +The American troops arriving in Puebla were quartered at first in the +Plaza Mayor, where they stacked their arms, and laid themselves down to +rest. They had passed the night in the open air in a pouring rain, and +were tired and dirty with a long march all the morning. The Poblanos +could not understand that these ill-conditioned soldiers were the +terrible conquerors who were invading their homes. Some one expressed +the belief that five hundred good men could cut them down, as they lay +at their ease in the Plaza, but the attempt was not made. + +Puebla was thus quietly occupied, but the inhabitants showed no +good-will to the invaders. + +Fort Loreto, on the hill of Guadalupe, was occupied by a part of the +American command. This hill is famous in the annals of Mexican history. +In the old times when it was crowned by the Church of Guadalupe, +religious processions used to go up and down on the days of sacred +ceremony. The fort was destined to a glorious triumph later, but at the +time of the American investment it had not yet won its reputation. Then, +as now, from the heights was to be seen one of the great views of the +world: three snow-covered volcanoes, with Malintzi rising 13,000 feet +above the level of the sea, and the lofty crest of Orizaba, and nearer +at hand the pyramid of Cholula. The city of Puebla spreads out below +like a map. It is very pretty, built like all the Mexican cities, with +streets running at accurate right angles, straight and regular. Many +churches are scattered over the city; the frequent use of colored tiles +in building furnishes a great many colors, for red, yellow, and blue are +employed in the domes, which glow with bright tints or glitter in the +reflection of the sun. + +The American troops had full opportunity to enjoy this scene while they +occupied Puebla, awaiting at first the arrival of General Scott, and +afterwards reinforcements sufficient to warrant an advance. Santa Anna +returned to Mexico, where, as usual with beaten generals, his reception +was the reverse of cordial. He took what measures he could to win back +popularity, and as one step towards this, resigned the presidency. +Pending a new election, Congress created him Dictator until the next +year, and armed with this authority he began the work of fortifying the +capital, since this was evidently the next and last point of attack for +the enemy, General Taylor's army finding no hindrance in coming from the +north, and General Scott close at hand in the City of the Angels. + +Patriotism, the desire to defend the capital, was fully aroused, and +battalions poured in from the different cities and states of the +Republic; each sent its guns to contribute to the defence, and by the +end of June the Mexican Dictator had at his disposal over 25,000 men and +sixty pieces of artillery. Pronunciamentos ceased for the time, and the +spirits of the Mexicans again rose, leading them to hope that the final +struggle would be successful, and that the troops of the United States +would meet with an overwhelming defeat at the gates of their capital. + + + + +XXXIV. + +CHAPULTEPEC TAKEN. + + +Early in August the American army left Puebla and took up its quarters +outside the capital, having approached by a route south of Lake Chalco. + +Santa Anna, having learned these movements, began fortifications at the +Bridge and Church of Churubusco, four miles south of the city. There is +no town here, only a few little scattered houses; in the time of the +Aztecs, however, it was an important place, which clustered round the +temple of their old god of war, Huitzilopochtli, of which the modern +name is a derivation, having come a long way from its root. "The place," +says an old chronicler, "was the dwelling and diabolical habitation of +infernal spirits" until the priests of the Church cast them out. When +the artillery of the American army rattled about their ears, the poor +inhabitants may have fancied there had entered in devils worse than the +first. + +The Mexican general ordered a barricade to be erected in the road over +which the American army must pass. This was done, but when Worth arrived +he set the same Indians who had thrown up the barricade to level it +again. These docile natives saw but little difference between one army +and another, and they set to work with the same patient alacrity they +had used to build the barricade, on the business of tearing it down +again. + +On the 18th the battle of Churubusco was fought, the Mexicans defending +with great bravery a convent to which they had retreated. In this +battle, lost by the Mexicans, many of their distinguished men perished. +Gorostiza, a poet and dramatist, some of whose plays still hold the +stage, lost his life valiantly commanding his battalion, although he was +old and infirm. + +It was all in vain. The Americans gained the convent and the town, in +spite of the valor of the defenders and the bravery of General Anaya, +who was in command. The Mexicans left alive were taken prisoners, and +the Americans triumphed. The day of Churubusco is regarded by the +Mexicans as a glorious one, in spite of their defeat. A monument stands +in the Plaza in memory of the heroes who died there defending their +country. + +Closer and closer drew the lines of the hostile force. There was an +armistice after the battle of Churubusco; fighting began again at Molino +del Rey, a range of stone buildings under the fire of the heavy guns of +the Castle of Chapultepec. General Scott was informed that a foundry was +in operation at that place, and that bells from the steeples of the city +had lately been dismounted, probably to be recast there for cannon. This +turned his attention to the place. It was attacked on the night of +September 8th, and taken the next day after furious resistance. Inside +the Molino were some few old cannon moulds, but no evidence of recent +founding. The Americans were now close under the fortifications of +Chapultepec, whose guns had played incessantly upon them from daylight +throughout the action. + +[Illustration: _BATTLE OF MOLINO DEL REY SEPT 8TH 1847_] + +This also is regarded by the Mexicans as a brilliant action, as it +undoubtedly was on their part, as well as that of the daring invaders. +During the battle, the bells of the city were ringing a continuous +joyful peal, as if to assert a victory beforehand. The city was wholly +confident in the impregnability of its stronghold, the Castle of +Chapultepec. + +Yet on the 13th this difficult fortress was attacked by General Pillow, +scaled and taken by the American troops. General Bravo was in command of +the castle, while Santa Anna was occupied with other exposed places. +Under him were eight hundred men, among them the pupils of the Military +College established there. The General was taken prisoner; many of the +brave young fellows, before they had gone beyond the first lessons of +military science, were taught its last and most bitter one,--death, in +the defence of their citadel. The American soldiers rushed in at the +many different doors of the college; it is said that they showed unusual +ferocity, made savages by the custom of slaughter among the Mexicans in +former engagements. Quarter was rarely given, a practice learned of the +Spaniards themselves; for a few moments the struggle was fearful, and +the bloodshed unrestrained. Parties of American officers found their way +to the Azotea, and tore down the Mexican colors, while the standards of +two United States regiments were displayed. The shouts of the victors +announced to the city that her stronghold had fallen. + +[Illustration: _STORMING OF CHAPULTEPEC SEPT 18TH 1847_] + +The taking of Chapultepec was practically the end of the war. The city +of Mexico was shortly after occupied, and although the negotiations for +peace were long and tiresome, the end was obvious. + +On the 2d of February, 1848, a treaty was confirmed, called that of +Guadalupe-Hidalgo, from the name of the little suburb city where it was +signed. Mexico received fifteen millions of dollars, by way of +indemnity; but lost the territory of Alta California, New Mexico, Texas, +and a part of her state of Coahuila, by the agreement to consider the +windings of the Rio Bravo del Norte, or Rio Grande, as the boundary +between the two nations, as far as it goes; that is, to a direct line +parallel with San Diego on the coast of California. + +No sooner had California fallen into the hands of the Americans, than it +turned out to be full of gold. In that very year, 1848, began the gold +fever of California, and emigration poured in from all parts of the +States, so that rapidly the territory, unknown and neglected by the +Mexicans, grew to be a most important State. San Francisco, then a +little straggling Mexican port, is now a large and flourishing city. + +This is a result of the war which must be viewed with impatience, to say +the least, by the Mexicans, who saw themselves, at the time, forced to +relinquish this large amount of territory without the power of refusal. +On the other hand, there is room for thinking that California, left in +the hands of that people, might have remained to this day undiscovered, +with its wealth still hidden in the earth. Whatever comfort this may be, +is open to the losing side. + +The war left them disgraced and humiliated, with ruined cities and +desolated homes scattered over the land. It is probable, however, that +the permanent effect of the war was beneficial. It taught the Mexicans, +for one thing, to distrust the prestige of their army, and humbled the +pretensions of a crowd of military men, who, while they aspired to the +highest offices of government, proved themselves not only incapable of +serving their country thus, but incompetent in the field. High praise, +however, is always to be assigned to the courage and bravery of the +army, its commanders, and private soldiers, especially in the defence of +their capital when the struggle reached its last agony. + +The United States by the war acquired an immense extent of territory, by +many of its citizens, however, even at the time, regarded as a +questionable good. The acquisition of so much slave territory without +doubt hastened the crisis which called for the civil war of 1861. The +experiences of the American army in the Mexican war, and the glory, +exaggerated perhaps, which attached to their feats of arms, stimulated +the taste for military pursuits, before very moderate in a peaceful and +industrious land. The heroes of the campaign of Anahuac were transferred +to the field of politics. General Taylor became President of the United +States, and General Scott narrowly escaped it. The defects of the army +were recognized and in great measure remedied, so that when the civil +war did come, both armies, on the two contending sides of that +unfortunate conflict, were in a state of readiness much in advance of +the condition of the national troops before the campaign in Mexico, +while a crop of officers, heroes of the so-called glorious victories of +Palo Alto, Buena Vista, and the rest, responded to the call of loyalty, +or rebellion, with the alacrity of experience. + +After the evacuation of Mexico an attempt was made by the Americans to +capture Santa Anna. General Lane, who with a small force was engaged in +driving guerrillas from the roads, received information that this +general was at Tehuacan, not very far from Puebla. After marching all +night in that direction, he occupied two large haciendas in that +neighborhood, where his men and horses were concealed during daylight, +and the Mexican residents held close prisoners. When evening arrived the +command marched on towards Tehuacan. About five miles out they met a +carriage with an escort of ten or twelve armed men. They were stopped, +but the occupant of the carriage produced a written safeguard over the +signature of an American general, and upon this the whole party was +allowed to proceed. General Lane arrived at Tehuacan just at daylight, +and entered it at once. But the bird had flown. Santa Anna had been +there; but, warned by a breathless messenger on horseback, who rode back +from the carriage the soldiers had met, to give him news of the approach +of the soldiers, had just time enough to make his escape, with his +family, leaving all his effects, which were quickly plundered by the +troops of Lane's command. + +On Friday 1st, before the treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, Santa Anna +informed the Minister of War and the American Commander-in-Chief that he +desired to leave Mexico and 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." This permission was granted, and he went to +Jamaica, leaving his country at peace, but not forever. + +Ulysses S. Grant, then a young soldier in the army of the United States, +took part in the Mexican war. He went into the battle of Palo Alto as +second lieutenant, at the age of twenty-six, and entered the city of +Mexico sixteen months later with the conquering army. + +In his personal memoirs General Grant expresses his opinion that the +Mexican war was one of the most unjust ever waged by a stronger against +a weaker nation. "It was an instance," he says, "of a republic following +the bad example of European monarchies, in not considering justice in +their desire to acquire additional territory." + + + + +XXXV. + +BENITO JUAREZ. + + +Peace was restored, and with it revived commerce and industry; the +coffers of government were full, thanks to the fifteen millions of +_pesos_ received from the United States to heal the wounds of war. + +General Herrera took possession of the presidential chair, and Mexico, +after twenty years of warfare, civil and foreign, took a respite of as +many months. + +Herrera became President on the 3d of June, 1848, and fulfilled the +appointed time of office until January, 1851, when he handed over the +control to his successor, when for the first time in the history of the +Republic this change was effected without violence. + +His administration was economical and moral, and so was that of his +successor, General Arista, who continued the reform of the army, +bringing order into the financial condition of the country. These two +terms may be regarded as models of good government. + +[Illustration: BENITO JUAREZ.] + +Before the close of Arista's term the Mexicans took up their old +practice of _pronouncing_, and rather than create a disturbance, the +President, finding himself unpopular, secretly retired from the capital. +Resolutions began, and Santa Anna, hearing their echo afar, returned to +the country once more, to be made Dictator. + +But Mexico was not to fall back into the hopeless anarchy of the period +before the American war. The better class had learned to desire peace, +and there were leaders among them strong enough to restrain the mobile +desires of the multitude, and lead them to better things. The epoch of +the reform began; and although this reform was signalized by bloodshed, +it was a war for definite objects and principles, and not a squabble, +setting up and putting down incompetent presidents, which used to +prevail. + +The great struggle arose over the question of the sequestration of +Church property, begun during the United States war, but then, as we +have seen, treated injudiciously, hastily dealt with, with but temporary +and inefficient results. Later the disagreement between the _clerigos_, +or Church party, and the _liberales_, or those demanding the surrender +of the property of the Church, became wider and wider, until two great +parties divided the country. For half a century these parties have +disputed the power under their two political standards. It must not be +inferred that the party opposed to the _clerigos_ has been opposed to +religion. The liberals have been as good Christians, and not only this, +as devout Catholics, as the so-called Church party. The question has not +turned upon matters of doctrine, but upon those pertaining to the goods +of the Church. + +Benito Juarez was of pure Aztec birth. It has even been said that the +blood of the Montezumas was in his veins. Be that as it may, his family +was of the lowest order of the Indians, living in a village of the state +of Oaxaca. They were poor, and it is said that at twelve Benito knew +neither how to read nor write. + +He found a protector in Don Antonio Salanueva, head of a rich family of +Oaxaca, who became interested in him, and kindly helped him to an +education. In him, as in many other cases less known, the facility of +the Indian intelligence to acquire knowledge was shown. He learned +rapidly to read and write, and advanced so far as to study law, in which +he afterwards distinguished himself, elected first a member of the +legislature of Oaxaca, and afterwards climbing all the steps to legal +fame until he became the presiding judge of the courts there. + +During the war with the United States, Juarez was at the capital, as +deputy to Congress. He took a vigorous part in the demand for the loan +upon Church property to supply money for the war, and thus ranged +himself with the opponents to the Church party, although himself +preserving the devout faith of the Catholic religion, which the Indians +almost invariably cling to. + +He was made Governor of Oaxaca, and devoted himself to establishing +schools for the Indians, to benefit his race, while he managed affairs +wisely and economically for all. + +During Santa Anna's dictatorship, he was banished from the country, and +stayed in New Orleans until the turn of the wheel brought his way of +thinking to the top, when among other offices he resumed that of +Governor of Oaxaca. He became afterwards Secretary of State, and +President of the Supreme Court of Justice. + +On the 17th of February, 1857, a new Constitution was promulgated by the +enlightened Congress. It declared that national sovereignty resides +essentially in the people, and adopted the republican form of +government, representative, democratic, and federal. It proclaimed each +state free and sovereign within its limits, and introduced many reforms +and improvements in the old code. It was received with great applause by +the liberal party, but with little disguised disapproval by the army and +clergy, who set themselves from its birth to combating its success. +Great disturbance arose, excommunication of the liberals, promulgations, +pronunciamentos, arrests, uprisings. From the midst of all the confusion +Juarez took possession of the presidency by right of his position as +head of the Supreme Court, since Comonfort, the legitimate President, +had _pronounced_, been condemned, and forced to leave the country. +Juarez and his party held their own through much adverse circumstance. +On his side were ranged, in the defence of the Constitution of 1857, +Doblado, Ortega, Zaragoza, Guillermo, Prieto, and other important men; +on the side of the _clerigos_ were the Generals Miramon and Márquez, and +the greater part of the chiefs of the regular army. Civil war waged over +the land; there is reason to believe that moderate principles and the +Constitution of 1857 would have triumphed, had it not been for the +strange and certainly unexpected events of the foreign intervention, +which occasioned an episode in Mexican affairs as cruel and unnecessary +as it was dramatic. So foreign indeed was it to the national life of the +Mexican people, that it in reality scarcely formed a part of their +history. The Indian in his hut of adobe saw the princely pageant pass, +he scarce knew why. + + + + +XXXVI. + +FRENCH INTERVENTION. + + +IN 1861, four years after the declaration of the Constitution of 1857, +on the 8th of December, there appeared in the waters of Vera Cruz a +foreign squadron, over which floated the colors of three European +powers. It was a combined expedition from the governments of Spain, +England, and France. The commissioners from these three powers were +accompanied by a body of Spanish troops, a smaller force of French ones, +and some English sailors. Why were they there? Did they come to demand +something? Had they an ultimatum to present? + +The three powers had signed a treaty in London by which they agreed to +send this threefold expedition to Mexico to demand guaranties for the +safety of their subjects living there, and further to urge their claim +to sums borrowed by the Mexicans during their difficulties, on which a +law had been lately passed suspending payment. This was the pretext for +the expedition; its real cause was below the surface. + +The commissioners took possession easily of Vera Cruz, and then +proceeded to Orizaba, where a conference was opened with Juarez. The +demand for payment was readily acknowledged, and the commissioners for +Spain and England at once withdrew their troops. But the French +remained. The proclamation issued by the commissioners, declaring their +presence in Mexico was for no other purpose than that of settling vexed +questions, had served as a reason for introducing their troops. The +expedition was undertaken in good faith by the English and Spanish +governments, but when their commissioners found that a deeper question +was involved, they extricated themselves and their governments from the +affair and went away. + +A plan had been formed in the court of the Tuileries, by Napoleon III., +encouraged and even instigated by Mexican refugees who had sought the +court of France, disgusted with the liberal turn of affairs in their own +country. Among these were Gutierrez de Estrada, the ex-President +Miramon, and others of the clergy party, who were opposed entirely to +the supremacy of Juarez, and wanted above all things to bring back a +monarchy to Mexico. At the same time the Archbishop of Mexico, robbed as +he said of the property of his Church, warmly advocated the same cause +at Rome. + +The plan was to select a prince of some European house, and place him +upon the throne left vacant since the abdication of Agustin I. in the +capital of the Aztec Emperors. Estrada, indeed, was living in exile, on +account of his pamphlet proposing this scheme. Napoleon III. accepted +these overtures with alacrity, and at once furnished troops, money, and +influence to the alluring idea of "opposing the Latin race to the +invasion of Anglo-Saxons" in the New World--that is, to check the +supremacy of the United States upon the western continent, and establish +an Empire in Mexico, which, nominally independent, would be under his +own control, and thus add to the glory of the French nation. + +The time was opportune, for the United States were then engrossed in a +civil war, which absorbed all their resources. The government at +Washington could not give its attention to affairs in Mexico, and +Napoleon hoped, in the not improbable event of the success of the +Southern States, that there would be no danger of interference from that +quarter. + +The demands of the commissioners, therefore, were but an excuse for +entering the country. Relying on the representatives of the Mexican +_émigrés_, which promised cordial support from the clerical party at +home, the French advanced towards the capital of Mexico. + +Meanwhile, the future Emperor had been found. Ferdinand Maximilian +Joseph, Archduke of Austria, of the house of Hapsburg Lorraine, accepted +the proposition secretly made him by Napoleon, to become Emperor of +Mexico. + +[Illustration: ARCHDUKE MAXIMILIAN.] + +He was brother of the reigning Emperor of Austria, and they were +descended from the royal house of Charles V. of Germany and I. of Spain. +Maximilian was born in 1832; in 1857 he had married the daughter of the +King of Belgium, Carlotta Maria Amalia. These two young persons, for the +prince was but little over thirty, were at Miramar, their palace near +Trieste, where they received the overtures of the Mexican conspirators. +For many months the Archduke hesitated over so startling a proposal; +finally he decided to accept the crown which was offered him, but "on +the condition that France and England should sustain him with their +guaranty, moral and material, both on land and sea." England, as we have +seen, early withdrew from the alliance, with a loyalty to honorable +principles greatly to its credit, well aware that the United States +would look upon the scheme with no favor, and less confident than the +French Emperor in the success of the Southern Confederacy. + +Maximilian was a dreamer. The scion of the stock of kings, he believed +firmly in the "right divine," which he persuaded himself to fancy, by +tortuous ways might now be hovering over him. Ardently religious, he +attached the highest importance to the preservation of the Church, and +believed that he was an instrument to this end. The vision of Mexico +snatched from the hands of impious rebels and restored to the prestige +of an ancient Empire, fascinated him, and with a vivid imagination, he +pictured himself, and his Carlotta, whom he dearly loved, as the central +figures of the great restoration. His expression of this thought at +Naples, in 1857, so often quoted, proves how far he was carried by the +vividness of his dreams. + +"The monumental stairway of the palace of Caserta is worthy of majesty. +What can be finer than to imagine the sovereign placed at its head, +resplendent in the midst of those marble pillars,--to fancy this +monarch like a god graciously permitting the approach of human beings. +The crowd surges upward. The king vouchsafes a gracious glance, but from +a lofty elevation. All powerful, imperial, he makes one step towards +them with a smile of infinite condescension. + +"Could Charles V., could Maria Theresa appear thus at the head of this +ascending stair, who would not bow the head before that majestic power +God-given! I too, poor fluttering insect of a day, have felt such pride +throb in my veins, when I have been standing in the palace of the Doges +of Venice, as to think how agreeable it would be, not too often, but in +rare solemn moments, to stand thus at the height of such an ascent, and +glancing downward over all the world, to feel myself the First, like the +sun in the firmament." + +All this had been arranged, as is now known by the dates of the +preliminary correspondence, before the French commissioners were sent to +Vera Cruz. The conciliating attitude of Juarez towards them took away +the pretext under which they had entered the country, but they had no +orders to retire. On the contrary, reinforcements soon arrived, and the +Mexican President found himself obliged to put an army in their way. + +The expedition, whose object, no longer concealed, was "the triumph of +the Latin race on American soil," advanced towards the capital. Mexico +was divided by its two great parties for and against the invasion. The +ultra-clerigos, secretly aware of the action of their party abroad, +encouraged it; but there were many amongst them who paused before the +innovation of a foreign ruler on Mexican soil. + +French troops under the command of General Lorencez advanced upon +Puebla, joined before they arrived there by a strong Mexican force of +the clerical party under Márques, so that they had a large and effective +army. The resisting force in Puebla was much smaller, not more than two +thousand strong, but the defence under General Zaragoza was brilliant +against a vigorous attack. The French were driven off and had to retire +to Orizaba. + +This is the victory of the _Cinco de Mayo_, or 5th of May, which the +Mexicans celebrate as one of their best holidays. The battle was not in +itself very important, but its moral effect upon the Mexicans was great, +encouraging them to continue their gallant defence of their country. +They fought to resist foreign intrusion. At that time they scarcely knew +why it was thrust upon them, and could not have dreamed of the extent to +which imperial audacity on the other side of the ocean had dared to go. +To impose upon a free and able-bodied people a sovereign of foreign +birth, without the slightest sign of inclination on their part, was +hardly justified by the argument that this party constituted an +important minority. The extent of the enterprise dawned upon the people +gradually, as the scheme of the French Emperor unfolded itself. +Meanwhile, there was fighting in Puebla, and the long-suffering Mexicans +again took up arms. + +The Indians, over whose villages peace for a few years had stretched her +fostering wing, once more heard the noise of cannon and the call to +arms. The old troubled life had come back again. Repose was only a +dream. + +On the 5th of May, every year, there are great rejoicings all over +Mexico, but especially in the capital, where a broad handsome street, +well paved and lighted, is called the Cinco de Mayo. All the troops are +reviewed on that day by the President. The buildings are hung deep with +flags and decorations, and the streets crowded with a joyous population +swarming to and fro, crying _Vivas!_ over the long procession of +regiments marching through the city to the stirring sound of the Mexican +national march. + +An adventure of which the French are very proud occurred in the +following month. After retreating from Puebla, the army of Lorencez was +quartered in Orizaba where they were closely watched by Zaragoza's men. +A body of four or five thousand Mexican troops placed themselves upon +the Cerro de Borrego, high above the town, whence they threatened to +bombard it. The condition of the French within the town grew more and +more uncomfortable, food was giving out, and the presence of the +overlooking enemy was, to say the least, annoying. + +A young captain, lately promoted, watched and followed a Mexican woman +whom he saw day by day, as she climbed a steep path to the height, +carrying a water jar upon her head to supply the Mexican army. The +French officer entreated permission of his general to attempt the +dislodgement of the enemy. This granted, in the deep darkness of night +one hundred and fifty soldiers crept cautiously up the narrow path, +unconsciously betrayed by the Indian woman, close to the edge of the +cliff. Suddenly, as they arrived at the top, the officer called out "_A +moi les Zouaves!_" "_A moi la Légion!_" giving such a volley of +directions that the Mexicans imagined the whole French army was upon +their traces. Startled from secure slumber, they were easily overcome. +The French claim the destruction of three hundred men, a general, three +colonels, and two lieutenant-colonels, with all the arms and the colors +of the Mexicans, who, if they survived the weapons of the small +attacking party, fled and were lost in the steep slopes of the +precipice. + +Fresh troops came from France, and by the beginning of another year the +army of invasion, commanded by Marshal Forey, numbered forty thousand +men, not counting the Mexicans on that side, whose numbers increased as +the magnitude of the enterprise became known. + +Puebla again was the scene of the struggle. For two months General +Ortega defended it obstinately, but food became scarce. A convoy +bringing provisions, under charge of General Comonfort, was seized by +the French under Marshal Bazaine, and on the 17th of May the besieged +army was obliged to succumb, without capitulating. The French advanced +towards the capital, and the Mexicans abandoned it, Juarez withdrawing +towards the north, where he re-organized his government at San Luis de +Potosi. He never relinquished his office during the whole of the French +intervention, and remained all the time, in the minds of loyal Mexicans, +and also in the language and opinion of the government of the United +States, President of the still existing Mexican Republic. + + + + +XXXVII. + +THE EMPIRE UNDER PROTECTION. + + +On the 28th of May, 1864, to the great joy of the Cabinet of the +Tuileries, who had been much in fear that their scheme might fall +through, the new sovereigns arrived at Vera Cruz. They were but coolly +received by the merchants of that port, and passed through it without +ceremony, followed by the large suite they brought with them. But the +priests had aroused the Indians _en masse_ to welcome new rulers, who +would, they were promised, restore their liberties and raise their +condition. Crowds of these people in serapes and rebozos, with dark eyes +full of questions, stood along the route of the imperial cortége as it +left Vera Cruz. + +Nor was enthusiasm elsewhere wanting; a real imperialist party sprang up +from the soil, spontaneously, on the appearance of the young prince and +his consort. Had they known how to secure this popularity and make it +permanent, these imported sovereigns might have reared for themselves a +realm in the hearts of the impressionable people of Anahuac. Maximilian +formed his idea of sovereignty upon the absolute rule of the Middle +Ages. He would not stoop to make popularity; he expected it to be +freely offered. Indeed, he had assented to come only when he was +summoned by the voice of the whole Mexican people. This voice was the +reluctant vote of a Junta got together by the clerical party on purpose +to satisfy his demand. But the charm of his presence, which was +dignified and princely, and the winning manner of Carlotta, well fitted +to play the part of gracious sovereign to an adoring people, won all +hearts for the moment. + +A splendid reception was prepared in the capital. Triumphal arches +spanned the principal avenues to the city, inscribed with the names of +the personages who had brought about the glorious intervention. The +streets, especially San Francisco and Plateros, were hung with banners +of every color, set with exquisite flowers and plants. Rows of citizens +and troops, dressed in their best, lined the way through which the open +carriage of Maximilian and Carlotta made its way, preceded by the +officers of state, and followed by a long retinue of public +functionaries and persons of the highest aristocracy. Balconies and +azoteas were crowded with curious gazers, and vivas were not wanting; +yet it is said that the populace kept away from the solemnity, or looked +on coldly, at the advent of the foreign intruders. + +Maximilian was accompanied by a crowd of followers,--his escort, +household servants, and retinue; and brought with him all the material +for establishing in a new country a throne of the "right divine." +Quantities of these things, for want of lumber-room, are now stored at +the National Museum at Mexico, where one may see in glass cases much +heavy silver plate with the imperial arms, destined for the feasts of +this descendant of Charles V.; the decorations of the Emperor; and below +in the courtway stands the great glass coach in which he sat with the +Empress, as once sat Cinderella in a similar one. All these insignia of +royalty they brought to impose upon their new thralls. + +[Illustration: SAN LUIS DE POTOSI.] + +And so the young sovereigns set about organizing their ideal court. All +society was at their feet, and the society in Mexico at that time, if +more provincial than that of Paris or Vienna, yet had for Maximilian and +Carlotta the merit of being their own domain. They were monarchs of all +they surveyed. It was indeed a romance. All their debts paid by a +generous Napoleon in the background, a French army full-fledged to +protect them, a throne, a court, a people ready-made to order,--all they +had to do was to enter in and enjoy them. + +Marshal Bazaine, at the head of military affairs, set about the +restoration of the arsenal, and repairing the damages made by the United +States war. On his arrival he found the service of artillery entirely +disorganized. Molino del Rey he restored to its functions of a foundry, +so that it could furnish arms and munitions for the country. + +Napoleon had promised that the French troops should remain about +Maximilian for six years, or until his own national army should be on +such a footing as to be a proper protection to its Emperor. Bazaine was +therefore occupied with the reconstruction of the army, with an eye to +the distant day when he and his force might be recalled. + +[Illustration: CHAPULTEPEC IN THE TIME OF MAXIMILIAN.] + +Meanwhile, Maximilian began to govern, according to his lights, which +were liberal as far as the limit of absolute monarchy allowed. He sought +to gain the friendship of the party allied to Juarez, holding the idea +that this native chief of a half-civilized people had been driven off +the field for good, and that it was to be an easy task to replace his +crude government with one based on loftier planes. He paid no attention +to the new code of the reform, but began to impose his own regulations, +and to legislate on all matters as if Mexico were still in its natural +and primitive state. He readily listened to all sorts of plans for the +construction of telegraphs, railways, and other enterprises for the +improvement of the country, with little heed to their vast expense. + +Among these was the restoration of the palace at Chapultepec, then in +dismal ruin since the attack of the Americans. From their first glimpse +of it the new sovereigns decided that here should be their home, the +chosen dwelling which should recall the delights of Miramar; recognizing +it as the loveliest spot in all the broad valley of Anahuac. So thought +the Aztec chiefs who sought its shade in their leisure moments; so +thought the viceroy, Galvez; and so thinks every one now who drives from +the city over the broad Paseo, built in the time of Maximilian, as a fit +approach to the charmed palace. + +It stands on a height of two hundred feet above the valley; a winding +road from the avenue below, shaded by huge trees, leads to a platform +where are the great stone buildings of the lower terrace belonging to +the Military Academy. On these buildings, which form its basement, is +all the range of Maximilian's palace, including not only a suite of +state apartments and smaller rooms, but, planted on soil brought up from +below, a series of hanging gardens, surrounded by galleries with marble +columns. From the tangle of shrubbery and climbing masses of neglected +roses, can be seen below, stretching far and wide, the extensive +landscape, and from the terrace the incomparable view of the volcanoes, +with the broad interval between. + +The interior decoration of Maximilian's palace was in imitation of +Pompeii. It was furnished in the French taste with light stuffs and +gold, very well suited to its sunny height and the pure atmosphere of +the valley of Mexico. + +Fêtes, receptions, dinners, and dances, every form of gay life, ruled +the home at Chapultepec. The young Empress, animated and brilliant, was +the centre of her court. For a time no shadow fell upon the bright +prospect of the new Empire. + +The capital presented an unusually lively aspect. The French garrison +filled the city with well-dressed regiments; business received a new +impulse from foreign merchants of all sorts, who came, attracted by the +demands of a court for luxury; the rich families of the capital +displayed their wealth in all the splendor of luxurious living. After +many years of discord and depression, the reaction brought about by this +burst of prosperity pervaded the capital. It was true that this +satisfaction was felt only by high society. There was no real +improvement as yet in the resources of the country; the middle class, +with no greater facilities for living than before the new order of +things, were poor and discontented, and murmured at the sight of +rejoicing and luxury they could not share. Carlotta, with an open hand, +distributed alms, drawn from the fortunate purse at her disposition; but +this, without method or definite aim, had no great effect upon the +general prosperity. + +In fact it was by no means the purse of a benevolent French Emperor that +furnished funds for so much expenditure. A heavy loan was negotiated by +the crown in 1864, in Paris and London, which brought to its use plenty +of ready money, but entailed upon the nation a debt, of which it is not +yet free. The cities and separate states of Mexico, at first readily +surrendered to the troops of Maximilian, small foreign garrisons being +left in each of the principal ones to maintain his authority by their +presence. It was necessary to maintain military rule, however, for fear +of relapse towards the Republic, and on account of vast guerrilla bands, +espousing the liberal cause, which infested roads and small villages, +where constant encounters and actions took place with imperial troops. + +But the gay court of Maximilian little heeded these things. They left +the army to Bazaine, and the government to the ministers. Never was +Mexico so brilliant, so triumphant, so apparently at the zenith of +prosperity, as during the brief time of the French intervention. + + + + +XXXVIII. + +THE UNPROTECTED EMPIRE. + + +But there came a day which put an end to all these festivities. + +The civil war in the United States was over, leaving the government at +Washington at leisure to attend to outside affairs; moreover, leaving at +its disposition an army of well-trained troops, and a treasury +well-filled, in spite of the drain on both of these through a protracted +and destructive war. + +On the 7th of April, 1864, the Secretary of State wrote thus to the +United States Minister in Paris: + + "SIR:--I send you herewith the copy of the unanimous + resolution passed in the House of Representatives the 4th + instant. It comprises the opposition of this body to any + recognition of a monarchy in Mexico.... It is scarcely + necessary, after what I have previously written you, to say + that this resolution sincerely expresses the unanimous + sentiment of the people of the United States." + +The will of the United States government settled the question, and this +will was most distinctly made manifest. The French Emperor could not +involve his people in a war with the United States, nor did he himself, +already somewhat weary of his own scheme for establishing the supremacy +of the Latin race upon the western continent, regard it as worth the +risk of such a war. He readily assented to any proposition of the +government at Washington, whose imperative demand was the withdrawal of +French troops from the continent of North America. + +Louis Napoleon has been much blamed for his conduct in the matter of the +French intervention, even execrated. It is not easy to defend it, but it +may be said that from the European point of view, the plan of +intervention was not such a bad one. Undoubtedly it originated in the +minds of the royalist refugees from Mexico, who sincerely saw no better +way of serving their country, torn in pieces with internal dissensions +and civil wars, than to furnish her with a ready-made crown from the +continent where such articles are furnished. + +The Church party, which saw with genuine horror the sequestration of +their property, ascribed it to the progress of so-called liberal ideas. +They were warmly encouraged by good Roman Catholics in Europe, and among +them by the Emperor at Versailles, who professed himself an ardent +adherent of the Pope. + +The scheme was possible, because the powerful neighbors of Mexico were +occupied in quarrelling among themselves. That quarrel might last until +the Latin race had firmly taken root. Napoleon never intended a +permanent French occupation of the country. It was his whim to plant the +little monarchy, water it and dig about its roots, and then go away to +attend to other affairs. + +The American quarrel did not last, nor did the monarchy take root. The +French troops were withdrawn before the government of the Empire was in +any sense fully established. The national army which Bazaine sought to +establish on a firm footing was not strong enough or loyal enough to +uphold the Emperor, and he was sacrificed. + +Everybody wished him to abdicate. Napoleon sent a special messenger to +Mexico to urge this course; Bazaine urged it, and it seems now as if +Maximilian himself must have perceived that there was nothing else left +for him. But he was very slow to admit such an idea. Neither he nor the +Empress in any sense realized their perilous position. + +At the end of June, 1866, came the final word of Napoleon, in reply to +an appeal sent to him from Maximilian, upon which he, and still more +Carlotta, had founded great hopes. The message of the French Emperor was +short, its tenor distinct, hard, making it clear that no further support +was to be furnished by the Tuileries to the Mexican project; the +conditions were hard, asserting that the troops must be immediately +withdrawn. Maximilian at last understood that but one course was left to +him--abdication. On the 7th of July he took up his pen to sign away the +Mexican monarchy; but the Empress stayed his hand. Carlotta, of a will +stronger than that of her husband, with a determined ambition, offered +to go herself to Europe to make a personal appeal to Napoleon and +another at Rome. On the very next day she left the capital in haste, +never to return. + +It is said that on arriving at Vera Cruz the Empress could find nothing +at the quay but a small French boat to carry her out to the great +steamer in the offing. She absolutely refused to place herself under the +French colors which floated at the stern of the boat, so bitterly she +felt the insult offered to her interests by the French nation. + +She arrived at Saint-Nazaire early in August, to the surprise of the +local authorities, and, still more, of the court of the Tuileries. The +report of the arrival of the Empress of Mexico produced a sensation at +Paris, for public opinion there was already interested in the Mexican +drama. When Carlotta landed she was the object of a large crowd +assembled on the docks. She appeared dressed in deep mourning, with +great sadness of demeanor. Her face was pale and haggard, and her eyes +burned with fever. She was accompanied only by a few ladies and +gentlemen of her house. No preparation, of course, had been made for +her; a common _voiture de place_ took her to the hotel. Her Mexican +servants, with their large _sombreros_ trimmed with gold braid, made a +sensation in the French port. + +The next day she arrived in Paris, and went to the Grand Hotel, refusing +to ask hospitality at the Tuileries. The imperial family was at Saint +Cloud. She at once sent to request an immediate interview with Napoleon +III. + +The Minister of State paid her a visit immediately, and she passed part +of the day in conversing with him. The next morning she went to the +palace, although the Emperor had sent word that he was indisposed. +Finally he concluded to see her. She eloquently demanded, on the part of +Maximilian, continued aid, in money and troops. The interview was long +and violent, it is said, and full of recrimination. The Empress, as all +the fair structure of hopes she had raised since her departure from +Chapultepec crumbled before her, gave way to bitter emotion. She +declared that she, a king's daughter, of the blood of Orleans, had made +a terrible mistake to accept a throne from the self-made Emperor of the +French, a Bonaparte. + +From this scene at Saint Cloud the madness of the new Empress is thought +to have begun. She had scarcely the force left to continue her course to +the Vatican, where she found no more redress than she had done at the +Tuileries. The whole of Europe had soon to shudder at the news that she +had lost her reason. She never returned to Mexico. + +It was by way of the United States that Maximilian first heard of the +failure of the interview at Saint Cloud. He kept silent, still hoping +better success from the negotiations of the Empress with the Pope; but +meanwhile he quietly made preparations for his departure from Mexico, +giving out that it was his intention to meet the Empress at Vera Cruz on +her return. Much household baggage had been already transferred thither, +and the rumor spread abroad, of the probable departure of the royal +household, producing a lively sensation throughout the country. + +The time was drawing near. Maximilian, at Chapultepec, under the +melancholy boughs of the cypresses, gloomily paced the alleys, dreaming +of his shattered hopes. A telegraphic despatch was put in his hands, +sent through the United States. It announced that the Empress Carlotta +was mad. Maximilian at once gave orders for departure, and wrote to +Bazaine that he was about to leave Mexico. + +The society of the capital was struck with grief at the news of +Carlotta's state, for they had an ardent adoration of their brilliant +Empress. + +The Emperor went first to Orizaba, where he was obliged to delay the +many necessary final arrangements. There was no railway then, and the +journey was made in a carriage. Maximilian preserved a gloomy silence +all the way. As the little party approached Orizaba early in the +morning, having passed a night in a little village on the way, +Maximilian alighted to walk down the zig-zag way which leads from the +plateau towards the _tierra caliente_. He walked swiftly and silently, +wrapped in a long gray coat, a broad-brimmed _sombrero_ on his head, +sometimes turning to glance back at the heights he might never see +again. While they were stopping at noon for rest and refreshment, the +eleven white mules which drew their carriages were stolen; it was a long +time before other animals could be found to take their places. Finally, +the sun was setting as they reached the pretty village of Ingenio, +outside of Orizaba. There awaited the little party a group of horsemen, +inhabitants of Orizaba, and several curates, who had come out to greet +the Emperor, followed by a crowd of Indians. Bells were rung, guns +fired, and his welcome was universal. + +The Emperor stayed a week in Orizaba, during which Bazaine impatiently +awaited in Mexico his final announcement of departure. But Maximilian +was still hesitating. He was approached and surrounded by certain +members of the clerical party, who felt sure that the fall of the +monarchy would be their ruin. Among these was Father Fischer, to whom +Maximilian accorded the greatest confidence. + +This man, of German origin, emigrated to Texas about 1845, and +afterwards, in search of gold, to California. He was at first a +Protestant, but converted, received orders somewhere in Mexico, and +obtained the post of secretary to the Bishop of Durango. He was +introduced to Maximilian, who was attracted by his appearance, which +betrayed great intelligence; he became one of the most trusted advisers +of the Emperor. He succeeded in surrounding Maximilian with agents of +the reactionary, or clerical party, who urged him not to abandon them at +this dark hour, at the same time assuring him of the hidden force of the +party, and its resources. At this very time the city of Oaxaca, defended +by Mexican imperial troops, was obliged to capitulate and open its doors +to Porfirio Diaz, the general of liberal forces. Yet Maximilian wavered. +It was difficult, even yet, for him to renounce the crown of his +visions. Moreover, honor, fidelity to the Church, prompted him to +remain, even to perish for that cause. Just then, to reinforce the +eloquence of Father Fischer, two generals, devoted to the clerical +cause, who had been in exile in Europe for two years, disembarked at +Vera Cruz, and instantly offered their services to the Emperor; these +were Miramon and Márquez, eager, as they declared, to open the campaign +again under the imperial banner. Maximilian, inspired by their discourse +and their promises of arms and money, hesitated no longer, but pledged +his word to the clerical party to return to his station, and resume its +dignities. Miramon hastened to Mexico to rouse the ardor of all the +partisans of the Church, and to set on foot a new army. + +The Emperor issued a manifesto to the Mexican people, and returning to +Mexico, instead of going back to the palace of Chapultepec, took up +quarters in a modest _hacienda_ outside the capital, called La Teja. + + + + +XXXIX. + +MAXIMILIAN. + + +General-in-Chief Bazaine, the envoy from the Tuileries, and all true +friends of the Emperor, heard with dismay his resolution to remain. His +peaceful abdication had been hoped for by all parties. Bazaine sought to +withdraw his troops, since withdraw they must, in as orderly a manner as +possible. Overtures had even been made with the liberals, in regard to a +successor to Maximilian, that all parties might be harmonized if +possible, so that the country should find itself under firm hands, just +as if there had been no French intervention, as soon as the Republic was +clear of French troops. But the manifesto of the Emperor rendered all +such hopes vain. The insistance of the United States and repeated orders +from France made it necessary to remove the French troops without delay. +French steamers awaited them off the coast of Vera Cruz, and the hour of +departure was fixed. + +At the end of the month of January, 1867, the French army, in full +retreat, rolled out its long course "like a ribbon of steel" over the +dusty route between the capital and Vera Cruz. Cannons were broken up, +horses were sold for almost nothing, to reappear later in the ranks of +the liberal army. On the 5th of February the tri-colored flag of France, +which had floated over French head-quarters, was lowered; the capital +was freed from the occupation of the French. Moreover, the Belgian and +Austrian troops went too, for the Emperor was unwilling to retain them, +resolving to trust himself wholly to the arms of his Mexican subjects. + +Meantime Juarez, much encouraged by the aspect of things and by +intimations of approval from the government of the United States, had +advanced from the north, where he had been lying in wait for better +times, and fixed his residence, with his Cabinet, which he always kept +about him, in Zacatecas. General Escobedo, chief of his armies in the +north, had reconquered that portion of the country as far as San Luis de +Potosi, and the greater part of the cities and states, abandoned by the +French, fell at once into the hands of the liberals. + +It was thought best by the imperialists to advance towards the enemy as +far as Querétaro, and there the army established itself, Maximilian with +it, while Miramon advanced towards Zacatecas and surprised it, almost +taking Juarez prisoner with his whole government. + +The Emperor was accompanied almost wholly by Mexicans, only a few +Europeans being about him. He was determined to excite no jealousy in +the minds of his subjects by apparent preference for those of his own +country. As for the French, they were no longer desired by him. General +Márquez was his quartermaster-general; his aides-de-camp were Mexican; +his physician accompanied him, Dr. Basch, who was a worthy and devoted +friend up to his last moments. Personally attached to the Emperor was +the young Prince Felix of Salm-Salm, who had been fighting in the civil +war of the United States, and came to Mexico, for want of other +occupation. He attached himself to the cause of Maximilian with a +devotion which became ardent before the end. Besides these gentlemen, +the Emperor had with him a Hungarian cook and four Mexican servants. + +Thanks to the vigorous measures of Miramon and the clerical party, +Maximilian found himself at the head of an army of more than eight +thousand men. Among these were found the most active and valiant chiefs +of the old regular army, who showed great bravery, as did their trained +soldiers, but nearly half the troops were raw Mexican recruits, ready to +run away at a moment's notice. + +Querétaro was soon invested by the army of the north under General +Escobedo. Daily skirmishes took place, which showed great daring on both +sides. The troops of the Emperor sallied out for provisions, of which +there was soon sore need within the besieged city, returning after each +attack to their quarters, around which the liberals were drawing their +lines closer and closer. The investment lasted two months, during which +General Márquez was sent by Maximilian to the capital for those forces +and funds which had been so confidently promised him by the clergy. +Márquez succeeded in avoiding the liberal army, but never returned, and +no reinforcements whatever were sent to Querétaro. He made use of the +troops and funds he was able to raise in the capital in order to attack +General Diaz who was advancing upon Puebla. Diaz captured Puebla, after +a siege of twenty-five days, and then turned round and utterly routed +Márquez, who, taking refuge in flight, returned almost alone to the +capital under cover of the night. Had he brought back his troops to the +succor of Querétaro, the immediate result might have been different, but +the fall of the Empire could not be long delayed. During this long and +trying siege, the conduct of Maximilian was admirable. He won everybody +by the gentleness and cheerfulness of his bearing, brave to a fault, and +exposing himself fearlessly to the fire of the enemy. Several plans of +escape were formed, by which the Emperor, with a few guards, was to +disappear from the city and place himself at the head of his troops +elsewhere, but these were generally frustrated at the last moment by the +unwillingness of Maximilian to abandon his brave companions, from a +delicate sense of honor. + +Maximilian, at Querétaro, is described by the Prince of Salm-Salm, as +generally in citizen's dress; but when he stood at the head of his +troops he wore the uniform of a general of division. + +He was about six feet high, of a slender figure. His movements and gait +were light and graceful, his greeting especially genial. He had fair +hair, not very thick, which he wore carefully parted in the middle. His +beard was fair and very long, and he nursed it with great care, parting +it in the middle, and frequently stroking it with his hand. His skin +was pure and clear, and his eyes were blue. His mouth had the +unmistakable stamp of the Hapsburg house, but not so strongly marked as +with some of his illustrious family. The expression of his face was kind +and friendly, and so was his bearing; even with his intimate friends he +was never familiar, but preserved a certain dignity of manner. He was +true to his friends and loyal to a fault, for he never could suspect +treachery in those who surrounded him. His love of beauty and harmony +was so great that he was easily captivated by handsome people with +pleasing manners, and he could not divest himself of the idea that a +fine human form must contain a noble soul. The strength of mind and +moral dignity he displayed when his misfortunes came upon him, and the +sadness of his fate, silence whatever criticisms of his course may be +suggested by the events of his brief career in Mexico. + +The condition of the foreign army shut up in Querétaro became more and +more painful. Provisions grew scarce. Maximilian, with the greatest +serenity, accepted the coarse, tough food which was all that could be +had. The only hope of the garrison was in Márquez, and day after day +brought only disappointment, as no troops appeared from the capital. + +On the night of the 14th of May, Gen. Lopez, who had the charge of the +most important point in Querétaro, the Convent de la Cruz, betrayed his +trust and admitted two battalions of the enemy into the citadel. From +this point they advanced to other parts of the city, where all became at +once terror and confusion. Lopez had been won by the liberals, but he +had not intended that the Emperor should be captured, and indeed gave +him ample warning that he might escape. With his aides-de-camp +Maximilian passed, untouched, by some liberal soldiers and gained a +little hill just outside the town. Here he surrendered to a detachment +of the victorious army and delivered up his sword. The horse of the +Emperor was brought to him, and the little party rode to meet Escobedo, +the victorious general. Generals Miramon and Mejia were also then taken +prisoners. Mendez, another imperialist, succeeded in lying concealed for +a few days, but being found, he was shot at once. + +For a month Maximilian and his generals remained prisoners in Querétaro, +while their fate hung undecided in the hands of Juarez. Even then there +were propositions for the escape of the Emperor, boldly planned and +helped by ample funds; but he always failed at the last moment to avail +himself of them. + +The Princess of Salm-Salm, an American by birth, was as devoted to the +cause of the unfortunate Emperor as her husband. She showed great energy +and courage at Querétaro, visiting Maximilian and carrying messages +between him and the Prince, from whom he was separated. She even went to +San Luis de Potosi to beseech the clemency of the liberal chief, Juarez, +or at least obtain a delay, but her pleading was in vain. + +The decision of the President, which nothing could shake, was, that the +traitors, as they were called, should be tried by court-martial. The +trial was but a farce, the result a foregone conclusion, although the +cause of Maximilian was eloquently urged by his counsel, Mariano Riva +Palacios and Rafael Martinez de la Torre. + +[Illustration: HEAD-QUARTERS OF JUAREZ AT SAN LUIS DE POTOSI.] + +Maximilian met his death with great composure and heroism. He rose early +on the fatal morning, and at five o'clock mass was celebrated. With the +stroke of six o'clock a liberal officer came to take him. He said "I am +ready," and came from his cell, where he was surrounded by his few +servants, who wept and kissed his hands. He said to them: "Be calm; you +see that I am so. It is the will of God that I should die; against that +we cannot strive." + +Miramon and Mejia came forward, and he embraced them both. On arriving +in the street he looked round him, and drawing a deep breath, said: +"What a beautiful day! On such a one I have always wished to die." + +The streets were crowded; every one greeted the condemned Archduke with +respect; the women wept aloud. He responded to these greetings with his +usual gentle smile. + +He made a short address to the Mexicans, of which these were the last +words: + +"Mexicans! May my blood be the last spilt for the welfare of the +country, and if more should be shed, may it flow for its good, and not +by treason. Viva Independencia! Viva Mexico!" + +Maximilian, Miramon, and Mejia were all shot at the same moment. + +[Illustration: THE CONVENT OF CAPUCHINAS. + +(Last prison of Maximilian.)] + +Thus really closed the episode of the French intervention in Mexico. The +foreign intruder, encouraged by the short-lived intention of a European +potentate to plant the Latin race upon the soil of the New World, +abandoned by his instigator, betrayed by his few remaining troops, was +dead. There was no longer question of a foreign prince upon the Aztec +throne. + + + + +XL. + +END OF THE EPISODE. + + +The city of Mexico, after the departure of Maximilian for Querétaro, had +remained tranquil awaiting events. The Emperor sent back immediately +General Santiago Vidaurri, who had accompanied him out of the capital, +with full powers to govern the city. + +This man had been one of the chiefs of the liberal party, and had often +fought, on the opposite side, both Márquez and Miramon. As governor of +the state of Nueva Leon, he had brought its administration into such +good order that it was an example to the rest of Mexico. Disgusted with +anarchy, and disliking Juarez personally, he espoused the cause of +Maximilian as the best chance for his country of regular government; yet +he always remained a liberal, not joining the clerical party, and thus +was distrusted by Miramon and the rest, who kept him away from the +Emperor as much as they could. Nevertheless Maximilian, recognizing his +worth and his capacity for organization, entrusted him with the charge +of the capital. But Márquez, when he reached Mexico, after successfully +evading the enemy around Querétaro, instead of sending back money and +troops to succor that besieged place, assumed the position of lieutenant +of the Empire, and proceeded to govern the capital. Vidaurri withdrew +from the scene, and from that time was allowed no part in the affairs of +the imperialists; yet he did not escape judgment from the liberals, and +was shot, among the first examples of their government restored to +power. + +Márquez was intended for the same fate, but he kept in hiding, and +succeeded later in escaping to the coast, where he embarked for Havana. +He then returned to Mexico, after travelling abroad under an assumed +name. He is described as a lively little man with black hair and sharp +black eyes. He wore a full beard, which concealed a disfiguring scar on +his cheek caused by a bullet wound. His cruelty in war won him the name +of the "Mexican Alva," but that stern old campaigner better deserves the +respect of posterity than such a namesake. Alva would not have left a +besieged city to fall a prey to one enemy, while he led his troops to a +futile encounter with another one more powerful than his own force. + +The brilliant capture of Puebla by General Porfirio Diaz brought into +prominence this name, which has since been of the greatest importance in +the story of Mexico. + +Puebla, after the departure of the French troops from the country, was +left in the hands of General Noriega. It had been in the possession of +the imperialists scarcely five years, and the courageous repulse of the +French troops on the 5th of May, 1862, was still fresh in every Mexican +mind, as indeed it is to-day, an inspiring example of their capacity for +defending their homes. Yet the imperialists held the city for +twenty-five days, in spite of the vigorous attack, at five separate +points, by the liberals. Diaz himself, with two companions, was buried +for a time underneath a falling roof, and thought to be lost, but they +were rescued after a few moments without injury. It was General Diaz, +with his troops, who took possession of the capital for the liberals on +the 21st of June, 1867. Assuming military command, he at once introduced +order into the city, providing corn and food for the hungry population, +who stood in great need of it. No persecution visited the conquered +imperialists, with the exception of the active leaders, who were +condemned to be shot or imprisoned. + +The vigorous action of the liberal government towards Maximilian and the +imperialist generals, however, impressed the country with its inflexible +determination, as well as its power to execute its intent. The Republic +reinstated upon the ruins of so brief an attempt at monarchy, Mexican +rule, after the bold effort to ingraft upon the country a foreign +potentate, proved to have a firmer grasp upon the country than in all +its previous essays. + + + + +XLI. + +THE LAST OF SANTA ANNA. + + +On the 15th of July, Juarez made a solemn entry into the capital. Many +good citizens of Mexico, who had watched gloomily the whole episode of +the French intervention, now emerged to light and rejoiced conspicuously +in the return of their legitimate chief. Juarez, all this time, had +never relinquished his title of President, but wherever he found himself +had kept up the state due to the office, and retained his Cabinet. He +was received with genuine acclamations by the populace, while high +society remained within doors, curtains close-drawn, except that the +women took pride in showing their deep mourning for the death of the +Emperor. The reign of French fashions and frivolity was over when the +troops of Bazaine marched from the town. There are still lurking in the +capital descendants of French pastry-cooks and barbers, who shake their +heads mournfully over the good old days, all too brief, of the imperial +court. A French flavor still lingers about the capital; it is welcome in +the excellent cuisine of the Café Anglais, and is evident in the +handiwork of certain Parisian _modistes_. + +Peace now came back to the country. A general election established +Juarez as President, and order and progress once more consented to test +the good resolutions of the Republic. The first days of the new era were +tranquil, and all went well, in spite of the restlessness of generals of +the liberals themselves, who could ill bear to forego their inherent +tendency to disputing and wrangling. Above all, Santa Anna was still +alive, and it was not to be hoped that he would hold himself aloof from +a share in the prosperity of the nation. + +He had retired to the Island of St. Thomas, and was growing old. Yet he +watched from afar every turn of affairs in Mexico. No sooner had +Maximilian landed at Vera Cruz, than he received a letter of +congratulation from Santa Anna, expressing his entire approval of the +French scheme, and his wish to further it. He even came to Vera Cruz to +lend his services to the Emperor, but as no notice whatever was taken of +these overtures, he became indignant and withdrew his countenance from +the new government. He went to New York, and fixed his residence in +Elizabethport, New Jersey, where he published manifestoes against the +Empire and the French, and sought an alliance with Juarez. The +President, like the Emperor, ignored all overtures from the Mexican +king-maker, who instantly turned his superabundant energies to +conspiring against the Republic, just as it was struggling to take up, +once more, the threads of order. + +On the 12th of July, 1867, he was seized on board a steamboat he had +fitted out, charged with conspiring against government, and narrowly +escaped being shot on the spot; but more moderate measures prevailed, +and he was allowed a legal trial by a council of war. Doubtless +influenced by all his real services at the head of the national army, +which in time past he had conferred upon his country, and through +untiring efforts in his behalf by his friends and family, this council +did not condemn him to death, but a sentence was passed upon him of +exile for eight years. He returned to St. Thomas, much impoverished by +this last attempt against good government, and broken with years and +failure. + +At the end of his time of exile, or perhaps, indeed, before its +expiration, he returned quietly to the city of Mexico, and died there on +the 20th of June, 1876, in his house in the Calle de Vergaza. He was +over eighty years old, blind, lame, poor. His last days were embittered +by his sensitive conviction that his great deeds were not appreciated by +his country. He was buried in the city of Guadalupe, without honors or +recognition by government, who, naturally, it may be supposed, retained +their fear of rousing the populace even by so dead a lion. + +A family connection of Santa Anna has written a life of him, in which +fulsome justice is done to his good qualities. He says, and perhaps with +reason, that had he died immediately after the loss of his leg in +driving the French from Vera Cruz "this _benemerito mutilado_ had surely +left not one single personal enemy." + +With great gifts of bravery and military skill, and with a love of his +country it is but fair to allow him, probably not possessing the black +characteristics ascribed to him by his enemies, he was at the best a +turbulent, troublesome creature, an exponent in his own person of all +the dangerous qualities of the Mexican character, which for so long a +time have kept the country far away from the true path to prosperity. + +The character of Juarez, on the other hand, represents precisely the +opposite qualities of the Mexican race, inherited from his Indian +parentage,--endurance, patience, imperturbability. Calm in the midst of +exciting elements, he knew how to stand and wait for his turn. These +qualities, so useful to him in adversity were supplemented by executive +ability, good sense, and prompt action, which, when he returned to +power, enabled him to rule wisely without losing his balance on the +giddy height of success, like many of his predecessors. + +His seat was not secure, and peace was not confirmed in emotional +Mexico. The restless population, untrained to any permanent government, +wearied of his rule, and early in his administration began to clamor +that he had been President long enough. This people, scarcely yet freed +from three hundred years of foreign control, found four years of one +liberal leader enough to convert him in their eyes into a tyrant. As the +period of election approached, in 1871, party lines became sharply +divided, and the question of his return to power was warmly contested. A +large body still advocated the re-election of Juarez, as of the greatest +importance to the consolidation of the Constitution and reform, but the +admirers of military glory claimed the honors of President for General +Diaz, who had done so much, at the head of the army, to restore the +Republic. A third party represented the interests of Lerdo, minister of +Juarez all through the epoch of the intervention, a man of great +strength of character and capacity for government. The argument of the +_Lerdistas_ was that re-election was contrary to the principles of +democratic government; of the _Porfiristas_ that their idol, Diaz, +deserved the reward of the highest gift of his fellow-citizens; of the +_Juaristas_, that things were very well as they were, and had better so +remain. + +The campaign was vigorous throughout the country. The press, the +tribune, personal influence, were all at work in every state for each of +the great parties. The election took place; the _Juaristas_ were +triumphant. Their party had a fair majority, and Juarez was re-elected. +But the Mexicans not yet had learned to accept the ballot, and a +rebellion followed. The two defeated parties combined, and civil war +began again. + +Government defended itself with vigor and resolution, and in spite of +the popularity of General Diaz as a commander, held its own during a +campaign of more than a year. Its opponents were still undaunted, and +the struggle might have long continued but for the sudden death of +Juarez, on the 19th of July, 1872. At dawn of that day, the sound of +cannon from the citadel fired at slow intervals awoke the population, +who learned on inquiry that their President had died during the night. + +Juarez had a singularly robust constitution; he habitually worked eight +or ten hours a day without fatigue, but, unconsciously to himself, some +organic infirmity was affecting him. He was seized during the night with +great pain at the heart, and died very soon in much suffering. + +All society was deeply moved by the death of this their faithful +servant, who had given his life to their service. Every party joined in +the solemn ceremony of his burial, which took place attended by an +immense concourse of citizens. + +Don Sebastian Lerdo de Tejada, then President of the Supreme Court, +assumed the government, was elected President, and the late agitation of +parties was at an end. + + + + +XLII. + +PORFIRIO DIAZ. + + +For three years peace reigned in Mexico, and then began another +revolution. Towards the end of 1875, rumors of dissatisfaction were +afloat; in spite of the present quiet, which seemed solid and durable, +distrust reigned, yet no one voice proclaimed the nature of the malady. +Early in the next year, a "Plan" was started, one of those fatal +propositions for change which have always spread like wildfire through +the Mexican community. By midsummer, the Republic was once more plunged +in civil war. + +Although he had apparently no hand in the "Plan" of Tuxtepec, General +Porfirio Diaz appeared at the head of the army of the revolutionists. He +had been living quietly in the neighborhood of Vera Cruz, but now he +emerged to take an active part in the general disturbance. + +Porfirio Diaz was born in Oaxaca, on the 15th of September, 1830. This +state, the farthest of all the states to the south, and except Chiapas, +the limit of the Mexican Republic, has many claims to distinction. Its +northern part formed the Marquezado, or grant, given in 1529 to Cortés, +with the title of Márqués del Valle de Oaxaca. + +The scenery of Oaxaca is of the wildest and grandest in Mexico. The +Pass of Saloméa, leading to the city, recalls those of Switzerland. Wild +animals, not only deer, but pumas and even the jaguar, roam over its +slopes, covered with fan-palms and other tropical growths, while higher +up is a forest of palms and oaks growing together. At the summit is a +grand view of the valley of Oaxaca. + +[Illustration: ZAPOTEC ORNAMENT.] + +The city, like Puebla, is of Spanish foundation, but at no very great +distance from it are the ancient ruins of Mitla, still a puzzle to +archæologists, since nothing certain is known even of the tribes found +in that region by the Conquistadores,--the Zapotecas, or the traditions +of their origin. Their customs seem to have been like those of the +Mexicans, but their language resembled that of the Mayas. They were +subject to long struggles with the Aztecs, and at the end of the 15th +century their capital city, Mitla, was taken and given over to pillage, +and the prisoners taken to Mexico to be offered up on the altars of +Huitzilopochtli. + +The ruins stand in the midst of a gloomy, cheerless landscape, of +stunted vegetation, sandy soil, from which project dull gray rocks. No +singing birds or even insects frequent the place; the turkey-buzzard +soars over the lonely tract under a gloomy sky, and dismal silence +reigns around the abandoned architecture of a forgotten race. Even the +carvings of geometric ornaments, without any human or animal forms, add +to the gloom of this solitary spot. + +[Illustration: IMAGE OF A ZAPOTEC CHIEF.] + +The present generations of Oaxaca have the reputation of being the +steady, independent mountaineers of Mexico; like the Swiss, always ready +to defend their rights. Among them, Porfirio Diaz has been involved in +every contest for his view of the right, since he was old enough to bear +arms. He was, like many other of the Mexican generals, intended for the +bar, and studied with that object, concluding the usual course in the +seminary at Oaxaca; but in 1854 he served a campaign, returning again +to his studies only for a time. In the so called war of the reform he +distinguished himself, and during the intervention was conspicuous as a +military leader. In the disaster of Puebla, when, after the brilliant +repulse of the _Cinco de Mayo_, the Mexicans had to give up the city to +the French, Diaz escaped being taken prisoner, and hastened to Oaxaca, +the city of his birth, which, with forces raised by his own efforts, he +succeeded in putting in a state of defence. Bazaine himself marched +against the resisting city, and it was obliged to capitulate. Porfirio +was carried a prisoner to Puebla, and there held; but he managed to +escape after some months by letting himself down from his window with a +rope in the middle of the night. This was in September. The next month, +returning with a new army, Diaz besieged his own town, now in the hands +of those who were lately its besiegers. While his brother Felix held the +siege, Porfirio routed a column of French coming to the aid of the +troops within the city, and after two weeks he compelled a surrender and +entered it in triumph. Porfirio, always successful in his contests with +the French, continued so after their support was withdrawn from the +imperialists. His military fame reached its height after the taking of +Puebla, which was the last act in the French intervention, and the +peaceful occupation of the city of Mexico. + +All these feats of arms gave to the general who accomplished them a +military prestige of great importance in a country where military +prowess means so much as with the Mexicans. The revolution of the +summer of 1876 gained importance from the arrival of Diaz at Vera Cruz. +It is said that, alone and disguised, he was hastening thither from New +Orleans in a steamer which, touching at Tampico, took on board a body of +government troops destined for the same port. The favorite chief of the +liberals, seeing that he was recognized by one of the Federal officers, +and convinced he should be arrested by him, jumped overboard and swam +away. He was seen and brought back to the steamer by friends, under +cover of the dark, and so well concealed that his hiding-place was not +discovered, and the impression was encouraged that he had either reached +the shore by swimming, or been drowned. Disguised as a workman, he left +the steamer among the boxes and bales of its cargo, and landed at Vera +Cruz. Speedily furnished with horses and guards he made his way to +Oaxaca, where he took command of the forces of the rebellion, hitherto +scattered and insufficient for lack of a head. + +During the summer there was fighting and much confusion, in the midst of +which the election took place for the choice of President for another +term of four years. The result was in favor of Lerdo de Tejada, but he +was so unpopular that he was obliged soon after to leave the capital, on +the 20th of November, accompanied by his ministers and a few other +persons. The other Lerdistas hid themselves, Congress dissolved, and the +opposition triumphed. + +Thus ended the government of the Lerdistas, but a few days before the +expiration of its legal term. On the 24th of November, General Porfirio +Diaz made his solemn entry into the capital, and was proclaimed +Provisional President. + +[Illustration: PRESIDENT PORFIRIO DIAZ.] + +After a good deal of fighting all over the country, Congress declared +him, in May 1877, to be Constitutional President for a term to last +until November 30, 1880. + +It was just after this successful general grasped the prize, that Santa +Anna, forgotten, neglected, old, and blind, died close by, in his house +in the Calle de Vergaza. + +But little more remains to be said of the government of Mexico up to the +present time. President Diaz was able to consolidate his power, and to +retain his seat without civil war, although this has been imminent at +times, especially towards the end of his term. In 1880 General Manuel +Gonsalez was elected, and on the 1st of December of that year, for the +second time only in the history of the Republic, the retiring President +gave over his office to his legally elected successor. That this was +possible, is proof of great improvement in stability and the growth of +steadiness and good judgment among the Mexicans. The administration of +Gonsalez passed through its four years without any important outbreak, +in spite of the difficult questions there were to deal with, chief among +them the huge debt to England, contracted in the early days of the +Republic, and ever increasing by reason of unpaid interest. + +At the end of that term, General Diaz was re-elected and became +President December 1, 1884. The treasury of the country was empty, the +Republic without credit, yet he has, by heroic measures, succeeded in +placing his government upon a tolerably stable financial basis, and done +much to restore the foreign credit of the Republic. President Diaz is +disposed and able to serve his country by an advanced and liberal +policy. The result of his firmness and judgment is already seen in the +returning confidence of nations and foreigners alike in Mexican affairs, +and with it the rapid development of the resources of the country. + +President Diaz, with his handsome wife, the daughter of his Minister of +the Interior, Manuel Romero Rubio, has not been able to resist the charm +of Chapultepec, in spite of the melancholy associations hanging about +the spot Carlotta loved and Maximilian adorned for her enjoyment. The +Pompeiian apartments are restored, and the hanging gardens bloom with +roses all the year, while fountains sparkle in the sunlight. From the +broad terrace gleam in the distance the cold peaks of the volcanoes, +while Mexico spreads wide in the valley its rectangular lines, every +year stretching out farther in all directions, a practical proof to the +wise chief of the administration, as he looks down upon them from the +now peaceful height of his terrace, of the success of his schemes of +improvement and progress. + +Let us hope that the tranquillity is permanent and that a long season of +peace and prosperity has come to settle upon the long tormented, much +enduring valley of Mexico, and the broad plateau of Anahuac. + +Now, at last, may the Indians, descendants of the Aztec chief, look up +and hope for the development of their race. For the first time in +history they have a chance to show whether they are capable of taking a +leading place among the races of the earth. Poor fugitives, hiding among +the rushes of the lake, some centuries ago, their leaders knew how to +build up a powerful, warlike nation, but the people were oppressed by +the horrors of a bloody religion, degraded and kept down by the practice +of human sacrifice. The Spanish conquest brought them other rulers, and +priests who gave to them a kindlier faith; but their minds were little +cared for, and they were still oppressed, like slaves, by the new race +which came to govern them. + +Spanish domination civilized the Indians, but scarcely developed the +powers which may exist in their natures. That yoke thrown off, they have +seen their day of real freedom once and again postponed, through the +personal ambition of their own leaders, or the audacious interference of +foreign powers, while their own blood has been made to flow freely for +causes not really their own. In spite of all this, the native character +has asserted itself with vigor wherever it has had a chance. Juarez, the +first successful ruler of Mexico of real Mexican blood, by a true Indian +trait of tenacity, held the government through the dark period of the +intervention. Diaz, also of native descent, has kept the country in a +progressive path. + +The true native character of Mexico has now a chance to assert itself. +The future will look on with interest to see whether it has the +capacity of self-government which its friends fully ascribe to it. If +the Mexicans can profit by the sharp lessons taught them by the events +of the present century; if they can root out of their nature the savage +instincts which have given the national character its reputation for +cruelty--instincts, not only inherited from the bloody practices of the +Aztec, but fortified by the dark streak of ferocity which belongs to the +Spanish race; if they can prove that the development of intellectual +powers is possible to the race as well as to those individuals, then +their country has before it the prospect of taking an honorable place +among the peoples of the western continent. + + + + +XLIII. + +PHYSICAL ADVANTAGES. + + +The physical advantages of Mexico are favorable to its future +prosperity. Of its great range of climate, the temperate one of the +plateau may be said to be almost perfect. By descending towards the +coast all the delights of the tropics may be enjoyed, while its lofty +peaks afford adventure for the enterprising climber, ice for lower +regions, and all the attractions of mountain scenery. Large lakes +enhance the beauty of the landscape; rivers, though not large, answer +the purposes of irrigation and boundary lines; an extended coast-line on +the Pacific and that of the Gulf of Mexico offer opportunities, not yet +much developed, for admirable harbors. + +There is every variety of vegetation in this varied climate. Forests of +valuable woods, such as mahogany, ebony, and rosewoods, extend over the +_tierra caliente_; higher up, oak and pine in abundance furnish supply +for any demand. It is safe to say that any thing may be cultivated +somewhere in Mexico. Corn, beans, wheat, rice, sugar-cane, tobacco, +cotton, cocoa, indigo, vanilla, are at present raised; above all, +coffee, which has a high reputation--that of Cordova and of Uruápam +especially. The latter is considered by experts to be not only equal to +the best Mocha, but similar to it in flavor. It is possible that it +belongs to the same variety, brought from Arabia by unknown hands. The +medicinal plants of Mexico have long been well known. Spanish historians +at the time of the conquest all speak of the knowledge of herbs +possessed by the native doctors. They believed that all the ills that +flesh is heir to, might be cured by proper use of the herbs of the +field; and they acquired in the course of generations great skill in +adapting the remedy to the disease. Many of the drugs in general use all +over the world were made known by Mexican research, such as +sarsaparilla, jalap, and rhubarb; the number of emetics, antidotes, +infusions, decoctions, ointments, balsams, known to the Aztecs, was +enormous. To be sure, they attributed much of the power of these drugs +to the prayers and ceremonies they offered up while they were applying +them. + +The flora of Mexico is equally varied and beautiful. Growing by the +roadside as common weeds, are to be recognized blossoms which are the +pride of northern green-houses. Many ornamental Mexican plants became +first known in the United States, after the war of 1848. Humboldt, half +a century before, had described the wealth and profusion of Mexican +vegetation. As for fruits, every variety may be cultivated, in the hot +lands; many tropical kinds grow wild. Any market in any Mexican town is +a delight by reason of the display of various fruits, heaped up, to +tempt the customer, in little pyramids, and made bright with flowers. + +Not only in the large cities, but even smaller towns, travellers should +be sure to visit the market-place. Generally one day in the week is +market-day, when all the population swarms to the plaza, either to sell +or buy, or both. It is the same in many towns in Europe; but Mexico, at +present, surpasses Europe in the picturesque costumes of the common +people, the primitive fashion in which they display their simple wares, +and the entertaining activity of the busy population. + +Each booth is a small enclosure, built of low tables, shaded by a huge +rectangular umbrella made of matting with four sticks only. A whole +Indian family sits within at the receipt of custom. The old grandmother, +her white hair smoothed down over her wrinkled old brown cheeks, with +skinny trembling hands, but a glance like a hawk's, is taking pay or +making change. Her daughter, the efficient business woman of the +establishment, is young and active. Her long black hair is braided down +her back, her eyes are bright, her teeth flash white when you make her +smile by a joke about her prices. The father of the family lolls against +the central post of the booth, tipping up his chair, after a custom not +inherited from the Aztecs, but borrowed from a neighboring nation. The +tables are heaped with little piles, like cannon-balls, of red +_ciruelas_, yellow apricots, or green _abogatos_; in their season, +delicious _grenaditas_, whose cup-like rind contains a juicy draught of +luscious flavor. Oranges and bananas are on the table, under the table, +over the table, everywhere. If you are very friendly, the old lady +selects you as a gift the very best of all the bananas. Let not the +wanderer from the north be surprised to find it is, according to his +estimation, far gone in decay. The natives eat bananas only dead ripe, +when they are beginning to grow soft,--not as they are found in the +northern market, hard and indigestible after a long voyage without +ripening influences. Hens and chickens are straying about, and a tough +old rooster, tied by the leg, awaits the pot, after his purchaser shall +have been found. + +You select such little heaps of fruit as please your inexperienced eye; +a small _cargador_, all eyes and teeth, springs up from the earth at +your feet, with a big loose basket on his back. Every thing you buy is +tumbled into it; he follows you from stall to stall, accumulating such +treasures as you select. You will not be able to resist several +specimens of native pottery. This is generally spread out on the ground, +while the vendor sits behind it. Manufacture of coarse pottery is +carried on everywhere, and different regions have their distinctive +varieties, influenced by different colored clays and methods of +treatment. The ware of Guadalajara is perhaps the most esteemed; it is +of a soft gray in tint, polished but not glazed, and often delicately +decorated with color and gold. But every village has its characteristic +pottery, simple in form, pleasing in color, and although the pots and +jugs are so fragile that it is hopeless to think of packing them +securely, it is impossible to resist their attractions compared with the +trifling sum demanded for them. + +The basket of your _cargador_, well filled with fruit and figs, and +heaped high with sweet peas and poppies, the little fellow runs before +you to the hotel where he deposits his burden, and goes away fully +content with a _medio_ in his hand--6-1/4 cents. + +A Mexican market is interesting, apart from such simple purchases as the +traveller may be inclined to make on his own account, because the people +are all so absorbed in their own affairs. They scarcely give a thought +to the few foreigners with European clothes and staring manners poking +about among them. This good Indian mother has come to buy the daily food +of her family. Some dreadful viand is dipped for her out of a deep dish, +and transferred to her little pottery bowl. A violent discussion ensues +about the price to be paid, and neighbors gather round to offer their +opinions. The _rebozos_ of the women slip off their heads and show their +white shirts--not always white--and their brown well-formed arms. The +men look on idly and let their better halves fight it out. A compromise +is effected, and the excitement subsides as suddenly as it rose. The +contested sum was probably a _tlaco_--small, but much-beloved coin, +worth one cent and a half. + +Besides the manufacture of pottery, the Indians make themselves all the +wearing apparel they use, such as cotton and woollen cloth, including +_serapes_ and _rebozos_, the two picturesque garments in constant use. +The _serape_ is a woollen blanket which every man winds about him +whenever the air is a little chilly. It serves him many a time for not +only blanket, but sheet and bed as well, since his sleeping-place is +often a sheltered doorway, and no more. Certain towns are famous for +their serapes--those of San Miguel are especially good, and some of them +are very pretty. Travellers buy them and carry them off to serve as +_portières_ or _afghans_ at home. The Indian taste for colors, though +gaudy, is naturally controlled by a good perception of harmonious +effects. Unluckily in late years, the aniline dyes of recent discovery +have brought into the country a facility for making intense purples, +magentas, and violent blues, which have dazzled their untrained eyes. +For this reason, many modern serapes are too violent in coloring; and +æsthetic collectors must seek for old fabrics, among which some examples +are lovely in tone. The rebozo is a long broad scarf, generally blue, +worn by every woman over her head, instead of hat or bonnet. It protects +her shoulders also, and conceals whatever deficiency of style or +cleanliness may exist underneath. It is made of cotton, but has some +warmth in its soft folds. The dexterity is wonderful with which even +little girls wind these wraps around their heads, in such a way as to +keep firm, while the ends fall in not ungraceful lines over one arm +laden with a basket, a bundle, or a baby, while the other arm and hand +are free. A large quantity of cotton is grown in Mexico, and upwards of +fifty thousand families, Mr. Janvier says, are supported in its +manufacture. The cotton mills are provided with English machinery of +approved type, and the business is carried on by a few operators upon a +large scale. The Indians show ready intelligence in understanding their +work in the mills, and remarkable aptitude in acquiring methods of +handling whatever improvements in machinery may be from time to time +introduced. + +A large establishment for the manufacture of cotton cloth not far from +the city of Mexico, which has been in operation for years in the hands +of an English house, is like a little city in itself. Its large +enclosure is surrounded by strong walls, upon which are still the cannon +necessary in the troublous times of the young Republic to protect the +place. Paved streets within the great gate of entrance lead to the +extensive buildings, the home of the families of the proprietors, hung +with vines and possessing a beautiful garden, where superb roses blossom +all the year round, while from beneath the shade of ancient trees one +may look through a gate-way over fields of _alfalfa_ to the snow-peaks +of the two volcanoes. More than two hundred workmen are employed in this +establishment. They are all natives of Mexico, and, for the most part, +the superintendents as well as the operators are of Indian blood. Every +means is taken to educate and improve the condition of these people and +their families, who lead happy, intelligent lives, encouraged by the +favor of their employers to do their best for the success of the mill +and the mutual well-being of all. It is a little community of interests. + +Of late, a large unoccupied room, by permission of the owner, has been +converted into a theatre; and here, wholly by the exertions of the +operatives themselves, a stage has been erected, where plays are acted +once a week--the men themselves taking all the parts. Among the audience +are the families of the employers, readily giving encouragement to the +exhibition, for whom a large box is reserved. The Indians of the +neighborhood, on the opening night of the new entertainment, flocked to +see what it was like, had free admission, and the house was crowded with +an amazed and delighted audience. Enthusiasm was great, especially when +the national banner was waved to the stirring strains of the fine +national march of Mexico. + +It is to such influences as these that Mexico will owe her success. The +native race requires good masters, good examples, and the opportunity of +good intellectual training, to enable it, in future, to walk alone up +the steep path of national progress. + +The great source of wealth in Mexico is her mineral productions, which +have been renowned from the early period when they allured Cortés and +his companions to endure hardship and risk defeat on their difficult +passage up to Anahuac. The most sanguine dreams of the Spanish +conquerors have yet to be realized in the possible amounts to be yielded +from these mines in the future, when stable government shall have +increased the population of the widespread mining districts to an extent +capable of developing all the riches they contain. + +[Illustration: AQUEDUCT IN THE CITY OF MEXICO.] + +The mines of Guanajuato, which have been the most worked, and which have +already yielded enormously, as yet give no signs of being exhausted. The +soil of the state of Guerrero has been pronounced to be one extensive +crust of silver and gold. The northern states of the Republic contain +inexhaustible veins of gold and silver in their mountain ranges. Silver +and gold are the metals most worked, while other metals and mineral +substances are almost neglected, although present in proportion. The +volcano Popocatepetl is said to be one vast pile of sulphur. In every +state there are quarries of white and colored marbles--those of Puebla +especially remarkable for their rich veins of variegated colors, which, +properly worked, would make beautiful decorative columns and other +architectural ornaments. At present, the specimens of this "Puebla onyx" +are limited to paper-weights, pen-handles, and other small articles, +which, without any solid value, serve to show the variety and beauty of +the material. Precious stones are not unknown in Mexico; opals, with +fickle rainbow hues, now brilliant, now vanished, are found in many +places, and counterfeited in many others. Turquoise, garnet, topaz, and +amethyst are among the native jewels of the Mexican mines. + + + + +XLIV. + +FUTURE. + + +If it be conceded that the native races of Mexico are capable of +development, it is evident that what is needed for their elevation from +their present low estate, is good religion, good government, and good +education. + +The remnant of the Aztecs and other Indian tribes owed every thing to +the judicious treatment of the first Roman Catholic priests. The wise +teachings of these men, as we have seen, changed, without violence, a +barbarous superstition into a gentle belief in the truths, and +especially the miracles, of the Catholic religion; which through the +epoch of Spanish domination retained its good effect. But as time went +on, the Church became so powerful and so rich, that the suppression of +the religious orders became a necessity; and finally Juarez, although +under much resistance, was able to institute this radical reform. The +final extinction of these orders, the suppression of monasteries and +nunneries, was not achieved until 1874; since when many of these +deserted buildings have been appropriated to other uses. Others remain +standing, sad monuments of a picturesque past; but many of them, +interesting on account of their historic associations, have +disappeared, torn to the ground, to make way for modern improvements. + +But the suppression of the orders was not accompanied, except in the +case of the Jesuits in 1856, by the expulsion of their members from the +country. On the other hand, these were still permitted to remain as +individuals; and to the present time, the priests ministering to the +churches formerly connected with convents, are usually members of those +orders by which such churches were founded. + +In any one of the smaller cities and towns the parish priest, almost +without exception, is a worthy and faithful _cura_, of devout and godly +reputation, leading among his flock a simple life, wholly occupied in +ministering to his charge according to the best of his abilities. Since +the enactment of the laws of the reform there is nothing to tempt men to +adopt their calling but their love of God and genuine interest in the +welfare of their parish, often composed, for the most part, of ignorant +Indians. These men are entitled to honor and reverence; their ample +reward is the unwavering devotion of their congregations, and the +satisfaction they may receive from observing the development of their +simple minds. + +In the year 1770, the Bishop of Puebla published there his form of the +Mozarabic liturgy, the most ancient religious service of the Church of +Spain, which flourished there until the eleventh century, when it was +supplanted by the Roman liturgy. Even at the present time a chapel +exists in the cathedral at Toledo, in Spain, where this service is +habitually used, although in presence of but few if any worshippers. + +The revival of Mozarabic rites in Mexico met with little attention; but +its introduction alone shows a tendency towards independence of thought, +very manifest later in the action of Juarez in the sequestration of +Church property. Since 1868 a movement in favor of the Protestant +Episcopal Church has increased to one of importance. Other Protestant +denominations maintain missions in various parts of the country,--the +Presbyterian, Methodist, and Baptist missions. + +There is still a wide field open in Mexico for teaching the +impressionable native of Anahuac the simple tenets of the religion of +Christ. Purity, honesty, charity, the love of his neighbor, duty to +himself, the knowledge of God,--these sure foundations of life are only +needed by him as his first foothold in upward progress. As for the +government, its present action, its promises for the future, are for the +good of the native races. All persons born in the Republic are free; and +freedom of education, freedom to exercise the liberal professions, +freedom of thought, and the freedom of the press are guaranteed. That +this government should prove itself able to carry out its intentions, +and thus encourage in the vast area under its control the presence of +order-loving immigrants from other countries, who, instead of creating +and promoting disorder, as is often the case, shall set the example of +industry and domestic living, is the result desired by all true friends +of Mexico. Although among the many Germans, English, and Americans who +have settled in the different cities and states of Mexico, there are +many who have done so in the intention of earning honest livelihoods, +without interfering with their neighbors, and even with the higher +motive of improving the condition of those around them, it is not yet +possible to say that the example of the foreigners settling in Mexico +has been an advantage to its natives. Many of the acts of violence +ascribed to Mexicans might be traced to men of other blood, who have +sought that territory because they were not tolerated elsewhere. The +general testimony of such observers as civil engineers, telegraph men, +and others who in the development of the resources of the country have +penetrated remote parts of it, is that the native Mexican is peaceful +and quiet in disposition, leading a domestic life with his faithful +wife, fond of his children, and diligently toiling to support his +family. Of course there are exceptions to this, especially when the +pulque habit has brutalized its victims; but it is asserted that the +drunken quarrels in obscure places, often reported in newspapers, +resulting in pistol-shot or dagger stroke, frequently arise less through +the fault of the native than of the adventurers from other lands. + +Testimony to the good intentions of the government of Mexico is in the +improved condition of education there. The system of public instruction +is by no means perfect, but it is certainly growing better and better. +Free schools, sustained by city or state, are found in most towns and +villages, even the smallest. Moreover, private schools are numerous in +all the large towns and cities, and colleges and professional schools +are found. All of the Mexican states (for such matters are left to the +jurisdiction of each separately) compel free primary instruction, and +appropriate annual sums to support it. + +While these institutions promise much for the future, Mexico is not +without her living writers who, in spite of the unfavorable atmosphere +of disturbed politics, have found time to devote themselves to +literature. Guillermo Prieto has a well deserved fame in his own +country, and outside of it wherever he is known. He was born in 1810, +and has passed his life in devotion to the liberal cause, which owes +much of its success, to his personal bravery, the boldness of his +writings, and his sagacious management of affairs. He has served in the +higher offices of government, and written upon political economy and +finance, but it is as a poet that he is honored and beloved. Prieto is +not alone as a writer of prominence, but of others there is not room to +speak. It would be a mistake to suppose that Mexico was lacking in the +possession of fine minds, cultivated intellects, and eloquent pens. + +It will, of course, have been perceived by this time that the Mexicans +from whom so much is expected in the future are the descendants of the +Aztec and other native tribes. These form a large part of the population +of the country,--the portion which their remote origin, and the +vicissitudes of their stay upon Anahuac, make the most interesting to +the romantic lover of picturesque history. + +The country is occupied also by those descendants of Spanish families +who avoided the decree of exile issued in the early days of +independence. Inter-marriages with Indian blood have crossed this +stock, so that many good families in Mexico have Indian ancestors among +their Spanish ones, and it would probably be rare to find a family +wholly unmixed with this strain. What effect this grafting of Castilian +character has had upon the native stock, is a subject interesting to +students of national characteristics. Cruelty upon cruelty, superstition +upon bigotry, might be pronounced a dangerous repetition likely to +result from the mixture of the two races which established the +Inquisition and revelled in the custom of human sacrifice. On the other +hand, the lofty pride of the traditional Spaniard might find its match +in the inherited love of splendor of the descendant of the Aztecs. +However these things might be, the Mexican-Spaniard has not attained a +high reputation among other nations for honesty, generosity, or +elevation of character. Whatever may be the fairness of the prejudices +against him, partly due to the disadvantages he has been under by being +judged always by enemies who have invaded his country for his +destruction and their own profit, it is less to this race than to that +of the pure Indian blood of the country, that Mexico looks for the +regeneration of her future history. + +Vast tracts of profitable land in Mexico are still unsettled. As the +government becomes more and more stable, it is probable that these will +be occupied with emigrants from all other nations, eager to develop the +great natural resources. There are at present many Germans engaged in +all the branches of industry; and Englishmen, attracted by the great +mining and other capabilities of the country, are yearly investing more +and more capital in these enterprises. To the skill of English engineers +is due the successful achievement of the Mexican railway, the first +built of the great lines that now mark up the map in all directions. +Many a Mexican company had faced the chasm between the capital and the +gulf, but baulked before the leap. No government lasted long enough to +ensure the success of the enterprise, until, in 1868 republican +stability and English capital combined to push it forward, and in 1873 +the road was opened to the public. + +Two great lines connecting Mexico with the United States--the Mexican +Central and the National Railway--are essentially American enterprises. +The Yankee pervades Mexico--not, as many of its inhabitants fear, with +the deep design of absorbing all its territory into the already large +domain of the United States, but with his characteristic instinct for +doing a good thing for himself. He finds a perfect climate, a productive +soil, a land rich in metals and minerals, unlimited space for future +railroads, telegraphs, towns, shops, business. There are instances, no +doubt, where he thinks he has found a simple native population, easily +imposed upon, whose ignorance he may work to his own advantage. But +there is no doubt that Yankee liberality, intelligence, conscience, and +capital have already done much, and will do far more, to advance the +civilization of the country, and lift the spirit of the Aztec, kept low +down by centuries of life at the very base of the social pyramid, so +that it may ascend higher and higher towards its apex. + +The darkest days of the Mexican Republic are over. Its members have +learned sharp lessons from adversity; they have suffered every thing +that their own headstrong conduct, their vain-glorious ambition could +bring upon them--civil war, anarchy, invasion by the army of a +neighboring government--their natural friend perverted to an enemy +partly by their own folly,--the unwarranted intervention of a foreign +potentate, the difficulties of debt, want of public faith, a low state +of public honesty. + +Out of all these troubles they have bravely emerged, and now take their +stand, heavily weighted still, indeed, with the burdens of past +mistakes, among them the lingering distrust of other nations, but young, +full of promise, with all the elements surrounding them of a possible +great future. This future must depend for the most part on their own +exertions. The children of to-day must be reared in such enlightened +fashion that they may avoid the mistakes and crimes of the generation +before them; they must learn to long for honorable peace, and must +resist the pull there is to their blood for change and military renown. +They must seek glory in the permanence of their institutions and the +development of their great resources, thus slowly winning the confidence +of other nations. + +Then they will find these other nations, and especially the powerful one +next them on their own continent, ready to perform the neighborly part +of protecting their interests, sympathizing in their prosperity, +generously willing to share with them the growing fame of the +civilization of America. + + + + +INDEX. + + +A + +Aak, 78 + +Academy of Fine Arts, 226 + +Acamapichtli, 90 + +Acapulco, 225 + +Acatl, 76 + +Acolhuacan, 93 + +Aculco, 246 + +Aculhuas, 42 + +Agave, 34 + +Aguilar, Jérome de, 138 + +Agustin I., _see_ Yturbide + +_Ahuehuete_, 22, 56 + +Ahuitzotl, 105 + +Aldama, 248 + +Allende, Ignacio, joins Hidalgo, 241; + denounced, 244; + attacked by Calleja, 246; + forced to retreat, 247; + captured and shot, 248 + +Alta California, 190; _see_ also California + +Alvarado, 137, 160, 163, 173, 194 + +Amaquemecan, 38, 42 + +Amecameca, 99, 208 + +Ampudia, General, 318, 319, 322 + +Anahuac, 6, 8, 12, 17, 33 + +Anaya, General, 334 + +Angostura, 323 + +Apan, 36 + +Apodaca, Viceroy, 259, 262 + +Arista, General, 311, 342 + +Atlantis, 21 + +Atzacualco, 83 + +Atzcapotzalco, 42, 43, 51 + +_Audiencia_, 184 + +Austin, Moses, 304 + +Axayacatl, 101, 158 + +Ayaxzitl, 41 + +Ayotzinco, 156 + +_Ayuntamiento_, 184 + +_Azoteas_, 127 + +Aztecs, 43; + emigration of, 83; + wanderings of, 84; + settlement at Chapultepec, 86; + driven to the islands, 87; + found Tenochtitlan, 88; + their civilization, 89; + extent of the kingdom, 106; + religion of, 107; + hieroglyphics, 111; + paintings, 112; + religion, 114; + domestic life, 115; + laws, 115; + calendar, 116; + cycle, 118; + agriculture, 119; + character, 120; + priestesses, 121; + policy of the nation, 123 + +Aztlan, 22 + + +B + +Bajan, Las Norias de, 248 + +Balam, 78 + +Barradas, 277 + +Basch, Dr., 375 + +"Baths of Montezuma,", 57 + +Baudelier, quoted, 30, 38, 170 + +Bazaine, Marshal, 356, 360, 367, 371, 373 + +Bocanegro, 277 + +Bonaparte, Joseph, 235 + +Bonpland, 224 + +Boot, Adrian, 218 + +Branciforte, Marquis of, 234, 235 + +Bravo, General Don Nicholas, 262, 268, 274, 307, 321 + +Buena Vista, 323 + +Bustamente, 262, 277, 278, 285, 287, 288 + + +C + +Cacamatzin, 130, 154, 156 + +Calderon, battle of, 247 + +Calderon, Conde de, _see_ Calleja + +Calderon, Madame, 290; + quoted, 227, 273, 282, 284, 293 + +Calderon, Señor, 290 + +California, 313, 316, 338 + +Calleja, General, 246, 247, 252, 258 + +_Calzadas_, 80 + +Calzonzi, 67, 176, 189 + +Campeche, 132 + +_Canoas_, 92, 127 + +_Cargadores_, 4, 405 + +Carlotta, Empress of Mexico, 350; + her character, 358, 364; + goes to Europe, 367; + interview with Napoleon, 368; + her madness, 369 + +_Carratelas_, 292 + +Casa de Cortés, 28 + +Casa Grande, 13 + +Casa-Mata, 268 + +Catholic Fathers, 9, 412 + +Cazadero, 202 + +Cempoallan, 143 + +Cerro de Borrego, battle at, 355 + +Cerro Gordo, 330 + +Ceutla, ruins at, 17 + +Chaak Mool, 78 + +Chalcas, 66 + +Chalchiuhtlatonac, 26, 38 + +Chalco, Lake, 12, 333 + +_Chapparral_, 5 + +Chapultepec, 86, 127, 156, 291, 338, 362, 399 + +Charles V., 10, 177, 214 + +Charles II., 220 + +Charles III., 226, 233 + +Charles IV., 227, 233 + +Chavero, quoted, 117 + +Chiapas, 18, 71, 265 + +Chichimecatl Tecuhtli, 41 + +Chichen-Itza, 76 + +Chichimecs, 26, 38-44, 64, 87 + +Chihuahua, 323 + +Chilpantzingo, 252 + +Chimalpopoca, 91, 94 + +_Chinampas_, 228 + +Cholollan, 28 + +Cholula, pyramid of, 14, 100, 106, 206 + +Cholultecas, massacre of, 154 + +Churubusco, 333, 334 + +_Cinco de Mayo_, 354 + +_Clerigos_, 344 + +Coahuila, 338 + +Coatlicue, 121 + +Coatzacoalco River, 106 + +Colima, 62 + +Colorado River, 24 + +Columbus, 131 + +Comonfort, General, 356 + +_Conquistadores_, 8, 12, 89 + +Contreras, Don Pedro Moya de, 216 + +Copan, 17, 71 + +Córdoba, 5 + +Cordova, 132 + +Cordova, treaty of, 264, 266 + +Cortazar, General, 285 + +Cortés, Fernando, alluded to, 2, 3; + birth of, 135; + character of, 136; + commissioned by Velasquez, 127; + his squadron, 138; + at the Tabasco River, 139; + worshipped as Quetzalcoatl, 141; + sends gifts to Montezuma, 141; + visits Cempoallan, 143; + destroys the ships, 144; + interview with Montezuma, 147; + conquers Tlaxcalla, 152; + at Cholula, 154; + arrives in Mexico, 156; + meeting with Montezuma, 157; + seizes Montezuma, 159; + expedition to Vera Cruz, 160; + abandons Mexico, 163; + retreat from the city, 164; + gathers a new army, 171; + campaign against Mexico, 173; + at Coyoacán, 175; + conquers Michoacan, 176; + expedition to Honduras, 177; + voyages to Spain, 178; + death of, 178; + burial in Mexico, 179 + +Cortés, Martin, 180 + +Cotton, 92, 406 + +Council of Music, 53 + +Coxcox, 22 + +Coyoacán, 175 + +Cozumel, 138 + +Cuahtemoc, 167, 170, 174, 175, 178 + +Cuauhnahuac, 92 + +Cuautla, 252 + +Cuba, 132 + +Cuepopan, 88 + +Cuernavaca, 28, 225 + +Cuextecas, 106 + +Cuicuicatzin, 155 + +Cuitlahuac, 101 + +Cuitlahuatzin, 161, 166 + +Cuitzao, Lake, 62 + +Culhuacan, 23 + +Culhuas, 87 + + +D + +Diaz, Bernal, 137; + quoted, 127, 148, 181 + +Diaz, Porfirio, takes Oaxaca, 371; + takes Puebla, 376, 384; + a candidate for the presidency, 390; + at the head of the revolutionists again, 392; + his earlier life, 394; + in the war of the reform, 395; + campaign against Oaxaca, 395; + an escape from government troops, 396; + president, 398; + re-elected, 398; + his home, 399 + +Doblado, 346 + +Dolores, 240 + +Dominicans, 324 + +Dominiguez, Doña Josefa, 258 + +"Drinking cup of the Eagle," 101 + + +E + +Escobedo, General, 374, 375, 378 + +Estrada, Gutierrez, 299, 349 + + +F + +Farías, Valentine Gomez, 279, 282, 307, 321, 330 + +Ferdinand VII., 234, 259 + +Fischer, Father, 371 + +Forey, Marshal, 356 + +Franciscans, 324 + +Fremont, Colonel, 316 + +_Frijoles_, 26 + + +G + +Galves, Viceroy, 226, 228 + +Garces, Fray Julian, 204 + +Garibay, Viceroy, 236 + +Ghent, Fray Pedro de, 192 + +Gonsalez, General Manuel, 398 + +Good-Friday in Mexico, 294 + +Gorostiza, 334 + +Grant, Ulysses, quoted, 341 + +Grenaditas, Alhóndiga de, 243, 248 + +Grijalva, Juan de, 132-134 + +_Grito de Dolores_, 242 + +Guadalajara, 193, 246 + +Guadalupe-Hidalgo, treaty of, 338 + +Guanajuato, 19, 243, 409 + +_Guardias Rurales_, 298 + +Guatemala, 71, 265 + +Guerrero, 259; + joins Yturbide, 261; + joins in the Casa-Mata, 268; + a candidate for the presidency, 275; + president, 277; + his government overthrown, 277; + captured and shot, 278 + +Guillermo, 346 + +Guzman, Nuño de, 184, 185-194 + + +H + +Herrara, General, 262, 307, 342 + +Hicuxaxé, 66 + +Hidalgo, Manuel, birth and education, 238; + life at Dolores, 240; + declares independence, 241; + _Grito de Dolores_, 242; + takes Guanahuato, 243; + takes Valladolid, 245; + defeated at Aculco, 246; + defeated at Calderon, 247; + captured and shot, 248 + +Hidalgo, state of, 41 + +Historia Chichimeca, 60 + +Holy Brotherhood, tribunal of, 203 + +Houston, General, 305 + +Huactlatohani, 41 + +Huatusco, ruins at, 16 + +Huehue-Tlapallan, 19, 24 + +Huehuetoca, 218 + +Huematzin, 24 + +Huexotzinco, 106 + +Huitzilihuitl, 91, 92, 94 + +Huitzilopochtli, 29, 87, 88, 99, 105 + +Human sacrifices, 102 + +Humboldt, Alexander von, visits Mexico, 224-232 + + +I + +"Iguala, Plan of," 261 + +Indian, the name, 184 + +_Indios_, 184 + +Inquisition, 196, 216 + +Iré-Titatacamé, 65 + +Istaccíhuatl, 6 + +Iturrigaray, Don José de, 224, 236 + +Itzcoatl, 96, 97, 98 + +Ixtlilxochitl, Fernando de Alva, 23, 44, 60, 64 + +Ixtlilxochitl, king of the Chichimecs, 44, 45, 94 + +Ixtlilxochitl, of Texcuco, 130, 154, 155, 171 + +Izamal, 81 + + +J + +Jaramillo, Don Juan de, 183 + +Jesuits, 324 + +Jimenez, 247, 248 + +Joinville, Prince de, 281 + +Jorullo, 231 + +Juarez, Benito, his descent, 344; + governor of Oaxaca, 345; + president, 346; + withdraws from the capital, 356; + advances to Zacatecas, 374; + enters the capital, 386; + president, 387; + character of, 389; + re-elected, 390; + death of, 390 + +Juarez, Doña Catalina, 137, 181, 182 + +_Juntas_, 235 + + +K + +Kinich-Katmo, 78 + + +L + +Lane, General, 340 + +Leon, Diégo Velasquez de, 132, 135, 137 + +Leon y Gama, quoted, 117 + +Le Plongeon, Dr., quoted, 78 + +Lerdo, Don Sebastian de Tejada, 391, 396 + +Lerma, River, 219 + +Le Teja, 372 + +_Liberales_, 344 + +Lopez, General, 377 + +Lorencez, General, 354 + +Loreto, Fort, 331 + +Louis Philippe, 281 + + +M + +_Maguey_, 35 + +Malinche, mountain of, 46 + +Malintzi, birth and early life, 145; + in slavery, 146; + given to Cortés, 146; + becomes interpreter, 147; + appearance of, 149; + escape of, 164; + life with Cortés, 180; + marriage of, 183; + death of, 183 + +Marina, _see_ Malintzi + +Markets in Mexico, 228 + +Márques, General, joins the _clerigos_, 346; + joins Maximilian, 372; + becomes quartermaster-general, 375; + sent to the capital, 375; + his escape, 384 + +Martin de Valencia, Fray, 208, 211 + +Martinez, Enrico, 218, 219 + +Maximilian, emperor of Mexico, 350; + his character and aims, 352; + arrives in Mexico, 357; + his reception, 358; + life at court, 360; + policy of, 362; + appeals to Napoleon, 367; + prepares to leave Mexico, 369; + goes to Orizaba, 370; + influence of the clerical party, 371; + returns to Mexico, 372; + at Querétaro, 374; + his appearance described, 376; + a prisoner, 378; + death of, 380 + +Maxixcatzin, 171 + +Maxtla, 44, 48-51, 92-97 + +Mayapan, 71, 72 + +Mayas, 18, 70-82 + +Mayorga, Viceroy, 226 + +Meconetzin, 36 + +Meija, General, 373, 378, 380 + +Mendez, 378 + +Mendoza, Antonio de, character of, 191; + his administration, 192-202 + +Merida, 80 + +Mexcalla, 106 + +Mexicans, 51 + +Mexico, climate of, 5; + relief of, 6; + early races of, 9; + government of, 10; + natural resources of, 11, 402; + roads in, 80; + natives of, 185; + mines of, 229, 409; + society in, 290; + women of, 292; + soldiers, 308; + vegetation, 402; + flowers, 403; + market-place, 404; + schools of, 415; + literature of, 416; + railways in, 418 + +Mexitli, 84 + +Mexitzin, 90 + +_Mezcal_, 36 + +Michoacan, 19, 62-69, 106, 176, 194 + +Mines of Mexico, 229, 409 + +Miramon, General, joins the _clerigos_, 346, 349; + joins Maximilian, 372; + advances to Zacatecas, 374; + raises troops for Maximilian, 375; + taken prisoner, 373; + shot, 380 + +Mitla, 393 + +Mixcoatl, 40 + +Mixtecas, 19 + +Molino del Rey, 334, 360 + +Monasteries, suppression of, 412 + +Montaño, 176 + +Monte de la Cruces, 245 + +Monteleone, Dukes of, 179 + +Monterey, 317 + +Monterey (in California), 314 + +Montezuma I., 92, 98, 100 + +Montezuma II., 101, 124; + coronation of, 125; + court of, 128; + interview with Cortés, 147, 157; + a prisoner, 159; + death of, 161 + +Montezuma, Conde de, 220 + +Montezuma's Cypress, 129 + +Morales, General, 328 + +Morelia, 194, 251 + +Morelos, José Manuel, birth of, 250; + education of, 251; + joins the Independents, 251; + defends Cuautla, 252; + calls first Mexican congress, 252; + appointed captain-general, 253; + defeated at Valladolid, 254; + captured, 254; + shot, 254; + his character, 255 + +Morelos, state of, 41 + +Mound Builders, 20 + +Moyotla, 88 + +Mozarabic liturgy, 413 + + +N + +Nachan, 71 + +Nahuas, 19, 20 + +Nahuatl, language, 19, 27; + legends, 22; + family, 70 + +Napoleon I., 235 + +Napoleon III., 349, 360, 366, 368 + +Naranjan, Princess of, 65 + +Nata and Nana, legend of, 23 + +National Museum of Mexico, 33 + +Nevada de Toluca, 29 + +New Mexico, 313, 338 + +New Spain, extent of, 190 + +Nezahualcoyotl, 44-61, 96, 98 + +Nezahualpilli, 105, 125, 130 + +_Noche Triste_, La, 163 + +_Nopal_, 87 + +Noriega, General, 384 + +Northers, 1, 3 + +Novella, Francisco, 263, 264 + +Nueva Leon, 316 + + +O + +Oaxaca, 275, 392 + +Obregon, 229 + +O'Donojú, Don Juan, 223, 263-266 + +_Oidores_, 185 + +Olid, Christobal de, 137, 173, 176, 177 + +Olmedo, Father, 182 + +Orizaba, 1 + +Ortega, General, 346, 356 + +Otomis, tribe of, 19, 152 + +Otoncapolco, 164 + +Otumba, battle of, 168, 170 + + +P + +Païnala, 145, 183 + +Palenque, ruins at, 17, 72-76 + +Palo Alto, battle at, 311 + +Paredes, Don Maria, 284, 285, 307, 319 + +Parian, The, 275 + +Paseo, 291 + +Patzcuaro, 63, 68, 194, 230 + +Payne and Zarate, quoted, 37 + +Pedraza, Manuel Gomez, 275, 276, 278, 282 + +_Peones_, 256 + +Philip II., 9, 199, 214, 219 + +Philip III., 219 + +Philip IV., 219 + +Philip V., 233 + +Pillow, General, 336 + +_Pita_, 35 + +Popocatapetl, 6 + +Popotla, 164 + +Pottery of Mexico, 405 + +Prieto, Guillermo, 346, 416 + +Princess of Cloth, 92 + +Puebla, 204, 206, 262, 330, 333, 354, 356 + +Puebla, state of, 41 + +_Pulque_, 23, 35 + + +Q + +_Quemadero_, 216 + +Querétaro, 19, 246, 262, 374, 375 + +Quetzalcoatl, 29; + legends of, 30, 33, 131; + influence of, 32; + statue of, 34 + +Quinames, 18 + +Quinatzin, 42 + +Quiroga, Vasco de, 197, 238 + + +R + +Railways in Mexico, 418 + +_Rebozos_, 296, 406 + +_Reclamacion de los Pasteles_, 281 + +Revillagigedo, Don Juan Vicente de Güemes Pacheco de Padilla, + Conde de, 220-222 + +Robbers, 297 + +Royal University, founded, 203 + +Rubio, Manuel Romero, 399 + + +S + +Sabine River, 305 + +Sacramento, 323 + +Salanueva, Don Antonio, 345 + +Salm-Salm, Prince of, 375; + Princess of, 378 + +Saloméa, Pass of, 393 + +Saltillo, 316 + +San Christobal, Lake, 12 + +San Diego, 252 + +San Juan de Ulóa, 137, 236, 281, 330 + +San Juan Teotihuacan, 168 + +San Luis, 19 + +San Nicholas, Colegio de, 230, 238, 251 + +Sandoval, Gonzalo de, 173 + +Santa Anna, Antonio Lopez de, 267; + his connection with Yturbide, 273; + at Oaxaca, 275; + defeats a Spanish force, 277; + becomes president, 278; + in Texas, 279; + a prisoner, 280; + defeats a French squadron, 281; + his home at Manga la Clava, 282; + rivalry with Pedraza, 283; + with Meija, 284; + president again, 287; + at the head of the army, 308; + returns from Cuba, 320; + in the war with the United States, 330-338; + retires to Jamaica, 340; + made Dictator, 344; + conspires against the government, 387; + banished, 388; + death of, 388, 398 + +Schools of Mexico, 415 + +Scott, Winfield, 323, 324, 328, 330, 337, 339 + +_Serape_, 406 + +Shining Serpent, _see_ Quetzalcoatl + +Sicuiracha, 65 + +Small-pox among the Aztecs, 167 + +Spanish, expelled from Mexico, 274 + +St. Domingo, 135 + +Sun, sacrifices to, 102 + + +T + +Tabasco River, 133, 139 + +Tamaulipas, 270 + +Tangoxoan II., 67, 176 + +Tarascans, 65; + customs of, 68 + +Taylor, General, 312, 316, 337, 339 + +Tecpancaltzin, 28, 36 + +Tehuacan, 254 + +"Temple of the Cross," 74 + +Tenoch, 89, 90 + +Tenochtitlan, 43, 88, 126, 175 + +_Teocallis_, 9 + +Teotihuacan, pyramid of, 18; + city of, 28; + visited by Humboldt, 229 + +Tepanecas, tribe of, 43, 44, 87, 91. + +_Tequila_, 36 + +Texas, revolts against Mexico, 305; + annexed to the United States, 306; + in the treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, 338 + +Texcuco, Lake, 12, 219 + +Texcuco, kingdom of, 44; + golden age of, 53; + literature of, 54; + decline of, 60; + the kingdom divided, 130 + +Tezcatlipoca, 23, 30 + +Tezcotzinco, 56 + +Tezozomoc, king of Azcapotzalco, 44, 94 + +"Three Guaranties, The," 261 + +_Tierra caliente_, 402 + +Tixiacurí, 66 + +Tizoc, reign of, 101 + +Tlacopan, kingdom of, 42 + +Tlatelolca, 97, 167 + +Tlaxcalla, subject to the Chichimecs, 41; + the name, 46, 47; + Cortés goes to, 144; + position of, 151; + resists the Spaniards, 152; + forced to make peace, 153; + head-quarters of Cortés, 172 + +Tollan, _see_ Tula + +Tollanzinco, 24 + +Toltecs, legend of their origin, 23; + traditions of, 24; + appearance of, 26; + customs of, 27; + duration of the kingdom, 37; + wars, 40; + defeated, 41 + +Toluca, 28 + +Tonacatecuhtli, 27 + +Topiltzin-Meconetzin, 37 + +Trujillo, 245 + +Tula, 17, 24, 41, 71 + +Tzintzuntzan, 66, 67, 198 + + +U + +Ulmecas, tribe of, 18 + +United States, result of the war with Mexico, 339; + action of, regarding the Mexican Empire, 365 + + +V + +Valencia, Fray Martin de, 193 + +Valencia, General, 284, 287 + +Valenciana, Count of, _see_ Obregon + +Valenciana, mines of, 229 + +Valladolid, 194, 196, 230, 245, 246, 253, 262 + +"Valley Confederates," 98 + +Velasco, Luis de, second viceroy, 203 + +Velasquez de Léon, Diégo, governor of Cuba, 135; + sends Grijalva to Mexico, 136; + is jealous of Cortés, 137 + +Venegas, Don Francisco, 237, 243, 248, 253 + +Vera Cruz, 1, 4, 41, 142, 321, 328 + +Viceroys, 9; + number of, 223 + +Victoria, Don Felix Fernandez, 273, 274 + +Vidaurri, General Santiago, 383, 384 + +Viga Canal, 228, 292 + +Votan, 80 + + +W + +"Wanderings of the Aztecs," picture of, 112 + +Worth, General, 323, 330, 331 + + +X + +Xicalancas, tribe of, 18 + +Xicotencatl, 152 + +Xochicalco, pyramid of, 16, 28, 225 + +Xochimilco, 12 + +Xochiquetzal, 22 + +Xochitl, 36, 41 + +Xoconochco, 106 + +Xolotl, chief of the Chichimecs, 40, 42 + + +Y + +Yturbide, Agustin de, 260; + announces "Plan of Iguala," 261; + takes Valladolid, 262; + enters the capital, 264; + made president, 265; + proclaimed emperor, 266; + crowned, 267; + deposed, 268; + leaves the country, 268; + declared a traitor, 268; + returns and is executed, 270; + his character, 271 + +Yucatan, 18, 70, 132 + + +Z + +Zamna, 80 + +Zapotecas, tribe of, 19, 393 + +Zaragoza, General, 346, 354 + +Zoquipan, 88 + +Zovanga, 67 + +Zumárraga, Fray Juan de, 207 + +Zumpango, Lake, 12 + +Zuñiga, Doña Juana de, 183 + + +PRINTED BY BALLANTYNE, HANSON AND CO. LONDON AND EDINBURGH + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40032 *** |