SANTA ANN ' AND ITS I CTDENT OF TRA TEL I TH T CO TR r DUR PARTS CF TUE YE ~ 1851 - 52 - 52 - 54, ANt> HISTORICA , NOTICES OF EVF.NT C NNECTED ,,vJTH PLA ' ., VI I TED. BY ROBERT A. WILSON. WI T H 11. L U ST R A "I" I O N S, t> ? t NEW YORK: HAR E:R. , l3 THER , PUBLI HER , FRAN It L l N QUA 'It~. l 55. 111iii~lilin ° l1111 OP E L0108910 Ent r e d , n col.'t.lh1g t Aot of ongl' · ss, ·n th y n1• on thou- Mn l i g ht hundr cl nnd fifty-fh•, by lI.ARPETt & BROTIIER , V . PREFACE. THE custom of mi11gli11g tog ther historical events with the incidents of travel, of amusement with instruc- tion, is rnth - r a Spanish than An1eri an IJractice ; and in adopting it, I must crave the indulgence of those of my 1·ead rs who read only for instruction, as well as of those who 1· ad only fir amus 111 - nt. Th id n that I ha add11ced to pro e that the y 11 w f1 r is not an .American, but an .A.:frican :lisease, in1port cl in slave~ships and p riodically 1· n ,vecl from those argo - s of human l'Ott nn ss and putrefaction, I hop will b duly l sider - a. Th pictm of inner convent life, and the inimitable gamblino· sc n in th con - nt of an Francis, I hftive n t dru.· = d to pr - s nt on m 0~111 1· sponsibility, nor ev n t1 at f tl oll Eni;;li s h bla~I ~- 1 - tter edition of F!iar Thomas, bu.t I hn.ve r _ pr dttcecl it from the expurgated Spanish clition which has l assed the c nsors, and must th · fore be onsid - r d :BUal. I ha e pr sum d to £ llo,v the br - at Las Casas, who called all th historians of the Conquest of Me;. ico liars ; and tl1ouo·h his labor d 1· - futation of th ir fi tions has di a :>p ar d yet, fortuna ly tho natural vid. - nc s of th ii' untrt\'th still • - main. Ha ing b fo · m th sur- s and the l els of otu· own enofa ers I ha e pre- sumed to 1oubt that wat 1· v 1· ~·an up hill that naviga- ble canals we1·e eve · :fl d by '' bacl water," that pynunids lV PREF.A.OE. (teocalli) could 1· t on a foundatio of soft arth, that a anal tw Ive £ - t br ad by tw lv fi t d p, mostly b - low the wat r level, was ever dug b Indians ,:inth their rnd impl m nts, that ·ardens · v - r fl a cl in mud, or that brigantin r sail din a salt mar h, r v n that 100,000 m n - v r nt r d th mud-built ity of Me .. ~ ico b a na ·ro, aus , r a, r in the 111 rnin0, a1 d. aft r fight~ i 1g all :la 1· tn:rn - by th same path at ni ·ht to th i · cnmp, or that o lm·o' ab ieging ni-m r a . 150,000 m n ould be supp rt - cl in a salt • marsh vnll : y, sur ;oundecl hy high mounta,ius. In ansvY r t th qu stion why su. h fabl s l1ave so Io1w pass d fi · hi t i-y, I hav - th r at1 an w r, that th Inquisition ntroll d ver printino·-of!i in Spain an i h r col nies , uncl its censors to k o• d care that n thing shoul l b tint cl a.gain t th fair fame of o go d a Christian a , art ' z, · w 1 o ha l pnint - d upon his · ba m 1· an · m(lg f th Innnaculat ir -in, and had b - stowec1 upon h r a laro· portion f hi r bb r r ; who had grati:fi d the l'.lati nal ta te for hol war b r writing one of th finest of pani h ~· man of hi tory; who ha :l indtl l th Emp r r to ov rlook h' rin ofl vying wa1· · without a i- yal li - nse by the bestowal hi h presents and i-ich provin s; s that, by the fav r f the E111p - 1·or and th fa.v r of th Inquisition, a fililn . tst ?'O, '"' ~ hose atr ities urpn s c1 th s f ev ry oth r on r cord, has c me down to u. as a hristian h ro. Th innum rabl littl thing ab ut th ir Indian mounds fore the con ictio1 01 th ., p ri :nc cl e e of an Am ·ican tra. 1 r that the .Azte s vY re a horde f rJ orth Am ri an so. a 0 • s, who Imel p1· ipitat d thcm- s Ives £.rst upon the ta.bleMland, and aft 1·ward, lih the PREFA E. V oths from th tabl -fancls of pa·n, · .. · tend d th ir cm .. qu - ts o r th - .t pirin°· ivilization of the ast coun- tl'y; tin cl this id · a is co 1iirmecl by the fact that th - mag- nifi ent Toltec mom: m nts of a re : mote antiquity, disco ~ r d in the t ·opi al for ts, w · e appar ntly un1 11ow1 to th zt s. Th · c 11 u t of :M: ic , lil 01.u- nquest f alif rnia, was in it - If a small affai1· · but both b ing imm diat ly follow - d by ., t nsive disco ri - s of th Ii- cio1.1s m to1s, lI .t i 1· s as ·apidl i t opul n _ e as San F ·ancisco has ii;i t11· day. The iden e that I ha res nted of the in .t haust~ ibl upplies of sil · in rth · 1 M xic n - ar th ro te of on· pr pos d Pa ifi Raih· a :l, may b 'nt - r ting to 1 - gi lators. Th s n a s of silver li as u di turbed. by th ir pi·esent wn 1" a did the [ - · i an di ovel'ies of golcl in alifomia b fi · th American conqu t, fro111 th in rtn ss of th 1 a.l I opulation, iu l th w:111t of fa- iliti s of ~ommuni a.tion with the city of :M: .. ·i o. Th notion that th - l\fom1 ns ar destin d t o r1·u11 1\1 _ .. i o i of our - , nly an inf · nc drawn fro tl e ·a t pa ·all 1 that .? i t b · twe n th ci · umstai s un- d - r , . hi h this d h sion has a1·is 11 and pr~pao•nt d itself and th history of Molia.mm danism from it l'i e until it OV · mm the deg 11 rat d hristians of'th Ea t rll mpire. F · m want of s ac - I ha be n oblig d to omit much valuabl 9riginal matter pro tu - d £1 • m by offi- c rs f 0 • v rnm nt a,t th - palace of M .. · i o, to whom, fi · th l ind att nti n that I ha · upo all c a io1 c i d from them, I h artily r tum my most sincere thanh. R, .A, WIL N. li.oohest r, Sebtembe1· lat, 1855. ) CONTENTS, CHAPTER L H.APTER I. An historfon 1 k t h. - Truth seldom . sp ken of anta Anna. - nut11 Annn's nrly Life. - nus s of th Revolution. - Th Virgin Mnry s Approvnl of lring F r fornnd. - Tl10 Inquisition imprisons th Vice- l ing. - u.utn . Amrn nt crs th l{ing's rmy. - Th plm1 f Igunln. - Th , , a· of th t, il'gins. - 'auta mrn pron - ,11'1. ces for Inde .. penden ....................................................... . ................ ao HAPTER II. Iu id nts of Ttn. • el. - Th Gr nt Rond to the Interior.-Mexicn.11 Dili~ o·ences. - Th :Priest wns he first I'nssc 11 ger robbed.-The ationu.l Bridrt . - A onductn of Silver. - Otu Monk risits ld rel'a 1•uz. They grant to the Indians forty ars of Inclulo· n in l'eturn fi r th fr Hospitnlity. - Th rt.1st nmong Robb 1·s. - :I: xi nu ch lu.rs in the United to.tes.- 1 u ei-1·0 ......... ...... .. . , , .................. , ..... 89 If.AFTER I . Jnlapa.-Th )(trM1·dinary B auty Md Ftu•Mlity of this Spot.-Jalap, nrsapa ·ma, J\ 1 Iyl'tl , Vn.nilla bin nl and v d of Tobns o.- The charm . ing Sitn11tion of Jnlnpn.. - Its Flow . rs and its Fruits.- ag~ nifi nt i ws.~The trauition that Ja.lo , pa was nm.dis . - p k of War.-The MnJ.'l'il\g - of o. Her ti .-.£ gn1nbling S - n in a on," 11t ., , •. •• ,. , •••••••• ,,, •. , . t 4 , •• t••··· .. , , .. , ,, ·····~· ... ,., •... , , ... ,, .... 52 Yiii IAPTER V. , r xir.o. - Th Scotch nml ' · •otch PTER : M .· ic1 b com nn. Empir . - 'n,nta A111rn. d pos s th Emperor. - He procluhns n. H •puLlit 1 . - II pnmomrn s U"'ttin!';t th Eltll'tion of P cl· nurn 1 th "ccoml l)rotlid nt. - His Sitmttion in Lh onvont 1tt Onjn , a. - Ile captnl' s th Spnnhih Ar11u1,da. -.i n l is m . ud G n rnl of DiYision . . ............................................... , . . . .. .. . . . . .. . . .. . .. .. • 73 1->T • R VII. In th Stng nm1 out , of tho tap; . - Still clintbing. - A mom nt s i w f nll th Kingcl ms of th World. - gn'in in ()tb s •1·.rity. - 'l'h 1fa - "'ll y 01· • ntur, Plnnt. - 'l'h · mnny u s or th dngu y. - Th in- to~ · ientina; jnic of th fogn y . - Pnlqn . - Xmrn ns cm s nrnptkm of lJulqu - '. - ity or 1> rote. - Cnstlo of f:lnn nrlos {l J>"rot . - Star - light 1111011 tl10 'l'ubl - lm1tl. - 'l'cqni s quitn. - " ' l'h Batl Lnn<l." - A Y r. old n 'ggur. -. A . rriYo nt h1 bln , ...................................... 79 HAPTER VIII. Pu bln.. - 'Ih iirn l of th . Ang ls. - A ity f Pd st s .-Mnrinnnn in Brom~ . - '.1.'h Y gn. of l u bla. - Fil' s t i "' of th )yrnniid of ho1nln. - Iviotl · rn .1 1lditio111:i to it. - 'l'h Vi w frotn it · '1'01 . - Qn t- znl ·ontl. - holnln. nnd 'l'lusrnln. - holnln withont th 1~oetry. - ndiun lleli s .............. , .................................................. . , ru PTEI L .. . A HAl:)'l'Eli. . / · . To . ·ns.-Bnttl of Mn linn. - First Introduction of n-1 ri nns into To ;•. ns.- sm•pnt.ion of Uustnme11t . - '1' xns owed no All ginnce to the ' NTENTS. ix urp r.-The good Faith of th nited Stat s · th A quisition of L n isinnu, and Texas. - . m1tn. .Anna pl'onounc s ngriinst n stnm ute. -S nntri , Anna in T • · us.- Mexi ans D · nunciation of the T . · an " nr. - His lcl a. of our R volntion.-l:fo complains of tu grasp- in rr Spll'it.-The right of the · nited States to occupy un ett l ed T r- ritory. - A few mor Promurninmientos of u.ntn unu.. - The .Ad~ v utnr s of Sfintn .Annn. to th present Dnte ................. Page 113 HAPTER XI. , ·om u bln. to :M: xi o.-Th r nd of Robb rs. - The Es ort.-Tlus- rilu. - Tha Exnggero.tions f ortez and B r11nl Dio.z. - Th Truth ab ut Tlns aln. -T h dvan tng s of Tlnscn,ln. to ort ' z.- ' Who wns B rnn Dinz.-Who w1·ote his I-listo1·y.-Fhst View of Me. ·co. 122 " .l TER XII. vn n ......................... , .••• ,,.,1,,, •••• " ·········•itttfltlltltft••· · ···········•·' If.APTER XIII. X CONTENTS. CHAPTER XV. The Two Valleys.-The Lake with a leaky Bottom.-The Wa.ter could not have been higher.-Nor could the Lagunas or Ponds ham been much deeper. -The Brigantines only flat-bottomed B2ats. - The Causeway Canals fix the size of the Brigantines. -The Street Ca- nals.-Stagnant Water unfit for Canals.-The probable Dimensions of the City Cana1s.-Difficulties of disproving a Fiction.-A Dike or LeYee.-The Canal of Huehuetoca.-The Map of Cortez.- \Vise Provision of Providence.-The Fiction about the numerous Cities in and about -the Lake ............................................... Page 176 CHAPTER XVI. The Chinampas or Water Gardens.-Laws of Nature not set aside.- Mud will not float. - The present Chinampas.-They never could haYe been floating Garclens.-Relations of the Chinampas to the an- cient Stat_e of the Lake in the Valley.................................. 186 CHAPTER XVII. The gambling Festival of San Augustine . -Suppressed by GoYemment. -The Losses of the Saint by the Snppre s sion of GamLling.-How Travelers live in the Interior.-A Visit to the Palace ............. 192 CHAPTER xvm. Visit to Contreras and San Angel.-The End of a brave Soldier.-A Place of Skulls.-A New England Dinner.-An Adventure with Rob- bers-douutful.-Reasons for revisiting Mexico.-The Battle at the Mountain of Crosses.-A peculiar Va . riety of the Cactus.-Three Men gibbeted for robbing a Bishop.-A Comt upon Horseback.-'l'be . re- treat of Cortez to Otumba .. -A Yenerable Cypress Grove.-Unexpect- edly comfortable Qnarters.-An English Dinner at Tezcuco.-Pleas- ures unknown to the Rings of Tezcuco.-Relics of Tezcuco.-The Appearance of the Virgin Mary at Tezcuco.-The Causeways of Mexico ......................................................................... 196 CHAPTER XIX. The Streets of Tacuba.-The Spaniards and the Indian Women.-The Retreat of Cortez.-The Aqueducts of Mexico.-The E11glish and American Burying-ground~.-The Protestant President.-The riyal Virgins. -An Image out of Favor. - The Aztecs and the Span- iards ............................................................................ 208 CHAPTER XX. The Paseo at Evening.-Ride to Chapultepee.-The old Cypresses of Chapultepec.-'rhe Capture of Chapultepec.-Molina del Rey.- CONTENTS. xi Tacubaya.-Don Manuel Escandon.-The Tobacco Monopoly.-The Palace of Escandon.-The "Desierto."-Hermits.-Monks in the Conflict with Satan.-Our Lady of Carmel.. ................. Page 219 CHAPTER XXI. Walk to Guadalupe.-Our Emhassagor kneeling to the Host.-An Em- bassador with, and one without Lace.-First sight of Santa Anna.- Indian Dance in Church.-Juan Diego not Saint Thomas.-The Mir- acle proved at Rome.-The Story of Juan Diego.-The holy Well of Guadalupe.-The Temple of the Virgin.-Public Worship interdict- • ed by the Archbishop.-Refuses to revoke his Interdict.-He fled to Guadalupe and took Sanctuary.-Refused to leave the Altar.-The - Arrest at the Altar .......................................................... 229 CHAPTER XXII. The old Indian City of Mexico.-The Mosques.-Probab1e Extent of Civilization.-Aztecs acquired Arts of the Toltecs.-Toltec Civiliza- tion, ancient and original.-The Pyramid of Papantla.-The Plun- der of Civilization.-Mexico as described by Cortez.-Montezuma's Court.-The eight Months that Cortez held Montezuma.-\.Vhat hap- pened for the next ten Months.-Tbe Siege of Mexico by Cortez.- Aztecs conquered by Famine and Thirst.-Heroes on Paper and Victoxies without Bloodshed.-Cortez and Morgan ................ 242 CHAPTER XXIII. The new City of Mexico.-The Discoveries of Gold.-Ruins at Mexi- co.-The Monks , and what Cortez gaineu by his l'iety.--The City of Mexico again rebuilt.-The City under Ravillagigedo.-The Nation- al Palace.-The Cathedral.-A whole Museum turned Saints.-All kneel together.-The San Carlos Academy of Arts.-Reign of Car- los III.-'£he Minel'ia .............................. ,. . . . . .. . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . 259 CHAPTER XXIV. The National Museum.-Marianna and Cortez.-The small Value of this Collection.-The Botanic Garden.-The Market of Santa Anna. -The Acordada Prison.-The unfortunate l:'risoner.-The Causes of that Night of Terror.-The Sacking of the City.-The Parian.- The Causes of the Ruin of the Parian.-Change in the Standard of Color.-The Ashes of Cortez ............................................ 271 eHAPTER XXV. The Priests gainers by the Jndependence.-:-Improved Condition of the Peons.-Mexican Mechanics.-The Oppression they suffer.-Low state of the Mechanic Arts.-The Story of , the Port1:ess.-Ch11rity of the Poor.-The Whites not superior to Meztizos.-License and Woman's Rights at Mexico.-The probable Future of Mexico.-Mor- Xll CON . 'l'ENTS. monism impending over Mexico.-Mormonism and Mohammedan- ism ....................................................................... Page 280 CHAPTER XXVI. The Plaza of the Inquisition.-The two Modes of human Sacrifice, the Aztec and the Spanish.-Threefold Power of the Inquisition.-Visit to the House of the Inquisition.-The Prison and Place of Torture. -The Story of William Lamport.-The little and the big .Auto da Fe.-The Inquisition the real Goverment.-Ruin of SpanishNation- ality.-The political Uses of the Inquisition.-Political Causes of th~ Bigotry of Philip IL-His eldest Son dies mysteriously.-The Dominion of Priests continues till the French Invasion .. . .. . .. .. 292 CHAPTER XXVII. Miracles and Earthquakes.-The Saints in Times of Ignorance.-The Eruption of Jorullo.-The Curse of the Capuchins.-The Conse- quences of the Curse.-The unfulfilled Curse.-The Popul~tion of the Republic.-Depopulation from 1810 to 1840.-The Mixture of Whites and Indians not prolific.-The pure Indians.-The Mez- tizos.-The White Population. -Negroes and Zambos.-The Jew and the Law of Generation .-Th e same Law applies to Cattle. -It governs the Generation of Plants.-Intemperance and Generation. -Meztizo Plants short-lived.-Mexico can not be resuscitated.-She can not recover her Norther1:1 Provinces ...................... ~ ........ 304: CHAPTER XXVIII. The Church of Mexico.-Its present Condition and Power.-The Num- ber of the "Religios."-The Wealth of the Church.-The Money- power of the Church.-The Power of Assassination.-Educating the People robs the Priest.-Making and adoring Images.-The Prog- ress downward .. . .. . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. . . . .. .. . . . . .. . . . . .. . . . .. . . . . .. . 319 CHAPTER XXIX. Causes that have diminished the Religios.-The Provincials and Supe- riors 0f Convents.-The perfect Organization.-The Monks.-San Franciscans. - Dominicans.-Carmelites. -The well-reputed Orders. -The Jesuits.-The Nuns.-How Novices are procured.-Contrast- ed with a Quaker Prison.-The poor deluded Nun. - A good old Quaker Woman not a Saint.-Protestantism felt in Mexico ..... 330 CHAPTER XXX. The Necessity of large Capitals in Mexico.~The Finances and Reve- nue.-The impoverished Creditors of the ' State.-Princely Wealth of Individuals ...................................... ~: ........................ 34:8 CONTENTS. xiii CHAPTER XXXI. Visit to Pachuca and Real del Monte.-Otnmba and Tulanzingo.-The grand Canal of Huehnetoca .-Th e Silver Mines of Pachuca.-Hakal Silver Mines . - Real del Monte Mines.-The Anglo-Mexican Mining Fever.-My Equipment to descend a Mine.-Tbe great Steam-pump. -Descending the great Shaft . - Galleries and Veins of Ore.-Among the Miners one thousand Feet under Ground.-The Barrel Process of refining Silver.-Another refining Establishment ........ Page 352 CHAPTER XXXII. A Visit to the Refining - mills. -T he Falls and basaltic Columns of Reg- la.-How a Title is acquired to Silver Mines.-The Story of Peter Terreros, Count of Regla. -Th e most successful of M in ers.-Silver obtained by fusing the O r e . .,-Silver "benefited" upon the Patio.- The Tester of the Patio. - The chemical Processes employed .-The Heirs of the Count of Regla.-The Ruin caused by Civil War.-The Histo1y of the English Company ......................... ,.............. 362 CHAPTER XXXIII. Toluca. - Queretaro, Guanajuato, and Zacatecas . - Fresnillo . - "Ro- mancing."-A lucky Priest.-San Luis Potosi.-The Valenciana at Guanajuato. - Under-mining . - A Name of Blasphemy. -The Los Rayas.-Immense Sums taken from Los Rayas.-Warlike Indians in Zacatecas ......... . ........... ........ ........... ....... ......... ......... ..... 372 CHAPTER XXXIV. Sonora and Sonora Land Speculators seeking Annexation . - Sonora and its Attractions.-The Abundance and Purity of Silver in Sono- . ra.-Silver found in .large Masses.-The Jesus Mar i a, Refugio, and Eulalia Mines.-A Creation of Silver at Arizpa.-The Pacific Rail- road.-Sonora now valueless for want of personal Security, -The Hopes of replenishing the Spanish Finances from Sonora blasted by War.-Report of the Mineria.-Sonora.-Chihuahua ............. 382 APPENDIX. A. Mineria Report on the Mineral Riches of Sonora... ... .. ......... 391 B. Report on the Mineral Riches of Chihuahua .. . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 398 C. Report on the Mineral Riches of Coahuila .......................... 400 D. Report on the Mineral Riches of Lower California.. ........ ..... 402 E. The Remains of Cortez .. . . . . .. .. .. .. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . .. .. . . . .. . . . . . 405 ~MEXICO AND ITS RELIGION. CHAPTER I. .Arrival at Vera Cruz.-Its appearance from the Steamer . - Getting .Ashore.-\Vithin the City.-'l'hrow i ng . Stones at an Image.-.An- tiquity of Vern. Cruz . -Its Commerce. - The great Norther of 1852. - A little bteamer r i des out the Tempest.-'l'he Yomito, or Yellow Fever . -Rarnges of the Vomito._:_The Vomito brought from Africa. in Slave-s 1 1ips.-A curious o l d Book . - Our Monk a r rives at Vera Cruz, a . nd what befalls Mm there. - Life in a Con.vent . -A nice young Prior.-Our Monk finds himself fa another World. IT was a stormy evening in the month of November, 1853, when the noble steamship Texas cast anchor in the open roadstead of Vera Cruz, under the lee of the low island on which stands the famous fortress of San Juan de Ulua. Hard by lay a British vessel ready to steam out into the teeth of the storm, as soon as th~ offi- cers should receive from us · a budget of newspapers. vV e were too late to obtain a permit to land that even- ing, so that we lay tossing at our anchors all night, and until the sun and the shore-boats appeared together on the morning following. The :finest view of Vera Cmz is from the harbor ; and the best time to look upon it is when a bright sun, just risen above a watery horizon, is reflected back from the antiquated domes ancl houses, which al'e visible above tl1e old massive city wall Soon we were in one of the canoes alongside, and 16 MEXICO AND ITS RELIGION. were quickly transp o rted to the mole, on which we land- ed, among bales of cotton and bundles of freight that encumbered it. The iron gate of the city was now opened, and we passed through it, mixed up in the crowd of bare-footed "cargadores" or porters, who were carrying upon their backs bales of cotton, · and deposit - ing them in various piles in front of the custom - house. How quietly and quickly these cargadores do their work! and what great power of muscle they have acquired by long a . pplication at this laborious calling ! ,, Wl1at a contrnst does this city present to New Or- leans, which we had left only four days before! Instead of the noise and bustle of a commercial emporium, all here is as quiet a11d as cleanly as a church - yard. Even the chiming of bells for the · dying and the dead, which so incessantly clistmbs the living by _ night and day in the season of the "vomito" or yellow fever, is no longer heard, for it is the healthy season - the season _ of "Northers." The only noise is the little bells upon the necks of the donkeys, that are carrying about kegs of water for family use . The chain - gang have completed their morning task of cleansing the streets and gutters, and as they ai-e led away to their breakfast, a clank now and then of their chain reminds the traveler that crime has been as busy here as in more bustling cities. Morning mass is over, and bonnetless women of low and high degree are returning to their homes ; some wearing mantillas of satin, black and shining as their raven hair, which are pinned by a jeweled pin upon the top of their heads ; others, more modern in their tastes, sport India shawls; while the common class still cling to the '' rebosa," which they so · ingeniously twirl around their heads and chests as to include in its naITow folds their arms, and all above the waist exc . ept the face. Priests apI?ear in black gowns, and fiu· hats with such Y.ERA CRUZ. 17 VERA CR Z. ample brims that they lap and are fastened together upon the top of their heads. The armed patrol, in dirty cotton uniforms, and soldiers in broadcloth, are returning from morning muster ; for in this hot climate the burden of the day's duties is discharged before breakfast. Under the arches (portales), and in the open market-place, men and women are chiving a brisk trade, in the most quiet way, in meats, and vegetables, and huxter's wares. Nature has denied to - the butcher of hot climates the privilege of salting meat, but he makes amends for this defect by cutting his tough beef into strips, which he rubs over with salt, and offers to sell to you by the yard. Vera Cruz is now as venerable a looking town as when I was here before, although the houses, and the plastered walls, and tops of the stone churches seem to have had a new coating of Spanish white within a few months. But the malaria from the swamps in the time of the vomito, or the salt atmosphere driven upon it by the oi-thers, soon replaces the familiar dingy hue. The battered face of the stone image, at t~(} side of the 18 1\1EXICO AND ITS RELIGION. deserted church, has received a few more bruises since I was last here ; for the marriageable young misses still most religiously believe that a stone thrown by a fair hand that shall hit the image full in the face, will ob- tain for the thrnwer a husband, and a:i;i advantageous settlement for life. This is a small city, or the poor image could not have endured this kind of bruising for two hundred years. The :first Spaniaxd that landed here was Grijalva,* in 1518, in a trading expedition fitted out by Valasquez, Governor of Cuba. He was so successful in his traffic with the natives, as to obtain, in exchange for a few trinkets, $14,000 worth of gold dust. His success so encouraged Valasquez, that he fitted out a much larger expedition the following year, the command of which he gave to Hernando Cortez, of whom we shall have occa- sion to speak more at large heTeafter. Cortez, at first, landed on the island of Ulua, in front of the site of the present city. But when he commenced his · conquest he transported his boats to the mouth of the river Antigua, where he founded his intended city, a little way below the place where the national bridge now stands, and gave it the name of the Rich City of the True Cross (Villa Rica de Vera Cruz) ; and -there it was where he destroyed his little vessels. Ninety yea1·s after the con- quest of Mexico, the lifarquis De Monterey removed the port back to Ulua, and founded the present city of Vera Cruz. It was at first . built of wood, but having been several times burned down, it was at length built of its present material-a porous stone full of animal remains, obtained from the bottom of the harbor. This stone, when laid in and covered over with cement, forms a very dmable building-material. The castle, which stands upon the island of Ulua, is now fast going to decay. li< Apuntes Historicos de Vera Cruz, p. 102. COMMERCE OF VERA CRUZ_- 19 As a fortification it is no longe1· of great value,* although it is computed that more than $16,000,000 was expend- ed in its erection. In fact, its only prnsent practical advantage is deTived from the light-house whic _ h stands upon one of its towers. This town, although it has been the terror of sea- faring men for the last three hundrnd years, has, for a like period of time, enjoyed an enviable commerce. Nearly three - fourths of all the silver that has been shipped to Europe from America during that long pe- riod has been sent from this port, besides the other productions of the country, such as cochineal, vanilla, wood of Tobasco, sarsaparilla, ancl jalap. To all this we must add that all the trade of Spain with Japan, China, and the Philipine Islands, was carried across Mexico from Acapulco, on the Pacific, to be shipped from Vera Cruz to Spain. During the l ong period we have named, this was the only port on the Atlantic side where foreign commerce was allo,, 7 ed ; and this was rnstricted to Spain alone, and to a single Beet of mer- chant ships that came and went annually, until about fifty years before the 1:exican independence, when free commerce was allowed with all the Spanish world. From a history of the commerce of Vera Cruz, just pub- .Jished at Mexico, I find that its annual average did not vaq greatly from $12,000,000 importations against $18,000,000 exportations. The extra $6,000,000 being about the annual average of the rnyal revenue derived from New Spain, as this country was then called. Sil - ver constituted the bulk of this $18,000,000, both in weight and in value. . During the last £.fty years of Spanish dominion, this commerce, extended, as we have said, to all Spanish possessions, was monopolized by a * Este1ior Comercio de Mexico . M. M. Lerdo de Tegido. Mex- ico, 18~3. 20 MEXICO .A.ND ITS RELIGION. company of merchants styled the Consulado of Ver~ Cruz. Uncler the management of this company it aver- aged a.s high as $22,000,000. The revolution brok~ up this monopoly, and almost annihilated the commerce of this port, but it rapidly revived after the Spaniards were driven out of the castle, and from this time it has g_one ~n increasing, until now it amounts to $26,000,000; the imports and exports being equal, as there is now no King's revenue. This commerce is now carried _ on prin- c:ipally with the United States, since the establishment of a line of steamers to New Orleans. The most im- portant article of importation is raw cotton, for the sup- ply of the great manufactories in the interior of 1exico. The · silver goes p1i.ncipally to England, and is drawn again in favor of the cotton purchaser. There is also a large import trade in agricultural implements, steam- machinery for the sugar-mills ancl the silver mines, be- sides heavy importation of silks and wines from France and Spain. With this hasty notice we are compelled to quit a subject which is the theme of a most interest- ing volume. The first time I saw Vera Cruz was during the great Norther of 1852. I wa..s then rnturning homeward from the city of Mexico. A :fierce Norther was blowing, and the harbor was filled with shipping that could not bear up against such a tornado. I stooc1 among the anxious multitude, watching the symptoms of the rising storm. We looked intently at the heavens as they gathered blackness, and saw far off toward the hOTizon the clouds and the waves mingling together into one great vapor- ous mass. Now and then we were tanta - lized by brief intervals of bright skies; but they were again quickly overcast and shrouded in by more intense darkness, while the temperatme fell to a degree of chilliness un- usual in this latitude. The howling of the wind was A NORTHER. 21 tenific. Where we stood we were near enough to see, or at least to catch glimpses of what was taking place on board the shipping. All exti-a anchors that could be got out were soon thrown into the sea. But to little purpose; for a coral bottom is but a poor holding-ground in a Norther. One after another the vessels began to drag toward the shore; and even the castle itself seemed at times as though it would be torn from its rocky foundations and dashed upon the town, so violent was the tempest. The terror of those on land wa - s hardly describable as they saw the shipping dragging around towanl apparent destruction to both vessels and crews. Now and then a vessel held a little by some new obsta- cle that the anchor had caught hold of, but soon the resistance gave way, and then it moved on again, ap- proaching the shore, whither all now were tending, ex- cept a few that occupied a goocl holding-ground in the lee of the castle and island. All did not drag at once, or drag together; but one by one their power of endur- ance gave out, and one by one they came dragging on, when they had no longer any help, and little hope, if the storm continued. " It can not last long," the spec- tators would mutter, rather in hope than expectation, for the only chanee for the safety of the vessels was in the lulling of the tempest. Yet it did continue against the constant predictions of all, ancl momentarily increased in violence. · Hope seemed to give way to despair as vessel after vessel approached the land; and as they were clashed into pieces men helcl their breath, while the hardy seamen were struggling in the waves toward the beach. One staunch vessel, without cargo, was car- ried broadside on, and her crew leaped out of her, and ran off in safety. Many single shipwrecks have caused greater destmc6on of property, and immensely greater loss of life; but here was the individual struggle of each 22 MEXICO AND ITS RELIGION. separate mariner, made in the very sight of those who could render no assistance, but must stand idle specta.., tors. Here sfrong swimmers were rendered powerless by the tempest, and were perishing from exhaustion in vain efforts to swim ashore. From this scene of disaster we turned to look back upon a more equal contest going on between two of the elements : a small steamer-a little crazy thing, it seemed, almost ready to be blown to pieces; but it was ga1lantly facing the tempest, and riding out bravely against the combined force of wind and waves. But she mounted the waves, one after another, without any difficulty, though held by but a single anchor, as the strain on her cable was eased awa.y by the action of her paddle-wheels, which were kept in motion by an engine of the sma.llest class ever put into a river boat. This was said to be the most violent Norther that had visited Vera Cruz in a centmy. It destroyed sixteen vessels, and caused the loss of thirteen lives; and yet so small an amount of steam-power was fully able to bear up against the dreaded fmy of a Norther, and to insure the safety of the vessel. Vera Cmz, like almost every other Spanish Ameii.can seaport town, has its traditional tales of the horrors committed by the buccaneers, or filibusters. The his- tory of the buccaneers, their origin, theiJ: fearful exploits of blood, the tenor that their name even now inspires in the minds of all Spanish Americans, are too well known to demand a repetition here, though we may give the substance of their story, by saying that they had then· origin in a laudable effort to avenge the gross wrongs inflicted by the Spaniards upon the honest tra- ders of other nations, while trafficking with the native inhabitants of America, within the mg-ion which the Pope, as the representative of the Almighty, had be- TH~ . BUQCA]ilEERS . . 23 stowed upon the King of Spain, .. to conquer and subdue for the benefit of the Church. Elizabeth of England mised the question of the validity of the title of the King of Spain derived from so questionable a source, and in- sisted that he had no i-ights in America beyond those acquired by discovery, followed up by possession. But the King of Spain was too good a Catholic to have his right ca,lled in question, and when a heretic ship was caught among the · vv est Indies, the ava1·ice of priests and officials, and their holy horror at the approach of heresy to these regions, were exhibited in their deal- ings with the cargo and the unhappy crew. The in- human treatment that the Spaniards inflicted upon hon-, est traders aroused men to repi-isals ; and all ships ven- turing into these seas went fully armed. Private war was the natural consequence of Spanish cruelty and in- justice; and the superior prowess of the Dutch and En- glish soon made sad havoc with the plunder which the Spaniards had wrung from the natives for a hundred yea . rs and more. The :filibusters :finally degenerated into pirates and robbers, and the treasure ships ('' galleons") of Spain, and the towns upon her · American coasts, were the vic- tims of their depredations. The foxy of the buccaneers was mainly directed against the monks, and when they sacked a town, they never failed to pay an especial vis- itation to the convents. When Vera Cruz was sacked they showed their contempt for the clergy by compelling the monks and nuns to carry the plunder of the town to their private poats ; thereby grieving these "holy men" most of all, if we may believe the old chronicles, because they could have no share in the rich plunder loaded upon their own backs. The second day after our arrival in Vera Cruz a fel- low-passenger, who had been sick all the voyage, died MEXICO AND ITS REPGION, of the yellow fever, which he had contracted at New Orleans, or on the Mississippi; which was probably the :first time that a person ever died in Vera Cruz of vomito that had been contracted in the United States. This is a fitting place to speak of this disease and of its ravages, which we witnessed before leaving New Or- leans. It was the time for the frosts to make their ap- pearance when I left New York, and with the expecta- tion of seeing the ground covered with this antidote to the fever, crowds were returning from the north, though the mai-ks of the pestilence were still visible along our route. It had followed the main stream of travel far northward, and now, as we ventured upon its track, it seemed like traversing the valley of the shadow of death. Terror had committed greater ravages than the pesti- lence; the villages and cities on our rout e w e re half deserted ; stagnati"on was visible in all commercial places; and when we reach . eel ew Orleans this strange state of things was doubly intensified: it looked more like a city of the dead, or a city depopulated, than the emporium of the 1:ississippi valley. A stranger might have supposed that a great" funeral service had just been performed, in which all of the inhabitants remaining in town had acted the part of mourners. The city itself had been so thoroughly cleansed, that it might challenge comparison with one of the most cleanly villages of Holland, while its footways seemed almost too pure to be trod upon. .1. othing appears half so gloomy as such a place when deserted of its principal inhabit- ants. This disease was unknown in America until the open- ing of the African slave - trade. It is an African disease, intensified and aggravated by the rottenness a1~d filthy habits of the human cargoes that brought it to America. It was entirely unknown at Ve1;a Cruz until brought 'l'HE VOMITO. 25 there in the slave-ship of 1699. * In like manner it was c~rried to all the vY est India islands. vVhen the negro insuITection in San Domingo chove the white pop- , ulation into exile, the disease was carried by the immi- grants to all the cities of the United States, and even to the most healthy localities in the interior of Massachu- setts. Old people still remember when N~w York was so completely deserted that its principal streets were boarded up, and watchmen went their rounds of silent streets by day as well as by night. The fever of the present year can be traced directly to this accursed traf- £.c. Slaves had been smuggled into Rio Janeiro, who brought the disease in its most vimlent form from Africa. In that city it was caITying its hundreds to the grave, when a vessel cleared for New Orleans, hav- ing the disease on board. This vessel disseminated it in the upper wards of the city, while at the same time there arrived from Cuba another vessel which, from a like cause, had caught the vomito at Havana, and from this second ves s el the disease was disseminated in the lower wards of N ew Orleans, It was the meet- ing of these two independent currents of the fever in the centre of the city, on O::tnal Street, that caused that fatal day on which three hundred victims went to their long homes. Such were the fruits of this offspring of an inhuman trade in a single city, in a single day. I learn from the preface of a book in the Spanish lan- guage, which I purchased . at Mexico, entitled " The Voyages of Thomas Page," that a Dominican monk of · that name, the brother of the Royalist Governor of · Oxford under Charles I., was smuggled into Mexico by his Dominican brethren, . against the King's order, which prohibited the entry 9£ Englishmen into that country. As a missionary monk he 1·esided in Mexico, or New * Apuntes Historicos de Vera Cruz, p. 129. B 26 MEXICO A.ND ITS RELIGION. Spain, as it was then called, eighteen years. On his rnturn to England he published an account of the coun- ti~y which he visited, under the title · of " A. Survey of the West Indies." This being the first and last book ever written by a resident of New -Spain ' that had not been submitted to the most rigid censorship by the Inquisition, it produced so profound a sensation, that, by order of the great Colbert, Frnnch Minister of State, it was expurgated and translated into French by an Irish Catholic of the name of O'Neil. From this expurgated French edition the Spanish copy now be- fore me was translated. From this Spanish edition I had made the several translations that are found in this, and the following chapters. I have since found a black letter copy of the original, printed at London, in 1677 ; but I have concluded to use the trnnslations, as furnish- ing a more o:ffictal charncter to the picture therein drawn of the grossly immoral state of the clergy, and of the religious orders. As it is from actual observation, and has the sanction of the cei1sorship, it must be of more value to my readers than any account - of personal ob- servations that I might write. This is my . apology for copying the most interesting portions of a long fo1·- . gotten book. " When we came to land," says our author, "we saw all the inhabitants of the city (Vera Cruz) had congre- gated in the Plaza (public square) to - receive us. The communities of monks were also there, each one pte- ceded by a large crncifix. The Dominicans, the San Franciscans, the Mercedarios, and the Jesuits, in order to conduct the Virey (the Viceroy) of Mexico as faJ.· a.s the Cathedral. The Jesuits and fri3,,rs from the ships leaped upon the shore more expeditiously than did the Virey, the Marquis Seralvo, and his wife. Many of them (the monks) on stepping on shore kissed it, con- l!'lUAii PAGE. 27 sidering that it was a holy cause that brought' them here-the conversion of the Indians, who had before adored and sacrificed to demons; others kneeled down and gave thanks to the Virgin Mary : and other saints of tlieir devotion, and then all the m01iks hastened to incorporate themselves with their re spective orders in the place in which they severally stood. The proces- sion, as soon as foi·med, directed itself to the Cathedral, where the consecrated wafer* was exposed upon the high altar, and to which all kneeled as they entered . . . . . . The services ended, the Virey was conducted to his lodgings by the first Alcalde, the magistrates of the town, and judges, who had descended from the capitol to re- ceive him, besides the soldiers of the garrison and the ships. Those of the _ religious orders who had just ar- rived were conducted to their respective convents, cross - es, as before, being cai-ried at the head of each com- munity. Friar John presented (us) his missiona . ries to the Prior of the Convent of San Domingo, who 1·eceived us kindly, and directed sweetmeats to be given to us, and also there was given to each of us a cup of that In- dian beverage which the Indians call chocolate. " This :first little act of kindness was orily a prelude to a greater one. That is to say, it was the introduc- tion to a sumptuous dinner, composed of flesh and :fi.sh of every description, in which there was no lack of tu.r-:- keys and capons. All set out with the intent of mani- festing to us the abundance of the country, and not for the pmpose of wmlclly ostentation. " The Prior of Vera Cruz was neither old nor severe, as the men selected to govern communities of youthful religious are accustomed to be. On the contra.ry, he was in the flower of his age, and had all the manner of * Called, in 'the Spanish transla.tion, " The most holy Sacrament ;" but in the English original, "The bread God." MEXICO AND l'l'S RELIGION. a joyful and diverting youth. His fathership, as · they told us, had acquiTed the priory by means of a gift of a thousand ducats, which he hacl sent to the Father Provincial. After dinner he invited some of us to visit his cell, and there it was we came to know the levity of his life. It exhibited little of the appearnnce of a life of penance and self-mortification. We expected to £nd in the habitation of a prelate of such an establish- ment a most magnificent library, which would furnish an index of his learning and of-his taste for letters. But we saw nothing more than a dozen old books lying in a corner, and covered with dust and cobwebs, as if they had hid themselves for shame at the neglect with which the treasmes they contained had been tJ:eated, and that a guitar should be preferred to themL "The cell of the Prior was richly tapestried and adorned with feathers of birds of lVIichoacan ; the walls were hung with va1·ious pictures of merit ; rich mgs of silk covered the tables ; porcelain of China filled the cupboards and sideboards; , and there were vases and · bowls containing preserved fruits and most delicate sweetmeats. Our enthusiastic companions did not fail to be scandalized at such an exhibition, which they looked upon as a manifestation of worldly · vanity, so foreign to the poverty of a begging friar. But those among TIS · that had sailed from Spain with the intent of living at their ease, and of enjoying the pleasmes which riches would produce, exulted at the sight of such great opulence, and they desired to establish themselves in a country where they could so quickly win fortunes so secure and abundant.* The holy Prior talked to us only of his ancestry, of his good parts, of the influence which he had with the Father Provincial, of the love * These missionary monks were on their way to Manilla and the Spanish East Indies by the road across Mexico. A NICE YOUNG PRIOR. 29 which the principal ladies and the wives of the richest merchants manifested to him, of his beautiful voice, of his consummate skill in music. In fact, that we might not doubt him in this last particular, he took the guita1· and sung a sonnet which he had composed to a certain .Ama'l'yllis. This was a new scandal to our newly-ar- Tived r e ligioils, which affiicted some of them to see such lib~rtinage in a prelate, who ought, on the contrary, fo have set an example of penance and self-mortification, and should shine like a mirror in his conduct and words. "\¥hen we ha:d satiated ouT ears with the delicacy of music, our eyes with the beauty of such rich · stuffs of cotton, of silk, and of feathers, then our reverend Pri01· directed us to take from his dispensaries a prodigious quantity of every species of dainties to allure the taste or satisfy the appetite. Truly we seemed in another w6Tld, by being transported from Europe to America. Our senses had been changed from what they had been the night and day J)efore, while listening to the hoarse sounds of the mariners, w Jien the abyss of the sea was at our feet, and when we drank fetid water, and inhaled the stench of pitch. In the Prioi-'s cell of the Convent of Vera Cruz, we listened to a melodious voice accom- panied with an 4armonious instrument, we saw treas- ures and riches, we ate exquisite confectioneries, we breathed amber and musk, with which he had perfumed his simps and conserves. 0, that delicious Prior!" CHAPTER II. An historical Sketch. - Trnth seldom spoken of Santa .Anna . - Santa · Anna's early Life.-Causes of the Re,/olution. - The Virgin lVIary's Approval of King Ferdina . nd.-r.rhe Inquisition impri sons the Vice- lG.ng.-Santa Anna enters the Ring's Army.-The plan of Iguala. -The War of the two Virgins.-Santa Anna pronounces for Inde- pendence. BEFORE commencing om- journey to the interior, we must break the thread of our narrative by a brief lJio- graphical sketch: for this t9wn is the birth-place, and here began the public career of that man whose life has become the history of his country. vVith li1m the Mexican Repu1Jlic began, · and with him it has been terminated. In 1822 he was first to proclaim a Repub- lic . in the Plaza of : Vera · cruz ; and when I stood in the P.laza of the · city of Mexico, in the winter of 1854, I heard him proclaimed absolute rul er of a state which had already ceased to be a Republic. . This was not the first time · that he had been raised to abs . olute authority in Mexico, · but' the , third time that this had · occurred · in his checkered careei~a caa.·eer · that r esembles mm;e the vicissitudes in the . life . of a . hero . of Spanish roma1~ce · than the memoirs of a living politician. Santa Anna is a man of wh9m the truth has seldom been spoken ; for no man can raise himself from a hum - ble position to be the embodiment of all tl1e powers of the state without creating a host of enemies ; nor can a man be long in 1mssession of absolute authority with- out raising up a tribe of fl~tterers. · To the one, he is every thing that is shocking to humanity ; while to the SANTA ANNA. 31 other l].e is the perfection of all the mora.l qualities. This sc : urrilous manner in which all political discussions are carried on in. lV!exico, }las always furnished a ready apology for the suppression of li]Jerty of speech, ancl for the enforce:ment of the Mexican law of ostracism in turn by every party in power. As we Americans have nothing to hope from his friendship, a : µd nothing to fear from the displeasm-e of Santa Anna, we are able to take a correct view of his character from the records, and to affirm that he is neither a saint, as represented by one party, nor a mon"'." ster, as represented by the other ; and as greatness is a comparntive term, and goodness is often used in a com- parative sense, we may also acld that he is the first of Mexican statesmen, and as good as the best of his rivals. He has suffered mmum bered and overwhelming defeats, which have so exhi~ited his recuperative talents as to attract the admiration of foreigners. Other aspixants have risen to popular favor, and then fallen, one after the other, ancl have disappeared. But Santa Anna's falls have ever been a prelude to his rising again to a greater elevation; ancl there is no point of elevation to which he has risen from which he h~s nqt been ignominiously hurled. _ He is a politician whose comse reminds us of a sJtj.llful swimmer in the breakers ; half the time he rides the waves and half the time he is submerged, yet never sinks so . deep b : nt that he rises again to the sur- face. Whei1 . Santa .Anna is in authority the fickle multitude cry out against him, and when he is in exile no suffering innocept can compare with him; ancl the booJrs that at such times sell best in Mexico are those that · vindicate his past career. Of such a man some- thing m1+st be sa1.d, and to render that' something intel - lj~ible; a _ brief account of the social and political changes of his . times must be . rendered . . 32 MEXICO A.ND lTS RELIGIO .: • Santa Anna was born at Vera Cruz, in the year 1796, in the most prosperous era of the colonial government of the vice-kingdom of New Spain, while Ravillagi- gedo was Virey. The new and liberal cocle, regulating mines and mining, was yielding its legitimate fruits in the immensely increased production of silver and gold, while the newly-granted privilege of unrestricted trade with Spain and her other colonies was followe.d by con- siderable shipments of grain from the table-lands of 1\1:exico to the 1 lv est India Islands. The profound peace that had reigned m1inten-uptedly for two hundrnd and seventy-five years was still unbroken. Not . a wOTcl of disloyalty was breathed; while 'the Inquisition of Mexico watched with the utmost care for the least ap- peamnce of rebellion against Goel · or the · ki11g. Such was the religious and political stagnation at the time Santa Anna was born; and so it continued for the fo : st twelve years of his life. But his youth was not to be passed in a period of national repose. It was the year 1808 that the n~ws arrived in Mexico of the imprisonment of Charles IV. and Fe,rdinand VII., the dotarcJ and simpleton who then disputed the Span- ish throne, and who h~d rendered themselves theJaugh- ing stock of a.11 Europe by going, each one in person, to advocate his side of a family quarrel before a common enemy, the French Emperor, by whom both had thus been caught like mice in a cage, and compelled to abdi- cate. At this news a feeling of indignation ran through ~@ . vice-kingdom, while all Europe laugh~ . ~ 3:t the sti : ange combination of knave and fool exhibited in the . chai-acters of the two Spanish kings. The people of New Spain saw in them only the guardians of the Church in the power of the infidels, and at once forgot ' the unnatural crimes of their two kings. They thought only of their piety, and with joy the news was carried I: THE MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 33 tlrrottgh.out New Spain, that one of their previous kings . had consecrated his imprisonment to embroidering a pet- ticoat for the Virgin fary; and when this announcement was followed by · another, a little more apocryphal, that the most holy image had, by a nod, signified her ac- ceptance of the present, there could 1w longer be a doubt of his title of Most Catholic King, which might from that time 9nward be interpreted Most Catholic fantua- maker. The world might now laugh at him, and hold l1im up to ridic11le. .A.11 its ridicule mattered nothing to the Mexicans. It made no difference to them. To revere the king and rnnder him a blind obedience was at all times a pa1-t of their religion. \iVhether either of the two were frt to be kings was not a question for the people to determine ; and if the Virgin Mary had not nodded her approval, the solution of this question of competency would still be reserved for the tribunals of God and the Inquisition. It was sufficient for the peo- ple to know that both father and son . had been com- pelled to - abdicate, and that they no longer wei-e kings of Spain, and that the brother of the French Emp . eror occupied the vacant throne, which the Inquisition had associated, in their superstition,. witl1 the throne of' God itself. God and the king were inseparable words in the mouth of a citizen of New Spain, and he that dared to separate them was thought ~orthy of In ~ quisitorial fires. They owed the same reverence which the .A..ztecs rendered to their emperor before the conquest. . Next to God and the king was the vice-king. Yet they had seen their beloved viceroy, Iturrigaray, deposed by a conspiracy of Spanish . shop - keepers, which had organized itself in that f:ocus of Mexican trade, the • Parian. .A.11 this was bewildering to the nation. .A.11 New Spain was astonished to see a power sufficiently potent to arrest the vice - king emanate from such a B* :MEXICO .A.ND . ITS . RELIGION. quar.ter. And :riot only had they witnessed this, b1it they had also seen this sa . ~e officer, whose person was . so sacred in their eyes, cast into the · prison of the In- quisition among "heretics, and . accmsed of . God, and despised of Ch;·istian men," because he had not discrim - inated in favor of the Spanish - born in his appeal to · the patriotism of the people. Before they had escaped from this bewildeTing of all their ideas of government, they were suddenly called upon to take s i des .. in a war of races that , had sprung up in determinin ' g - the question, who constituted the people, among the divers races that composed the population of Mexico ? The Cortes of- Spain had just proclaimed the sovereignty of the people. But who were the peo- ple? The solution : of this questi9n excited one of the most cruel -and · envenomed wars ori record; · The hand- ful of whites who had been born in Spain, and who _ enjoyed a . monopoly of the lucmtive offices in Church and in State, as well as · a monopo1y :in . trade; · claimed : it a~ tlieir exclusive privilege to · be considered the people, and they it was who imprisoned the vice.:.king, because he appeared to have more enlarged views than them- selves. The . Creole~, as those of pure white blood horn in America are . called, who were · excluded froni all places of h _ onor - or profit, held the balance of power, and it was do11btful for a long . time to which side the Creole soldiers would incline. But they were not long in suspense; for when fired upon by an undisciplined xabble, rather than · an army, of Indians, they returned the fire, and there, in sight of the · city of Mexico, settled the character of a contest which was, from that time forward, to shake the whole social organization of the vice - kingdom ..:.:_ in which plantations were destroyed, and villages and cities sacked , ana burned, and the 11?-0st • un - heard ,.. of cruelties practiced by one · patty- or the other R!~~ . OF SANTA ANNA. 35 on the defe11.seless, until the :final triumph of the Creole, or whi . te · troops, in the time of the viceroy, Apaduer, ove~ the insmgents, composed chiefly of Indians and : those of mixed blood. While this war was rcJ..ging in all its fury, Santa .Anna arrived. at . an age · to choose an occupation for life; a n d with the ardor of youth he entered the king's serv - ice as a .. Creole officer, a cadet in the Fijo de Vera Oruz~ In this fratricid~i.1 waT he soon distinguished himt:,elf by that activity . in the peTformance of the duties . of a subaltern which, in i;n.ore mature years, distinguished J:iim as a leade:i; a~d a politici _ an. He was at that time in the unhappy dilemma Qf eveTy man born in Spanish America _ ; he w _ as co~pelled to choose between two evils -either to join the king~s c~u;e, and fight for the Span- iards who oppre _ ss~d his country, or to nm the ha,zard of seeing re-enacted in Mexico the bloody tl'agedy of Saµ Domingo, if the colored races should conquer in a contest with the Spaniards. - A few Creoles had chosen - the side of the insurgents ; but they were few ; as the Spanish cai+se • could not have been sustained for a day, , if it had · not been for the want of confidence in the lead- ers of the insmTecti911,. But it was not in contests with his own countrymen that Santa .Anna firnt · won dis- tinction ; it was iI?. a battle with . the filibusteTing in- vaders while yet Mexico was a colony of Spain: it was in the bloody battle of the river Madina, in Texas, where an army of thrne thousand men (according to Mexic _ an accounts), on tp.efr w~y to join the Mexican in- smgents, were tqtally rout . ea by .A . ridondo. The zeal whieh Santa .Anna continually exhibited in almost daily contests with gue1·illas outside of the wa ll s of Vera C111z, so long as the contest was confined to a wa : r of races, soon won him distinction. But now he is called to p l ay the part of a military p o litician; for 36 MEXICO AND l'I'S RELIGION. when the news aITived in Mexico of the ne,;,y constitu- tional revolution of 1820 in Spain itself, all the higher classes of society in the vice-kingdom were in tenor. Ten years of bloodshed and civil disorder had been the fruits to Mexico of the first revolution of Spain-an in- smrection that had not been effectually put down until Spain herself had retmned to despotism, and now the newly-restored peace was tlu·eatenecl with a more bloody insurrection than the former, unless there was an entire separation of the two countries. Experien~e had fully · demonstrated that the Spanish colonial system was com- patible only with Spanish despotism. All n~tive-bom races desired to be free from the political disorders con- sequent upon the military revolutions of Spain herself. In this desire they were joined by that class who then ruled over the consciences of all men in l\i[ exico, the clergy; for that powerful body preferred to sacrifice the allegiance they owed to the king, from whom they had received their preferments, rather than run the 1·isk of losing their privileges. That which was the thought of all Mexicans capable of thinking, was not long in receiving a definite shape and form. The JJronuncimniento . of Colonel Iturbide, at the city of Iguala, on - the 24th of Februai-y 1821, united all the conflicting elements of Mexican society ; for all could agree upon a plan that propose , d a sepa.ra:- tion from Spain, while it ga:ve guarantees to property, to the army, and to the chmch. Men who had been edu- cated under the fatherly care of the Inquisition, had no idea of religious toleration; toleration for heresy was 110 part of their creed ; nor had their long civil wars pro- duced that alienation from the priesthood· which had arise : n from this cause in the other Spanish American states. One reason for this was that - the fii-st instuTec- tion was headed by the parish priest, Hidalgo ; and be- THE PLAN OF IG UALA. 37 cause the most prominent leaders in it were priests ; while the watchword of the insurgents was, "Viva Our Lady of Guadalupe ! " who is the patron saint of the colored races of Mexico. The insurrection of Iguala was entirely distinct in its character from the popular insurrection of 1810; for that was an insurrection of the oppressed races against the despotism that was grinding them in the dust. It was a peasant war; but the cry · of Iguala rose from the soldiers of the governme!3-t, It was the first of that long list of military insurrections that have afflicted Mexico. It was an insurrection of the Creole supporters of the government, and rendered the government })OWerless at once. Colonel Iturbide had distinguished himself, as a Creole soldier, by his courage, and by the cruelty which he exercised toward the first insurgents. vVhen an officer in the service of the king in the first insurrection obtained a victory, he went to make his offering, not at the shrine of the Virgin of Gua , dalupe, but at the shrine of the Virgin of Remedies, so that as · long as the Spanish cause prospered, the shrine of Gua - dalupe remained in obscurity; but as soon, however, as Iturbide and the Creoles deserted the cause of the king and joined the national standaTd, the Lady of Guada- lupe was made the national patroness, and the order of Guadalupe was established as the first and only order of the empire, while Our Lady of Remedies sank into obscurity. This gave occasion to an unbelieving fax- ican to remark that the revolution was a war between the Blessed Virgins, and that she of Guadalupe had tri- umphed over her that had taken shelter in the plant. As soon as the tidings of the plan of Iguala reached Vera Cruz, Santa Anna hastened to give in his ad - hesion to the cause now truly national, which guaran- teed equal rights to all under the u nited leadership of Iturbide ~nd of General Guerrero, the only remaining Creole teader of the first insurrection still in arms. On the 18th day of March, 1821, he was the first to pro- claim the plan of Iguala in the Plaza of Vera Cruz. This proniptness of Santa Anna in proclaiµ-1ing the i:,;i- c1ependence determined many who were hesitating in dread of a bombardment from Spanish forces in th~ Castle ~f San Juan de IDua; and this important . ~tep it was which first brought • him prominently into J10iice. As · a ; consequeiJ.ce · of this political mov~rp. _ e11t, Santa Anna was appointed second in command jh V em Cmz. C:HAPTER III. Incidents of Travel.-Tbe Great Road to the Interior . - l\fo1-..-i.can Dili - gences . - The Priest was the first Passenger robbed . - The ational Bridge.-:-.A. Conducta of Silver.-Our l\fonk visits Old Vera. Cruz . - They grant to the Indians Forty . Years of Indulgence in x eturn ' for their Hospitality.-The Artist among Robbers.-=-:M:exican Scholars in the United States. -Encerrci. A RAitRO.A:D · eleven miles in length, crnssing the mo- rass, connects Vera Cruz with the great National Road to · th~ - table -l f,tn,d of the interior. The coach in which th~ jou.mey to Mexico is 111ade .is placed on a railroad ti·ack ancl pushed on before a crazy locomotive, while behind the engine is a lon g line of freight wagons. At every cow-:-path that crossed our txack stood a £agman waving his little reel -flag to the train l;l,S it passed; ap - parently in burlesque imitation of · a regular road; The famous National Bi-idge carries the National Road over the riv~r Antigua, at the mouth of which, a little way below, Cortez ' built his Vera Cruz (Villa Rica de Vera Cruz), and where he caused his v~ssel~ to be sunk before comrpencing his expedition to the int~rior. Little has ever been known in om country of that mag - nifi.cent whole, of which this and other bridges of solid masonry . are but parts. The Nationa l Road of 1:exico was conceived and executed by a company of merchants Known as the Consulado of Vera Cru:z. It · is about ninety miles in length, and cost$3,000,000. From Ve1·a Cruz it rnns northward, often within sight of the G~lf, till it nearly reaches the Cerro Gordo, where it turns inland, and passing upward ' through tl1at celebrated 40 MEXICO AND ITS RELIGION. , gorge to J ala:_pa . , a distance of sixty miles from Vera Cruz, and at an elevation of 4264 feet above the sea ; thence, for the remaining thirty miles, it is carried over the famous mountain, Perote, to the great table-land of Mexico. It is a work · . of extraordinary character for the period in which it was built, and the method of its construction; and i-eminds the traveler of a Roman road of antiquity, thougi1 no Roman road evet ' passed over a mountain 10,000 feet in he~ght. The ruin into which it has fallen in many places chi.ring · the last thirty years of civil ·war, serves to keep up the illusion, though it falls far short of those ancient roads in the material of which it is constructed, being of small rough sto11es, covered over with a durable cement. The system of stage-coaches betwee~ Vera Cruz and :M:exico is as nearly pei·fect as any system of ~raveling dependent on weather can be. Comfortable hotels are established at convenient distances along the road; and if the passenger desires it, he can have endorsed upon his ticket a permission to tarry upon the road as long as he may · desire. Six, and sometimes eight hmses drag the coach along at a hazardous speed. Twice, out of three times that I ha-ve . passed . over this ro . ad, I have been overturned. Once, while riding on _ the top, a heavy iron axle broke like a pipe-stem, throwing me off upon the rough stones, with the additional misfor- tune of having a heavy Frenchman fall upon me. But no bones were broken, and I still live to tell the story. The neighborhood of the National Bridge is . a favorite haunt of the knights of the mad. Though -very pious in their way, they have no scruples in relieving any priest who may fall into their hands of such worldly possessions as he happens to have about him. In fact, they seem to take a special delight in plundering these holy men, giving them the precedence in relieving their THE NATIONAL BRIDG E , 'l'I:!E · NATIONAL BRIDGE. 43 wants. Out of rnspect to the cloth, they omit the . cei-e- mony of sear.ching, to which the other passengers . a.re subje c ted; nor do they compel . him to he down like the others. But with mock solemnity~ mbber approaches the sacred personage, and dropping on one knee, pre- sents his hat for alms, which the priest understands to be a Teverential mode of demanding all . the valuables that he carries about him : his reverence having been dis- posed of, the women are searched ; afterward the men, one by one, are ordered to rise up to undergo a like ceremony ; and, lastly, the baggage is rnnsack:ed, and then all are suffe1 · ed to go on their way in peace, if no shots have been fired · from the stage; In former times the robbers usecl to divide their plunder with the Virgin :M:m-y, but now things are- altered; the robbeT takes all, and even visits the churches occasionally, not to worship, but for plunder. If two or . three priests take passage in a single . coach, people shake thei1· heads and say, "That coach will certainly be · robbed;" and so it often happ e ns. The stage ordinarily passes this bridge in the night, when , there is 110 opportunity to look at the magnificent scenery around. I saw it oi1ce by daylight; and long shall I remember the impression produced. I lingered about the . spot to , ..the . last , moment · that . " Jim," or as he is here call eel '' San Diego," the driver, wou:ld per- mit. "\iV e reluctantly · took our places in the · coach, and when the l;iostler let slip the - rope;that'helc1 the heads of the leaders, . our eight wild horses dashed off at a furious rate o:ver a : roughly paved road, to the no small dis- turbance of the i:efl.ections which such a spot awakens. "\iV e tried to think of the : stining . · events that had he1:e · so often taken p l ace in times of civil wai-, when - Gomez practiced such cruelties in the name of libei·ty ; when robberies and murders were c o mmitted here in 44 1\IBXICO AND ITS RELIGION. broad daylight ; when the frowning battery that crowns the cliff, stopped the passage of armies. But it was of no use to try to think ; the wheels would strike fire upon the boulders lying in the road, tumbling us about until all romance and recollection were pounded out ofus. ' Gladly we halted at Plan del Rio to take a little chocolate and look at the ruins of a stone bridge blown up by gunpowder, while new horses were being brought out to cb-ag us up the Cerro Gordo pass. Here we met a small body of soldiers conducting eight freight wagons that carried loads of coined silver, _ and wern drawn by twelve horses each, on their way to the coast-a common sight to the people of these parts, as was evident from the indifference with which they regarded such cargoes of money; yet it was calculated to make an American stare, though he had been accus- tomed to look upon treasures of California in her palm- iest days. But a few millions in silver make a most. imposing show. Om monk, on his journey to this point, had kept - along the shorn, crossing the Antigua near its mouth, visiting old Vera Cruz. He thus describes what he there saw: "The first Indians whom we encountered in our jom- ney were at old Vera Cruz, which is on the sea-shore, where, as we have already said, the Spaniards first de- signed to establish themselves on undertaking the . con- quest of the country, but which they had to abandon on account of the little protection it afforded against the . north winds. Here we began to note the power which the clergy and fri~rs have among the poor Indians ; how they rule them, and the respect and veneration which are paid them. The Prior of Vera Cruz having wi-itten, the morning of our departure, advertising them of the FRIAR PAGE AT VER.A CRUZ. 45 day of our arrival, he commanded them to come and receive us, and to serve us during our transit through their terr i tory. The poor Indians obeyed with the - greatest promptitude the orders of the Prior, and at a league from their village twenty of their p1focipal men encounterecl us upon horseback, and handed a wreath of flowers to each one of us. Then _ they set out on . their retmn in front of our caravan, and at a bow-shot distance, and in this manner we proceeded - until we came up with others on foot, with trumpets and flutes, which wern played very agrneably before om whole cav - alcade. Those who had come out were the employees of the chmches and the chiefs of the fraternities, all of whom presented us a garland of flowers. Then fol - lowed others - the priests' assistants, acolitos, and the young people of the choil-, who went singing a Te Deum laudamits, until we arrived at the market - place. There is always a Plaza in the midst of the village, and here it was adorned by t, ~ o great and most beautifi.tl elms : betw e en these there had been consfructed an immense arbor, in which was a table covered with jars and dishes of conserves, and other kinds of sweetmeats and biscuits for eating with the chocolate. While they were pre- . paring tl i e chocolate, heating the water, and adding the sugar, the principal Indians and , the authorities of the village came and knelt down, and kissed our hands, and gave us their address, saying that our a1Tival was a 1iappy event for their country, and that they gave us a thousand thanks b~cause we had left our native country, om· parents, and · om- :firesides, in order to go to regions so remote to labor for the salvation of souls ; and that they honored us as gods upon earth, ancl as the apostles of Jesus Cm·ist; and they said so many, many things, that only the _ chocolate put an end to their eloquence. We remained an hour, a.nd manifested our gratification 46 MEXICO A.Jrn ITS RELIGION. for the demonstration of a:ffection and bOltnty with which they .had favored us, assuring them that there . was not any thing in the world more dear to us than, their sal- vation, and that to procure it we hacl not feared to ·. ex- pose omselves to all the perils with which we were threatened by sea and land ; nor even the barbarous cruelty · of other Indians who did not know the true Goel, in whose service we had rnsolved to sacrifice · even life. "vVith this we departed from them, making gifts to the chiefs of rnsaries, medals, little metal crosses, 'the Lamb of Goel' (Agn : us .Dei), relics · which we brought from Spain; and we conceded to each one forty years of indulgence, in virtue of the powers which _ we had received froin the . Pope for distributing them, -where, when, and to whom we pleased. On our going out from the shade of the arbor for mounting om mules, we saw the market-place full of men and women on thei~· knees, almost adoring us, and . asking us to give them our blessing. vVe raised the hand on · passing, and gave it to them by making the sign of the cross. The submis- sion of the . poor Indians, and the vanity excited by a reception so ceremonious, and with such public. · homage, turned the heads of our young friars, who began to · be- lieve themselves superior to the bishops of Europe ; and even our illustrious superiors .were not far from pride, but exhibited excessive haughtiness, now that they had seen their vanity flattered with such great acclamations in their sight as were lavished upon us that day, al- though we were only some simple friars. The flutes and the trumpets began to resound again at the head of our procession, and the chiefs of the people accompanied us as far as half a league, and afterward they retired to their homes." Slowly has the stage been moving up the - pass. The THE ARTIST AMONG THE . ROBBERS. 47 rattle of · the wheels has ceased, the sun has made . his appeatance, an(l the awakened passengers a.re disposed to · listen to tales of wild advent1µes. The loquacious are ready with an abundant supply. The best of these is the tale of " The Artist among the , Robbers." " Fom yearn ago," began the aT . tist who · made some sketches for this work, " while I was making a pedes- trian journey over this road, I seated myself, weak and hungry, upon a stone by the rnadsicle 1 not a little tired of life and evil fortune. The remains of the yellow fever - were still upon me, and only a single dollar burdened my pocket; - for I did not leam, until too late, _ how poor a place for an artist from abroad is this country, where the San Carlos is creating the native article by scores. I had not sat long in my gloomy mood before I had company enough; for as I looked up I saw, tr0oping down the side of the hill, a . band of men, who I thought would soon put an end to my trnubles. I took the thing coolly, for I cared little for the result; and had I cared; there was no helping it now. _ So · I patiently waited their arrival. To the questions of the only one who could talk English I answered briefly, as I sup- posed they would soon end my troubles. · ""\iVhen I told him that I ca.reel little if he did kill me, the whole paTty .laughed uproariously. Th.e leader now came up, and having seaTched me, found my- story to be true. I then drew an outline of a picture with : my pencil, and gave it to him. This so pleased him that he wrote me a memo- randum, and with vetbal directions as to the way I was to go if I wished for · lodgings for the night, he bade me adieu, and the party . disappeared up the side of the woody hill, and I . set out on my journey." The leagues were very long, but the landmarks were unmistakable ; and without · difficulty the · artist reached the house and presented his paper to the old 48 MEXICO A D ITS RELIGION. woman t.hat appeared at the door. This papei- procured him . a good supper, and comfortable quai-ters for the night; for his fine open countenance and yellow hair seemed to have touched the hea : rt of this old J\fexican matron-a class of persons, by-the - way, who are the kindest mortals in the world. The good cheer disposed of, he gathered up his feet upon l1is mat for the night, and slept as men do who have nothing to fear from rob- bers. When in the morning he awoke, he found the old dame astir, preparing for him an early breakfast, which was of a quality unexpected in so unpretending a man- sion. "\iVhen breakfast was prepared, and after he had :finished eating it, the okl woman made him understand by signs that he was to go into the adjoining room and the1·e replenish his dilapidated wardrobe. She supplied him with a new suit from heacl to heel, and then urged him to tie around his waist a small sheep's entrail filled with brandy, according to the custom of Mexican Indi- ans. Thus had 01u- transient friend had his inner and outer man supplied in this out - of - the - way hut, at the xobbers' charges, after which, being shown the direction in which to rnach the J ala pa road, he bade the kind old matron adios, and traveled on to Encerro with a lighter heart than he had borne the clay before. At Encerro 1,ve left four of our fellow-passengers. They were the son and three daughters of the widow who kept the inn. They had been through a foll course · of studies in one of the Roman Catholic hoarding - schools in the United States, and weTe now returned, having fully mastered the English language-the great deside1·atum of the Spanish - American people, and one of the sources from which the Catholic schools and colleges in the United States derive their support. What a beautif11l spot is Encerro, the country resi- - dence of Santa Anna! It may not be as productive as • ENCERRO. M) his estate of lVIanga de Clavo, in the hot country, nea1· Vera Cruz ; but it is more salubrious and delightfi.tl. In the civil wars he had often made a stand here, and had leamed to appreciate the beauty of the spot long be- fore he was rich enough to make the pm-chase - for the pay received by officers of the highest rank in Mexico, is not sufficient to enable them to accumulate a fortune till far advanced in life. Politicians in Mexico, as in all other countries, are not unwilling to hazard their private fortunes in their political contests, and though the estates of the unsuccessful parties are not confiscated in a revolution, one reason may be that they are not or- dinarily of gTeat value. The stage-coach · has been forgotten in story-telling while slowly climbing up the pass, but as soon as we had overc9me this impediment we staxted off again upon an unrepaired road, at our former neck~breaking speed, which we kept up until we reached Encerro, where for a little way we had an earthen road. Yet it was only a short breathing before we were upon the rough stones again. vV e had been gradually passing through different strata of atmosphere in our journey upwaTd, the changes in the cha.racter of tl1e vegeta.tion kept pace with the cha . nge of the climate. "·vvhose is that estate inclosed by such an antiquated looking stone wall?" I inqufred, of a fellow-traveler. "That belongs to Don Isidoro ; ancl it extends some thirty leagues," was the reply. "You see that Tidgeof hills. That is its noi-them boundary. This wall sepa- xates it from the estate of Santa Anna. In fact it is surrounded by a continuous and substantial stone-wall, sufficient to keep in ca.ttle. This spot of land sufficiently large for a county, with a soil the richest in the world, and a climate like that of J alapa, is given up to be a 1·ange fo1· thousands of cattle." C 50 l\IBXICO AND ITS RELIGION. We must hasten to our journey's end, which, for the present, is Jalapa. While here, we can sum up the story of our eighteen hours' ride. From Vera Cruz we passed through a tropical marsh, presenting a striking contrast to what we had witnessed about that town. In place of being surrounded by hot, shifting hillocks of sand, we were in the · midst of tropical vegetation. Trees not only bore their own natu.i-al burdens, but wel'e borne down \\rith creepers, vines, and parasitic plants ; forming one strange mass of foliage of very many distinct kinds matted together ancl mingled into one. PlantatiGns of vanilla, of coffee, of cocoa, or of sugar-cane, nowhere approached our road ; nor were · the cocoa - nut, the banana, and the plantain, so familiar in all tropical climates, often visible. Upon the whole route there were little evidences of labor, except those furnished by the road itself. It was all wilderness. Yet the graceful features of the creepers, hanging from branch to branch of the sycamores, and the shady arbors formed by their dense foliage, l ooked as though a gar- dener's hand could be traced in so much regularity; yet it was only Natui·e's own gardening, where the wild biJ:ds might build then· nests, and breed, and sing with - out fear of disturbance. How often have I dismounted, while riding along such ?, forest, by the side of some running brook, and while my horse was feeding I have almost fallen asleep under the soothing influence which such an atmosphere produces upon a traveler, heated by fast riding under a vertical sun. It is one of those hap- py sensations that can not well he described, nor can it be appreciated by those who have not experienced it. Poets have exhausted their power in painting the beau - ties of scenes where all the senses are satiated with en - joyment. Yet this voluptuous gratification is soon alloyed by the evils that remind us t hat ~aradise is not A TROPICAL FOREST. 51 to be found upon this earth. Here is seen the whole animal kingdom busily laboring for the destruction of its kind. Reptiles prey upon each other; parasitic plants fix themselves upon trees and suck up the sap of then- existence; and man, while he enjoys to a smfeit these bounties of nature, must watch narrowly against the venom ancl the poison that comes to mar his pleas- ure, and teach him the wholesome lesson that true hap- piness is only found in Heaven. We are now at our journey's end. ·CHAPTER IV. Jalapa.-The extraordinary Beauty and Fertility of this Spot.-JaJap, Sarsaparilla, Myrtle, Vanilla, Cochineal, and Wood of Tobasco.- The charming Situation of Jalapa.-ItsFlowers and its Fruits. -M ag- nificent Views.-The tradition that Jalapa was Paradise.-A speck of War.-The IVIarriage of a Heretic.-A gambling Scene in a Conyent. BYRON'S lines, in the opening of "The Bride of Abydos," are gorgeous enough : "Know ye the land of the cedar and vine, · "Where the flowers ever blossom, the beams eve1· shine ; Where the light ,vings of Zephyr, oppress'd with perfume, Wax faint o'er the gardens of Gull in their bloom; ·wnere the citron and olive are fairest of fruit, And the voice of the nightingale never is mute." But the poet would have given them a still more lux- uriant coloring had he ever ascended the table-la.nd of the tTOpics, and visited J alapa, the spot which the na- tives insist was the .. site of the original Paradise. Para- dise, jalapa, and myrtle, sound well enough together, and do not clash with the native tradition in relation to this delightful spot. We were now more than four thousand feet above the sea, on an extensive plateau, half-way up the mountain. The beautiful convolvulus jalapa does not flourish here, but is brought . from the Indian villages of Colipa and Maqautla, situated in the valleys that ran among the hills. The 1nyrtle, whose gra,in is the spice of Tabasco, is produced in the forests by the l'ivei- Boi-iderus ; the smilax, whose root is the true sa1·sa- parilla, grows deep down in the humid and um bra- PRODUCTIONS OF THE V .ALLEYS. 55 geous ravines of the Cordilleras ; and cocoa comes from ..Acayucan. From the ever-green forests of Papantla ancl Nautla comes the e_pidendrum, vanilla, whose odor- iferous fruit is used as a perfume. Thus these charac- teristic productions of the country come from the mys- terious valleys of the neighboring mountain, where, nearly a thousand years before ~ny of the present gen - eration was born, flourished an unknown race of men as civilized as were the people of Palmyra or of Egypt, as vast ruins in the forests of Misantla and Papantla clearly indicate: a race m1k11own to the degenerate In- dians, who now wander about the ruined edifices and isolated pyramids of these cities, lost in the forest, as they are to us. A thousand years have passed away- theii- history has perished forever. The old books say that the delicate little scarlet insect, cochineal, was once a product of this district, and Jalapa was its prop- er mark.et, and the mart of all the other peculiar pro- ductions of the neighboring region, because it was the town on the high land nearest to the sea-port. J ala pa early became an important position to wJ1ich foreign goods were brought to be exchanged for silver and gold, jala1J, sarsaparilla, vanilla, spice of Tobasco, cocoa, cochineal, and woods of various colors. It is the beauty of the place itself, ancl , the unsm- passed magnificence of its mountain - scenery, that throws such a charm around J alapa. The transparency of its atmosphere makes the snow-cTOwnecl Orizaba and Perote, in the coast range of mountains, appear close at hand, with their dense forests of perpetual foliage, moistened incessantly by the clouds driven upon them from the ocean. High up in the region of pe1-petua1 moisture, Jalapa has a soil intensely luxuriant, ancl is beyond the reach of those parasitic plants of the low lands, that £x themselves upon other plants and trees, and eat out 56 : MEXICO .AND ITS RELIGION. their very life, as the malarias do that of the human be- ing. Roses of the most choice varieties grow spontane- ously by the roadside, or creep over the walls. Nature, t~e parent of architects, has here shaped all her t_rees upon the most exquisite models. The very twig plant- ed in a hedge, if left to itself, grows up into a tree whjch gracefully inclines its head like a weeping wil- low; while a mammoth white bell, or trumpet flower, _ hangs pendent from the extremity of every limb, each flower larger ancl more beautiful than our favorite house lily, and giving forth a richer odor than the rose. From the exquisite delicacy and richness of the fruit which this plant (the chirimoya) bears, and the danger arising , from eating of it too freely, it is not unfrequently called the tree of the forbidden fruit; sometimes also it is called the custard plant. Among the pleasing sights which we beheld was an orange orchard, in which I did not see a single tree that was not delicately and gracefully formed. In this pro - fusion of nature I saw our own favorite flowers. A tiny crimson rose was creeping a~out in eve1·y place, while the large pink rose, which gi·ew so rank, was clinging to an old wall and in full blossom ; and many other vari- eties of crimson, white, yellow, and scarlet roses grow here without ca:re; the morning-glory and honey-suckle are wild flowers here; the sweet-william, the lady - slip- per, and all the flowers that we cultivate in summer, appear here to be spontaneous productions of nature. Even that sweetest and most beautiful of flowers, the passion - flower, wjth its mystical cross and five prntrud- ing seeds, was running over a frame, and yielding a profusion of blossoms, and a fruit-the granada-which almost equals in richness and delicacy the fruit of the chirimoya. But all the natural wonders of this town am not yet enumerated ; for the fruits as well as · the THE P.A.R.A.DISE OF JALAP.A.. 57 :flowers of every climate :flourish in J a1apa. There are strawberries, of the la1·gest size, growing beside a coffee- tree, the tree being :filled with coffee - berries. Peach- trees were in full blossom in November, beside apricots and chirimoyas, while potatoes flomish among the bul- bous productions of a tropical climate. The people of the town fake a pride in its natural beauty ; and there - are no :filthy alleys, no squalid poverty, or unclean- ly hovels. Every house appears to be of stone ; the walls neatly whitewashed, and bordered with pink, red, blue, green, ox yellow ; and the streets are fashioned to suit the grounds, without regard to checkerboard reg- ularity. - I stood in an upper story of the house of a :M:1·. Todd, on the opposite side of the little stream that runs in front of the town, and looked out from that favored position. The sun had just escaped from the folds of an imprison- ing cloud, and was shining fall upon the beautiful town and hill. The unabsorbed moistlu-e on the leaves gave them an additional lustre. The gTeen peering up every where amidst the whitened walls ; the graceful form of the trees, where their outline could be traced; the curi- ously shaped roofs of the old stone churches, with but- tresses and towers ; the college of San Francisco, a curiou.~ly fashioned pile of buildings, standing out above all others ; the hill behind the town, the lofty mountain of Perote, on its left flank, on whose top the sky seemed to rest-all combined to give credibility to that which has been said of the beauty of J alapa by an old Span- ish author-that Jalapa was "a piece of heaven let down to earth." · This figure was afterward applied to Naples, a:qd the i-emark was added-" See Naples, ancl ' die." But the J alapanos say, " See J alapa, and pray for immortality, that you may enjoy it forever." It is the boast of the ~ndian, that " .J ala pa is Paradise." c* 58 MEXICO AND ITS RELIGION. One is almost tempted to agree with them; for here grow all plants that axe pleasant to the eye, or good for food. Adam and Eve were not placed in the garden to plant and to sow, but to prune and dress the plants that grew of themselves. Here grow an ab1mdance of broad-leaved plants, and for thread there is the :fibrn of the maguey, or century plant ; while the thorns of the cactus are the needles used among the natives ; so that all the materials were at ready hand for making their garments, as soon as our first parents had th e fr eyes opened-by taking Jalap, I suppose-and so discover- ing that they were naked. It is a curious conceit, that the sin of Adam, in introducing a parnsite into Eden, entailed a curse on this medicinal plant, which from that day, the story goes, has for very shame hid its face by day, and only by night opened its prett y scarlet flowers, ' which close again as the morning light appears. In favor of the notion that J ala pa was the ancient Paradise, the axgument is, that Pa:radise must have been in the tropics, in a xegion elevated far above the baleful heat and malaJ.·ia of the low lands, in a climate where plants could grow to the utmost perfection. And there is no such place in the world except J ala.pa. Here, too, when the daily shower, which is requisite to bring all vegetable nature to peifection, rendered ga;rments of wool necessary to protect humanity from rheumatism, natme had provided the needles and thread needed to fashion them. So that, taken all together, this Indian theory is more probable than many of the unnumbered traditions of this country, where traditions a1~d miracles appear to grow as spontaneously as wild flowers. In ~uch a, spot as this, where all the powers of nature seem to have combined to form an ea:rthly Paradise, and where the sunounding mountain-scenery is unsur- passed on the earth's surface, we might look for en- A REVOLUTION. 59 larged notion~ of the powei-, the maje s ty, and wisdom of that God who ci-eatecl it all. But image s , like dolls, tricked out in the tawdxy finery, are the objects which this people adore, and to whom they attribute more mi- rnculous powers than were ever ascribed to the gods of their heathen ancestors. Humboldt says, "This people have changed their ceremonies, but no~ their religious dogmas."* But let us take a look at the interior of this town. It is a little disturbed now, as there was a revolution yesterday-a rnvolution and a counter-revolution in fact, all in one day. The Governor and Legislature of the State of Vera Cruz, which meets in this place, were taken prisoners in the forenoon, for imposing a tax upon the retail trade ; but in the afternoon then · friends rnllied, and the Gov- ern . or and Legislature ~ were released, and the rebels driven from the town. In this double battle one man, at least, lost his life, · for the funeral took place as . we entered. vV ar is a te1Tible calamity at any time; but when it is carried to that foolish extent of shedding blood, it becomes an intolerable evil, and prudent men show their wisdom by running from it : at least they did so at Jalapa. J alapa . , it may be here xemarked, is built on the site of an old Indian village, which was one of the first to enter into alliance with Cortez. For the benefit of the original inhabitants, that Franciscan Convent was built by the conqueror. It is now converted into a college. Its steeple is worth a visit, and well rewards the labor of climbing; for from it another view, even more splen- did than that I have described, is to be obtained . From this point the snow - covered Orizaba is added to the al- ready imposing prospect ; both it and Perote, with the * E ssa i Politiqne . 60 MEXICO AND ITS RELIGION. · intervening mountain and valleys, can all be embrnced at a single glance. The p.9sition of the valleys, which produce the different plants that have been enumernted, are here pointed out ; and from this spot, they show the place where the mountain has been pierced in search of the precious meta.ls, while a little way off is the road to the extensive copper - mines. There is a cmious story about the first marriage that took place between a heretic and a J alapina. The hero held the important po s ition of agent of the English R e al d e l 11£o n t e Company at J ala pa. In one of the families th a t had been greatly reduced in their worldly cii·cumstances by the ruin of the Oonsulado of Vera Cruz, was a daJ.·k: beauty with whom he became deeply enamored. But how to make her his wife was the dif- ficulty. The lady was willing-was more than willing; "for when the £r e s of Spanish love are kindled, they burn unextinguishably," says the proverb. Or, in the poetical language of the Indians, "it bums as did the £res of Mount Orizaba in its youth - fires that only went out when its head was coated with silver gTay." The mother was willing ; and no one but the Church had aught to say why they should not be united. How could the holy sacrament of matrimony be profaned by administering it to a heretic? It never had been, it never must be, in the Republic. He might take the woman if he chose, ancl live with her . ; but to marry them would be a sin. So said the Padre of the parish, and so said every dignitary of the Church up to the Bishop of Puebla, then the only 1·emaining bishop m the Republic. The intercession of political authorities was invoked. The matter became serious, and a coun- cil was held at Puebla to dispose of the case. · From this holy council came the intimation to the lover that ~ bribe of $ 2000 might be of service. But John Bull THE HERETIC AND THE JALAPINA. 61 by this time had become stub born. He had - spent money enough ; he would spend no more; , he would get a chaplain from a man-of - wal' then at Vera Cruz ; or, better still, he would take his intended bride to ::New Orleans ; for he would be married and not mated, as is the case of those who can not raise the fee claimed by the priest. He would not be rankecl with that poverty- stricken set that are unmarried, or, as the phrase is, are " married behind the Chm·ch." He was no JJeon. It was contrary to an Englishman's ideas to have a wife unmarried; and as no English chaplain came along, he wrote to the Roman Catholic Bishop of New Orlean~, giving an account of his difficulties, and inquired if he would many him under the circumstances. ·vVith a libernlity that ever distinguishes Catholic functionaries in Protestant countries, he promptly xeplied that he would marry them personally, if the parties would come to New Orleans, or, if he should chance to be unavoid- ably engaged, then his chaplain should pei·form the cere- mony. Whereupon our hero and his lady - love started for New Orleans; and being there united in holy mat- ' rimony by the bishop, spent the happy month, so long deferred, in festivities, and then returned home, suppos- ing that then- troubles were now all at an end. But this foreign man·iage proved to be only the be- ginning of evil to them. They had committed an un- pardonable sin ; they had defrauded the priest of his fee, and had set a bad example, which others m1ght follow for t4e very economy of the thing. Hardly had our newly-wedded pair found them - selves located in their own house, and finished receiving the usual round of congratulations, when the wifo was summoned to appear befo . re the p1·iest. She at once ' complied, accompanied by hei· husband. Th_e priest in- quired why the husband came, as he had not been sent 62 lffiXICO .AND ITS RELIGION. for; he had only sent for the wife. The husband gave him an Englishman's answer-that she was his wife, and where she went, there it was his place to go. The priest's reply to this opened the cause. The marriage was not lawful, and he must detain her, and send her on to Puebla, and have her placed in a convent. Such was the order he had received, and which he exhibited; and the two soldiers at the door were stationed there to carry the order into execution. At this point in the affair the Englishman drnw two arguments from under his coat, and leveling one of them at the head of the padre, suggested to him the propriety of not interposing any obstacle to the 1·eturn of himself and wife to their home. This was a poser ; an act of open impiety; a Kentucky argument. But there was no remedy. The Inquisition was not now in authority ; its instruments of torture had been de- strnyed ; its foes hacl been extinguished ; and so the Englishman got the best of the argument, ancl retired peaceably to his own home. At his house the Englishman was waited upon by the Alcalde, who inform.eel him that he had been ordered to take the wife, and th.at he dared not disobey. But he s uggested a method by which the order might be evaded. This was to send the wife every day, at acer- tain hour, into a neighbor's house, and at that hour the officers would come and seaTch his dwelling, and would accordingly rnport "Not found." This farce continued to be enacted daily for nearly three months, when the husband, becoming tired of it, wrote to the Bishop of New Orleans an account of the manner in which his house had been besieged, and in due time re- ceived a Teply from that excellent ecclesiastic, stat- ing that he would satisfactorily arrange the busi- ness ; at the same time expressing his xegrets that 'l'HE MONK AT JALAPA. 63 he had not before been informed of the condition .of affairs. In the . mean time, another priest in the town chanced to be discussing the all-absorbing question of the clay, the heretic ma.rriage, and unfortunately happened to xemark that a marriage by an ..American priest was not a lawful ma1Tiage. This was too much for om English- man, and he answered it-as an Englishman i s accus- tomed to answer insultii1g i-emaTks in rnlation to the affairs of his household-not by a single blow, but by such a pommeling as never a priest had sustained since the Conquest. Yet there was no earthquake on the occasion, and Orizaba was not discomposed at witness- ing such a shocking act of impiety. Time moved · on, and with it came the parish priest to validate the marriage. But our Englishman would not be validated. No, net he; and when the priest began to mutter and to move his hands, the Englishman's blood was up, and so was his foot, and this ceremony was +erminated according to a foTmula not laid down in any prayer-book now extant. This was the end of the war. The pair had passed through many tribulations in order to consummate their union ; yet both declaTe that the prize was worth the contest. Our good monk, with whom we parted at Vera Crnz, visited the convent at Jalapa, on his journey, and thus records what he saw: "The night of our arrival at Jalapa we were enter- tained at the convent of San Francisco, where we passed the day following, as it was Sunday. The income of this convent is great, notwithstanding the · community is composed of only six reliqios, though it mjght well maintain morn than a score of them. The guard- ian of J alapa is no less vain than the prior of Vera Cruz ; but he received us with much kindness, and 64 J\IIEXICO .A.ND ITS RELIGIO • treated us magnificently, although we were of another order. "In this town, as in all others, we observed that the lives and customs of the clergy, both seculars and regu- lars (monks), were greatly relaxed, and that their con - duct completely gave the lie to their vows and their professions. The order of San Francisco, besides the vows common to the other orders ; that is to say, chastity and obedience, exacts that the vow of poverty shall be observed more scrupulously than the other mendicants enforce it. Their dress should be of coarse cloth, and of a color to which they have given a name [ monk's gray J; their girdles, or cordons, of rope, and their shirts of wool, if they can bear them. They are to go without stockings ; and, finally, it is not lawful for them to use shoes, but to wear sandals. Not only are they prohibited having money, but they ought not even to touch it ; neither to possess any thing as their own. In their journeys it is forbidden them to mount a horse, although they should fall by the way from fatigue. It is necessary that they should go afoot with sorrow and fatigue ; esteeming the infraction of any of these precepts a morta l sin, which merits excommunica- tion and hell. But they neglect all the obligations which the rigorous observance of these rules imposes upon them - to the neglect of all discipline, and to the disregard of the penalties. Those that have been trans - ported to this country live in a manner which does not in any thing show that they have made a vow to God ' of even trifling privations. Their lives are so free and immodest that it might be suspected, wi.th reason, that they had mnouncecl only that which they could not, or were unable to attain. · "We were surprised and even scandalized at the ex - traordinaTy sighf of a San Franciscan of Jalapa, riding MONKISH GAMBLING. 65 a most beautiful mule, with a gToom, or rather lackey, behind him, while only going to the end of the village to confess a sick man. His reverence, as he went along, had his garments tucked up from beneath, which exhib- ited a stocking of orange-color ; a shoe of the most ex- quisite morocco ; small clothes of Holland linen ; with knots and braids of fom fingers in width. Such a spec- tacle made us observe with more attention the conduct of that friar, and that of others beneath whose broad sleeves wern ~xhibitecl a jacket embroidered with silk. r:I?hey also wore shirts of Holland; and hand-ruffs in- closed their hands. But we did not discover, either in their garments or in tl1eir table, any thing that indi- cated mortification; on the contrary, every thing exhib- ited the same vanity which was noted in the people of the world. " After supper some of them began to speak of cards and dice, and they invited us to play, in order to contrih- ute to the entertainment of their guests, one l1and at a rubber. .Almost all of our party excused themselves ; some for want of money, others from not knowing the play. .At length they found two of our ' religious that would place themselves hand to hand with othei- two Franciscans. The party being aJ.Tanged, they com- menced playing with admirable dexterity. A little was put down at first ; it was doubled. The loss vexed the one, tl1e gain stimulated the other. .At the end of a quarter of an h01n- tlie convent of the Angelic Order* of our father of San Francisco had convexted itself into a gaming house, and the poor religious (friars) into pro- fane worldlings. We, who were simply spectators, had occasion to observe what passed in the play, and to ac - q t1ire matter for reflection upon such a life. As the game went on engrossing in interest, the scandal con- * TMs is the title of this order of friars. 66 l\'IEXICO AND ITS RELIGION. tinued to increase. The draughts of liquor were re- peated with much frequency ; the tongue unloosed it- self; oaths mingled themselves with jests, while loud laughter made the edifice to tremble. The vow of pov- erty did not escape from the sacrilegious mirth. One of the San Franciscans, who had often touched money with his fingers and placed it on the table, when he . gained aiiy considerable sum, in order to divert the com- pany, opened his broad sleeve, and with the hem he swept the table of all the stakes, amounting sometimes to more than twenty gold ounces, into his other sleeve _ ; saying, at the same time, "Take care · of it thou that canst, I have made a vow not to touch it." It was im- · possible for me to listen to such imprecations, and to witness such scandalous lives, without being moved; G,\l'lffiLJNG TN A CONVENT , MORALS OF THE MONKS. 67 more than once I was on the point of 1·eproving them, but I considered that I was a stranger, a passing guest, and besides, what I should say to them would be like preaching to the desert. I therefore rose up without making any noise and went to my sleeping-place, leav- ing the profane crowd, who continued with their diver.- .sions until the dawn. The next day the friar . who had played his part with so much facetiousness, with more of the manner of a brigand than a ·religioits, more suit- able for the school of Sardanapalus or of Epicurus than for the . life of a cloiste1·, said that he had lost more than eighty doubloons, or gold ounces - it appearing that his sleeve refused to protect that which he had made a vow of never possessing. '' This was the fu-st lesson which the Franciscans gave us of the New World. It dearly appeared that the cause of so many friars and Jesuits passing from Spain to regions so distant, was libertinage rather than love of preaching the gospel, oi- zeal for the conversion of souls. If that love, if that zeal, were the Inotives of their conduct, they might offer their own depravity as an argument in favor of the truths of the gospel. "\iV an- tonness, licentiousne . ss, ava . rice, and the other vices · which stained their conduct, discovered their sec1·et in- . tentions. Their anxiety for emiching themselves, their vanity, the authority which they exe1·cised over the poor Indians, are the motives which actuate them, and . not the love of God or the propagating of the faith." CHAPTER V. The ·war of the Secret Political Societies of Mexico. - The Scotch ancl the York Free - 1\fasons. - Anti - Masons. - Rival classes compose Scotch Lodges. - The Yorkinos . -Men desert from the Scotch to the York Lodges . - Law to suppress Secret Societies.-The Escoces, or Scotch Masons, take up arrns . -The Battle.-Their total Defeat. As Jalapa is a pleasant resting-place in a journey to the interim·, we will stop heTe to discuss national affairs for a little while. The first political subject in order is the furious contest that for ten years was carried on between two political societies, known as the Escoces and Yorkinos-or, as we should call them, Scotch Free-Masons and York. Free-Masons-whose secret or- ganizations were employed for political purposes by two i-ival political paJ:ties. At the time of the restoration of the Constitutional Government of Spain in 1820, Free-Masom-y was intro- duced into Mexico ; and as it was derived from the Scotch branch of that order, it was called, after the name of the people of Scotland, Escoces. Into this institution were initiated many of the old Spaniards still remaining in the country, the Creole aristocracy, and the privileged classes - parties that could ill endure the elevation of a Ornole colonel, Iturbide, to the Im- perial throne. When Mr. Poinsett was sent out as Embassador to Mexico, he carried with him the charter for a Grand Lodge from the American, or York order of Free - Masons in the United States. Into this new order the leaders of the Democratic party were initiated. The bitter 1-ivah-y that sprung up between these two I JVlA.SONS AND AN'l'I-1\IASONS. 69 branches of the Masonic body, kept the country in a ferment for ten years, and resulted finally in the forma- tion of a party whose motto was opposition to all secret societies, and who derived their name of Anti-Masons from the party of the same name then flourishing in the United States. When the E scoces had so far lost ground in popular favor, as to be in the greatest apprehension from their prosperous but imbittered rivals, the Yorkinos, as a last resort, to save themselves, and to ruin the hated or- ganization, they pronounced against all secret societies. Suerez y Navarro, in his "Life of Santa Anna," thus relates the history of these Secret Political Societies: " After the lodges had been established, crowds ran to initiate themselves into the mysteries of Free - Ma- sonry ; persons of all conditions, from the opulent mag- nates down to the humblest artisans. In the Scotch lodges were the Spaniards who were disaffected toward the independence; Mexicans who had taken up arms against the original insurgents through error or ignor- ance; those who obstinately declared themselves in fa- vor of calling the Spanish Bourbons to the Imperial throne of Mexico; those who disliked the Federal sys- tem; the partisans of the ancient regime; the enemies of all reform, even when reforms wei-e necessary, as the consequence of the independence. To this party (after the overthrow of the Empire) also belonged the parti- sans of Iturbide; those who were passionately devoted to monarchy; and the privileged classes. '' In the assemblages of the Y orkinos were united all who were republicans from conviction, and those who followed the popular current-the mass of the people having devoted themselves to this organization. It is enough to say, in oi-der to mark the position of both parties, that among the Y o rkinos figured, in great mun- • 70 l\IEXICO .A.ND l'l'S RELIGION. bers, those that believed the nam:e of republican was not a mere imagination. " Some individuals of both associations had the same object and the same identical end, and only differed in the modes of making their principles triumphant. A great number of persons, who co-operated in the crea- tion of the new order, had belonged to· the Scotch order, and had labored for the overthrow of Iturbide. They knew the secrets of the Scotch party, their projects, their tendencies ; and the desertion of such furnished a thousand elements to the new order to make wa ; r upon the party they had abandoned. ·when pa . rties were fully organized and assailing each other, the contest be- came terrible, and its consequences fea.i.fully disastrous. Actions the most harmless, and questions purely per- sonal, were matters for the contests of parties. The press was the organ of mutual accusations-now against particular - individuals, and now against pa:rties in con- junction. Tne Escoces multiplied their attacks until they lost all influence in affairs. Generals, Senators, Deputies, and Ministers abandoned their standard, as time increased the power of their rival with every class of individuals that embraced the new order. In the nature of things them was desertion and fear, because, as a writer, who was initiated into both orders, remarks: 'A genernl enthusiasm had taken possession of men's minds, who thought they saw in the new order the es- tablishment of foture prosperity.'" " The seekers fo1· office folmd ready access in these lodges to those who had office to dispense. The liberal found in the York lodges the strong support of liberty and liberal institutions. The high functionaries of gov- ernment found aid and support in the strength of opin- ions ; and the people, ever in search of novelty, united themselves to this association, in order to form one mass INT.RIG UES. , 71 'Yhich sooner 01· later would suppress the privileged classes. '' No intrigue, nor any effort, was able to check the prngress of the York lodges. This induced their ene- mies to present the project of a law in the Senate, where the Escoces had a majority, to suppress secret societies by severe penalties against those who adhered to such associat10ns. For the better insming of su.ccess, the Escoces assumed the language of mor-ality ; arid, con- founding their o-wn affair with that of thei1· native coun- try, clamored hypocritically against the pernicious influ- ence which clandestine meetings exercised in public affairs. According to them the cry of the iiation was against secret societies. The bill passed the Senate after prolongecl discussion, being supported by those persons who knew it was intended to satisfy an offend- ed party, whose prestige diminished day by day. If the factions had not originated in secret societies, they might have extirpated the evil by proscribing masonry. When have the ravages of the hm1-icane been found to content themselves with l(?gical and pleasant words? At what time, and in what country, has a law been en- forced, where those who were to execute it found an insuperable obstacle in thefr own sentiments? Indeed, it was ~possible to destroy the political fanaticism of the day by the mexe dash of a pen! The evil had gone to its utmost limit, and could not be cmed by rigor or persecution. "The demoralization was so great tl1at it extended to the armed force, because the greatei- part of the chiefs and o:fficei-s had joined one or the other of the societies. Besides the seductive influences of the lodges, two gen- erals, distinguished for theix services in the first insm - rectionary war, brought with them a number of soldiers to the party to which each severnlly belonged. General 72 MEXICO AND ITS RELIGION. Nicholas Bravo was the head of the Escoces, and Don Vincente Gue1Tero was the leader of the Y orkinos. Both derived support from the names and prestige of these two personages, and from the popularity which each en- joyed with his companions-in-arms. The Scotch party feared the day would come, in which the deputies-the majority of whom were their enemies-would decree the total proscription of all those persons who were hostile, or suspected of being hostile, to the Y orkinos, as the Chambers had fallen into the practice of submitting to the caprices of the dominant order. They therefore ap- pealed to arms, having exhausted the right of petition. "General Bravo, Vice-President of Mexico, and leader of the Escoces, having issued his proclamation, declaring that, as a last resort, he appealed to arms to rid the re- public of that pest-secret societies, and that he would not give up the contest until he had rooted them out, root and branch, took up his position at Tulansingo-a village about thii-ty miles north of the City of Mexico. Here, at about daylight on the morning of the 7th Jan- uary, 1828, he was assailed by General Guerrero, the leader of the Y orkinos, and commander of the forces of government." After a · slight skirmish, in which eight men were -, killed and six wounded, General Bravo and his pa:rty were made prisoners ; and thus perished forever the party of the Escoces. This victory was so complete as to prove a real disaster to the Y orkinos. The want of outside pressure led to internal dissensions; so that when two of its own members, Guerrero and Pedraza, became rival candidates for the presi<;lency, the election was determined by a rnsort to arms, which brought about the te1Tible insun·ection of the .A.cordada. CHAPTER VI. Mexico becomes an Empirc.-Santa Anna deposes the Emperor.-He proclaims a Republic.-He pronounces against the Election of ~ed- raza the second President. - His situation in the Convent at OaJaca. -H~ captures the Spanish Armada.-And is made General of Division. WE left Santa Anna at Vera Cruz, having just com- pleted the first of those politico-military insurrections which fill up the history of his times. He had added the city of Vera Cruz to the national cause, by a timely insurrection. Iturbide had rnwa.rded him for this im- portant service by bestowing upon him the ribbon of the order of Guadalupe, making him second in command at Vera Cruz. The chief command of the department was bestowed upon an old insurrectiona1-y leader, who was known by the assumed name of Guadalupe Victoria. He was a good-natured, honest, inefficient old man, whose great merit consisted in having lived for two years in a dense forest, far beyond the habitations of men. While thus hiding himse}f from a host of pur- suers, he acquired that habit, supposed to be peculiar to wild beasts, of passing several days without food, and then eating inordinate quantities-a habit which he found impossible to change in after-life, when he had become President of Mexico. The story of this man's sojomn among wild beasts had been told all over Mexico, · and had given him a great popularity, which he brought to the support of the national cause. In 1822 the Mexican nation was still in its swaddling clothes. Its birth had hardly cost a pang; but its in- D 74 MEXICO .AND ITS :RELIGION. fancy, its childhood, and its youth, were to be attended with a series of convulsions, the fruits of the vicious seeds sown in the conception of the new State. By the _ pronunciamiento of a part of a regiment of the King's Creole troops the connection between Spain and Mexico was severed forever, and the colonel of these tro,ops be- came the Emperor of Mexico. In this revolution the nation acquiesced, and thus discovered to the soldiery their unlimited power when their arms are turned against their o,"'n government. From that time onward Mexico, like every other country where the Spanish Ian: guage is spoken, became the victim of her own soldiery. 'This liberation of Mexico was by no means the result of the outbmst of national patriotism, but the consequence of the utter in~apacity of Spain longer to hold the reins of her colonial governments. She indeed sent out a new vice-king to Mexico after the breaking out of the insur- rection; but the best that he could do was to sanction what had been done by a txeaty at Cordova, in which it was stipulated that Iturbide and the new viceroy, O'Donoghue, should be associated with others in a re- gency, until Spain should send out one of the Spanish Bourboi1 princes to occupy the imperial throne of Mexico. The Spanish parliamen~ refused to sanction the treaty of Cordova; O'Donoghue died, and Iturbide was left in possession of executive power, without a defined office, while an insane opposition sprung up against him in the new Congress which he had called together. This un- looked-for opposition soon convinced him that the tearing away of a nation from its traditional ideas was like the letting out of waters, and that he must either ride upon the wave or be overborne by the tempest. · .A resol1:1,tion of Congress, to take from him the command 9f the army, brought matters to a crisis. Accordingly, on the night of the 18th of March, 1821, he caused himself to be pro- ITURBIDE DEPOSED. 75 claimed Emperor by his partisans ; and the next day this new revolutionary act was confirmed by Congress, under the intimidation of military force, and the nation again acquiesced. The revolution had caused a stagnation in all the de - partments of commerce and of revenue. Iturbide had inaugurated his insmTection by seizing, at Iguala, a million of dollars belonging to the Manilla Company, on its way to Acapulco. He made another like seizure at Perote ; but these high - handed measures, while they proved but a drop in the bucket towa;rd sustaining his government, increased his embarrassments, by destroy- ing all confidence ; so that his new authority had stamped upon it the unmistakable marks of dissolution. He was an emperor without traditional associations; he had an empire without a revenue; a large standing army without pay. The fickle multitude, who supposed that independence was to prove an antidote for every evil, began to murmur; while a host of demagogues, who en- -vied the good fortune of Iturbide, were all beginning to clamor for a republic. - The blow, however, came from an unexpected quarter. Santa Anna had quarreled with a superior officer, General Echevatri, ancl Iturbide had rncalled him from his command. But Santa Anna .thought it most advisable to disobey the Emper01·; and in the Plaza of V em Cruz, surrounded by the garrison, he proclaimed a republic, on the 2d of December, 1822. He joined in his insurrection the name and the influence of Victoria, yet both were insufficient to save him from a complete route at the hands of Echevarri . At the crit- ica l moment in the affairs of Santa Anna, the Grand Lodge of the Ecosces decreed the overthrnw of Iturbide, and sent orders to General Echeva1Ti, who was a mem - ber of the order, to unite his forces to those of Santa Anna in overt{!In~ng the empii-e. This was a bitter pill 76 1\IBXICO . AND ITS RELIGION. for that general to swallow, but he swallowed it; and the two leaders together swallowed the empire. Iturbide, being unable to stem the torrent of insur- rection, had abdicated; a Republic had been established upon the ruins of the empire, and Victoria, the " wild man of the woods," was elected £rst President. He served out his time; but the last year of his govern- ment was disturbed by the terrible insurrection of the Acordada, which had arisen out of the election of Pe- draza as his successor. Santa Anna was, at the time of this election, at J ala.pa , , discharging the duties of Vice- Governor of Vera Cruz, when the people of the town su.nounded his house and called upon him to pronounce against the election. Thus becoming implicated, he was forced to make a new insurrection. This third J)ronun- ciamiento of Santa Anna . , was on the 5th of September, 1828. He made his first stand at the Castle of Perote ; but £nding this too isolated a position, he marched to Oajaca, in the extreme southwest of the Republic, and took up his quarters in the Dominican convent of that city. As he was closely hemmed in by an active enemy, provis- ions grew scarce, ~nd he was forced to resort to a novel method of supplying himself. On a feast-day, at the San Franciscan chtuch, he dressed a party of his sol- diers in the garb of monks, and, having placed them in a convenient position, he made prisoners of the whole assembled congregation, and then proceeded to divest them of all ready cash on hand, and then emptied the contribution-box of the money destined for the poor saints* at Jerusalem, and retired and ended the war ; for the successful termination of the insurrection of the Acordada in the city of Mexico accomplished the object fo1· whiGh Santa Anna took up arms-the declaration * BreYa Resefia Historica, p. 280. CAPTURE OF THE ARM.A.DA. 77 by Congress, · t1iat General Guerrero, a man of mixed blood, was the real President elect, instead of Pedraza, a white man, and the candidate of the aristocracy. '\iVhen King Ferdinand had regained his despotic au- thority, in 1825, by the aid of French bayonets, he be- thought 11imself of Mexico, the most productive of his lost colonial possessions in America, which had yielded, to his predecessors, the total sum of $ 2 , 040,048,426, * or rather an annual revenue in silver dollars of $ 6,800,000 . during a JJeriod of three hundred years. H e ,vas also . incited hy his impoverished nobl e sse, who could no lon- ger obtain colonial appointments for their sons. The Spanish merchants also complained of the loss of their · monopolies. But what at last aroused him to activity was the expulsion of the Spaniards from Mexico, in consequence of the as~endency of the democratic party. Those of mixed a11d Indian blood were now truly en- franchised; and they were heard to utter strange voices, which had until then been suppres s ed by the combined power of a spiritual and temporal despotism : so that the bones of Cortez, the benefactor of the Kings of Spain, were no longer safe in the convent of San :F ran- cisco, where they had lain for three hunch e d years. t They were in such imminent danger of being dragged out and scattered to the winds by the mob, as those of "the accursed " enslaver of their race, that they were r~moved by stealth, and for a time deposited in the most sacred shrine in M e xico: afterward they were secretly re- moved to Europe, where they cried to the Spanish king for vengeance on the sacrilegious nation. An Armada was at last fitted out, and landed at Tampico; and now all Mexicans, from the P1·esident down to the humblest JJeon, watched the result ·w:ith the deepest anxiety, a s * See King's Proclamation, printecl at Havana, 6th September, 1831. t See note J. · · 78 :MEXICO AND ITS RELIGION. they saw Santa Anna undertaking the defense of the country with untried soldi e rs. For on the issue of the struggle depended the question whether the whole na- tion should be again reduced to servitude, or whether they should be left in the enjoyment of their newly - ac- quired liberty. The contest was one of several days' continuance: when at last it was terminated by a capit- ulation, all Mexico rang with rnjoicing; and Santa .Anna, then not thirty-five years of age, received the military rank which he now holds-General of Division. CHAPTER VII. In the Stage and out of the Stage . ...:__Still climbing.-A moment's View of all the Kingdoms of the vVorld.-Again in obscurity. - The 1.\fa- guey, or Century " Piant . ...:_The many uses of the l\ifaguey.-The in- _ toxicating juice of the Maguey.-Pulque.__:._Jmmense Consumptio~ of Pulque . -City of Perote.-Cast.le of Sa~ Carlos de Perote.-Star- light upon the Table-land. - Tequisquita . ...:._" The Ba~ Land/'-A very old Beggar.-Arrive at Puebla. ' THE time allotted for my visit to J alapa had come to a close. I took out the tick.et, endorsed Escala donde le convengo, which I ti·anslated-" Let him stop when, where, and as long as he pleases," and once more took my seat in the stage, which, on a fine afternoon, was starting for Perote upon the table-land. This short jomney lay across the mountain of Perote, passing over an elevation of 10,400 feet, the highest elevation that a stage-coach has yet reached, and one from which the · traveler can oftentimes enjoy a view of all the veg- etable " kingdoms of the world in a moment of time." I took my seat upon the top of the coach, above the driver, that I might enjoy a last lingering fook. at . this Nature's paradise, befo1·e the mountain-ridge should intervene between the world I had left behind, and the great salt desert that we were soon to traverse. The prospect from the coach-top, as we traveled onward, was even more beautiful than that I have already described. For several miles beyond J ala pa we - were descending and passing thrnugh one of those valleys of which the Spanish poets so often sing, where the roadside is covered with a profusion of the flowers and vegetation that flourish only in the most luxuriant 80 MEXICO AND ITS RELIGI0N. soil. The valley was soon passed, and we began to ascend so rapidly, that before an hour had passed we cou!-d mark the changing vegetation, and observe the products of a colder climate; for this changing vegetation . is a barometer, which, in Mexico, marks the ascent and descent as regularly as the most nicely-adjusted arti- ficial instrument. So accurately are the stratas of vege- tation acljustecl to the stratas of the atmosphere which they inhabit, as to lead the traveler to imagine that a gardener's hand had laid out the different fields which here rise one above another upon the side of the mount- ain that constitutes the eastern inclosme of the table- land. The fertility of the soil did not seem to dimin- . ish; it was only the character of the vegetation that changed step by step, as we wound our way up toward the summit of the Perote. We changed horses at La Hoya, a place memor?,ble in t1ie annals of civil wa1·, as the spot whern General Rincon blocked up the pass when Santa Anna was retiring in 1845, a fugitive from the country. _ Here the road becomes so steep as to induce the traveler to walk a little, for the better ~pportunities he can thus have of surveying the novel sights that present them- selves at every turn of the road. vVhen 11e is fatigued with climbing, and breathing the peculiar air of this altitude, he can seat himself by the roadside to wait the arrival of the coach, and to catch momentary gli~pses, among floa~ing clouds, of the country through which he has passed in his ascent from the coast. He can see a long distance through such a rarified atmos- phere; put it is only a bird's-eye view, as the mass that is heaped together is more than his vision can fully take in, before a cloud, ragged and torn, has passed across the picture. The eye is delighted more with the details of a scene, than with this mass of all MO TAIN VIEW. 81 the excellences of all the climates. Still he has time to divide into sections the world below him; ancl as he thus contemplates in part, he at length rnalizes as a whole the scene that is presented. The art of man never has, and never can, produce such a combination in the arrangement of the comses of vegetation. As the traveler stands at an elevation where pine-trees grow in the tropics, wl1ere a post-and-board fence in- closes a field of grain, and where a storm of snow and sleet had fallen only a few homs before, he can look down upon hills and plains, one below another, each one, in the descending scale, exhibiting more and more of tropical productions, t ~ n ~ . il the 1·egions of cocoa-nuts, and bananas, and sarsaparilla, and palms, and jalap, and vanilla, are reached in his perspective. This is a specimen chart, where all the climates and productions of the world are embraced within the scope of a single glance. It is time to re-enter the coach, and close all open- ings, for a dense fog is coming up from the sea, and has thrown so thick a cmtain over the prospect, that the eye -can not penetrate it. The long line of freight-wagons, that have served to mark the route that we have come, disappear, one after another : we owselves a.re soon en- veloped in da1·kness. ·vVith the - fog has come a chill and piercing air, and the pleasure of our mountain ride is now over. Still we move on and up with little hiw- drance, as the road on this side of the "divide" is in good i-epair. But as we go down on the other side, we are impeded by freight-wagons held fast in the mud, and unable to p.1.ove down-hill-it being easier to drag a wagon up ~nascent than to draw it down-hill through stiff mud. An entirely diffei-ent world now presents itself. We are in a fine grain-growing country. Well- cultivated fields stretch out as far as the eye can reach, D* 82 MEXICO .AND ITS RELIGION. with fa1·m-houses scattered here a.nd there, that strik- ingly remind the traveler of his northern home at this season of the yea1·. The fences here a , re chiefly formed by rows of the 1naguey or centu1·y plant, growing at the side of a ditch. Here it rnaches its greatest perfection, and adds materially to the fine appea.rance of the fields, and is seen every where upon the table-land. It grows wild upon the mountains, and springs up · in uncultivated places, as a weed. It is cultivated, as a domestic plant; in little patches, and is also planted in fields of leagues i:n extent. It grows luxuriantly in the richest soils, and shows itself in those desert plains, where nothing else, except a few spears of stinted grass and chaparral can exist. The uses to vvhich the maguey is applied are more numerous than the methods of its cultivation. ·vvhen its immense leaf is pounded into a pulp, it forms a sub- stitute for both cloth and paper. The fibre of the leaf, when beaten and spun, forms a beautiful thread, resem- bling silk in its glossy texture, but which, when woven into a fabric, more resembles linen than silk. - This thread is now, and ever has been, the sewing thread of the countq. The leaf of the maguey, when crudely dressed and spun into a coarse thread, is woven into sail-cloth and sacking ; and from it is made the bagging in common use. The 1·opes made from it ru..·e of that kind called Manilla hemp. It is the best material in use for wrapping paper. VVhen cut into coarse stl"aws, it fom1s the brooms and whitewash-brushes of the coun- try; and, ' as a substitute for bristles, it is made into scrub-brushes; and, -finally, it supplies the place of hair- combs among the common people. The great value of the maguey plant arises from the fl.mount of intoxicating liquid which it produaes, which THE MAGUEY.-PULQUE. 83 is the chief somce of intoxication among the common people of the table - land. There are two species qf this plant cultivated. One of them flourishes ' in · the desert portions of the country; from which an apominable liq- uor is d i stilled, called m ,e scal, or 1nejical. The other is the flowering maguey, or century plant, of which so many fabulous stories are told in the United States. This is one of the wondern of the vegetable world. Un- til the plant 11as reached its tenth year, or thereabouts, there is no trace of a flower. In its fifteenth year, or thereabout, there are certain appearances which indicate that the central stem, or ha117!l.Je, which sustains the flower, is a.bout to form in the centre of the plant. If persons am not on the wat _ ch to c u t out the heart at the proper time, the hanipe shoots out,· a~d grows to about the height of a telegraph post - .for which I have often mistaken it - absorbing in its development the sap, which, when · fermented, forms the i ntoxicating drink called _pulqit e . The sprouting of the stalk. takes p l ace in November or December; but the beautiful cluster of flowers, for which it is so much admired, does not form at its top till February . In th i s l ast month, the monster leaf that envelops the lianipe beg i ns grndually to unfold ifself, exposing to view a slender stalk, higher than a man on horseback, with arms extended. On this stalk grow the fl..owers. Such is the century p l ant - in botanical language, the Agava Amiricana. The juice of the maguey, in its unfermented state, is called honey - water. It is gathered from the central basin by cutting off a side - leaf and cutting out the heart, just before the sprouting of the liampe, for whose sustenance , this juice is destined. The basin, thus formed, yields every day from four to seven quarts - according to the siz e and thriftiness of the plant-for a period of two or three months. The process of taking 84 :MEXICO AND ITS RELIGION. it out of the plant is a little curious. Into the end of a long gourd is inserted a cow's horn, bored at the point; through this horn and into the gourd. the juice is sucked up by applying the mouth to a hole in the opposite side of the gourd. From the gourd - shell the juice is emptied into a bottle formed from the skin of a hog, which still retains much of the form of the animal. To form this bottle of honey-water into JJulque, all that is necessary is to put into it a little of the same material which has been laid aside till it became som-, which operates like yeast, causing the honey-water to ferment. As soon as the maguey juice in the hog - skin has fer- mented, it is JJUlque; and is readily sold for eight, and sometimes as high as twenty - five cents a quart, pro - ducing a very large revenue upon the cost of the plant. It is not ordinarily sold at wholesale; but each maguey estate has its retail shops in town, from ·which the whole product of the estate is retailed out. One man, who has five of these shops in the city of J\ifexico, keeps his car- riage; and is reckoned, among the magnates of the land, deriving from this source alone, it is said, $26,000 a yeai·. The excise which Government derives from the sale of this liquor, which, in taste, resembles sour but- ter - milk, amounted to $817,739 in the year 179 . 3. The ti-aveler from the coast always anives at Perote at a late hour; and as he leaves it again at an early hour next morning, he recollects nothing o f it but its chilly night a i r, and the good supper which he was t o o cold to enjoy. But on his return from Mexico, he usu - ally has an hour of daylight, which he can improve in a survey of this small and cleanly town. Here the freight-wagons, with their twenty horses apiece, stop to recruit; and the cargo - mules, that take this route, are gathered in the immense stable - yards, which give to the place the appearance of a collection of caravan- PEROTE. 85 sa1·ies. The ·whitewash-brush has been industriously applied to the outside of the houses; and though they are chiefly built of that frail material, dried mucl, they present a very neat and tidy appearance, giving one ' a -very conect idea of what may have been the appearance of one of the first class of Inclian towns in the times of Cortez. A few rods to the north of the town stands the castle of San Carlos-a square fort, with a moa.t and glacis. It is built in the best style of fortifications of the last century, having been designed as a depository for silver, ·when, in consequence of the wars of Spain with mreri- time nations, it was not deemed prudent to send it for- wa1·d to the coast: it v.ras much , used for this purpose when the rnad below was blocked up, in the times of the insurrection, that began in the yea1· 1S10. At one time the accumulation here was so great that it is said to have amounted to 40,000,000 of silver dollars; weighing about 1300 tons, or a little short of the whole silver ex- port of two years. This castle is now in a fine state of repair. It has a large ganison of lancers, and at the time of my visit was daily in expectation of the arrival of Santa Anna. Fwm this castle Santa Anna, in 1828, issued his pronunciamiento against Pedraza. In this castle he was imprisoned by Rincon, in 1845, after his capture at Xico. From this castle he was banished by decree of the Mexican Congress ; and to it he was now returning to hold the supreme power in the State. At two o'clock in the morning we were awused from our comfortable beds to take our places in the stage; and soon we were again upon the rnad. There is some- thing exceedingly attractive in the appea1·ance of the skies upon this elevated table-land, 7692 feet above the ocean. The morning star-light is very beautiful. It is so much clearer, and the stars are therefore so much 86 MEXICO AND ITS RELIGION. brighter here than in the dense atmosphere where we inhabit, that the traveler, half chilled and sleeping, rouses himself to contemplate the brilliant sights above him. The brightest stars that he has watched from childhood up, axe brighter now than ever. New stars have filled the voids in his celestial chart, and satellites are danc- ing round well-known planets. Tlie North · Star is still visible, now 19° above the horizon. The Dipper has dipped far down to the northward. The Southern Cross -that mysterious combination of five stars, that em- blem of the faith of Southern America, which only reaches fo.11 meridian at midnight prayers-is here 25° above the horizon, shining brilliantly. And then there are so many unknown southern stars, and so many unfan1iliar constellations, that the short homs of night are well spent upon the driver's box. ' vVe have been gradually descending into what ap- pears to have once been the bottom of a salt lake. The ground is 1)a1·tially inctusted with a compound salt called tequisquita, is composed of equal proportions of muriate of soda, carbonate of soda, and insoluble metal (common earth): this compound is used by the Mexi- can bakers and soap-boilers as a substitute for salt and soda. A stinted grass is here and there ~cattered in patches over the bad land, as these barren plains are called; but the dry earth, which is rarely moistened for six months together, is covered with drifting sand, which is driven about by the hot winds of this desert. How great was the change from what we had passed ! Tl;ie celestial chart, that we had been admiring with so much rapture, had gradually rolled itself up, and as the sun came out, we had a view of the dreariness around us. It was truly a bad land--a land of evil-even a land for wolves to prowl in, and where vultures watch for the carcasses of dying mules, and where robbers ply their AGED BEGGAR. · 87 calling with little fear of detection. Here, in the midst of all this dreaTjness, we saw a pretty lake, and beau- tiful scenery around it, that looked Jor a little while like an enchanted scene, and then vanished into air. V\Te passed the hostelry of Tepeyagualco, 1, r here water is drawn from a fabulous depth, and soon came to that most celebrated spring of fresh water, situated upon the _ the boundary - line of the two departments of Vera Cruz and Puebla, and bearing the poetical name of "The Eye of 1¥ aters." But we were followed by a driving stoTm of sand all the way to Nopaluca, where we break- fasted at twelve o'clock. As we came out from breakfast we encountered an old beggar, whom I had often seen before at this place. He was so old that Time seemed to have forgot- ten him, and he · too had forgotten Time. He could · only reach his age by approximation: he recollected that his third son was earning day..:wages when the decree came (in 17 67) for the expulsion of the Jesuits. This would make the old beggar 130 years of age, if we call the son eighteen, and the father twe~ty-five at the time of his birth. Poor old man! how much he · has suffered from outliving his own _ kindred. One after another he has followed to the grave his · children and his children's children, to the third and fourth generation, till now the lad that leads him by the hand, the only link that binds him to the race of the living, is of t~e sixth gen- exation. · Toward evening, after we had passed the storm of dust, we came to the large village of Amosoque, which is the only town of any magnitude between Perote and Puebla. It is rioted for its excellent spurn; and was formerly m _ uch more noted as a haunt of robber~. From this village we were driven in a ljttle more than an hour to the city of Puebla. CHAPTER VIII. Puebla - The Mirac l e of the Ange 1 s.-A City of Priests. - l\farianna in Bronze . --- ,-The Vega of Puebla. - Fi r st View of t.he Pyramid of Cholula . -Modern Aduitions to it.-The View from it.s Top.-Quet- zalcoatl. - Cholula and Tlascala. - Cholula without the Poetry . - Indian Relics. Pueblo de los Angelos - the "Village of the Angels" -derives its name from a miracle that occurred during the building of its celebrated Cathedral. While its walls were going up, angels are said to have come down from heaven nightly, and laid on the walls the same amount of stone · and mortar that the masons laid the day previous. It js, of course, a sacred city. Its people, particularly the women, are the most devout in · all Mexico ; and, of course, the most r rnfligate, a.s we shall show presently. It is a city of priests, and monks, and nuns, and friars, of every order, white and gray, black and greasy. As in all Spanish - American towns, the fronts of the houses are plastered and painted in fresco ; but the fresco painting has gone too long with ... out renewing, and the town looks now, as it did two years ago, gray, streaked, and inhospitable. The un- washed houses are filled with unwashed people ; and the streets swarm with filthy beggaTS, and monks ask- ing for alms in the name of the most blessed Virgin. The streets, thanks to the male and female cha.in-gangs, are kept quite clean. But all else is dirty. If tl~e angels, when they :finished their work. on the Cathedral, had left a whitewash brush behind them, tz1ey would have done the city a real service. The houses, inside CHARACTER OF THE POBLAN.A.S. 91 and out, and occupants too, and the reputation of its women from olden time, all need whitewashing. Perhaps I could not present a more deplorable picture of the moral condition of the ladies of Puebla, who are celebtated for being so very devout, "but not very vir- tuous," than by copying . the following . from Madame Cal- deron de la Barca's " Life in Mexico : " "Yesterday (Sunday), a grnat day here for visiting after mass is over. We had a concourse of Spaniards, all of whom seemed anxious to know whether or not I intended to wear a Poblana dress at the fancy ball, and seemed wonderfully interested about it. Two young ladies or women of Puebla, introduced by Senor _ - - , came to proffer their services in giving me all the neces- sary particulars, and dressed the hair of Josefa, a little Mexican girl, to show me how it should be arranged - ; mentioned several things still wanting, and told me that · every one was much pleased at the idea of my going in a Poblana dress. I was rather surprised that every one should trouble themselves about it. About twelve o'clock the President, in full uniform, attended by his aids-de-camp, paid me a visit, and sat about half an. hour, very amiable as usual. Shortly after came more visits, and just as we had supposed they were all con- cluded, and we were going to dinner, we were told that the Secretary' of State, the Ministers of War and of the Interior, and others, were in the drawing-room. And what do you think was the purport of their visit? To adjure me by all that was most alarming, to discard the idea of making my appearance in a Poblana dress! They assured us that Poblanas generally were femmes de rien, that they' wore no stockings, and that the wife of the Spanish Minister should by no · means assume, even for one evening, such a costume. I brought in my dresses, showed their length and their propriety, 92 ME ., I 'i Q ND l'r RELIG l\ LU:. AN . . A . IN DRONZE. 3 94 ME I A ITS RELIGI • PYI{i\.l\HD OF CHOLULA. 95 have lost half its attractiveness had it be I th stiff and clumsy thing which the pictttres represent it to be. I had admired it in picttu· s fi·om my chilclhood £ r what it W'lts not; bnt I now ad.mired it for what it really was - the finest Ir dia11 mound on this con tin nt; where the Indians bnriecl the brav st of th ir braves, · with bows ancl arrows, and a c1rinkinb cup, that th y : night n t b unprovided for ,;vhen they should arrive at the hunting .. grounds of the l'eat Spirit. A little digging, a few y ~ a.rs ago,* has fornished the evidence on ' Which I base this as rtion. This digging has cl stroy d the old inonl ish :fiction to reinstate the truly Indian ic1 · a of the dead, a . nd of the necessity of mou11 :ls fo1· th ir btu-ial. PYRAMID OF CHOLULA. :By going rottnd to the 1101·th side, I obtained ' a fine 'ew 0£ the 1 odem imp1·oveme11ts which have been con- * Th living witn sses of the result of this excavation n.re still 11t C h oluln., nnd the fn. t is m ntioned in several .Ame1·ican works; my in .. for ( me,e from the fact is the on l y 11ovelty in the matter. 96 . MEXICO AND ITS RELIGION. • I structed upon this Indian mound. I rode up a paved carriage-way into the church-yard that now occupies the top, and giving my horse to a squalid Indian imp who came out of the vestry, I went in and took a survey of the tawdry images through v;rhich God is now worshiped by the baptized descendants of the builders of this mound. My curiosity was soon gratified, and I re-:- turned to my place in the saddle. I followed the wall around the church-yard, stopping from point to point to look upon the vast map spread around on every side. Orizaba, which I first saw when 150 miles out at sea as a mammoth sugar-loaf sitting upon a cloud, had at Jalapa, and at "the eye of wa- ters," different forms, while here it appeared to be joined with the Perote, forming the limit of the horizon toward the east. On the west were Popoca.tapetl, Iztaccihuatl, and l\ · falinche; while smaller mountains and hills seemed to complete the line of circumvallation, which gave to the elevated plain of Puebla the aspect of the bed of an exhausted lake, and to the isolated hills, rising here and there upon its surface, the appearance of having been islands when the waters covered the face of the land. The cloud was still resting upon Popocatapetl; but its crest, far above the clouds, was in that region where, in the tropics, ice and snow lie unclisturbed forever. - The marks which it bore of having once been the smoke- pipe of one of Nature's furnaces, furnished us with the translation of its name-" The mountain with a smoking mouth." But that lake of fire has long since ceased to burn, and when the mountain had last emitted smoke - was unkno~Yn to the oldest inhabitant. And that other mountain, Iztaccihuatl, or the ""\iVhite Woman," lying so quietly and snug, in her cov ring of perpetual snow, at the side of the volcano, called up in the mincls of the Indians the strange conceit of man and wife. There CHOLULA. were forests on the mountain sides and trees along the rivers cove : red with green, but all else looked dry and parched. Seldom, indeed, has the eye of man ever rest~ ed on a finer farming country than the great plain of Puebla, and seldom are lands seen better cultivated. Cholula was of old sacred to Quetzalcoatl, the " God of the Air," who, during his abode upon earth, taught mankind the use of metals, the practice of agriculture, and the arts of government. Translating myth into history, we may call him the great Aztec xeformer. He is represented as a man of fair complexion with curling hair and flowing beard, very different from the type of the Aztecs. On his way from Mexico to the coast he remained for a while at Cholula, where a mound and temple was raised to his honor. This tradition made Cholula the Mecca of the Indian world; and \\11th the merchants who came to attend the annual fair held at the base of the mound came also hosts of pilgrims, to offer sacrifice to the memory of that god who introduced flowern into the native worship, and discouraged cruelties and human sacxi--fices. At Cholula I was so fortunate as to procme one of the images of Quetzalcoatl, cut in stone, ·with curled hair and Caucasian features. I afterwa1·d verified the same by comparison with the great image found at Mexico, not without strong suspicions that both were counterfeits ; for in this country even the most sacred records are open to suspicion. Popular tradition and the most ap-- proved authors will have it, that some stray white man had found his way among the Mexicans, and taught them empirically the calculations and divisions of time and a very few of the arts of civiliz.ed life unknown to om Indians, and they venerated him as a god. But the probabilities ai·e that the whole story is a myth, and for once the Inquisition was 1·igl1t in supp1·essing specula~ E 98 :MEXICO AND ITS RELIGION. tion in 1·elation to him, whether he was Saint Thomas or not. At the base o"f this pyramid, tluee hundred years ago, fl.omished the rich and opulent city of Cholula, which, according to Cortez,* contained 40,000 houses. He says that he counted from this spot 400 mosques, t and 400 towei-s of other mosques-that the " exte1i.or of this city is more beautiful than any in Spain." That is, as he and all other historians of the Conquest agree in i-epre- senting it, it was at the same time not only the Mecca and the commercial centre, but the centre of learning and refinement of Mexico. Here Indian philosophers met upon a common footing with Indian mei·chants. Its government, too, was i-epublican ; and upon these very plajns, three hundred yea . rs ago and more, flourished two powerful republics, Tlascala and Cholula. The first was the Lacedremon, the second the Athens of the In- dian world, and when united they had successfully re- sisted the armies of Montezuma and his Aztecs. But Aztec intrigue was too powerful for the American Athens, and the polished city of Cholula having been subdued by the same arts by which Philip of facedon had won the sovereignty of Athens-a combination of intrigue and of arms-Tlascala was left alone to resist the whole force of the Aztec empire, now aided by the faithless Cholulans. Yet Tlascala was undismayed by the new combination brought to bear against her, and did not readily listen to the proposed alliance of Co1iez. It was only after three terrible battles with Cortez, that Tlascala learned to appreciate the value of his alliance -an alliance which has conferred upon her perpetual * Cortez's "Letters," Folsom's translation, p. 71. f This word mosques Cortez constantly makes use of, apparently to keep befoce the people of Spain the idea that he was conducting a holy war, CHOU LA. freedom and a distinct political organization to the pres- ent time. This is the poetry of the thn1g. Let us give it a lit- tle matter-of-fact examination. The spot on which I stand, instead of being what it has often been represented to be, is but a shapeless mass of earth 205 feet high, occupying a village square of 1310 feet. It is sufficiently wasted by time to give full scope to the imagination to fill out or restore it to al- most any form. One hundred years ago, some rich citi- zen constructed steps up its side, and protected the sides of his steps from falling eaJ.·th by walls of adobe, or mud- brick; and on the west side some adobe buttresses have · oeen placed to keep the loose earth out of the village · street. This is all of man's labor that is visible, except the work of the Indians in shavmg away the hill which constitutes this pyrnmid. As for the great city of Cho- lula, it never had an existence ; foT if there had been, only three hundred years · ago, such a city here, com- posed of 40,000 houses, with 400 towers, besides the 400 mosques, then some vestige or fragment of a fallen wall or a ruined tower would still be visible. But I searched in vain for the slightest evidence of former magnificence, and was driven to the unwelcome conclu- sion that the whole city was fabricated out of some miserable Indian village, inferior, perhaps, to the pres- ent town of one-story, whitewashed mud huts. My contemplations were broken in upon by a swarm of squalid women and children from the church vestry, importuning me to buy relics in clay, which might an- swer the double purpose of images of saints or of hea- then gods, according to the taste of the p~chaser. But when they found me impracticable, they brought out their greatest cmiosity-a flint arrow~head, such as used to be plowed up in scores near the place where I wa - I {~ 100 MEXICO AND ITS RELIGION. born. Thoroughly disgusted with the sight of this Acropolis, with this ancient Athens of mud, I turned my horse's head toward Puebla; and as I rode on, I met scores of these modern Athenians trotting home- ward, bareheaded and barefooted, carrying "papooses" on their backs, while their faces, forms, ancl h a ir, and ragged dress, were the very counterpart of the Indians of North America. The Indians of Puebla have long enjoyed the distin- guished honor of being the governing men, while the white inhabitants were ineligible to a seat in the city councils. This city was formerly an Indian village, bearing the indigestible name of Ouetlaxcapen, or " Snake in the Water ;" but, in 1530, the Vice-King Mendoza established here a Spanish colony, but left the original government unchanged ; so that, do w n to the independence, the city administration was conducted by an Indian alcalde, assisted by a council of four In- dians. Notwithstanding the anomalous form of its gov- ernment, Puebla has ever been a great manufacturing town, and at this day consumes a quantity of cotton equal to some of our large manufacturing cities. ,. CHAPTER IX . .A Ride to Popocatapetl. - The Village of .Atlizco.-The old Man of .Atlizco and the Inquisition . . - A , novel Mode of Escape. - An aveng- ' ing Ghost. - The Vice-King Ravillagigedo. - The Court of the Vice- King and the Inquisition.-Ascent _ of Popocatapetl.-How a Par- ty perished by igbt.-Tbe Crater and _ the House in it.-Descent into the Crater.-The Interior.-The ·workmen in the Volcano.- The View from PopocatapetI. - The first ·white that climbed Popo- catapetl. - Tbe Story of Corchado.-Corchado converts the Volcano into a Sulphur-mine. ONE of the first objects of interest in Mexico is the volcano of Popocatapetl. A stage runs from Puebla to Atlizco, but beyond that village the visitor must travel upon horseback. Atlizco is worthy of a special notice from its situation in a most fertile valley, and its pecul- iar location at the base of a conical hill. This hill, like every attractive locality in Mexico, is the scene of ro- mantic traditions of the common people. From many, I select one illustration of the state of society in the times of the vice-kings. There once was, the tradition runs in this village, an old li i d a lgo who possessed a plantation in the immediate neighborhood of the town. His family consisted of him- self and two daughters ; and he was rich. Upon a cer- tain time, one of tho~e strolling monks, with whom the ' country abounds, chanced to offer an indignity to one of the daughters, and the old man chanced to return the in- dignity by inflicting upon the monk such a beating as never poor friar had yet received in the vice-kingdom- such a one as th~ feelings of an outraged father alone could justify. This was ~qt the end of the matter; it 102 MEXICO AND ITS RELIGION. was only the beginning of evil to the old man, as he well knew, for he · had laid his hands upon one of the consecrated-one who had received the sacrament of " Holy Orders ; " and, above all, he was rich enough to tempt the cupidity _ of the Inquisition, which always watched with jealous cam over the orthodoxy of those whose estates, when confiscated, would add to "the greater glory of God," that is, to the treasury of the " Holy Office." Guilty or not guilty, the · old man had but one mode of escape, and that was by avoiding an arrest. To ef- fect this object he xesorted to a novel expedient. As soon as he heard that his accuser had started for Mexi - co, it was given out that the old man had suddenly died. A cn·cumstance by no means thought remarkable, when it became known that he had assaulted a priest. As he had not yet been accused, his neighbors ventured to come to his funeral ; and a coffin, with his name and age marked upon it, was clecently buried in holy ground. The fune- ral fees, too, were secured before the estate was pounced upon by the familiars of the Inquisition. The daugh- ters put on the deepest mon.rning, and hid themselves from the public gaze, among their relatives; for they had not only to endure the loss of home and esta.tes, but were to be shunned as the accursed of God-the children of one dying while under the accusation of sacrilege. As · for the Inquisition, its officials did not care to investigate ✓ the question of the decease, for it had reaped all the ben - efit it might hope for from his conviction-" The Holy Office" had become his heir. Strange appearances and stranger noises after a time were heard about the cave that is said to be in the top of the hill of .A.tlizco, and sometimes a ghost had been seen wandering about the hill by certain benighted vil- lagers ; and one time, when the accusing monk was re- THE OLD ::M:AN OJ? ATLIZCO. 103 turning mtheT later than usual from a drunken Tevel, this ghost, who had now become the town-talk, chanced to fall in with him, and to give him such a beating as few living men could inflict, and then disappeared. Still there was no earthquake, and the sun rose and set as though no injury had been done to a priest. Time wore its slow course along, without any impor- · tant incident occurring in this matter, until the reputation of the new Virey, Ravillagigedo, reached Atlizco. Short- ly thereafter there appeared at the vice-royal palace in the city of Mexico an old man, who rnlated in a private audience the story of his griefs and of his misfortunes, and insisted that, in striking " the Lord's priest,'' he had no intention of committing an act of impiety, but that the feelings of a father had overcome him in an unguard- ed moment, and induced l1im to avenge an attempt made to dishonor his daughter. The story of the old man touched the Virey, who had a manly hea1·t wrapped up in a forbidding exteriox. But it was a delicate under- taking even for a vice-king to attempt to wrest a rich estate out of the clutches of the " Holy Office" without himself being suspected of heresy, or of disloyalty to the Church. Yet Ravillagigedo was never at a loss for · ex- pedients when justice was to be done or the oppressed relieved. The best advice, however, that he could give the old man was to hide himself again, and to send his daughters to :Mexico to accuse the monk. Upon a set day, the vice-king was found arrayed in state, surrounded by a council of Inquisitors, before whom the daughters, in the deepest mourning, presented themselves as the accusers of the profligate monk. They stated, with an artless simplicity which could not fail to convince, the story of the wrongs the monk had done them. The Inqui~itors, sitting in the presence of the incorruptible Virey, could not, for very shame, do other- 104 MEXICO AND ITS RELIGION. wise than declare unanimously that the monk, and not the old man, was worthy of the censure of the Church. · " Then let us wipe away the stain that rests upon the fair fame of these ladies • as daughters of one dying sus- pected, by decreeing their father's innocence," said the Virey. This being assented to, the record of the old man's in- nocence was made up, and, when duly attested by the Inquisit o rs, was handed to the daughters. A door was at this moment opened, and there entered into the august presence a gray-headed old man, to whom the daughters presented the record. The old man, when he had re- ceived the record, advanced, and, bowing humbly, made confession of his fault. It was a bitter pill for the" Holy Office" thus to be tricked into the peiformance of a com- mon act of justice, and in this way to lo s e a v a lu a ble estate. From this time onward, it is said that Inquisi- tors were never known to hold court with a Virey. At Atlizco horses must be procured for the journey up the mountain, for beyond this point there is no car- . riage -' road. I here follow the verbal narrative of :IYir. Frank Kellott, the artist of whom I have already made mention, as I dared not venture where bleeding of the lungs is produced by the i-arity of the atmosphere and by the -fatigue. " The company consisted of Mr. Corchado, the pro- prietor, Mr. Munez, a neighboring gentleman, three la- dies, and myself, all on horseback. Sixteen Indians had been sent fo1·ward on foot early in the morning, with all the conveniences to make the trip a safe and agree- able one. The party went cheerfully up the mule-road that leads to the mountain rancho of Zacopalco, one of the highest inhabited points upon om globe. The soil upon the mountain, composed of volcanic mud, yields such rich grasses, that almost at the upper edge of the ASCENT OF POPOCATAPETL. 105 timber there is a milk-house (lecheria), where a cattle- herd, if caught out at night, may find a shelter. The inner man being well cared for at the rancho, we jour- neyed on, following the path that led us through a tan- gled mass of trees and plants, and among barrancas whose sides were covered with pines. The timber grew shorter and more stunted as we proceeded, until, at the height of 12,544 feet, the pines entirely disappeared. A little farther on, at an elevation of 12,692 feet, . we were at the limit of vegetation. After journeying a league or so over the yielding sand mixed with sharp stones, twelve of our Indians and our horses gave out. From this point for a little way farther, our party proceeded on foot, with the four remaining servants. "'ll e had gone only a little way farther when two of our fair companions also · gave out, and we sent them back to the rancho with the returning horses and the fatigued serv~nts, foi - them was · now no time for delay, if we intended to reach the summit that day. The third lady went brn : vely on, and would probably have enjoyed the honor of being the first woman that had ever ascend- ed Popocatapetl, had it not been for the unfortunate ar- rangement she had made in her wardrobe. Instead of putting on the pantaloons, or bloomers, she had added extra skirts by way of precaution against the cold ; so that when she had climbed about 3000 feet over volcanic sand and loose stones, she gave out from fatigue and the bruises she had received in her numerous falls. It was a painful effort even for those of us who had no skirts to impede us to get on ; and it was imprndent for her to proceed farther, for the icicles would be in her way as much as the sand and stones ; for these icicles were like spikes projecting upward from the rocks, · itnd be- tween which we should have to place om feet and pick our way as best we could without falling upon - them. E* 106 MEXICO AND ITS RELIGION. In this state of things there was no alternative, and we were Teluctantly obliged to dissuade her from farther ef- fort, and to consign her oveT to the kind attentions of three moTe of our Indians, who had given out, to con- ' duct her down the mountain. I "Unfortunately, one of the last thTee Indians sent back had in his pocket aU the chocolate, an article al- most indispensable to the comfort of a party climbing a high mountain, and, unconscious of our loss, we contin- ued our way until it was too late to remedy this loss. The basaltic rock which we had now reached was cover- ed with the icicles which I have described, and we found no little difficulty i _ n placing our feet between them, and g11iding 01u·selves with the iron-pointed sticks which had been furnished us; while the dizziness caused by look- ing back upon the world we had left behind added to our troubles. "J'.\fr. CoTchado, to draw off our attention from our _ own hardships, related to us the story of the death of six of his workmen, who undertook to make the journey down the mountain by night. Each of them had a load of stolen brimstone on his head. The day after this rash and criminal attempt, their dead bodies were found in such a situation a , s to indicate plainly the manner of their death. Stiffened with the intense cold, and im- peded by their heavy bmdens, they had stumbled in the darkness, and had fallen upon the sharp ice. One had his cheek pierced, and the others had divers wounds and bruises marked upon them as they lay frozen in death. The story of these unfortunates was not calculated to inspire us with very pleasant reflections, in case the weather should change while we wei-e on the mountain. I "We climbed on, having reachecl the basaltic xock at an elevation of 16,805 feet, and with exhausting la- bor we traveled upon it until toward evening, when we .A. IGH1' UPON THE SU:MJ\U'f. 107 came to that immense yawning abyss, the crater. The mouth was about three miles in circumference, of a very u-regular form. Into this we entered, and soon arrived at the house which was to be our lodging for the night. This house was a curiosity in its way; as it was not built like any other house, and could not be, on account of the rarity of the atmosphere at this elevation of 17,125 feet, and the impossibility of obtaining sufficient oxygen, in a closed mom, to feed combustion. It was therefore built in the form of a miniature volcano. There wa.s an outside and an inside wall, of a ciTcular form, the out- side wall sloping inwardly, and the inside wall, which rested on pillars, sloping outwardly, until it met the out - side wall. The :fire was built in the open court, in the centre of the building, and the paJ.·ty sat under the arches and warmed themselves. The night that we weTe there, the perverse smoke took the same direction as the heat - ed air, and :filled the whole inside to suffocation, so that our condition was most disagreeable, notwithstanding the arrangements that Mr. Corchado had made in his own apaJ.-tment for the comfort of his guests, for the re- flection of the sun on the snow had thrnwn a film over our eyes, in spite of our green vails. Our stomachs were nauseated at this giddy height, and, though we had al - most every other kind of eatable a.nd drinkable, our ap..: petites craved only chocolate, which we could not obtain. Our heads were dizzy, and our limbs were weary, and we lay down in a dense smoke to try to sleep. " Morning came to our relief, and with it the :film hacT passed from our eyes. vV e looked up to the top of the mountain above us, and then down into that fearful abyss into which we were soon to descend. vVe · could eat no breakfast, and could drink no coffee, and so we were · soon ready for our day's journey. We followed a nar- · row footpath until we reached a shelf, where we were 108 MEXICO AND ITS RELIGION. seated in a skid, a.nd let down by a windlass 500 feet or so, to a landing-place, from which we clambered down- ward to a second windlass and a second skid, which was the most feaiful of all, because we were dangling about without any thing to steady ourselves, as we .descended before the mouth of one of those yawning caverns, which are called the 'breathing-holes' of the crater. They are so called from the fresh air and ho1Tid sounds that con- tinually issue from them. But we shut our eyes and clung fast to the i-ope, as we whirled round and round in mid air, until we reached another landing-place about 500 feet lower. From this point we clambered down, as best we could, until we came among the men digging up cinders, from which sulphur, in the form of brimstone, is made. '' We took no measurements within the crater, and .heights and distances here can only be given by approxi- mation. vVe only know that all things are on a scale so vast that old.Pluto might here have forged new thun- der -bo lts, and Milton's Satan might have here found the material for his sulphurous bed. .All was strange, and wild, and frightful. "vVe crawled into several of the 'breathing holes,' but nothing was there except darkness visible. The sides and bottom were, for the most pai·t, polished by the molten mass, which had cooled in passing through them ; and if it had not beep for the ropes around our waist, we should ha¥e slipped and fallen we knew not whither. "\¥ e almost fancied th~t, in the moving cu1Tents of air, we heai-d the wailings of the lost in the great sulphurous lake below. The stones we threw in were lost to sound unless they hit upon a projecting rock, and fell from shelf -to shelf. The deep darkness was fearful to contemplate. The abyss looked as though it might be the mouth of the bottomless pit. ·what must have been the effect DESCENT INTO THE CRATER. 109 when each one of these 'breathing holes' was vomiting up liquid fire and sulphur into the basin in which we stood? How immeasurable must be that lake whose overfiowings fill such cavities as this! It is when stand - n1g in such a place that we get the full force of the fig- ures used by the Scriptures in illustrating the condition of the souls that have perished forever. "Let us turn from great to smaller things-to wit- ness the labors of the men who work, and eat, and often sleep in the volcano. Some are digging sulphur and placing it in baskets, while others are waiting to c arry it upon their heads up the side of the crater. Others, again, out of our sight far up the mountain, are working at the oven, when the weather is clear, and there is no cloud between them and the sun, as it is · only in the finest weather that men can work upon the top, or carry burdens to the hacienda. When the weather is fine, all the works are in full operation, and good profits are re- alized by furnishing brimstone for the manufacture of sulphuric acid. "V\ T e are at the top once more ; and now that our eye- sight, which we lost in climbing the mountain, is restored to us, we will take a view of the lower world. Looking toward the west, every object glows in the brightness of the rising sun, except where the mountain casts its vast shadow even across tlie valley of Toluca. How strangely diminished now are all familiar objects that are visible! The pureness of the medium through which things are seen presents distant objects with gTeat dis- tinctness, but it wjll not present them in their natural size, for it can not change the angle of vision. The vil - lages upon the table-fond wern apparently pigmy vil - lages, inhabited by pigmy men and pigmy women, sur - rounded with pigmy cattle, and garrisoned by pigmy soldiery. It is, by an optical illusion, Liliput in real llO MEXICO A.ND ITS RELIGION. life. Had the English satirist placed himself where we now stood, he would have morn than realized the picture which his fancy painted. He might have seen the mar - shaled hosts of Liliput mru:ching to the beat of drum, in the proud array of war. '' If you wish to see all the sights, you must walk around the mountain, and look down its steepest side, where there is no table - land, into the 'hot country.' The distance is so vast, the descent so steep, that an inexperienced climber suffers from dizziness. If you climb to the very summit, 250 feet above the mouth of the crater, you will find mo1·e surface about you. But it is a point where few can desixe to remain long, or to visit it a seconcl time." In Cortez's letters to the Emperor we read as follows: "As for sulphur, I have already made mention to your Majesty of a mount.a.in in this province from which smoke issues ; out of it sulphur has been taken by a SpaniaJ.·d, who descended seventy or eighty fathoms by means of a rope attached to his body below his arms; from which source we have been enabled to obtain su.f- £.cient supplies, although it is attended with danger. It is hoped that it will not be nec~ssary for us to resort [ again J t o this means of procuring it." • . . . " As the Indians told us that it was dangerous to ascend, and fatal to e those who made the attempt, I caused several Spania r ds to undertake it , and examine the charactei- of the summit. At the time they went up, so much smoke proceeded from it, accompanied by noises, that they were eithe r unable or afraid to reach its mouth. After- ward I sent up some other Spaniards, who made two attempts, and finally reached the aperture of the mount- ain whence the smoke issued, which was two bow-shots wide, and about three fourths of a league in circumfer- ence, where they discovered some sulphur which the THE SULPHUR MINE. 111 smoke deposited."'* (Bernal Diaz says that the crater was perfectly round, a mile in diameter.-Vol. i. p. 186.) During one of then· visits they heard a tremendous noise, followed by smoke, when they m~e haste to descend; but before they reached the middle of the mountain t1ie1·e fell around them a heavy shower of stones, from which they were in no little danger. In or about the year 1850, Corchado, an active and enterprising white man, had become a favorite with the Indians at the foot of the mountain, who proposed to him that he should accompany them when they again undertook one of their expeditions into the volcano, which of late had been very frequent. This was a proposition that exactly accorded with his adventurous character. Accordingly, on an appointed day, he ap- peared at the rendezvous, with a xope, a piece of sail- cloth, and an iron bai-. Thus provided, the pai-ty, which was a lai-ge one, started up the mountain, but one by one they gave out, until only Corchado and a single Indian arrived at the mouth of the crater. Hei-e, un- . fortunately, Corchado fainted from the loss of blood and fatigue ; and the Indian, not knowing what better to do, covered him with the sail-cloth, and then started down the mountain for assistance. In a short time he 1·evived under the sail-cloth, and from his dangerous po- sition he drew himself into the volcano, that he · might not perish from cold outside. He descended as far as the shelf, . and, looking over into the abyss, he found himself so refreshed by the atmosphere of the volcano that he brought down the bar, sail-cloth, and rope, de- termining to pass the approaching night at the bottom of the volcano. When he had fixed his bax and rope, * This must have been the great fissure, and not the crater. I see no objection to this statement; for in this Cortez had no motive to falsify, and it is the ordinary appea~ance of an active ,,olcano. 112 MEXICO AND ITS RELIGION. the relieving party arrived, and all descended, one by one, upon the rope to a point where they passed the night in safety. .,,, Corchado, on his return, gathered ' up some of the sco- ria and carried it to Puebla, when it was found to con- tain so large a percentage of sulphur as to warrant its 'denouncement' as a sulphur-mine. Capital was pro- cured at Puebla sufficient to set up the rude apparatus we have already described, by means of which a very handsome profit on the adventurn was realized. But, owing to a lawsuit, in which the affair was at that time (1852) involved, no effol't had yet been made to pierce the mou11tain, or to explore a passage through some vent or fissure. A good path had been made up the mountain, and in the month of May it was considered quite a safe undertaking to visit these sulphur-works. CHAPTER X. Texas.-Battle of Madina.-First Introduction of Americans into Tex- as.-Usurpation of Bustamente.-Texas owed no Allegiance to the Usurper . -The good Faith of the United States in the Acquisition of Louisiana and Texas. - Santa Anna pronounces agajnst Bustamente. _:Santa Anna in Texas.-.A Mexican's Denunciation of the Texan War.-His Idea of our Revolution.-He complains of our grasp- ing Spirit.-The right of the United States to occupy unsettled Ter- ritory.-.A few more Pronunciamientos of Santa Anna.-The Ad· ventures of Santa .Anna to the present Date. WE must resume again the narrative of historical events, in order better to set forth the condition of the country through which we are traveling. Texas is a turning-point in the history of Mexico. Captain Don Alonzo de Leon, in the year 1689, * by com- mand of the Vice-King of New Spain, took formal pos - session of Texas, in the name of His Most Catholic Ma- jesty of Spain. Afterward a few military and mission- ary settlements were commenced, with indifferent s~c - cess, as the Indians were of a less docile · character than those of the southern provinces. They were ever i-es - tive under the yoke of spiritual taskmasters, so that the feeble missions and presidios had only a sickly existence down to the time of the breaking out of the civil wars of Mexico. We have aheady noticed the statement that, in the year 1819, a Mexican general routed at the River Madi - na a party of 3000 men, who were on their way to join the 1:exican insurgents. The above number is some - what improbable; say there were 500, which would be "' Breva Reseiia Hist6rica, by Gen. Tornel. Mexico, 1852. P. 135. 114 .MEXICO .AND ITS RELIGION. about as many as could well be mustered at that early period for a filibustering expedition at New Orleans. In 1820 Moses Austin applied to the Spanish authori- ties, and obtained from them the right to settle a certain number of families in Texas. He died soon after, and his son Stephen obtained a confirmation of the grant, or, rather, a new grant, from the authorities established at Mexico under the Federnl Constitution of 1824. Under that constitution Texas was annexed to Coahuila, and, together with it, was formed ~to the united state of Co- ahuila and Texas. From the authorities of this state divers other Americans obtained grants of land under the provisions of the colonization law of the l\liexican Congress of the year 1824. From this time all things went smoothly on, ancl the grantees were busily engaged in introducing the number of families which were stipu- lated for in the said law, and in the grants made under it, when the Spanish armada landed at Tampico. In consequence of the great dangers threatening the -· country, Congress had conferred dictatorial powers upon the President of the Republic, Vincente Guerrero. By virtue of his dictatorship, . he had invested the Vice-pres- ident of the Republic, Bustamente, ·with the command of an army of reserve, which he established at Jalapa. As soon as the Spanish army had capitulated to Santa Anna, Bustamente put forth a p1·onunciamiento, and, marching to the city of Mexico, he deposed the Presi- dent, whom he afterward caused to be cruelly put to death. Having now, by means of a successful military insurrection, possessed himself of the executive power, he proceeded by violent means to overturn, one by one, the governments of the individual states. In this war against the states he was also successful, except in the most distant one, that of Coahuila and Texas. Texas clea:rly owed no allegiance to the usurper Bus- DOWNFALL OF BUSTAMENTE. 11µ tamente. It was an independent state in all respects, excepting those powei-s it had conceded to the general government by adopting the Federal Constitution. The subversion of this Constitution reinstated Texas as ·· an independent republic. It owed no farther allegiance to ]fexico. Texas might at once have applied for admis- sion into our Union, or have asked to be annexed to any other foreign state, pleading not only her inherent right to do so, but the excessive cruelties that Bustamente in - flicted on those state authorities that opposed his usur - pations. The learned and eloquent General Tornel, distinguish- ed alike as a statesman and a soldier, from whose popu- lar history we have below made a brief extract, in plead - ing the cause of his country, charges bad faith against the United States in the acquisition of both Louisiana and Texas, but in both arguments he fails to make out a case. By the treaty of San Ildefonso in 1800, France acquired an imperfect title to Louisiana; by the treaty of Paris in 1803, she conveyed all her title to the United States. But, before the - United States would pay over any money on account of the treaty of 1803, she i-equired Spain to confirm the treaty of San Ildefonso by putting France into the actual possession of Louisiana. This being done, and not till it was done, did the United States pay over the $15,000,000 stipulated a . s the pur - chase money. The dispute with Spain _ a , bout boundaries was settled by the treaty for the acquisition of Florida, in 1819, which established boundaries that were confirmed in a subsequent treaty with Mexico. Thus far, certaiu- 1 y, there was no breach of faith. On the night of January 3d, 1832, the gan-ison of Vera Cruz JJronounced against the usm-ping government of Bustamente, which was then suffering dreadfully from the want of funds. A. delegation was sen t the same 116 MEXICO AND ITS RELIGION. night to Santa Anna, who had been in retirement at his estate of .Manga de Clavo since the murder of his friend, President Guerrero. This fourth insurrection was pros- ecuted with varying success for several months, but was finally terminated by the capitulation of Bustamente at Puebla, and the recalling of Pedraza from banishment in the United States, to serve out the few months that re- mained of his term of office as President. In 1832 Santa Anna was elected successor to Pedra- za as President_ of the Federal Republic of Mexico. Tex- as had now of right the option of returning into the fam::- :i).y of foxican States, or of maintaining her separate existence ; but she was under no obligation to :return, for, the confederacy having been once broken up, it was optional with the only member that had not submitted to the usurper to re-enter this unreliable family, or to cbntinue outside. This election was not long open; for, by the pronunciamiento of Toluca (1835), the Federal Constitution was again abolished, and Santa Anna be- came dictator in fact, if not in name. The clergy were at the bottom of this last revolution, and they demand- ed, as the price of their suppo1·t, the extirpation of her- esy from the ten-itory of the Republic. This meant the indiscriminate slaughter of all Texans. Santa Anna, who, in all his previous wars, had never shown a dispo- sition to be cruel to the vanquished, was so dazzled with the prospects before him as to be willing to make the slaughter of the A1amo and of Fannin's division an offer- ing to a priesthood who were plotting for the restoration of the Inquisition. The battle of San Jacinto was, in its consequences, more disastrous to the designs of the ecclesiastical party than even to Santa Anna himself. Let me stop in my narrative of events to translate a Mexican's eloquent denunciation - of the Anglo-Saxon race. It is from the pen 9f General Tornel, a most un- MEXICAN VIEW OF THE ANGLO - SAXONS. 117 compromising enemy of that race and of its religion. Thus he opens his account of the Texan difficulty: "In order to unde1·stand what we to - day (1852) are, and what we to - day value, it is indispensable to discover, and to perpetuate the history of one of the greatest scan- dals of the age - all of its antecedents, all of its conse- quences, all that can aid in coming to knowledge of this greatest act of injustice of which the foxican nation has been the victim. " Those who cross the sea change their skies, but not their nature. The Anglo-Saxons abandoned their coun - try from physical and moral necessities, and on account of their political and religious quarrels. Transporting themselves to the virgin forests of America, they brought with them the characteristics of Northmen ; they were distinguished for sob1-iety, labi,riousness, and industTy; for ardor in their enterprises; for constancy, and for that spirit of adventure which subjugates all by the right of conquest. They leveled all obstacles by the vigor of their arm and the sweat of their brow, and from their successes has ai-isen the hope of acquiring every thing by the inspii-ation of their talents and the force of their genius. "The English, of whom John Cabot was a compatriot, came by the northern route [to America], and discovered an immense country, whose rivers are the grandest, whose forests appea1· to be antediluvian, whose lakes would be called seas in Europe ; with harbors on an extensive coast which rival the greatest in the world . It has a soil suited to every purpose of agriculture. In short, it has facilities for all enterprises, and for raising the ma - terial of a productive commerce sufficient to establish advantageous 1·elations with the Old - World, and for cre- ating an independent :mciety ; for supplying its necessi- ties; for making its condition enviable; for rivaling the 118 MEXICO AND ITS RELIGION. power} the influence, and the destinies of its parent country. "The country which they discovered they found scarcely inhabited, although here and there wandernd some tribes without social organization, without gov- ernment, without the power of concentrntion, even to the extent which numbers give to savages. They [the col- onists J early learned that they could establish their do- minion without resistance, and that they could extend it as far as they could open the country with the ax of the active colonist, who considered himself the heir of undiscovered wealth, which would result from an inevit- able destiny. The colonies which were established along the coast, and those which were formed in the interior, increased, as increases the gentle rill in its onward coui-se by uniting with other rills and with river s , until, b e com- ing one vast torrent, it precipitates itself into the ocean. The colonies of Tyre, of Carthage, or Rome were never comparable with the Anglo-American colonies, who ap- propriated to themselves, in less than a century, regions · more extended than the half of Europe. "The observer of the providential destiny of the An- glo-Saxon race in .America notices that the emancipation of the thirteen .American colonies, which constituted so many states and an independent nation, instead of being the result of the alleged political grievances, was rather the impulsive force of expansion, which encountered in- superable obstacles while the states were colonies sub- ordinate to a European nation. They were retarded in their advances by relations and compromises with other nations. The .Anglo-Saxon, when translated to the wilds 0f .America, needed only a stopping-place in order to found a peculiar and exclusive polity, which should en- able him to maTch ever onward in his aggressions and usurping institutions. WEAKNESS OF THE SPANISH TITLE. 119 "The United States of America lost no time in mak- ing themselves powerful; a nation rich in its industry,, . enviable in its commerce, respectable in its social organi- zation, which are so favorable to the advancement of the condition of man. VVhen the govemment had regl~latecl, ,vith great prudence and wisdom, the interior system of the states, it placed itself upon the watch for the com- promised circumstances of em banassecl European states that possessed colonies on the .American continent. Some of these colonies were contiguous to the limits which the United States had acquired definitely by the treaty of peace of 17 83. In order to augment, at the expense of her neigh born, her possessions, already immense, and not yet well populated, she set about acquii·ing teni.tory by astuteness, by cunning, by violence, and also by justifi- able means, when such were available. Spain first, and Mexico afterward, have been her victims; and to-day these rich and · powerful states display the spoil . s, for such they are in Teality, which they have wrested from us. Such are the people that already rival those nations of Europe whose territories am the most extensive, and whose commerce is spread over all the seas." My limits will not permit me to follow General Tornel through his statement of the manner in which Louis- iana, Florida, and Texas were acquired, and to notice his complaints of the injustice committed by the Amer- icans in all these acquisitions. He loses sight of the fact that Spain had no title to her possessions in Amer- ica but that of discovery, and that very doubtful claim had not, in a period of 300 years, been strengthened by actual settlement. Three or four dilapidated mud forts, and as many more feeble missions, constituted the sum total of the Spanish possession of Texas; and settle- ments scarcely worthy of the name in the other northern departments constituted all the title that Spain could 120 ?vrEXICO AND ITS RELIGION. put forth to those countries; while the right of Mexico was as much weaker, as Mexico was a weaker power than Spain, and morally incapable of settling the disput- ed territory. The claim of the United States was the necessity for land in which to settle her population, which was so rapidly augmenting by foreign immigration. Once in ten years she requires a portion of the wild land nominally lJelonging to Mexico, and once in ten years she must take it. In 1836, while Santa Anna was a prisoner in Texas, Bustamente, then in banishment in Europe, was elected President 1Jy the same party that had chosen Santa Anna as Dictator. In 1838, the government having in- cuned the hostility of France, Vera Cruz was blockaded for several months, during which time a night foray was made into the town by a party of ]Ti-en.ch sailor s , headed by the Prince de J oinville. On their return, they were pursued by Santa Anna to the fole, where they stopped farther pursuit by discharging a cannon, which deprived Santa Anna of one of his legs, and effectually wiped out the recollections of his unfortunate Texan campaign. In 1841, the government being no longer able to raise funds at two per cent. a month, the Minister of War, Va- lencia, pronounced against Bustamente in the citadel of Mexico. The result was, that Santa .A.nna was again elevated to supreme power, according to the plan of Ta- cu baya, and the interpretation he put on that plan. In 1843 a slight change was made in the Constitution, but he remained in power until 1845, when, having left the capital to put down the insurrection of Paredes, Con- gress declared against him. Herrera was appointed Pres- ident, and Santa Anna was imprisoned for a while in the castle of Perote, and finally banished from the coun- try. In 1847 he was recalled by the Federal party, with the consent of President Polk, and became the SANTA ANNA. 121 chief support of the war, notwithstanding his totally in- adequate means for organizing a successful defense. ·when the defense could no longer . be protracted, he left the city by night, and retired to the vV est Indies, and afterward to Carthagena, where he remained unt i l he was recalled in 1852, and again restored to suprnme au - thority. We may sum up the politico - military life of Santa. Anna by saying that he ha~ been engaged in eight pro- nuncia11ii e ntos. Five of these have been made by him - self; three by others, for his benefit. Twice he has been chosen President by the Federal pa , rty of the Fed ... eral Republic of Mexico. Three times he has been made President by the Central, or Ecclesiastical party. He has been twice banished from :Mexico, and each time recalled again and placed at the head of affairs. He has twice been taken prisoner, when his captors held long consultations upon the propriety of putting him to death. He has, in turn, been the candidate of a.11 parties, and has served all parties faithfully in turn, but most faithfolly of all he has served himself. Actively engaged through life as a politician and a soldier , he has fotmd time to xe - adjust the whole complicated system of Mexican laws~ and, in a series of volumes of autocratic dec1·ees, he has drawn from that chaotic mass a new syste111 of jurispru- dence, that will stand as a monument of his genius as long as the Mexican nation shall continue. F CHAPTER XI. Jlrom Puebla to Mexico. - The Dread of Robbers. - The Escort . - T l as- cala.-The Exaggerations of Cortez and Bernal Diaz.-The Truth about Tlascala . - The Advantages of Tlascala to Cortez. - ,Vl10 ,vas Bernal Diaz.-"\Vho wrote his History.-First View of Mexico. AT early t,vi l ight, two stage-loads of passengers, drawn rapidly by hvelve wilcl horses through the now deserted sti-eets of Puebla, approached the gate that opened out upon the road to Mexico. The rattle of the wl1eels and the clatter of • so many hoofs had awakened the gate- keeper, and at our approach the ponderous · portals that inclosed the city by night flew open, and away we whid- ed out into the beautiful vega of Puebla. In times of civil disorder, this is a fine :field for rn b- bers to ply their vocation in; and even now, when all was quiet, there was no little apprehension of a visit from these sovereigns of the road. The passengers had no- ticed my unmistakable Anglo-Saxon name, as it was called at the stage - door, and, when I had taken my seat, an elegant, long Colt's revolver was passed to me by a passenger in full uniform. Such is one of the advant- ages that a traveler enjoys who belongs to a race of men of acknowledged courage-an _ advantage that enabled me to travel alone across the continent without encumber- ing myself with a weapon; for, whern all supposed me fully armed, and skilled in the use of weapons by in- stinct, I found it convenient to go unarmed. Upon the present occasion, I did not wish to xaise a smile of in- credulity by protesting that I had never fired a pistol in my life, so I quietly consent~d to play the part of hero. REPUBLIC OF '.rLASC.ALA. 123 By displaying my weapon carelessly in my hand when we stopped to take coffee at Saint Martin's, I procured a seat up_on the outside, which had been refused me at Puebla. Our escort consisted of a body of six lancers, who, standing at the roadside, saluted us as we passed, and then rode after us at the top of their speed. Poor fel- lows ! they found it hard riding to keep up with the coach. It was some consolation for them to see a man seated on the top of the stage with a Colt's pistol, even if he did not know how to use it, and for once they rode out their beat without getting frightened at their shad - ows. As the robbers were as great cowards as them - selves, whether the man on the box was really a £.re - eater or not, it answered the same purpose. These stage- guards am heroes in their way; they always come when the mad appears the safest, and never fail to ask for charity, but invariably leave you just as the coach ap- proaches a thicket. A few days ago, this guard caught a fellow on the road whom they believed to be · a robber, and hung him with a pocket-handkerchief. 1 ; '1\ T e are now passing the borders of that famous In-: dian republic, of the high table-land, which shut out des - potism by a lofty wall, * and was so completely isolated in the times of l\Iontezuma that its people could obtain no foreign products, not even cotton or salt ;t whose food was the maize which they cultivated, and the game w~1ich they caught upon the snow-capped mountains ; whose clothing was made from the maguey, and from skins of animals taken in the chase; a people whose government was a council of elders, which was pre.sided over by an hereditary chief; whose political institutions have been * Folsom's Letters ef Cortez, p. 49. t Bernal Diaz. Lockhart's translation. London, 1844. Vol. i. p. 157. 124 MEXICO .AND ITS RELIGION. the study and admiration of the learned of many lands. That is, in plain English, they were an ordinary tribe of North American savages, obtaining their living, as other Indians did then and do now, by the cultivation of Indian corn and hunting, having the same crude form of government that is common to all the savage tribes of N OTth America. They gloried in their savage no - tions of independence, and submitted only to the merest shadow of authority. They had not yet reached that point of social organization at which the loose govern- ment of savages gives way to the despotism of the next stage of advancement, which we shall call barbarism,. The difference between the Tlascalans and the .Aztecs was the same difference that exists between the North American savages, who live in 1mderground wigwams,* and the barbarous tribes of the interior of Africa, that live in cities of mud huts above the ground, and who yield a slavish obedience to a half-naked emperor, who sits or squats upon an ox-hide in a mud palace, exercis- ing the power of life and death, according to his moment- ary caprice, upon thousands of trembling slaves. The concentrated power and wealth of a whole tribe is in single hands, and is made available for conquest and for the sensual enjoyment of a single individual. Savages can only act in concert when all are agreed, hence coun- cils are their governing power, and the orator has as much influence among them as the successful wanior ; but when they have advanced a step, and power has be- come concentrated, the orator becomes silent, and the war-chief is the government. I had read with avidity the histories of Mexico, and gave to them implicit credence, until I stood upon the Indian mound of Cholula, and searched in vain for the * "We buried our dead in one of the subterranean dwellings . " - Diaz, ,rol. i. p. 152. CORTEZ .AND BERNAL DI.AZ. 125 least vestige of that magnificent city of 40,000 houses, which, only 300 years ago, was in the height of its pros- perity; and though it is not in the power of man, in the space of a thousand years, wholly to obliterate the traces of a great city, yet not a vestige of the Cho l ula of Cor - tez can now -be found. 1i.s I followed up the investi- gation, I soon discovered that not a vestige of any of the cities that entered into the alliance with Cortez can now be found. Not a vestige exists even of the old city of Mexico, except the calendar and sacrificial stones, of which I shall speak hereafter. Cortez says that a dry stone wall, nine feet high, in- closed Tlascala from mountain to mountain, thrnngh which he entered between overlapping semicircles of the wall. He says that he was attacked first by an army" of 6000 Indians, then by an army of 100,000 on . one day, and on the next by 149,000. He says farther, "I attacked another place, which was so large that it con- tained, according to an examination I caused to be made, more than . 20,000 houses." Of the capital of Tlascala, he says, "It is larger than Granada, and much stronger, and contains as many :fine houses and a much la.rge:r: population than that city did at the time of its capture." .A comparison of the statements of Bernal Diaz and those of Cortez will cast some discredit upon the narra- tive of the former. The stout old chronicler cuts down the 100,000 Indians in the second battle to 50,000, and makes no mention of the third great action, in which 149,000 Indians were said by Cortez to have been en- gaged. Here is another comparison : " There is," says Cortez, "in this city [Tlascala J, a market, in which every day 30,000 people are engaged in buying and selling, besides many other merchants who are scattered about the city. The market contains a great variety of aJ:ticles, both of food and clothing, and 126 MEXICO AND ITS IrnLIGION. all kinds of shoes for the - feet, jewels of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and ornaments of feathers ; all as well a1Tanged as they possibly can be found in any pub- lic square in the world.";* Now see the difference between this great Munchau- sen and his professed apologist and companion, the writer of Bernal Di~z, who was familiar with the suppressed manuscript of Las Casas, and makes quotations from it. "The elder Xicotencotl," says Bernal Diaz, "now in- formed Cortez that it was the general wish of the in - habitants to make him a present, if agreeable to him. Cortez ans1Yered that he should at all times be most happy to reeeive one ; they accordingly spread some mats on the floor, and over them a few cloaks, upon which they arranged five or s i x pieces of gold, a few articles of trifling value, and several parcels of manufac- tured nequen-altogether a poor present, and not worth twenty pesos (dollar s). The caziques, on presenting these things to Cortez, said to him, ' MaHnche . we can ' easily imagine that you will not exactly expei·ience much joy on receiving a present of such wretched things as these; but we have told you before that we are poor- possessing neither gold nor other riches, as the deceitful :Mexicans, with their present monarch, Montezuma, have, by degrees, despoiled us of every thing we had. Do not look to the small ·value of these things, but accept them in all kindness, and as coming from your faithful friends and servants.' These presents were, at the same .time, accompanied by a quantity of provisions. "t Thus, according to Cortez, the Tlascalans dwelt in cities rivaling the most polished and commercial cities of Eurnpe; according to Diaz, they were so poor that they were unable to make a present worth twenty dol- lars! Cortez gives a view of "a large wall of dry stone, * Letters, p. 61. t Bernal Diaz, vol. i. p. 179. ' fHE 'I'R TH .ABOUT TLASC.AL.A. 127 about nine feet in height, which extends across the val- ley from one mountain to the other : it was twenty feet in thickness, surmounted throughout its whole extent by a breastwork a foot and a half thick, to enable them to fight from the top of the wall." Diaz says, "We came to an enormous intrenchment, built so strongly of stone, lime, and a kind of hard bitumen, that it would only have been possib l e to break. it down by means of pick- axes."* -Such a wall, or the vestiges of it, would last for thousands of years ; for it is not in the destru c tive pow- er of man wholly to obliterate • it, and yet I have been ut- terly unable to find even a ruin, ancl I verily believe the whole of this Chinese wall is a fiction. . Tlascala is an Indian i-eservation of an oval shape, sixty - nine miles long by forty - two miles wide. Its cli - mate is cold. Its soil is not i-emarkably go o d. It has had its independent government since the time of Cortez . Its means of subsistence have been increased, and ex- tensive manufactories have been established. The only enumeration ever made of its inhabitants was in 1793, when it was found to contain 51,177 souls. In the ex - trnvagant official estimate of last year, its population is set down at 80,171. t Cortez says that Tlascala con:.. tained a population ?f 500,000 inhabitants, according to a report made by his orders . We have here our his - torians within metes and bounds, between mountains ancl stone walls; a perfect non - intercourse establishecl with all the world ; all foreign means of supply cut off, and the Indians dependent for subsistence upon thei r own mde cultivation of maize . My readers may call me ex- travagant if I should say that Tlascala probably c o n - tained about 10,000 inhabitants in the time of Cortez, and could therefore, in an emergency, produce 1000 war - riors. A greater number than this would be contrary * Vol. i . p . 144. t Colleccion de Leye:,, 1853, p. 184 . 128 MEXICO AND I'l'S RELIGION. to the laws of population. I might here stop and call hard names, but it is not my purpose to "bring a rail- ing accusation" against any. My only duty is to place evidence before the reader, and then let him judge how much reliance is to be placed upon any historical state- ments that have been trimmed and modified to suit the purposes of the Spanish Inquisition. The quick wit of Cortez early discovered that Tlascala was a gi-eat natural fortress, and that he could make it the centre and base of his operations in the wars he was contemplating against the · different Indian tribes of the table-land. The hatred borne against the Mexicans by the Tlasca1ans assured him of their co-operation against Montezuma. Hence the Tlascalans were especially fa- vored. They shared with him in all the perils of his en- terprise, and in the plunder gathered from the conquered tribes; for with them rested the question whether he should succeed, and be hailed as the hero of a holy war, or should be bmnded as a buccaneer, robber, and en- slaver. A.nd when, in course of time, the Indian ele- ment pecame the Tuling power, curses loud and deep were muttered against the enslaver of the Indians, and the Tlascalans came in for their share of imprecations. But who was Bernal Diaz? This would be a strange question to ask in a country where there was liberty of speech and liberty of the press, but in Spain the censor- ship was not only repressive, but it was " suggestive." It not only suppressed the writings of authors, but com- pelled them to father productions that were the very op- posite of those they wished to publish. Take the case of poor Sahagun, who wrote a refutation of the historian of the conquest, under the preten;,e of,giving the Indian account of that event: when his book was finally allow- ed to see the light, after a delay of many years, it was found that his own account of the conquest had been sup- JJressed, and the 1·egular Spanish account had been sub- CENSORSHIP OF HISTORICAL BOOKS. 129 stituted. Of Las Casas's "Apology for the Indians,"* which had occupi~d thirty-two years of his life, that part only was allowed to appear which treated of Saint Do- mingo. But his refutation of the histories of the con- quest of Mexico is wholly suppressed. To have proved ihe Conquistadors a gang of unprincipled buccaneers would have spoiled a Holy War, which was just what the Inquisition would not allow to go before the world. To the little work of Boturini on Mexico there are ap- pended, 1. The declaration of his faith in the Roman Catholi c Church in the most unequivocal terms. 2. The license of the Jesuit father. 3. The license of an In- quisitor. 4. The license of the Judge of the Supreme Council of the Indias. 5. The license of the Royal Council of the Indias. 6. The approbation of the "qual- ificator" of the Inquisition, who was a barefooted Car- melite monk. 7. The license of the Royal Council of Castile. Beyond all this, the writer must be a person in holy orders, and be a person of sufficient influence to obtain the favorable notice of all these bodies, who were instinctively hostile to the diffusion of all information, particulaJ.-ly in regard to the New vV oTld. Nor was this the end of the difficulty ; the license of any one of these officials could be revoked at pleasure, and, when i- epub - lished, the work had to be re-'' visecl . " Even as late as the yeaJ.· 1825, a Spanish standard author could not be republished without expurgation. t With such facts be- fore us, it is safe to declare that not a single statement of fact that affected either the interests of the king or the Chmch was ever published in Spain or her colonies dming the three hundred years of the existence of the Inquisition; but every thing published was modified to suit the wishes of the censorn, without any rega1·d to the sentiments of the putative author. "' Lord Kingsborougli, vol. vi. p. 265. t A Year in Spain, by an American, F* 130 MEXICO .AND ITS RELIGION. But who was Bernal Diaz? How came he to be fa- miliar with the writings of Las Casas that never saw the light ? Had he access to the secret archives of the con- vent ? He refers to the account of Las Casas as follows : "These [the slaughters at Cholula J are, among others, those abominable monstrosities which the Bishop of Chi- a pas, Las Casas, can find no end in enumerating. But lie is wrong when he asserts that we gave the Cholulans the above-mentioned chastisement without any provoca- tion, and merely for pastime."* The history of Diaz is among the standard liternry productions of that age, and is a very picture of candor and simplicity. On every page there are such evident efforts at truthfulness as to rnise a suspicion that something more than a simple narrative was the object of writing this book fifty years after the conquest. By supposing the author to be only sixteen years old when he came to America, Lockhart makes him only seventy years of age when he wrote the work. But if we suppose him to have been of a reason- able age when he began his adventures, he must have been between eighty and ninety years old when this book is alleged to have been written. Gomara had overdone the matter in the superhuman achievements which he had ascribed to Cortez, while Las Casas had proved the conqueror and his party to have been a gang of cmel monsters. Now, something had to be done to avert the odium that was beginning to attach to this crusade against the enemies of the Church. In Spain, where a padlock was upon every man's mouth, and where each one bru-ied his suspicions in the most secret recesses of his heart, and trembled lest, even in his dreams, a thought of impiety might reach the ear of a familiar, his- tory could always be made to conform to the interests of the Church. * B e rnal Dia::, yo). i. p . 207. WHO "\YROTE BRRNAL DIAZ? 131 Since the records of the Spanish Inquisition have be- come the property of the public, and the manner in which the facts of history were trifled with is now un- derstood, it is a question more easily asked tl1an an- swered, '"\ifho wTOte such and such a book ? ,~Tho, then, wrote the history of Bernal Diaz ? ,lV e · have seen that it cuts down the monstrous exaggerations of Cortez more than a half, yet we shall see that the statements of Diaz are still incredible. It is a very r elig- ious book, as the Spaniards understand the word rnlig- ion, and , reflects great credit on the Church. But, with the slight evidence we have presented, no one would charge the work with being altogether a fiction, and Ber- nal Diaz a myth. All that can be said is, that we are left in that state of uncertainty in which every one finds himself who looks into .a 1·ecord that was within the con- trol of the Inquisitorial censors. Our stage-ride has been forgotten in discussing his- tor!cal questions; and while we have been dwelling upon Cortez and Bernal Diaz, we have crossed the plain, and been climbing the heights of Rio Frio, and now we begin to catch glances of the valley and of the city oflV[exi- co-a city and valley so renowned in history and tradition, that it seems more like a city of the Old 1lil orld than a town in the interior of the continent that Columbus dis- covered. Truly it is an old city. It was an old city before Columbus was born-an old city in a new world. It is one of the links that binds the present age to ages long past and almost forgotten-a city i.vhere the pres- ent and the past are strangely mingled together. In its streets a.re " penitents," wandering, in sack.cloth and san- dals, with a downcast look and a rnpe for self-castigation, among soldiers in new French uniforms and ladies in the latest Paris fashions. This is not the time for a favorable view of the valley fro~ this point. To see it in its full glory, we must look upon it at sunrise. CHAPTER XII. Acapulco . - The Advantages of a Western Voyage to India.-The great annual Fair of Acapulco.-The Village and Harbor of Acapulco . - The vYar of Santa Anna and Alvarez.-The Retreat.-Traveling alone and unarmed.-The Peregrino Pass.-Quiricua and Cretinism. -Chilpanzingo. - An ill-clad Judge. - Iguala. - Alpayaca.-Cuarna- vaca. LET us now make a journey in another direction-from Acapulco northward to the city of Mexico-the route that the East In.dia trade used to follow. But, £rst of all, let us discourse a little time about this port of Aca- pulco, once so famous upon the South Seas. It was not discovered when Cortez built, in Colima, the vessels that went to sea1·ch for a northwest passage; but when they had returned from their fruitless search, they an- ch0red in the mountain-girt harbor of Acapulco. The discoveries of the celebrated navigator, Magellan, fixed the commercial character and importance of this sea-port. He had sailed through the straits that bear his name, and coasted northwardly as far as the trades. From this po1·t h~ bore away to the Spice Islands, discovering on the voyage the Philippine Islands, where the city of Ma- nilla was founded. By this voyage he demonstrated that the advantages of a route across the Pacific were so supe.i-ior to a voyage around Cape Horn, as to justify the expense of a land transit from Acapulco to Vera Cruz, and reshipment to Spain. Now that the Panama Rail- road is made, this demonstrntion may prove advanta- geous to other nations. The practical advantage of this discovery was the es- • • ACAPULCO . 135 . tablishment of the annual Manilla galleon, in which was sent out 1,000,000 silver dollars to purchase Oriental products for the consumption of Spain and all her Amer- ican colonies. In this galleon sailed the friars that went forth to the spiritual conquest of India. In it sailed Spanish soldiers, who followed hard after the priests, to add the temporal to the spiritual subjugation of Oriental empires. To this harbor the galleon returned, freighted with the xich merchandise of China, Japan, · and the Spice Islands. VVhen the arrival of the galleon was announced, traders hastened from every quarter of New Spain to at- tend the annual fair. Little vessels from down the coast came to get their share · of the mammoth ..cargo. The king's officeTs came to look after the royal rnvenue ; and carnvans of mules were £Ummoned to transport the Span - ish portion of the freight to Vera Cruz. Thus, for a short time, the population of this village was swollen, from 4000 to 9000, which fell off again when the galleon took her departure. Such was the commercial condition of the town of Acapulco down to the time of the independence. . From this time it was lost to commerce, until it was made a half-way house on the voyage to California. The town lies upon the narrow intervale between the hills and the harbor. It is built of the frailest material, and is de- stroyed about once in ten years by an earthquake. The castle of San Diego stands upon the high bank, and, though commanding the entrance to the harbor, is itself commanded by the sunounding high lands, and has so often been taken by assault during the last thirty years as to be considered untenable. The harbor ap- pears like a nest scooped out of the mountains, into and out of which the tide ebbs and flows through a doubl~ channel riven by an earthquake in the solid rnck Tra- dition says it once had another entrance, but that an 136 MEXICO AND ITS RELIGIO . earthquake closed it up and opened the present channel. There is still another opening in the shaJ.·p mountain ridge that incloses it from the sea, but this opening, dug by the labor of man, at a point opposite the entrance of the harbor, was to let the cool sea-breeze in upon one of the hottest and most unhealthy places upon the con- tinent. Such, in substance, is and was the little city of Acapulco, the seat and focus of the Oriental commerce of New Spain and of all the Spanish empire. Santa Anna and Alvarez are the only 1·emaining in- surrectionary chiefs in Mexico. When I was last in the capital, Santa Anna was reigning supreme in the vice- royal palace, and Alvarez was supreme at Iztla, the cap- ital 9£ the Department of Guerrero, of which Acapulco is the sea - port town. The two chiefs had been long hos- tile to each other, but a gold mine, discovered upon the bank of the River Mescala, was " the straw that broke the camel's back." Alvarez had not been consulted in the disposition made of it. Santa Anna felt himself powerful in his newly-equipped army of 23,000 men, tI1e finest army that had ever been seen in Mexico-an army which he was maintaining at a daily cost of $23,000. Alvarez was equally strong in his mountain fastnesses, in the affections of th~ Pintos, or " Spotted People," and, above all, in the poverty of his country. Santa Anna took the initiative by sending - 2000 men to garrison Ac- l apulco, and Alvarez committed the f;irst open hostility, by closing the passes against them. Then the cam- paign . began. Santa Anna traveled at the head of his grand army. During his unobstructed maJ:ch to .Aca- pulco there occurred a great many victories, for victories. are indigenous products of Mexico. The siege of the castle of San Diego de Acapltlco was the first of the long list of unsuccessful sieges that distinguished the year 1854. The besiegers dared not risk an assaulti WAR OF SANT.A. ANNA AND .ALVAREZ. 137 and they had not sufficient material for conducting a regular siege. For some - weeks the opposing forces re - mained looking at each other, while almost the only ,blood spilled was by the clouds of musquitoes that hovered over the camp of the grand army, and by the swarms of :fleas that infested the castle. It might well be called a bloody war, for few escaped without bearing the scars of wounds and bloodletting. While the besieging army was itself thus almost de - voured, and had devoured all the eatables of the Pintos, symptoms of rebellion showed themselves at Mexico, to suppress which required the presence of Santa .Anna. The generals of his army thought that they also might i-ender more important services to the country in the streets of - Mexico than in this inglorious war with bloody insects ! A retreat was therefore sounded, and the country of the Pintos was evacuated. Thereupon mshed forth the little garrison from the clutches of the devouring insects, and issued a heroic prnclamation, which was enough to frighten a whole army. It is time to commence my itinerary across the mount- ains northward-to the city of lVIexico. My journey was by the same mule-path that Orienta.I merchants have climbed for centuries, as is shown by the vestiges of that strnnge race of which Humboldt speaks-an inter- mixture of Manillamen and Chinamen with the native race. My ti-aveling companion, who had a pistol, left me and went back at the fast venta, or station - house, four leagues from Acapulco. At Lemones, the second sta - tion-house, fom leagues farther, I passed the night sleep - ing upon a table on the veranda. This is the common lodging-place for solitary travelers in Mexico. Here I formed my £.rst acquaintance with the venta pig, who considers himself the peculiar friend of the traveling 138 :MEXICO A. :rn ITS RELIGION. public. All the advances made by my new acquaint- ance at this first interview were occasional tugs at the blanket during the night, and divers unsuccessful at- tempts to turn the table ov er . .At .Alta, two stages far- ther o"n, the pig ensconced himself on a mat with the children, while he gave me no farther annoyance than an occasional visit, and thrusting of his nose into the hammock where I slept. · It was still dark when I left Alta in order to clear the Peregrino Pass and reach Tierra Colorado that clay. In a fe-\Y hours I gained the top of the pass, and sat down to take a survey of the zigzag way up which my old horse had climbed, and of the extensive region of hill and mountain country before me. It is difficult to believe that over this slight mule-path all the Spanish commerce of India has pa ssed, and cargoes of si l ve r dollars, · amounting to hundr e ds of millions, during a period of three hundred years. Over this pass armies have continued to advance and to retreat with one uni- form result: if the army is a large one, it is starved out of the country ; if it is a small one, it is destroyed. Hunger devours the large annies ; the Pintos devour the little ones. .All around was now as qui e t and soli- tary as the grave. There were no signs to indicate that this spot had been the scene of so much life and conten- tion. The prospect was a delightful one, and I could have enjoyed it much longer had I not been assailed by that common enemy, that has assailed every general and colonel that has crossed this pass-an empty stom- ach ; so that I and my old horse did our very best to reach the ford of the Papagalla, where there was a pre- sumptive possibility that eatables might be found. I found entertainment for bea~t at the ford, but no food for his rider until we reached Tierra Colorado. Here prevails not only that harmless cutan~ous affec- .AN ILL-CLAD JUDGE. 139 ti~n, the Quiricua, which causes peopl~ . to appear spot- ted or painted (Pintos), but also Cretinism, the much more formidable disease so prevalent among the mount- ains of Switzerland. This town is also remembered as the scene of a bloody battle. General Garay, who had lost l1is way the day before, had here come up, and we jogged along together; but as a Mexican general and escort are a doubtful pro- tection to an unarmed man, if there is any real danger on the road, a prudent fraveler will shake them off and travel on alone: vV e passed Buena Vista, the fine sugar estate of M. Comonfort, and Aquaguisotla, and slept at Mazatlan, and the next day arrived at the famous city of Chilpanzingo, or City of the Brnvos, the centre and focus of the insur- rection in the southern provinces. Here, in the public square or plaza, in front of a church built by Cortez, there was a grand bull-fight, or rather ox-fight, in which great efforts were made to infuse some life into a dozen stupid cattle. These efforts were attended with very indifferent success. .A deep oarranca extends to the 1\1:escala, the largest i-iver in Southern Mexico, across which we passed on a mft of gourds, propelled by two naked Indians, who swam across, each holding in his right hand a corner of the raft. The 11ext night, after dark, I arrived at a little village, and hu-ned into an open caravansary. The old man of the establishment was ve~y kind, and offered me a mat to lie on, but he had no corn for my horse. After making some inquiries that were a little unpleasant for a man who was traveling without a passport to answer, he said he would procure for me some corn from the alcalde. This village magistrate, who, in the absence of the "Judge of First Instance," is ex officio a judge, was an enormous negro, over si:&;. foet in height, whose 140 MEXICO .A.ND ITS RELIGIO • dignity was not certainly dependent upon his official rnbes, for a single napkin constituted his whole apparel. He sat upon an ox-skin, which did duty for the wool - sack-the very personification · of the majesty of the law, with curled wig, and hide as lJlack as the gown of the Lord Chief Justice, with the advantage that both were natmal. This was the second negro I had yet seen in the country. The other held a commis sion as captain in the army, and was in the escort of General Garay. I had a hard day's ride to reach the city of Iguala in time to witness the celebration of the independence, which was proclaimed here in 1821. The· celebration, for the most part, consisted in eating and drinking from booths placed around the central squarn of the town. .As I had little time to spare, I hurried on, and soon came to the Puente de Iztla, the carriage - road, that is £.nished thus far southward from the city of 1:exico. I started early next morning upon my journey. Dur- ing the greater part of the day the road led through a continuous corn-field, and toward evening we came to the pretty Indian village of Alpayuca, so neat and well- ordered that it might have passed for one of the mis- sionary Indian villages of om northern Indians, were it not for the fine old Catholic chmch, which must have cost in its construction, centuries ago, :fifty times the value of the present village, without including the cost of the bronze railing, brought from China in the pros- perous days of the Manilla Company. Not stopping to examine the ruins of great antiquity near this place, I rode on six leagues farther, when I ar - rived at the venerable city of Cuarnavaca, the place se - lected by Cortez as the finest spot in all New Spain. This was bestowed upon him, at his own request, by the Emperor Charles V. as a residence. It merits to this day the distinction that has been given to it as one CUA.RNA VACA. 141 -0f the finest spots on earth. It stands close under the shadow of the huge mountains that shield it from the northern blast, and it is at the same time protected from the extreme heat of the tropics by its elevation of 3000 feet. The immense church edifices here proclaim the muni£cence of Cort~z, while the garden of Laborde, open to the world, shows with what elegant t~ste he squan- dered his three several fortunes accumulated in mining. The combination of a £ne day in a voluptuous climate, the beautiful scenery, and the happy faces of the people celebrating New Year's day in the shade of the orange- trees, made an impression upon a traveleT not easily for- gotten. I was too near the city of Mexico to remain long here, and I rode on, up the zigzag way that leads over the mountain rim of the Valley of Mexico. I was not for- tunate enough to accomplish the journey from city to city in a single day, and, from necessity, had to pass the night at the half-way house, upon the summit of the mountain, 10,000 feet above the sea. A poor Hunga- rian, who had been detained here like myself, came and laid his blankets with mine, and then we - lay down, and chattered and shivered together until the morning. Such a night as this detracts somewhat from the enjoyments of this othenv:ise pleasant journey; but when I got a morning view of the valley and city of Mexico from the Crnss of the" Marquis of the Valley," the sufferings of the chilly night were soon forgotten. CHAPTER XIII. California.-Pearl Fisheries.-Missions. - Indian Marriages.-Villages. -Precious Metals.-The Conquest of California compared with that of Mexico . -Upper California under the Spaniards.-Mexican Con- quest of California in 1825.-The March.-The Conquest.-Califor- 11ia under the Mexicans . -American Conquest . -Sinews of fore i gn vVars.-A Protestant and religious 'War.-Early Settlers compared. -Mexico in the Heyday of Prosper i ty. - Rich Costume of the Wom - en.-Superstitious Worship.-When I first saw California . - Lawyers without Laws. - A primitive Court. - A Territorial Judge in San Francisco.-Mistaken Philanthropy.-Mexican Side of the Picture. -Great Alms. - City of Mexico overwhelmed by a Water-spout.- . The Superiority of Californians. I CAN not enter the valley of Mexico, and there dis- cuss the various subjects that present themselves, with- out first gathei·ing from California the data that will elu- cidate the condition of . a country abounding in precious metals. There is a striking dissimilarity between the two Cali- fornias. The American State of California is as cele- brated for its fertility as for its mineral wealth. Penip- sular California, on the other hand, is not distinguished for its minerals, nor remarkab l e for its fertility. With the sea washing it on either s i de, it is a country of drought and barrenness. It is like a neutral ground between the two rainy seasons. To the north of it, the winter is the season of abundant rains, with dry summers. To the south of it, the summer rains are heavy and continuous, without any showers in winter. Thus, lying between the opposite climates, it rarely enjoys the refreshing rains of either. Its back-bone is not a continuation of the rich Sierra Nevada, but of the coast range, which is MEXICAN CALIFORNIA. 143 poor in minerals. The Mexican estimates set down the population as amounting to 12,000,•:l< but an American, who has carefully examined the country, going down the whole length of the peninsula on the one side, and re- turning by the other, fixes it at 4000. The inhabitants are an imbecile race of mixed bloods and Indians, dwell- fog in the few small villages which the country contains, and upon the ranchos and haciendas-. Cattle thrive where water is to be found, and many of the natives are excellent herdsmen. Fish are abund- ant, but the Californians lack the necessary energy to become successful :fishermen upon a large scale. The pearl :fi~heries have for centuries _ brought strangers to this shore of the Gulf, and many of the inhabitants have served as divers with success. The production of pearls in the Sea of Cortez, or Gulf of California, has been so great during the last three centuries, that Mexico has be- come the greatest country for pearls yet known. Every female above the rank of a peasant must have at least one pearl to ornament the pin that fastens her shawl or mantilla upon the top of her head. Most of these pearls are of small value, on account of their imperfection in shape or color ; but their abundance is one of the first things that strike a stranger on entering Mexico. vVith a change of fashions, the foreign demand for pearls fell off so much that, for the last half century, these :fisher- ies have been almost discontinued; but with the reviving demand for pearls, the :fisheries have again risen to im- portance. For a more detailed account of these pearl- :fisheries, I must refer to the following note. t * Golleccion de Leyes, p. 180. t "The whole Pacific coast produces pearls, but the most extensive pearl-fisheries, at the present time, are in the Gulf of California, where, among an inexhaustible supply of little pearls, theTe are produced some of the ver finest quality:. .'The pearls of the Countess de Regla, those of the Marquesa de Gaudalupe, and Madame Velasco, are . from these 144 MEXICO AND lTS RELIGION. In the year 1600 the Jesuits first undertook the . es- tablishment of a mission at Loretto, on the Gulf coast, fisheries, and are remarkable for their great size and value. The great pearl presented to General Victoria, while he was President, was from the same locality." (WARD, vol. ii. p. 293.) "The pearls of this gulf are considered of excellent water, but their ~rather irregular figure somewhat reduces their value. "The manner of obtaining pearls is not without interest. The vessels employed in the fisheries are from fifteen to thirty tons burden. They are usually fit- ted out by private individuals. The armador or owner commands them. Crews are shipped to work them, and from forty to fifty Indians, called Busos, to dive for the oyster. A stock of provisions and spirits, a small sum of money to advance the people during the cruise, a limited sup- ply of calaboose furniture, a sufficient number of hammocks to sleep in, and a quantity of ballast, constitute nearly all the cargo outward bound. "Thus arranged, they sail into the Gulf; and, having arrived at the oyster banks, cast anchor and commence business. The divers are first called to duty. They plunge to the bottom in four or five fathom wa- ter, dig · up with sharpened sticks as many oysters as they are able, rise to the surface, and deposit them in sacks hung to receive them at the vessel's side. And thus they continue to do till the sacks are filled, or the hours allotted to this part of the labor are ended. . "When the £living of the day is done, all come on board and place themselves in a circle around the armador, who divides what they have obtained in the following manner: two oysters for himself, the same number for the Busos, or divers, and one for the government. · This division having been concluded, they next proceed, without moving from their places, to open the oysters which have fallen to the lot of the armador. During this operation, that dignitary has to watch the Busos with the greatest scrutiny, to prevent them from swallowing the peaTls with the oystei:s, a trick which they perform with so much dex- terity as to almost defy detection, and by means of which they often manage to secrete the most valuable pearls. "The government portion is next opened with the same precautions, and taken into possession by the armador. And, last of all, the Busos open theirs, and sell them to the armador in liquidation of debts incur- red for their outfits, or of moneys advanced during the voyage. They usually reserve a few to sell to dealers on shore, who always accompany these expeditions with spirituous liquors, chocolate, sugar, cigars, and other articles of !which Indian divers are especially fond. Since the Mexicans obtained their indep · endence, another mode · of division has been adopted. Every time the Busos come up, the largest oyster which he has obtained is taken by the a,rmador, and laid aside for the use of the Virgin Mary. The rest are thrown in a pile; and, when the day's diving is ended, eight oysters are laid out for the armador, eight for the Busos, and two for the government. CALI:FORNIAN PEARL- : FlSHERY. 145 which has ever since been the capital of the . Peninsula. From the time of their £rst establishment here down to the time of the expulsion of the Jesuits from all the do- minions of Spain, in 1767, they continued to cultivate this field, though it proved more than a match for their wonted perseverance. In a few places, the soil was made to yield its increase by the skillful application of the waters that sprung up among the mountains and rocks. Wherever irrigation was possible at small ex- pense, there an oasis made its appearance, which was in striking contrast to the general barrenness that prevailed. The manner in which conversions were effected by the Spanish priests may seem a little strange to the" volun- taries" of our day. The idea of running down a convert with dogs may seem to be rather an original method of proselyting, and has been severely commented upon by Forbes, and other Americans who have visited the Mis- sions. But then slilch men should bear in mina that Catholics aTe not voluntaTies, and - never rely upon per- suasion to make converts when they have the poweT to use a stronger argument. If this same class of mission- aries used dogs to convert the W aldenses in Italy, there is a greater reason for using them among the half-brutish Indians of California. With such a · race, moral suasion has no force ; and to adduce arguments to convince a man whose only rule of action is the grati£cation of his sensu~l ~ppetites, would be labor thrown away. "In the year 1831, one vessel with seventy Busos, another with fifty, and two with thirty each, and two boats with ten each, from the coast of Sonora, engaged i'n this fishery. The one brought in forty ounces of pearls, valued at $6500; another; twenty-one ounces, valued at $3000; another, twelve ounces, valued at $2000, and the two boats a psopor- tionate quantity. There were, in the same season, ten or twelve other vessels, from other parts, employed in the same trade, which, if equally successful, swelled the value of pearls taken in that year to the sum of more than forty thousand dollars."-FARNHAM's Scenes in the Pacific, p. 307. G 146 MEXICO AND ITS RELIGION. The good fathers took a more sensible view of the case. Having once obtained the consent of an Indian to receive Christian baptism, they took good care that he should not fall back from his profession, but retained him a prisoner of the cross. They used as much mild- ness as is compatible with their system, and only compell- ed their converts to labor as much as was necessary to the success of the mission, the rest of the time being devoted to their spiritual edification ; that is, they were employed in repeating Latin prayers and a Spanish catechism, after an old Indian who-acted as prompter. Sometimes it was necessary to allow the Indians to go abroad for a time, but then their return was provided for by retaining the squaws and papooses as hostages, in the same man- ner as they provided for the return of the plantation bulls, by shutting up the cows and calves in the corral. The system pursued by the Jesuits, and, after their expulsion, by the Dominicans, was to treat the Indians as though they were half human and the other half bes- tial. Abstract! y considered, this was very wrong ; but it was practically the only system of treatment that gave any promise of improving their condition. Though in many respects they were treated as slaves, yet the mis- sionaries had generally at heart the best interests of the Indians. With them it was a settled mle, that when an Indian was to be married, his kindred should be care- fully inquired after, and that among them he was to mar- · ry, or not at all; for long experience had taught the fa- thers that certain diseases, hereditary among them, were checked by each marrying into his own clan, while they were aggravated by intermarriage with a stranger. We may sum up the whole story of the combined missionary and governmental efforts at colonization in Lower Peninsular California, during a period of two hund- red and fifty years, by saying that they jointly succeeded MISSIONS IN CALIFORNIA. 147 in establishing a poverty-stricken village of mud huts, called San Josef, at Cape San Lucas, where the Manilla galleon, on its voyage to Acapulco, could procure a sup-. ply of fresh vegetables to stay the ravages of the scurvy among its crew. They also established a less import .. ant village at La Paz, which, with Loretto, and divers small hamlets and ranchos, constitutes all there is of this parched peninsula. Upper California comes to my aid in illustration of the early condition of Mexico, for, without this assist- ance, many phenomena that are witnessed in Mexico would be inexplicable. The effects of sudden wealth, the great accumulations of precious metals in few hands, the gross immoralities to which such a state of things gives rise, the almost fabulous state of society that arises when, by delays in its export, the accumulations become burdenson,1e to the possessors, are no longer novelties in, our day, and they now serve to illustrate the romance of the history of other times. When, in the year 184 7, a party of American settlers and trappers hoi!3ted the bear-flag in Upper California, their situation was strikingly similar to that of Cortez and his party. Numbers were about equal in each case. The Territory of California was equal to the whole em- pire of Montezuma. The hunte~s and trappers had a more formidable enemy to contend with than Cortez had; but they proved themselves more than a match for all antagonists. Like Cortez, they found numerous villages of mud huts and a country governed by priests, but im- mensely superior in civilization and in arms to the Aztecs. In 1776, the monks of the angelic order of San Fran- cis had established missions along the coast. Adopting in this fertile country the practice of enforcing the labor of the Indians, the missions became vast grazing farms, where the priest, like · the patriarchs of old, was the spir- 148 · MiXIco AND ITS RELIGION. itual and temporal head of the establishment, and had :flocks and he1·ds innumerable. Villages (pueblos) had been established by the aid of the royal government, and mud forts (presidios) were founded as a protection to . both mission and pueblo; and ranges (1·a1ichos) for cattle were granted to individuals. Such was California when it submitted to the "Plan · of Iguala." It was reported to have had 75,000 In- dians in connection with its missions, and a large white and mixed population. But, according to our custom, we must deduct two thirds from all Spanish enumera- tions, and estimate the population of every class at only 25,000 at most. The priests of the missions l1ad quietly acquiesced in the usurpation ofiturbide, and acknowledged hi _ s empire; but when Santa Anna proclaimed a republic, they were struck with horror. The idea of conferring civil rights upon Indians was monstrous. The very existence of the missions depended on keeping these poor creatures in servitude. And as for i-epublicanism, that was in- compatible with the government of the Church; and, as good Catholics and priests, they solemnly protested against it. Had these missionaries been as poor as the apostles, they probably would not have been distmbed for their want of republicanism. But their wealth proved their min, and the min of Upper California. The new republic was at peace, and the surplus sol- diery had to be got rid of. · It was not safe to disband them at home, where they might take to the roads and become successful robbers ~ but 1500 of the worst wem selected for a distant · expedition-the conquest of the far-off territoi-y of California. And - then a general was found who was in all respects worthy of his soldiery. He was pre-eminently the greatest coward in the Mexi- can army-so great a coward, that he subsequently, with- MEXICAN CONQUEST OF CALIFORNIA. 149 out stTiking a blow, smrendered a fort, with a garrison of 500 men, unconditionally, to a party of 50 foreigners. Such was the great General Echandrea, the Mexican conqueror of California ; and such was the army that he led to the conquest of unarmed priests and an unarmed province. It was a perilous expedition-perilous, not to the soldiers, but to the villagers upon their route. All dreaded their approach and rejoiced at their depart- ure, for their march through their own cow1try was a continued triumph, if one may judge from the amount of phmder they took from their friends upon the road. It was an expedition that Falstaff would have rejoiced to command, and his regiment would have distinguished themselves in such · a war. Dry and dusty were the des- ert plains over which they marched, and dry and dusty were the thxoats of the army, for cigaritos were scarce, and mitscal could seldom be found. But the toils of the long marches were :relieved by frequent fandangoes, for the wives that followed the expedition equaled the men in numbers and courage. ' This long journey, and these days of perilous march- ing and nights of dancing, at length came to an end by their arrival at the enemy's frontier-the frontier of Cal- ifornia, which, to their joy, they found unguarded; nor was there any found to dispute their passage or "to make them afraid;" for, had there been fifty resolute persons to oppose them, this valiant army would have absconded, and California would have remained an ap- panage of the crown of Spain. But Providence had or- dered it otherwise; and this h.orde of vagabonds (leperos) came rushing on, with their wives ancl. children, until they reached the cattle-yards (corntls), and then was dis- played their valor and their capacity for beef, and in the name of " God and Liberty" they gratified their ap- petite for plunder. The priests, on their part, stood up 150 MEXICO AND ITS RELIGION. manfully, and witnessecl a good confession. They re- fused to accept this phantom of liberty which a party of vagabonds brought to them. The conquerors, how- ever, could afford to be magnanimous in the midst of so much good eating, and no vengeance was inflicted upon unarmed men. But when the prefect of the missions 1 was shipped off to Manilla, the war was at an encl, for , there was no means of defense, or, rather, it was changed from a war against priests to one against the cattle. Thus was California conquered and annexed to the United States of Mexico in the year 1825, and the laws and constitution of that republic extended over it. But it is an abuse of words to say that any law existed from that time onwaTC1. The confusion produced by the irruption of this horde of vagabonds continued un- interrupted, and it involved, in one chaotic mass, law, order, and every public and private right. The history -0f the country is inexplicable, and its public archives are a mass of such gross irregularities, and show such a total disregard of all law, that they are _ little better than the Sibylline leaves. The party that raised the "bear flag" met with no opposition. The party that landed from the shipping, and took possession of Monterey and San Francisco, were alike successful. But when a small party of Amer- ican soldiers, under General Kearney, entered the coun- try from the west, the rancheros took the alarm, and rush- ed forth on their fleet horses to defend their private prop- eity from spoliation, for they had no idea of regular sol- diers disconnected from robbery and cattle-stealing! The Californians fought bravely, and hemmed in the little army of Americans until they were in a suffering con- dition for provisions, and until the dreaded hunters and trappers, and draughts from the shipping, routed the herdsmen and released the beleaguered force. This is AMERICAN CONQUEST OP CALIFORNIA. 151 all there was that looked like war in the American ac- quisition of this most valuable territory. Not only was there this similarity in respect to the inad~quate means by which Mexico and. California were acquired, but there is also a striking' similarity in the fact of the immediate discovery of inexhaustible mines of precious metals, that gave importance to an othenvise comparatively insignificant conquest. Though so many centuries apart, each produced the same effect upon the political affairs of nations by suddenly furnishing the world with an abundant supply of the precious metals. The mines of Mexico, with some small supplies from South America, furnished the sinews of those religious wars that desolated Europe after the · Reformation, and enabled Spain to maintain her vast armaments in the Spanish peninsula, and in her Italian kingdoms and · principalities, and in her Belgian provinces. Spain was able to subsidize the armies of the Catholic League in France, and the forces of the Catholic Princes of Ger- many, and to turn back the tide of the Protestant Ref- ormation after it had entered Italy, overrun Navarre, and reached her own frontier. The gold of California and Australia has furnished England the sinews by which she has set on foot armies, and subsidized nations in the present crusade against Russia. At the time of the Reformation, all the precious metals were poured into the lap of a fanatical Catholic govern- ment; now they are in Protestant hands, and all, at last, find their resting-place, even those of Mexico, in the Lon- don market; while out of English Protestantism has our ,republic arisen, which is still united to her by a com- mon language, a common religion, and commercial rela- _ tions, so that the London market regulates the value of our stocks and the price of the food we eat. But our common Protestantism is not the Protestantism of the 152 MEXICO AND ITS RELIGION. Reformation : that was the Protestantism of princes, and every where rested for support upon state patronage, the people, in that epoch, having no political existence. Prot- estantism was then a state institution, and soon lost its vitality in such an unnatural alliance. The Protestant- ism of om day is the Protestantism of dissent, which re- jects state support, yet has shown itself more poweiful than governments. It has restored peace to Ireland, and made its proselytes there by tens of thousands after the last British regiment was withdrawn. It has rent in twain the Church of Scotland, and is fast revolutionizing the Church of England, by driving to Rome those who prefer superstition to democracy, while it draws the re- mainder of the nation to itself. In the United States it is the ruling power, though it has here no political authority. It has penetrated the most obscure hamlets of France and Spain, and made thousands of converts in Italy itself. And where its preachers could not pen- etrate, there the written Word has found its way. The letters of Cortez show that he, like his master, was above the superstitions of the Spanish · race ; yet both, skillful diplomatists, knew well how to avail them- selves of the superstitions of others. The early Spanish adventurers to Mexico were a good illustration of the doctrine of total depravity, and the priests, that held them in leading-strings, were as depraved as themselves. " Like priests, like people." Our first settlers in Cali- fornia had learned self-government and self-control in the school of Protestantism; and when they took posses- sion of that part of the country bey011-d the limit of Span- ish settlements, where there were ~10 laws and no writ- ten code, they were a law unto themselves, and the Spanish Americans that gathered about them found more perfect protection to life and property than they had ever before enjoyed. The Spanish adventurer\ , at MEXICO nvo CEN'rURIES AGO. 153 Mexico lavished the wealth which they hacl acquired by the forced labor of the Indians in the mines upon priests ancl monks, who amused them with lying miracles. They also gave money as an atonep1ent for the criminal lives they led, and to shield themselves from the ven- geance of the Inquisition, where they were suspected of being rich. The religion of the Californians was a sim- ple veneration for the truths of Scripture. In some it amounted to devotion, but it was devotion sanctioned by reason and the understanding. They all alike · despised superstition and abhorred despotism. In conclusion, I may add, that, had such a race of men as I saw in the mountains ancl villages of California at an early period of its settlement existed at the time of the conquest of _ Mexico, they woulcl'have revolutionized the world. We have heara much of the immorality, excessive ex- travagance and luxury of the cities of California ; but the following picture of the state of the city of Mexico in the heyday of its prosperity, five years before it was destroyed by an inundation, is from the black-letter vol- ume of Thomas Gage, of which I have already availed myself. " Almost all Mexico is now built with very fair and spacious houses, with gardens of recreation. The streets are very broad ; in the narrowest of them three coaches may go, and in the broadest of them six may go in the breadth of them, which makes the city seem a great deal bigger than it is. In my time it was thought to be of between thirty and forty thousand inhabitants, Spaniards, who are so proud and rich, that half the city was judged to keep coaches; for it was a most credible report that in Mexico there were about 15,000 coaches." "It is a by-word that at Mexico there are four things fair; that is to say, the women, the apparel, the horses, and the streets. But to this I may add the beauty of G2 154 . MEXICO .AND ITS RELIG I N. some of the coaches of -the gentry, which do e:x:ceed in cost the best of the comt of Madrid, and other parts of Christendom, for th y spare no silver, nor gold, nor pre- cious stones, nor cloth of gold, nor t h e best silks from China, to enrich them ; and to the gallantry of their horses the pride of some doth add the cost of bridles and shoes of silver. The streets of Christendom must not compare with those in breadth and cleanness, but espe- cially in the riches of the shops wl1ich do adorn them. Above all, the goldsmith's shops and works are to be admired. The [East] Indians, and the people of China, that have been made Christians, and every year come thither, lu!,ve perfected the Spaniards in that trade. There is in the cloister of the Dominicans a lamp hang- ing in the Ch1.uch, with tl1Tee hundred branches wrought in silver, to hold so many candles, besides a hundred little lamps for oil set in it, every · one being made with several workmanship so exquisitely that it is valued to be worth four hundred thousand ducats ; and with such like curious works are many streets made more rich and beautiful from the shops of goldsmiths. "To the - by - word touching the beauty of the women I must add the liberty they enjoy for gaming, which is snch that the day and night is too short for them to end a prim , m·a when - once it is begnn ; nay, gaming is so common to them, that they invite gentlemen to their houses for no other end. To myself it happened that, passing along the streets in c o mpany with a friar that came with me the year before from Spain, a gentlewom- an of great birth, knowing us to be new-comers, from her window called unto us, and, after two or three . slight question , s concerning Spain, asked us if we would come in and play with her a gam · e at p?·im , era . Both men and women are excessive in their apparel, using more silks than stuffs and cloth. Precious stones and pearls farther MEXICO TWO CENTURIES AGO. 157 much this vain ostentation. 1\.. hatband and rose made of diamonds in a gentleman s hat is common,. and a hat- band of pearls is 01 · dina1-y in a tradesman; nay, a black - amore, or tawney young maid aud slai.re, will make hard shift but she will be in fashion with her neck - chain and bracelets of pearls, and her ear - bobs of considerable jewels. · Then· clothing is a petticoat of ilk or cloth with man silver or golden laces, with a . ver double rib- bon of some light color, with long silver or golden tags hanging down in front the whole length of their petticoat to the grom1d, and the like he . hind ; their waistcoats made like bodies, ,vith skirts, laced likewise with gold. and silver, without sleeve and a girdle about their waist of great price, stuck with pearl and knob of gold. Thei sleeves are broad and open at the end, of Holland or :fine China linen, wrought, some with col01~ed silks, some with silk and gold . some wit}i silk and silver, hang - ing down almost to the grmmd · the locks of t11eir heads are covered with some wrought quou, and miser it an - other of net - w01·k of silk., bound with a fair silk, or sil - ver or golden ribbon which crosses the upper part of their foreheac1 , a.ncl hath commonly worked out in let- ters some light and fooli h love po ie ; their bai.·e, black, and tawne brea t · are cove.red w:ith bobs ha.nging from their chains of peai-ls. And when they go ab1·oad they use a white mantle of fawn or cambric, rounded with a broad lace, which some put over tl1eir heads the breadth. reaching only to their middles behind, that their girdle and ribbons may be seen, and the two ends beforn Teach - ing to the ground almost · other cast their mantle onl upon their shoulders; and swaggerei · s like to cast the one end ovei- the left shoulder, while with their 1·ight a.1-m they support the lower part of it, more like roaring boys than honest civil . maids. Their shoes are high and of 158 MEXICO AND ITS RELIGION. many soles, the outside whereof of the profaner sort are plated over with a lift of silver, which is fastened with small nails with broad silver heads. Most of these are.or have been slaves, though love have set _ them loose at lib- erty to enslave souls to sin and Satan; and for the looseness of their lives, and public scandals committed by them and the better sort of the Spaniards, I have heard them say often, who possessed more religion and fear of God, they verily thought God would destroy that city, and give up the country into the power of some other nation. "And I doubt not but the :flourishing of Mexico 1n coaches, h..orses; streets, women, and apparel, is very slip- - pery, and will make those proud inhabitants slip and fall into the power and dominion of some other prince of this world, and hereafter, in the world to come, into the powe1ful 11ands of an angry Judge, who is the King of kings and Lord of lords, which Paul saith (Heb. x. 31) is a fearful _ thing. For this city doth not only :flourish in the ways aforesaid, but a-lso in th.e superstitious wor- shiping of God and · the saints they exceed Rome itself, and all other places of Christendom. And it is a thtng which I have very much and ca1·efully observed in · all my travels, both in Europe and America, that in those cities wherein there . is mos.t lewd licentiousness of life, there is also · most cost in the temples, and most public superstitious worship of God and the saints." So much for worthy Thomas Gage, and his estimate of the Mexicans of his day. I arrived at San Francisco in the midst of the gold excitement. The town was crowded with rough.:looking muscular men in red shirts, slouch hats, and trowsers over which were drawn high-topped boots. A Colt's re- volver, a belt filled with gold, and an · unshaven visage completed the tout ensemble of a crowd who were pur- AMERICANS IN CALIFORNIA ~ 159 chasing supplies for their companions in the mines. They strode along, conscious that they belonged to the Anglo-Saxon race and the aristocracy of labor. As they turned into the temporary houses or booths which then constituted the town, or threaded their way among the piles of merchandise that encumbered the streets, the effeminate natives instincti~ely shrunk back, conscious of their own imbecility ; the Spanish Americans were overawed by their presence ; and even Sidney convicts thought it most profitable to turn their thoughts to hon- est labor. The miner had his yices too as well as his virtues. If you will follow'him as he - opens right and left a crowd that surrounds a table heaped with lumps of gold a-µd silver coin, you will see how carelessly he throws down a piece of metal, looking sharply into the eye of the cun- ning dealer of the monte cards. If he detects a false move, he cocks his weapon, and draws the gold back into his bag and strides away. Such were the men who knew no fear, and dreaded no l a bor or fatigue, and who have made California in five short years a state more powerful than the Republic of Mexico. - In an interior town I was called to pr~ctice as an at- torney. My first client was the driver of an ox-team, who was suing for extra services in addition to his rng- ular wages of five hundred dollars a month and board (Doe vs. Pickett). My office was a space of four feet by six, partitioned off by two cotton sheets, in the corner of a canvas store. The ground was for a while the floor; yet I paid in advance the monthly rent of two ounces of gold, and , never had occasion to regret the outlay. The heavy winter rains at length compelled my landlord to lay a floor of rough boards, which cost him seven hund- red dollars for a thousand feet. 160 MEXICO AND lTS RELIGION. Before the establishment of the state government, there was a judiciary created by an autocratical edict of General Riley; and a pamphlet, extracted and translated from the :Mexican Constitutional laws of 1836, constitu- ted the OorJJUS Juris Oivilis of the Territory of Califor- nia. The remainder of the law was !!lade up of the judge's ideas of equity, and of the law he had re . ad be- fore leaving home. Inarti:6.cial and rude as was this sys- tem, still it was wonderfully efficient; and it was well for the people of California that it was so, for an unpar- alleled immigration had brought with it an unparalleled amount of litigation. With the daily occurring causes of litigation, crowds assembled at the school-house on the Plaza, where from morning to night sat a judge dispensing off-hand justice. In front of him sat three or four clerks conducting the business. The crowds of lawyers, litigants, and wit- nesses that surrounded the court were not idle specta- tors, but represented the ordinary accumulation of busi- ness for the day, which was to be disposed of before the adjournment of the court. Speedy justice was more de- sirable than exact justice, where labor was valued at a gold ounce a day; and none were more desirous of speed than the lawyers, whose prospects of compensation de- pended much upon the promptitude with which judg- ment was rendered. The moving spirit of the whole scene, Judge A--, watched from behind the desk all that was said or done, seldom withdrawing his attention unless to administer an oath for the consideration of one dollar, or to sign an o~·der for the consideration of two dollars. Sometimes he would change his position; but, whether warming his uncovered feet at the fire-place, or drawing on his boots, or replenishing his stock of tobacco, there was the same unalterable attention on his part. As soon as he CALIFORNIAN COURTS. 161 comprehended a case, his authoritative voice was heard, closing the discussion, and dictating to a clerk the exact number of dollars and cents for which he should enter up a judgment. And then another, and another case . was called up, and submitted to this summary process, until about nine o'clock at night, when the day's work terminated. All orders asked for by a responsible at- torney were granted ex parte, the judge remarking that if the order was not a proper one, the other party would soon appear, and then he could ascertain the real merits of the case. The grand feature of this court was the fa- cility with which an injunction could be obt~ined, and the rapidity with which it could be set aside. Crime was almost unknown until we got a state gov- ernment and a code of laws, which, with misplaced phi- lanthropy, had made the legal practice so easy upon crim- inals that a conviction was next to impossible. Then it was that crime stalked abroad in the facy of day, and· Sidney con:victs plied their trade in San Francisco after it had become a city. Shops were entered and rnbbed in business hours ; and by night, men were murdered in the streets; and thefts escaped punishment. Then it was that men, caught in the commission of crime, were hanged in the open streets, and combinations were form- ed for self-defense. But when a new Legislature gave efficiency to the laws, the community yielded a willing obedience to the magistrate. From an early day there had been "miners' courts," which, with their alcaldes, had conciliated differences. But when magistrates were elected, these courts disappeared. This was a change from bad to worse, for no condition is so deplorable as that of a people whose · ll1;agistracy are powerless. Such is a fair picture of California in its worst estate, when the WO!St and the best of all nations were there congregated, and kept · in subjection by the law-abiding 162 MEXICO AND ITS RELIGION. spirit of an Anglo-Saxon immigration-a state of society in the first year of its existence, yet infinitely superior to that existing in the city of Mexico a hundred years after the discovery of the mines of Haxal and Pachuca. But we may complete the contrast by adding the more deplorable part of the picture which Friar Thomas Gage has drawn. "It seems," says he, "that religion teaches that all wickedness is allowable, so . that the churches and cler- gy flourish. Nay, while the purse is open to lascivious- ness, if it be likewise open to enrich the temple walls and roofs, this is better than any holy water, or water to wash away the £1th of the other. Rome is held to be the head of superstition; and what stately churches, chapels, and cloisters are in it! What fastings, what processions, what appearances of devotion! And, on the other side, what liberty, what profaneness, what whore- doms, nay, what sins of Sodom are committed in it, in- somuch that it could be the saying of a friar to myself. while I was in it, that he verily thought there was no one city in the world wherein were more Atheists than in Rome. I might show this much in Madrid, Seville, Val- ladolid, and other famous cities in Spain and in Italy; in Milan, Genoa, and Naples; relating many instances · of scandals committed in those places, and yet the tem- ples are mightily enriched by those who have thought their alms a sufficient warrant to free them from hell and purgatory. But I must return to Mexico, which furnishes a thousand witnesses of this truth-sin and wickedness abounding in it-and · yet no such people in the world toward the Church and clergy. In their life- time they strive to excel one another in their gifts to the cloisters of nuns and friars, some erecting altars to their best-devoted saints, worth many thousand ducats, others presenting crowns of gold to the pictures of Mary, others MEXICO TWO CENTURIES AGO, 163 lamps, others golden chains, others building cloisters ~t their own charge, ot~ers repairing them, others, at their death, leaving to them two or three thousand ducats for an annual stipend. " Among these great benefactors .to the churches of that city, I should wrong my history if I should forget one that lived in my time, called Alonzo Cuellar, who was reported to have a closet in his house laid with bars of gold instead of brick ; though indeed it was not so, but only reported for his abundant riches and store of bars of gold, which · he had in one chest, standing in a closet distant from another, where he had a chest full of wedges of silver. This man alone built a nunnery for Franciscan nuns, which stood him in above 30,000 du- cats, and left unto it, for the maintenance of the nuns, 2000 ducats yearly, with obligation of some masses to be said in the church every year for his soul after his decease. And yet this man's life was so scandalous, that common- ly, in the night, with two servants, he would go round the city visiting such scandalous persons, whose attire before hath been described, carrying his beads in his hands, and at every house letting fall a bead, and tying a false knot, that when he came home in the morning, toward break of the day, he might number by his beads the uncivil stations he had walked and visited that night. "Great alms and liberality toward religious houses in that city commonly are coupled with great and scanda- lous wickedness. They wallow in the bed of riches and wealth, and make their alms the coverlet to cover their loose and lascivious lives. From hence are the churches so fairly built and adorned. There are not above fifty churches and chapels, cloisters and nunneries, and parish churches in the city; but those that are there are the fair- est that ever my eyes beheld, the roofs and beams being, in many of them, all daubed with gold, . and many altars 164 MEXICO AND ITS RELIGION. with sundry marble pillars, anc1 oth rs with Brazil-wood stays standing one above another, with tabernacl s for several saints, richly wrought with gollen colors, so that twenty thousand ducats is a common price of many of them. These cause admiration in the common sort of people, anc1 admiration brings on daily adoration in then1 to those glorious spectacles and images of saints; so Satan sho\VS Christ all the glory of the kingdoms to en- tice him to admiration, and then he said, '.All tliese tllings will I give tliee {f tliou wilt JalZ down and wor- skip ?ne' (M:atthew, iv. 8, 9). The devil wil~ give all the world to be adored. "Beside. these beautiful buildings, the inwarcl riches belonging to the altars are infinite in price and vo.lue, such as copes, canopies, han g ing s, altar-cloths, candle- sticks, jew els belonging to the saints, and crowns of golcl and silver, and tabernacles of gold and crystal to carry about their sacrament [the Saviour of th world in the form of' a wa£ r] in I recession, all of which ,vould mount to th worth of a reasonabl mine of s·lver, and would be a rich prey for any nation that co 1ld ma1 e better use of wealth and riches. I will not speak mu . ch of the lives of th friars ar c1 nuns of this city, but only that th · y there enjoy more liberty than in Europe-where they have too much-and that sm ly the scandals committed by them clo cry up to Heaven for vengean , judgment, destruction. "It is orclinary for the friars to visit then· devoted nuns, ancl to spend whole days with them, hearing their music, feeding on their sweetmeats ; and for this purpose they have many chambers, which they call loquato1 · 1 ie, to talk in, with wooden bars betwe n the n ms and them; and in these chambers are tables for the friars to dine at, ancl while they dine the nuns recr ate them with their voices. Gentlemen and citizens give their daughte1·s to :MEXICO '£WO CENTURIES .A.GO, 165 be brought up in these nunneries, where they are taught to make all sorts of conserves and preserves, all sorts of music, which is so exquisite in that city that I dare be bold to say that the people are drawn to churches mo1·e for the delight of the music than for any delight in th~ service of God. More, they teach these young chilc1r - n to act like players; and, to entice the people to the churches, they mal e these children act short dialogues in their choirs, richly attiring them with men and woni- en's apparel, especially upon Midsummer's day and the eight days before their Christmas, which is so gallantly · performed that many factious strifes and single combats have been, and some we ·e in my time, £ r defending which of these nunneries most excelled in music and in the trainiub up of children." uch is a picture drawn by a cancli :I. writer of one of the most devout Catholic cities in the world, where licen- tiousness ancl papacy w nt han :I. in hand until they reachecl that extreme point of rruption, that, as in tl e case of S dom, Goel overthx w the city by a juclgment from heaven; n t by :fire and brimstone, but by a wa- ter-spout, which, in the Si ace of the :fi e years that it lay upon the town three feet deep, loosened the founda- tions of all buildings and impov rishecl the inhabitants. And when at length the earth op ned and swallowed up these wat rs, the city had to be rebuilt. The misery and clistress that this . flooc1 inflicted upon the lower or- ders of the inhabitants was great in the extr - me. It was on Sunday morning that the cause of the mor- al superiority of the Am - rican miners over those of Me - ico was visible. Then the noise and bustle about my residence was hu heel. The most immoral seemed to be overawed by as nse of respect for the r ligious opinions of others ; and when th - sound of a hip-bell, hung on the limb of a tree, was heard, all except the baser so · t 166 ~IGO .AND ITS .RELIGION. repaired to the shade of an oak, so farge and venerable tha , t it might have shielded the whole household of Abra- ham while engaged in family worship. A portable ser- aphine ga:ve f01il:1 a familiar tune, in which .all joined ip singing witl1 a zest which is only realized by those whom it cru."1-ies back in recollection to distant home. Then the voice of the p1·eacher was heard invoking the bles ing of God upon the assembled worshipei·s aJ1d his pa;rdon of their offenses ; and then followed his exhorta.- tion to seek from God the pardon of their many sins ; and as be, with l1eartfelt eamestness, "reasoned of right - eousness, ternpexance, and a judgment to come," many a stein-visaged miner trembled for his condition, and went away a better and a more honest man - ten thousa1.1d times more improved than if he had presented a crown of gold to the "1ii irgin l\Iru . · 7 • 1iV e are now prepared to enter the valle T of Uexico, and examine the objects that there prnsent themselves. CH1lPTER XIV. First Sight of tJie Valley of J\iiexico . - A Y enice in a , mountain Valley. - An Emperor waiting his ~fmde1 1 ers . - Cortez mowing down un- . armed Indians . - A ne,-..r kind of Pie ty . - Captm,e of an Emperor. - Torturing an FJ,Jn;peror to Death. - The . Children paying the :Penalcy- of tJieir Fathers' Crimes. - The ~i\.ztecs and other Indians. - The Dif .:. ference is in the Historians. - The Superstitions of the Indians. - The Valley of J.lexico. - An American Survey of the Valley . - A. topographical View. - The Pond:s Cha.ko 1 Xochimulco, , an . d Tezcaco were never Lakes. l\lY :first view of the Valley of ]foxico was from the point whei-e the Acapulco 1·oad passes the Cross of the "Marquis of the Valley." I had read with eagerness the History of the Conquest, aud of tbe advm1tures of the noble Oong_-uistctdm' . Not a shadow of a doubt had then crossed my mind in regm·d to the tn1th of all that had been so elegantly wi1.tten. Beautintl composition had supplied the place of evidence, and that practice of wiiting romances of history which the Spa , niards had in - herited from tl1e 1\foors J1ad completely capforated me, as it had thousands of others. The asp e ct of the valley was all that my fancy had painted it . The sun was in the right quarter to produce tbe greatest po s sible effe c t . The urunm1bered pools of snrfa , ce - water tl1at abound in the valley appeared at that distance like so many lake- lets supplied by crystal fountains, as each one refiect , ed the briglit sun from its mirror - like sm-£-11ce; tliese all we1-o inclosed in the rich , est settin g of natn:ve's g r een . It was such a scene a. s would justify the e xtrava g ant language which Spaniards have employed in descr i bing it. While I :recalled its traditional history, I was tempt - ed to exclaim a . s a native would have don e , and to give 168 MEXICO AND ITS RELIGION. credence to the fallles of which this valley has been the scene. Here, as the story ran, amid floating garclens of rarest flowers . and 1-ichest fruits, lay, in olden time, an- other Venice - a Venice in an inland mountain. valley - .a, Venice upon whose Rialto nevei· ~alked a Shylock with his money - bags ; for in this maJ.·~et - place the most delicious fruits the world prnduces, the loveliest :ff.ow - , ers, rich stu:ffs Fesplendent with Tyriau dyes, · and prince- ly mantles of featheJ:· - work, were boug,·ht with pretty shells, and such money as tl1e sea produces . It was a Venice with its street of waters and its central basin, where jostled the gondolas of the Aztec nobles and the I~ght canoes o f birch 'bark among the vessels of comnmrce which came laden with slaves and other merchandise from tl1e surroui1ding villages - a basin that disappearnd'.: the saine day " that the Indian empire fell . . This basin was the fast vestige of .Aztec dominion; and when thern no longer was any safe shelter upon the land, Gnaten1ozin Teti.red. to his canoe and took shelter here, and calmly waited till his time should come to be . murdered. He could not :flee. · He could not capitulate, fo1 · he was an emperm·: As he sat here waiting for .death, what must have been his reflections ! vYhaf thoughts did not the very boat he occupied call up ! How often ha , d _ it can.:ied him · out upon the lake to the floating gardens and volcanic islands, whei-e he had wit:. nessed so many times the gorgeous reflections of an evening sun upon the snow - capped Popocatapetl, in whose bowels ''the · god of fire ' " had his dwelling! And then the lake itself, how much it had perplexed his tl10ugh~s, · that in one part its waters should be fresh, witl1 isfands teeming with the richest vegetation, and . in another pa1 · t salt and bitte1·, with utter barre:111:iess :resting upon its shores ! How be use.a to n1eet his 'brother of Tezcuco in the aft , er paii; of the ~ day, to , exchange eongratn.lationrs G-UATEMOZIN. 1'6'9 and talk ovei · aftairs of intere t to both the royal families! ow all these pleasures were terminated forever. His lirothe1· of Tezcuco was in the ranks of his enemies, seek - ing his destruction. Thus sat the emperor, surronnded by a numerous fleet of canoes, whose occupants were without hope of escape or strength to :fight; but, with Indian stoicism, all sat waiting their inevitable doom from freebooters whom they had disappointed of their prey. As the emperor and his nobles sat hem witnessing the destl-nction of their pumice - stone palaces and. mud - built huts, and the filling up of their canals, they consoled themselves with the mflection that their gold and their wealth were all at the bottom of these canals, . and that the Spaniru.·ds, in their hot haste to enjoy the spoils of the city, were un - wittingly burying forevei· the prize for which the were contending. Such wern the thoughts of these .Aztecs a~ they sat in their canoes, longing for death to relieve them from agony of suspense, endming all the torments of the extremest thir t, which they vainly sought to quench by draughts of the brackish water of the lake. They had not long to wait ; for, by the express commands of Cor - tez, his followers we11e mowing down m11 1 esisting citizens, because the emperor, ovei· whom they had no control, would not sun · ender himself. Who can stand for the :first time upon the mountain rim that incloses this valley, . and not have his thoughts cru.-i · ied back to some such scene as this ? The recollec- tion is not easily eradicated that the remnant of a once powerful tribe of Indians, pru.-tially emerged from barba - . rism, here received their death,, in cold blood, at the hands of a paJ.-ty of white mnrdereI"S . The goocl Archbi hop Lm·anzana commends the piety of Cortez in never neg - lecting to attend mass before going out to his daily work of slaughter . It was a pious act, no doubt, that on the H 110 MEXICO AND ITS :R~LRHON. last morning of the siege 11e stopped and listened to a. mass - that pantomime which set foi-tl1 the dea.th of the Redeemei· of the - wodd - prepa1·atm.-y to consummating the butchery of Indians incapable of resistance. Gai~ci Holguin, the master of a brigantine, 01· rn.ther -flat - boat, boldei· than the rnst, ch·ove through the fleet of canoes that occupied the basin, until he encountered in the centrn a canoe containing the person of the empe1:m_ · whom he made piisonm· and brought to Co r tez,. where - upon the sla:ughter ceasecl. Neither the horrid sight which tlie city presented, nor tl1e fallen fortunes of a bi-ave enemy, could move the soul of Cortez. A b1-igand knows no remorse au ' d feels no pity. Gold had been the object of his pious mission, and when he found not gold enough to satisfy the crav - ings of his gang, lie soaked the fallen emperor's feet in oil, ancl then burned them at a slow fire, to extort from him a confession of the place of concealment of his sup- posed ueasme ; and when, in after years, he was tired of the burden of such a prisoner, he wantonly hanged him up by the heels to die in a distant foi·est . In this vei·y city where Cori . ez tertlu-ed Guatemozin was a son of Cortez, who inherited . the spoils of his fa - ther's atrocities, put to the to:rtui-e by one of the Vice - Icings, while the children's childi-e:n of the Conquistadors paid :for the wealth they inhe1i.ted in the tei · rible penal - ties inflicted upon them by the bu c caneers, that ravaged their coasts fo1· two h u ndred years . . Ha . ve not the sins of the fathers been visited upon the children? The Aztecs, their empire, and their city, have long since disappeared ; . their crimes, and the despotism which they exercised over the ti-ib e s they had conquernd, axe a.11 for - gotten in the ten-ible catastrophe that extinguished their national existence . Three hundred yea1 · s of sei-vitnde in the indiscriminate 1nas~ of Indian sed: has blotted out THE AZTECS AND THEIR HIS ' .fORIAN • 1'""1 every feeling of nationality. A few vagabonds among them still claim l"O al descent, and, by virtue of their blood or their imposture, pretend to exercise, in obscm::e villages, an undefinecl jurisdiction over Indians as op - pressed . as themselves. But the charact , eristics of the N orth-:American Indians are still visible; they still ex - hibit the contrndictory traits of Indian charncter - cmel - , ty and kindness, shyness and self - posses ion ; enduring the greatest tJ.·ials without a . murmur, and suffering op- pression without complaint· delighting as much as their nmihern. brethren in tawdry exhibitions, in traditions of the marvelous, they seem to carry hidden in their in - most soul an idea that the time will come when they may take vengeance of the despoilers of their race . They have the Indian s lo e of ad, entu:re and want of courage. The delight rathe r in a successful stratagem than in open hostilit , and deem no act of tl : eachei-y dis - honorable by which they can gain an advantage . Still, they have less romance in their composition than the u.n - en laved northern Indians, into whose souls the iron of despotism has never entered. The great dilleTence between what is recorded of the orth American Indian and the Aztec i" owing less to any difternnce in them elves than to the character of th e · historian who have written of them . The northern W'l.iters were not carried a . way by the 1 · omance of Indian life ; they were ma.Uer - of - fact men, and they drew only matter - of - fact pictures . Spanish historians, and all ear - 1 y Spanish wi-iters upon New Spain, except the two bri g- ands, Cortez and Dia . z, wro. · e priests. With them, truth was not an essential part of history. B the law o f all countries th e Conquistadors had outlaw e d themselv e by levying unlicensed war ; but as they bore a painti n g of the irgin Ma17 on one of then· s tandards and the cros s on the othe r , it would be impiety t o place ~ei:r conduct 172 MEXICO AND ITS RELIGION. m its true light. Las Casas was an exception, and en- dmed persecutfon for speaking the trnth. "He had powerful enemies,," was .all that his apologist dare say, "because he spake the truth."' .. A.nd if we add to this the sevenfold censorship ah-eady described, my reader will agree with. me that it is abstrrd to place confidence in records over which the Inquisition exercised a sur - veillance. The falllecl Aztec empiJ:e has almost passed from the traditions of the ]Iexican Indians. The name of only one of theil- chiefs, ]\iontezuma, 1 · emai11s among them, and :this name is affixed to almost eve1y tliing that has an anc·ent look and is in a dilapidated condition. In my wanderings among them, . I neve1· rejected their profters of rude ho pitality, and I have listened with plea ure to their wikl traditions. I soon found that, like other In - dians, they draw from a superna.tmal "cli:eam - world" the fortitu.de that enables them to be.n.· without a murmur their hard lot in ihe present. They rea , dily embraoed the superstitious of the Spaniards, and rende1ied to the virgin of Gaudalupe the adoration they had formerly be- stowed upon their own god.s. Their conversion may be summed up in the words of Humboldt: "Dogma has not succeeded to dogma, but ceremony to ceremony. The natives know nothing of religion but the external forms of worship. Fond of whatever is connected with a, pi-esc1-i.bed order of ceremonies, , they ii.nd in the Chris - tian rnligion particular enjoyment. The festivals of the Church, the fire-works with which they am accompanie<l, the processions mingled with whimsical disguises, are a most fertile solll"ce of amusement to the lower lndiaru;. ' There ha,s been a great deal of poetry and very little plain prose written about the valley of Mexico. At m1 early morning bom- I stood upon the heights of Rio Frio; at another morning, as already said, at th.e Cl"Oss of the THE V.AI.LEY OF :MEXICO. 1'13 Marquis ; . again, n.pon the highest peak of tl1e Tepeyaca, behind Guadalupe, I sa:w a tropical moming sun disen- gage itself from the snowy mountains . . Frnm these three favored spots I have looked upon the valley, where chy land and pools of water seemed equally to compose the magnificent panorama. Immen e mirrors of evex · con - ceivable · hape and fom1 were reflecting back the rays of the sun, while the green shores in which they were set enhanced the effect. The white walls, . .and domes, . and spires of the distant city heightened the effect of a picture that can only be folly appreciated by those who have looked downward through the pure atmosphe1 · e of such a lofty position; but when I came down to the common level, the charm was broken. Instead oflak.elets and crys - tal springs, I found only :pools of smface - water which the rains had left ; and the canals were but the ditches from which on either ide, the dirt had been taken to build the cau eway through the marsh, and were now covered with a coat of grnen. These lak.es have no out - let, and as evapomtion only takes up pure water, all the animal, vegetable, and minei-al matter that i can-ied in · is left to stagnate and putJ.·efy in the ponds and ditches. A prnctical "man of the times,' -with morn common sense than poetry in his composition,. must g1ieve a he looks at the great advantages here possessed for drainage and in-igation which are unimprov:ed . . There is not a spot in the whole valley that is not capable of the most perfect drainage,* while basins hav,e been fonned by na - tlue in the highe t points, . from which n1.iga , tion could be supplied to the whole valley; but decay and neglect - lit - ting types of the social condition of the people-every whei•e exhibit them elves . Water stands in all the nar - mw canals or ditcJ1es that occupy the middle of the * :Report , of M. L. Smith, Lieutel!lant of Topographical Engine , ers, United States Army. 1'14 lIETICO .AND ITS RELIGIO~ . sfa·eets, for the want simply of a sewer to draw it clown to the level of the Tezcuco. Once a , year the flags are taken o:ff from the covered . ditches, anc1 the mud is dip - ped out, while a bundle of hay, tied to the tail of a dirt - cru.i:, is daily dragged through the open ones. I have spoken only of the lower diYision of this val - ley - the valle in which the city stands . . _ If we consideT the two partly separated -valleys as one, the whole will constitute an oval basin ~ 5 miles long from north to south, with an average width from ea~ t to west of 20 miles. Two thircls of the soutl1em vaUey is a marsh, and might ,vell be called the '' !Iontezuma JUaish," it .so strikingly re embles the marsh of that name in the State of ~ ew T ork, though the whole body of ponds and maTShes of this valley contains much less water than its nort11e1n namesake . The stage - road from Vera Cruz crosses this marsh for fourteen miles and ]1as a great number of small stone bridges, beneath which the water runs with considerable current toward the north, on ae - count of the difference of level between the southei-n fresh - water ponds and the lower salt - water ponds, as in the day of Cortez . The r e are occasional dry spots, and now and then there is open water · but the greater por - tion is filled with marh grass, and furnishes good feed - ing for the cl.roves of cattle that daily fi-equcnt it for that ptupose . 'The ancient village of l\Iexicalzingo, or " Lit - tle Mexic - o," the uaditional home of the . Aztecs before they built M~ . xi.eo, is situated 011 one of the dry spots, "'lightly elevated abo°' e the level of the fresh water; and on another dry spot or island, sis: miles distant,. stands the famous city of Mexico itself, .resting on piles driven into a foundation of soft earth. The canal of C11alco commences at the nortl1erly extremity of the Xochimulco, and, passing by Mexicalzingo and the float - n1g ga.1·dens, continues along the eastem front of the city, ' l'HE L..A.KES OF THE . " VALLEY. 175 and empties itself - into the salt (teqi t isq_ , nit e ) pond o f Tezcuco, having received as a tributaxy tJ1e canal of T a - cubaya, which. passes along the southern boundary of the city. . The highest water of the valley of tl1e city of Mexico is the pond of Chalco, in the extreme southeast, being 4i 1 2 feet above the level of the Grand Pfaza of the city, . and 20 miles distant tl1e:r:efrom,. and 11--h fee~ above Te.zcuco ; * but its volume be i ng small £01· t h e last 400 years, , the slight nnpediments of long grass and a few Indian dikes have prevented any injUI-y- to the city by a too rapid :flow to the northward. Xochimulco is the pond, or open space in the marsh,, t~a.t extends from the Chalco to near J\ [ exicalzingo. '1 11 ezcuco is the lowest wate1 · in the valley, . being 6½ feet below the Gi-and Plaza of the city. t It receives the sUTplus of the waters that have not already been evaporated in the other ponds. At this great elevation, 7 500 feet, eva.pora.tion does its work mpidly all ove1· the valley, bt1t it is in Tezcuco that the residuum of t.he waters is deposi t ed. * L i eut. Smith ' s Report .. t I b id. CHAPTER XV. The two Va11eys.-The Lake with a leaky Bottoro.-The Water could not have been higber.-Nor could the Lagunas or Ponds have been much deeper. -The Brigantines only flat-bottomed Boats. -The Causeway Canals fix the size of tlie Brigantines.-The Street Ca- nals.-Stagnant Water unfit for Canals. -The probable Dimensions of the City Canals.-Difficulties of disproving a Fiction.-A Dike or Levee. - The Canal of Huehuetoca. -The Map of Cortez. - Wise Provision of Proviclence.-The Fiction about the numerous Cities in and about the Lake. IT may be well here to repeat that, strictly speaking, there are two valleys of Mexico-the upper northern val- ley, and the valley of the city of Mexico ; the first ex- tends in an oval form to the north of the hills of Tepe- yaca, some sixty miles, and communicates with the plains of Otumba and Aparo. In this valley are the two ponds, or lagunas, of Zumpango and San Cristobal, the high- est waters of Mexico; and in it also is the half of the Tezcuco, which is the lowest laguna of the valleys. It is a country of fine farming lands, and was probably in- habited long before the time of the arrival 'of the Aztecs in the lower valley, as I infer from its proximity to the extensive ruins of Teotihuican, that have come down from a remote and highly-civilized antiquity. The valley of the city of Mexico, which lies to the south of these hills, is also of an oval shape, but is not more than twenty miles in extent. The surface-water with which it is saturnted is in part fresh, and in other parts tequisquite ; that is, where the waters have a cur- rent, they are fresh; but where they remain from year to year discharging their volume only by evaporation, then THE A.NCIENT LA.KES. 177 they become infused with the saline prop e rties of the soil, * and all about them is marked with barrenness. If the process of evaporation was less intense than it is, t all vegetation would die from the extreme humidity of the soil; as the gardener's phrase is, it would rot. Even in the city of Mexico itself, a couple of feet of dig- ging in its alluvial foundation brings you to the water- l e vel in the ~·y season, and seventy or eighty yards of boring does not carry you beyond the perceptible influ - e nce of t e quisquit e .t The effects of this law of evapora- tion puzzled the Aztecs, who were, of course, ignorant of all philosophical principles, and could only account for the disappearance of the immense mass of water that fell in the vall e y in the w e t se a son, upon the hypothesis that the Tezcuco had a leaky bottom, or that there was a hole in the lake-an idea that thousands in Mexico credit to the present day. This was the origin of that absurd story which Cortez repeats in his letters, that this lake communicated with the sea, and had its daily tides. . There could not have been a much greater volume of wat e r in this marshy valley in the time of Cortez than at present, if the whole accumulations of each year were to be can-ied off by evaporation alone from so small a surface as is here presented for the sun to act upon. But as the volume of water is the tunring-point in the * There h as been much speculation in regard to the origin of the saline properties of this water; but the Artesian borings going on while I was in Mexfoo, I think, sufficiently demonstrate that the earthy bot- tom of the valley, for hundreds of feet, contains an infusion of carbon- ate and mlll'ia t e of soda. t The a tmo s phere of Mexico is so intensely dry, that the hygrometer of Deluc frequently descends to 15 ° .-HUMBOLDT'S Essai Politi9y e , vol. ii. p. 110. t Wh e n the Artesian well, in process of construction ne a r my res- idence, had reached a depth of seventy yards, the water that came _ up was slightly impregnated with this salt. H2 178 liill ~rno AND ITS RELIGION. histo1·y or fable of the conquest, I :tnust adduce the proofs and arguments that ai·e at ha . nd to establish this statement. The level of the water could not have been higher, it is clear, for in that case neither Mexico, Mexi- calzingo, or lztapalapa . n could have been inhabited. Corte~'s a . ccouut of de~p waters has often been macle plausible by adding the hypothesis that the accumulat- ing mud of centuries has filled up the lakes, so that they now are only shallow ponds. But this by no means re- moves the difficulty, for then, as. now, the waters of the southern faguna. flowed into Tezcuco, conveying with them the infinitesimal infusion of t e q_ , uisquit e that had instilled itself into the Chalco. Had the volume of Chalco and Xochimulco been increased severnl feet, then the slight Indian barriers and the long grass · vrnuld no longer lrnve been able to retard the progress of the water till evaporn . tion had diminished its quantity, but, precipitating itself in a mass into the Tezcuco, it would have overwhelmed the to.wn. of Tezcuco and all other vil- lages upon the shores, and established an equilibrium of surfa , ce in the two ponds. All the lagunas, canals, aµd ditches that have been des . cribed are navigated · by small scovvs that draw but a few inches of water, which are the medium of an exten- sive internal commeTce. · Through the lagunas ancl ca- nal of Chalco come from Ouatla all the supplies of the products of the hot countxy for the city and sunounding region. This commerce exceeds the whole foreign trade of the republic.* This kind of boat was probably in- troduced by Cortez, and in this convenient form his thiT- teen l?rigantines were probably made; for, had his brig- antines been of a larger draught of water, they could not have navigated canals intended only for Indian canoes. One of these vessels, when supplied with a sail, a can- * ComerO:o de MeJ.-ico, 1852. THE CAUSEWAYS AND CANALS. 179 non, and a · movable keel or side-board, would be a formi- dable auxiliary in a.n assault upon the city at the pres- ent day. And if one such scow was- placed in the ditch on each side of the southern causeway, as Cortez al- leges, it \\ ' ould enable an assailing enemy to present just so much more front as the additional width of two boats ·woulcl give him. Writers have expressed their surprise at the exist- ence of two navigable ca1pls to each causeway, one on either side, as an immense expenditure of unnecessary labor. The explanation of this is found in the fact that in the construction of a pathway (for Cortez says that it was only 30 feet in width) through wet and marshy ground, a broad ditch is ordinarily made on either side to obtain earth for the embankment, and to keep the wa- ter-level permanently below the top of the pathway. So it is, and so it must always - have been at '1exico, in order to keep these foot.-paths in traveling condition. In the dry season, which is the winter, these broad ditch- es are . covered with floating islands of green " scum ; " but in the rainy season, which is the summer, they may be navigated by the shallow 1 Iexican scows. A path- way of earth thirty feet in ·width could not endme the winds and waves of a navigable lake, or the wear and " swash" of a canal twelve feet deep on either side; and the fact that Cortez navigated the ditches in the rainy season establishes the insignificant size of his famous brigantines. As the level of the surface of the land and the smface of the 1';ater at foxicalzingo, at Me:s:ico, and at the vil- lage Tezcuco, does not materially vary now from what it was in the time of Cortez, if we can take for data the foundations of the church built by the Conquistadors at these several places, we shall have to look to another quarter for a supply of water for the city canal<,, which 180 MEXICO AND ITS RELIGION. were sufficiently capacious for canoe navigation. This supply we read:ily obtain by allowing the waters of the canals Tacubaya a . nd Chalco to pass through the streets of the city in ditches sufficiently lru:ge for canoes, instead of passing along the south and east fronts outside. By this hypothesis we obtain a current, a pre1·equisite to the 1 ~ ery idea of a canal, particula1-ly in the streets of a city. The savans of Europe have shown their profound ig - norance of the first principles of canal navigation in ta.k - ing it for granted that the canals of J\foxico were filled with stagnant water, that had " set back" from the stag - nant pond of Tezcuco; and that the level of the pond must at all times have been so high as to fill the canals, thus keeping the city in constant danger from any sud - den 1·ise in the laguna. But, aside from the rules of canal construction, there is an important sanitary ques - tion involved. The present ditches in the middle of the streets, though they have a perceptible current, and a slight infusion of tequisqidte, are an intolerable nuisance, and have a deleterious effect upon the public health. How much more so must they have been when, from the uncleanly habits of the Indians, they were the common receptacle of all kinds of filth, and wei-e constantly stirred up to theiJ.- very bottoms by the setting - poles of the nav - igators ? The system of canalling is a system of slack - water navigation, but abhors stagnant water. We come next to the question of the dimensions of these street canals. We know that they were intended only for the navigation of Indian canoes; that two of them, which intersected the causeway of the night retreat, Cortez crossed with his army, all of them climbing dmvn into the canal, wading across, and then climbing up on the other side while loaded with their armor, and :fight- ing all the ti~e against a superior force of the Aztecs ; and that Alvarado actually leaped across one of the open- TRUTH AGAINST FICTION. 181 ings, shows conclusively that the canals could not have more than equaled in breadth the present canal of Cha1- co . . On the hypothesis that Cortez used scows that drew no morn wa.ter than the scows that at present navi- gate the canals, his story becomes credible, so far, at least, as the possibility of making the circuit of the city in large boats in a season of rains. It is a.n ungracious task to sift truth from fables. One man is displeased at . seeing held up as a fiction a nan:ative which he has been accustomed to read with pleasure, and to take fo1· truth, because it was elegantly written; and he requn·es an accumulation of proofs and arguments before he will abandon a belief which he has adopted without evidence. Another man, who deals only in matters of fact, is easily convinced, and is annoyed. at an accumulation of proofs and arguments where one is sufficient. The- superstitious man can not, of co1u·se, be convinced, for his belief does not :rest upon evidence; and he is indignant that an attempt should be made to detnwt from the glory obtained by the ·Yirgin Mary and the Ohm-ch in this victory over the infidels. Had I at- tempted to prove that the feather which is now preserved with so much ca : re in the Church of San Juan de Late- mn at Rome did not fall from the wing of the angel Gabriel when he came to announce to Mary her concep- tion, and that the whole history of that feather was a fable, notwithstanding it has 1·eceived the attestations of so many of the Holy Fathers, I should be cursed for my impiety no more than I shall be for raising the question of the authenticity of the histo1·ies of the Conquest. With all these difficulties beforn me, I will venture to add one or two more reasons that have induced me to doubt the existence of those famous brigantines, which required a depth of twelve feet of water. In suppo1-t of the hypothesis that the street ditches, 182 : M:EXICO .AND ITS RELIGION. called can a.ls, wei-e independent of the Tezcuco for their supply, we have still tiie remains of an old Indian dike, which extended from near Iztapalapan, along the east part of the city, to Guadalupe or T ' epeyaca, which must have been intended to shut off the Tezcuco when the wa-ter was high, and when it receded they prnbably opened a weir at the northern extremity, through which · the wateirs of the city that had been discharged upon the flats of San Lazaro found an outlet. The watern of the valley are now distributed in the best possible manner to favor evaporation; and yet so completely is this power faxed, . that when, in 162 . 9, a water - spout, bursting OYer the small riverGuautitlan, had forced the waters of Zumpango over its barriers into the San Cristobal, and that again into the Tezcuco, the city was inundated to the depth of about three feet. Evaporation was unable to remove or materially lessen this new volume of water in a period of five years. This fully demonstrates that the a:vernge annual fall of water is equal to the fuII capacity of evaporation. The valley of :Mexico is a v 1 ery small one over which to dispose of the mass of water that the mountain-tonents in summer and the tropical rains pour into it, and with the small margin of six and . a half feet for rising and falling, the city must have been in constant jeopardy. Still , the :floods have been much less frequent than would have been supposed, fully demonstrating the great uniformity in the fall of water in the Mexican season of rain. "'\iVhen a water-spou.t occurred in the Chalco in 1446, in the time of the Aztec kings, the1'e was a flood, . which prob- ably ran off into the Tezcuco. Under the Spaniards the following :floods are enumerated: the :first in 1553 ; the second in 15 8 0; the third in 1604; the fourth in 1G07; the fifth in 1629. Mtc:r the flood of 1607, the tunnel of Huehu.etoca was THE J',IAP OF CORTEZ. 183 undertaken, and constructed in eleven months, for the purpose of letting out of the valley the waters of the River Guautitlan, so as to prevent it from falling into Tezcuco or flooding the city. For those times it was a great work, but we should say now that it was poorly engineered and badly managed, and not worthy the notice it has received in books on :Mexico. Since that • time, the gi-eat inundation of 1629 occuned while the mouth of the tunnel was closed. After that time, the Spaniards, instead of building inside of the tunnel an elliptical tube, actually, by a hundred yeaJ.·s of misap- plied labor, turned the tunnel into an open cut. Cortez furnished a map to illustrate his desc1-iption. This map has the same defect as his narrative ; that is, it was untrue at the time he made it. In order to bring Tezcuco about the city, he places the village of that name due east of Mexico, although he well knew that it was nearly north, as the two towns are distinctly in sight, although at a distance of about six leagues. Now, if we cany the village of Tezcuco and the shore of the lake with it to its correct position, we shall have the Laguna of Tezcuco in about its present form and size. The apology for his defeat at Iztapalapan, by the breaking open of the dike and letting in the salt water, is, of course, inadequate, a.s the dike could not have supported a head of water sufficient to dro-w·n his men, nor could so great a head of salt water be obtained at that point. In this smvey of the poncls of Mexico, I have di·awn upon the experience which has been acquired in the process of evaporation at the extensive salt manufacto- ries of Syracuse and the smrounding villages in West- ern New York, and also the experience of our engineers upon the Erie Canal, and the engineers upon the dikes or levees at Sacramento, where the nature of the soil re- sembles that of Mexico. And I may now conclude this 184 :MEXICO AND ITS RELIGION. long sm-v:ey of the canals and lagunas of Mexico, by saying that it is a wise provision of Providence tha,t all bodies of water that have no outlet are found to contain a considerable infusion of salt, otherwise their accumu- lations of decaying matter W<!uld be Buch that mankind could not live in their vicinity. T ' his valley is a.n illus- tration of that truth. Tezcuco, surrounded by barren- ness, is D<?t deleterious to life, while the fresh-water la- . gt.mas, though continually changing their volume, render :Mexico unhealthy in summer by the gases which they exhale from decaying vegetation. I J1ave pretty thoroughly described this small valley, and have also stated how large a portion of it is :flooded with surface - water, and how lru.-ge a portion of this wa- ter is infused with salt. In the vicinity of Tacubaya the land is remarkably fe1iile, and there is good tillable land. _ as the mountains are approached, especially about Chal- co on the southeast ; but under Indian cultivation, the whole of this valley could have produced sustenance for only an extremely limited population, if the product of the floating gardens and the ducks caught upon the pond should be added . . It is totally inadequate to feed the population of Mexico m1c1er the vice-kings, 400,000, or its p1·esent population of say 300,000; nor could the valley itself be made to sustain one third of this. This valley, it must be recollected, is inclosed on all sides ex- cept the north by mountains that exceed 10,000 feet in height, while the commissariat capa , city of barbaric tribes is not such as to provide extensive supplies from a dis- tance. Under such circumstances, we should look for an extremely limited population. Yet the most surprising part of the story of the conquest is the enormo~s popu:- lation assigned to the numerous large cities which they al- lege th€ valley contained. Diaz says, "A series oflarge towns stretched themselves along the banks of the lake, ANCIENT POPULATION OF THE YALLEY. 185 out of which [the lake J still larger ones rose magnifi - cently above the water." Cortez says that Iztapalapan contained'' 10,000 families,"which would give the town 50,000 inhabitants; "Ama.q u eruca, 20,000 inhabitants;" ":M:exicalzingo, 3000 families," or 15,000 inhabitants; ".A. yciaca more than 6000 families ; " "Huchilohuchico, 5000 or 6000." The population of Chalco he does not give, nor the population of the very numerous villages whose names he mentions. .A.t the present day there are a few mud huts in nearly every locality named, but not enough in any one instance to merit the name of a village. And this, I am inclined to believe, was the real condition of things in the time of Cortez. The city of Mexico alone would have exhausted the limited resources of the valley. Old Thomas Gage was as much puzzled two hundred years ago to account for this astonishing disappearance of the numerous Indian cities of this val - ley as we are, and also for the supposed filling up of the lake s , never appearing to suspect that the story of Cor - t e z w as a fiction. CHAPTER XVI. The Chinampas or Water Gardens.-Laws of Nature not set aside.- Mud will not float.-The · present Chinampas.-They never could have been floating Ganlens.-Rclations of the Chinampas to the an- cient State of the Lake in the . Y alley. ALL the world has heard of the :floating gardens (cliina?711.Jas) of Mexico, but all the world has not seen them. I have not seen any floating gardens, nor, on dil- igent inquiry, have I been able to :finc1 a man, woman, or child that ever has seen them, nor do I believe that such a thing as a floating garden ever existed at - Mexico. Humboldt admits that they do exist; says that he has seen floating earthy masses of great size in the tropical rivers, and then describes the manner of the construction of the chinampas, but in such a way as to satisfy the careful reader that he does not intend to say that he saw them himself, and evidently makes his statement upon hearsay; and takes it up as an admitted fact, without having his mind called to the physical impossibilities of . floating a mass of earth that was of a greate1· specific gravity than water . ., When the historians , of the Conquest wrote their mar- velous narratives of alleged adventures and of the new empire, it was a question for the Emper0r and the Inqui- sition solely, whether their writings should pass for his- tory or be condemned as fabulous. With this question the people had nothjng to do but to believe as it suited those in authority. The question being settled that the publication of the letters of Cortez as a verity would redound to the g lory of the Church and the king, then FAI'l'H AND TESTIMONY. 187 it was also settled that there should be no contradiction . published; and as these marvelous tales were spread abroad throughout Europe, with the masses of silver from the newly-discovered mines, men were prepared to be- lieve almost any thing-even that rich vegetable mould, when saturated with water, could float. It not being lawful to I romulgate the facts of the Con- quest, the memory of events that really transpired ulti- mately passed from the recollections of men, so that the letters of Cortez were taken for truth, even in their most minute details ; so that, in a subsequent century, we find a vice-king employing an engineer to search for and clean out the hole in the bottom of the Tezcuco ! for, from the vice-king down to the most insignificant official, all assumed that the letters of Cortez gave a correct picture of affairs at that time; and all showed the greatest em- barrassment in accounting for the magnitude of the changes that are supposed to have occurred without a sufficiently adequate cause. It is a common difficulty in all purely Catholic countries, for there the rule of evi- dence is an unnatural one. The people have been taught to believe from their infancy that the laws of nature can be set aside upon every trifling occasion, at the moment- ary caprice of any one of the multitude of saints "who aTe to govern the world ; '' and on proof that any mortal has set aside the laws of nature or wrought a miracle, he at once becomes a saint. With these "dutiful children of the Church" there can be no fixed laws of evidence; the only ground of belief is, and ever must be, Has the statement been sanctioned by the highest authority? If so, it is true ; if not, it is to be donbted, however posi- tive the proofs may be. A difficulty that the traveler every where encounters is that he can believe nothing that he heaTs, even on the most trifling subject, without careful examination and weighing of testimony. As 188 MEXICO AND ITS RELIGION. he can not examine every , thing himself, he is ~onstantly liable to be imposed upon by taking for granted that which is every where affirmed. Humboldt for once, with all his caution, seems to have fallen into the common trap, and credited, without examination, the story of the floating gardens. The chinampas are formed on the fresh-water mud on each side of the canal of Chalco, from the southeast cor- ner of the city to a point near the ancient village of Mex- icalzingo, and for a part of the way they are on both sides of that beautiful but now neglected paseo, Las Vegas; there are also a small number near the cause- way of Tacubaya, and in other parts of the marsh; their number might be extended without limit if it was not 1·egulated by the demands of the veg table market of l\foxico. Chinampas are formed by laying upon the soft mud a very thick coating of reeds, or rather rushes, in the form and about the size of one of our largest ca- nal scows. Between two chinampas a space of about half the width of one is left - , and from this open space the mud is dipped up and poured upon the bed of dry 1·ushes, where it ' dries, and forms a xich "muck" soil, which constitutes the garden. As the specific gravity of this garden is much greater than that of the water, or of the substratum of mud and water conibined, it gradu- ally sinks down into its muddy foundation; and in a few years it has to be rebuilt by laying upon the top of the garden a new coating of rushes and another cov- ering of mud. Thus they have been going on for cen- turies, one garden being placed upon the top of another, and a third placed over all, so soon as the second gives signs of being swallowed up in the all-devouring m-q.d. The gardeners navigate the open space between their islands with light boats ; and during the short hours of the morning, the market-boat alongside each :island 1s 'l'HE CHIN AMP AS. 189 loaded with a cargo of vegetables, fruits, and :flowers, which are to be displayed in the great market of Santa Anna. More pleasing than a drive on the paseo is a . boat-ride down the canal of Chalco at eventide, when the proprietor of each of these little estates is seen standing in the canal alongside, and throwing upon his thirsty plants a plentiful supply of the tepid canal water, which, from every leaf and flower, reflects back the rays of a setting sun, that have penetrated the long shadows of the trees of Las Vegas. Some of the chinampas have small huts upon them, where a gardener lives, who watch- es over two or three of these little properties. Sometimes also shrubs, and even trees, are planted along the edges, which yield both fmits and :flowexs, and serve to keep the dry earth from falling into the water. When looking at one of the largest and best cared for chinampas, the be- holder can hardly divest himself of the idea that it is a floating island, and might well have been the residence of Calypso. This is the whole of the story of the chinampas, the most fertile and beautiful little gardens upon the face of the earth. A correct picture of them would be poetry enough, without the addition of falsehood ; for whether it is the rainy season or the dry season, it is always the same to them. They know no exclusive seed-time, and have no especial season for harvest ; but blossoms and ripe fruits grow side by side, and flowers flourish at all seasons. As market gardens they are unrivaled, and to them Mexico is indebted for its abundant supplies. The evidence that Humboldt*produces in favor of float- ing gardens, viz., that he saw floating islands of some 30 feet in length in the midst of the current of rivers, amounts to little in this case; for every one that has traveled exten ively in tropical lowlands has seen veg- * Essai lYolitiqzie 1 vol. ii. !), 61. 190 MEXICO AND ITS RELIGION. etation spring up upon floating masses of brush-wood. Where earth torn from the river bank is so bound to- gether by living roots as to form a raft, it will always float for a litt l e while upon the cur r ent, provided that its specific gravity does not materially exceed · that of the water ; and those grasses that flourish best in water will spring up and grow upon these islands. Peat, too, in bogs, will float and form islands, for the simple reason that it is of less specific gravity than water; and veg- etation will also spring up on these peat islands. But all this furnishes no evidence that the invariable law of nature, which carries to the bottom the heaviest body, has been suspended at Mexico. Had the floating gar- dens been built in large boats made water-tight, they might have floated. But, unfortunately, the Indians hacl not the means for constructing such boats. Even tim- ber-rafts would have become saturated in time, and sunk, as rafts of logs do if kept too long in the " mill - pond," waiting to be sawed into lumber. There is another law of nature, which must 11ot be lost sight of, which is at war with the idea of a garden float- ing on a bed of rushes; and that is capillary attraction, which would raise particles of water, one by one, among the :fibres of the rushes until the frail raft on wh i ch the earth rested was saturated ; and still pressing up - ward, the busy drops would penetrate the superincum- bent earth, moistening and adding to the specific gravity of the garden by filling the porous earth until it became too heavy to float, if it ever had floated. . Nearly three hundred years had passed away before men ventured to question the truth of the statement that the gardens along the canal of Chalco ever floated, and then it seemed like temerity to raise the question, even if it were only a popular fallacy. It has therefore been treated by all modern writers as a well-established 'l'HE CHINAMP .A.S. 191 matter, and one of not sufficient importance to justify its minute investigation. With me the question was a far different one. I had, after careful inquiry and observa- tion, come to the conclusion that the marshes of the val- ley of Mexico were, in the time of Cortez, substantially in the condition in which we :find them at the present c.1ay; that the filling up t4ey had undergone in that time was counterbalanced by the relief they had gained by the canal of Huehuetoca. The chinampas constitute an important link in the chain of proofs to establish this fact. If I have succeeded in showing that these gar- dens of the Aztecs, instead of :floating upon the water, rested upon the · muddy bottom, it follows as a matter of course that the dept4 of the water in the laguna could not, in the day of the Aztecs, have been materially great- er than it now is . CHAPTER XVII. The gambling FestiYal of San Augustine.-Supprcssed by GoYernrnent. -The Losses of the Saint by the Suppression of Gambling.-Uow Travelers live in the Iuterior.-A Visit to the Palace. I HAVE already said that my first entry into the val~ ley of Mexico was from the south, through the suburban city of Tlalpan, where in good old times was · held the great gambling festival of Sari Augustine. The advanc- ing morality of our day has put an extinguisher on this noted festival, which was one of the most noted days in the Mexican calendar. Crowds flocked to it to gamble, to dance, and to adore the most holy Saint Augustine. To a looker-on it was hard to say whether it was the devil or the saint whom the people had come to wor- ship. The chief business of high-born dames seemed to be to make a display of their taste in dress, and to set off the whole contents of their wardrobe; for five times in each day was their entire wardrobe changed, and so often did they appear in a new set of jewels. To this festival came also noblemen and highway robbers, to gamble and to rob each other, and to be robbed by the women at the monte table. In honor of the saint, the city was crowded with monks, and thieves, and Magda- lens, and the dignitaries of the Church and state. The rich and the poor came together to enjoy the saturnalia in honor of the most blessed Saint Augustine. Gambling was here duly sanctified by the participation of the priests, who were here, as they are every where in Mex- ico, the most expert gamblers at the tables. While this festival continued, money changed hands more rapidly GAMBLING A'l' 'l'LALPAN. 193 than in California in her worst days. Five dances a day were the pastime ; but at the monte table was the solid sport. This was the great attraction that had call- ed all the crowd together. It was an exciting scene to see the ounces piled up as men got excited in the game. What is there left of woman's virtue, when the highest ladies of the court stake thefr ounces at a public gaming- table, and poorer ones eagerly throw down their last piece of silver? Woman's rights have not yet reached that point with us that she may gamble and get drunk without losing caste; and God grant they never may. It is a consolation to be able to add that the late gov- ernment of the State of Mexico had sufficient firmness to suppress this abominable festival of the Church, much to the pecuniary disadvantage of the saint and his priest- hood. Indeed, there is now no public gambling, not even in the city of Mexico, except the lottery of the Acad- emy of Fine Arts, and the lottery which is monthly drawn to promote the adoration of our Lady of Guadalupe. This last is one of the most corrupting of all lotteries. Tickets for as small a price as a Spanish shilling are hawked about the street, and by the exhibition of a splen- did scheme the poor Indians are tempted to venture their last real in ' the hopes- of winning a rich prize, through the kind interposition of the Virgin, to whom they are taught to pray for that purpose. It is true that a mass is performed for the benefit of all losers, but this mass has never had the power of restoring to the poor Indian his lost shilling. - Let us now go from this place, where gambling used annually to have its festival, or, rather, harvest of vic- tims, into the cathedral church of San Augustine, to w horn the lucky gamblers were accustomed to dedicate a part of their wii : mings, that thus they might sanctify their unrighteous calling by bringing robbery to the saint I I 194 :MEXICO AND ITS RELIGION. for an offering. Poor saint ! how much he and his priests have suffered by this wap.ton interference of the civil government in Ohm-ch affairs-this prohib~tion of monte- playing in honor of the festival of San Augustine! There yvas much in this chmch to adm:ii-e, and much of that gold displayed which gamblers a1·e · accustomed to lavish upon their idols. It seemed like another worship and another religion from that which I had been accus- tomed to witness in the humble chapels of the fintos, in whose country I had so long been wandering. Again I was in the saddle, and soon upon that noted causeway by which Cortez entered the city of :Mex- ico. It has lost none of its attractions in the course of centuries, but has been kept in £ne repair as a ca1Tiage- road, while the venerable trees that line it on either side look as old as the time of the Conquistadors. This noble caniage-way, through the marshy ground of the valley of Mexico, is an enlargement of the old causeway of the Indians, or, rather, it has been built over a.nd around it, that having been less than thirty feet in width. I soon aITived at Churubusco, the scene of one of the b l oody battles of the American campaign in this va ll ey. There was little here to look at, and I hurried on and entered the south gate of the city, and soon arrived at the Hotel d e Pa1~s, to which I had been lfoected. My poor old mustang here ended a twelve days' journey, over mount- ains and plains of pedregal, without a shoe to his' hoofs. A party of Californians, who had been stopping here for some weeks, had left the day before, and I was ush- ered into French society, in which to form my :first im - pressions of Mexico. Still, there was an exquisite pleas- ure in once more getting clean, and eating food cooked after a civilized manner. Not that I hacl in any wise become tired of drinking porridge, extracted from corn, called atola, or dissatisfied with eating bits of fowl, which .A.BODE IN l\:CEXICO. 195 the maid of honor to General Garay so ingeniously served up with her fingers, after having it well flavored with Cayenne or Chili pepper! He that does not love Chili must keep out of Spanish .America. A.nd he will prove a poor traveler who can not sit down with a good appe- tite to a supper of small black beans (frijoles), and a dozen Indian cakes (t01·tillas), as thin and as tough as a clrum-head, which serve the double p1.u-pose of spoon and plate. · My room was on the roof, and when my inner and oute1· man was fully in orde1·, I used to walk till a late hour of the day upon the paved J1ouse-top, now leaning against the parapet and looking up to the snow-covered mountains, whose shadowy forms could be made out even by moonlight, and upon the shadowy towers and domes of the city. rhus pleasant days and weeks flew on. Sometimes I 1~ode about the valley, carefully searching after the relics of times past, and at other . times survey- ing the cmiosities of the city. Once this order was broken in upon, in order to accompany that noble-heart- ed man and excellent embassador, Governor Letcher, to the palace, where I had an interview with A .. rista, then the President of :Mexico, who strikingly resembled our own President of that day, Millard Fillmore. CHAPTER XVIII. Visi to ontrems and a.n Angel.-The End of a brave oldier. - A Place of l.ttlls. - ANew England Dinner.-..-\.n dventure with Rob- bers-doubtful. -R ensqn for 1,evisiting Mexico.-Th Battle at tbe Mountain of rosses.-A.peculhr ariety of the nctns . - Tbi,eeMen gibbeted for mbbing a Bi hop.-A omt upon Horseback. - The re- treat of Cortez to tumba.-A venerable yp1,es Grove. - Unex:pect- edly comfortable Qmn·t rs. - An English Dinner nt T zca c o . - Pleas- ures unknown to the Kin of Tezcuco.-Relic of Te z cttco.-The Appearance of tJie Virgin Mary at Tezcuco.-The auseways of Mexico. THE 1-ide to an no-el has thi advantaQ'le o er all others out ofl\:[ rico t11at the road is nearly all th wa upon dry land thn pr enting a plea an contrast to the g1oomin ss of all the othe:r: ,, exc , pt the Tacuba i-oad. Thel'e is le of tagnant water and little appeaxance of teg_u.i qu , ite. It i lined with field of corn and magu . ontrei· . is upon this mad - the point wher anta An - na line of defen e wa fir t broken and hrok n in th rune w:a a at el'l ' O ordo and b the ame officer the late General Ril y. It was the d £ t of all Mexi - . can nrilitar operation , that th y w · not su:fficientl on the look -o ut for night attack. In the night Riley had been allowed to giet belrind the po ition of his ad - ver ary at Cerro Gordo · and her again h got behind and above him b crawlino- up a mvin in a fogg nio·lit from whicl1 point h charged "\ alencia in re er e. That uc e sful charo · e of the brav old oldier rai d him to the brevet rank of (ajor General and eal d the fate of the city. Wliat sort of a victory has it p:,:oy , ed to th liero of this battle? He had pent the be t poxtion of Jiis life A RIDE TO SAN ANGEL. in tl1:e Indian te:r1ifory, arra.nging difliculties, appeasing tr:ife · , overawino· the tudm:Ient and r training . the Ia . w - le ness of white intmd , er • llnd now he had become an old man witI1 the rank only of Major as he had no kind friend at court. Ent the ].\foxi.ca 1 n war opened to him the prospect of winning a · sasli' 'or of being brnught l1ome in a coffin. The sash was won, but the coffin wa near at l1a11d ; fo1; while l1e was gaiuing l1i lamel ~ be contracted a . caucer which in a shm-t time aft - er his return from a di tant eonuuand consigned him to the l1ome pr pa:red for all living. Fo1't long ye.am had he follow . d the profes ion of rum anc'Lendmed its hard- hips without a 1mumur ~ yet when he laid down hi sword to die, he had nothing to leave to his children hut the comm.is ions Congre s had awarded him on hi al- ifomia revenues. J\ T ar is a, hard tra.de for the bravest of the bmve, and with ~ery few prizes except to political fay01ite , who with high- mmding titl but without mil- itary e.x:perienee, ride b the ide of o : me brave subal - tern, gather lris lamel..,, and enjoy the fruits of l1is e:xpe- ri llC . t sJio-ht brea twork and a heap of bones and kuUs mru.·k tl1e ite of this gallant exploit of Genei·al Riley. And we fancied that we could · elect the American skull from the common ma . as they clead belono,ed to two distinct race of men · one et of skulls being thin and fu-m wlrile the othei· wa thick and porous. . 1i · e rode 011, and soon ca.me to ro:1 Angel. wliei·e w rn n1any pleas- ant plac~s for uburban re ideuces and an immense con- vent garden celebrated for its fi.11its. Dut now all was arched and d17 for it was midwinter which is here the middle of the dry sea on and it wa. not et ilie time fo1· the new foliag to app a1· upon the trees . for that doe . not take place till F _ hma17. The . cca ion of our ride was an invitation to dine 19 MEX.I A.NU IT RELJ<GION. with an .Ameri . c.,'ln fanril at the pap ·-1nill of ]fr. M 'In- to h th Engli h banker. Thi" wa th great t ti·eat that I ha l yet met with in M ico. Though I hav liad the lionor of dininO' in morn distingui b d place both in M · o and in th I nit d tate I n Yer a.ttended a din - ner-part that I enjoyed o much. It wa a thrifty fam- ily, and a, charming old - fashioned N w England house - wife had p1 · epnred the dinner. P rhaps tJri is ayino· enough to nable the reader to fill out the pi tm for he will b m-e to aues that pumpkin - pi were not for:o-ot- ten · for what would a -clown - ea t thanksgiving: dinner b without tl1is 11 tional dish ? Th dinnei· was a charm in it elf while the attendant circum tanc ga e it a double relish. To omplete the plea ure of the vi it we made om way into "the Yankees kitchen, and there had the pleasur of eeino• ~ cooking- tove and . cooking- fm·nitw:e of tin copper and fron di pla d after the mo t approv d fashion. eril this univ ·"al Yankee nation pre erve its distinctive characteristic eyer where . On our wa home we must need . have an adventm. Bu: whether the par that overtook ns on the road were re.:.ill 1-obber· m- onl pl a.sure - eeke:r hu.rryino- to e - cape from the rain I have my doubt to the pre ent day. But my min:ist J.ial companion who wa more X.J)et-i - enc din uch matt havin · b en~ pt here a long time by our go ernment to look after the unburi d American dead i n i ted that it wa a genuine ca e of attempt d robbery . All I can ,c,a in the F1 · emise i t1mt eio-ht alifornia. xobber wonld not hav rnn off in that le without £rt a certaining wh tl1ex that old 1·e olver liad any powder iu it or not. 1i'Vhen we quared up for a fight th y might have known that it wa becau e m old mustano- would not mov · and the could ha e had all our available for the aslcin° · ; but it wa aving time in them to run when the heard us call out in tbat fuJ ted AN .AD"VENTURE. 19 "Yankee languag ' and they did camper off' most ex - p ditious(. We got back: to th eit wit11out a wettino- and with - out a chanc of getting frightened where the faithful old mu. tang and I pa.rt d com pan f01 · ver. en :U · can. dollaJ. · was the mark t valu of hor e saddle and bridle - 1 than the co t of hi it eating which he liad en - joyed with a o-usto · and we took di ers way at pai-tino·. The faithful old fellow went to the silver min and I return d to the United tat after an ab en e of thr e year and mor in which I had beei;i. through p ils by land and pei·ils b water 1 bu.t not ufficient to atisf m ta te for adventure. Up to thi tiru I was a firm believ,er in the stocry of Cortez . But wh n I had r tired from acti e dutie I began to think of writing a book . I did what 110 oth foreign wi-iter on ]\[ :rico l1a t done - I made a jou.r - ney to the counb at ?'ny OUYlt. charg · . I wa not in the e1uployment of any company or any govemment · I wa under n oblio-ation to prai an man who did not d erv it and not di po d to peak u.nne essar evil f any wh thei· they deser ed it or not . My adYantage· above mo t wi-ite.r upon ]V e:rico wei·e the e: m ind - p ndent po · tion and my intiinat knowledg of the · lmr - acter of the North American Indian acquir d b f r I had O'.ain d an pre on eiv d notions fr m the writing"' of ot]1er • 1\Iy fathe : r who ha.d liv d among the Ii·oquois or i ation iJ1 tl1e fa.mil of Jo ph J3randt, and w nt tluou 1 1 the l1St1al form of adoption in pla e of ome In - dian who had died o-ave ine m fu- t les on on Indian chni-acter • and a t te o arl a quired I follow u p in after Ii£ • 1\Iy anc tor for sev ·al , n ration dwelt near the Indian ag nc at ~err Y all y on "\ · · ilson Pat nt an · in a neio-hboring village ,,:ra I b m but reiu.oved _ axly in li±e to a part of the mmtry that had 2 0 1\£.EX..ICO Al belonged to the Seneca , where I enjoyed a, good oppo1· - tmrity of stud ing Indian character. It wa.s the feast - day of the kings, lo ..Reyes, . when, after my return to Mexico, I was again in the saddle, . 1iding ant from Mexico toward the village of Tezcuco. I had to take a by - way to avoicl tbe Guaaalupe road, which wa blocked up in con equ nee of the holida . In doing so, I had to leap, a ditch or canal, in which both I and m hoi-se came near closing our pilgrimage in a quagmire ; but in time we we.re _ again upon the road. It is a ch-eary place about tl10 hill of Tepeya a., or Gua - .dalupe and if the Vfrgin . had not mil.ed upon the barren l1ill and made 1 · o"'e gmw out of it, it would be as mun - viting as one of the hill of the valley of Sodom . This hill is now called the ' !\fountain of Crosse . s ' foi· upon it, in 1810 the first in 11.rgent Hidalg;o, the pxiest of Dolores, won a battle against the :royal troops, which should l1ave been foUowed up by an entry into J\IIe:cico ; but Provid nee ordered it otherwi e, and the forest of ems · es that once cover d. it pi-oclain1ed a bloody slaugh - ter without any results. The hors of Tez . cuco approach the hill in the wet sea.son lea : ving but a narrow margin for the :road, but in the dry sea on this margin is greatly enfarcred . I have already explained the compo ition of t e qu:i quite, and the manner of it production ;. ]1ere it was lying in com · es or spot a it had beeu left by the receding and drying up of the water during the present dry season. Little piles of it had be n gatl1ei-ed up here and there to be taken to town for nse probably b the bakers or soap- boilers w110 are ai~ to pay fourteen shilling an ct1•oba for it. :Beside a little stunted gra · s there was h~e no ign of veireta.ble life except a peculiar species of tJ1e cactus family, which rn e111bled a mammoth beet with - out leave bttt bearing upon its top an axra of ,~ege - FATE , F ROBBER , • 01 table k.niv-e that sun-ounded a mo t exquisite scarlet flower. There was another sight b the road side mor in keep- ing with the gloomy thouo-ht which thi des ·t plain ex- cite : it wa , the dead boclie of three men who had been condemn db · a militax commi ion for robbing a bishop. The we:re hot, and their bodies wer place on thr e gibbets as a warning to other . The bishop aid he would have pa1·doned the robber but when th w nt to that extreme limit of depravity of sea1·clring with- in his Irirt of ' ackcloth for concealed doubloons, it was moi- than a bi hop could endure. The worth ecclesi - a tic had renounced th world and all its -vaniti s and had put on . he badge of povert and elf-mortification for $50 000 a ear, and he wore the di guises that ong-ht to have hield d him from the suspicion of b ino- rich! The e militar com.mi ions are no new invention in Mexico for that famous ount de al ez, the ice-kmg who built tI1e ca . t1e of Chapult pee and depo d the Archbishop of Mexico had a tJ:aveling militar court with chaplain and all piritual aids to accoD1pan the dragoons that coured the mad in seai·ch of robber . When a :follow was caught, comt chaplains aud dra- goon made rapid work in di missing l1inl to hi long rest - ino--plac and saying a cheap mas for the repo e of 1:ris soul and then again they WeFe ready for anoth " enter- pri e. In tbi way the road . s were made safo in the times of that "'\ icero • Had I known the x , eal distance to Tezcuco I ought to have abandoned the jonrney on account of the lame- ness of my horse. But either the irgin :Mary or more probably the extreme purity of the atmosphere on th "e elevat d plains had depri-ved me of the power of me m - ing di tance b :r th e. This i exce ivel annoying to a tra;v; let. He ee tl1e object he is att mpting to 12 2 2 l\fEX C .A.ND IT RELIGION. a , pproach at an a:pparently modern,te distance plain in sight . and as lie rides along, hour after houi- there it stands just where it seemed to b wh n he :fir t got ight of it. I :finally rnached my de tiuation in good time for a dinner and fo1· as good a night's ntertainment for man and bea t as could . be found in all the R public of Me x ico . ,lVhen I turned the }1ead of the lake, I wa.s clos upon the track which Corh~z and his retreating band followed into the plains ofOtumba. Poor wretches! what tt time the must have had of it in this · disconsolate 1~eheat -- - wounded, jaded like . tiger bereft of their prny ! They mourned for tlle:ii- companions slain, but mo t of all for the boot th . e had lo t. "They grieYed ,or tllOse thnt went down in the cotter, And also for the biscuits and the buttet· :' and hobbled on as be t they could while the natives pur ued th m with hootings and volleys of in.efficient weapons. Passing this point ancl turning to the north - east, the entered the plams of Otu.mba , , w11ere they en - countered tl1e whole undi cipliued rn,bble -of the Aztecs, and scattered t11em like cl1a:ff beforn the wind. 0011 after I had pa ed the head of the fake and turned southward I entered a cultivated country between tilled grounds and little mud villages along the _ road. The e were the representativ: of the magnific nt cities enumerated by Cortez . That fine grnve of cypre ses which had been a landma:i-k all day was now close a , t hand, and I could form some idea . of its great antiquit .. But the day wa pa sing away, audit wa , still uneei: - tain whetller I could :find afe qna:i-ter for tl1e night,, where my hor e and the ilver pla,tes on my b1idle, and the ilver mountings of my addle would be safe . I never own uch fane biB.es, but they wei · e on the l1hrse given me at the stable. A I :¾HT A'l" 'l'EZ U • 2 3 , A o-ood dinn r and a clean bed I did not ~-pect to :find nor ould I have found th m a . ar m · lier . But the new and ent rpri ing cornpan of Escandon and o. who :now ]1a , ve th po ion -of the Real del font il- -ver min of wlrich I hall speak hereafter had ju t compl t d the Grand Hou e ( asa ll-nmcle) in con - n tion with the salt nmnufa · hne whi h the carr on It was a neat on tor re idenc of dri d mud (adob) and wor - tb the oc upancy of the proude"'t king of Tez uco . Tbmwh the flagging of the int rior com-t wa not all complet d ~ t th manao-ing pru.-tn · had tak n po e - sion and it wa fitt d up according to the mo t approv d ... tyle of an .Anglo - axon r sid nc . A hor e and rid r pa ed into the outer court ther stood read a groom to lead the fu1~me1.· into the i nner com. · t where w J." e th stabl f • r the l1or e and I utered the house to enjo the unlo ked - for pl a m of English ho pitality in this out - of - th - way Indian villaO',e . The resid nt partner wa an Engli hman. His con - nection with the Real del :M:onte ompany extended only to the manufactme of alt. But even this wa an t n ·ve affair mid had ah: a.cl ab orbed an investment of $100 000 in order to provide the salt u ed in only one branch of the proce of r fining il at that min • The gentleman was now ah ent but hi ex.cell nt En - gli h wife and hei · brother Im w full well how to di - charge the dutie of ho t ven to an unknown ttanger . The dinner was of the be t, and tl1ere was no lack of appetite after a J1a1 · d da rid on a hotting hm~'"'e. o we all had the prime element of enjoyment . E n ter - tainment for man and beast i among the hi g he t luxu - rie to be found b tlie wa ide . It wa an qual lu .x- m · ;r- to my hosts in t]1 ir isolated re .. i den e to receiv a. v i sit 'from one whose onl 1-ecommendation wa tlmt the • 4 D I'l\, JrnLHHO~ . Eno--li h language wa h~ native tougne _ so that wh n we r fu d from the dining - rnom we had be ome old ac- ' quainhmce. The King of Tezcuco never Im w what it was n a raw winter evening, to it befom a b1·ight wood :fir , in a fire - place with feet on fender and tong in hand, li t- nino· to an animated conver ation so mixed up of two langu.aa that it wa hard to tell 1 hi h pr dominated. Not all th tatelin , e s to be found in l\Iexi~'\n palace wl1ei: in a. lordl tape tri d halls men and women sit and shiver ovm· a prntract d dinner au yi Id plea mes like tho e arouped around an Engli h :fire~id • The evelling wa not half Ion enough to a all that wa tn b. discu ed. ..t.l w sat and cluttted and drank om~ tea, with c gusto w liad. never lno"\'li n before we forP'ot al to- g ther that w w :re indulging in plebeian enjoym nts upon the spot where a k.ino· palace had probably tood. In tead of uch plebeian thing~ a a wood floor and Brus els cairpet hi half-dad maje ty had here quatted upon a mat, and cl alt out justice or inju tic a~cording to lris apri e to fr mbling crowd of dirty Indian whose ro al rag and feather made tbem princel 1. Dig - nity and maje t ax trul pali of Indian chru:actex but a good dinne.i· and a clean bed a:re lnxmie that an In - dian eve11 though he w , ·e ru1 emperor nev-ei· knew. 1Iy bt in here wa to ear h for relic and a oon a daylight appeared I wa astir. But no relic could be found except ome stone image o rndel , cut as to be a bnrle que upon Indian one-cutting. There was a saci-ificial tone and a calenda1· . tone built into the steps of the church of San Francisco, which wei·e so badl done that the n e to which the l1a , d been applied could j t be made out. Here too wa a rude stone wall that had been bnilt o er the grave of Don Fernando, the first Clui tian ]rino- of Tezcuco wl10 had been converted to REMAIN OF TEZ I ' • a Christianit b Cortez. Thern is also hru.-e one of tho e little chapel which ortez built, which indicate e:rlxeme - ly limited means in tl1e builder. At the distance of a bow - shot from thi is the ite of the u slip' ( canal) wlrich 01-tez sa he aused to be dug twelve £ et wide aud twelve £ t d p in ord t float his brigantine . eai· · b the Indian w . ·e dig- o·ing a ne canal £ r the little st am-boat which now plies on the }aQ,ma. When they r ,ch d a point le than three :feet from the mface the were stopped by the wat&. How ,could ortez, under g1 · e.,<tter di advan- tage . , : dig to the d pth of twelve :6 et without even iron shovels? · I returned to the hacienda and inquired if there wer no othe.i.· relics. The prop1-ietor a u.r d m tliat he had been u.nable to find an e x cept the Indian mounds which he show d me and ome stone cellar tep that he had found in digging. And this is all that now I mains of the g'r at and ma~;nificent city of Tezcuco, . which had en- tered into alliance with Cortez and which, . fo1 more tha.u a hu.ndr d yeax after the Co11q11 st, was llildru.· th~ e - pecial care of a up mtendent ent from pain as an Indian Reservation. Ther are here • eight Franci can monks and a convent · sev n of these monk I wa a. ur d we.re living at home with then- families and drildr but the eighth wlio llap- pened to be a cripple ).ived in the convent. A major iI1 the guard wa . pointed out _ to me, . who having commit - ted a mmder took anetua1:y in the chm-ch where he r mained everal cla when --- and e hav his own word for it-the irgin [ru appeared to him and £reel for- g;ave him. On thi news a tting abroad ther wa great 1 9oicing in Tezcu o tha . t the irgin had at la t visited them. From being tigmati.zed as a murderei· the ob- iect of this visit was almost ad01~ed as a aint, and b 206 :I\fE.., CO .AND IT :RELIGION. came one of the principal men of the 1ri.llage, and was c1·eated a major in the new corp • After I had mv 7 , ed. the salt - works and the gla - work. I turned m hor e ' s head towal'd ]\Texico by the road along the eastern shol'e o that I ma , d the -complete circuit of Lake Tezcuco. Tims far my "Visit to tli royal city of Tezcuco had been pei-fectly u.cce fol e:s:cept in tJ1e &tt mpts made to convince the young Englislmml1 that I was not & dead - shot with the rifle · and I started home with a slight shade upon my veracity for denying my ability.,. to pierce the centr of th bull s - ey . But ot.h :rwise it wa a dis - agr' eable parting to all of us. As I returned by the ea t ide of th lake; the splendid high farming-lauds that e.:s:tend from the sho:re to the foot of the mountain we1 · e strikin? · ly in contrast with the fla , tne and barren- ne of the plain on the water - ide which is so slight! y elevated a.hove the level of the alt water that a few inch - e of ri e in the Iag,ma spread out an. immense sheet of s aline water and yet there is not a solitary evaporating Yat where th.et-e is an unlimited demand for the evapora - ted ai-tiele at fourteen shilling s the a,·oba. ortez speaks of the :fine fields of com on tlie ea t . side of the lake . But they could not hav been finer in his da than they axe at pre ent thougl1 th furui hed him with the supplies th~t upported his axmy. I :reach d the head of T ezcnco a~ noontide whei,e the heavy water of the alt lake was driving up toward the f r esh water, a described by Co r tez but it wa under the pt · es · ure of a strong north wind. Now that I am on the new causeway broad and pa - ciou lik.e all the other it may be well to conclude the discus ion of the physical condition of this valley by de - tei:mining the size of the old Aztec causeway • An island embo omed in a mai-sh has always fol"IIled THE AZTEC AUSEWAY: • 20r:, a favorit , e retr t for an Indian bib whether amono- th ev 1 · glade of } lorida or th wild - rice wamp of north- west · n anada.. uch a retrn.at is till more de irabl wh u in addition to th ecurit it affi i-ds from an en.e- m it . Iik wise a re . o r t for wild dncks as wa and i the ca e with the laguna of the Mexican valle . Hence prohahl , th zt. cs elected tlii place a.s the site of their village • and to reach it it wa neces a.r to make on or more footpaths acro the max h . the Azte had no heat ofburd n . his mu t ha e een a ta k of no littl magnitude. To ha e made it thirty f t wide _ would not only have been a work of immense difficulty but would ha e de tro d he defeu · e character of their po ition. Still w can upon thi oc ion, afford to be a . little liberal with the s tatements of CoTtez a we l1a : ve had to ut hi.., hundred of thou and of warrio1 · down to a :fi w thonsan.d of mi rabl . - armed Indian and reduce hi magnificent citie to small Indian villages . In 01·der to make the island of JUex:i · o at all in.habitabl we have had to reduce hi lake from navio-able basins of twelve feet .or mor in .d pth to mere e apo r ating ponds . Hi floating island have b en tran form d :into garden - bed built upon the mud • and his canal have stlllk to mere dit h . Now I propo e to be lib · al to the old Con - qui .ador in the matter of his famou causewa and 1vill ther fore admit that the might ha e b en twelve fe t in width-a broad as the tow - pa . th of he Exie anat CH.APTER XIX. Tl1e · treet of Tncuba . - The . paniards and the IndfanWomen . - Thc Reti· at of 01·tez . -The Aqltedn t of i f · · co. - The Engli :h and American. Bm-ying-grounds . - Tb Prot taut President-The rival irn-in . - An Image out of Favo1-. - The Azte ~ and the pnniards. I mde along the str et to the gate and causeway of Tacub m r er which rt'z xetreat d ou the onow - fal nio·ht (tr· te no c h. e ) I natnnilly fell into r flections upon the rio-l1teou 1~ ti-.ibution that overtook a portion of the panish rnbber'"' on that night, and upon the myste - rious wa s of Providence in allowin o · Cortez an.d a rem - nant to scape being bm11ed alive b the Indian after the in£'lmou live which, by their own admis'"'ions the had been leading in the cit • The Indians bad ma . de a feeble re · tan e when Alvaxado mm-dei · d their chiefs and had CJ..ing d into submi ion when ortez 1 · eturned . l3ut now their wrongs had veached that point wher even Azt~c could ndn:re no more. Their cup, of iniquity eemed full when - ortez who had left a wi:fi in uba. ent to the little rillage of Tacubc , called by Diaz Tla - cupa to £ tch thence some 'women of his household, among who m was the dauo-hter of Mo n tezuma [he had alr ad one daughter of 1\lontezuma in hi powei.-J whom he had gi en in charo-e of the King of Tlacupa her 1-cla - tive when he marched again t Narvaez. * The women being re c-a d . Cortez afterward ent rdaz with four hunclxed m n which brought on hostilitie that ended in tlri night retreat . Cort' z was wor e than t11e I\lo r mon goveinor of Utah · " Benml Di.oz, vol . i. p . 83-.. THE HOUSEHOLD OF CORTE.Z. 209 who is said to h}l : ve thirty-six wives in his household. But they ru : e at least, voluntary inmates of bis harem, while the ' household" of Cortez had been taken by vio - le11oe. It is one • of the prominent trait of Indian cl1ar - :acter that, while they a1·e inhuman to thefr fomaJ,e cap- tive , they g;na:nl with the utmost jealousy the virtue of their wive • Even among the debased Indians of Cali- fornia female infidelity is punisl1ecl with death ; and I have seen the whole population of an Indian village on th , e Upper Sa,c~amento thrown into tl1e utmost confusion -the women howling and the men brandishing thei1· weapon -because a base Indian had sold his wife to a still ba . er white man. " Such a thing was never, · tl1ey . aid, done in the tribe before., And here we hav-e Cortez, in contempt of even Indian notion of vili,ue, sending to bring to his harem by violence another daugh- ter of Montezuma. As Bei-nal Dia , z goe more into detail than orte z , 11e now and then _ drops a:n, expr~s ion tliat :fi1r1:ushes - a clew to many an enigma otherwise unexplainable. In speak- ing of the avru:ice of the officers, he lets fall the following confes ion of l1 i own infamy : " Thi-· wa a good hint to us in future o that aftei "- wanl , when we l1ad captured any beautiful Indian fe - males we conceal d tllen1: and. gave out that they lmd es- caped. As soon a it wa come to the marking day or, , if any one of u.s tood :in favor with Cortez , he got them secxetly n1.ark.ed [viz., bntnded with a red - hot iron] dur- ing the night - time, and paid a :fifth of tl1eir 1ralue to bim . In a hort time we pos essed a great numbei· of uch slave . ,. ever was tl1ei · e a band of Anglo-Saxon outlaw", cut - throat , pirates, 01 · buccaneers t11at i-eacl1ed that point of human depra1:ity that they cm.tld brand, a ea.ttle ru:e * Bernal Diaz, ,ol. i. p . . 31 32. 210 fi'{EXI AND IT RELI - I N; branded with a -red - hot iron swanns of women taken h violence in order that the might not make any :mistakes in r cognizing their munbcrless wive ! None but pan - i h h roe of a '1101 war ever exhibited uch -a picture of total depravity. When the .A.zt cs w J:e thus ro d to a tiou b the brnt.al lust of mt ' z the. • a ailed him with pluensy rather than with cmuag 1mtil hi quarter"' in the city became untenabl , and th n thi night F treat wa un - d rtal-en in wllicb all the gold if tJlei-e i-eally wa any, and all otl1 · t1 1 a U1' and two ., on ::uid on daughter of 1.Iontezuma wei:e Io t in the confas d ru h of uch a multitude over thi foot - path. Th Indian tor." is that Cortez slew the children of fonteznma when he found him elf nnable to carr them off. P rhap he cfa1 but the probabilit i that th y peri h cl by chance or 1·atl1 - er it seems to haY be n by chance that ort'z or an of his gang escaped and came afe to Tacuba. We must now giv,e up history to talk of tiring by the rnad - side . The hru.·d wat i from the sprino- on th south ide of · hapult p c i carried over ston arche upon the eau ewa of Ta uba to the o · ate of Belin. But at anta. Ee, everal lea '11: distant froin the ci is a stream of oft watei: which i brought to the powder - mill (Molfria del Rey), · whe:i., it tum a, wh el . Thence the aqued u ct passing by tl1 north ide of hapultep c i" carried along the hio·hway to the causewa of an o~mo. It pa s tI1e gate of an o mo enter the and terminate in the tr et of Tacuba. B the e two g-ate and b the ide of the · e two parallel aqu duct the Ame.xican arm entered the ity of 1\Ie:x:ic . Tl1e object of inter t b the road- ide aftei · I ]J1ad pas ed the -eity gate wer fa t the French Academy, whicl1 is well worthv of a ,.isit for its prett oTouncl , if THE AMERICAN CEMETERY. ..dl nothino- more. When we had got farth r on the fand rose a little above the wat r - level of tl1e swainp. Here a. brancl1 - road and. the aqueduct turned off to Cbapulte - pec and in the angle tl1.u formed by th two road is the Engli h buryincr-oTound or cem ter • In thi i, t - ino· - plac of the d ad there is not a pot that can not be inio·ated at all of the ear while the art of man ha been bu _ in impr :ving the advantag that nature ha so lavi hly be t w d. Ju t befo • re my fu t a1'l-ival in Mexico public attention had b en particulaxl di1~ cted to thi . quiet spot from its having bee11 eho n a th place for depo itinu th ashes of the la t Pm · dent of Mexico, at who e bm-ial no holy water had be 11 wa ted and no candle had b en burned, and :£ r the 1-epo · e of who e onl no ma e had :ver been aid or other reli_;iou 1-ite perform d ro1d t he lept a qni - tly a th e who had o · ne to their burial with the pomp and cixcum fa.nee of a state fonernl. ~ o prie t had shriyed hi . oul his lips had 11ot b en touched witl-1 the anointing oil nor wa · inc use burned at his fone.ral; et he died in pea d claim iu hi la hom that ]ie had mad hi confe ion to :.rod and tru ted in him fot'. the pai·don of hi ins and refu d all the pro:ff d aid f prie t in facilitatino· Iris journ y to h aven . Thus di d and here wa privatel - buried the fir t and l.,. t Pi: testant Pr iclent of li:[e:rico th onl ~eall good man that ever occ11.pi d that exalted station and prob- a.bl the onl native Ue:xican who ever had the moral ourag to denounce the :relioion of hi fathei· upon his dyina bed. djoining th Engli h cem t on th the meri an bm in - or und whi h 11 b d in e th war w hm• , ha e bee11 coll cted th r ain of n 50 .... '1.mecican that died or wer killed at Mexico, and a neat monument has been erected over them. . Here 212 ! MEXICO AND l'f RELI :-rION. i,;: --;: ~ - MON U M.E:N ... TO THE AN ii: RlCA?,S. Americans that die henceforth in that it can be bu.ried. An appmpriation of $500 · a year would make t hi more attractive than th English cemetery but tl1e plac ha b en wholl ·~ n · 1 ct d b on°Te ince that w rth man th Rev. . . G . oss completed hi htbor . Thei-e is a plea ure in ob erving the natural .affiniti which in foreign countrie <haw clo togetl1; r the e two branche of the . A..nglo- axon famil . A common languag and a common religion ovcenna ter political difference and the Eng1ish and Ameiican dead ar laid itle b r ide tor t nntil th judgm . nt. · t the outh of the Am , i an , em - eter i a vacant lot which the King of Prt ia. hould pm-cha e SQ that the Gm-mans may no lo~g-ei · b de - pendent on Ameri ans for a buryiug '- pface and that the THE Yll{GL..~ OE RElrilEDlE". 213 tlu e great Prot '"'taut pow -~ of the world ma h · a th cvei whei · hould be drawn clo e tog ther. Tacuba i a very small -v-illa~ and i not in any ,vi e not d e:s.c pt for an immen e cypre s - tr . that mu t have be n a won I · ven in the time of 01 'z . Tacuba ha the historical notoriety of beino· the place wh · ho tili - tie fu- t broke out "betw en the Azt c and the pa.niru.-d and th , e spot where th nio-ht retreat of the latter· termi - nat d. Her th land is quite fertil and a littl wa :from the village ai · sevel.'al water-mills whei · th grain ra · ed in thi pad of the valley i,. gTolllld into Hour. A little way beyond Thcuba is the hill and t mple of tl1e irgin of R medie . It wa upon thi hill, within the inclosw:e of an Indian mound that . the l1 treating party of mi' z made their first bivouac and built fire and dre ed their wounds . Hence the av, to the hill th name of .R mi dio and the church aft :ward erected wa dedi at d to our Lad of Rem di • Diaz tells u that it became ve:ry c 1 brated in his time. TJ1e tory about , ort 'z : findino- a broken - no d imao·e m the knap - ack of one of h · oldiers is not m ntioned either b him elf or Bernal Diaz . ud must thei-efore b an after - thouo-ht, to !!'ive plau. 'bility to a ub equent impo ,ition. mm this point 011:'z and hi pai · ty without theii- wom n 01· tr lll' truda- , d along to th foot of the hill to T pea or uadalup and th 1ce around the foot of Tezcuco to the plain f , tum.ba. Th tory i that whil ortez ancl hi men w ~ re t - ing her a oldier took from hi knap ack an image, with no e broken and an e e wan .ing whi h ortez mad the patron saint of tile exp dition, and Jield it up to their adoration and tl1at thi littl incident o encour - ag; d the m n that the "'taxted off with r en w d -vigor . he whole of thi tory · probabl a very ill modern inv ntion. The bulk of the fo1 · c of Coi-tez was most 214 ACEXI O AND IT R.ELI . I N. probabl d of that cla of :reprobat that to thi da found about almo t any of the West In - ia ea-port re· :I.y for an. enterpri . how ver hazard - ous. The · have no relio-ion • the are not :v n u.per - titious but yield a nominal acquie cenc o the fo r m of th atholic 1 1 elio·i n. ort ' z sp a . k often of his ef - fort to ffi ct the con er ion of th Indian but it i in uch a busine 01 · t of w~ to lead to tl1 impre i n that it wa all done to make an impr sion at home but wa really a matter tha he did not earn much about. The :fumo 1 imag according to the u.xrent story, di ap- peared on after the onque"'t but was found about 1 0 year afteJ:wa.rd m a m~O"ue,"' plant and was as much di - lapidat d a if i had b en expo ed to the weather for the whole of that • entur and a half. uch in ub tance i the tradition of the irgin of Remedi s who for a centur di,1l.ded with the irgin of Gu.adalup • the adoration of the people in the mo t ami - cable manner. But when the insurr ction of 1 10 broke out the e two -rirgins parted compan . 1: 1 a the ir - gin of GuacL.-.Jupe . became the war - cry of the 1.m ucce - ful i, · bels wlnle Viv · a the Lad of Rem di . . wa shouted back by the conquering foxce _ s of th king~ Tl1 Lad of Guadalup b crune ~IBpected of in.,urr c - tiornu.7 propen ities while all honor wern lavi Ii d upon th Lad."'" of Rem die" b tho e who wi bed to make prate tation s of then · loyalty . . Pearls money and jew - els W · ·e b towed upon herb th nobili and the pan - ish mer hant · · and as on iu tu-r ctionru.-y leade1· after another wa totall defeated the conquering g neral 1 · turned to lay their trnphi at the f • t of the Lad of Re-:- m di to who inteipo ition the Yi tor wa " crib d . They carried her in triumpl1ant proces ion throug-h the treet f if ico inging a laiularn. : us. Th n it wa "t]iat th Lady of R medie wa.s at the zenitl1 of her gfo - JUE .AND FALL O THE 'VIRGIN. 215 ry. H per on wa refulg nt with a blaze of jewels and her temple wa like that of Diana of · phe u and all about th hill on which it tood bore mark of the great - et pro peiity., Her ]1 almg powers were then t mr; valed and the Iis~ of cm~ which she is claimed to haYe efE . cted urpass that of all the patoot m diciue of our da . he wa an infallible healer alike of the disea e of the mind and of the bod . A limp e of her broken no e and battered face instantan ousl ur d men of democracy and unbe - lief. Heretic tood confounded in her presence while the halt, the lame, and the lepl.'Ous htmg up their crutch - their bandages and their filthy 1-ag" a trophie of h healing power, among the fla~ and othei · tmphie of her vi · torie ov , · the rebels . othing was b ond her skill · from mending a leak boat to ecming a prize in the lotter • from gi · ng to the blind £ t to the lam mending a broken or a pai-alyz d limb 01 · a brok.en h art to putting tlie baby to sleep. Her votarie e - teemed her omn i potent and carried her in p1 · oce ' Sion :in tim of drou o ·ht · as the o,odd of rain · and when pe - h wa borne thr ugh the in£ ct cl treets . uch w" he in the tim of her glo17 . ow all . han!red. . he is till a godd but h lor i clips d. he, like man . a vn:giu in ocial life n glect d to make her market while all kn wei:·e bow - ina- to her and now, in the seai- · and yeUow lea£ she i a virgin till. Her temple is dilapidated, her garland are faded hei:· gilding is tmrished the building about lier c urt are fallinO" to d ca bile the bleak hill which hei · templ crown l ok tenfold more uninviting than if it n er had been o cupied. \Vb n I entered this neglect - d templ of a n gl t d image an old sup ra11m1at d · pri t was aymg ma and three or fom · · old rones were kn cling "befo1~ her altar . o.ch . ro.·e the efiect s that fol - 216 MEXICO AN'D ITS RELIGION. lowed the revolution of Iguala. ot only was hm· hated rival of Guadalupe elevated [ from her long obscmity to be the national aint, but the animosity against this di- lapidated image of Remedies was ca1Tied to tha , t , extreme of cTu.elty that, when the Spaniards were expelled from Mexico, the passports of the ' Lady of Remedios' wm'e . made out, and she wa. order , ed to leave the , cow1try. Poor thing! The porter, eye gli timed at the now unwonted ight of a. silver dollax, and he oon had me tl1rough the most secret re e es of tbe ancturu.-y. The only things I saw worthy of admiration were some picture , made from down or the feathers of tl1e hummino'-bird by which a riclme s of color was imparted to the pictures that could not be obtained from paints. At last we came to the back of the great altar, and the curtain of dama k silk being dl'awn up by a little string, we aw sitting in a metallic maguey plant a bright new Pm.is doll, dressed in the gaudy odds and ends of ilk that make such a thing an attractive Ch.ii tmas present for the nm-seiy. Pa te suppli d the place of jewels and a con tellation of false peai-ls were at the back of her shouldexs. The man kept his gra:vit_ :r , aud did reve : rence to the poor doll while I bu.rued with in- dionation at being imposed npon by a countei·foit ' uni- versal remedy for all ,diseases.' I had often read in the apothecarie , advertisements caution again t counter:... feit and 1-ewards fo1· their detection and I always no - ticed :from these pxinted evidenc s that the counterfeits wei:-e exactly in pi-oportion to the woi-thlessne s of the genuine article, and that medicine which wa , uttexly valueless itself su:ffexed most from the abundance of counterfeits. o it was with the Lady of Remedios • after she had faUen below the di o ·nity of a, luim bug and no man. was found so poor a to do Iler re"? 1 uc sb AZTEC AND ROM.I H I ~ E • 217 We pi.rited away to the Cathedral of the city of l\JI xi.co, in oi-der to a e her tm~e jeweled :petticoat from being stolen, , and a - child doll overed with pa te jewels now personified the great patmn saint of the vice-kingdom of ew pain. I ao·ain mount cl m hor a:ngr at beino- , heated. Though the da wa a most lo ely one I mde hom in fit Imm . or to contra.st - the tem of paganism which Cort " z introduc d with the mo1·e poetical tern which prec d d it, and to compru.-e the . e -ca t-off clrild dolls with the all g;orical images of the Aztecs. M landloxd had two hoxe · of uch _ image , collect d wlien th y we.re cleanino· out one f the old cit canals. B wa of par - lor ornament we had an ztec god of baked a ; rth. H wa sitting in a chair· .a:rol1lld hi na el wa coiled a erpeut · hi 1-i ht hand rest d upon th head of anothei· serpent. This a co:rdina- to the la of intmpr ting al - legorie we ..,hould u.nder tand to ignify that the eocl had been r n01vned f01· his wi dom • that with the 1vi dom of the el'pent he had exe uted jndoment · and that hl meditatio w the profundit of ,vi dom. And et this all goricsl WOE hip d ctive a. it may have b 1 . wa forcibly superseded b the adonttion of a child's doll--one that had ver po ibl been worn out and thrown from a mn-sery and perhap pi k d up b ome pa ing monk wa made th a-odd of ew -pain a . ml cloth d with three petticoat one adomed with p ads, one with ru.bie and one with diamond at an estimat d co of <> , 000. Which wa the lea t obj ctionable super tition? We have b en taught to look upon the worship of the Aztec a monstrou · but the witne again t them w 1· them elv mon ter who were eking for a pre-- ten e to cuse their own brutality in x ducing the In - -dians to the mo t deba ing lavei.-y, wl1ile they appropri- K MEX! A D lT • RELIGIO • ated to their own u e the best looking of the qu.aws and k pt uch warm of upemumerar wi,r that each paniard had to brand them with a i-ed-hot iron in or- der to know his own famil , • The father of the pres nt mixed - br ed population of Mexico tell us that the Aztec offered human sac1ifices and £ea ted upon hmnan fie.Ji. The hop b dwelling upon th normitie of the In - dian to , rcu e th ir own still mo:re dete table m-imes. For tlu-e nturi theix tories were 1.mcontra , dicted and the ha~ been i-eceived hi t ri al eriti • Dut the characte1· of tbe witne s s wanant us in receiving the:u· tatement with ome ine1·edulity. CHAPTER XX. The . i:•n eo nt Eveuiug. - Ride to hapultepec. - The old! ., ypre ~es of Ghapultcpec. - The Capture of ' hapult.epec.-1\:folina del Rey.- Tncnbayn. - Don l\fanuel Escand!on.- ' fue Tobacco 1\lonopol_y.-The :PnJaoe of Escandou . - The 'Desierto.' - Hermits.~1\fonks in the onflict with So.tan. - Our Lady of a11n.el. l\f y rnsidence wa near the Pa e o 7Yu.evo and . at even - ing, whil the sun had yet an Iiour of his daily task to finish, I habitually auntered. forth for a walk up and down the Paseo to look a . t the crowd of coaches with tops thrown back, o that tl1e bai-eheaded ladies, . in foll dress for dinner, migltt enjoy tlle evening air, acquire a:n appetite and a.lute their friend by presenting the ba k" of their hands while they twirled tlieir fingers at them witli a hearty smile. Gentlemen on richly - ca:pa1i. · oned homes da hed along between the ww. of advancing and returning carriages stopping now and tll:en by tlie side of a well - known ca:n·iag, to exchange alutations, , 01 · by an , exhibition of a well - timed , embarr . as ment, proclaim. the favored object of their evening' ride. Crowds of foot-passenger~ atmtered a.long the mad - side looking at the rich di pla made b the ai-istocracy and nobility of the republic. 1 \..t the entrance of the Pa eo., in front of · the amphitheatrn where ou undays bulls are tortured to death a a popul~x amusement, is tbe equestrian brnnze tatue of Caifos I . th . e work of Tolsa, who, a arti t and architect bas won for him elf undying renown at l{exico. The garden of Tol a, the College of l\6ne _ , and he bronze horse, t sti:fy to the greatness of his gen - itlB. Half way down the Paseo is a fountain aJ:ound which two emicircl.es of coaches place · them elve for a 220 M~XICO A.ND ITS _ RELIGION. little time, to look on the passing current of carriages and horsemen. They soon disap1)ear as the sun shows symptoms of descending behind the mountains. On Sundays the scene is more animated, and then the Pres- ident, with his body-guard of lancers, and attendants in scarlet livery, is seen to dash into the Paseo, ride down and return through the Alameda, among whose trees and fountains the Sabbath crowds most do congregate. One morning when all was quiet in this place of ais- play, I rode down the street of San Francisco, and turned up the Paseo between the prison of the Acordado and the bronze hors~. There was nothing to disturb the monotony that now reigned but cabs or omnibuses on their way to or · returning from Tacubaya. Passing through the open gate of Belin, I rode along at the side of the aqueduct to the rock of Chapultepec. It calls up singular reflections to look upon a living thing that has · existed for a thousand years, though it be only a tree . . '1 1 hough so m~ny. centuries have ro_lled over the venerable cypresses of Chapultepec, yet they still are sound and vigorous. The extensive springs of pure water that issue from beneath this immense rock have kept them :flourishing in the midst of a tequisquite valley. Long gray threads of Spanish moss hartg pend- ent from the extremity of their limbs and cover the lower leaves. These trees are the only living links that unite modern and ancient American civilization ; for they were in being while that mysterious race, the Toltecs, were still upon the table-lands of Mexico-a race that has left behind, not only at Teotihuacan, but in the hot country, the imperishable memorials of a civilization like that of Egypt ; and from them the Aztecs acquired an imperfect knowledge of a few simple arts.{* - * "The Toltecs appeared first in the year 648, the Chicimecs in 1170, the Nahualtecs 1178, t _ he Atolhues and Aztecs in 1196. The Toltecs CYPRESSES OF . CHAPULTEPEC. 221 These trees had long been standing, when a body of Aztecs, wandering away from their tribe in search of game, fixed themselves upon the islands of this marsh, first about the rock .of Chapultepec, then at Mexicalzin- go and Iztapalapan, and finally at Mexico. These trees were undisturbed by the ~paniards when Cortez took the city, and the American~ rnspected their great antiqui- ty, so that during all the wars and battles that have taken place around and above them, they have passed unharmed. Not only unnumbered generations, but whole races have appeared and disappeared, while these trees have quietly flourished amid the strife of the elements and the contentions of men, taking no heed of the passing events of which they were spectators. The Toltecs, of whom we must speak more fully hereafter, were the first of these races that disappeared from the table-land-the victims of wars, and of that plague of the Indian races, the matlazliuatl. , As the Aztecs rose into importance by their success in war and by the multitude of their captives, Indian princes made the springs near Chapulte- pec their favorite bathing-place, and spread their mats under these trees, and in their shadow enjoyed their noon- tide slumbers. Then the pale-faces came, and · peoplecl the valley with a race of mixed blood, and vice-kings occupied the place that had been the sacred retreat of the Aztec chiefs. introduced the cultivation of maize and cotton; they built cities, made roads, and constructed those great pyramids which are yet admired, and of which the faces are very accurately laid out. They knew the use of hieroglyphical paintings; they could wo r k metals, and cut the hard- est stones ; and they had a solar year more perfect than that of the Greeks and Romans. The form of their government indicated that they were the descendants of a people who had experienced great vi- cissitudes in their social state. But where is the sotuce of that culti- vation? Where is • the country from which the Toltecs and Mexicans issued ?"-HUMBOLDT, Essay Politique, vol. i: p. 100. ~ ~ ME I AND IT lmLTl,T • Th s i:AP LTEPE AND 11 LINA DEL RE r • 223 I I P\J L TEP .li:O, r so b tl1 · road 1 ailing outh and ,v st fr m hapult p c i Ta ubaya., wh r o.r th suburb i u1 r si - clcn es of the Ar hbi hop, th Presid nt, and of di rs 224 l\iEXICO AND ITS . REL~GION. city bankers; and where the English banker, :Mr. Jim- merson, has introduced English gardeni~g, and, in a J\1:e_ . -ican clirna.te, enjoys the pleasure of an English coun- try residence. The most attractive establishment of Tacubaya is the new palace of Don l\fo . nuel Escandon, a native-born, self- made ~fexican millionaire; a man whose capital has so enormously accumulated befo r e he has even reached mid- dle life, that he was able to pTOpose to discount a bill for $7,000,000 as an ordinaq business transaction, though ultimately government divided the bid with another house. This most remarkable instance of accumulation of wealth in mo<;l.ern : - times is deserving of a . passing no- tice, which I give on the authority of my l andlord, who had a personal knowledge of his history. Don Manuel enjoyed, in addition to an intimate Imowl- edge of his own countrymen, the advantages of a foreign education, which had extended to an examination of those arts and impro·rnments that elevate Europeans above the ' semi - barbarous people of Spanish America. The fast enterprise that brought him prominently forward was the establishment of that vast and most pei · fect sys- tem of stage - coaches, of which I have ah·eady spoken, on an original capital of $250,000. The wretched con- dition of the roads, and the heavy losses tha.t at fast al- ways attend enterpxises of tha.t magnitude, di heai-tened his pai-tneTs, who were gla.d to se ll out to him $150,000 of the capital stock at a discount of 50 per cent. Aftel'- warcl the late Zurut u sa bought into the scheme, and ul- timately became the owner of all the property, having, before his death, more than realized the highest a . nticipa- tions of himself or Escandon. A hundred thousand dollars, or thereabouts, were the profits to Escandon by this establishment of a series of hotels ancl stages quite across the continent. By the successful 1·1m1'ling of a DON I\iAN EL ESCANDON. 225 blockade of the coast, he realized nearly another hundred thousand dollars. The numerous enterprises open to men of supei·ior sagacity, '\'\ 1 ho fully understand the wants of a country in a · state of chaos, and are familiar with the im- proven1ents of other countries, were readily embraced by him, until he found himself possessed of sufficient capi- tal to become the principal ptu-chaser of the extensive silvei· mines of Real del Jfonte, of which the salt-works of Tezcuco are but an outside appendage. The tobacco monopoly had yielded to the King of Spain an average retmn of nea , rly a million annually. Under the Republic the consumption of the weed had greatly inc1·eased, but, from the prevalence of disorder in every branch,. of th~ - ~dn.ll}1istxatioi1, this · important branch of the . I(?Ven\rn , was ahnost entirely absoTbecl by the offi- cials through whose hands it passed, so that the sum realized by government in the most 1.mproductive yeaJ.· fell off to $25,000, but finally reached $45,000, the amount at which it was . farmed out by Escandon and Company. Since that time the return to government has gon~ on increasing, until it was a.dvcrtised to be let the last year at the xound sum of $1,200,000. How much more the partners re?,lizecl during the years that they held the contJ:act is, of course, known only to them- selves. The new house which Don :M:anuelhas built at Tacu- baya is decidedly the finest palace in the republic. The position is well chosen, and . the si1111 of $300,000 has been laid out upon the house and grounds. It is a com- bination of an Italian villa, with the comforts and con- veniences of English life. London, · Paris, and New York have alik.~ contributed to its furniture. I was told that $50,000 was invested in pictt.ues alone. "'When I looked at the perfection to which the house, the grounds, - and the omamental works had been caJ:ried, my only K2 226 :MEXICO AND l'l'S ImLIGlON". wonder was that $300,000 could have paid for such a combination of elegance and good taste. ~rhe family, which consists only of Don Manuel and his widowed sis- tei-s, had left on account of the cholera then prevailing in Tacuba.ya, but the steward readily opened e-very door to my companion; and thus, without intruding upon the privacy of a family, or even haYing the honor of their ac- quaintance, I obtained access to one of the finest private residences that I have ever yet seen, either in this coun- try OT any other. In this house it was that the Gads- den treaty was proposed, at a dinner-party at which Mr. Gadsden and Santa Anna were present. There was nothing to detain me longer at Tacubaya; but a ride upon the Tacubaya road is not well finished without being extended to the Desi,erto, a place now as attractive in its ruins as it was in its prosperity. A description of what it once was I copy from old Thomas Gag~ : " But more north [ south J westward, three leagues from lV[exico, is the pleasantest place of all that are about Mexico, called . the Solidad, or Desierto, 'the Solitary Place' or 'Wilderness.' Were all wilder- nesses like it, to li-ve in a wilderness would be better than to live in a city. This hath been a device of bare- footed Carmelites, to make show of their apparent god- liness, and who would be thought to live like hermits, retired from the world, that they may draw the world unto them. They have built them a stately cloister, which, being upon a hill and among rocks, makes it to be most admired. .A.bout the cloister they have fash- ioned out many holes and caves, in, under, and among the rocks, like hermits' lodgings, with a room to lie in, ' and an oratory to pray in, with pictmes, and images, and rare devices for self - mortification, as scourges of wire, roq.s of iron, haircloth girdles with sharp wire poipts, to gird about thejr bare flesh, and many such like toyn, T H E DESIERTO. 227 which hang about their oi-atories, to make people admire their mortified and holy lives. " .All these h e rmits' holes and caves, which are some ten in all, are within the bounds and compass of the cloister, and among orchards and gardens, which are full of fruit s and flowers, which may take two miles in com- pass ; and here among the rocks are many springs of water, which, with the shade of the plantain and o t her trees, are most cool and pleasant to the hermits. They have also the sweet smell of the rose and the jessamine, which is a little flower, but the sweetest of all others; and thern is not any flower to be found that is rare and exquisite in that count.Ty which is not in that ·wilderness, to delight the senses of those mortified hermits. '' They are weekly changed from the cloister, and when their week is ended others are sent, and they re - turn into their cloisters ; they carry with them their bottles of wine, sweetmeats, . and other provisions. .A.s for fruits, the trees do drop them into their mouths. It is wonderful to see the strange devices of fountains of wate1· which am about the gai·dens; but much more strange and wonderful to see the resort thither of coach- es, and gallants, and ladies, and citizens from Mexico, to walk and make meny in those desert pleasures, and to see those hypocrites, whom they look upon as living saints, and so think nothing too good for them to cherish them in their desert conflicts ·with Satan. " None goes to them but canies some sweetmeats 01· some other dainty dish to nourish and feed them withal, whose prayers they likewise earnestly solicit, leaving them great alms of money for their masses ; and, above aH, offering to a picture in their church, called our Lady of Carmel, treasures of diamonds, pearls, golden chains, and crowns, and gowns of cloth of gold and silvei-. Be- fore this picture did hang, in my time, twenty lamps of 228 MEXICQ .AND ITS RELIGION. silver, the poorest of them being worth a hundred pounds. Truly Satan hath given them what he offered unto Christ in the desert. "All the dainties and all the riches of America hath he given unto them in that desert, because they daily fall down and wo1·s4ip b.im. In the way to this place is another town, called Tacubaya, where is a rich cloister of Franciscans, . and also many gardens and orchards ; but it is, above all, ~uch resorted to for the music in that chm-ch, wherein the friars have made the Indians . so skillful that they dare compare with the Cathedral Chm-ch of :M:oxico." CHAPTER XXI. W aJ.k to Guadalupe.-Our Embassador kneeling to the Host.-An Em- bassador with, and one without Lace. - First sight of Santa Anna.- Indian Dance in Church.-Juan Diego not Saint Thomas.-The l\'lir- acle proved at Rome.-The Story of JuanDiego.-The holy Well of Guadalupe.-The Temple of the Virgin. - Public Worship interdict- ed by t11e Archhishop. - Refuses to revoke his Interdict.-He fled to Guadalupe and took Sanctuary.-Refused to leave the Altar . - The Arrest at the Altar. "Placuit JJinturas in ecclesia esse non debere, ne quod colitu/1' vel acl01·atu1', in parietibus _pin-gatiir:--Pictures ought not to be in the churches, nor should any that are reverenced or adored be painted upon the walls." So say the canons of the Council of Toledo. I was one of a -vast crowd that, on a Sunday of De- cember, 1853, were hurrying out of the city by the old gate and causeway of Tepeac to the suburban village of Guadalupe Hidalgo, once Tepeac, but now consecrated to the Virgin Mary, who, trndition says, appeared there in a bodily form to an Indian peon. Jua11 Diego was the name of the Indian, and 1531 is the date assigned to the incident. I shall hereafter take occasion to relate the story as given by the veracious .f uan, and duly at- tested by authority which ought to be competent to set- tle the question, if any thing can do so. I hope that my readers will do their best to believe it. If they honest - ly endeavor to clo so, and do not succeed, I trust they will not suffer on account of then · lack of faith. The occas~on that was drawing the multitude together was the consecration of the bishop-elect of Michoican, which was to be celebrated with great pomp at this most 230 1.rnxrco AND ITS RELIGION. sacrnd shrine of the patron goddess of the Republic. The State and the Church were duly represented upon the platform by the President, the nuncio, and the archbish- op. Beneath the platform, and within the silve1· railing, were the official representatives of foreign nations, who were easily distinguished by a strip of gold or silver lace upon the collai-s and lapels of the:ii- coats. To this unifmmity of dress there was a single exception in the person of the new American em l)assador, 1\!Ir. Gadsden, whose plain black dress and clerical appea1·ance would have conveyed the impression that he was a :Thfethodist preache1·, had he not been engaged, with all the a : wkward - ness of a novice, upon his knees, in crossing himself. This was the first occasion on ·which I hacl ever seen Santa ..t\.nna. If looks have any weight determining a man's character, then truly he was entitled to his position, for he was, by all odds, the most imposing in appearance of any pernon in that assemblage, or any other I have yet seen in Mexico. His part in the peTformance was that of godfather to the bishop. Sunounded by kneel- ing aids - de - camp, he alone stood up, in the rich uniform of a general of division, seeming the peifection of mili- taq elegance and. dignity. Each badge of pre1atical rank, befoTe it was put upon the new bishop, was hand- ed to Santa Anna, who kissed it, and then returned it. He st o od without apparent fatigue dming the whole of that long ceremony. I have often seen Santa Anna since that time, but never have I seen him appear to such advantage as 1.1pon this occasion. On the next Sabbath I attended the Indian celebra- tion of the appearan c e of the most blessed Virgin. Dur- ing the Christmas holidays in the country of the Pintos, I had seen Indians dressed up in whimsical attire, enact - ing plays, and singing and dancing ; but this · was the £rst time that I had ever seen, in a house .dedicated to THE BIBLE IN MEXICO. 231 the worship of God, or, rather, in a temple consecrated to the adoration of the Virgin, fantastic dances perform- ed by Indians under the supervision of priests and bish- ops. \iVhen I found out what the entertainment was, I was heartily vexed that I should be at such a place on the Sabbath day. The dancing and singing was bad enough, but the climax was reached when the priest came down from the altar, with an array of attendants having immense candles, to the side door, where the procession stopped to witness the discharge, at mid-day, of a large amount of fire-works in honor of the most blessed "Virgin Mary. I hunied home from this profanation of the Lord's day, and sat down and contemplated the old Aztec god, who had been deified for his wisdom, and could not but regret the change that had been imposed upon these imbecile Indians. The next Sabbath after this was the national anniveTSary of the mirnculous apparition ; but, having seen enough of this sort of thing, I concluded that my Sabbaths would be better spent in staying at home and reading a Spanish Testament, which had been brought into the countTy in violation of the law. °"\;vb. _ en . I was first at the city of Mexico, Governor Letcher re- lated to me the sti-atagem by · which he contrived to smuggle an American Bib1e agent out of the country when the police were after hjm, on an accusation of sell- ing prohibitecl books! for in such a country as this, the VV ord of God is a prohibited book. Juan Diego, upon whose veracity rests the story of the miraculous appearance of the Virgin, was an Indian - p e on ; and though, like the rest of his race, he probably was an habitual lia1·, yet when he beai-s testimony to a miracle he is presumed to speak the tn1th. He lived in a mud hut somewhere about the banen hill now conse- crated to the Virgin ofGuadalupe. The attempt to make 232 :MEXICO AND ITS .RELIGION. out that it was Saint Thomas, or the Wandering Jew, who here had an interview ·with the Virgin Mary, and that the old rag on which the picture is painted is rnally a part of the cloak of Saint Thomas, is, by a very ver- bose proclamation of the 1-i..rchbishop of Mexico, dated 25th . March, 1795, pronounced a damnable heresy. I have in my possession a copy of this precious document, bearing the signature of Don .Alonzo Nunez de Haro y Peralto. · As I learn from the said proclamation that '' the ad- oration of this holy image" [picture] exists not only in Mexico, but in South America and Spain, and that it has propagated itself in Italy, Flanders, Germany, Aus- tria, Bohemia, . Poland, Ii·eland, and Transylvania, I shall be excused for giving · the substance of this miraculous apparitio~, since it is now an article of belief of all good Catholics, having been proved before the Congregation of Rites at Rome to have been a miraculous appearance of the Mother of God upon earth~ in the year and at the place aforesaid. And the proclamation farther informs us that his holiness, Benedict XIV., was so fully per- suaded of the truth of the tradition, that he made "cor- dial devotion to our Lady of Guadalupe, and conceded the proper mass and ritual of devotion. He also made men- tion of it in the lesson of the second nocturnal . . . • , declaring from the high throne of the Vatican that Mary, most holy, non fecit talitm· · mnni nationi." Juan Diego had - a sick father, and, like a good and pi- ous son, he started for the medicine-man. He was stopped by the Virgin at the spot where the round house on the extreme right of the picture is situated. She re- proached him with the slowness of the Indians in em- bracing the new religion, and at the same time she an- nounced to him the important fact that she was to be the patron of the Indians, and also charged him to go STORY OF JUAN DIEGO. 233 and report the same to . Zumarraga, who then enjoyed the lucrative · office of Bishop of Mexico. Juan obeyed the heavenly messenger, but found himself turned 01.it of doors as a lying Indian. The second time he went for the medicine-man he took another path, but was again stopped on the way at the spot - where the second round house now stands. She now required him to go a sec- ond time to the bishop, and, in order to convince him of the truth of the story, she directed the Indian to climb to the top of the xock, where he wquld find a bun.ch of roses growing out of the smooth po1-phyxy. T · he Indian did as he was commanded, and finding the roses in the place named, he gathered them in his tilma, and carried them to the bishop. The spot is marked by a small chap~l. On opening his tilma before the bishop and a company __ of'gentiemen a~sembled for that pm-pose, it was found that the roses had imprinted themselves around a very coarse picture of the Vii-gin. This is the story of the m:irn.culous appearance of om Lady of Guadalupe. · The bishop was hard to convince at fast, but when he considered that the Indian could not himself paint, and had no money with whi(?h to pay an artist, and, above all, as there was a fair ch~nce of making money by the transaction, he finally yielded to conviction. His ex- ample was soon followed by the · whole nation ; and then the several buildings, one after another, began to make their appeai-ance. There was some difficulty at first in identifying the place of the first appearance of the Vir- gin, but this difficulty was removed by the Vii-gin her- self, for she again appeared and stamped her foot upon the spot, whereupon. there gushed forth a spring of min- eral water.* This has proved an infallible cure for all diseases of body and mind, and to it the Indians resort * This . water is impregnated with carbonic acid, sulphate of lime, and soda. 234 MEXICO AND I'l'S RELIGl~. to drink, and wash, and drink again, until it would seem that they must soon exhaust the fountain, so great is the multitude that resort to this spring of the Virgin. The Collegiate Church-for there can not be two Ca- thedrals in one diocese-is the principal building in the picture. It is not large, but it surpasses any thing I have yet seen for its immense accumulation of treasure, excepting always the Cathedral. A railing formed of plates of pure silver incloses both the choir and the altar of the Vn·gin. These am joined together by a passage- way, which is inclosed lJy a portion of the same precious railing. The golden candlesticks, the golden shields, and other ornaments of gold, dazzle the eyes of the be- holder, while the three rows of jewels, one of pearls, one of emeralds, and one of diamonds, encircling " the holy image," produce an impression not easily erased. The contrast that is presented between these hoards of wealth and the extreme poverty of the multitude that here con- gregate is most striking. The religion of Mexico is a i-eligion of priestly mir- acles, and when the ordinary rules of evidence are applied to them, they and .the i-eligion that 1·ests upon them fall together ; hence the necessity of exacting at the start a blind submission to authority, and an abnegation of the reasoning faculties the moment the subject of religion is approached. We have applied the ordina1j" rules of ev- idence to the romance of the Conquest, and we find that it will not stand the test of an examination. But if we doubt the ' histoi-y of the Conquest, we must doubt the history of all the miracles of the Church, for all of them rest on the like untenable grounds. I did not wonder at finding the country abounding in unbelief. ow that the £res of the Inquisition have ceased to burn, the priesthood are made the butt and laughing-stock of those ·wl10 are educated. Still,. the national mind does not run TEil:CPLE OF THE VIRGIN OF GUA:OALU-Pl!l. AN INTERDICT. 237 toward the pure Gospel, which is here unknown and pro- hibited, but · to infidelity and socialism. A. sincere Prot- estant can have no sympathy with either side. The following ~s Thomas Gage's account of an affair that took place in this temple in his time : "Don Alonzo de Zema, the archbishop, who had. al- ways opposed Don Pedm Mexia and the Virey 0 to please the people, granted to them to excommunicate Don Pe- dro, and so sent out bills of excommunication, to be fixed upon all the church doors,. against Don Pedro, who, not . regarding the excommunication, and keeping close at home, and still selling his wheat at a higher price than before, the archbishop raised his censure higher against him, by adding to it a bill of cessatio a divinis, that is, a cessation of all divine service. This censure is so great with them · that it is never used except for some great man's sake, who is contumaiciOllS and stubborn in his ways, contemning the power of the Chnrch. Then are all the church doors shut up, let the city be never so great ; no masses are said ; no prayers are used; no preaching permitted ; no meetings allowed for any pnb- lic devotion; no calling upon God. The Chmch mourns, as it were, and makes no show - of spiritual joy and com- fort, nor of any communion of prayeri one with another, so long as the party remains sti1bborn and rebellious in his sin and scandal, and in not yielding to tl:ie Church's censure. "And whereas, by this cessation a divinis, many churches, especially cloisters, suffer in fi1e means of their livelihood, who live upon what is daily given for the masses they say, and in a cloister where thirty or forty priests say mass, so many pieces of eight [ dollars] do daily come in, therefore this censure is infficted upon the whole Church, , that the party offending or scandalizing, for whose sake this curse is laid upon all, is bound to 238 MEXiCO AND ITS HELIGION. satisfy all priests and cloisters, which, in the way afore- said, suffer, and to allow them so much out of his means as they might have daily got by selling away their masses for so many dollarn for thejr daily livelihood. To this would the archbishop have brought Don Pedro, to have emptied out his p"Q.rse, nearly a thousand dol- lars daily, toward the maintenance of about a thousand priests, so many there may be in Mexico, . who from the altar sell away their bread gocl [ sacrament * ] to satisfy with bread and food their hungry stomachs. And sec- ondly, by the people suffering in their spiritual comfort, and in their communion of pray e TS and 1vorship, thought to make Don Pedro odious to the people. Don Pedro, perceiving the spiteful intent of the archbishop, and hear- ing the outcries of the people against him, and their cries for the use of their churches, secrntly retired to the pal- ace of - the Virey, begging his favor and pr<:>tection, for whose sake he suffered. "The -viceroy immediately sent out his orders com- manqing the hlls of excommunication and cessatio a, di- vinis to be pulled down from the chmch door s ; and to all the superiors of the cloisters to set open their church- es, and to celebrate their services and masses as former- ly they ha.cl done. But they disobeyed the vice - king through blind obedience to their archbishop. The vice- roy commanded the arch-prelate to revoke his censures ; but - his answer was, that what he had done had been justly done against a public offender and great oppressor of the poor, whose cries had moved him to commiserate their suffering condition, and that the offender's contempt of his firnt excommunication had deserved the rigor of * It is difficult to convey to Protestant readers tl1e idea which the Spaniards attach to the sacramental bread or wafer after the J>riest bas pronounced the words of consecration. / They call it both God and Je- s11s Christ, and claim for it divine worship. ARRES'l' OF AN ARCHBISHOP. 239 the second censure, neither of which he would nor could revoke until Don Pedro ifexia had submitted himself to the Church and to a. public absolution, and had satisfied the priests and the cloisters who suffered for him, and had disclaimed that unla,vful and unconscionable monop - _ ol y where,vith he wi-onged the whole commonwealth, and especially the poorer sort therein. "The viceroy, ~ot bTOoking this saucy answer from a priest, commanded him presently to - be apprehended, and to be taken under guard to San J ua.n de Ulua, and then to be shipped to Spain. The archbishop, having notice of this resolution of the viceroy, 1·etired to Guadalupe, with many of his priests and prebends, leaving a bill of excommunication against the viceroy himself upon the church doors, intending privately to fly to Spain, there to give an account of his carriage and behavior. But he could not escape the care and v-igilance of the viceroy, who, ·with his sei-geant and officers, pmsued him to Guadalupe, which the archbishop understanding, he be- took himself to the sanctuary of the church, and there caused the candles to be lighted upon the alta,r, and the sacrament of his bread god to be taken out of the taber - nacle, and attiring hjmself with his pontifical vestments, w-ith his mitre on his head, his crosier in one hand, in the other he took his god of bread, and thus, with his train of priests about him at the altar, he waited for the coming of the sergeant and officers, whom he thought, w-ith his god in his hand, and with a Here I am, to as- tonish and amaze, and to make them, as did Christ the Jews in the garden, to fall backward, and disable them from laying hands on him. " The officers, coming into the church, we~t towai·d the altar where the bishop stood, and, kneeling down first to worship their god, made short prayers ; which being ended, they propounded unto the bishQp, w-ith courteous 240 J.\,IEXICO A.ND ITS · RELIGION, and fair words; the cause : of their _ cm _ ning to that place, requiring him to-lay down the sacrament [the consecrated wafer], and to · come out of the chm-ch, ancl to hear the notification of what orders they brought unto him in the kiJ!g's · n~me. To whom the archbishop replied, that whereas their roaster the viceroy was excommunicated, he looked upon him as one out of the pale of the Church, and one without any power or authority to command him in the house of Goel, and so required them, as they re- ga1·ded the good of their souls, to depart peaceably, and not to infringe the privileges and immunities of the Church by exercising in it any legal act of secular - pow- er and command ; and that he woulcl not go out · of the church unless they durst take him and the sacrament together. With this the head officer, named Tiroll, stood up and notifiecl unto him an order, in the king's name, to apprehend his perso1i in what place soever he should :find him, and to guard him to the port of San Juan de Ulua, and there to delivex - him to whom by fart.hex oxder he should be directed thereto, to be shipped to Spain as a traitor to the · king's ci~own, a ~roubler of the common peace, and an author and mover of sedition in the com- monwealth. " The archbishop, smiling to Tiroll, answered him, 'Thy master us_eth too high tem1S and words, which do better agree unto him~If, . for I know no mutiny or sedi- tion like to twuble the commonwealth, unless it be by his and Don Pedro Mexia his oppi-essing of the poor. And as for thy guarding me to San Juan de Ulua, I conjure thee by Jesus Christ, whom thou knowest I hold in my hands, not to use here any violence in God's house, from whose altar I am resolved not to depart ; take heed God punish you not, as he did Jeroboam for stretching forth his hand at the altar against the prophet ; let his with- ered hand remind thee of thy duty.' Bu{ Tiroll suffer- BANISHMENT OF THE ARCHBISHOP. 241 ed him not to squander away the time and ravel it out with farther preaching, but called to the altar a priest, 1Yhom he had brought for the purpose, and commanded him, in the king's name, to take the sacrament [ wafer] out of the archbishop's hand; which the priest doing, the archbishop, unvesting himself of his pontificals, yield- ed himself unto Ti.roll; and, taking his leave of all his prebends, i-equiring them to be witnesses of ,vhat had been done, he went prisoner to San Juan de Ulua, where he was delivered to the custody of the governor of the castle, and, not many days after, was sent in a ship pre- pared for that pmpose to Spain, to the king in council , with a full charge of all his carriages and misdemeanors." L CH.APTER XXII. The old Indian City of 1\'Iexico.-The 1\fosques . -Probable Extent of Civilizat ion.-Aztecs acquired Arts of the Toltecs. - Toltec Civiliza- tion, ancient and original. - The Pyramid of Papantla.-The Plun- der of Civilization .-Mexi co as described by Cortez. - Montezuma's Court .-T he eight Months that Cortez held 1\fontezuma.-v\ihat hap- }Jened for the next ten Months.-The Siege of 1\'Iexico by Cortez.- Aztecs conque re d by Famine and Thirst. - Heroes on Paper and Victories without Bloodshecl-Cortez and Morgan. 1:\.s we have ca : refully surveyed the suburbs, and all the valley of Mexico, it is time to take a survey of the city itself, and examine its condition at different periods of its history. The Aztec city of Mexico perished with its conquest by the Spaniards. Day by day, as the siege went on, the Indians that followed the soldiers pulled the houses down, when the latter had passed, and threw the rub- bish into the canals ; so that, on the day on which the conquest was effected, the city ceased to exist. Many times has that old city been restored, in the imagination of enthusiasts, with its forty pyramids (teocallis) a.nd un- mun berecl pa.laces, adorned with all the luxury and mag- 11ificence of the most re:finecl civilization, united with baT- ba.ric grandeur and inhumanity in so strange a com bi11a- tion as to distract our feelings between hate and admi- ra.tion. It was easy to build an Indian city that would pre- sent a most imposing appearance, for the climate was well fitted for drying mud thoroughly. Besides, there was an inexhaustible supply of pumice -stone (tepetate), and an exceedingly soft, gray quan·y stone, for caps and THE MEXICO OF 'IHE .A.Z'rECS. 243 lintels, with an excellent quality of cement, and material for " f ' resco painting" of the walls, abm1clant ancl cheap . . A.ll these articles are combined in the building of the modern city, and give it its present appearance of ele - gance and great durnbility. But in the old city, one - story palaces of dried mud, plastered and frescoed, with la1 · ge interior comis like that I have described at Tez- cuco, must have been among the most imposing stTuc - tures. If t e J_J e tate was employed in the constn1ction of the royal pa.laces, it would not have added materially to the weight xesting upon the earthy foundations; for when the watei- in the ditches occupied half the strnet,* the foundations must haYe been so much softer than at present, that structures of the lightest material only could be borne. In his anxiety to keep up a resemblance between his conquests and that of Granada, Cortez calls the teocallis, or Indian mounds which he found, mosques, and speaks of " forty towers, the largest of which has fifty steps leading to its main body, and is higher than the tower of the principal church in Seville. "t Bernal Diaz says there were" 115 steps to the summit."t I must reduce the size of this gTeat pyramid to the size of the isolated rock that the Cathedral is said to occupy . The difficul- ty of getting rid of the earth that composed these forty artificial mountains does not seem to have troubled his- torians so much as it would a contractor. I have often thought that those hillocks of earth on the north side of the town were once small a ; :rtificial mounds on which the Indians offered their worship, for in the canal near by was- found that collection of clay divinities of which I have already spoken. . The difficulty in the way of fo1·ming a correct idea of that old city, is owing to the defective character of our * CORTEZ, Letters, ]). 111. Ibid. t Diaz, p. 24-7. 244 MEXICO AND lTS RELIGION. witnesses. The one confesses to the habitual practice of falsehood for the purpose of deceiving the Indians ; the other acknowledges practices that render the char- acter of both infamous, and would make their testimony of no weight in a court of justice unless corrobornted. We must therefore feel our way as best we can. With the rude implements of the Indians, . houses of the driest blocks of mlid, though covered with cement and painted with colorecl wash, could easily have been thrown down ; but gunpowder or iron bars would have been necessary to overturi;i a wall composed either of stone or tepetate and cement. Villages built of dried mud are often imposing in their appearance, and are yet most perishable ; for the first overflow of waters, that shall cover but a few inches of the walls of the houses, will in a few hours reduce a whole village to a mass of ruins. .A.gain, the dry wall that has fallen becomes sat- urated, and dissolves itself into soft mud. My hypothe- sis is, thernfore, not without its difficulty, for at every in- 1m~ation of the city in the times of the Aztecs we have to suppose i! totally destroyed ; an evil that could not be remedied until the water had entirely subsided, and new mud had been formed into blocks and dried in the sun, and a new village or city built every twenty- five years. To sum up my theory of .Aztec civilization : they had earthen gods, earthen cooking utensils, and earthen aque- ducts; their temples were small buildings, upon moder- ately - sized Indian bmial mounds, ancl their palaces and sacred inclosures were of dried mud, and of a single sto- ry in height. 1.iVith this solution, the difficulty t}iat occurred to Hum- - boldt is in part removed, viz., that the allotted time- one hundred and seventy years-was too short a period in which to transfoi-m a tribe of North American Indians THE TOLTECS. 245 into a settled community. The xemainder of the diffi- culty is explained by an event taking place in om own clays. It is hardly thiTty years since the Apache Indians began the systematic plunder of the northern states Gf Mexico, and now even these nomades begin to show the first glimmerings of civilization. Their captives - teach them the use of much of the plunder they have brought to their own villages. Though their treatment of female captives is inhuman, yet it is not an uncommon thing for a captive to become a wife, and to introduce into her wigwam, and to inculcate ~p · on the minds of her ch:il - cb-en, a few of the primaJ.-y ideas of civilization. It is the commonly received notion that the Toltecs abandoned the table - land about the time of the arrival of the Aztecs, but continued to flourish in the region of the Gulf coast and in other parts of the hot country ; that the vast m - ins which abound in those regions were inhabited cities till within a few generations of the coming of the Span - iards; and that in Yuca.tan, the part most distant from Mexico, that civilization continued quite down to that period ; that for a great portion of the one hundred and seventy years of their national existence, the Aztecs kept up prndatory excmsions into the Toltec region, and out of its dense population derived an inexhaustible sup- ply of slaves and the plunder of civilization, included in which may have been the best wrought of the stone iclols that ai-e still preserved. So that the 1\ztec civili- zation resolves itself into the very ancient civilization of the Toltecs. vVe have removed to a greater antiquity, but have not got rid of the question of the origin of Mexican civiliza - tion. The year 600, named by Huinboldt, may be con - sidered as the time of their appearance bn the table - land; but many of the ruins in the hot country might claim a thousand years ea1-lier antiquity. These massive re - 246 MEXICO AND ITS RELIGION. mains must have stood, abandoned as they now are, in the midst of the forest, for a long time before the Con - quest, as their very existence was unknown to the Span - iards until near the close of the last centmy . The close resemblance between the apparently most ancient of these works, and those of the Egyptians and other East - ern civilizations, does not involve the iclea of a common or i gin o r of intei-course, but only leads to the suggestion that the human race, in its progress, naturally follows the same path, whether upon the eastern or western con - tinent, and that it is separated by a cycle of thousands of years from the civilization of our day. As a, speci - men of the works of the Toltecs, I insert a sketch of the pyramid of Papantla. FYilOIID OF PAFANTL/\. PYRAMID _ OF PAPANTLA. 247 " The pyra1md of Papantla," says Humbolclt, * " is not constructed- like the pyramids of Cholula and 1\fox- ico. The only materials employed are immense stones. Mortar is distinguished in the seams . The edi:fic~, how- e.;er, is not so rema1·kable for its size as for its sym - metry, the polish of the stones, and. the great regulari t y of then· cut. The base of the pyramid is an exact square, each side being eighty - two feet in length. The perpendicular height appearn not to be more than from fifty - two to sixty - five feet. This monument, like _ all the · Mexican teoeallis, is composed of several stages . Six are still distinguishable, and a seventh appears to be con - cealed by the vegetation with which the sid e s of the pyra - mid are covered. A great s tairway of fifty - seven steps conducts to the truncated top of the teoealli, where the human victims were sacrificed.. On each side of the great stairs is a flight of small stairs. The facing of the stories is adorned with hieroglyphics, in which serpents and crocodiles, carved in relievo, are discernible. Each story contains a great number of square niches, symmet - Tically distributed. In the first story we reckon twen- ty - four on each side, . in the second twenty, and in the thinl sixteen. The number of these niehes in the body of the pyramid is three hundred and sixty - six, and there are twelve in the stairs toward · the east. The Abbe Marquez supposes that this number of thrne hundred and seventy - eight niches has some allusion to a calendar of the Mexicans, and he even believes that in ea.ch of them one of the twenty :figures was repeated, which, in the hi - eroglyphi c al language of the Toltecs, served as a sym- bol for marking the days of the common year, and the intercalated days at the encl of the cycles. The year be - ing composed of eighteen months of twenty days, there · would then be three hundred a . nd sixty clays, to which, * Essai Politique , vol. ii. p. 172. 248 MEXICO AND ITS RELIGION. agreeable to the Egyptian practice, five complementary days were added. . . . • This pyramid was visited by M. Dupe, a captain in the service of the King of Spain. He possesses the bust, in basalt, of a Mexican, ·which I employed . M. Massard to engrave, and which bears great resemblance to the calautica, of the heads of Isis." - I prefer in this way to copy from an author of un- questionable authority an important historical fact, rather than to search for less accessible sources of evidence on which I rest the theory, that ,Nhat of this kind we have seen at the city of Mexico are but fragments from the wreck that befell the American civilization of antiquity, which had succumbed before the inroads of northern sav- ages. This is sufficient inquiry into antiquities till we come to the museum. It is but justice to add the substance of Cortez's ac- count of this ancient city, which is embodied in the fol- lo-wing paragraphs: "This noble city contains many :fine and rnag11ificent houses, which may be accounted for from the fact that all the nobility of the country, who are the vassals of Montez : uma, have houses in the city, in which they re- side a certain part of the year ; and, besides, there are nuII_1erous wealthy citizens • who also possess fine houses. All these persons, in addition to the large and spacious apartments for o:rdinary purposes, . have others, both up- per ancl lowei-, that contain conservatories of flowers . .Along one of the causeways [the Chapultepec J that lead into the city are laid two [water] pipes, constructed of masonry, each of which is t,vo paces in width, and about fiye feet in height . . . . . The inhabitants of this c~ty pay greater rega:rcl to the style of their mocle of living, ancl are more attentive to elegance of di-ess and polite- ness of manners than those of other provinces and cities, since, as the ca9ique Montezuma has his residence in the MEXICO ACCORDING TO CORTEZ. 249 capital, ancl aU the nobility, his vassais, are in the con- stant habit of meeting there, a general com·tesy of de- meanor necessarily prevails . . . . . For, as I have al- 1·eady stated, what can be more wonderful than that a barbarous monarch, as he is, should have every object found in his dominions imitated in gold, silver, precious stones, and feathers, the gold and silver b e ing wrought so naturally as not to be surpassed by any smith in the world, the stone-work executed with such perfection that it is difficult to conceive what instruments could have been used, and the feather - work superior to the finest production in wax and embroidery ? . . . . He possess- ed out of the city as well as within numerous villas, each of which had its peculiar sources of amusement, and all were constructed in the best possible manner for the use of a gi-eat pri11ce or lord. VVithin the city, his palaces were so wonderful that it is hardly possible to describe their beauty and extent. I can only say .that in Spain there is nothing equal to them. There was one palace somewhat inferior to the rest, attached to ,vhich was a beautiful garden, with balconies extending over it, sup- ported by marble columns, and having a floor formed of jasper elegantly inlaid. 'rI1ere were apartments in this palace sufficient to lodge two princes of the highest rank with their retinues . • . . . The emperor has another ' beautiful palace, with a large court-yard paved with hand- some flags in the style of a chess-board. "Every day, as soon as it ,vas light, six hunched no- bles and men of rank 1vere in attendance at the palace, who either sat or walked about the halls and galleries, and passed their time in conversation, but without enter- . ing the ~partments where his person was . . . . • Daily his larder and wine-cellar~* were open to all who wished * 1'his is a little too strong a statement, considering that there never was and never could be a cellar at Mexico. L2 250 J\,IBXICO AND ITS RELIGION. to eat and drink. The meals were served by three hund- red youths, who brought on an infinite variety of dishes ; indeed, whenever he dined or supped, the table was load - eel with every kind of flesh, fish, ancl vegetables that the country p1·oduced. r:rhe meals wei-e served in a large hall, in which l\fontezurna was accustomed to eat, and the dishes quite filled the room, which was covered with mats, and kept very clean . He sat on a small cushion curiously wrought of leather.* He is also dressed four times every clay in four clifterent suits entirely new, which he never wearn a second time. None of the ca~iques who enter his pala . ce haNe their feet covered., and when those fox whom he sends enter his presence, they incline their head s and look down, bending their bodies ; and when they address him, they do not look him in the face; this arises from excessive modesty and reverence . t . . . . No sultan or other infidel lord, of whom any knowledge now exists, ever had so much ceremonial in his court." It was in the spring of 1519 that Cortez and his company had l a1ided at Vera Cruz. From that point they had mar c hed toward Mexico without opposition, ex c ept the skirmishes with the Tlascalans, and without opposition they had entered the city of Mexico on the 5th of ovember, _ 1519. Here they had been received · with every mark of hospitality and treated with every k i ndness. But this did not prevent their treachernusly seizin g the person of their host, and making him a J)ris - oner in thei1· . quai·ters . In his name they had governed his tribe, . and ransacked his dominions in search of the treasures collected by the gold - washe1·s, and had even * 'l'he naked negro alcald'e mentioned in Chapter XII . was also seated on a leather cushion . t This is not all fancy. No peop]e in the ,vorJd show more profound reverence to the aged or deference to their chiefs than theNorthAmer- ican Indians. PROCEEDINGS OF THE SPANIARDS. 251 interfered in the religious worship of a superstitious peo- ple, and murclered, in cold blood, a party of their chiefs celebrati11g an Indian feast. Still there had been no war, until Ordaz was sent, with his four hundred men, to recapture the concubines of Cortez, who hacl been i-es- cued, as aheady mentioned.. This was in July of the following year, eight months after their first entry into ]llexico, and on the 10th of July, 1520, the licentious rnle of the Spaniards at l\.fexico was terminated by the events of the triste noclze . The mere handful that had at first entered the city hacl been increased by the a r my of Narvae z , so that when the news reached Cortez that Alvarado and the eighty odd men that had been left with him in the city were threatened with difficulty, he marched a well - ap- pointed army of fourteen hunched men, besides two hun- di-ed Tlascalans, to his rnlie£ Their retTeat to Tlascala has ahead y been described, the character of the brigan - tines has been discussed, as well as the absurd story of his having dug a slip or launching canal at , Tezcuco, twelve feet broad and twelve feet deep. We have seen that the tom1S and villages said to have been built in the lake, and the still greater number of large towns on the main land, could only have been petty Indian ham - lets, and that the central portions of the valley of Mex - ico would not have been habitable if the lakes of Mex - ico had been any thing more than evaporation ponds . And, l est I should ventme too far, I will conclude this remark by adverting to the testimony of Diaz, which concedes that when h i s book was written the face of the country was s u bstantially as it now is, and as I have ahea d y described i t to be. But he - e:tj.deavors t o save the story of the Conque~t by th~ , s·hallow pretense that, during the few years that iiitervened between that event 252 MEXICO AND ITS RELIG I ON. and the date of his history, the whole face of th~ coun- try had completely changed.* The great mystery is why so large a body: of Span - iards, . if they rnaUy amounted to . the nurn ber claimed by Cortez, should have retreated from the city at all, as they do not complain of being short of provisions. They had the great teocalli for a forh · ess, on which they m i ght have planted their cannon, and leireled the city in a few days, if not in a few hours, and the great Plaza in which to manceuvre their cavalry and protect the Indians while ~ leveling the rubbish of the broken walls. But a panic havn1g seized them, and having escaped from the city by a badly - managed night retreat, ten months elapsecl before the Spaniards, on the 13th of May, 1 521, l aid s i ege to the city. 11-nd with varying success the siege was continued just three months, until Guaternozin was taken pi-isoner, on the 13th of August, 1521, so that tl1e siege was carried on in the midst of the rainy season, wheii the flats must have been covered with water, and the ditches well £lied. No difficulty was experienced in bringing up his flat - boats to the sides of the muddy causeways, or in cutting off the supplies of provisions by_ water, or in breaking down the earthen aqueduct of Chapultepec , so that the Indians we r e fi~ally subdued by the com1:lined forces of hunger and thirst. '\¥hen the ~itztecs were so enfeebled by want that they could no longer offei- resistance, the Spaniaxds rushed into the * "lztapala1,an was at that time a town of considerab l e magnitude, built hal f in tbe water and half on dry land, The spot where it stood is at present all dry land; and where v;essels once saiJed up and down, seeds are sown and harvests gathered. In fact, the whole face of the count r y is so complete1y changed, that he who bad not seen these parts previously wou l d scarcely believe that waves had eYer rolled o,·er the spot where now fertile corn - plantations extend themselves to all sides, so wonderfully ha1rn all things changed here in a i,hort space of time , " ,,_BERNAL Da z , vol. i. p. 220, INDIAN "\Y ARF ARE. 253 town, seized the umesisting Guatem o zin, and shouted victory. It require s a familiarity with Spanish character, and the Moorish, O r ienta l o r igin of their liternture, in order to read S1)anish .., Ameri c an milita. r y annals understand - ingly, as much so as it does a knowledge of Indian character in o r der to sift out the truth from accounts of Indian wa r s. The superstitious dread which the 'Az - te c s at all times evinced for the Spanish horses and horsemen is common to all savages . * The appearance * Moff.'ttt's Southern Africa, page 242 , fo.rnishes the following com - plete illustration of the effect produced by h.orsemen and fire - arms upo n savage wa r riors . "The commando approached within 150 yards with a view to beckon some one to come out . On th i s, the enemy com - menced their terrible howl, and at once dischal · ged their clubs and jav - elins. Their blac1~, d i smal appearance and savage fory, with ~heir boarse and stentorian voices, were calculated to daunt; and the Griquas [horsemen], on their first attack, wisely ret r eated to a short distance, and then drew up. 1\7 aterboer, the chief, commenced firing, and level - ed one of their warriors to the ground; · several more instantly shared the same - fate. It was confidently expected that their courage would he daunted when they saw their wan-io r s fall by an invisible wea , pon, and it was ho1Jed they would be bumbled and alarmed, tlmt thus fm· - ther bloodshed might be prevented . Though they beheld with aston - fahment the dead and the stricken ,varriors writhing in the dust, they looked with l ion - like fierceness at the horsemen, and yelled vengeance, -violently wrenching the weapons from the hands of th~ir dying com - panions to supply the place of those they had discharged at their antag - onists . Sufficient intervals were afforded, and every encouragement held out for them to make proposals, but all was ineffectual. They sallied forth jvith increased vigor, so as to oblige the Gr i quas to retreat, though only to a short d i stance, for they neve r attempted to pu1-sue above 200 yards from their camp . The firing, though ,vithout any or - der, ,vas ve1·y destructirn, a.s each took a steady aim. Many of their chief men fell v i ctims to their own temer i ty, after manifesting undaunt - ed spirit. Again and again the chiefs and il\fr. lVIelville met to deliber - ate on how to act to prevent bloodshed among a people who determined to die rather than :flee, which they could easily have done. "Soon after the battle commenced, theBechuanas came up, and united in playing on the ene~y with poisoned arrows, but they were soon driYcn back; half a dozen of the fierce 1viantatees [the enemy] made the whole body scamper off in wild dismder. After two hours and - a half's com- bat, the Griqnas, finding their ammunitio n f ast dim i nishing, at the almost certain risk of loss of life, began to storm [cha rg e], wh en the enemy gave 254 MEXICO .AND I TS RELIGION. of two or three horses, kept ready for that purpose, was sufficient to restore the battl~ after the Spaniai-ds had way, taking a ,vesterly direction. The horsemen, 1lo,vever, intercepted tl1em, when they immediately descended toward the ravine, as if determ - ined not to return by the ,vay they came, which they crossed, but were again intercepted . On turning round they seemed desperate, but were again soon repulsed. Great confusion now prevailed, the ground being ·very stony , which rendered it difficult to manage the horses . At this moment an a';TI}l scene ,vas present.ed to the view. The undufat.i..ng count . ry around was covered with warriors all in motion, so tJ1i.it it was oifficult to say who ,vere enemies or who were friends . Clouds of dust ·were rish1g from the immense masses, who appemed flying with terror or pursuing with fear. To the alarming confusion was added the bel - lowing of oxen, the vociferations of the yet unYanquished warriors, mingled with the groans of the clying, and the widows' JJiercing wail, and the cries from infant voices . The enemy again directed their course toward a town which was in possession of a tribe of the same people still more numerous . H e re again another desperate struggle ensued, ·when tlrny appeared determined to i n close the horsemen within the smoke and flames of the hou~es, through whkh . they were slowly passing, giving the enemy time to escape. At last, seized with desr>air, they fled precipitately. It had been observed during t]ie fight that some women went backward and forw:ll'd to the town, only about half a mile distant, apparently with the most perfect indifterence to their fearful situation. '\N11ile the commando was struggling between hope · and despair of bei11g able to l'Out the enemy, information was brought that the half of the enemy, under Cboane, were reposing in the town, within sound of the guns, pe1:fectly regardless of the fate of the other dhision, under the command ofKaragauye . It was supposed they pos - -sessed entire confidence in the Jet invincible army of the latter, being the more warlike of the two. Humanly speaking, bad both p:.u-ties been togethe r , _ the day would have been lost, when they ·would with J)erfect ease have ca1Tied devastation into the centre of the colony ( of the Cape]. vVben both parties were united, they set fire to all parts of the town, and appeared t-0 be taking their departure, proceeding iu an immense body toward the north . If their number may be calculated by the space of ground occupied by the entire body, it must have amounted to upwa r d of 40,000 . The G riquas pursued them about eight miles; and though they continued desperate, they seemed filled with terror at the enemies by whom they had been overcome. . . • . As fighting was not my J)roYince, I avoided discharging a single shot., though, at the request of Ivfr . Melville and the chiefs, I remained with the commando as the only means of safety . Seeing the sa-vage ferocity of the Bechuanas in km - ing the inoffensive women and children for the sake of a few palt r y rings, or to boast that they had killed some of the Mantatees, I tm-ned my attention to these objects of pity, who were flying in consternation in aH direc t ions . By In)' gn.11oping in among tl1em, many of the Be - Il\fPIWDAEILIT ' Y OF CORTE Z'S .ACCOUNT. 255 taken to their heels. .A.nd while the facts of the siege amount to little more than keeping possession of the nar - rmy causeways, by aicl of superior implements of war, until famine and thirst had done their ,vmk, yet the Spanish histories of the Conquest make it to smpass in interest, and in the magnitude of forces engaged, almost any siege on record. .A.ncl so plausi1ly is the nanative written, that the reader drinks it in with breathless anx - iety, without once stopping to ask himself how so many hundreds of thousands of Indians could be fed in a salt valley, inclosed by high mountains,. without the aid of a r egularly organized commissariat department, or how such masses of undisciplined Indians could be rnanceu - chuanas were deterred from their barbarous pu rpose. Shortly aft.er they began to retreat, the women, seeing that mercy was shown them, instead of flying, generally sat down, and, baring their bosoms, exc]aimed, 'I am a woman . I am a woman.' It seemed impossiLle for the men to yield . There were several instances of wounded men being surround - ed by fifty Beclmanas, but it was 11ot till life was almost extinct that a sing l e one would allow himself to be conquered. I saw more than one instance of a man fighting boldly ,vith ten or twelve spears or arrows fixed in bis body . . . . The m e n, struggling with death, would rai s e themselves from the ground, and discharge their weapons at any one of our number within their reach: their ho t il e and reYengeful spirit only ceased when life was extinct. Contemplating this deadly conflict, we could not but admire the mercy of God that . not one of our number was killed, and only one s1ightly wounded . One Bechuana lost his life while too eagerly seeking for plunder. The slain of the enemy was between fo1u- and five hundred. "The :t\fantatees a r e a. taH, robust people, in features resembling the J3echuanas; t l ie dress, consisting of J>repa . red ox-11ides, hang in g doubly over their sl10ulders . The men, dur in g the engagement, wern nearly naked, ha : ving on their heads a ronnd cockade of black ostrich feathers. Their ornaments ·were large copper rings, sometimes eight in number, worn round their necks, with numerous arm, Jeg, and ear rings of the same material . Their weapons we r e wa r- axes of Yarious shapes, and clnhs . Into many of their knob - sticks were inserted pieces of iron re - sembling a sickle, but more cun-ecl, sometimes to a circle, and sharp on the outside. They appeared more rude and barbarous than the tribes around us, the natural consequences of the warlike life they had led . They were suffering dreadfully from want; even in the heat of battle, the poorest class seized pieces of meat ancl devonred them raw." 256 MEXICO .AND ITS RELIGION. vred upon a nan-ow causeway, where numbers ac1c1 no strength, but only tend to augment the confusion-where, as in this case, there had to be a daily advance and re- treat in presence of an active enemy. The inter~sting note which ,ve have copied describes an event within the memoi-y of the present generation. And it is well recollectecl what trepidation was caused in that colony of the British Empire by the approach to the frontier of a nation of barbarians who despised fear, whose religion was wa . r, and who knew no sin like that • of turning the back to any enemy. Yet a hundred horsemen, with. £.rnarms, from a missionary village, un- accustomed to wax, were sufficient to turn back this mighty host of brave savages. It can not be claimed that the Aztecs were superior to these Mant::i~tees, or that the force of Cortez was inferior in equipment to the hundred unvYarlike Griquas whose " thunder and light- ning" (as they termed the musketry) drove them back. The missionary was a Protestant, a man of truth, and had no glory to ,, 7 in, and therefore told only the simple truth. Cortez, out of a much inferior affair, has fabri- cated a rnmance, with such ve1·isimilitude that he - has astonishecl the world by an account of achievements which he never performed. To write well is nine tenths of a hero ; ancl in the time of Cortez, as it is even now at 1exico, it was the easiest thing imaginable to manu- facture an astonishing victory out of the very smallest amount of material. If no lives were lost in the battle, so much more astounding is the victory. This practice of sacrificing huma.i life is only a modification of canni- balism, and the very mission on which the Spaniards came to ]VIexico was to extingt1ish that crime, so that they would jeopardize their title to the country should they presume to shed the blood of each other in their in- terminable wars. And so long as only women, and MORGAN AND COR ' l'EZ, 257 children, ancl Indians are the sufferers, they do no vio- lence to the rules .of warfare which Cortez ancl the Con- quistadors introduced. The armies of Mexico have never been deficient in good . writers; a specimen of the capa- city of one of them I have ah-eady given in the chapter on Texas ; so that their stately and dignified histories of the national squabbles of the last thirty years are equal to Cortez in gross exaggeration, and not a whit behind him in elegance of composition. · A hundred years after the conquest of 1\!Iexico, there sailed out of the harbor of Port Royal, now Kingston, in .Jamaica, an unlawful milita1-y enterprise, about equal in force to that with which Cortez first landed at Yera Cruz, but immensely inferioT to the panic - stricken host that fled by night from the city of Mexico. The fitting out of this unlawful expedition, like that of Cortez, 4ad the connivance of the local authorities. The · differnnce between the two was, that }.forgan did not understand the Spanish Oriental style of proclaiming his own hero- . ism, and furthermore, his expecliti(?n was not directed against a misernbly - armecl rnbble of Indians, but against the fortified city of Panama, held by a garrison of royal troops. Mooring his little fl.eet in the harbor of Chagws, Mor- gan marched his small force across the Isthmus, which then presei1ted greater difficulties . to his passage with can - non ancl mm1itions of war than Cortez encountered in his march to Mexico. Like Cortez in , his fost expedi- tion, J\foTgan met with no opposition in his first visit to Panama, but, with his men, lived at free quarters in riot - ing and debauchery, committing those atrocities that pi- rates alone can commit, until, their appetites and their passions being satiated, they returned to the Gulf coast, taking with them the plunder of a city which was then the depository of the treasures drawn from South .Amer- 258 MEXICO .A.ND ITS RELIGION, ica. They returned a seconcl time to Panama, as Cortez did to Mexico. 'J_'his time they met with resistance, but they carried the town by assault, ancl devoted it to utter destruction. Their , efforts were seconcled by a terrible earthquake, from which the people fled, and built a new city at a distance of a few miles from the ruins. For more than two hundred years the rank vegetation of a tropical fo1·est has been driving its massive 1·oots beneath its foundations, and yet the ruins of Panama still bear the marks of having once been a city of much magnificence. Two massive stone bridges, a pavement, diverse broken walls, and a solid to,ver standing up a . bove the tops of the taII forest-trees, proclaim the inconti-overt- ible fact that the traces of a large city can not be alto- gether blotted out in the course of a few centuries. :M:orga~1 has never gratified the world with a narrative of his adventures, nor has any of his gang enlightened us with a history of the conquest of Panama, nor has any Saxon bishop Lorenzana yet been found so lost to all moral sense as to commend the piety of such infa- mous men. A.i1d yet, in the boldness of his enterprise, in the courage of its execution, in the amount of plun- der realized, in milita . ry talent ancl prnwess, Morgan the pirate was incalcul ably superior to Cortez the hero. CHAPTER XXIII. The new City of Mexico.-The Discornries of Gold. - Ruins at Mexi - co. - The l\fonks, and what Cortez gained by his l'iety . -The City of Mexico again rebuilt.-The Ci t y under Ravillagigedo. - The Nation- al Palace . - The Ca.thedral. - A whole !\{useum turned Saints . - All kneel together.-The San Carlos Academy of Arts. - Reign of Car - los ill. - The lVIineria . THE city of Mexico, as rebuilt by Cortez, was but an humble affau · . The small amount of plunder realized from the city destTOyed; the necessity for large rnmit - tances to secure peace at the Spanish court ; the gen - eral poverty and destitution of the Indians inhabiting the surrounding villages, and the narrow limits of the Aztec empirn, were great impediments in the way of erecting a magnificent city. On a small scale, he resem - bled Santa Anna in the activity with which he could or - ganize an anny after defeat, or rnsuscitate affairs when apparently irretrievable . He knew how to improve the most slender means to the accomplishment of ulterior purposes . Perseverance is not one of the leading char - acteristics of the Spanish race, yet it is smp r ising to see how much they will often accomplish with what would appear to us totally inadequate means . Such was emi - nently the talent of Cortez . Surrounded by disappoint - ,ed men, who had been lmed to the country by magnifi - cent pictmes of its resources, he still went on extendin g his conquests among the s ur roundin g tribes . Fortunate l y , the most precious of all metals i s obtain - ed by the most simple process, and the gold - washings of the Mescala and other parts o f t h e south, which the Indians hacl b ut partially wrough t , r e c e i ve d mo r e atten - 260 :MEXICO AND ITS RELIGION, tion as s o on as they lea . med how readily the prec:ions metal conlcl be exchanged for the gewgaws of the Euro- peans. Gold dust was greedily exchanged for its weight in bright silver coins, and an ounce of gold was not un- frequeni1y given for a bright - colored handkerchief. In a few months the means for the organization of a com - munity were obtained from the gold - diggings. Not}:ting tends so mu , ch to elevate the lowly as the discovery of gold - washings, in which individual effort, ancl not ma- chinery, is the ruling power, and the producer o·f wealth. But even a gold country l1as its evils ; for nowhere have I ever seen so many disappointed men as at the very place where an abundance of gold could be had for sim - ply washing it out of the mud ; am1 novyhere have I seen so large a proportion of unemployed men as on the spot where the wag e s of labor were fabulously high. Still, with all these drawbacks, the city of Cortez rapid- ly progressed under the stimulus of gold discoveries, 1.m- til he found the wildest of his di-ea.ms falling short of the reality. The new city did not occupy . the exact position of its Indian predecessor, but was clustered around the st i ll re- maining na:viga . ble ca11als, upon the southern border, while the main portion of the old city, which lay toward the northern limits of the isla11d - where to this day such an abundant supply of earthen gods is to l}e found by digging - was left a mass of mins. The s e were not, by any means, the l'uins of fallen stone walls, or capitals, or columns, but shapeless masses of earth, which pro - claim most unmistakably the kind of magnificence which distinguished the ancient capital of the l i..ztec empire. The monks, who scented gold as buzzards scent car- rion, began early to discover the growing wealth of this new city, and soon a party of a doz..en Franciscans, in sackcloth with downcast visages, . approac11ed the city. THE MONKS IN : MEXICO. 261 They came, not as i-eligious teachers, but as spiritu~l scavengers, who had consecrated then.- lives for gold to clean ollt the road to heaven for the vilest sinners. Cortez, who hacl been the greatest sinner, was now the greatest penitent. The whole city was moved at the coming of these holy men, who cani.ed the cross before them, but forgot not the cai-ds and the dice in their pock- ets - who daily, in the mass, consecrated spiritual bread for famishing souls, and at night spent the wages of their piety at the gambling - table. To the surprise of his fel- low-pro:fliga.tes, and to the astonishment of the Indians, Cortez, walking barnfooted, led the procession that es- corted the monks from near the spot where his brigan- tines had sailed among the corn - fields of Iztapalapan to the little c1 r apel he had partly finished, and which now stands in the yard of the Franciscans.* He was so zeal- ous :in the performance of his devotions and his pen- ances that he won the affections of the holy fathers to such a degree that he ever found faithful supporters in the powerful order of Saint Francis in . all his troubles at the Spanish court. The question · 0f his sincei-ity mattered little to them. It was the benefit of his pub- lic example which they, above all things, desired in then- seai·ch after golden treasmes. To get gold ancl to grat- ify their vices was their pious calling. Though they boast of having baptized some 6000 Indians, this argues nothing, except as it tends to show the numbers of the Indian population of the valley ; for, as a badge of their subjugation, the Indians received Christian baptism ; and truly it has been said of them, . '' They feared the Lord, bllt served their graven images." ' \Ti{ e haye now a sadder tale to tell ; one that philan- * As it is an unimportant question whether Cortez first built a chapel for the Franciscans back of the Cathedra1, or the one in the yard of the Franciscans, I here repeat the popular tradition. , 262 MEXICO A D ITS RELIGION. thropists have grieved over so often. Gold - washings am s oo n exhausted, but they frequently lead to the dis - covery of silver mines, which become so profitable as to drive away the very memory of the gold - washings. Thus the fact that gold - washings ever existed in Mex- ico, or even in Brazil, is almost foTgotten, and the places where those washings were rests in vague tradition. But while gold is procured by the most simple process, to extract silve1· requir es science, and an immense expen - diture of labor ancl machinery, in delving to the very bow - els of t11e earth, and in separating the slight percentage of pure silver from the mass of ore. In this exhausting labor, which is often assigned to convicts, Indians were employed until they gave up the ghost . The conquer - ors had appropriated to themselves the best-looking of the Indian females, while their husbands-for Indians marry very early in life-were consigned to the mines as laborers and carriers in the bowels of the mountain. From this pi-omiscuous intercourse, · so early introduced, has arisen the present mixed - blood population of Mexi - co. The offspring of sin, they are a nation of sinners. The pure Indians are the descendants chiefly of the un - enslaved tribes, like the Tlascalans and Tezcucans, who carried on the subsequent wars of Cortez, and the whites are mostly descendants of later immigrations. I n a form~r chapter we h~ve seen that the evils which California suffei-ed in the fu-st years of its existence af- flicted foxico down to the time of the great inundation of 1629; and from the pen of an eye - witness we have given a picture of the state of society at that time. But during the five years that the water rested on the city, its superabundant wealth disappeared; many of the no- bility and gentry withdrew to Puebla, carrying with !hem iheir treasures and their vices, while multitudes of ~he po orer classes perished. So that when the Virgin 'l'HE VICEROY RAVILLA.GIGEDO. 263 of Guadalupe, in her great mercy to an afflicted people, caused the eai·th to open and swallow up the great ex- cess of waters, they had become a sobered and a more moral population. It is from this abating of the waters in the year 1634 that we have to elate the origin of the present city of Mexico ; for the foundations of all the buildings except those about the Cathedral were so much softened by five years of soaking that they could not be relied on; and a new city grew up upon new foundations. This is the Mexico of the present day; a city more ele- gant than substantial, and dependent more upon the plas- ter and colored washings of its walls than solid masomy for its apparent durability. It was the great Vice - king Ravillagigedo, towar-d the close of the last century (1789), who gave the fin - ishing strokes to the city, and established its reputation as the finest city on this continent while the vice-king- dom continued. It was then one of the best-lighted cit- ies to be found, while in its paving he expended the large sum of $ 34 7, 715. * "'-N. e have seen, in our own day and in om · owi1 large cities, the popular applause which fol- lows the rigid enforcement of wholesome ordinances ; and it may be well supposed that in ~ city like foxico, such an unusual proceeding would elevate the fearless magistrate in popular estimation, and make him the sub- ject of all kind of apocryphal anecdotes. The best of the anecdotes illustrating his sternness in enforcing city ordinances is the following: .A police offi- cer once reported to him the case of the occupants of a house who had neglected sweeping in front of their premises. He informed him that the family ha.d con- sisted of a widowed mother and two daughters, but that the mother had died dlll"ing the previous night, a.nd that, instead of sweeping the street as usual, the daughters * HUMBOLDT, Essai Politi'que. " 264 MEXICO .A.ND ITS RELIGION. · sat at the door weeping, and soliciting money of passers- by to bury the deacl body~ "Return," said the viceroy sternly to the officer, "and stand at the door until there are twelve shillings (a dollar and a half) in the plate, and then take it, and bring it anc1 the offenders to me." The officer clic1 as direct~d. "Deliver the money to the mu- nicipal treasurer, in payment of the fine for violating the city ordinance," said the vice - king to the officer, " and then return to your duty." He then turned to t1ie or- phans: " I hear that your mother is dead, and that you wish to obtain the means of burying her. Here is an order on your parish priest, who v;rill bury your mother, and here is a trifle for yourselves," he said, handing to each of them a gold ounce. They went their way, bless- ing the man that had succored them in their necessity. This early example of the rigid enforcement of city ordi- nances has never been forgotten in Mexico, where, con- sidering its limited means, for its revenue* does not ex- * As my read·ers may be a little curious to know how the city gov- ernment is sustained, I translate the statement of city revenue of 1851. There were in that year 379 licensed pulque-shops, yielding a revenue of .... . .... . .................................. . ................. $65,297 538 retail grocer shops in -which liquor is sold by the gill.. .... . 8 breweries pay a city tax of ... . ...................................... . 132 cafes, fondas, and eating-houses pay ...... . .................. .. Tax on grain and bread consumed in the city ................... .. Public diversions, $3103; permitted plays (not gambling), $3221 .... . ......................................................... . ...... . Tax on canals, $6798; tax. on coaches, $20,151; markets, $56,130 ............................ . ................................... .. . Donation of the proceeds of a bull-fight ............................ . Gifts, in bread and meat, to the prisons ............................ . A tax of one doll'ar on the slaughtering of 21,984 beef-cattle 16)404 calves were slaughtered, paying six shilJings tax ...... .. 145,040 sheep, at one shilling and sixpence ........ . ............. .. 9394 pigs paid five shillings tax, or ............................. . ... . 42,734 swine, full grown, paid six shillings ........................ . 7750 goats and kids, at one shiUing and sixpence .... . .......... .. Tax on property entering the city gates ....... . ..................... . Licenses to slaughter to individuals ................................. . 25,609 1,697 4,418 53,762 - 6,324 83,085 830 4,561 21,984 12,303 27,194 5,870 32,055 1,453 1,878 136 THE NATION.AL PALACE . 265 ceed $400,000, including its landed rents, its govern- ment is well sustained, and its laws better enforced than in many of our own cities . Its police consists of a mil - itary patrol,* who, oddly enough, perform the duties of lamplighters. The National Palace is an · immense structme, which occupies the eastern front of the Grand Pla.za, and is sometimes foolishly called the Halls of the 1VIontezumas. It contains within itself all the offices of government, 'The water rents of $20,000 were consumed in repail·s. The tax on fish yielded...... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $390 The balance of the rev~nue consists of certain city properties. Expenditures. The heaviest items are for the public · prisons ...................... $69,863 For the hospitals of the insane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48,000 Lancasterian schools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,600 Lights and city patrol.. . ... ......... ... ......... .. .. ,. . . . . . .... . ......... 52,422 Exhibition of flowers and fruits in No-itember la.st.... ........ .. .. 1,831 Salaries of school - teachers, and rent of houses for schools . . . . . . . 4,812 Religious worship in Hospital of San Hippolito, and for ,accine matter . .. .. ..... . . .. ... .... .. ... . . ········ · . ...... ...... .. . . . . ............. 2,282 Cleaning the streets by night and by day... ....... ........... . . .. .. 21,378 Salaries ..... . ..... ... .. ....... .......... . .. .. ...... . .... . .. .. . . . .. ..... .. .. .. 31,472 Dinners and festivals ..... . ... . .. . . . .. . . ......................... . ........ 151 The city has a debt of $617,978, and has, as a set-off, a claim against the supreme government for $1,700,000 of its funds seized from time to time, and for keeping prisoners. · * The arrests in the year 1851 were 212 men and 182 women for infra . ctions of police regulations; 1256 men and 194-4 women for ex- cessive drinking; 384 men and 120 women for robbery; 180 men and 84 women on suspicion of robbery; 120 men and 25 women for picking pockets · ; 15 men arid 3 women for murder; 728 men and 246 women for affrays and wounds; 209 men and 85 women for cru.·rying fo r bidden weapons; 36 men who had escaped from prison; 39 men and 17 wom- en for false pretenses; 354 men and 403 women for incontinence and adultery ; 311 men and 318 women for the violation of public decency; 64 delinquent you th for the house of correction-making a t . otal of ar- rests for the year of 3918 men and 3430-women ; besides, they haYe p1 ·o tected 315 persons apprebensive of assau1ts from evil - doers . And they h.ave freed the city frorn th.e plague of 604:8 dogs I Just as many dogs arrested as human beings. These statistics furnish an inadequate idea of the number of knife-nghts that are of so common occturence among the peons aboiit the pulgue-shop!;, in which -women and men show an equal skill at stabbing in tbe back. M 266 MEXICO .A.NJ) rrs RELIGION. besides the barracks of the President's guard. Besides being the city residence of the President himself, it con- tains the two halls that were formerly occupied by the two legislative bodies, the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, wJ:rile such a bmlesque of oui- free institutions existed in Mexico. In this palace also was the Nation- al Mint, so long as any body would trust the nation with his silver bars to coin ; but, now that the mint is farmed out, it is removed to a private establishment. In this building are all the archives of the vice - kingdom and the republic, and he ·who would study the h i story of the past must diligently labor here. The Cathedral is upon the northern side of the Grand Plaza, and is said to occupy the site of the great teocalli, and to have a rocky foundation. "VVhethei- this last as - sertion is really true, I have no means of verifying, but there must be something unusual about its foundations, as its towers are the only ones that I know of in the city that do not lean a little . Ninety years was this vast edifice, or, rather, pile of edifices, in building, and - . the amount of treasme expended in its consh-uction seems to a stranger to be fabulous. The best of its many fine Yiews, or, rather, the one I admire the most, is the one from the entrance to the National Palace, though the one most commonly given is that from the front of the Municipality building, which occupies the en - tire s o uth front of the Plaza. The interior of the Cathedrnl is certainly imposing, but I had so early in life attached the idea of the Gothic - architecture to every thing magnificent in the way of churches, that this Moro - Spanish style fails to produ c e an effect commensurate with the merits of the build - ing. Again, images are not associated with my early ideas of divine worship; and when, passing from side al - tar to side altar, I _ feel that I am only looking at ·wax • IMAGES IN 'l'HE CATHEDRAL. 267 :fig1fres, they produce no solemnity in me. And when I aftervrnJ:d learned, or thought I learned, that the show- man of the strolling museum got his ",vax figures" at the same shop, or from the same moulds in which were cast the images of the saints, they call up the idea of Punch a nd Judy. B e fore these images I have seen hundreds of worship- ers prostrate, xepeating their prayers with the most pro- found reverence, while the sight of the image filled me with boyish glee that I could hardly suppress. The identical image that was labeled Bluebeard in · the mu- seum is now Saint Peter. The " Disconsolate Widow" i s 110w '' the ,iV eeping Virgin." Charlotte Temple, and the baby that never knew its father, is now Mary and the infant Christ. Macbeth, looking as though he had the toothache, is Saint Francis. Othello is here a saint; and the sleeping Desdemona is now the sleeping Virgin. The monster that poisoned six husbands, and sits med- itating the death of a seventh, is now dressed in the lat- e s t Paris finery, and is a saint. The old miser, who laid up such hoards while he starved himself to death, is here placed among saints ; the clothes a:re diffe1·ent, but there is the same forbidding visage. Here, too, are the Queen of Sheba, the Babes in the Wood, the Belle of the VV est, the Terrible Brigand, and Sir '\¥illiam vV allace-all transformed into images of saints, before whom the people bow down with the most profound rev- erence, and. to whose inteTcession they commit the salva- tion of their · souls. I do not know whether t1:ie showman or the Fri:ests are to blame for my irreverence, or whether it is the fault of the system itself. The argument in favor of the ado- ration of images is that they make impressions on the senses which aid devotion ; but, if the impressions made on my senses - are · to be conside1·ed, the whole tendency 268 MEXICO AND ITS - RELIGION. is to debase tl1e immortal Maker of heaven and ea;rth be- low the level of humanity," and to change the image of the incorruptible God into an · image made like to cor- n1ptible man." There was abundant proof of this in the ta1Jernacle of our Lady of Remedies above the grea.t al- tar of the Cathedral. There sits enthroned this cast-off bauble of some nursery, emblazoned with je,vels enough to supply the means to , educate the whole population of Mexico. To this piece . of dilapidated wood and plaster of Paris are conceded attributes of God Almighty: to grant rain in times of drought ; health in times of pes- tilence; a safe delivery to women in peril of childbirth; and before _it, in times of public calamity, the highest dignita;ries waJk in solemn procession. Nothing disgusts an Anglo-Saxon more than to ":'it- ness the mental degradation of the descendants of the Castilians, the slaves of superstition, craft, and impos- .tme. Froni generation to generation they have lived n1. constant fea1· of the secret agents of the Inquisition, and of the evil spirits that are ever plotting against the peace of good Christians. The permanency of the laws of Na- ture, the very foundation of all self-1·eliance and courage, is believed to be at the caprice of every one of a legion of saints, each of whom has 1Jeen canonized on proof of working a miracle. Tmth, and honesty, and chastity a;re suboTdinate virtues, and only a slavish devotion to his conscience-keeper can sustain a believer in the hour of greatest necessity. There are important tmths to be learned in J\ , foxico, and even in this , immense pile of buildings devoted to superstition. Among these is the peifect equality tha.t should exist in a place of worship. Here the rich and the poor meet together upon a level ; the well-dressed lady and the market-woman are here kneeling together before the .same image. The distinctions of wealth and THE SAN CARLOS. 269 rank are for the moment foTgotten. While I was looking on and admiring this state of things, I saw a market - man on his return homeward with an empty hei1 - coop on his back. He walked boldly up, and knelt among the body of worshipers, told his beads, and then started up and trudged on his homeward journey. This equality is only for an hour, and harclly so long; yet it is an hom- daily, and must have its effect in this country pf inequal- • ities in reminding the most humble that this inequality is only for this world, ancl that at the termination of life all will stand upon a com~on level. The San Carlos, or .Academy of Arts,is now in a flour - ishing condition, on account of the success of the lotteTy that supports it. The number of students here gra - tuitously instructed in different branches of art is quite laTge. Here, too, it is refreshing to see equality tri - umphant ; the child of the peon and of the prince sit side by side, and on the days of public exhibition, the crowds that throng its halls are admitted gratuitously, and a1·e of as miscellaneous a charncter as are its pupils. The pictures of Pang ' re are the present great attraction, and every new production of his genius gains him addi- tional applause. The works that Humboldt so much admired are still here, but since his time there have been added several maTbles of considerable merit. This Academy of San Carlos is one of the many mon - uments of tha.t greatest of the kings of Spain since the Conquest, Don Carlos III., though not brought into full operation until the reign of his imbecile successor, Carlos IV . All the monuments of which :Mexico can boast at this - day are traceable to the reign of the only enlightened Spanish prince of whom Spain can boast in a period of 300 years. Nearly a hunch · ed years have elapsed since the foundation of this academy, and it has not yet produced a man of the first class either in painting or sculpture. 270 MEXICO AND lTS RELIGION. The College of Mines, the finest building in this city, is another exhibition of the liberal spirit which governed in the reign of Don Carlos. Under this prince a new code of mining laws ha.d been digested, strikingly 1·esem- bling the present miner's rules in CaWon~ia. Their im- mediate effect was almost to double the production of silver, while the Mineria was both a school to impart scientific knowledge in relation to mini11g, and a bank to advance money to develop new mmeral enterprises. Its support now rests upon · the tax it is authorized to levy of one shilling upon ev e ry mark ( $8 ) of silver pro- duced. CHAPTER XXIV. The National Museum . - 1\farianna and Cortez.-The small Value of this Collection.-The Botanic Garden.-The Market of Santa Anna. -The Acordada l'rison . - The unfortunate J:>risoner.-The Causes of that Night of Terror. - The Sacking of the City . -The Patlan.- The Causes of the Ruin of the Parian. -Ch ange in the Standard of Color.-The Ashes of Cortez. THE National Museum has its weekly exhibitions, and attracts as great a crowd of the common people as does the Academy of Arts. Here as perfect equality reigns as in the San Carlos or in the Cathedral. The first object of interest is the large collection of stone ic1ols which have been dug up from time to time in and about the Grand Plaza. There are clog-faced idols, and apish gods, and unearthly things, besides the sacrifi- cial stone, and a rude attempt to represent a goddess. "\iVhether or no this was a sort of Aztec Lady of Reme- dies I did not learn. The Aztecs might easily have pro- duced these works without exhibiting much civilization ; but I have heai-d it surmised that they must have been among the plunder of more civilized tribes. On the two opposite sides of the first hall we entered, I saw spread· out the pictorial chronology of two dynas- ties that had passed away-the vice -r egal line of poten- tates standing over against the royal line of .Aztec em- perors. The portraits of the vice - kings, from Cortez down to the last of his successors, sti-etch entirely across one side of the hall, and about the same nurn ber of In - dian ca9iques are daubed upon a piece of papyrus that is fastened upon the opposite wall. It requires the great- est possible stretch of liberality for one accustomed to 272 MEXICO .A.ND ITS RELIGION. Indian efforts of this kind to dignify such intolerable . daubs ·with the name of paintings. And yet this is the picture - writing of the Aztecs, with which the world has been so edified for centuries . If there is or ever was an. Iroquois Indian that should undertake fo stain so mis - erably, I verily believe he would he expelled from his tribe: To make it manifest that this was intended for a chronological record of the imperial line, black lines were daubed from one of these effigies to another. From a printed fabel in Spanish affixecl to this wonderful relic, I learned that it was intended to i-epreseht the wander - i1)gs of the Aztecs from California. It is usual for North American Indians to store up traditions of the extensive wanderings of their a.nces - tors, and if one is asked · to represent the b:adition on bark, he would produce very much such an affair as this, though 'i\,":ith a somewhat greater resemblance to the hu - man fonn. Another picture represents Marianna, the mistress of Cortez, with her rosary, and Cortez with his fingers in much such a position as boys place them in when they wish to convey the idea that they have pe1· - petrated a joke - a very satisfactory method of repre - senting the piety of Cortez. Close by the pious couple is the representation of a scene which they seem to have come out to witness. A bloodhound is represented tear - ing an Indian to pieces, while a Spaniard is holding on to the end of the dog's chain. The banner under which Cortez fought, or rather one of them - for he had two-is here preserved in a gilt frame. It represents the Virgin lifary portrayed on crimson silk. In this hall is also a miniature represen - tation of a silver mine, with the workmen at their sever - al branches of labor. The remains of the vice - regal throne are here piled up in a corner • . In the next room there are some paintings of no very M:USEUM,-BOT.ANIC GA.RDEN,-MARKET, 273 · great value, which should have been kept in the Acade- my; also a miniature fortress and a small mineral col- lection, and any quantity of specimens of Indian idols, so misshapen as to be unfit for use as images of the Virgin and of the saints. As a Vice-royal and National :Museum, the whole af- fair is beneath contempt. If the few articles in it that are valuable were divided between the :M:ineria and the San CaTlos, and the rest throV!i'll away, it would be an advant- age to all concerned. The Indian relics in this muse- um are not only much inferio1· to the specimens of the art of the savage islanders of the South Seas, but im- mensely infeTior to many private collections of Indian curiosities that I have seen, and they go Jar to demon- strate the entire absence of civilized arts among the abo- . Tiginal inhabitants of Mexico. In an interior court of the museum is the Botanic Gar- den. This, like the National Museum, is a paltry affair. v, T ith the exception of - the J.Jf anolita, or tree that bears a flower resembling the human hand, of which there are but two in the Republic, there is nothing deserving of notice in this garden. In the la1·ge interi01· court of San Francisco a Fi-enchman has, as a private speculation, opened a garden and made a collection of the national plants of :M:exico that is well worth a visit. In this pri- vate garden is one of the finest and rarest collections of the cactus family that I have ever seen, either in :lexi- co or elsewhere. The mai·ket of Santa Anna is the central mai-ket of the city. It adjoins the palace, and is close to the canal. The products of the chinampas are here displayed to the best advantage. As Mexico is within easy marketing distance of the hot country, we have here daily present - ed the fresh prodnctions of two zones. This is one of the places where the ~ppetite of a sti-anger can not only - ~12 274 MEXICO AND ITS RELIGION. be gratified with the greatest variety of delicacies ever collected in one spot, but the excellency and abundance of the articles presented are perplexing to the person ·who wo11.l.d venture upon the bold - experiment of tasting every new article ofte1·ed to him. As a vegetable and flowe1· mai-ket, it has no equal. The .Acordada Prison is the principal state as well as city prison. Hei~e are confined men cha . rged with every offense, from rioting to murder. Oftentimes these ex- fremes are founcl together in the interior court of the prison, where the felon, with his hands steeped in inno- cent blood, is entertaining a cro-wd of novices in crime ·with the details of his adventures, and of his many hair- breadth escapes from the cruel o:fficei-s of the law. He . is as eloquent in giving lessons to novices as his com- peers in our own prisons, and he carefully instructs his hopeful pupils in the best ways of avenging their wrongs upon society. Some in the p1-ison are merry, and enjoy a · dance, while others are indulging in obscene jests and ribaldry. Still; there are those ' that find means to labor and to work at repairing shoes or clothes in the midst of this babel of sin and tumult: The Acordada gave its name to that night insunec~ tion to which I have so often referred. Two regiments of artillery, quartered in the palace of the Inquisition, pronounced against the legality of the election of ~edra- za to the presidency. One night they took possession of the .Acordada, where they were joined by the whole body of desperadoes there confined. Among the persons at that time detained in this prison, and on = that night wantonly killed, was an Englishman, who had been kept in prison for several years, cha1·ged with the singular of- fense of having married the daughter . of an ex-man:_i_1.1is. There had been romance in his courtship and romance in his marriage, but it had not .met with the approbation of THE ACORD.ADA, 275 the father, who unfortunately had influence enough to get the newly - manied man into prison, and to keep him there. .A.t last the father had relented, and on the next day the poor Englishman was to have been set at liber - ty. Long and ti-ying had been the sufferings of the un - fortunate man, doomed to pass the best years of his life among i-o b bers and assassins. Though every thing that kindness could do to lighten his sufferings had been. done by his own countrymen, yet the weary years of impris - onment, superadded to the sudden blasting of his hopes, had brought prematme old age upon him while yet in the prime of life . But now all was forgotten in antici - pation of a to - mo1Tow that he was never to see. When the attack was made upon the prison, he went to the door of his cell to learn the cause of so unusual a distmbance, and was instantly lolled - the first victim of the night of the .A.cordada. On that fearful night the .A.co r dada was unusually full of desperadoes, whom the civil disorders and stagnation of business had _ driven to crime. .A. battle in the night in the streets of a large city is a fearful thing, at least when cannon are the chief weapons used; but when there is added to this cause of alarm that the news had spread through the city that all the mui-derers and housebreak- ers in the prison had been let loose, with arms in their hands, to murde~ and to ravage the city, an idea may be fo1 · med of the terror of a population who were cowards by instinct. The contempt ·with which they had re - garded the lower orders was to be fearfully retaliated . Hate, mingled with avarice, ancl inflamed by pulque and ba d liquor, was to do its work, and that, too, without pity. Men, untam _ ed by kindness of those above them, were now the masters of the lives and property of all, and there was no remedy. Fear had held the common people in a degraded position, but they feai · ed no longer. 276 : MEXICO AND l'l'S RELIGION. Those who hacl lorded it over the poor instead of labor- :ing to elevate their condition, were now to suffer the con- sequences of that neglect. · It :is a thankless task to l abor fo1· the elevation of the degraded, and oftentimes we are stung with the ingrati - tude of those whom we have desired to aid. But God, who has enjoined this unpleasant duty upon us, has borne our daily ingratitude without casting us off, and we but imitate him when we continue to minister to the ungrateful, and the unthankful, and even the unmerciful. The people of Mexico had shown more liberality, and given more than we. But they lmd not given it to edu - cate- and to elevate the condition of the poor, but to feecl pampered priests, "who walked in long robes, and who loved salutations in the markets," and to women like them, who had placed themselves in an · unnatural 1 · e - lation to the world. Goel requires of all men not only contributions of money, for that is but half charity, but personal services in discharge of the duties of good citi - zens, and in relieving the afilicted ; and he that disre - gards such duties may suffer as the Mexicans did in the night of the .A.cordada insurrection, which turned young hairs gray, and destroyed forever the happiness of un - numbered families. vVhen the common people, brutalized by oppression, - found themselves masters of the city, and their oppress - ors powerless, then b u rnt forth the pent - up hatTed of ten generations. "They c all us leperos and dogs," said some of them ; " let us play the part of dogs-hungry dogs, among these spottecl sheep." The palaces of the ~·eat were no protection against these infuriated peons, and women who boasted of titles of nobility were not safe . The wealth that generations of unjust mon o po - lists had accumulated was scattered to the winds . Le - J)eros now rioted on cai-pets from Bruss e ls and on cush - THE PA.RIAN, 277 ions of Oriental stuffs, ancl quaffed the choice wines of Madeira and Champagne. In the fury of then-intoxication they lost all restraint, and indulged in every excess and enormity. Robbery and murcler were the oi-der of the day. In can7ing away the plunder, disputes arose, and then they murdered each other as readily as they had murdered those who claimed the title of citizens. :Feai· was the only authority they had learned to respect, ancl they knew no other government than the hated police; but now, when the police were powerless, they could amuse themselves according to the instincts of therr brntish natures. They had never been taught self-con- trol, and animal indulgence was the utmost of their am- bition, and they folrncl amusement in violating all laws, human · and divine. The mmders, the ravishings, the wanton destruction of the richest household stuffs, and luxuries, and wo:i;ks of art in that night, can not all be written, nor can they ever be effaced from the memory of those who witnessed them. Stretching across the Grancl Plaz:a, opposite the Cathe- dral and in front of the buildings of the Municipality, once stood the noted mart of commerce called the Parian, an ill-looking structure, in which · was accumulated the mass offoreign merchandise. In this same pile of build- ings had been concocted the conspiracy which, in the year 1808, had caused the seizure of the Vice-king, Itur- 11.garay, and his imprisonment in the Inquisition. The complaint against the Vice-king was that he was about to recognize the political equality of the native-born pop- ulation with the emigrants from Spain. For this of- fense, his l'eputation and that of his kindred was to be forever blackened by a suspicion of heresy. In the night of the Acordada insurrection, the Spanish shop-keepers of the Parian found themselves utterly de- fenseless. They could no longer invoke the aid . of the Inquis~tion in oppressing and trampling on the people, 278 MEXICO AND ITS RELIGION. ,vhom their wantonness, ancl the wantonness of others like them, had brutalized. The neglect and oppression w11ich had reduced a laboring man to a lepe'l'O had not made him insensible to the unequal laws ,vhich · elevated above him a race of beings destitute of that manly cour- age which oftentimes gives plausibility to oppression. Now the lepero took delight in visiting upon the present occupants of this building · a fea:rful punishment for the crime committed there twenty yea1·s before, and among the guilty crowd there was to be found many an innocent sufferer. The • isolated crowds that had been traversing the streets, and indulging their wantonness on a small scale, at length, as the night wore away, began to concentrate around the Parian, and quickly such devastation of property was made as might be expected where the rich and poor had no common interest in its preservation, and where criminal and poor man were almost convert- ible terms. The phmderers had little idea of the value or uses of the property they were scattering to the winds ; and while they wasted millions worth of property, they wantonly shed the blood of the propi-ietors in the midst of their merchandise. Nor did the evil encl when day- ligb.t appeared ; for among the consequences of this night insurrec . tion , was the transfer of all authority to new hands. Those who the day before had been stigmatized · with the imptu:ity of their blood, were now the govern- ing power, who, under the forms of law, were to can-y into effect the behest of the successful insurgents. N ei- ther the sight of the mins of the n:ight before, nor bales of merchandise strewed about among corpses · arid spat - tered with blood, could move the new masters of the city to pity the fallen condition of a class of men who had proved themselves too cowardly to defend their own usui-pations, and too tyrannical to instill into the lately proscribed 1·aces any ideas of compassion. THE OVERTURN. 279 For three hundred years pure white blood and Span- ish birth was an indispensable qualification for promo- tion in the vice-kingdom, and the slightest tincture of colored blood was an indelible disgrace. But one night of tumult and rapine changed the popular standard of color. And he who had boasted the day before of his pure white blood and Spanish origin, now sought to bide himself from the officers of the law, who visited with the penalty of banishment the crime of havi11g been born in Spain. 1:en now, for the first time, boasted of their In- dian origin, and of the slight infusion they were able to disco~e1· of colored blood in their veins ; while a man of Indian descent, and who spoke a provincial dialect, was declared elected President of the Republic of :Thfoxico : so uncertain are all divisions of rank formed on the ar- bitrary dist~nction of color. During the night strnnge murmurings were heard against " the accursed enslaver of their race." The de- scendants of Cortez were fearful for the safety of his ashes, which had lain quietly in the convent of San Fran- · _ cisco*so long as the Inquisition possessed the power of compellirig men to reverence his memory as the cham- JJion of the Cross, the favo~-ite of the Virgin Mary, the hero of - a holy war against the infidels. But now that this accmsed institution, and the infamous gang connect- ed with its management, had become powerless, the na- tional feeling began to manifest itself so openlj that the remains we : re removed secretly and by night to the sanc- tuary of the most sacred shrine of Mexico, that of Santa Teresa, where they remained until a safe opportunity presented itself for shipping them off to the Du~e of Montebello, a Sicilian nobleman, who inherits the titles and also the ~ast estates of Cortez in the valleys of the Cuarnavaca and Oajaca, upon which none- of the revolu- tionary governments have laid violent hands. · * For a more authentic account, see .Appendix E. CHAPTER XXV. The Priests gainers by the Independence. - Impro,ed Condition of the Peons . - Mexican Mechanics. - Th e Oppression they suffer . - Low state of the Mechanic Arts . - The Story of the Fortress . - Charit.y of the Poor. - Tlle Whites not superior t.o Meztizos. - Li.cense and V17oman's Rights at Mexico. - The probable Future of lVIe:,_dco. - 1\for - monism impending over J.\foxico. - l\formonism and Mohammedan - ism. THE clergy and the other white fomenters of the sep - arat i on from Spain never contemplated the formation of a republic, or the arming of the lepe1·os. They were alarmed at the bold reforms of the li1)eral Cortes of Spain, and trembled at the prospect of losing their privileges a~d monopolies; . They judged that the safest course for them was the establishment of an empire upon the subversion of the vice - kingdom, which would be so weak a powei- that they could overawe it. The priests rea- soned conectly, and have augmented their privileges and their wealth, as we shall presently see. The Spanish monopolists wern ruined. by the Revolution, as 1-ve have seen in the last chapter . But the common people were the gainers ultimately by tl1e expulsion of the Spaniards, though the whole country suffered for a time by the withdrawal of the capital of the Spaniards. The benefit derived by the peons from this revolution was the polit - ical importance which it gave them. The Parian and the lei_Jero perished together. The latter ceased to e:\.7.st when the last stone of the former disappeai-ed. The Spaniards had been banished from the country long befme the authorities undertook the removal of this obnoxious edifice, a n d those who wished to avoid a like fate s _ ought MEXIC.A.IL'{ MECHANICS. 281 security in acts of benevolence ; so that at Mexico char - itable institutions are now so well conducted, that it is one of the few Catholic cities in the world that can boast of being free entirely from beggars . Political power gave to the common people an importance in the social scale which they had never before enjoyed. With the cheap - ness of clothing the unclad multitude have disappeared, and the new generation find more employment and bet - ter wages than their ancestors did, when all branches of industry were clogged with monopolies, and they are, consequently, more industrious and temperate. Still, the Mexican JJeon is immens • ely below the .Amer - ican laborer, and still has to be watched as a thief, for the want of a little morality intermixed with his relig - ious instruction. It is a degrading sight to stand at the door of one of the large coach manufactories at Mexico, and to witness th 1.... manner in which they search them, one by one, as they come out. The natives, who · have learned the most difficult pa , rts of coach - building from English and French employers, can not for a moment be trusted, l est they should steal their tools or the materials upon which they axe employed. I saw even the man who was placing the gorgeous tximmings on the Nun - cio's coach carefully searched, lest he should have con- cealed about his person a scrap of the valuable material That they are thieves is not to be wondered at when thei-r catechism teaches them "that a theft that does not exceed a certain amount is not a grave offense."* * Having lost my memorandum, I am uncertain whether the number of days was one or more, and whether the number of francs named was six or eight. The following is my best recollection of the question and answer on theft : I · "Q . Is theft a grave offense ? "A . A theft that does not exceed in value a day's labor is not a gra:ve offense; some theologians contend that a theft that does not ex - ceed six francs is not a grave offense." 282 MEXICO AND ITS RELIGION. With us, a mechanic is associated with the idea of a person occupying a respectable position in life; but at Mexico he still belongs to a degraded class, as men are there esteemed ; he is a peon, on a footing with a com- . mon laborer. The highest wages are three · shillings a day, while at least two days in the ' week he is kept from his usual employment by "days of obligation," that is, festival days on which it is unlawful to W?rk. Tortil- las,'lndian griddle-cakes, with black beans (frijoles) - and red peppers ( cliilie ), are his daily food ; and his lodgings are a palm-leaf mat upon a stone or earthen floor, while his serapa does duty for a blanket at night. The greasy friar does not forget him as he goes his rounds in search of Peter's pen9e; ~nd the priest sets before him the hor- rid consequences of entering Purgatory without first dis- charging the debt he · still owes for his baptism. He and his " wife" still remain unmarried ; for how can they ever raise the money to pay the priest? And if by chance he gets involved in debt, or for the debt of one of his kindred, one third part of his daily labor is embar- goed by the creditor. When the Mexican mechanic has a small kit of un- couth tools, he works upon his own account, but at the smallest possible profit. When he has finished a pair of shoes, if he be a shoemaker, he or his wife starts out to dispose of them to some passer-by in the street before a new pair is undertaken. When the tinman has finish- ed a sprinkling pot, he or his boy walks the street till it is sold, and then perhaps a tin bath is made; and if, luckily, from a chance customer he has obtained an extra price, a fiesta is proclaimed to the family connection, and maybe the additional luxury of buying a ticket in the lot- tery of the Virgin of Gua~alupe is indulged in, and a vow is made that if he wins a prize, one half of the profits of the stake shall be deposited as a gift at her shrine. In . f LOW STATE OF ' MECHANIC ARTS. 285 this way a week is passecl, and it is terminated with the entire exhaustion of the little fortune of the poor me- chanic. The kind~ed have had a time ; pulque ancl li- quor have been . passed around freely; the women · have enjoyed" equal rights" with the men; they have dmnk their full share, and smoked their little cigars. The tin- man, once more penniless, with an aching head, but with a light heart, returns to his little hammer, and a piece of solder and tin got on the pledge · of his future earnings. Such is the condition of native Mexican mechanics, and of the mechanic arts at the capital. The complicated machinery by which our shoes are made, or the equally complicated machinery by w11ich tin is worked up into culinary vessels, never entered into the dreams of a Mexican mechanic. No Mexican man of science ever thought of degrnding himself so low as to undertake the improvement of the mechanic arts ; yet it is astonishin ' g to see what Mexican mechanics ao accomplish with their imperfect means. I have often stopped to witness the success of a poor old man build- ing a piano, which was both skillfully arranged and well-toned, and yet the tools employed were apparently inadequate for such a purpose. In the same primitive style were coaches built before foreigners came and sub- stituted coaches of modern pattern instead of the old, egg- formed coach,..bodies of the vice-kingdom. It may seem like trifling to be dwelling , thus upon the character of the substratum of Mexican society, but it is from this very substratum that the wealth or poverty of a nation is to be traced. The sense of the dignity of labor is the foundation of American prosperity, while the degradation of the mechanics and laboring class of Mexicans is the cause of the national imbecility. Let us look . at the common people of Mexico from an- other point of view. I will i-eprodu~e in substan~e .the 286 MEXICO AND ITS RELIGION. tale of the old :M:eztizo woman, who opens and shuts , the great street door to all well-known inmates, by clay and by night, and to such others as can give satisfactory an- swers. She is esteemed a lucky woman because she has the use of a small room on the ground floor for her services, where she and a number of her relatives are often hived together. Her story is very likely not true in every particular, for it can not be denied that she, like all of her class, does not consider falsehood pe,· se as an:y other tha:r:i a venial sin. How should she, con- sidering the teaching she receives ?;* But the story is nevertheless, in the main, a pretty fair picture of the life of the humbler classes in republican - Mexico. She will tell you how her husba~d basely left her with ,, a family of children, and took to another woman, because they were not able to pay the priest to get legally mar- ried. Her eldest son was seized and taken to · the wars, where he was compelled to stand up to shoot and be shot at, to settle the question which of two sets of white men should enjoy · the right of plundering the people. Whether he should hereafter be discharged honorably, or run away, or be killed in battle, it was the same to her, for the man that recruited the soldiers would know that he had once been a soldier, and would be sure to seize him first when ordered to furnish recruits; and, let what will be the course of political events, he is certain- ly rost to her forever. Her eldest daughter had been a help to her. She ground corn for the tortillas, and could guard the house door while the old woman went to the public wash-house to wash a few shirts which · gentlemen had occasionally * I again quote tl1e Catechism from recollection. " Q. What is a venial sin ? "A. A lie that does not destroy charity among neighbors is a venial sin." I THE STORY OF THE FORTRESS. 287 intrusted to her care. But a chance shot in one of the street battles had hit her, and she too was gone. Her second son had stopped too long in front of the pulque- shop after his day's work was :finished, and was involved in-a street affray, in which knives were drawn, and a man killed. Whether he was the guilty one or not, it mat- tered little, as . he was the first to fall into the hands of the officers. For a long time he had been kept in the chain-gang, but lately he had been sent to the silver mines, where he would probably end his days carrying • ore on his back like a beast of burden, a thousand feet under ground. She had a second daughter, old enough to carry food to her son while he was in prison, and to lighten his misery by a daily visit while he belo . nged to · the chain- gang. But since he has been taken from the city, they two are left alone in the world. She has now no money, or she would get her daughter married, as the priest would trust her if she would only pay a small part of the fee. Still she is considered fortunate ; for, having the reputation of an honest women, she has got a por- tress's situation, and little means are _ thrown in her way by which she obtains a comfortable . living. But her relatives, who are poorer than herself, sympathize with her, and come and eat up her tortillas. Such is the substance of many a tale of misery, if you will stop and listen to the pictures which the lowly draw of their condition in any of the Mexican cities. Often they are fabricated, but very often they are true. The old woman who tells you a tale to excite your sympa- thies has perhaps only borrowed a tale of misfortune which she has heard her neighbor tell. Those who rn- proach these poor unfortunates with being beggars, thieves, and liars, forget that they have been made such by oppression. The greatest amount of suffering caused 288 MEXICO AND ITS RELIGIO " . by the civil wars falls upon the poor ; and among the suffering poor, the women are the greatest sufferers : If they are more intemperate than the men, it is their mis- fortunes, too often, that have driven them to seek a tem- porary solac~ in pulque. The slight hold they have on their husbands is the cause of their jealousy, and if they take part in bloody affrays, it is because they are under the influence of intoxication, and not from any inherent inclination to cruelty. Never did a ·white skin cover a kinder heart than that of the poor :M:eztizo women of Spanish America. Their primitive hut by the wayside is as much at your service as yom· own castle, and you are heartily welcome to their humble fare. I never was so unfortunate as to need their assistance, but I have often been astonished at the ready charity of the poor to tho s e poorer than them- selves. I once encountei-ed an Irishman who had begged his way from the Gulf coast almost to the Pacific, and I was greatly surprised at the cheerfulness with which a poor widow woman, keeper of a v e nta, accepted of a blessing instead of more tangible coin for a night s en- tertainment. In delicate health always, and not with- out a foll share of experience among strangel'S, I know full well how to appreciate the kind offices which a wom- an only can render. ,iVhen death stared me in the face, and she could do nothing for a perishing heretic except to solicit a passing procession to chant a 1nise1·ic01·dia pm· un ?.°nflrnio Americana, that kindly office w:as not wanting. vVhen, with returning health, I ventured out into the street, leaning upon a staff, a poor Indian wom- an, forgetting her native shyness, begged me to sit down under the shade of her roof while she prepared for me a little orange-water, and when, a little refreshed by her orange-vvater, I tottered bn, I shall never forget the look of sympathy which she bestowed upon an unknown WOM.AN 1 s RIGHTS A'r l\:lEXICO. 289 stranger. An Indian woman is always kind, but the kindest of her race · is the poor despised Indian woman of Spanish America. It is too common to look down coldly, and not unfre- qnently with contempt, upon those who occupy the hu:gi- bler walks of life, and to speak only of their vices. The peon has his · vices, and they are glaring enough, but he is certainly not worse than his white neighbor. I had been so long in California, and had seen so many exhi- bitions of courage in street-fights and personal encoun- ters, that I had come almost to consider the words white man and brave man as synonymous. But when I found myself in Mexico at the breaking out of a civil war, I soon learned that white men are not always brave, and that_ they were superior to the Indian in little else ex- cept in the gilding with which they covered their ·vicious and corrnpt lives. They bonow their customs from Paris and their st -le of living, but their morals ai·e even below the · Paris standm·d of virtue. The law, ·which sinks the ciYil existence of the wife in the husband, and which charges the husband with lia- bility for the debts and trespasses of the wife, is som~- times stigmatized as harsh, unnatural, and ' tyrannical. If those that consider it so could for a little while enjoy the matrimonial freedom of Mexico, they would so.on discover abundant reason for praising the wisdom of our ancestors in hedging about with so many disabilities an institution whicl1 is both the safeguard of public mo- rality and of our free goyernment. Family goven1ment, self-government, and political freedom dwell together; while despotism and family license are inseparable. At 1exico, old family relations are not broken up by new man-iages. Household family worship is unknown, but, like so many pagans, each one trudg__es off to say her prayers separately, and at a favorite shrine. The wife N 290 .MEXICO .AND ITS RELIGION. has her separate property and interests, which she man- ages with the aid of her " next friend." The husband, too, has his separate interests, and too often his "next friend 1 ' is his neighbor's wife. After my return from Mexico, I heard a woman in a public assembly advocating, as social reforms, the insti- tutions of a country in a state of moral and political de- composition. I felt like exclaiming, " Cursed be that woman who would introduce into our happy country the social customs of paganism; and cursed be that people who listen to her infidelity!" l\'Iay a like evil fall upon those legislative tinkers who have deprived the husband of the power of creating a trust for the protection and support of his wife in time of necessity. We have examined sufficiently the social condition of Mexico to show that there is no natural sympathy be- tween the whites and the colored races, or the governing and governed races of Mexico. For a brief period, indeed, Guerrero, a man of Indian descent; occupied the presidency ; but he was deposed and murdered, and the government has ever since been in the hands of the whites. The present Pinto war in the southwest looks . toward again reviving the Indian rule. It is carried on too languidly to pi-omise success, as there seems to be no one in the movement possessed of the enei-gy of that Indian drummer, Carrera, who usurped the supreme pow- er in Guatemala. On the other hand, Mexico is like a ripe pear, ready to fall into the lap of any unscrupulous ad venturer who chooses to make common plunder of its ~hurches, its church jewels, and the inordinate private fortunes of its priesthood and nobility. There is a. rising cloud that is gathering blackness in the northwest, and must sooner or later precipitate itself, and with the force of a tempest sweep away-to use the words of General Tornel-in one mighty flood " the re- ligion, language, and national existence of the Me::xi- MOUMONISM AND MOHAMMEDANISM. 291 ca , ns." This is Mormonism. I have watched this de- lusion from its rise, near my own residence in Western New York, and followed its advancing progress, until, from a little rill, it has become a mighty tonent-a polit- ical element so potent that its existence in the United States is now scarcely tolerable. Where can it go ex- cept it precipitate itself upon the territories of imbecile Mexico ? To such a sect of fanatics Mexico can present no opposition. It must surrender to Brigham Young and to his followers their wealth, their images, their wives and their daughters, as the .Aztecs surrendered all to Cortez. I have often traced the close analogy between the rise of formonism and that of Mohammedanism, as well as th~ striking similarity that exists , between these two systems of false religion. Each one is founded, after a fashion, on the Bible, to which each has supplemented a volume of miserable fables, the one called the Book of Moxmon, and the other the Koran. Each has a spuri- ous prophet, who is exalted above the prophets of Scrip- turn. Both systems permit polygamy, and both are most ultra-Protestant in relation to the forms and ceremonies, images and pictures of the Oriental and Latin churches • .And as God sent the great Mohammedan imposture to punish the corrupt Christianity of _ a former age, so in like manner He may soon commission :Mormonism to wipe out of existence the corrupt Christianity of Mexico. Mormonism has not yet developed a military character; because it would be madness to raise an arm against the United States. But when it shall have once passed the frontier and entered the dominions of a feeble state, then we shall see how keen an edge fanaticism ean give to the sword in the hands of men natmally comageous, when the double motive is held out of a new supply of wives, and the inexhaustible treasmes of the churches to stimulate their fanaticism. .CHAPTER XXVI. The Plaza of the Inquisition.-The two Modes of human Sacrifice, the Aztec and the Spanish. - Threefold Power of the Inquisition.-Visit to the House of the Inquisitii;m. - The Prison and Place of Torture. -The Story of William Lamport.-The little and the big Auto da Fe.-The Inquisition the real Goverment.-Ruin of Spanish Nation- ality.-The political Uses of the Inquisition.-Political Causes of the Bigotry of Philip II.-His eldest Son dies mysteriously.-The Dominion of Priests continues till the French Invasion. THE Plazuelo or Plazuelito, the "Little Plaza" of the Inquisition, is now, as it ever has been, a market-place -the Smithfield ofMexico. On Sundays and all other market-days, theTe is here an abundant supply of flow- ers, meats, and vegetables. On great holidays, in the times of the vice-kings, the scene was changed. Fruits and vegetables were, for the time, placed in the back- ground, and · an act of" faith" ( auto da fe), or burning of heretics, was offeTed as a public spectacle. The grand- est of all the bull-fights of Mexico was nothing in com- parison with this vice-regal exhibition. As among the - Aztecs and the pagan Romans, the sacrificial victims were kept in reserve for important occasions, and for oc- casions when a bull-fight would have been a most inad- equate exhibition. The consecration of a new archbish- op, or the arrival of a new Vice-king from Spain, or the marriage of a member of the royal family, or some sim- ilar important political or religious event, could only call forth this extraordinary show of roasting men alive. If we are to believe the statements of Cortez and Ber- nal Diaz,* the Aztecs were accustom~d to offer human * The defense of the invasion of Mexico by Cortez in time of peace, and reducing the Aztecs to slavery, rests on the ground that the Aztecs were monsters. AN .AUTO DA FE. 293 sacrifices on festival days upon a large circular stone still preserved. ..With an obsidian knife, life was instantly extinguished by opening the heart-case and taking out the heart, which was offered to their god of war. This horrid worship, if indeed 1t ever existed, was suppi-essed, and one more horrid a~cl cold - blooded in its · atrocities substituted. There was seldom wanting a victim on those great occasions, for prisoners who would otherwise have been let off with confiscation of estates and a long imprisonment were now doomed to the flames, to accom - plish the double purpose of a spectacle and strike terror into the ranks of the higher classes, who too often fur- ~ nished the victims. But the higher classes were all pres - ent. Suspicion might attach to their absence. And he that dared not breathe aloud in his own bed-chamber, or tell the whole truth at the confessional, from apprehen- sion of an inquisitorial spy, took good heed that no act or look of his on the day of the great :fiesta should be- t1·ay him to this secret, but every where present tribunal, lest he himself should be the sacrificial victim at the next entertainm~nt. The roasting of a human victim at the auto da fe )Vas a pmely democratic institution. The l e _pm·os, who wei-e beneath the jmisdiction of the Inquisition, felt none of the terrors that haunted the rich even in night visions. \iVithout the least apprehension, they enjoyed the mag- nificence of the spectacle, and their hatred toward the high-born was gratified by the sight of one, and some - times many, respectable persons burned in the £re for their entertainment. They were always ready to mani- fest their gratitude to the holy office by assailing and perhaps murdering any one who had incurrred the dis- pleasure of the priests, but whom it was not p · olitic to a1Test. Thus, by a threefold power, did the Inquisition 294 MEXICO A.ND ITS RELIGION. enforce the discipline of the Church: by the authoTity of the king and the law, the dread which it inspired; the sympathies of a ra.bble, whom it was their internst to keep brutalized; and the religious sentiment of the na- tion, so far as there was any. But this last was a very uncertain i-eliance, for the same law which makes heresy a crime, legalizes hypocrisy, and the inquisitor cared very little for the thoughts of men so long as they re- main unuttered; and as no two men think alike, the crime of heresy appears to consist in expressing too frankly the logical deductions of the unders tan ding upon the all-important subject of religion. To speak disre- spectfully · of the holy office, the Inquisition, was the worst of heresy. The north front of the Plazuelo of the Inquisition, now generally called the Plaza of the Dominicans, is oc- cupied by the great yard of the Dominican convent, which is separated by a high wall from the Plaza, and by a street from the buildings of the Inquisition. With- in this yard there is a large :flagstone, with a hole in its centre, which stone, on days of the auto da fe, used to be brought out into the Plaza, and, with iron post, neck- ring, and chain attached, constituted the simple appara- tus for the human sacrifice. The Dominican fathers have carefully laid aside the iron post, with its ring and chain, a:t.1d perhaps, with them, the most valuable of the instruments of tortme, which were removed from the In- quisition building. As there are two classes of bull- fights, the ordinary and the grand bull-fight, so there was the ordinary auto da fe, performed in this Little Pla.za, and the grand act of faith, auto da fe general, which ordinarily ought to come off in the Grand Plaza of the city, in front of the vice-regal palace. . Seeing the great door open as I was passing, I ven- tured to enter the central court of the Inquisition, from THE HALLS OF THE INQUISITION. .295 which the halls of the different tribunals and the cham - bers of the inquisitors and officials were entered and lighted. All had now been thoroughly whitewashed anc1 - renovated, and bore no marks of the fearful scenes that had been here enacted. vVhen I stood in the hall where its judgments used to be delivered, I had to tax my memory of l;>ooks to draw a picture of events that here daily transpired in times past. I saw no Bridge of Sighs, yet the whole institution was f~undecl upon the sighs, and groans, and riven hearts of its victims, of many of whom the world was not worthy . The rich were the most profitable game, but a beautiful woman was the most acceptable spectacle to a populace debased from infancy by attendance on bull - fights. A foreigner that had been by special grace licensed to vi s it Mexico, was considered a fortunate prize, for to offer. a foreigner as a human sacrifice was in accordance with the ancient cus - tom of the Aztecs. There was only one foreigner who amassed great wealth, and that was Laborde the miner, who bought his peace by building the Cathedral of To - luca. There was nothing to interest a stranger in the empty halls where once these legalized murdernrs had held their nightly meetings, and I wandered away toward the prison and the place of torture, where, inch by inch, the life had been tom from the victims of priestly vengeance . I shuddered as I entered the prison door - way, though fifty yearn had passed since the last and most distin - guished of its victims had entered here, the Vice - king Iturriga1·ay . Here, too, the hand of the white - washer had been busy, and the cells were now made comfort - able rooms for the soldie r y. The instmments of tor - ture were all carefully removed from the place of tortme, and the room bore no marks of the shocking scenes which had here s o often · transpired. Hew p o or Rame, the 296 MEXICO .AND ITS RELIGION, Frenchman, had dragged out his long imprisonment, and here William Lamport, the unfortunate Irish victim, pre- p a red himself for death. But Lamport's story is worth giving in full, to illustrate the scenes. ·vVilliam Lamport was an Irishman by birth, and must have been a Roman Catholic, or he could not have obtained a license to visit Mexico. He ,yas probably one of that large class of Irish Catholics who emigrated to Spain · in order to enjoy their religion more freely tha,_n they could at home, under English oppression. It was probably two intercepted letters that cost this Irishman his life. His accusation sets forth that he was the au- thor of two writings, in one of which '' things were said against the Holy Office, its erection, style, mode of pro- cess, &c., in such a manner tha.t, in the whole of it, not a word was to be found that was not deserving of rep- rehension, not only as being injurious, but also insulting to our holy Catholic faith." The Prosecuting Attorney (fiscal) says of the other writing '' that it contained de- testable bitterness of language, aml contumelies so filled with poison as to manifest the heretical spirit of the au- thor, and his bitter hatred against the Holy Office." Let his fate be a warning to a11 traveling letter-writers who are disposed to criticise too severely "the erection and style" of a very awkward-looking building, and the mode of process therein used in condemnu1g men to the flames. Probably, before he got through with his intercourse with · the Inquisition; he many times wished himself back un- der the liberal government of the Anglo-Saxon oppress- ors of his country ! It was a delightful day in the year 1569, when the most splendid ctiito da Je that ever took place in Mexico was celebrated upon the occasion of the burning of Lamport. A throne had been placed for the vice-king, and con s pic- uous seats were prepared for the audieneia. All the offi.- STORY OF :WILLIAM LAMPORT. 297 cials of the city and of the department were P,resent to add importance to the grand performance ( "funcion"). Not less brilliant was the display which the whole body of the priesthood made upon the occasion. The Arch- bishop, a& spiritual Vice-king, displayed a bearing that dazzled the populace, while his attendant clergy, with the whole body of the monastic orders, added immensely to the grand spectacle. The procession, headed by the Grand Inquisitor and his subordinates, was followed by the officials and familiars, while the poor Ir-ishman walked with his eyes raised to Heaven, for the purpose, said the priests, "of seeing if the devil, his familiar, would come to his assistance."* The sermon and the ordinary exercises, including the oath administered to all the dignitaries p_resent to support the Holy Office, were spun out to an unusual length, so that it prnved t~ be a protracted meet- ing, as well as the greatest festival the Mexicans ever witnessed since the time that fontezuma offered human sacrifices. But in the midst of the preliminary exercises Lamport escaped bmning alive, for when his neck had been placed in the 1-ing, he let himself fall and brnke his neck, so that the crowd were compelled indignantly to put up with burning of the dead body of a heretic. The unbeliever cheated them out of half their expected sport. It may look like wandering from the main topic of discussion to devote a chapter to an institution which has ceased to exist for forty years. But no one can fully comprehend the social and political character of the di- verse and conflicting nationalities and discordant ele- ments that for three hundred years constituted the Span- ish empire without fully understanding the character and workings of the Inquisition, which, from "the Coun- ci~ of the Supreme" in Spain, extended, with its compli- * Though I do not entirely follow Pinblanch, yet I give him as au- thority for this incident. N2 · 298 MEXICO AND ITS RELIGION. cated ramifications, through all the _ provinces, and pene- trated every social organization in Europe and America,* ,, and even to the most distant East India possessions, bind- .ing all the several parts together as the nervous system does the parts of the human body; or rather by external * Mr. Gayarre, who, under a commission from the State of Louisiana, is examining the colonial reco1·ds at Madrid, has discovered the evi- dence of an attempt made to introduce the Inquisition into New Orleans eve~ after our people had begun to settle there. This is his statement: "It appears," says Gayarre, "that soon after the death of Charles ID., an attempt was made to introduce the much-dreaded tribunal of the Inquisition into the colony. The reverend Capuchin, Antonio de Sedella, who had lately arrived in the province, wrote to the Governor to inform him that he, the holy father, had been appointed Commissary of the Inquisition ; that in a letter of the 5th of December last, from the proper authority, this intelligence had been communicated to him, and that he had been requested to discharge his functions with the most exact fidelity and zeal, and in comformity with the royal will. Wherefore, after having made his investigations ,vith the utmost secre- sy and precaution, he notified Miro that, in order to carry, as he was commanded, his instructions into perfect execution in all their parts, he might soon, at some late hour of the night, deem it necessary to re- quire some guards to assist him in his operations. "Not many hours had elapsed since the reception of this communi- cation by - the Governor, when night came, and the representative of the holy Inquisition was quietly reposing in bed, when he was roused from his sleep by a heavy knocking. He st:u·ted up, and, opening his door, saw standing befoxe him an officer and a file of grenadiers. Thinking that they had come to . obey his commands, in consequence of his letter to the Governor, he said, 'My friends, I thank you and his Excellency for the readiness of this compliance with my request. But I have now no use for your services, and you shall be warned in time when you are wanted. Retire, then, with the blessing of God.' Great was the stu- pefaction of the friar when he was told that he was under arrest. ' What !' exclaimed he, 'will . you dare lay your hands on a Commissary of the holy Inquisition?' 'I dare obey orders,' replied the undaunted officer, and the reverend Father Antonio de Sedella was instantly car- ried on board of a vessel, which sailed the next day for Cadiz. " Rendering an account of this incident to one of the members of the cabip.et of Madrid, Governor l\firo said, in a dispatch, 'the mere name of the Inquisition uttered in New Orleans would be sufficient not only to check immigration, which is successfully progressing, but would also be capable of driving away those who have recently come, and I eYen fear that in spite of my having sent out of the country Father Sedella, the most fatal consequences may ensue from the mere suspicion of the cause of his dismissal.'" ""' THE INQUISITION IN SPAIN. 299 folds, as the anaconda does its victim. The Inquisition was emphatically the nervous system of the Spanish monarchy. Frnm the time of Philip II. to the last of her king~, Spain had but one monarch that could have escaped a lunatic asylum on a commission ad inquiTenclo, and not a single royal family in all that time that had not at least one judicially declared idiot in the house- hold; and more than once it was the regular successor to the thxone. And yet this ingeniously conti-ived craft of priests held all most firmly together, and made it capa- ble of resisting every outside pressure until the French imperial a1-mies entered Madrid. When French gunpowder was applied to the Holy Of- fice, the Spanish empire lost its nationality, and its dif- ferent parts fell to pieces like a rnpe of sand, and reveal- ed to the world the sad truth that the Spanish race, whether in the Peninsula or in the colonies, was now in- capable of self-government. 'The Inquisition had con- sumed its powers of vitality. So long accustomed to submit to and lean upon despotic authoritj, its vaJ.fous nationalities had lost the power of self-support. Spain, from the earliest historical periods, had ever been . the victim of foreign colonial despotisms or imported - ty- rants until Philip II., under whom the Inquisition be- coming £rmly established, it thenceforward continued a Catholic province of the Roman Chmch, until Rome and the Papal Spanish empire fell together by the hands of Napoleon. From that time onward, Spain and all her former provinces have continued the sport of military in- surgents-a melancholy evidence of the mental, physi- cal, and moral ruin that overtakes a country abandoned to the despotism of priests. Though the origin of the Inquisition of Spain is fa- miliar to all, yet few are accustomed to look upon it in its political bearings. The " pious" Isabella, or, as she 300 MEXIOO A.ND ITS RELIGION. is called by the descendants of the Moris~oes, "Isabella the Accursed," is conceded to have been the founder of the modem Inquisition, and yet her great piety did not prevent her from giving a death-blow to the Fuero of Cas- tile, the most liberal government of Europe except that of Ai-agon. The popularity which she acquired by the conquest of Granada, the religious furor excited by that · ' successful · war, and the union with Aragon, enabled her to establish the Inquisition. ]3y means of her priests as- . sociated in its gloomy tribunals she 1vas able to suppi-ess popular rights. A shadow of the Fueros of Catalonia, Valencia, and Aragon still remained, but she had sapped the foundation on which they rested by the establish- ment of the Holy Office. Charles V. was sufficiently pow- erful to dis1·ega.J.·d such humble instmmentalities in car- rying out any purpose he deemed to be of advantage to his states. He was not a bigot by education, and we have to look to disappointed ambition as the cause of the virulence with ·which he persecuted the least indica- tion of heresy. He had been thwarted in his ambitious schemes ; this he attributed to the Reformation, whjch he himself had fostered at its beginning, in order to sow discord among the princes of Germany. He had hoped that upon thefr mutual jealousy he might establish des- potic authority; but the treason of Maurice of Saxony had subverted his darling scheme at the moment of its appa1·ent success, and in disgust he retired from public life to spend the remainder of his days in recruiting his health and cursing the heretics. The Inquisition burned with renewed flames under Philip II. from precisely the same cause that had made it toleraHe to his fathex. To the troubles caused by · the Reformation he attributed the election of his uncle Maximilian '- King of the Romans," and l1is own conse- qu.ent loss of the Germanic empire. But, as a compen- ' PHILIP II. AND THE INQUISITION. 301 sation for this loss, he had substantially acquired En- gland by his marriage with Queen Mary, and had the sat- isfaction of having his soldiers mingled with thos~ of En- gland in his war against France, and of seeing his own Archbishop of Toledo preside in the tribunal that con- demned to the flames the Protestant bishops of England. The autos da fe of Smithfield were weeding out heresy and liberty from England, which he already began to look upon as a province of his empfre, when his wife died, and the avowed heresy of Elizabeth blasted his hopes in that quarter. The heretic Prince of Nassau had raised insurrection in the Netherlands, which de- prived him of Holland. When the French Catholic League, ,vhich he had so long subsidized, was about to d~clare him, or at least his daughter, sovereign of France, the relapsed heretic, Hemy IV., blasted this hope by lay- ing siege to Pai-is. On the side of the Catholic states of Europe his affaiTs went on most prosperously. He had acquired Portugal, with all her American and East India pTOvinces. But in these new acquisitions he was not safe from the assaults of the heretics. The Dutch robbed him of Brazil, and of the Cape of Good Hqpe, and of the islands of Ceylon and Java in the East In- dies. When his missionary emissaries had excited an insurrection by which he might have acquired Japan in a religious waT, the Dutch were there . with their ships, and, laying them alongside the rebel camp, they cannon- aded it, while the imperial army on the land side utterly destroyed together emissary priests and rebels, and for- ever excluded Spain and her emissaries from the isl- ands, and even England after the negotiation of a Span- ish maniage. Nor wei-e his ti-easm·e-ships safe from t h ese audacious Dutch, who prowled about the vV est In- dies and seized his galleons. The ships from Goa, laden with the treasures of the East, had to take a circuitous 302 MEXICO AND ITS RELIGION. route to avoid the Dutch, who were continually on the look-out at the Cape of Good Hope. As if this was not enough, the failUl'e of his great armada sent against En- gland, and the ravaging of his own coasts by Essex, in- creased his hatred against the heretics to something like a mania. These are sufficient reasons for accounting for the zeal of Philip II. on the subject of religion, and his blindness to the consequences of thus abandoning his empire and his people as common plunder to a merciless horde of plunderers, who bound his empire most firmly together, but it was in the bands of national ruin. This, too, ma y account for his often-repeated remark that he would n ot shield his own son if he should incur the censure of t he Inquisition. When his eldest son and heir ope nly avowed his hati-ed to the Inqui s ition, we find him d ying a mysterious death. It has already been r e marked t ha t there can be no such thing as reliance upon historic a l truth in a country where the Inquisition is in full author- ity. But it does not follow from this that we ought to adopt ~ the popular surmise that Philip was privy to the murder of his son, or even that he was actually murdered. It may have been a murder, as the inquisitorial assassins were numerous, or it may have been a na t ural dea t h, as represented in books that have been published by per- mission of the censors. All that we know is, that his death happened advantageously for the continuance of . the Holy Office. Philip III. can hardly be considered an accountable being. The same may be said of his son and of his son's sons, to say nothing of those heirs to the Spani s h crown that were legally adjudged idiots. The nomin a l father of Charles III., though he ~as King of Spain, must be considered as not merely bordering on idiocy, but as actually a man of unsound mind. Charles III., though F.A.TE OF THE INQUISITION. 303 he had courage to drive from his dominions the Jesuits, dared not undertake a reform of the clergy. "V\T e may conclude this chapter by saying that the Inquisition had its origin in political considerations, or in th.e revenge- ful feelings of really great sovereigns of Spain, and that , its continuance was mving to the weakness or impotency of their successors ; and though it was the tenor of all classes above the street rabble, it was too powerful to be suppressed before the emancipation of the people which followed the French invasion. Such is the fate of a race over whom priests have once acquirnd dominion. CH.APTER XX.VII. l\f.iracles and Earthquakes. - The Saints in Times of Ignorance. - The Eruption of Jorullo. - The Curse of the Capuchins . -The Conse- quences of the Curse. - The unfulfilled Curse.-The Population of the Republic . -Depopulation from 1810 to 1840.-The 1\fixture of "\Vhites and Indians not prolific. - The pure Indians . -The Mez - tizos . - The ,:vhite Population.-Negroes and Zambos.-The Jew and the Law of Generation.-The same Law applies to Cattle . - It governs the Generation of Plants.-Intemperance and Generation. - Meztizo Plants short - lived.-l\i1exico can not be resuscitated. - She can not recover her N ortbern Provinces. EARTHQUAKES are, and ever have been, very frequent through the whole of Mexico . Yet they have never been very severn, particulaTly at the city, as is demonstrated by the very existence of a city upon such a mass of soft earth as I have shown in a former chapter constitutes the foundation of Mexico. A. reasonable amount of hard shaking would dislocate its muddy basis and engulf the city . Now and then some unusually frail structure is topp l ed down, and the church steeples -are swayed a lit- tle this way or that, but the cement that sustains them has heretofore proved sufficiently cohesive to save them from being shaken to pieces or tum bled down.* Some te n years ago, the convent church, in which was the mi- ra c ulous imag~ of oux SaviouT, was thrown down, and the image that had annually poured forth its precious blood fo1· the healing of the spfritual and temporal maladies of * An attempt was made to explain away the story of' Cortez getting drowned out at Iztapalapan, a point above the leYel of the city of Mex- ico, by suggesting that perhaps an earthquake may baYe changed the face of the valley. But, unfortunately, Iztapalapan was the southern SG.pport of the old Ind i an levee (calzado), built to keep the water off of the city of Mexico in seasons of heavy rains. IGNORANCE .A D !l:ITRACLES. 305 all pious believers was buried under the ruins. But , this calamity was only a precursor of a greater miracle; for, on removing the rubbish, the sacred image was found intact, and as i-eady as ever to bleed again to order for ready pay. The spiritual interpretation of this astound- ing phenomenon was, that the devil, in his malice, had attempted, as of old, to crush the miraculous power of the Saviour; and now, again, as upon the high mountain, he was foiled, a.nd the How of blood was not intermitted. Miracles have ever been the most fruitful source of profit that the Chuxch enjoys, for at the annunciation of every new miracle the faithful am quickened to devotion and to contributions, which, above all things, is to be de- sired by the "impoverished Church" of Mexico.* .A.n eaJ.-thquake is always a windfall or a godsend to the priest- hood. .A.n outsider is often surprised at the number of miracles that, in old times, were connected with earth- quakes. But rnrely do we l1ear of modern miracles. The spii-it of miracles works only in times of most pro- found ignorance ; and experience has convinced the Church that- the only prospect of the continuation of mi- raculous visitations of the holy .Apostles and of the Vir - gin in Mexico, depends upon the continuation of the p~o- ple in the most profound ignorance, and in childlike obedience to their spiritual superiors. So long as this state of things continued, the holy Virgin was ever pres- ent among them, performing the most astounding cures, and even, upon one occasion, causing the ground to open and swallow up the surplus waters of the valley, to the relief of the "most devout people of Mexico," besides per- formn)g other astounding miracles, that have been duly attested by Pope, prelates, and the Council of Rites. * Though the richest ecclesiastical quasi-corporation in the world, your ears are constantly saluted with solicitations for contributions to the impoverished Church. 306 MEXICO AND - ITS RELIGION. But now, since the education of the common people has been attempted, although on a very limited scale, and men are allowed to speak openly, the most holy Virgin of Guadalupe has withdrawn her wonder-working power from an unbelieving people, while the blind, the halt, the Jame, the palsied, and the diseased crowd around her shrine, not to obtain her healing mercy, but to solicit charity. The saints, also, have ceased to stir up the elements, so that volcanic fires have ceased throughout the whole limits of the r ep ublic~ and earthquakes have almost forgotten to perform their annual duty of shaking the earth. The last volcanic eruption in Mexico was one of the most astounding of which the rncord has come down to us, whether in :Mexico or in any other country. Fortu- nately, we have reliable evidence in relation to this event, for Humboldt not only surveyed the volcano as it ap- peared in his day, but, from eye - witnesses of the fir s t eruption, learned the incidents that fill out the histor y, and also the miraculous cause which is assigned for this mighty convulsion of nature. His story I shall follow in preference to the popular tradition of the awful conse- quences that succeeded the curse pronounced by two Capuchin friars upon the estate of J orullo. Just one hundred years ago, which was fifty years be- fore the time of the visit of Humboldt, two Capuchin friars came to preach at the estate which occupied the beautiful valley of J orullo. This valley was situated between two basaltic ridges, and was watered by two small streams of limpid water, the San Pedro and the Cuitamba. These small parallel rivers furnished an a . bundant supply of water, which was well employed in irrigating flourishing sugai- and indigo plantation s . These Capuchins, not having met with a favora1Jle r ecep - tion at the estate of San Pedro, p01ued out the most hor- / ERUPTION OF JORULLO. 307 rible imprecations against the beautiful and _ fertile plains, foretelling that, as the first consequences of their curse, the plantation would be swallowed up by flames rising out of the earth, and that afterward the neighboring mountains would forever remain covered with snow and ice. .After denouncing the curse, the two holy men went on their way. On the night of the 28th a.nd 29th of September, 17 59, horrible subterraneous noises were heard, which had been preceded by slight shocks of an earthquake since the June preceding. The affrighted Indians fled to the .Aquasareo, and soon thereafter a tract of land twelve miles square, which now goes by the name of the "evil land" (m a l _pais), rose up in the fo1-m of a bladder, and boiled, and seethed, and bubbled like a caldron of pud- ding, shooting up columns of :fire from ten thousand ori- fices. Sometimes a number of orifices would unite into one vast crater, and vomit forth such a column of fire as was never before seen by human eyes since the time when "the smoke of the countJ:y went up as the smoke of a furnace." Intelligent witnesses assured Humboldt that flames were seen to issue forth, which, from a surface of more than a mile square, cast up fragments of b~ng rock to a pwdigious height. The two small rivers were swallowed up, and their decomposed waters added fuel to the flames, which burned for many months with a :fierceness that is indescribable. Such is the origin of the volcano of J orullo, in the State of Michoican, and such is the pretended consequence of a curse pronounced by Capuchin monks upon one of the most beautiful estates in the country ; a.nd for gen - erations since, the dread of incurring the displeasure of strolling vagabond monks has rested like a blight upon the common people ; and yet this is but one of the 308 MEXICO AND ITS RELIGION. thousand ways by which the Mexican priesthood play upon the credulity of the ignorant in a country where convulsions of nature are matters of almost ordinary oc- currence. Every extraordinary event in nature is as- cribed to the exercise of supernatural power on the part of the clergy or the most holy images of the Church. · The fires of Jorullo have ceased to burn for half a cen- tury. The central crater that was eventually formed, and the numerous little orifices of fire, have long since become cold, and all the evidences of an active fire have passed away. But to this day the Indians watch the progress of th~ coolilJg process; as they anticipate that, before many years have passed, the unfulfilled portion of the curse will be realized, and that those' now live who • will see the surrounding mountains covered by perpet- ual snorv-an evil which the haif-clad Indians of the tropics appear to drnad more than perpetual fire. The last and only enumeration of the inhabitants of :Mexico or New Spain was made in 1794, by that dis- tinguished Vice-king to whom I have so often referred, Ravillagigedo. _ This enumeration gave as the actual population 3,865,529, besides the departments of Vera Cruz, Guanajuato, and Cohahuila, which were estimated to contain518,000more, making a sum total of 4,412,529. Since that time there has been a great deal of extensive guessing, until by this simple process the population was brought up to 7,661,520, in 1853.* The process by which this increase is effected is to add one sixth for supposed omissions in the census, and a like number for suppqsed increase in the subseg_uent fifteen years till the breaking out of war, and taking for granted that the population has not retrograded during forty-five years of intermittent war. Such conclusions are made in vio- lation of all the laws o{ population. * Collec<ion de Leyes, p. 184. POPULATION OF MEXICO. 309 It may not be uninteresting to my 1·eaders to run over the laws which regulate the decrease of population, al- though it is too much our custom to look only at the other side of the picture. The ~ocial and civil wars of J\foxico have been of such a character, as we have seen, as to warrant the belief that from this cause alone popu- lation must have constantly diminished, from their very commence~ent in 1 8 10 until 1840, when matters were comparatively i-esuscitated. 'The employment for labor during the · time that the large estates were neglected, and while the canals of irrigation and the silver mines were in ruins, was of the most limited cha1·acter ; and the very indigent circumstances to which it reduced the majority of tho s e who rnnked above the l e p e ros must also have diminished the population of the republic much below that of the vice-kingdom under Ravillagigedo. Since 1840, notwithstanding the frequent wars, Mex- ico, in favored localities, may have slightly increased in _ po p ul a tion; but ~his increase is more than balanced by the I nclia n wars of the northern depaiiments, which have depopulated large tracts of country, sometimes extend- ing across one tier of states even into the heart of Du- xango and Guanajuato ; so that I hazard nothing in af- firming that the population of the whole country must be less to-day than it was in 1794, notwithstanding that Humboldt sets down an estimate of 5,800,000 for · the year 1 8 03, and 6,500,000 for the year 1808. I might go farther, and affirm that the constant insecurity of life and property in all but the centxal parts of the republic is such as to keep down the natural increase of a popu- lation never prolific, being made up of a combination of uncongenial races-whites and Indians, whose intermix- ture leads to sterility. 1 The census shows two fifths of the population to be pure Indians, mostly labore,:s: .this _ class would have 310 MEXICO AND ITS RELIGION. been the ~me most likely to have increased since the Rev- olution, had there remained the same amount of employ- ment and wages as formerly. In consequence of the ab- olition of monopolies, the articles necessary for the com- forts of life became much cheaper and morn easy of at- tainment to the laboring classes, which would tend to in- crease the number of this class. These Indians, more- over, _ had remained to a great extent free from the dele- terious intermixture of white blood. But the pure In- dian, compared with the pure Caucasian, is a race, under the most favorable circumsta1ices,. of slow increase. The diseases hereditary among the Indians are aggravated by promiscuous marriages, so that in California the mission- aries used to inquire diligently after a man's family con- nections, and compel a convert to marry into his own clan, or not marry at all. The Meztizos, or mixed races, constitute another two :fifths of the _ population. This is a less vigorous race _ than the pure Indian. They are all' the children of sin, mostly the offspring of illicit intercourse, and am for this cause a feebler race than the offspring of the same mix- ture_ where the man was only blessed with a single wife . ..As all marriage of whites with Indians in New Spain was unlawful, these Meztizos bore the same relation to the law in New Spain which the mulattoes do in our Southern States. · The whites were set down at one million, or about one fifth of the whole population, at the most prosperous pe- 1-iod of the vice-kingdom. I doubt if they now amount to half or even a quarter of that number, and of this pop- ulation there is a very vigorous French immigration, now amounting to five or six thousand, and about as many Germans, a handful of English, and still less Americans. The native white population does not possess the physi- cal energy requisite for rapid increase. They form no RACES IN MEXICO. 311 portion of the laboring people; they live in effeminacy, and their children are not nursed at the healthy breasts of athletic negresses, as are the children of our Southern planters, but are suckled by a more enervated race than themselves, viz., the :M:eztizos. The emigration from Spain was never an ~migration of laboring men. It con- sisted almost entirely of priests, stewards, clerks, and taskmasters, to whom labor was considered as degrading. When foe Spaniards lost a !11onopoly of these employ.; ments, and sank to the level of the native races, their mnn- bers rapidly declined. The slight foreign immigration above mentioned is riot one of laborers, for labor is con- sidered an unbecoming employment at Mexico for white men, but an immigration of tradesmen and shop-keepers, who add nothing to the material wealth of the country. Of the :Mexican Negro race I.never knew but two, and one of them held the post of captain in the army, and the other was the naked alcalde, mentioned in a for- mer chapter, who was discharging the functions of" Judge of Firnt fostance." The reasons assigned for the disap- pearance of this race from Mexico after so large an im- portation of slav.:es as that which took place in the last centmy is the incongeniality of the climate of Mexico, particularly of the table-lands, to the negro constitution. At the breaking out of the Mexican revolution, almost the only negro slaves in the country were in the depart- ment of Vera Cruz. The sugar-planters of the hot coun- try of the interior, finding it impossible to carry on their estates by the use of negw slaves, attempted to reduce the mortality among their working people by raising up a race of those disgusting-looking beings called Zam bos, a cross of negroes and Indians; but it was attended with the usual ill success that has followed every attempt to cross or intermingle different and distinct races of men, animals, or even plants. 312 :MEXICO AND ITS RELIGION. The advantages axf sing from transplanting the human race, as well a.s vegetables and plants, are manifestly great. But transplanting should never be confounded with intermixing races, whether they be human, or of the lower animals, or of plants. When God, in his infinite wisdom, saw fit to choose out a family that he destined to continue for thousands of years, He transplanted it into a - new soil and climate, and subjected it to divers migrations. First it went. down into Egypt, and then, "with a high hand and an outstretched arm," He brought it up out of Egypt, and after a sojourn of for t y years in the wilderness, He re - established it in the land of Canaan. This is the origin of the most pe1f e ctly developed race of the present time. vVhether in the tropics or in th e most northern latitudes, the Jew is the same intellectual and physical man, and carries about with him the in del - ible marks of a descendant of those pati-iarchs who w ere commanded not to intermarry with the people amo ng wl10m they dwelt. The Jew may wander and sojourn in strange lands, but he cherishes ·with national pride the blood of.Abraham, which he insists still flows in his veins, and he is most careful, of all things, to trnnsmit it pure to _ his children. Though Canaan abounded with fragments of nationalities, his boast is that his blood is not intermixed with any of them. To the history of the Jews we might add the experience of the Franciscan missionaries of California, that for a healthy offspring a man m u st marry among his own clan. The constant complaints we heaJ: of the deterioration of imported animals of choke breeds is the result of a disregard of this law of propagation. The importations of Merino sheep, and afterward of the Saxon, proved a failurn chiefly from this ca.use. Those engaged in th e importation of English cattle begin ah-eady to make the same c o mplaint, which they would not have done had INTERMIXTURE OE RACES, 313 they taken the precaution to import their foreign stock in families. The Mulatto is an apparent, not a real ex - ception to the rule. He is superior to the Negro, often superior to his white father; but it is a superiority for a generation only, and carries with it the seeds of its own dissolution. The mule is superior to the donkey, but lasts only for a generation. The Oregon ox, a cross be - tween the Spanish and American breeds, is superior to ~ither of the pure breeds. But it is the concentration _ in one animal of what might be the material of divers generations. I once asked a Dutchess county farmer the cause of the great superiority of his crops of wheat over those of his neighbors, and his rnply was that he always brought his seed from a distance, changed it often, and took good care not to let it intermix with the wheat of that region. The same, or, rather, greater results have attended the transpo1iation of American seeds and plants to Califor - nia, where a new soil and a new climate has prnduced upon all the staples of agriculture such an improvement as to astonish men who have made this branch of indus- try a study. It is the result of the migTation of plants where there are no plants of the same character to inter - mix, and so deteriorate the race by crossing the breed. In trees the same law holds unchangeably. We pro - duce fine fruit by inoculation and by grafting ; but ex- J>erience has taught us never to inoculate upon a graft- ed stem, but always upon a natural branch. As the Conquistadors selected the best - looking Indian women for the mothers of the Meztizos, so the fruit - raiser se - lects the best natural stems to inoculate with his artifi - cial varieties of fruit. In this way we get better fruit by exhausting the root, and a whole race of plants are sometimes worn out by mixture from too close a pi-ox- imity of the different families -of the same --- genus. In 0 314 MEXICO AND ITS RELIGION. the laws which Moses gave to the children of Israel, we find a provision against the evils of intermixtures in the precept: "Thy cattle shall not gender with diverse kind." " Thou shalt not sow the field with divers seeds." In these precepts God has taken care to guard the wholesome generation of plants as well as of animals. The successful intermingling of the Protestant Anglo- Saxon immigration with our own people in the second and thii-d generations is not an exception to the law of generation, as both are but branches of the same stock, · and are successfully planted together. Nor is the mor- tality which follows the Catholic immigration an excep- tion to - the beneficial law of migration, for habits of in- temperance account for the short lives of these immi- grants ; and though their offspring is abundant, yet it is a.11 tainted with an inheritance of disease, and too many of the children suffer the ruinous consequences of having drawn "still slops~' from a mother's breast in infancy. For physically, and in the chain of generation, most tru- ly are the sins of the fathers visited upon the children to the third and fourth generation. Our collection of material for an argument will be com- plete when I have added that the trees most prolific of artificial fruit die the earliest, and suffer most from run- ning sores; that the vines cultivated artificially to pro- duce the choicest wines suffer most from the mildew, · and the potatoes of the most artificial varieties are the ones that have suffered most from the rot. "\¥"hen the cholera first visited Mexico, its passage through the coun- try was like the ravages of the Angel of Death among the l\'Ieztizos and the fragments of decaying races. And this progress toward depopulation can not be stayed by the tnfusion of a vigorous stock. The law of sexuality in plants leads to the intermarriage of the vigorous with the decaying and the intermixtme of blossoms ; nor can PROSPECTS OF MEXICO. · 315 human , plants long vegetate together without intermar- riages, which ingraft the vigornus constitutions with the virus of the old and decaying. If, then, ~ have co1Tectly enunciated the law of migra- tion of men, animals, and plants, and if the law of inter- mixture of distinct races, or distinct species of the tace~ has been truly stated, the important argument to be di-awn from it, which interests all Americans inquiring into the future of Mexico, is, that the present incongru- ous fragments of population which the internal disorders of Spain have set loose in Mexico can never be transform- ed into a homogeneous nationality, nor can sufficiently permanent elements of strength be found in this political chaos to constitute a permanent government. The de- graded condition to which labor is reduced forbids the idea of an immigration of foreign laborers, while the mis- erable scale of wages-a quarter of a dollar a day upon the estates, payable out of the plantation store, or three shillings in the towns-holds out no inducement for poor men of a healthy race to abandon their own country and migrate to Mexico in sufficient numbers to form a sub- stratum of society which _ultimately might rise info a nationality. A still more important question is disposed of by the facts stated in this chapter, viz., that there is no possi- bility of the present inhabitants of Mexico ever success- fully driving back the Apaches and reconquering the northern provinces. Her title to the wild regions of the north, which rests on discovery and colonization, is lost by her utter inability to subdue the Indians and to col- onize, after a probation of three hundred years. At this day the whole of the northern provinces lie, like waifs, open to any civilized people to take possession who re- quire an additional territory. But nothing is so absurd as the American process of acquisition by treaty of ter- 316 MEXICO AND ITS RELIGION. ritories which already are, or soon will be; covered all oyer by immense land-claims, in districts subjugated by the Indians, instead of acknowledging the title of the Apaches to the lands they have conquered from Mexi- co, and long held in possession, and purchasing of those who are the real sovereigns of Northern :Th · fexico. .MEXICAN :PRIESTS TlU VliLL.·,,o. CHAPTER XX-VIII. The Church of Mexico.-Its present Condition and Power . - The Nurn- 1:ier of the "Religios." - The · wealth of the Church.-The Money - power of the Church. - The Power of .t\.ssassination. - Educating the People robs the Priest.-Making and adoring Images. - The Prog- ress do""'Ilward. THE Catholic Church of Mexico is a peculiar institu - tion. Its historical antecedents have been considered in prg.vious chapters in connection with other subjects. Men no longer whisper their unbelief with trembling, nor have they a~y longer to dread inquisitorial fires if they refuse to pay tithes to the bishop, or if they neglect to bestow rich gifts upon the priests. Still the Church survives the losses of this impoi-tant engine of piety, and continues unmodified by passing events. In the midst of revolutions it stands unchanged, a relic of the last century. It stands like a great showman's wagon ~ from which the hoi-ses have been detached, and children, great and small, am collected around to look at its images. Unfortunately, there is an abundance of full - gr o wn chil - dren in a country where, for centuries, a combination of spiritual and temporal despotisms have dwrofed the in- tellects of men down to the standard of a toy-shop relig - ion, which had long rejoiced in crushing the human in - tellect, while it disdajned to enlighten the humblest un - derstanding. Mexico is the only Catholic country in which tl1e Church has remained unchanged during all the revolu - tions of the last half century. The French infidel ar- mies, and the wars and revo l uti o ns that followed the 320 MEXICO AND ITS I!.ELIGION. French invasions, overturned the Church of Spain and Italy, so that the Church organization that now exists in those peninsulas is a new creation. Not so in Mexico. Its revolution was for the purpose of saving the privi- leges of the Church from the too sweeping reforms of the Co1-tes of Spain. And thei-e it now stands, with all the pwperties and annuities which it enjoyed in the time of the idiot kings. The Inquisition no longer enforces with fire the censures of the Church, and men are no longer compelled by legal process to pay tithes. But for these losses the Chmch has receivecl a heavy compensation. The priests and inquisitors who ruled the childish court of Spain would allow no independence to the foxican Church, but supplied, by royal appointment, all the can- didates for vacant bishoprics and chapters, while the Vice-king was allowed to fill the inferior offices of the Chmch. By the partial separation of Church and state which took place in 1833, the Church of Mexico became inde- pendent of the state. The chapters acquired the right of electing their own bishops ; the bishops, by virtue of their spiritual authority, appointing the priests and ex - ercising control over all Church property as quasi cor- porations-sole, at least over all property not vested in i-el-igious communities, if practically there could be said to be any real exception. vVhat that newly-acquired _ power of the Mexican bishops amounts to, we in the . United States, from our own experience of the same au- thority, · can judge. That the reader may know how extensive is tl1is money-power of the bishops, I subjoin an extract from a statistical charf* published by Senor Lerdo de Tejado, * Grando Sinoptico de la &p-ublica Mejicana en 1850. Por 1.lfiguel M. Lerdo y Tejado; approved by the Mexican Society of Geography and St.atistics. STATISTICS OF THE CHURCH. 321 Fi-rst Official cle JYinisterio de Fomento, the following synopsis of the clergy and their incomes : " There is one archbishop, the .Archbishop of foxico, and eleven bishops, and one to be created at Vera Cruz. There are 184 prebends and 1229 parishes. The total number of ecclesiastics is 3223. * . There are 146 con- vents of monks and 59 convents of nuns, and 8 col- leges for propagating the faith. The convents of monks are inhabited by 1139 persons, and there are 1541 nuns in convents, and with them 740 young girls and 870 · servants. There am 238 persons in the colleges for propagating the faith." This is less than half the num- ber of the religios under the vice - kings, while the riches of the Church have immensely increased, as we shall presently see. I trnnslate from the same author, in a note, statistics upon the much-agitated question of the wealth of the Church of Mexico, t from which it will be seen that the * This number 3223 includes aU of the 1139 monks, except the lay brothers. The two classes of priests, those who are not monks and those who are monks, are distinguished in Catholic countries as secu - lars and regulars (cl e rigos and religzos). Humboldt says the Me:i;,_ican clergy are composed of 10,000 individu~1s (Essai Politiqzte, vol. i. p. 172), and, including the nuns, and lay brothers and sisters, he puts the snm total of the religious at 14,000. But in a note he gives the numbers in fr.-e of the principal departments out of twelve, ·which foot lip at only 5405 for the clergy of uoth orders. t "The general revenue destined for the maintenance of the clergy and of religious services in the republic may be divi d ed int o four class- ,,. es: first, that which appertains to the bishops and to the canons, who form the chapter of the Cathedral; second, those revenues which apper- tain to particular ecclesiastics and chaplaincies; third, those of curates and vicars ; fourth, those of divers communities of religios, of both sexes. '' The first class is principally of tithes and first-fruits, the product of which was very considerable in times past, when they included a tenth part of all the first fruits which grew upon the soil of the repub- lic, and the firstlings of the cattle. :But lately this revenue has much fallen off, since by the law of the 17th of October, 1833, it is no longer obligatory upon the cultivators to pay this contribution. Nevertheless, there still are many persons who, for conscientious reasons, or for oth- er cause, continue to pay this tax, so that it produces a very consider- 322 MEXICO AND ITS RELIGION. total amount consumed in the maintenance of these 3223 persons, is annually $20,000,000, besides the very large able sum. This J)art of the clergy also receive considerable sums which have been left by devout persons for the performance of cert.ain annual ceremonies called anniversaries. "The collegiate . church of our Lady of Guadalupe has , in addition to a monthly lottery, which operates upon a capital of $13,000, certain properties and other capitals of which the government takes no account. "Particular ecclesiastics and chaplains are supported on a capital genera11y of $3000, established by certain pious persons for that object, besides the alms of the faithful, which are given for a certain number of masses to be applied to objects of their devotion. "The support of curates consists of parochial rights, viz., fees for baptisms, marriages, funeral s, re sponses, and religious celebrations (funcions) which, in their respectiYe churches, they command the faith- ful to make; and, :finally, by the profits ,vbich they derive from the sale of novenas, medals, scapularies,. ribbons (mad edas) , wax, and other ob- jects which the parishioners employ. "The income of convents of monks, besides the alms which they re- ceive for - masses,fimcions, and funerals, ,vhich they celeb r ate in the con- vent cluucbes, consists of the r ents of great properties which they have accumulated in the course of a ges . "The convents of nuns are in like manner supported by the income of great estates, with the exception of two or three convents which pos- sess no property, and whose inmates live on charity. "Besides the incomes named, which pertain to the personnel of the clergy, there are, in the cathechals and other parochial [churches], reY- enues which arise from some properties and foundations created for at- tending to certain dues called "fabricat ,vhich consist of all those ob- jects necessary for the services of this worship (culta). "From the want of publicity which is generally observed in the man- agement of the properties and r ents [income s ] of the clergy, it is impos- sible to fix exactly the value of one or the other; but they can be cal- culated approximately by taking for the basis those data which are with- in the reach of the public, which are the total value of the production of the annual retum (movimiento) of the population for births, marriages, deaths, and, finally, the devout practices which are still customary among the greater part of the population. Observing carefully these data, I assume, without the fear of committing a great error, that the total amount which the c1ergy to-day 1·eaHze in the whole extent of the republic, for rents, proceeds of tithes, parochial 1·ights, alms, religious ceremonies (funcions), and for the sale of diYers objects of devotion, is bet,veen eight and ten millions of dollars. "Some wi-iters have estimated the properties belonging to the cler- gy at one ha.If of the productive wealth of the nation ; others at one third part; but I can not give much credit to such writers, as they are only calculations that rest on no certain data. I ,am sure that the total REVENUE O : F' THE CHURCH 323 sums expenclecl in the repairs and ornaments of an enor- mous number of clnrrches, and in gifts at the shrines of the different images, which can not be appropriated to the maintenance of the clergy. This sum of $20,000,000, if fairly divided among them, would yield an abundant support, though not an extravagant living ; but, unfor- tunately, the greatest portion of this immense sum is absorbed by the bishops, while the priests of the vil- lages contrive to exist by the contributions they wring . out of the peons. At the time of the census, 1793, the twelve bishops had $539,000* appropriated to then· sup- port; but now -the ir revenues am so mixed up with the rnvenues of the Church~ that it is impossible to say how much these twelve successors of the apostles appropriate to their own support. . In place of the Inquisition which the reformed Span- ish government took away :from the Church · of Mexico, amount of the property of the clergy, for chap1aincies, foundations, and other pious uses, together with rustic and city properties, wh i ch belong to the divers religious corporations, amount to an enormous sum, not- withstanding the falling off that is said to have ta.ken p l ace from the amounts of forme r years. . "All property in the district of Mexico [federal district] is estimated at $50,000,000, the half of which pertains to the clergy. Uniting the product of this property to the tithes, parochial rights, etc., I am well a sured that the total of the income of the clergy amounts to from eighteen to twenty millions of dollars." * The Archbishop of Mexico ....... . ................. . ....... : ... $ 130, . 000 Bishop of Pueblo . . . . . . . . .. .. . . .. .. . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . 110,000 " Valladolid . . . .. . .. .. .. .. . . . . .. . . . .. . . . . . .. . . . . . . 110,000 " Guadalajara.............. . ..................... 90,000 " Durango ............... ........... . .. . . . . ...... . 35,000 J.\ifonterey . . . . . .. . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30,000 " Yucatan... . ........ . ............................. 20,000 " Oajaca ...... . ...................... . ..... . ... .. .. 18,000 Sonora .. . .. . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . .. . .. . . 6,000 Total individual income of twelve bishops .............. . .......... $539,000 -Essai Politique, vol. i. p. 173. The reason why the Bishop of Sonora was limited to $6000 was tha.t his diocese was so poor that he had that salary paid ont of tne king's revenue. 324 MEXICO AND rrs RELIGION. the Church now wields the power of wealth, almost fab- ulous in amount, which is practically in the hands of a close c01·poration-sole. The influence of the Arch bishop, as the substantial owner of half the property in the city of Mexico, gives him a power over his tenants unknown under our system of laws. Besides this, a large portion of the Church property is in money, and the Archbishop is the great loan and trust company of Mexico. Nor is this power by any means an insignificant one. A bank - 111pt government is overawed by it. Men of intellect are crushed into silence ; and no opposition can success- fully stand against the influence of this Church lord, who carries in his hands the treasmes of heaven, and in his money-bags the material that moves the world. To un- derstand the full force of his power of money, it must be borne in mind that J VIexico is a country proverbial for recklessness in all conditions of life ; for extravagant liv- ing and extravagant equipages; a country-where a man's position in society is determined by the state he main- tains; a country, the basis of whose wealth is the mines of precious metal; where princely fortunes are quickly acquirnd and suddenly lost, and whei-e hirnd labor has hardly a cash value. In such a country, the power and influence of money has a meaning beyond any idea that we can form. Look at a pi-ominent man making an os- tentatious display of his devotion : his example is of ad- vantage to the Church, and the Church may be of advant- age to him, for it has an abundance of money at 6 per cent. per annum, while the outside money-lenders charge him 2 per cent. per month. The Church, too, may have a mortgage upon his house over - due ; and woe betide him if he should undertake a crusade against the Church. This is a string that the Chtuch can pull upon which is strong enough to overawe government itsel£ This money-power of the Church yet lacks complete- MONEY-PO\VER OF THE CHURCH. 325 ness and concentration to make it even a tolerable su}J- stitute for the power lost by the abolition of the Inquisi- tion, as this wealth is distributed among 12 independent bishops. But, having succeeded in establishing the tern- - poral power of her bishops iii Mexico more firmly than in the United States, the Papal court made another step in advance. In 1852, Mexico was electrified with de- light at the condescension of the Holy Father in sending a nuncio to that city. For two full years this represent- ative of the Holy See was feted and toasted on all hands, as little less than the Pope himself, whom he represented. But last year all these happy feelings were clashed with gall and worm wood by an announcement that as the bishops controlled all this immense property by virtue of their spiritual authority, there was a resulting trust in - his favor, or at least in favor of the Pope, whom he mp- resented with full powers. It was Pandora's box opened in the midst of " a happy family." There was no dis- puting the nuncio's law ; but to render to him an ac- count of their receipts and disbursements, or to deliver over the bonds and mortgages to this agent of the Pope, was most unpleasant. The old Archbishop keeps ' fast hold of the money-bags, which, so far, the keys of Saint Peter have been unable to unlock. The battle waxes loud and :fierce between the parties and their parti- sans, and Santa .A.nna stands looking on, dreaming of the happy time when, through the internal dissensions of the Church, these accumulations of 300 years of robbery and false pretenses will fall into the public treasury, and the people as well as the government will obtain their enfranchisement. The money-power of the Church has proved sufficient- ly stTong to save it from the hungry maw of a famishing government, and to stand unaffected by the 1·evolutions that surround it; ap.d now and then, when too bitterly 326 MEXICO A :ro ITS RELIGION. assailed by some political reformer, it finds relief in the assassination of the assailant, as in the case of the elo- quent member of the last Congress, who, after a violent philippic against the co1Tuptions of the priests, was found murdered in his chamber. And, as in case of the inquis- itorial assassinations, the crime was proved to have been connected with a robbery. The power to overawe courts of justice, proverbially corrupt, and the facilities with which assassinations are procm·ed, are now the most dreaded weapons of the Church, and may account for the nominal conformity of the intelligent classes. The unbelievers in Mexico, though considerable in numbers, are not organized with a positive creed. Theirs is only a . negative existence-unbelief; and they are gen- erally found conforming outwardly, as a more convenient and prudent course than running a tilt with the well- organized forces of the Church. There is nothing peculiar in the spiritual powers of the Church of . :M:exico, as these powers are common to all Catholic countries, and vai-y only with the ignorance and brutality of the pe-ople; the mor . e degraded the people, the greater is the power of the priest and bishop. The intelligent Catholic, educated among Protestants, looks upon his priest as a religious instructor, and interprets the ego t-e absolvo as rather a matter of form, meaning little more than that he will intercede for him. He has caught and is applying a Protestant idea unwittingly. But with the gross multitude who constitute the mass of the Spanish - American population, the priest is the God of the people ; his giving or withholding absolution is a matter of life or death ; and, however corrupt and de- bauched he may be, he still holds jm-isdiction over the pains of hell and the bliss of heaven. For a reasonable consideration in money, he will shut up the one and open the other. The offe1fog in the -mass of the bloodless sacri- -- WORSHIP OF IM.AGES. 327 fice of Jesus Christ, as it is called, is not sufficient for the Catholic in a ~rotestant country, but the priest must also preach a sermon every Sabbath, like a Prntestant minister, though he still holds to the efficacy of the mass in conferring blessings on the living and the belie . ving dead. The preaching of the priest is a rare thing in an exclusively Catholic country. The mass is his liveli - hood, and if he be the head of a community, or a popular priest, he often makes a profit in taking in masses to say, _ and letting out the job at a discount. The whole mat - ter may be summed up by saying that the more pro - founcUy ignorant the p-eopl~ are, the more devotional do they become; so that the priest has always a pecuniary interest in the ignorance of the people, and if he makes any effort towai·d their enlightenment, it is an effort made directly against his own pecuniary interests and the income of his office. · The most ancient anti-Catholic, I might with propri - ety say, Protestant sect, whose form of synagogue wor - ship is congregational, and who are republican at heart, though too often submitting to a despotism, are the Jews. Between these two, the Jew and the Catholic, there ex - ists an unmitigated hostility. The Catholic reviles the Jew with a sin of which, most likely, his own ancestors were not guilty,* and the Jew curses the azarene for the idolatry of his worshipers. He will make no allow - ances for the nice distinction between adoration and wor - ship, and insists that the making the likeness of any thing to be set up in a place of worship is idolatry, and that . the image of the cross is as much an: image as the image of Him who hung thereon. And in all this the * Most of the Jews of our day are the descendants of the Babylonian Jews, who did not return to Jerusalem after the Captivity, but remained :in the province of Babylon until they were driven out, some four hund - 1·ed or more years after Christ; the Babylonian, not the Jerusa l em Talmud, being mos•t commonly in use among th e m. 328 MEXICO AND ITS RELIGIO . Jew is right, if we are to obey the commandment of God. Yet the Jew forgets that a thousand years of trial were requisite to cure his ancestors of their proneness to idols. After their first mission, accomplished in the bfrth of Christ, God has preserved them a perpetual witness against paganism. But so subtle is this sin, that we find ourselves setting up sensuous representations, while we point the finger of scorn at the Catholic, who ascribes miraculous power to an image of the Virgin. And what is the difference, the .Almighty himself being judge, between setting up a cross in a place of ,vorship or as- cribing miraculous power to an image, or, as is the fash- ion to say, some spirit acting through the image? Are they not different stages of the same disease, and each equally calculated to provoke the Almighty to jealousy. Image worship has another curious aspect. It is a very tolerable thermometer by which to measure the downward progress of nations. Pagan Rome, in times of comparative purity, had her laws against idolatry; but as her higher classes advanced in refinement and sensuality, and the plebeians became debased and bru- talized, the whole religious ideas of the nation degenera- ted into idolatry, associated with a despotic miracle-work- ing priesthood, and soon followed by a political despot- ism. It is curious to witness how exactly it takes on the same form in different countries in traveling this downward road. The Buddhist of China, who has reach- ed a thousand - fold lower level than the Catholic, has his unmarried priesthood, his monks, and nuns, and self- imposed penances, and tortures, and holy water, and a ritual in an unknown tongue (Sa . nscrit), so strikingly resembling the Catholic as to suggest the idea of a com- mon 01jgin, if such an idea were not impossible. Yet in the moral standard they seem to have reached the point of total depra~ty. Hence we might sum up the SillfMARY OF EVILS. 329 · cause that have produced the Mexican of the present day by enumerating the absence of the scriptural idea of fam- ily rnlation ; the despotism exercised by the priesthood with the aid of an Inquisition, and the unnumbered toll- gates they have placed on the road to heaven; the effem- inacy of the higher classes and debasement of the peas- antry ; the absorption of half the revenues of the coun- try in superstitious and idolatrous purposes, and the un- cleanly habits superinduced by mental and physical deg- i-adation for generations, so that the word lepe1· is used to designate a poor man in the city where that loathsome disease has its victims. / CHAPTER XXIX. Causes that have diminished the Religios.-The Provincials and Supe- riors of Convents. - The perfect Organization. - The Monks. - Sau Frnnciscans. - Dominicans .__.:_ Carmelites . -'-The well - reputed Orders. -'The J esuits . -The Nuns.-How ovices are procured.-Contrast- ed with a Quaker Prison.-The poor deluded Nun.-A good old Quaker Woman not a Saint.-Protestantism felt in Mexico. THE monkish orders of Mexico have remained un- changed from the time of their first establishment. We have seen that they have fallen off immensely in num- bers, but have increased immensely in efficiency, by the termination of those internal controversies between the Spanish - born and Creoles, and by enfranchisement from state control. Not only are they now all native-born, but the Meztizos seem to be the predominant race in t _ he priesthood. 'lhe priesthood is not now so inviting an employment as it was before the suppression of the In- quisition. Miracles have ceased to be a profitable spec- ulation, while the revenue once paid to the monks has been followed by ill - suppressed contempt. The employ- ment once monopolized by the Spaniards being now thrown open to general competition, there is less willing- ness to submit to the despotism which ever reigns in re- ligious houses than there was in the times of the vice- kings. Hard fare, cruel treatment, and public contempt have dim i nished the candidates for monastic orders, until the old proverb-" He that can not do better, let him tum monk"-is not unknown at Mexico. vVith the in- crease of liberty the number of nuns has diminished, as violence can no longer be used in getting a girl into a c o nvent. For all these reasons the number of the relig- THE .RELIGIOUS ORDERS. 331 ios has rapidly - diminished, while the wealth and efficien- . cy of the Church has increased. Having spoken of the 'bishops, the lords spiritual of :Mexico, and the controlling influence they exercise ove1· a feeble govemment, we come next to the second class of spiritual masters of the country_:_the heads of ordei-s, the provincials, and the heads of xeligious houses. These two classes of dignitaJ.·ies are usually elected - for their known severity of discipline, either by the procurement of the bishop, or through fanaticism of the monks or nuns, who, having voluntarily made themselves convicts and prisoners for life, now undertake to add to their self- afflicted mortification by choosing for their head a · supe- rior the most hateful of theii- number. The novice is taught that the greatest favor with Heaven is to be ob- tained by implicit obedience under most trying circum- stances, and the more cruel the despotism they unmm- mmingly submit to, the greater will be the accumulation of good works. But cursed to the lowest depths of Pur- gat01y is that recluse who dares to murmur even in his inmost thoughts ; and if he so far forgets his duty as to murmm aloud, then all the powers of the Church are brought to crush his insubordination. We have thus followed spiritual despotism through its various stages, from the Pope to - the bishops ; from the bishops to the provincials of xeligious orders ; and then down to superiors of a community of half a dozen monks or nuns, by whom immorality is pardonable, but who re- gard disobedience or insubordination in the slightest par- ticular "like the sin of witchcraft and idolatry." Such is the peifect organi~ation of the papacy in all its parts, which, acting as one great secret, political, social, and 1·e- ligious association, labors continually to con~en:trate the riches of the nations at Rome as a common centre. There is a peculiar featme in. the Caitholic Chmch in 332 MEXICO AND ITS RELIGION. l\foxico unknown in other Catholic countries : it is the preponderance of the i-egular clergy (monks) over the secular clergy. This is owing to Cortez, who wTOte to the Emperor Charles V. to send him regulars, for the conversion of the Indians, instead of seculars, assigning as a reason for this request " that the latter display ex- travagant luxury, leave great wealth to their natmal children, and give great scandal to the newly-converted Indians." Hence more than one half of the 1:exican clergy are monks, and wear the cowl ; for at the time of the census of 1793, as we have seen, there were in the city of Mexico 1646 monks, besides lay brothers, against 550 secular priests, while in the ' fifteen convents for nuns there were 923 of these female mon~s. The reader has already become quite familiar with the Franciscan fathers and their vows of poverty and self- mortification, and their skill at playing for gold ounces. They have pretty well maintained that reputation since the time of : Friar Thomas Gage. But there are some honorable exceptions to this rule, though few and far be- tween . ·vv e have already noticed how they were favored by Cortez, and the result has been that they are the rich- est fraternity in the republic. These holy men of the Angelic Order of Saint Francis have lately discovered a new source of wealth in xenting their large central court to a,JTrenchman, who occupies it with the best garden of plants in Mexico ; and as the convent occupies nearly a whole squai-e in the central part of the city, they have pierced the convent walls, and rented out shops upon the business streets, while the soldiers of Santa Anna occu- py the vacant cloisters of the convent. In this" happy family," with all the immense wealth of the establish- ment, the donados, and those monks who are so poor as to have no friends, find but a miserable subsistence. Of the Dominicans I have already spoken in connec- UHARACTER OF THE DIFFERENT ORDERS. , 333 tion with the Inquisition. In their yard is the flag-stone which was used by them in offering human sacrifice be- fore the Revolution. There it is kept as a relic and sym-, bol of the power once enjoyed by the Church. There is yet a lingering hope that there may be restored to these brethren the power of masting alive human beings. In speaking of depravity of morals, it is hard to say which of the fraternities has reached the lowest level, though common consent concedes the palm to the Dominica , ns. The name of the Carmelites carries us back to the time of the Crusades ; but they are better known in Mex- ico as the former proprietors of the .Desi,erto, which Thom- as Gage so touchingly describes. Their habitual prac- tice of self-denial and mortification, in appea . rance, while rioting on the luxm-ies that devotees lavished upon them, has not been forgotten. These holy brothers had a hand in the Inquisition as well as the Dominicans. They were a set of scamps set to watch the purity of other men's lives, while they themselves lived a life of habitual profli- gacy. The ruins of their old convent, the Desie1·to, is still one of the most attractive spots about the city. As the traveler wanders among its ruined walls, he : will find in the subterraneous cells ring-bolts fastened · in the walls, where poor prisoners for their faith endmed some-, thing more than self-mortification. The monks of Santiago, San Augustin, and the Cap-, uchins have all fine convents, and are rich; but the monks of Saint James are the most inveterate beggars. The monks of San Fernando enjoy an enviable repu-. tation compared with the spotted sheep I have just been considering. They are late comers, and have not learn..., ed all the ways of wickedness of the older orders. Next come the "Brethren of the Profession," of whom it is pleasant to speak, after saying so many hard things of their neighbors. They stand so high as men of charac- 334 MEXICO .A:ND ITS RELIGION. ter and learning, that I am tempted to tell their story on hearsay, for want of better authority. They were once Jesuits, but w11en the royal . cebula of Carlos III. came for their expulsion, these fathers had sustained so good a character for charity and usefulness that they were al- lowed to return, on condition of renouncing the name and peculiarities of that order. I am inclined to believe this strange story to be substantially true, for clearly they are of the Jesuits, and yet they are not Jesuits. The rnputation which they enjoyed in 1767 they still rntain, and not only command the respect of all classes of society in Mexico, but their chapel is the fashionable church of the city, where genteel people resort to say their prayers~ '' The Brethren of the Holy Places of J erusalem"-the Hieronomite monks, are not numerous, and ai-e known in the - markets as lenders of money, · with the interest of which they support themselves and "the poor saints of Jerusalem;" that is, a portion of those lazy, greasy, fight- ing Latin monks at Jerusalem, that have been one of the causes of the present war in Europe. "The Hospitalers of Saint John" (Juanos) are better known for th~ir exploits in the time of the Crusaders than for any thing they have done in Mexico. It would be a thrice-told tale to repeat the story of the Jesuits; the world knows that too well already. The de- tails of their proceedings in Mexico till the time of their expulsion have been too often written by their enemies. Their great prosperity and their great wealth made them the envy of the other ord~rs, as colTupt and depraved as themselves, but not so dangerous, because they had reached that point at which depravity ceases to contami- nate . . Dirty, greasy monks could not endure an order that wore the garb of gentlemen, and were in favor with the aristocracy, while they themselves were despised. NUNNERIES. 335 This envy was all-powe1ful with them, and led, for a time, to the laying aside of their own private bickerings, and uniting in the crusade against the common enemy, the Jesuits, and acting-in harmony with the political power. _ The Church has always made much of the nuns . . It has ever been the custom of the priesthood to endeavor to throw a veil of romance over the very unromantic way of life followed by females who have shut themselves up for life in a place hardly equal to a second-class state- prison. Woman has an important place which God has assigned her in the world; but when she separates hex- self from the family circle, and elbows hex way to the ros- trum, where, with a semi - masculine attire, and with a voice not intended for oratory, she harangues a tittering crowd upon the rights of women to perform the duties of men ; or goes to the opposite extreme, and . shuts her- self up within high stone walls to avoid the society of the other sex, she equally sins against her own naturn, and not only brings misery upon herself, but inflicts upon society the evils of a pernicious example, and furnish el? a theme for all kinds of scandal. Proud families who have · portionless daughtei-s; rela- tives who desire to get rid of heirs to coveted estates; convents in want of funds and endowments,* or a pretty * I have selected three cases of taking the veil, to which I have add- ed captions, which lift the veil from this practice of consecrating young girls to super s titious uses. They are extracted from Madame Calde - ron's Life in Mexico. Taking the Veil. "I followed the guide back into the sacristy [of the convent], where the future nun was seated beside her grandmother, in the . midst of her friends and relations, about thirty in all. · "She was arrayed in pale blue satin, with diamonds, pearls, and a crown of flowers. She was literally smothered in blonde and jewels ; and her face was flushed, as well it might be, for she had passed the day in taking leave of her friends at a fete they had given her, anq. had then, according to custom, been paraded through the town in all her finery. And now her last hour was at hand. When I came in, she rose and 336 MEXICO AND ITS RELIGION. victim for the public entertainment on taking the veil ; friends who have unmarriageable women on their hands; embraced me ·with as much cordiality as if we had known each other for years. Beside her sat the :Madrina, also in white satin and jewels ; all the relations being likewise decked out in their finest array. The nun kept laughing every now and then in the most unnatural and hys- terical manner, as I thought, apparently to impress us with the convic- tion of her perfect happiness ; for it is a great point of honor among girls similarly situated to look as cheerful and gay as possible-the same feeling, though in a different degree, which induces the gallant highwayman to jest in the presence of the multitude when the hang- man's cord is within an inch of his neck; the same which makes a gal- lant general, whose life is forfeited, command his men to fire on him; the same which makes the Hindoo widow mount the funeral pile with- out a tear in her eye or a sigh on her lips. If the robber ,vere to be strangled in the . corner of his dungeon - if the general were to be put to death privately in his own apartment--if the widow were to be burned quietly on her own hearth-if the nun were to be secretly smuggled in at the convent gate like a bale of contraband goods, we might hear another t . ale. This girl was very young, but by no means pretty; on the contrary, rather disgraciee par la nature; and perhaps a knowledge of her own want of attractions may have caused the world to have few charms for her. " Suddenly the curtain was withdrawn, and the picturesque beauty of · the scene within baffies all description. Beside the altar, which was in a blaze of light, was a . perfect mass of crimson a . nd gold drapery; the walls, the antique chairs, the table before which the priests sat, all hung w.ith the same splendid material. The Bishop wore his superb mitre, and robes of crimson and gold, the attendant priests also glittering in crimson and gold embroidery. "In contrast to these, five-and-twenty figures, entirely robed in black from head to foot, were ranged on each side of the room, prostrate, their fac,:es touching the ground, and in their hands immense lighted tapers. On the foreground was spread a purple carpet bordered round with a garland of freshly-gathered flowers, roses, and carnations, and heliotrope, the only things that looked real and lh,jng in the whole scene ; and in the middle of this knelt the noYice, still arrayed in her blue satin, white lace veil and jewels, and also with a great lighted taper in her hand. "The black nuns then rose and sang a hymn, eYery now and then falling on their faces and touching the floor with th , eir foreheads. The whole looked like an incantation, or a scene in Robert le Diable. The novice was then raised from the ground and led to the feet of the Bish- op, who examined her as to her Yocation, and gave her his blessing, and once more the black curtain fell between us and them. "In the second act she was lying prostrate on the floor, disrobed of her profane aress, and covered over with a black cloth, while the black. figures kneeling around her chanted a hymn, She was now dead to NUNNERIES. and romantic young misses, ambitious of playing the queen for a day at the cost of being a prisoner for life, the world. The sunbeams bad faded away as if they would not look upon the :;cene, and all the light was concentrated in one great mass upon the convent gTOnp. "Again she was - raised. All the blood had rushed into her face, and her attempt to smile was truly 11ainful. She then knelt down before the Bishop, and received the benediction, with the sign of the cross, from a white hand with the pastoral ring. She then went round alone to em- brace all the dark phantoms as they stood motionless, and as each dark shadow clasped her in its arms, it seemed like the dead welcoming a new arrival to the shades. "But I forget the sermon, which was delivered by a fat pdest, who elbowed his way with some difficulty through the crowd to the grating, panting and in a prodigious heat, and ensconced himself in a great arm- chair close beside us. He assured her that she 'had chosen the · good part, which could not be taken away from her ;' that she was now one of the elect, ' chosen from among the wickedness and dangers of the world' -(picked out like a plum from a pie). He mentioned with pity and contempt those who were 'yet struggling in the great Babylon,' and compared their miserable fate with hers, the Bride of Christ, who, after suffering a few privations here during a short term of years, should be received at once into a , kingdom of glory. The whole discourse was well calculated to rally her fainting spirits, if fainting they were, and to inspire us with a great disgust for ourseh es. "When the sermon was concluded the music again struck up; the heroine of the day came forward, and stood before the grating to take her last look of this wicked world. Down fell the black cur t ain. . Up rose the relations, and I accompanied them into the sacristy. Here they coolly lighted their cigais, and very pbilosopQically discoursed upon the - exceeding good fortune of the new-made nun, and on her ev- ident delight and satisfaction with her own situation. As we cfid not follow her behind the scenes, I could not give my opinion on this point. Shortly after, one of the gentlemen civilly led me to my carriage, and so it was." A Victim for lier 1. lf.usi c al Powers. "In the convent of the Incarnation I saw another girl sacrificed in a similar manner. She was received there ,vithout a dowry,. on ac- count of the exceeding :fineness of her voice. She little thought what a fatal gift it would pwve to her. The most cruel part of all was that, wishing to display her fine voice to the public, they made her sing a hymn alone, on her knees, her arms extended in the form of a cross, before all the immense crowd: "Ancilla Christi sum," "The bride of Christ I am." She was a good-looking girl, fat and comely, who would probably have led a comfortable life in the world, for which she seemed well fitted i most likely without one touch of romance or enthusiasm in p 338 MEXICO AND ITS 1mL IGION . • have all contributed to populate the fifteen nunneries of the city of :Mexico. In the flourishing times of the In- her composition; bnt, haYing the unfortunate honor of being niece to two chanoin e s, she was thus honorably provided for without expense in her nineteenth year. · .As might be expected, her voice faltered, and instead of s i nging, she seemed inclined to cry out. Each note came s 1o,vly, heavily, tremblingly ; and at last she nearly fell forward ex - hausted, when t, vo of the sisters caught and supported her." A Victim ef her Corifessor-. '' She was in purple velvet, with djamonds and pearls, and a crown of flowers; the corsage of her gown wa s entirely covered w i th little bows of r i bbon of divers colors, which her fr i ends had given her, each add- ing one, J i ke stones t,Iuown on a , cairn in memory of the dep a rted. She had also short sleeves and white satin shoes . " Being very handsome, with fine black eyes, good teeth, an<l fres h color, and, above all, with the beauty of youth, for she is but eighteen, she was not disfigmed by even th i s overloaded dress. Her mother, on the c o ntrary, VihO ,vas to ac t the part of 1\fadrina, who wore a dress fac- simil e , a n d who was pale and sad, her eyes almo s t ex t ingui s hed with weeping, looked like a picture of Mi s ery in a ball-dre s s . In the ad- joining room long tables were laid out, on which servants were placing 1·efre s hments for the fete . about to be g iven c;m this joyou s occasion. I felt some,vhat shocked, and inclined to say with Paul Pry, 'Hope I don't i n t rude.' " - - , however, was furious at tl1e whole affair, which he said was entirely against the mother's consent, though that of the father had been obtained ; and pointed out to me the confes s or who s e influence had brought it about . The girl herself was now very pale, but evi - dently resolved to conceal her ag it ation, and the mother seemed as if she could shed no more tears-quite exhau s ted with weeping. .As the hour for the ceremony drew near, the wh o le pa . rty became more grave and sad, all but the priests, who were smiling and talking together in groups. The girl was not stiJI a moment. She kept walking hastily through the house, ta]dng leave of the servants, and naming, provably , her last wishes about every thing. She was followed by her younger sisters, aU in tears. u But. it struck six, and the :eriests in t im ated that it was t i me to move. She ancl her mother went down stairs alone, and entered the carria g e which was to dlive them through a.U the princi p al s t r e e ts , to show the nun to the pub l ic, according to custom, . and to le t tli e m take their last look, they of her and she of them. .As they got in, we all crowded to the balconie~ to see her take lea~ 0 e of her house, her aunts saying, 'Yes, c'.1i lJ, despid e t e cl e tu casa-, take leave of your house, for you will neYe r see it again !' Then came sobs from the sisters; and many of the gen- t lemen, ashamed of t h eir emot i on, · hastily quitted the room. I ho p e, f : ,r the sake of humanity, I did not rightly interpret the look of con- NUNNEIUES. 339 quisition, this business of inveig ling choice victims into convents was more profitable, for then murmuring could strained anguish which the poor girl th r ew from the windo,,, of the ca r- bage at t he home of her childhood . "At stated periods, indeed, the mother may hear her daughter's voice speaking to her as from the depths of the tomb, but she may never fold her in her arms, neYer more share in her joys or in her sorrows, or nurse her in sickness; and when her own last hour arrive..:, though but a few streets divi de them, she may not give her dying blessing to the child ,vho has been for so many years the pride of h er eyes and heart . '' They gave me an excellent place, quite close to the grating, beside the Counte ss de S - o ; that is to say, a place to kneel on. .A great bustle and much preparation seemed to be going on within the convent, and veiled figures vrnre flitting about, whispering, arranging, &c . Some - times a skinny old dame would come close t o the grating, and, lifti"ng up l1er veil, bestow uvon the pensive public a generous view of a vm·y hau ghty and very ·wrinkled visage of some seventy years standing, and beckon in to the church for the major-domo of the conYent (an excellent and profitable situatio!1, by the way), or for padre this 01· that: Some of the holy ladies recognized and spoke to me through tl1e grating. "But, at the dischar ge of fireworks outside the church, the curtain was dropped, for this was the sjgnal that the nun and her mother had arrived. .An opening was made in the crowd as they passed into the churcl1, and the girl, kneeling dmvn, was questioned by the bishop, but I could not make out the dialogue, which was carr i ed on in a low voice. She then passed into the convent by a s i de door, and her mother, quite exhausted and nearly in hysterics, was suppo r ted through the crowd to a place beside us, in front of the grating . The music struck up ; - the CUI'tain was again drawn as ide. The scene was as strik ing here as in the convent of the Santa Teresa, but not so lugubrious. The nuns, all ranged a.round, and ca . rrying lighted tapers i n their bands, were dressed in mantles of bright blue, w;ith a gold plate on the left shou l der . Their faces, however, were covered with deep black veils . The girl, kneeling in front, and a l so bearing a heavy lighted taper, looked beautifu l , with her dark 1rnir and r ich dress, ancl the long black lashes resting on her glowing face. The churchmen near the illuminated and magnificently - decked altar formed, as usual, a brilliant background to the picture. The ceremony was the same as on the forme r occasion, but there was no sermon . "The most terrible thing to witness was the last, straining, anxious look which the mother gave her daughter through the grating . She had seen her child pressed to the arms of strangers and welcomed to her new home. She was no lon ge r hers. All the sweet ties of natme had been rudely severed, and she had been forced to consign her, in the very b l oom of youth and beauty, at the very age in which she most req1,1ired a mother's care, and when she had but ju st fulfilled the prom - i se of her childhood, to a living tomb. Still, as lon g as the. cur tain had 3'40 MEXICO AND ITS RELIGION. be c111shed into silence, and parents dreaded to oppose the wrntched pimps of superstition who came to inveigle their daughters into convents. The Quaker priso11 of Philadelphia is a paradise com- pared with such a place as this. If the rnader has ever placed his eye at the keeper's eye-hole in that prison, he must have seen in many a cell a cheerful face, and the appearance of as much comfo1-t as is compatible with an imprisoned condition; for ministering angels have been there - mothers in Israel, who have torn themselves from their domestic duties for a little time to minister conso- lation to the very c11.minals in prison ; and, now that the prison-door has separated the poor wretch forever from society, whose laws have 1)een outraged, she, by her kind- ness and teaching, has led the convict :to look to Heaven with a hope of forgiveness, and daily to pray for those he has injured, while he reads in the holy book which she not fallen, she could gaze upon her as upon one on whom, though dead, the coffin-l i d is not yet closed. "But while the new - made nun was in a blaze of light and distinct on the foreground, so that ·we could mark each varying expression of her face, the crowd in the church, and the comparative faintness of the light, probably made it difficult for her to distinguish her mother; for, knowing that the end '\Yas at hand, she looked anxiously and huniedly into the church, without seeming able to :fix her eyes on any particular object, while her mother seemed as if her eyes ,vere glazed, so intense- ly were they fixed upon her daug11ter. "Suddenly, and without any preparation, down fell the black curtain 1ike a pall, and the sobs and tears of the family broke forth. One beau- tiful little child was can-ied out almost in fits. Water was brought to the poor mother; and at last, making our way with difficulty thrnugh tbe dense crowd, we got into tl1e sa.cristy. 'I declare,' said the Count- ess - - to me, wiping her eyes, 'it is worse than a maniage !' I ex- pressed my hon-or at the sacrifice of a girl so young tlrnt she could not possibly have known her own mind . Almost all the ladies agreed with me, especia1ly all who had daughters, but many of the old gentlemen were of a different opinion. The young men were decidedly of my way of thinking, but many young girls who were eonversing togetlrnr seemed rather to euvy their friend, who had looked so pretty and graceful, and ' so happy,' and whose dress 'suited her so well,' and to have no objec- tion to ' go and do lil,.ewise.' " . NUNNERIES AND PRISONS. 341 gave hini, that a repenting thief acc'ompanied the Son of God to Paradise. Let us turn from such an unp o etical scene as this, which that cheerful prison presents, to the convent of Santa Ternsa, the most celebrated of all the ten or fifteen nunneries now · in operation about the city of Mexico. In a cold, damp, comfortless cell, kneeling upon the pave - ment, we may see a delicate woman mechanically xepeat - ing hex daily-imposed penance of Latin prayers, befom the image of a favorite saint and a basin of holy water. This self - regulating, automaton praying machine, as she counts off the uum ber of allotted prayers by the number of beads upon her msary, beats into her bosom the sharp edge of an :irnn cross that rests within her shirt of sacking- cloth, until, nature and her task exhausted, she throws herself down upon a wooden bed, so ingeniously arranged as to make sleep intolerable.* This poor victim of self- * " The Santa Teresa, however, has few ornaments. It is not nearly so large as the Encarnacion, and admits but twenty-one nuns . At pres- ent there are, besides these, but three novices. Its very atmosphere seems holy, and its scrupulous and excessive cleanness makes all pro - fane dwellings seem dirty by · comparison. We were accompanied by a bisl1op, Senor Madrid, the same who assisted at the archbishop's con- secration-a good-looking man, young and tall, _ and very splendidly dressed. His robes were of purple satin, covered with fine point - lace , -with a large cross of diamonds and: amethysts. He also wore a cloak of Yery fine pmple cloth, lined ,vith crimson velvet, crimson stockings, and an immense amethyst ring. ""\ i \Then be came in we found that the nuns had permission to put up their veils, rarely allowed in this order in the presence of strangei-s. They have a small garden and fountain, plenty of flowers, and some fruit; but all is on a sma1ler scale, and sadder than in the convent of the Incarnation. The refectory is a large room, with a long, DaJTOW table running all round it-a plain deal tab1e, with wooden benches; before the place of each nun, an earthen bowl, an earthen cup with an. apple in it, a woodeu plate, and a wooden spoon; at the top of the ta- ble a grinning skull, to remind them that even these indulgences they shall not long enjoy . . "In one corner of the room is a reading-desk, a sort of elevated pul - pit, where one reads aloud from some holy book while the others clis- cnss their simple fare. They showed us a crown of thorns, which, on MEXICO AND ITS RELIGION. inflicted daily torture, half crazed from insufficient food, and sleep, and clothing, has endured all this misery to certa i n days, is worn by one of their number by way of penance . It fs made of jron, so that the nails, entering inwa.rd, run into the head, and mali:e it bleed. ,vhHe she wears this on her head, a sort of wooden bit :is put into her mouth, and she lies prostrate on her face till dinner is ended; and while in this condition her food i s given her, of which she eats as much as she can, which probably i s none. "We visited the different cells, and were horror-struck at the self- inflicted tortures. Eacl.l bed consists of a wooden pJank ra i sed in the m i ddle, and, on days of penitence, crossed by wooden bars. The pil - lo,y is wooden, with a cross lying on it, which they hold in their bands when they lie down. The nun lies on this penitentia l couch, embrac- ing t . he cross, and her feet J rnng in g out, as the bed is made too short for her, upon principle. Round her wa i st she occasionally wears a band with iron points turning inward; on her breast a cross with nails, of which the points enter the flesh, of the trnth of which I had melancholy ocular demonstration. Then, after having scourged herself with a whip covered with iron nails, she lies down for a few hours on the wooden bars, and rises at four o'clock. All these in struments of discipline, which each nun keeps in a little box be side her bed, l ook as if their fitting place would be in the dungeon s of the Inquisition. They made me try their bed and board, which I told them would give me a very de- cided taste for early ri s ing . "Yet they all seem as chee1ful as possible, though it must be con- fessed tl1at many of them look pale and unhealthy. It is said that, when they am strong enough to stand this mode of life, they Jive very long; but it frequently happens that girls ,vho come into this convent are obliged to leave it from sickness long before the expiration of their novitiate. I met with the girl whom I had seen take the veil, and can not say that she looked either well or cheerful., though she assured me that 'of course, in doing the will of God,' she was both. There was not - much beauty among them generally, though one or two had remains of great lovehness . My friend, the Madre A - -, is handsomer on a closer view than I had supposed her, and seems an e sp ecial favorite with old and young . But there was one whose face must have been. - strikingly beautiful. She was as pal~ as marble, and, though still young, seemed in very delicate health; but her eyes and eyebrows were as black as jet; the eyes so large and soft, the eyebrows two penciled arch- es, and her smiles so resigned and sweet, would have made her the loveliest model imaginable for a Madonna. "Again, as in the Incarnation, they bad taken the trouble to prepare an elegant sLtpper for us . The bishop took his' place in an antique vel- vet chair; the Senora - - and I were placed on each side of him. The room was very well lighted~ and there was as great a profusion of cus- tardc;, j ellies, and ices as if we had been supping at the most profane cafe. The nuns did not sit down, but walked about, pressing us to eat, NUNNERIES AND PRISONS. 343 accumulate a stock of good works for the use of less mer - itorious sinners, besides the amount necessary to carry herse l f to heaven ; for penance, and not repei i tance, is this poor pagan's password for salvation . The old Quakeress is not a fashionable saint, for she never dreamed of this huxter business in spiritual affairs. Out of the over£owing goodness of her heaxt, she had tried to lighten the miseries of life in her own humble and quiet way, and found her happiness in seeing all about her made comfortable. The money that otheTs expended in buying masses for the repose of their own sou.ls and those of their relatives after death, she expend - ed in minist'ering to soul and body in this world, leaving to Goel above the affairs of . departed spirit s , to deal with them according to His mercy. She never presumed to add to the torments of this life, or undertook to lighten the torments of the departed. Her duties lay all in this wOTld, and when her labors were ended, she quietly lay the bishop uow and then gi v ing them cakes, with permission to e · at them, whi c h they received lau g hing . "After supper a s mall harp was brought in, , v bfoh bad been sent for by the bishop's per m i ss ion. It was terrib l y out of tune, with 4alf the strings broken; bu t we were determined to grud g e no trouble in putting it in order, and giving these poor recluses what th e y considered so great a gratilication. vVe got it into some so1t of cou d ition at last, and when th e y beard it played, they were vehement in their expre s sions of delight . The Senora - - , who bas a charming voice, afterward sang to t11em, the bi s hop being very indul g ent, and permitt . ing us to select whatever son gs we chose, so that, when rat.her a profane canticle, "The Vfre-in of the Pillar" ( La Virgin del Pilar), ,vas sung, he very kindly turned a deaf ear to it, and seemed busily engaged i n conve1 · sat i on with an old mach-e till it was all over . " In these robes they am buried; and one would think that if any human being can ever leave this world without a feeling of regret, it must be a nun of the Santa Teresa, when, her privations in this worlu ended, she lays down her blameless life, and joins the pions sisterhood who have gone before her; dying where she has lived, surrounded by her companions, her last hours soothed by their prayers and tears, sure of their vigils for the repose of her souJ, and, above all, . sul'e that nei - thel" pleasme nor vanity will ever obliterate her remembrance from their hearts/' - Life £n llifexico, vol. ii. p. 9, 344 MEXICO AND ITS RELIGION. down in death, leaving her future condition to God. She never would pierce her bosom with an iron cross, though it had often been pierced by the trials of life. She has seen enough of real poverty and mortification, but never dreamed of such a thing as poverty and mortification self - imposed, by wearing upon her :flesh a garment of sacking - cloth, or the ingenious invention of a bed so con- trived as to deprive herself of wholesome sleep. Images and holy water occupy no place in her creed, though soap and water are almost too prominent. She did her good deeds from a sense of duty which she owed to her kind, and from the pleasure that it gave her to reliave misery while discharging the ordinary duties of life, and never d.rnamed of the sweet odor hei- good wmks left behind her-an odor which followed her to heaven-an odor more accept a ble to the Almighty than all the endow- ments she might have left to pay for masses for the re- pose of her soul. There is so much that is monotonous in t~lking over the details of affairs of the different orders of these fe- male monks, from the Sister of Guadalupe to the Sister- hood of Mercy, that it is as well to consider them as one, as divers households of single women, who, to win ex- traordinary favor of God, had separated themselves from their families, and devoted their lives, some to 1·epeating praye1·s and acts of self-mortification, some to attending at the hospitals on the sick or the blind, the idiotic, the deformed, the deaf and the dumb, others to educating young ladies according to their peculiar notions of edu- cation, others again consecrating themselves to pauper- ism, and living upon charity; and · when the daily sup- ply of alms has failed, these self-made poor sisters col- lect together, and there wait and pray, a.nd ring their bell, until some benevolent individual shall chance to hear the well - known signal, and come and relieve them. SELF-CASTIGATION. 345 Such is the system of religion of all countries which bear the Christian name, but where freedom does not ex- ist, and where liberty can not thrive. There is a ti-i:fling difference in its phases as exhibited in the Greek and: the Latin Churches, but the difference is too slight for us outsiders to notice. In Mexico it exists in its most unadulterated state, less contaminated than elsewhere with Protestantism or other foreign substances. The old faJ.·ce of self-castigation is here still enacted, as it has been for three hundred years, but in the dark, of course; and blood, or some substitute for it, is hearu to fall upon the floor by the few selected witnesses;* but * "All Mexicans at present, men and women, ai·e engaged in what are called the d e sagravios, a public penance performed at this season in the churches during thirty-five days. The women attend church in the morning, no men being permitted to enter, and the men in the even- ing, ,vhen ·women are not admitted. Both rules are occasionally bro- ken. The penitence of the men is most severe, their sins being no doubt proportionably greater than those of the women ; though it is one of the few countries where they suffer for this, or seem to act upon the principle, that 'if all men had their deserts, who would escape whip- ping?' "To-day we attended the morning penitence at six o'clock, in the church of San Francisco, the hardest part of which was their having to kneel for about ten minut . es with their arms extended in tl1e form of a cross, uttering groans, a most painful position for any length of time. It was a profane thought, but I dare say so many hundreds of beauti- fully-formed arms and hands were seldom seen extended at the same moment before. Gloves not being worn in church, and many of the women having short sleeves, they were Yery much seen. "But the other night I was present at a much stranger scene, at the discipline performed by the men, admission having been procured for us by certain means, private but powe1:ful. Accordingly, when it was dark, enveloped from head to foot in large cloaks, and without the slight- est idea of what it was, we went on foot through the streets to the church of San .Agustin. When we arrived, a small side door apparent- ly opened of itself, and we entered, passing through long vaulted pas- sages, and up steep winding stairs, till we found ourselves in a small railed gallery looking down directly upon the church . The scene was curious. About one hundred and fifty men, enveloped in cloaks and sarapes, their faces entirely concealed, were assembled in the body of the church. .A monk bad just mounted the pulpit, and the church was dimly lighted, except _ where he stood in bold relief, with his gay robes P2 346 MEXICO .AND l'l'S nELTGION. a party of boys, report says, being somewhat skeptical about the quality of this blood, concealed themselves in and cowl thwwn back, giving a full view of his high, bald forehead and expressive face. · "His discourse was a rude but very forcible and eloquent description of the torments prepared in hell for impenitent sinners. The effect of the whole was very solemn. It appeared like a preparation for the ex - ecution of a multitude of condemned criminals. '\¥hen the discourse was finished, they all joined in prayer with much feryor and enthusi- asm, beating their breasts and falling upon their faces. Then the monk stood up, and in a very distinct voice read several passages of Scrip- ture descriptive of the sufferings of Christ. The organ then struck up the JJ;fiserere, and all of a sudden the church was plunged in profound darkness, all but a scu lp tured representation of the Crucifixion, which seemed to hang in the air illuminated. · I felt rnther frightened, and wou ld ~~ve been g l ad to l eave the church, but it would have been im- possible in the d~rkness. . Suddenly a terrible voice in . the dark cried, 'My brothers! when Christ ,vas fastened to the pil1ar by the Jews, he was scourged!' .At these words the bright figure disappeared, and the darkness became total. Suddenly we heard the sound of hundreds of scourges . descending upon the bare flesh. I can not conceive any thing more horrible.· . Before ten minutes had passed, the sound became splashi"ng from the blood that · was flow i ng. "I have heard of these · penitencies in Italian churches, and a]so that half of those who go there do not really scourge themselves; but here, where there is such perfect conceaJment, there seems no motive for de- ceptio~. Incredible _ as it may seem, this awful penance continued, without intermission, for half an hour! If they scourged each other, their energy might be less astonishing. . - • . · "\Ye : could not leave the chm : ch, but it was perfectly sickening; and had I not been a . ble to take hold of the Senora - - ' s hand, and feel something hum . an beside · me, I could have fancied myself transported into a congregation of evil spirits. Now and then, but very seldom, a suppressed groan was heard, and occasionally the voice of the monk encouraging them by ejaculations, or by short passages from Scripture . Sometimes the organ sti-uck up, · and the poor . wretches, in a faint voice, tr ied ' to join iri. the 1ltEserere. The . sound of the scourging is indescriba- ble. .At the end of half an hour a " little bell was rung, and the voice of the monk was ~eard calling upon them to desist; but such was their enthusiasm, that the horrible lashing continued louder and fiercer than ever. "In vain he entreated them not to kill themselves, and assured them that heaven would l) e satisfied, and that human nature could not en- dure beyond a certain point. No answer but the loud sound of the scourges, which are many of them of iron, with . sharp points that enter the flesh. .At length, as if they were perfectly exhausted, the sound gre~ fainter, and little by little ceased altoget~er. \.Ve then got up in PENANCES. 347 the church, ancl when the pious farce began, took so act- ive a part in the sport upon the naked backs of the fa- thers, as to inflict bodily injury, and break up the bloody entertainment. Still Prntestantism has been felt in Mexico, if not em braced, ancl the common people look back to the happy time when the soldiers of then: Prot - estant conquerors made money plenty among them, and when even - handed justice was dealt out alike to rich and poor, high and low. Though the foreigners laughed at the fables of the priests and ridiculed the monks, they yet were honest in their dealings with the people instead of taking by violence. As there are no people so besot- ted that they do not admire courage and honesty, so the Paisano looks upon the heretic as a man of a superior race to himself. the dark, and with great difficulty groped our way in the pitch dark - ness through the galleries and down the stairs till we reached the door, and had the pleasme of feeling the fresh air again. They say that the church floor is frequently covered ,vith b l ood after one of these penan- ces, and that a man died the other day in consequence of bis wounds." -Life in J.vie:xico, vol. ii. p. 213. j ; r- CHAPTER XXX. The Necessity of large Capitals in Mexico. - The Finances and Reve~ nue.-The impoverished Creditors of the State.-Princely Wealth of Individuals. HA YING spoken of the Church, the great power which overawes the government, it is also proper to mention the seconda:ry powers : the men of colossal fortune. In a country like Mexico, whose wealth arises from mines of silver, these immense private fortunes are requisite to the successful development of its 1·esources. Large capitals must be constantly hazarded on the single chance of striking a bonanza, in an adventure as uncertain as a game of monte. The abandoned mine often turns out to be the treasury of an untold fortune to the man who _ was laughed at for attempting its restoration, while the most promising a.dventure proves a total failure. The temptations to these adventures are dazzling in the ex- treme. The ambitious man forgets the shame and ine- trievable ruin that follows a failure, and looks only to the chances of W])ming a title of nobility and "a house full of silver." Men who shun the gambling-table will ad- venture all on a mine, and in a year or two they have passed from the memory of men, for they have become poor. .Again, a man of slender means has become rich in the 1\1:exican sense, which means a man of millions, and then he is at once elevated by his admirers into that brilliant constellation which is the "great bear" of the Mexican firmament. Still, these powerful p1·ivate individuals prevent the consolidation of any government, whether republican or STATE CREDITORS. 349 dictatorial, and put far off that necessary evil, the con- fiscation of the estates of the Chmch. If there is a Con- gress in session, its members are influenced as our own are influenced. They are swayed this way and that by private interests. When Congress is not in session, they are constantly operating upon the treaslu-y, or, rather, the minister of the treasury is diving about among them to raise the means to keep afloat from day to day. , They will not submit to their full share of taxation. \1/hen they advance money on the pledge of some income, it is on the most onerous terms, so that at least one quarter of the revenue of Mexico is used up in interest or usury. Long experience has reduced the business of shaving the revenue to a system. The most common way to do this is to buy up some claim at twelve and a half cents on a dollar, and then couple it at par with a loan of money on the assignment of some rent. Every thing is farmed out, until at last, two years ago, Escandon proposed to farm the whole foreign duties. Many a time have I sat down in the large ante - :room of the treasmy to look upon and study the chaJ.·acters of those who have come there to be disappointed, when promises will no longer satisfy hunger. One poor wom- an had got a new promise in 1851, and three months' interest, on money deposited with the Consolado of Vera Cruz, and invested in 1810 in building the great road of Perote. Santa Anna, on his retmn, gave her a new order, and she presented it to the minister with bright hopes, when he gave her fifteen dollars - all he had in the treasmy. The best way to collect a debt at Mex - ico is to convert it into a foreign debt, if possible, · ancl: then, if there is a resident that stands high with his min-:, ister, the matter meets with prompt attention . He that can buy a foreign embassador at Mexicq has made a fortune. 350 MEXICO A D rrs RELIGION. I have · spoken of two rich men of Mexico, the first Count of Regla, and one who has succeeded to his mine. As I was standing on the Paseo, a lad passed driving a fine span of mules. "That is the Count de Galvez/? said my companion, '' the son . of the late Co1mt Perez Galvez, the lucky proprietor of the bonanza in the mine of La Suz at Guanajuato." "But that bonanza has given out," said I. "No matter ; this boy's inheritance is sometimes esti- mated ~t $9,000,000." A snug capital with which to begin the world! Laborde, the Frenchman who projected and estab- lished · the magnificent garden at Cuarnavaca, and also built, from his private fortune, the great Cathedral of Toluca, made and spent two pri11cely fortunes _ in suc- cessful mining, and at last ended his checkered careex in poverty. The _ Countess Ruhl, the mother of young Galvez, and her brother the Count Ruhl, are also fortu- nate mi:i-iers. The latter is now infe1·ested in the Real del .Zlfonte. But · the · rich man of the Republic is the Marquis de J aral, in the small but rich mining depart- ment of Guanajuato. This man's wealth surpasses that of all the three patrim.·chs put together. A few yea1·s ago, the whole amount of his live-stock was set down by his · administrador ( overseer) at three million head. He then sent thirty thousand sheep* to · market, which yield- ed him from $2 50 to $3 a head, ' 01· from $75,000 to $90,000 annually; . The goats slaughtered on the estate amounted to about the same number, and yielded about the same amount of 1·evenue. Besides all this, there is his animal product of horses and cattle, and corn and grain fields many miles in extent. Truly this · Marquis of J aral is a large farmer. But as I said of mining, so I may also say tha.t large capitals are necessary to can-y * W,mn's Mexi..co, vol. ii, p. 470. MEXlUAN MILLIONAIRES. 351 on agriculture successfully in the vast elevated plains of the northern, or, rather, interior departments, for the whole value of the valley of J aral consists in an artificia l lake, which an ancestor of the present proprietor con- stnlCted before the Revolution for the puxpose of nTiga- tion; for, without irrigation, his little kingdom would be without value. I might speak of many other landed proprietors whose estates are princely, but none are equal to J aral. Indeed, all men of wealth possess landed es - tates. It is the favorite investment for successful min - ers to purchase afew plantations, each of a dozen ieagues or so, under cultivation. CHAPTER XXXI. Visit to Pachaca and Real del Monte. - Otumba and Tulanzingo. - The grand Canal of Huehuetoca . . - The Silver J\,lines of Pachuca.-Hakal Silver Mines.-Real del Monte Jvlines . -The Anglo - Mexican fining Fever.-i\1y Equipment to descend a Mine . - The great Steam-pump. -Descending the great Shaft. . -Galleries and Veins ofOre.-Among the Miners one thousand Feet under Ground.-The Barrel Process of refining Silver.-Another refining Establi s hment. A.N opposition line of stages upon the mad that ex- tends sixty miles from the city of Mexico to the north- ern extremity of the valley has brought down the fare to $3. It is a hard road to travel in the wet season, and not a very interesting one at any time. Three miles of causeway across the salt marsh brought us to the church and village of our Lady of Guadalupe Hidalgo. From this place we passed for several leagues along the banen tract that lies between the two salt-ponds of San Cris- tobal and Tezcuco, and soon a.nived at Tulanzingo, where the great battle of the Free-masons was fought, and where eight poor fellows lost their lives in the bloody encounter. This, and the hon.-ible battle of Otumba, which Cortez fought a little way east of this spot, are memorab l e events in the history of Mexico-more mem- orab l e than they deserve to have been . .As we rode a l ong the eastern rim of the valley, the sun was shining brightly on the western hill that in.., closed it. The opening made by the canal of Huehue- toca was plain in sight. To read about this canal and to derive an idea of it from books is to get an impression that here, at least, the Spaniards did a wondeiful work. :But to look at it is to dissipate all such compliment- THE Ii.AKAL MINE. 353 ary notions. The engineer who planned it may have been a skillful man, but the government that fettered his movements, like all Spanish governments of those times, consisted of a cross between fools and priests . Even those pious gamblers, the Franciscans, had a :finger in the business. .After absorbing, for near a hundred years, the revenue appropriated to completing the work, they abandoned it to the merchants of iexico, who finally :finished it. The pond that was to be drained by it, the _ Zumpango, was certainly an insignificant affair . · There was nothing farther of interest until we arrived at Pa - chuca. Pachuca is the oldest mining district in Mexico. In its immediate vicinity are the most interesting silver mines of the republic. These mines were the first tha.t were worked in the country, and immediately after the Conquest they were very productive. They were worked · for generations, and then abandoned ; again resumed aft - er lying idle for nearly a century, and worked for almost another hundrnd years ; and then once more abandoned, and resumed again while I was in Mexico. They now produce that princely revenue to Escandon and Com - ' pany of which I have already spoken. The Hakal (Ha x al) mine in part belonged to the number of those which the English Real clel Monte Com - pa n y worked on shares, · with poor success, for twenty - five years. It lies about tl1Tee fomths of a mile from the village of Pachuca. That company devoted theu- chief attention to the mines upon the top of the mount - ain, at an elevation of 9057 feet, and seven miles dis - tant from t"his place, and these mines were co mpamtivel y neglected. The new company, immediately upon tak - ing possession, devoted particular attention to the Rak.al, ~hich resulted in tp.eir striking a b onanza,* i n the Ro - * A very rich portion of a vein is called a bonanza. 354 MEXICO .AND ITS RE.LIGION. sario shaft, which was yielding, from a single small shaft, about $80,000 a month, if I recollect rightly.* The ore of this mine is of a peculiar quality, and its silver is best separated from the scoria by the smelting process, of w • hich I shall treat more fully · when I come to speak of the mines of Regla. The Guadalupe shaft, close by the Rosario, was doing but little when I was there, as it does not belong to the same proprietors. Ori the night of my arrival they had just completed the work of 11umping · the water out of the San Nicholas shaft, famous for the immense amount of silver taken from it in the early period of the mining history of Mexico. · Mounted on a good horse, and followed by a lackey, I rode up the zigzag carriage-road which the English com- pany constructed a quaJ.-ter of a century since in order to convey their immense steam machinery to the top of the motmtain, some seven miles distant. This road is still kept in a good state of repair, and forms a romantic drive for those who keep carriages in the mountains. The sun was shining upon the cultivated hills and TOlling lands far below Ll:S as we jogged along our winding way up the mountain. At every turn · in the road new beauties pre- sented themselves. But it was getting too chilly for · moralizing, and both lackey and I were pleased when we reached the village upon the top of the motmtain, which bears the name of Real del Monte. The house of entertainment here is kept by an . English woman, who seems to be a paxt of the mining establishment. vVhile in her domicile, I found no occasion to regret that I was again elevated into a cold latitude. fore than thirty years have passed since that second South Sea delusion, the Anglo-Spanish American min- * . l\fr. Thomas Auld, the director of the company, furnished me very accurate data in relation to affairs, but these are with my other losses at New Orleans. THE MINING MANIA. 355 ing fever, b r oke out in Englancl. It surpassed a thou- sand - fold the wildest of all the New York and California m i ning and quartz mining organizations of the last five years. Prudent financiers in London ran stark mad in · calculating the dividends they must unavoidably real- ize upon investments in- a business to be carried on in a distant country, and managed ancl controlled by a debat - ing society or board of directors in London. Money ·was acl vancecl with almost incredible recklessness, and agents were posted off with all secresy to be first to secme from the owner of some abandoned mine the right to w01~k i t before the agent of some other company should arrive on the ground.. No mine was to be looked at that w · as not named in the volumes of Humboldt, and any mine therein named was valued above all price. In the end, some $50 ,000,000 of English capital rnn out, and was used up in Mexico. It was one of those periodical ma - nias that regularly seize a commercial people · once in ten years, and for which there is no accounting, and n o remedy but to let it have its way and work out its own cure in the ruin of thousands. It is the same in our own country.* * Before leaving California, a young man in my office, who had been using some of my money which he could not repla . ce, proposed to i-e - pay me in a certificate printed i n reel ink, which certificate declared that I had paid $2000 to,,,a.rd the capital stock o f - - - M i ning Company; Capital S tock, $250,000; signed Col. - - - , President, a gentleman a little in arrears at his boa r ding-house, and my default i ng young man was secretary . Rather an unpromising show that, as the property consisted of a tavern, built of canvas upon Colonel Fremont's ]\faraposa grant, on the principle of squatter sovereignty . Near by the squatt er bad dug a promising bole, and if only money and machinery could be had, perhaps he m i ght Tealize - something from it . The young man assured _ me that they had an agent in New York negotiat i ng fo r machinery, and in a few months they would be ab l e to declare divi- dends. Biting my lips to suppress a hearty laugh, I put the paper print - ed with red ink into my pocket. On my arrival in New York, I wa:s t h understruck at seeing a gilded sign stuck up on the Merchants' Exchange: " - - MININo-Co.MPA.N'i' 356 MEXI . .00 AND ITS RELIGION. After a hearty breakfast at the tavern, I called at the office, or, as it is hexe called, "the Grand House" ( Casa G·rande), and was introduced by l\fr. Auld, the directox, to the foreman, who took me to .the dressing - room, where I was stripped, and clad in the garb of a minei- except the boots, which were all too short for my feet. 1y rig was an odd one ; a skull - cap formed like a :fireman's, a miner's coat and pants, and my own calf-skin boots. But in California I had got used to uncouth attire, and now OFFICE." Not over - troubled by modesty, I ,entured in, and inquired if that machinery 11ad been sent out. I was requested to be seated in a fine cushioned chair. As I love entertainment, I sat down, and took a survey of the desks, the Brussels cm·pet, the ledgers, and the piles of pamphlets, which clearly demonstrated that a man would get his money back many times over before he paid it in. It seemed strange how all this could be supported on the supposed future earnings of a hole in the ground. The Board of Directors assembled. Many of them, I was as- sured, were the leading men of New York, .and things went off with all 1,olemnity . '"11en all was ready, an immense piece of the richest gold quartz was taken from a desk, such as used to be sold at good prices in San Francisco for this very purpose. But not a man in that august as- sembly dreamed of the manner in which such things are gotten up, ex- cept perhaps the said agent sent out to get machinery, but now figuring as a director. I was easily p1·evailed on to sign an argumentative certifi- cate, and was shown one signed by Robert .J. Walker on a much worse hole in the ground than this. I was also informed that New York was not the proper market, which I understand to mean that machinery could not be obtained in :New York on the credit of a quartz vein; and in London they vrnuld not look at a scheme that did not embrace a mill- ion at least . , said the agent aforesaid. Therefore he proposed to give me an engraved certificate, declaring that I had paid $8000, which of course I readily accepted when I found that there was no macl1inery in the case, and that all I had to rest my engraved certificate upon was the one hund r edth part of the said l10le in the ground, with a doubtful title. The last I heard of this agent was , that be was tra:veli.ng ,yith his wife upon the Rhine. w·hether he was in search of machinery or not . , I did not stop to inquire. Instead of the above being an extraordinary case, I understand that it is about a fair average of the California gold schemes that have been brought upon the stock-market of New York. If the papers are only drawn up in the proper form, the most prudent men in ·wan Street are sometimes round to embark their capital before the question ha.s ever been settled whether gold can be successfully obtained from quartz in California . • DESCENT INTO .A MINE. 357 thought nothing of such small matters. We therefore walked on without comments to the house built over the great shaft, where my good-natured English companion, the foreman, stopped me to complete my equipment, which consisted of a lighted tallow candle stuck in a candlestick of soft mud, and pressed till it adhered to the front of my miner's hat. Having fixed a similar append- age to his o-wn hat and to the hat of the servant that was to follow us, we were considered fully equipped for de- _ scending the mine. While standing at the top of the shaft, I was astol}- ished at the size and perfect finish of a steam-pump that had been imported from E~gland by the late English nnnmg company. vVith the assistance of balancing weights, the immense arms of the engine lifted, with mathematical precision, two square timbers, the one spliced out to the length of a thousand, the other twelve hundred feet, which fell back again by their own weight: these were the pumping-rods, which lifted the water four hundred feet to the mouth of a tunnel, or adit, which carried it a mile and a quarter through the mountain, and discharged it in the creek above the stamping-mill. There is a smaller pump, which works occasiop.ally, when the volume of wate1· in the mines is too great for the power of a single pump. A trap-door being lifted, we began to descend by small ladders that reached from floor to floor in the shaft, or, Tather, in the half of the shaft. The whole shaft was perhaps fifteen or twenty feet square, with sides formed of solid masonry, where the rock happened to be soft, while in other parts it consisted of natural porphyry rock cut smooth. Half of this shaft was divided off by a par- tition, which extended the whole distance from the top to the bottom of the mine. Through this the materials used in the work were let down, and the ore drawn up 358 l\fEXICO A D rrs RELIGION. in large sacks, consisting ~ach of the skin of an ox. The otheT h a.If of the shaft contained the two pumping tim- bers, and numerous floorings at _ short distances; from one to another of thes e ran ladders, by which men were continually ascending and descending, at the risk of fall - ing only a_ few feet at the utmost. The descent from platform to platform was an easy one, while the little walk upon the platform relieved the mu~cles exhausted by climbing down. \1/ith no gTeat fatigue I got down a thousand feet, where our farther progress was stopped by the water that :filled the lower galleries. Galleries are passages running off horizontally from the shaft, either cut through the solid porphyry to inter- sect some vein, or else the space which a vein once oc - cupied is fitted up for a gallery by r eceiving a wooden floor and a brick arch over head. They are the pa s - sa.ges that lead to others, and to transverse galleries ancl veins, which, in so old a mine as this, are very numer - ous. vVhen a vein sufficiently rich to warrant working is struck, it is follc;nvecl thr0l1gh all its meanderings as long as it pays for - digging. The opening made in following it is, of coluse, as irr egular in form and shape as the vein it- self. · The loose earth and rubbish taken out in followi11g it is thrown ~nto some abandoned opening or gallery, so that nothing is lifted to the smface but the om. Some - times several gangs of hands will be , working upon the same veih, a board and timber floor only separating one set from another. _ "\iVhen I have added to this descrip- tion that this business of digging out veins has contin- · ued here for near thrne hundred years, it can w e ll be con- ceived that this mountain ridge has become a sort of honey-comb. vVhen our party had reached the limit of descent, we turned aside into a gallery, and made our way among gangs of workmen, silently purnuing their daily labor in 'l'HE Ml l ERS. 359 galleries and chambers reeking with moisture, while the water trickled down on every side on its way to the com - mon r e ceptacle at the bottom. Here we saw English carpenters dressing timbers for flooring by the light of tallow candles that bumed in soft mud candlesticks ad - hering to the rocky walls oft.he chamber. Men were in - du s triou s ly digging upon the vein, others disposing of th e rubbi s h, while convicts were trudging along under heavy burdens of ore, which they supp ' orted on their backs by a broad strap across their foreheads. As we passed among these well - behaved gangs of men, - I was a little staJ."tled by the foreman remarking that one of those carri e rs had been convicted of killing ten men, and wa s und e r sentence of hard labor for life. Far from t he r e b e ing any thing forbidding in the appearance of the s e mmderers, now that they were beyond the reach of intoxicating chink, . they bore . the · ordinary subdued ex - prn ss ion of the Meztizo. According to custom, they lash - ed me to a stanchion as an intruder ; but, upon the fore- man informing them that I would pay the usual forfeit of cig a r~tos on aniving at the statiop - house, they good- naturedly relieved me. · Then we journeyed on a1 1 d · on, until my powers of endurance could sustain no more. We sat down to rest, and to gathe r strength fOT a still ~ longer journey. A.t length we set out a.gain, someti~es climbing up, sometimes climbing down; now stopping to examine different specimens of ores t4at reflected · back the glare of our lights with dazzling brilliancy, and t o look at the endless varieties in the appearance of the rock that filled the spaces in the porphyry matrix. Then we walked for a long way on the top of the _ aqueduct of the adit, until we at last reached a vacant shaft, through which we were drawn up and landed in the pris - on-house, from whence we walked · to the station -ho use, where we we1~e dress~d in our own ~lothes again. 360 MEXICO AND ITS RELIG-10 :r . \iVhen my underground wandeTings were ended, and dinner eaten, it was too late in the day to visit the Te- fining works; but on the next mor~ing, bright and early, I wa.s in the saddle, on rny way to visit the different establishments connected with this mine. First, upon the riveT, at the mouth of the adit, was a stamping-mill, where gangs of stamps were playing in troughs, and re- ducing the hard ore to a coarse po~der. A little way farther down the stream the ore was ground, and then, in blast ovens or furnaces, was heated until all the baser metals in the ore became charged with oxygen to such a degree that they would not unite with quicksilver. The ore was then carried and placed in the bottom of large casks, and water and quicksilver were added, and then they were set rolling by machinery for several days, un- til the silver had formed an amalgam with the mercury, while the baser metals in the ore were disengaged from the silver. The whole mass being now poured out into troughs, the scoria was washed off from the amalgam, which was gathered and put into a stout leathern bag ,vith a cloth bottom, and the unabsorbed mercury drain- ed out. The amalgam, resembling lead in appearance, being now cut up _ into cakes, and placed under an im- mense retort, fire was applied; the mercury, in form of vapor, was driven through a hole in the bottom of the platform into water, where it was condensed, while the silvei- remained pure in the retort. - This is called the barrel process, and is used for certain kinds of ore. I had come self-introduced to the Real del fonte, but that had not prevented my receiving the accustomed hospitality of the establishment. A groom and two of their best horses were at my service during my stay. As the weather was fine, and the roads of the first class of English can-iage-ways, I heartily enjoyed the ride _ down the mountain gorge until it opened upon the broad REFINING SILVER. 361 plain where the second refining establishment, that of Vincente, is situated. Except that the iron floors of their blast ovens were made to revolve while in a state of red heat, all ~as substantially the same as at the last place. Following the meanderings of the stream, I had been gradually descending from the sharp air of early spring to the more . appropriate temperature of the trop- ics, as I had occasion to notice in looking into the fine garden of the English director, which exhibited both .the fertilizing effects of irrigation upon English flowers, and · the advantages of tropical heat upon native varieties. Q CH.APTER XXXII. A Visit to the Refining - mills . - The Falls and basaltic Columns of Reg- la. - How a Title is acquired to Silver Mines.-The Story of Peter Terreros, Count of Regla. - The most successful of l\iliners. -Sil ver obtained by fusing the Ore. - Si l ver "benefited" upon the Patio. - The Tester of the ::fatio . - The chemical Processes employed. - The Heirs of the Count of Regla.-The Rnin caused by Civil War.-The History of the English Company. WE rode along the stone road across the plain, pass- ing now a number of English-~ade wagons laden with stamped ore for Regla, and then a drove of cargo-don- keys trudging along under the weight of bags filled with ihe rich ore of Ha.kal. N ow and then, too, we encounter- ed American army-wagons converted to peaceful employ- ment, and adding to the material wealth of Mexico. But our ride was not a long one before we reached Regla, the utmost limit of our journeyings, a distance of twelve miles from the " Real." Hern the first salutation from the English gentleman at the head of the establishment was that breakfast was waiting, as it was now eleven o'clock, and we must not visit the works upon an empty stomach. My surprise at this unlooked-for hospitality was a little diminished when I learned that all these en- tei-tainments of strangers axe at the company's expense. The patio, or open yard of Regla, on which the princi- pal portion of the ores of the Real del Monte company a~·e " benefited," or, as we should say, extracted, is sit - uated deep down in a ban·anca, where both water-power and intense heat can be obtained to facilitate the process of separation. The immense amount of mason-work here expended in the erection of massive walls would THE FALLS OF REGLA. 363 make an imposing appearance if they had been built up in the open plain ; but here they are so overshadowed by the mason-work of nature that they sink into · insignifi- cance in comparison. The bank, some two hundred feet high, of solid rock, as it approaches the waterfall on · either side, has the appearance of being supported by natural buttresses of basaltic columns_:_columns closely joined togeth e r and placed erect by the hand of nature's master-builder. Still, all would have been stiff and for- mal had the sides of the barranca been lined only with perpendicular columns ; but broken and displaced pillars are piled in every conceivable position against the front, while a vine with brilliant leaves had run to every fis- sure and spread itself out to enjoy the sunshine. The little stream that had burst its way through the upright columns and over the broken fragments, fell into a per- fect basin of basalt, heightening immensely the attrac- tions of the spot. I sat down upon a fallen colum and for a long time continued to contemplate the unexpected scene, of which, at that time, I had read nothing. There was such a n1ingling of the rich vegetation of the hot country with the rocky ornaments of this pretty water- fall that I could never grow weary of admiring the com- bined grandeur and beauty of the place, from which Pe- ter Terreros derived his title of Count of Regla. Peter Terreros, the first Count of Regla, became one of the rich men of the last century in consequence of a lucky mining adventure. In olden times the . water in the Real del fonte mines had been lifted out of the mouth of the Santa Brigeda and other shafts in bulls' hides carried up on a windlass. When near the surface, this simple method of getting the · water out of a mine has great advantages on account of its cheapness, and is now extensively employed in Mexican mines. But aft- ei- a certain depth had been reached, the head of water 364 MEXICO AND ITS RELIGION. could no longer be kept down by this process, and, in consequence, the Real del Monte was abandoned about · the beginning of the last century, ancl became a com- plete ruin; for no wreck is more complete than that which water causes when it once gets possession of a mine, and mingles into one mass floating timbers, loosened earth, rubbish, and soft anc;I. fallen rock. By the min- ing laws of Mexico, the title to a mine is lost by aban- doning and ceasing to work it. It becomes a waif open to the enterprise of any one who may "re-denounce" it .. The title to the soil in Mexico, as in California, carries no title to the gold and silver mineral that may be con- tained in the land. The precious metals are not only regarded in law as treasure-trove, but they carry with them to the lucky discoverer the right to enter upon an- other person's land, and to appropriate so much of the land as is necessary to avail himself of his prize. Col- onel 'remont's Mariposa claim, and all other California land claims, are subject to this legal condition. Peter Teneros, then a man oflimited means, conceived the idea of draining this abandoned mine by means of a tunnel or adit (socabon) through the rock, one mile and a quarter in length, from the level of the stream till it should strike the Santa Brigeda shaft. Upon this en- terprise he toiled with varied success from 17 50 until 17 62, when he completed his undertaking, and also struck a bonanza, whic~ continued for twelve years to yield an amount of silver which in our day appears to be fabu- lous. The vei~s which he struck from time to time, as he . advanced with his socabon, furnished means to keep alive his enterprise. ,vhen he reached the main shaft, he had a ruin to clear out and rebuild, which was a more costly undertaking than the building of a king's palace. Yet his bonanza not only furnished all the means for a system of lavish expenditure upon the mines and refin- PETER TERREROS. 365 ing-works, blit from his surplus profits he laid out half a million annually in the pm·chase of plantations, or six millions of dollars in the twelve yearn. This is equal to about 500,000 pounds' wejght of silve1·. Besides doing this, he loaned to the king a million of dollars, which has never been paid, and built and equipped two ships of the line, and presented them to his sovereign. The humble shop-keeper, Peter Terreros, after such displays of munificence, was ennobled by the title of Count of Regla. Among the common people he is the sub- ject of more faoles than was Crresus of old. "'\V"hen his children wei-e baptized, so the story goes, the procession walked upon bars of silver. By way of expressing his gratitude for the title conferred upon him, he sent an in.:. vitation to the king to visit him at his mine, assm'ing his majesty that if he would confer on him such an ex- alted favor, his majesty's feet should not ti-ead upon the ground while he was in the New World. ·vvherever he should alight from his carriage it should be upon a pave- ment of silver, and the places where he lodged should be lined with the same precious metal. Anecdotes of this kind are innumerable, which, of course, amount to no more than showing that in his own time his wealth was prnverbial, and demonstrate that in popular estimation he stood at the head of that large class of miners whom the wise king ennobled as a reward for successful min- ing adventures, and that he was accounted the richest miner in the vice-kingdom. The state and magnificence which he oftentimes displayed surpassed that of the Vice-king. This in no _ way embarrassed an estate, -the largest ever accumulated by one individual in a single enterprise. Count Peter is estimated to have expended two and a half millions of dollars upon the 1Juildings constituting the refining establishment of Regla, which goes under 366 MEXICO A.ND ITS RELIGION. the - general designation of the patio. Why his walls were built so thick, or why so many massive arches should have been constructed, is an enigma to the pres- eht generation, as they could by no means have been intended for a fortress down in a ba?"ranca. But let us go in and examine the different methods of "benefiting" silver here applied. The ores from . the Rosario shaft of the Hakal mine of Pachuca are here stamped and ground, _ and then thrown into a furnace, after having been mixed with lime, which in fire increases the heat; while upon the open torta we shall see that lime is used to cool the mass. Litharge ( oxide of lead) is added, and the mass is burned until the litharge is de- composed, the lead uniting with the silver and the oxy- gen entering into the slag, into which the baser metals, or scoria in the ore, have been formed. This is cast out at the bottom of the furnace. The mass of molten lead and silver is drawn off, and placed in a large oven with a rotary bottom, into whicl:i tongues of flame are contin- ually driven until the lead in the compound has become once more oxydized, forming litharge, and the silver is left in a pure state. This is the most simple method of purifying, or " benefiting" silver. A little beyond the furnace is a series of tubs, built of blocks from broken columns of basalt. In the centre of each revolves a shaft with four arms, to each of which is fastened a block of basalt, \hat is dragged on the stone bottom of the tub, where bTOken ore mixed with water is ground to the finest paste. . Here the chemical process of "benefiting" commences. A bed is prepared upon the paved floor (patio) in the yard, in the same manner as a mortar bed is prepared to receive quick- lime dissolved in w~ater. In the · same way is poured out th~ semi-liquid paste. This is called a torta, and contains about 45,000 lbs~ Upon this liqui_sl mass four BENEFITING 'l'HE ORE. 361 and a half eargas of 300 lbs. of salt is spread, and then a coating of blue vitriol (sulphate of copper) is laid over the whole, and the ti-amping by mules commences. If the mass is found to be too hot for the advantageous working of the process, then lime in sufficient quantities is added to cool it ; and if too cool, then iron pyrites (sulphate of iron) is added. The mules ai-e then turned upon the bed, and for a single day it is mixed most thoroughly together by tramping and by turning it over by the shovel. On the second day 7 50 lbs. of quicksil- ver are added to the torta, and then the tramping is re- sumed. The most important personage, not even excepting the director, is called '' the tester ; " for the condition of the ores varies so much, that experience alone can de- termine the mode of proceeding with each separate torta, and upon the tester's judgment depends oftentimes the question whether a mining enterprise, involving millions of dollars, shall prove a profitable or unprofitable ad- ventm-e. Perhaps he can not i-ead or write, though daily engaged in carrying on, empirically, the most difficult of chemical processes. To him is intrusted the entire contwl of the most valuable article employed in mining -the quick.silver. He is constantly testing the various tortas spread out upon the patio; to one he determines that lime must be added; to another, an opposite process must be applied by adding iron pyrites. '\iVhen all is ready, with his own hands he applies the quicksilver, which he carries in a little cloth bag, through the pores of which he expresses the mercury as he walks over and over the torta, much after the manner that see.dis sown with us. The tester determines when the silver has all been collected and amalgamated with the mercury. Whether the tramping process and the turning by shov:- els shall continue for six weeks or for only three, is de- 368 MEXICO AND rrs RELIGIO • cided by him. When he decides that it is prepared for washing, the mass is transported to an immense wash- ing machine, which is propelled by water, where the . base substances are all washed from the amalgam, and . then the amalgam is resolved into its original elements of silver and quicksilver by fire, as already explained, with the loss of a . bout seventy - five to one hunched pounds of mercury upon each torta. Let us now run over the many chemical processes that have been resorted to in order to separate the silver from the ore. The roll - brimstone, that has been pro- cued in Durango, or in the volcano of Popocatapetl, is bought up at the mint in the city of Mexico, where it is burned in a room lined with lead, and into which water is jetted until the smoke of the burning brimstone is con- densed. This water of sulphur is then carefully collect- ed, and distilled in a boiler of platinum, on which sulphur can not act. The sulphuric acid obtained by this distil- lation is used to separate the gold that is found in the sil- ver bars from silver. This sometimes · amounts to ten per cent~ The acid dissolves the silver, but does not ' act upon the gold, which is thus separated from the sil- ver. The sulphate of silver is drawn off and poured upon plates of copper, by which means the silver is pre- cipitated, and sulphate of copper, or blue vitriol, is pro- duced, which, not being of use in the mint, is sold to the Real del M o nte Company, whe1·e it is employed in ob- taining silver. The process by which the company obtain their salt has been already stated, while the lime they use is burned upon the mountains. .After all the _ se hard and laborious processes, only from five to ten per cent. of silver is obtained, except in cases of bonanzas, which shows that silver mines can be profitably worked only in those countries where labor commands the lowest standard of wages. THE HEIRS OF REGLA. 369 The heirs of the Count Peter inherited his accumula- ted treasures, ' his purchased estates, his title, and his prospects of future success in mining, which were as brilliant as they had been in his lifetime. They never dreamed- of :financial emba , rrassments in the midst of ac- cumulations of wealth which surpassed the wildest of Oriental romances. They forgot that their wealth rest- ed upon the perfect security which they inherited from the wise and virtuous government of Carlos III., of blessed memory; that he it was who had put out the · :fires of the Inquisition, and so curtailed the power of the priests that they could no longer plunder with im- punity, or rnb the Terreros of the fruits of their father's ente1·prise by threatening them with the censure of the Church, which, in the i-eign of a feeble king, had a sig- nificant meaning. The new code of mining laws,. the cheapness of quicksilver, and the opening of commerce, had all combined to make their fortune, which they might lose in a moment if the heir to the throne should prove an idiot, as was most likely, and priests should again usurp the control of affairs, and play their old game of plundering the rich while they excited the populace. Fortunately for the family of Terreros and the many successful mining families of that period, Charles IV. was not quite so much of an idiot as his grandfather or his great-grandfather had been, and. though the Inquisitors resumed their fires, yet it was with such comparative moderation as not to interfere seriously with the prngress of that prosperity to which Carlos III. had given an im- pulse. The Countess of Regla still sported the richest jewels to be found in New Spain, and her sistei·'s coronet was the envy of all the ladies of the court. But the i11- surrection of Hidalgo came upon them in the midst of prosperity, overwhelming alike the rich and the poor. The large Spanish capitals began to be withdrawn from 370 MEXICO AND ITS RELIGION. the countl'y, the plantations were broken up, and the mines, abandoned by their laborers, soon fell to ruin; and they who had been baptized in the midst of the most ostentatious display of wealth, found themselves pinched to sustain their ordinary expenses. The Terreros family kept their title good to the Real del Monte by 1·etaining a few workmen about the prem- ises; but it was substantially abandoned for twenty-£. ve years before the English Real del Monte Company took possession. In the space of two years this company had cleared out and rebuilt the aclit by working gangs of hands night and day. Another party, engaged upon the shafts, arrived at the adit level at the same time with the workmen upon the drain. A third party, engaged in making and repairing a carriage-road from the sea to the mine, had completed their labors ; while a fourth party, in chai-ge of machinery and steam-power apparatus enough to equip a Cornish mine of the largest class, had anived at the mine. In this fomfold, and much of it useless labor, the company had exhibited untiring activity, while they exhausted all their capital without realizing the return of a single dollar. But they derived rich hopes from reading the story of Peter Terreros, and they continued to hope on and hope ever, for a period of twenty-five years longer, when they ceased to exist. The story of this company is summed up in saying that they expend- ed upon this vast enterprise the sum of$20,000,000, and i-ealized from it $16,000,000. They disposed of all their interests here for about what their materials were worth as old iron, and the present proprietors enjoy the fruits of their labors at a cost of less than a million of dollars, with a fair prospect of yet realizing from their specula- tion as large a treasure as that acquired by Peter Terre- ros, the first Count of Regla. J:Ia-ving thus described with some minuteness one of THE RE.AL DEL MONTE. 371 the most extensive silver mines in the world, where an average of 5000 men and unnumbered animals are em- ployed, it will not be necessary to go into details as we notice the many t?ther celebrated mines of Mexico. CHAPTER XL-YIII. Toluca . . - Queretaro, Guanajuato: and Zacatecas. - Fresnillo. - "Ro- mancing . "-A lucky Priest.-San Luis Potosi. - The Valenciana at Guanajuato. - Under-mining. - A Name of Blasphemy. -The Los Rayas.-Immense Sums taken from Los Rayas.-vVarlike Indians in Zacatecas. A STAGE runs daily from the city of Mexico by Ta- cubaya and the Desierto to the beautiful valley and city of Toluca. This town is greatly indebted for its pres- ent celebrity to successful mining adventures. Its Ca- thedral is a monument of the munificent liberality of the Frenchman Laborde, whose fortune was ever unequal to his generosity. We have spoken aheady of the almost Oriental magnificence displayed in the famous ga1xlen which he built and adorned at Cuarnavaca. After spend- ing the wealth acquired from the bonanza of Tasco, he started off in search of new adventures and a new for- tune. Being again successful, he made Toluca the bene- ficiary of his princely liberality. The celebrated Cathe- dral of that city, and all its ornaments, are the proofs of his munificence. When his third fortune was exhaust- ed, the fickle goddess forsook him, and he who had three times been raised from nothing to the condition of a mill- ionaire, came in his old age to the arch bishop for relief from his poverty. This relief he obtained by selling the jewels he had once bestowed upon the Church. Such often are the vicissitudes in the life of a successful miner. I can not notice here the many interesting objects gath- ered as I would wish to do, nor have I · space for a de- scription of the beautiful mountain scenery about Toluca. The middle states of Mexico, Guanajuata, Zacatecas, MIDDLE STATES OF MEXICO. 373 Durango, and San Luis, are deserving of a more ex- tended notice than my limited space will permit. There is little of war or romance to recount in the history qf any of them. Their story is made up of notices of silver mines, and times of great bonanzas and cattle-raising. Here the population is mostly white, made up of the hardy peasantty from Biscay. The Indians on the high table-lands were too hardy to be reduced to slavery: the result is the same here as in Chili. The two races have not extensively intermixed, as the Indians were di'iven northward, where, for a period of three hundred years, they have, in a measure, maintained their inde- pendence, and have so much improved in the art of war that they are able to return again and fight for the homes of their ancestors. The white inliabitants of these states ar.e more cleanly in their habits, and more industrious than the Southern people. The little state of Quereta.ro has little to boast but its agriculture, but to the north of it is a country of mines and pasturage. There was formerly great rivalry between the states of Guanajuato and Zacatecas on the ground of their mining successes. · Each in turn has had its season of boasting, for it ha-s happened that, in those years _ when Guanajuato was most prosperous, Zacatecas was not in bonanza,_ and vice vm·sa. When I was £rst in )fexico, San Luz and San Luce, at Guanajua.to, were in bonanza, with di- vers others; and out of $300,000 in silver bars brought down to the city of Mexico, nearly ten per cent. of gold was extracted. But now both these . bonanzas have given out, and the annual product of silver in the State of Gua- najuato has fallen off over $2,000,000, while the mines , of Zacatecas a1·e in a most flourishing condition, as is shown by the large sum of $1,200,000 being demanded by government for i-enewing the lease of the mint at Za- catecas. 374 MEXICO A.ND ITS RELIGION. Fresn:illo is the most :flourishing of the mines . of Zaca- tecas. This mine was form e ly considered of little Yalue. Among its advantages is an American manager, who for many years has aided in the direction of its ~ff airs. On my return from Mexico, I found the road up the Perote covered with wagons laden with portions of a monster steam-engine, the fifth that was to be employed to pump the water from this mine. It seems incredible that so large a sum as $1,000,000 should be required for the • . freight alone of this new machinery. But? after I had become familiar with the vast scale on which every thing is conducted at a large silver mine, where millions ap- pear as the small dust of the balance, I can credit what my readers might think improbable. * · I have often spoken of_ the _ peculiaritie _ s of peasant life in the country and of the JJeons of the cities. · But there is another phase of humble life to be consid e red-the so- cial state of the mine laborer. Like all men whose wages are very irregula1·, and subject to the fluctuations which follow mining speculations, they themselves be- come irregular in their lives. They have all heard of the many instances of persons of as humble condition as themselves accidentally falling upon a princeiy fortune, and they know, too, what a miraculous chang e such a discovery makes in the social condition of a p e on, for ev- ery miner in Zacatecas , knows the hom~ly distich: "Had the metals not been so rich at San Bernabe, Ibru:ra would not have wed the daughter of Virey."t In addition to scraps and snatches of songs, the min- ing laborers have their romanc e s, which are as wild as the yarns of the sailor, and have for theu· almost nniver- * By reference to a long and able paper on the mines in the hi11 of Proano (Fresnillo ), it appears that one half of the cost of four pumping- engines already in operation in that mine was the freight from Vera Cruz to the mine. t This translation is bad enough, but no worse than the original. l>ADRE FLORES.-CUATORCE. . 375 sal theme the miraculous acquisition and loss of a for- , tune. The hero possesses princely wealth to day, though yesterday he was suffering for food, and to-morrow he will be again bereft of all by the fickle turns that For- tune makes in the wheel of destiny. The wildest of our romances never come up to many incidents that have oc- curred in their ow1i mine ; and wp.en they attempt fic- tion, it is on the pattern of the Arabian Nights' Enter- tainments. I do verily believe that all that class of Arabian tales are but the reproduction of the romances from the Oriental gold-washings. · - The most important mines in the State of San Luis Potosi are those near Cuatorce. In the midst of bleak a1id precipitous mountain ridges is the village · of Cua- torce, from which a circuitous mountain wad leads to the entrance of the mini11g shafts, in ,vhich more won- derful t hings ha v e occurred than in the wildest of the "romances." The story of Padre Flores is a familiar o n e, but will bear 1·epeating. The padrn, being tired of the idle life of a paup~r priest, bought, for a small sum, the claim of some still morn needy adven t urer. After following his small vein . a lit- tle way, he came to a small cavern containing the ore in a state of decomposition. This, in California, would be called a "rotten vein." With all the difficulties to be encountered in obtaining a fair value for mineral in a crude sta t e, the pom · priest realized from his adventme o v er $ 3,000,000, which was considered a very fair for- tune for an utnnitred ecclesiastic. - The :Mineral Report, mentioned in the last note, which is so full on the subj'ect Fresnillo, i11sists that it is a con- tinuation of the formation of Cuatorce and the other mines o f San Luis. The mountains at CuatoTCe are more ru:eary, bleak, and barren than in any other of the prin- cipal mining districts, as it is mo:re exposed to the storms 376 MEXICO A D ITS RELIGION. and tempests from the northeast and from the ocean. It was in this State of San Luis Potosi that Dr. Gard- ner's quicksilver mine was alleged to exist, and in the ineffectual efforts made to determine its whe1·eabouts our government has become quite familiar with the lo- cation of all the worked mines of this state. The mines upon the mountains ofCuatorce are said to have been dis- covered in 1778 by a negro fiddler, who, being compelled to camp out on his way home from a dance, built a fire upon what proved to be an outcrop of a vein, and, in consequence, found in the morning, among the embers, a piece of virgin silver. It is a doubtful question among those who are anxious about trifles whether the name Potosi · given to this mine, owes its origin to the similar- ity between the mode of its discovery to that of the cel- ebrated mines of that name in South America, or to the vast amount of silver at one time taken from it. Guanajuato, when it yielded its six millions a year of silver, besides a fair supply of gold, was one of the most important States in the republic. vVith every success- ful speculation, new adventurers were found to invest their capital in resuming the working of abandoned mines, until at last men have become bold enough to un- dertake, for the third time, the draining of the great shaft , of the Valenciana, so famous in the last century. When I was last in Mexico that undertaking was reported to have beE}n accomplished. This mine is on a more mag- nificent scale than even the Real del Monte. Its cen- tral shaft alone cost a million of dollars ; and though steam power can not be used, yet it is so dry that horse windlasses can keep it clear of water. Its abandonment in every instance has been 1n consequence of some insur- rectionary chief setting the w01·ks of the mine on £.re, and not from any deficiency in its product of silver. When I was in Mexico, so little progress had been made in re- THE MINE OF LOS RAYAS. 377 storing the mine that it was not thought worth visiting. But the most sanguine hopes were entertained that it would again be as productive as in the -times when its abundant riches secured for its owner the title of Mar- quis of Valenciana, though he had worked with his own hands on the shaft which afterward yielded him _ its millions. Second in importance among the old mines of Guana- juato is Los Rayas. Its history presents a new feature in the mining system of Mexico, not before mentioned, but which is important to a right understanding of the operation of the mining code. The right of discovery gives title to two hundred varas along the mine, and to t w o hundred va r as (about 500 feet) in depth. The con- sequence of this limitation is, that when a very rich claim is made, there immediately springs up a contest . to get b e l~ w ' it, - and to cut off the lucky discoverer from the low- er pa rt of his expected fortune, and he has no means of a v oiding such a result but by driving his shaft down- ward un t il he reaches a point below his first two hund- red va r as, which entitles him to claim another section downward. This principle is strikingly illustrated in the case of the famous mine of the priest Flores at Cuatorce, which he blasphemously named " the Purse of God the Fa- ther, "* where t~ern are marks of divers attempts being * T h i s will sound to Protestant readers something like horrible blas- phemy; . but it must be borne in mind that God the Father of the Cath- olics is an entirely different . idea from the spiritual God whom we wor- s h ip. The devout Protestant who recognizes but one Being worthy of adoration , veneration, and worship, never ventures to mention any of the names by which He is known but with the profoundest · re-verence. The Ca t holic, on the other hand, has a host of objects which he deems worthy of adoration, and seems to have cheapened the article by multi- pl y ing i t . Hi s senses are all exercised in his peculiar kind of worship, and, as a natural consequence, they are apt to conclude that the Al- mighty enjoys those exhibitions that give them the greatest pleasure . 378 MEXICO .AND ITS RELIGION. made to undermine him, though without success. But the case is a different one when the bonanza is upon a high i-idge, and it can be undermined by drifting in from a lower level. Then commences a lively contest to de- termine who can dig the fastest, and make the most rap- id progress in this contest of mining and countermining. The Marquis de los Rayas owes his title and his prince- ly fortune of $11,000,000 to a successful contest of this cha.racter. The Santa Arnita was in bonanza, yielding an ore so pregnant with gold , that the crude mass often sold for its weight in silver. They worship him by perfol'ming a pantomime of the life and suffering of Christ, which is called the mass, and seek to propitiate him by offer- ing the body of his Son in sacrifice. They bestow upon God gifts of jewels and of gold; and as he passes through their streets in the form of a wafer, as they believe, the soldiers present arms, heat the drum, and discharge their cannon, as to a,11 earthly prince. Though our Sav- iour (Santo Christo) heads the calendar of intercessors between God and man, he is seldom invoked, though they often honor him by naming their children after him. . As they l!ave conferred upon a multitude of their saints the supernatural powers of God, they have necessarily brought God himself down to earth. If I might be pardoned the ex- pression, I should say that they treat him and his '" r ell-beloved Son with a loving intimacy. The worship of the Catholics is sub s tantially mate- rialism, more or less gross, according to its distance from or its proxim- ity to Protestantism. There fa no blasphemy, according to their system, in naming their shops after the Holy Ghost, a horse-stable aft-er "the Preciou _ s Blood," though I could never hear them mentioned or see them without having my Protestant notions shocked, while I equally shocked their feelings by refusing to kneel to the Host, and slipping out of the way to avoid it. Nor could I exhibit the least reverence to their relig- ious · emblems ·without committing what in me would be an act of idol- _. atry, the two systems being so diametrically opposite that one can not go a step toward the other without breaking over a fundamental doc- trine of his own belief. God is an invisible Spirit, says the Protestant. God is a Spirit, answers the Catholic, but he daily as s umes the form of a wafer, and traverses our streets, and in that form we most commonly worship him. Such is the religious antagonism that will ever be found in the world while man remains what he now is, ever divided between mentalism and materia]ism. Forms and names often differ, but these are the two ideas into which all the religious systems of the world re- solve themselves, although abortive attempts are often made to com- bine them. ~ .: ,..,...... . . . . . DEEP :MINING. 379 Contests of this kind are very different from those which used to take place in California some years ago, when twenty feet square was marked off upon the top of a ridge, thi-ough which the claimant had to sink his shaft to the base rnck on which the gold was supposed to be deposited. vVhen the 1:ock was reached, it was often found difficult to keep the lines that had been mark- ed off on the surface, particul a rl y when the 1ead grew richer as it approached the bor d e r of the claim. Con- troversies were frequent, and frequently resulted in sub- terranean quaITels and fights, and, of course, ended in superterranean lawsuits. But the Mexican rival parties were s e ldom near enough for a fight, and the qua : rrel end e d, as it began, in a contest to determine who could dig the fast e st. Another peculiar feature of deep mining is the con- struction of the main shafts. A. description of the meth- od of construction of one of these I take from Ward's Mexico, * a book that is otherwise of little value to a per- son seeking for information on the subject of mines at Guanajuata, so great has been the revolution there in a few years in the condition of mining affairs : " I 1mow few sights more interesting than the opei-ation of blast- ing in the shafts of Los Rayas. After each quarryman (barr e t e ro) has undermined the portion of rock allotted to him, he is drawn up to the surface; the ropes belong- ing to the horse-windlasses (rnalacates) are coilecl up, so as to leave every thing clear below, and a man descends, whose business it is to fire the slow matches communi- cating with the mines below. " A.s his chance of escaping the effects of the explo- sion consists in being drawn up with such rapidity as to be placed beyond the reach of the fragments of Tock that are projected into the air, the lightest malacate is pre- * Vol. ii. p . . 452. 380 MEXICO AND ITS RELIGION. pared for his use, and two horses are attached -to it, se- lected for their swiftness and courage, and are called the horses of p e gado ' r. The man is let down slowly, carrying with him a light and a small rope, one end of which is held by one of the overseers, who is stationed at the mouth of the · shaft. A. breathless silence is ob- served until the signal is given from below by pulling the cord of communication, when the two men by whom the horses are previously held release their heads, and they dash off a.t full speed until they are stopped either by the noise of the £rst explosion, or by seeing from the quantity of cord wound round the cylinder of the mal a - cate that the p e gadm· is already raised to a height of sixty or seventy va1 · as [Spanish yards], and is conse- quently beyond the reach of danger." The author then goes on to enumerate the risks that attend this calling of p e gador, and the consequent hi g h wages that have to be paid to per s ons who undertake this perilotts office, all of which accidents and adventures must be familiar to those of my readers who have paid any attention to . the business of blasting rncks; and as his han·breadth escapes have nothing in them remark- able~ we may conclude this notice of Los Rayas by add- ing his statement that the king's fifth from this mine, from 1556 to his time, amounted to the snug sum of $17,365,000. He gives only the sum reported, and makes no calculation for the large sums out of which the king was annually cheated at all the mines. That my reader may understand how a _ sum so apparently incredi- ble as five or eight times seventeen millions of dollars could be taken out of a single - mine, he ' must rncollect that Los Rayas was a most productive mine shortly after the Conquest, and that for a century or two it was com- paratively of little value, until :Mr. Jose Sardaneta under- took the undermining of the rich mine of Santa .Arnita INDIA.NS AND SOLDIERS. 381 in 17 40, and that afterward the rich product of the low- er levels of the Santa Arnita are included in this immense sum. Thei-e is too much sameness in the details of the his- tories of the various other important mines of this State and of those in the adjoining State of Durango to jus- tify the lengthening out this chapter, and I will conclude it with giving the substance of a statement I heard the American gentleman make on the subject of Indian dep - redations in the very centre of the i-epublic, showing- · the great inconvenience suffered in consequence of the state of insecurity in which the people constantly live. A party of their own Indians, a most degraded band of cowardly vagabonds, that lived not a great way from the city, concluded to peTSonify a company of northern sav- ages, in order more successfully to plunder the inhabit - ants. With shoutings, these vagabonds rushed into the houses of the people, who were so paralyzed by the very sight of Indians in a hostile attitude, that, without re- sistance, they suffered them to plunder whatever came within their rnach which tempted their cupidity or lust: At length, becoming satiated with liquor and champagne that they had taken from a carrier, they had to retire and camp out for the night. In their retreat they were pursued by a captain and soldiers of the regular army, who, being more numerous than the Indians, exhibited a great deal of courage until they came in sight of the sav:- ages, when, all at once, it was concluded to encamp for the night, and to resume the pursuit the next day, when the Indians would be at such a distance that they would not disturb their pursuers by their whooping. CHAPTER XXXIV. Sonora and Sonora Land Speculators seeking Annexation.-Sonora and its Attractions.-The Abundance and Purity of Silver in Sono- ra.-Silver found in large Masses.-The Jesus Maria, Refugio, and Eulalia l\f.ines.-A Creation of Siker at Arizpa.-The Pacific Rs.il- road.-Sonora now valueless for want of personal Security.-Tbe Hopes of replenishing the Spanish Finances from Sonora blasted by War.-Report of the Mineria.-Sonora.-Chihuahua. IT has been said in another chapter that the Apaches had extended their depredations beyond the first tier of States, and had entered Durango, Zacatecas, San Luis Potosi, and even Guanajuato, making this second tier of states their stamping ground, while Sonora, Chihua- hua . , Coahuila, over which they now rode without oppo- sition to a country more abundant in plunder, are left as political waifs to any who may choose to take possession of them. As in all abandoned countries, there are in- habitants here incapable of getting away, and too poor even for the Indians to notice ; and there are a few mis- erable villages still existing, with a fragment of their former population. All the inhabitants of these wretch- ed hamlets have their eyes fixed on the United States as the only hope of relief from their Indian plunderers. The proprietors of estates, extending over vast districts, too cowardly to defend their claims, which exceed in ex- tent European principalities, are sitting quietly down at a respectful distance, anxiou s ly looking forward to the time when their claims will rise in value from a few dol- lars to a.s many hundred thousands by an annexation to the United States. Mexican operators in grants have not been idle. They have ascertained what the United LAND TITLES. 383 States courts call a title, and have been providing them - selves with the necessary parchments,* while A.me1·ican operators, in connection with them, have been equally busy. Chihuahua and Sonoi-a are the States or Departments to be affected by our Pacific Railroad. Sonora is the most valuable of the two, not only on account of its in- exhaustible supply of silver, but also on account of its delightful climate and agricultural resources. It is like the land of the blessed in 01-iental story. California: does not surpass it in fertility or - in climate. With in- dustry and thrift, it could sustain a population equal to that of all Mexico. The table - lands and the valleys are so near together that the products of all climates flour - - ish almost side by side. Food for man and beast was so easily procured that the descendants of the early settlers sunk into effeminacy long before the breaking out of the great Apache war of the last century. Drought, how- ever, makes the formation of artificial lakes and reser- voirs necessary to the full development of its agricultu- ral wealth. But it is the remarkable abundance of silver which distinguishes it above all other countries except Chihua- hua. I have described, in a former chapter, the long and laborious processes by which silver is produced from the ore in the southern mines, a . nd also the great depths * When I was first at the city of Mexico, Governor Letcher int r o- duced to me a son of the late emperor, who had a claim for land in Califomia which he had not located before the annexation . I advised l1im, without a fee, that our courts did not recognize foreign "floats," and that, by his own laches, be l1ad lost his cJaim, which be now spread along the 'acramento River for 400 miles. Finding out, aftm· an ex - penditure of seYeral thousand do1lars, the defect, be got a new claim from the late PresiJent Lombardini of thirty miles square, which be will probably now pin tight in Sonora. The defect of our two last treaties with Mexico was in not having a clause inserted reducing all titles to land to six miles square, as a consideration for the enhanced value by the annexation. 384 MEXICO AND rrs RELIGION. from which it is raised. In Sonora, silver is most com:.. monly extracted from the ore by the simple process of fusion. But in the district of Batopilos, it is, or rather was, found pure. If ,ve should adopt the theory that veins of ore ext~nd through the entire length of Mexico, then I should say that they " crop out" in Sonora, 01·, rather, that the - silver lodes which are here above the surface dip toward the city of Mexico, and also north- ward toward California. The mountain · chain which traverses California under the name of the Sierra .Ne-- vada appears to be only a continuation or reappearance of the mountain chain here called Sierra Madre (JVIoth- ei- Range), which forms the boundary between the de- pai·tments of Sonora and Chip.uahua. - On the western de~livity of this mountain range, the most remarkable illustration of this fact of crnpping out is found at Batopilos, already mentioned. This town is in a deep ravine. The climate is, like that of the pali- fomia gulches, intensely hot, but remarkably healthy. Here the lodes <l silveT oxe are almost innumerable, * with crests elevated above the ground. The mine of El Oar- men, in the times of the vice-kings, produced so immense- ly that its proprietor was ennobled, with the title of far- quis of Bustamente. - This was the beginnin g of the family of Bustamente. A piece of pure silver was found here weighing four hundred and twenty-five pounds. I should like to continue in detail to enumerate the rich smface mines in the southern portions of these two States, but, lest I should weary my reader, I . must omit them, * I would not like to make such extravagant statements on my own authoritf, however satisfactory the testimony might be to myself, for tJie abundance of silver in Sonora is beyond the belief of most men. But, fortunately, I have, in Ward's "M~xico," an authority that can not be disputed. The work is accessible to all my readers. The au- thor was charged by the British government with an examination of the mines of Mexico. CHIHU.A.HUA AND SONORA¥ 385 and refer those who wish to learn more to the transla- tions from the last official reports of the JJfineria, enti - tled Chihuahua and Sonora, which are embodied in the Appendix. ~ '' The 'Good Success }\fine' (Bueno Successo) was discovered by an Indian, who swam across the river aft- er a great flood. On arriving at the other side, he found the crest of an immense lode laid bare by the force of the water. The greater part of this was pure massive silver, sparkling in the rays of the sun. The whole town of Batopilos went to gaze at the extraordinary sight as soon as the river was fordable. This Indian extracted great wealth from his mine, but, on coming to the depth of three Spanish yards ( varas), the abundance of water obliged him to abandon it, and no attempts have since been made to resume the working. °V\Then the silver is not found in solid masses, which requires to be cut with the . chisel, it is generally finely sprinkled through the lod e , · and often serves to nail together the particles of stone through which it is disseminated."*-" The ores of the Pastiano mine, near the Carmen, were so rich that the lod e was worked by bars, with a I30int at one end and a chisel at the other, for cutting out the silver. The o,vner of the Pastiano used to bring the ores from the mine with flags flying, and the mules adorned with cloths of all colors. The same man received a reproof from the Bishop of Durango when he visited Batopilos for placing bars of silver from the door of his house to the great hall (sala) for the bishop to walk upon."t The next mine of inteTest in our progress northward is the Morelos, " which was discovered in 1826 by two brothers named Araneo . These two Indian peons were so poor that, the night before their great discovery, the keeper of the store had refused to crndit one of them for * Y.l ARD, vol. ii. p, 578. t Ibid . . R 386 MEXICO AND I'l'S RELIGION. a little corn for his tortillas. They extracted from their claim $270,000; yet, in December, 1826, they were still living in a wretched hovel, close to the source of their wealth, ba1·e - headed and bare - legged, with upward of $200,000 in silver locked up in their hut. But never was the utter worthlessness of the metal, as such, so clearly demonstrated as in the case of the Arancos, whose only pleasure consisted in contemplating their hoards, and occasionally throwing away a portion of the richest ore to be scrambled for by their former compan- ions, the workmen." Near the Morelos is the Jesus Maria. Though on the western or Sonora slope of the mountain, it is only eight leagues from Chihuahua. This, like Morelos, is a mode1·n discovery, and, of course, was not included in the number of those Sonora mines which produced such an intense excitement about a hundred years ago in Mexi- co, and even in Spain. Here; within the circuit of three leagues, two hundred metallic lodes we1·e registered in one year. The story of the mine of EZ Refugio, discover- ed by a fellow of the name of Pacheco, gave occasion for anecdotes like those of the .Arancos which we have just recited. A deale1· had an old cloak which took the fancy of Pacheco, and to purchase this thing he gave ore from which the dealer realized $8000. Three twenty-fourths (three bars) of the product of this mine netted, between the years 1811 and 1814, $337,000. On the Sonora side of the mountain is Santa Eulalia. The ores of this real [district] are found in loose earth, filling im- mense caverns, or what ai:e called" rotten ores" in Cali- fornia, and are easily separated by smelting. One phil- _ ling a mark ($8) was laid aside from the silver which one of these caverns produced, which shilling contribution, constituted the fund out of which the magnificent Cathe., dral of Chihuahua was built. . THE .l\UNE OF ARAZU:MA. 387 Proceeding northward, we come to a spot the most famous in the world for its product of silver, the mine of Arazumct. For near a century, the accounts of the wealth of this mine were considered fabulous; · but their literal truth is confirmed . by the testimony of the English embassador. .After examining the old records which I have quoted, I have no doubt that the , facts surpasse~ the astonishing report ; for in Mexico, the propensity has ever been to conceal rather than over-estimate the quantity of silver, on account of the king's fifth; yet it is the king's :fifth, actually paid, on which all the esti- mates of the production of Sonora silver mines are based. Arazuma ( which, in the report of the lVIineria that I have translated for this volume, appears to be set down as .Arizpa) was, a hundred years ago, the world's wonder, and so continued until the breaking out of the grea~ .Apache war a few years afterward. Men seemed to run mad at the sight of such immense masses of vii-gin sil~ ver, and for a time it seemed as if silver was about to lose its · value. In the midst of the excitement, a royal, ordinance appeared, declaring .Arazuma a '' creation of sil~ ver" ((:reador de plata), and appropriating it to the king's use. This put a stop to private ente1·prise ; · and, after the Indian war · set in, .Arazuma became almost a forgot- ten locality ; and in a generation OT two afterward, the accounts of its mineral riches began to be discredited. We have the following record in evidence of the mass- es of silver extracted at .Arazuma. Don Domingo .As- mendi paid duties on a piece of virgin silver which weigh- ed 27 5 lbs. The Icing's attorney (fiscal) brought suit for the duties on several · other pieces, which together weighed 4033 lbs. .Also for the recovery, as a cUTiosity, and th~refore the property of the king, of a certain piece of silver of the weight of - 2700 lbs. This is probably the largest piece of pure silver. ever found in · the world, and - 388 MEXICO AND ITS RELIGION. yet it was discovered only a few miles distant from the contemplated track of our Pacific Railroad. I might continue enumerating the instances of min- eral wealth bi-ought to light in these two states, Sonora and Chihuahua, if I supposed it would be interesting to - my readers; but as they have heard enough of silver, I may add that rich deposits of gold were found at l\liolat- to in 1806, and a still greate1· discovery of gold was made a few years ago. lri this latter discovery, the poor diggers suffered so much from thirst that a dollar was readily paid for a single bucket of watei-, and at length, by reason of the drought, this rich place?' had to be abandoned. Such is Sonora, a region of country which combines the rare attractions of the richest silver mines in the world, lying in the midst of the finest agricultural dis- tricts, and where the climate is as attractive as its min- eral riches. But its richest mineral district is near its no1·them frontier, and is almost inaccessible, and can nev- er be advantageously worked without an abundant sup- ply of mineral coal for smelting; nor can any of its mines or estates be successfully worked without greater secur- ity for life and property than at present exists. The capitalists of Mexico will not invest their means in de- veloping the resources of Sonora, and in consequence, the finest country in the woi-ld is fast receding to a state of nature. I found in the Palace at Mexico a copy of the last report of the Governor of Sonora upon the state of his Department, in which he mentions, among many other causes of its decadence dming the last few years, the extensive emigration of its laboring population to California. Extravagant as are these statements of the mineral riches of So~ora, they prnbably do not come up to the reality, as the largest of them are founded on the sums FUTURE OF SONOR.A. 389 reported for taxation at the distant city of Mexico, when it was notorious, as already stated, that a large portion of the silver was fraudulently concealed in order to avoid the faxes. Such concealment could be successfully car- ried on in a region so distant and inaccessible as Sonora was in the time of Philip V., for it was in the reign of that idiot king, before the liberal mining-ordinances of Carlos III., that the Sonora mining-fever broke out. A hundred years have passed since the once formidable Apaches swept over northern Sonora like a deluge, blot.:. ting out foreve1· the hopes which the Spanish court had conceived of retrieving the fallen £.nances of their em- pire from this El Dorado. But Providence had ordered it oth ~rw ise. The Spaniards had · done enough to dem- onstrate its inexhaustible wealth, and then they were driven away from this " creation of silver,"* and the whole deposit held for a hundred years in reserve for the uses of another race, who were destined to oven,m the conti- nent. I should have but half perf01·med my task should I omit to speak of the excellent bay and harbor of Guay- mas, in the southern part of Sonora. After San Fran- cisco, it is the finest harbor on the Pacific, and is the nat- ural mute through which our commerce with the East Indies should be dii·ected. The long experience of Spain taught her that a western route to the East Indies was so much superi01· to the one by the Cape of Good Hope as to compensate for a transhipment of all of her East In- dia merchandise upon mules' backs from Acapulco to Vera Cruz. Much moi-e advantageous must it be to us, when a railroad from El Paso, pa . ssing through the midst * I do not know exactly how to translate the Spanish idea attached to the words creador de plata unless by saying that it is a spot where ba- ser substances are supposed to be converted into silver by some unknown process of nature. 390 MEXICO .AND ITS RELIGION. of the silver district I have described, · shall transfer our commerce with Japan and China to the Pacific side of our continent. Here the very silver necessary for the purchase of tea is . nearly as abundant · as tin in some of the European mines, and, as in California, the prospects held out to the farmer are equal to mineral attractions . . It would be folly for om government to acquire So- nora without first providing for connecting it with our country by railroad, and equally foolish to acquire it without making provision, in the treaty of acquisition, for reducing all land-titles to the size of a single town- ship, in consideration for the superior value given to the property by the annexation, and for annulling all land- titles under which there is not an actual occupancy. The Spanish courts concede to government this power over private rights, and for this reason a treaty of acqui- sition from :Mexico would p1·event the confusion that now exists in California, and enable American settlers to lo- cate understandingly at once. All titles should con- tinue to be subject, as they now ai·e, to the right of the miner to enter in seaTch of precious metals, thus no con- flicts in i-elation to the 1·ights of land-owners and miners could ai1.se. The principle on which the Mexican min- ing · 1aws and the California mining customs are estab- lished should be recognized by the United States. But that right of entry would not arise until the construction of a railroad should afford the means of actually reduc- ing - the country to possession, which Spain never has ac- complished~ -and Mexico never can accomplish. APPENDIX. A. MINERIA REPORT ON THE MINER.AL RICHES OF SONORA. AI'rlONG the five-and-twenty states and territories that compose the Mexican confederation, there is no other which contains in its respective territory the like wonderful min- eral riches which abound in the state of which we treat . This would appear almost fabulous ; but there is proof enough from the testimony of many residents of that state, and from the assertion of travelers, from the evidences which the archives of the various missions exhibit, and f:z:om the royal registry of mines (reales de minas), and, lastly, from the indubitable fact of the production of great quantities of gold and silver from the mines and placers of this state, con- sidering the small amount of forces, and its isolation from, all the principal settlements of the republic by reason of the distance which separates it from them. In fact, many metals of universal estimation, such as gold, silver, mercury, copper, and iron, in a pure stat _ e, in grains, in masses, or in dust, as well as mixed with other metals, superficially or in veins, are found in the extensive territory of Sonora; lead, or combinations of lead, for aiding in ex-,. tracting metals by fire, and for the construction of munitions of war, amianthus or incombustible crystal, divers ores of copperas, exquisite marble, alabaster, and jasper of various colors, as well as quarries of stone of chrispa and magnetic stones, muriate and carbonate of soda, saltpetre or nitrate of potassa, am, in enumeration, the mineral productions which are found in abundance in the territory of the state of So- 392 APPENDIX. nora, which comprehends the region from the river of Fort J-Ylonte Clarasal at the south to the Gila at the north, and from the Sierra Madre at the east to the Colorado at the northwest. To the disgrace of the nation, these authentic ancl exact notices of the marvel.ous riches of this remote state have availed nothing in determining speculators (empresarios) to resort to those ' places in pursuit of a fortune so certain, or at least to have avoided, by the means of colonization, the loss which is feared of this inestimable jewel. - The territory of the state of Sonora lacks nothing but se- 9urity [from incursions ·ofindians] in order that the hand of man may be profusely recompensed for his labor. Virgin soils, where the agricultural fruits of all climates not only flourish, but many of these improve in quality; navigable rivers, which contribute in part to the easy transportation of the products to the ports of the Pacific for exportation and consumption ; mines and placers of precious metals, in many of which there is no necessity of capital to explore and col- lect them-are not these stimulants enough to attract there a population ·thrifty and civilized? In order to ascertain the .. mineral riches which the nation may lose in a short time, we call attention to the mineral statistics which follow, although they are imperfect and diminutive. As already we have said, the whole of Sonora is mineral; but as among us we only give this name to tliose places in which there have been discovered and, worked a conjunction of veins, it results that the places in this state to which for this cause has been given the name of mineral are thirty- four. Some of the mines are amparadas [viz., worked suffi- cient to confer a legal title to the occupant], and are imper- fectly in a state of operation. The names of all of these two classes, which are sixteen in all, are Hermosillo, San Javier, Subiate, Vayoreca, Alamas, Babicanara, Batuco, La Alame- ¢1.a, Rio Chico, El Aguaja, Aigame, El Luaque, Saguaripa, La Trinidad, San Antonio, and El Zoni. The remaining eighteen are found abandoned, some for the want of water, and othe1·s for the want of laborers or APPENDIX~ 393 capital, and by the fear which the barbarous Indians in- spire. The names of these last minerals are San Juan de Sonora, that of the S ierra at the northwest of Guaymas, Ari- zuma, Bacauchi, Antunes, San Jose de Gracia, El Gavilau, San Ildefonso de la Cienequilla, San Francisco el Calou, Santa Rosa, San Antonio de la Huenta, V adoseco Sobia, Mu- latos, Basura, Alamo-Muerto, and San Perfecto. In the same state have been discovered twenty-one pla- cers; of these, one is of virgin silver, in grains and . plates (plancluis), and twenty of pure gold, in grains and dust; but as nearly all these are situated in the mineral districts (min- erales) already mentioned, the names of those which are not given a1•e the following: Agua Caliente, Quitovac, Las Pa- loh1as, La Canaca, and Totahi:qui. With the exception of three, to which gold-hunters fro , m time to time resort to re- lieve their necessities, all the others remain abandoned. There was only one mineral district actually in work at the close of the last century and the beginning of the pres- ent ; those now actually in process of being worked are fourteen, and their names are La Grande, La Quintera, El Subiate, Bulbaucda Europita, Vayoreca, La Cotera, Santo Do- mingo, Noercheran, La Sibertao, Minas-Nuevas, El Tajo, Minas Frietas, and another near La Grande. From the mineral districts (rninerales) abandoned there ought to be inferred an increased number of mines, which are in the same condition, but we do not know their names, and we have only notices of the twenty following: Pimas, La Tarasca, Ubalama, Ojito de San Roman, Y aqu i s, La Guerita, N oaguila, Las Animas, Afuerenos, Piedras-verdes N avares, La Calera, Caugrejos, Guillarmena, San Atilano, San Teodoro, and El Gavi lau. In those in Pinas, and in one of those of the mineral of San Jose de Gracia, have been found considerable amounts of pure silver deposited in their veins, and mineral taken from San Teodoro has produced one half silver. In extracting the silver from the ore in this place, we ought to mention that the greater part of these mines are susceptible of great bonanzas, from not having been worked extensively, as their prqprietors abandoned R2 / 394 APPENDIX. them when the metals failed to appear upon the surface, and when the exploration was a little more costly. There are eleven haciendas in the State of Sonora for pu- rifying the metals which the mines ancl placers · produce, without taking into the account many little establishments, with from two to five horse-mills, with one bad furnace for the fusion of metals. Three of these are situated in Alamas, five in Aduana, one in Promontorio, another in Tatagiosa, and the last in Minas uevas (Nevi' Mines). Them are many abandoned mines, as the rubbish and n1ins indicate, which we have noticed, in all the abandoned mineral dis- tricts. The methods which they have observed in extracting the metals from the ore are the patio [by application of quick- silver in an open yard], and that of fusion, with the aid of some metals that assist the fusion ; but from the fact that the quicksilver augments considerably the price, the few that there canyon the business have preferred the process of fu- sion to that of the patio, from being less costly, and because the docility of the metals aflord facilities to this process. No machines of new invention have been introduced into that state, either for the drainage of the mines or for facili- tating the extracting of the metals. This ought not to sur- prise us, in places so desert and distant from the metropolis, unaccustomed to the vivifying movements of commerne, and to the necessities which civilization has engendered in the more important populations in the eentral parts of the 1·e- public. That which is rare, and ought to call attention, is the exception of some mines, ,vhere rnalacatos [ water-sacks of bull-hides, drawn up by a windlass] are used for dis,, charging wate1·. In almost all those which have thus been worked, they have not had an opportunity to exhibit thefr 1·iches, as the abundance of water in many of them was the principal cause of their abandonment. The greatest difficulty in the way of giving an exact idea of the products of the mines and placers of Sonora is the scandalous contraband exportations of gold and silver which . are made from the ports of the Sea of Oortez [Gulf of Cali- APPENDIX. 395 fornia] on the one hand, and, on the othel', the difficulties that have presented themsehres to his Excellency, the Governor of that state, for giving the statistical notices which have been sought on repeated occasions by the Junta of the Mi- neria, both of ·which causes have made difficult the account which we furnish; but by those ,vhich they themselves fur- nished of the production of those minerals before and since the independence of the nation, and by the exhibits of vari - ous witnesses presented in the remi~sion of bars which from thence they made to the capital of the republic, when the ports of the Pacific were sealed to foreign commerce, the production of precious metals having yielded in divers epochs not far from 4500 pounds of silver, without considering the gold (abundant enough in plac e rs and in rivers), and from ·what is known, the quantities of this metal ext racted have been considerable, and in more abundance than in the · min- eral districts of the other states of the republic. Attention having been much called to the ley and weight of the grains of pure gold found on the surface in Quitovac, Cienequilla, and San Francisco, as well as those masses of virgin silve1· found in Arizuma, which wonderful riches stim- ulated the colonial government to despoil the proprietors of it, and afterward the King of Spain, in declaring that it per- tained to his roya l patrimony. All those places in Sonora which are actually abandoned, as .. well as all the lands of that state, are susceptible of pro- ducing great riches . · The reasons on which these assertions are founded are those which M .. Saint Clair Duport mentions in speaking of the probable variation there will be in value of gold and silver in time, by reason of the great extractions hereafter of these metals, particularly in California [ this was before the annexation of California] and Sono ra, whe1·e, as in the Ural Mountains, and the Altai Mountains of Central Asia, gold is extremely abundant, and because in the placers mentioned explore1·s have recognized gold in dust, which they have not washed for want of water in some, and from ' the difficulty that exists in others in order to work them, such as those of Arizuma and La Papagueria. - _ ,.- 396 APPENDIX. Nothing could be said in relation to the number of opera- tives who are employed in working the mines of this state, nor the day-laborers; nor in respect to articles consumed there, as well in the digging of the metals as in extracting them from the ores, because, as has already been said, his Excellency the Governor has not been able to give the no- tices which have been sought, and there are no other better authorities through whom information can be procured. For in this state there are no mining courts,* but the ordinary judges of first instance are the authorities which take cog- nizance of matters which occur in the department of the Mineria. There are no companies for th,e exploration of the mines in that remote state. Some inhabitants, in distant periods, have procui-ed the formation of numerous caravans with the character of companies, and with the object of collecting precious meta ls , which they encountered in the placers of Arizuma and of Papagueria, but until now they have not been able to hold with effect undertakings so laudable. Various are the causes on account of which the riches which lie buried through all parts of the immense territory of the State of Sonora have not been explored. Some of these reasons have already been referred to, but, for greater clearness, we take this opportunity to recapitulate them all. The first, which are much ~oted, are the following: 1st. The absolute want of personal security. 2d. The scarcity of population, and of the means of sub- sistence for the few hands that they were able to have de- voted to working mines in the immediate vicinity of hostile Indians. 3d. The irregularity and the want of experience and cap- ital in those who have undertaken the exploration and the extraction of metals, which has occasioned the abandonment * The title to all mines in Mexico rests so1ely upon discovery and improvement, without any regaTd to the proprietorship to the land on which the mfoes are located; but the proof of discovery and improve- ment must be made and recorded in the mineral courts, except in So- nora, where the ordinary courts have jutj.sdjction~ APPENDIX. 397 of this class of speculations whenever they presented any difficulties, or commenced to be more costly by failing to pro- duce metals upon the surface of the earth. Some certain speculations which have been directed with regard to the rules which regulate mineral industry, and have been pros- ecuted with capital, have well compensated the labors and efforts of the proprietors. Gold and silver, as above said, are not the only mineral productions of Sonora. In the part of Muchachos, situated . in the Sierra Madre, between Tueson and Tubae, and in Mo- gollon, a place situated in the mountain~ of Apuchuria, in those of Papagueria, and near the Colorado, are found great masses of virgin iron, and abundant veins of the same metal. Cinnabar was discovered in 1802 in the hill of Santa Te- resa, situated in the mine'tal of Rio Chico ; and in the hills which ate at the north of the Colorado~ it has been found - in the past ~ge. Copper is also found in Antunes, Tonuco, Bacauchi, Poio de Crisante, Sierra de Guadalupe, Sierra de la Papagueria, and particularly in the Couanea, from whence have been extracted great quantities of this metal, with a great ley of gold. Metals oflead (metales plomosos) abound in Agua Caliente, Alamo~Muerto, La Papagueria, Arispe, . and La Cieneguilla. From these two last points have been taken considerable quantities of them, for supplying ~ll other mines of the state [ tq aid in fosion], and for munitions of war. Copperas, or sulphate of iron, is abundant in San J a- vier, San Antonio de la Huerta, and Agua . Caliente. In the :first of these placers a vein runs from south to north, from pieces of which, dissolved in water, there results a tint which, by evaporation, forms into grains, and produces the · same effect as the tint of China. In Cucurpe is armanto, or incombustible crystal, which the ancients so much valued. Marbles of various classes and colors, as well as alabasters and jaspers, are found in Opasura, Hermosillo, Uores, La Campana, and other points ; but we do not know as yet the place from which the Aztecs obtained the beautiful reddish marble which they used in the construction of their divinity ofChapultepec, which is preserved in the National Museum, 398 APPENDIX. and which, according to all conjectures and probabilities, J)roceeded from the quarries of marble of that state. There are quarries of the stone of chrispa, and even the magnet in Alamas, Hermosillo, in Sierras of the frontier, and in the causada of Barbitas, ten leagues distant from Hermosillo, near the route of La Cieneguilla. lVIuriate and carbonate of soda, saltpetre, or nitrate of potassa, are found in the margin of the rivers which empty into the Gulf of Cortez [ of Cali- fornia], and particularly in the mouths of the Colorado. B. REPORT ON THE MINERAL RICHES OF CHIHUAHUA. THE statistical notices which have until to-day been re- ceived, embrace five cantons or departments of that state, which show that there exist in it si.xteen minerals [ districts CQntaining mines], of which twelve are in working, and four abandoned in consequence of the incessant incursions of bar- ba r-0us Indians. Their names are Hidalgo del Parral, Minas N uevas, San Francisco del Oro, Santa Barbara, Zopago, Ohi - nipas, Guazapores, Batozegache, Guadalupe y Calvo, Cuaco- gornichie, Galeana, Cosihuiriachic, Santa Eulalia, Barranco, and two more, without names, in the canton Caleana . Twenty-one mines are found in operation in the twelve minerals in action . The number of those abandoned is in- creasing, and is not permanent; and the only cause referred to is th-at many of them are abandoned for want of capital, and others from the hostility of the barbarians. The pro- ducts of those that were worked in the year 1849 amount to 146,818 marks of silver, of a ley of eleven dineros, and 7 marks, 7 oz., and 4 eighths of gold . to the twenty-two quintals. The number of haciendas and furnaces for extracting the metal from the ore was twenty, and the processes which · they use in that state are the patio and the furnace; the last is the most general. Finally, there has been put in practice a third system, by the house of Manning and M'lnt~sh, for APPENDIX. the purpose of separating the silver by means of the p edp- itate of coppei-. The consumptions of the last year, 1849, \ amount to $544,194, notwithstanding which the notices omit the returns of vai-ious mines, haciendas, furnaces, and water- mills. The items are quicksilver at $140 a hundred, gun- powder,lime, wood, sulphate of copper, salt, iron, steel, metals of aid [ metals thrown into the compound to aid the process of extracting], tallow, grease, hides, leather, corn, straw, grain, flesh, beans, and bars of il-011. The number of operatives is not known with exactness, because the reports only refe1· to certain mines and haciendas, but in these they amount to 1833, besides day-laborers at five reals (¾ths of a dollar) a day for half the time. The most important improvements that have been introduced into some of these mines consist in the establishment of pumps for facilitating draining, and in the introduction of German ovens for fusing a greater quan- tity of mineral _ at a less cost and ·with greater perfection, being so much the more interesting as the condition of the metals presents itself more easily to this kind of benefiting. Four companies have been established for prosecuting the labor of the mines, Presena, Rosario, Tajo, and Prieta. The :first ta1res its name from Seii.01· Delille, the second is com- posed of Mexicans, and the last two are composed of Mexi- cans, English, and naturalized Spaniards. Nothing is known in relation to their capitals. Besides the p1·ecious metals, we find lead in N aica and Babisas, of the canton of Mata- moros; copper, from which only magzstral is taken, is found in the canton of Mina, and sul phm· and saltpetre in the canton of Iturbide. The reports mention nothing in respect to the . authorities that take cognizance of the affairs of the Mineria; but it is presumed that, as in the rest of the nation, the judges of first instance take knowledge of controversies, and the courts of mines, if by chance they are established, take cognizance of the economy and government of the mines. The mint of Guadalupe and Cahro coined in 1848, $720,765, and in 1849, $665,225, of which two sums $1,027,130 were of silver, and $355,859 in gold, the whole being the proceeds of 116,015 . marks, 1 oz., - and 4 eighths of silver, of the ley of 400 APPENDIX. eleven dineros, and of 2351 marks, 5 oz., 2 eighths of gold, with ley of twenty - two carats. This appears from the re- p01·ts of the mint of the capital of that state. o. REPORT ON THE MINERAL RICHES OF COAHUILA. Tms state, one of the least populous, and exposed, like all the frontie1· states of the north; to the incessant incursions of the barbarous tribes, offers at present very little inter- est to those speculations which engender the exercise of ' mineral industry - that which, besides experience and cap- ital, requires for its development an abundance of hands and entire security. While the publication of the mineral sta- tistics of the nation not only brings the idea of manifesting the present condition of this brnnch of industry among us, but also that of propagating its exercise as - one of the prin- cipal elements of riches among the Mexicans, it is necessary to speak of the state in which the Mineria is in Coahuila, and of hopes which it makes to spring up for the future, There are twelve mines actually amparadas, or in laboi-, in the four minerals already mentioned · : their names are un- known to us, and it is only known that their monthly prod- ucts amount to 200 marks [ of 8 ounces] of silver and 150 loads of greta [ litharge]. The number ofoperatives employ- ed in all these amount to I 93, and the day labo1·ers receive four reals [half a dollar] a day. There is no exact notice of the number of minera l dis- tricts and single mines abandoned in the State of Coahuila; but the number is considerable, according to the informa- tion furnished from 1843 by the deputation of Santa Rosa . Among those deserving a particular mention is that of the Sierra de Timulco and that of Potrerillos, by the good ley of the metals of the mines of the first, and by the uniformity of the veins and not unappreciable richness of the second. These veins run generally from northwest to southeast, and in the c o urse they encount~r, scatter~d about, silver-bear i ng APPENDIX • 401 . galena [ sulphuret of lead], lead, copper, with sulphuret of zinc. The amount . of the consumptions of the mines that are worked is also unknown; but it is known that the gun- powder costs the operators $9 an aroba [ of 25 pounds], of lead, $12 a carga of 300 pounds; that of greta, $6; cop- per, of superior quality, $16 the hundred weight; the car- ga of coal, six reals [ three fourths of a dollar], and wood, one r e al a mule-load. The ruins and the heaps of rubbi s h manifest that in other times there was much activity in the labor of the mines and haciendas for separating the metals; but to-day there are only in existence some fur- naces, which are the least costly, which the miners of Coa- huila can use for their metals. This they effect generally in ovens, and in galem e s in the open plain. .But this meth- od of s e parating the metals, whjch Coahuilans have been neces s itated to adopt as the least expensive, until quicks i l- ver has notably fallen in price~ has not remained stationary, as in other parts of the republic. These simple inhabitants have succeeded 1 by the force of experiments, in obtaining as a r e sult th~ power of fusing 25 cargas [ of 300 pounds] of me tal, with the aggregation of 18 cargas of gr e ta, in only one furnace and in the space of twenty-four hours, , by con- suming only 4 5 pounds of coal for each carga of metal. There ar~ three companies in that state for working the mines in the mineral district of Ramirez, and another in that of Trinudco. There is no notice of the amount of funds employed, but it is presumed that they are not considerable, · by considering the smallness of t):ie fortunes of the inhabit- ants of the frontier. In government and economy of mines the Assembly of Mineria of the valley of Santa Rosa have jurisdiction, but in litigations the judges of :first instane . e have jurisdiction, to whom a particular law of this state gives authority. In Coahuila, besides silver , there is found virgin iron in masses of considerable volume and of extraordinary value in the Sierra of Mercudo, in Guaclalupe, and other points. There is copper in Putula or Rios and in Guadalupe. In these mineral districts we also encounter lead . Amianto 402 APPENDIX. (incombustible crystal) also abounds in Niezca and in the vicinity of Monclova, as also nitre in San Blas, jurisdiction of San Buonaventura. In the hills of Gizedo, correspond- ent to the districf of Santa Rosa, are extracted sulphur and copperas. It is difficult to ascertain and to mention all the causes which have led to the decadence of the mineral industry of this state, because the reports which the authorities have remitted do not state it exactly; but there is no doubt that they are two, viz., the want of security dccasioned by the frequent incursions of the barbarians, and the little affec- tion which the agricultural people that occupy that state have for mining enterprises; that, as already said, they re- quire recognizances, as well as capital and hands, things which are scarce enough in the vast territory of the frontier state of Coahuila. D. REPORT ON THE MINERAL RICHES OF LOWER CALIFORNIA. THE sparse population of this territory, the want of s~ien- tific information in its inhabitants, and the difficulties which have existed in the way of keeping up an intercourse with their fellow-citizens · of the centre of the republic, are causes weighty enough for explaining the ignorance in which we live concerning the mineral riches of that interesting penin- sula. Without doubt, if we are permitt~d to judge of it from the abundance of the precious metals which California of the North and · sonor · a contain · , and their contiguities, we ought to infer that in the territory of Southern California the designated metals should be found in considerable quan- tities. The official notices which we possess in respect to Lower California fortify this conjecture. Those exhib- ited by persons who lack competent instruction upon this point contribute in part to foretell what will be the grade of prosperity which will come in time with the developing of the mineral industry in this ~erritory. APPENDIX. 403 Southern California, by its topographical position alone, is called to occupy an important place, not only among the integral parts of the nation, but even among foreign parts of America which are bounded by the Paci.fie. If its first necessity is attended to, with the augmentation of popula- tion commerce will come to give it the consequent move- ment and animation, and the Mineria will come to complefe the circle of its prosperity; so that it is now difficult to per- ceive the grand importance, commercial and political, which this despised peninsula, which is called Lower California, will yet attain when. the transition of time and the sequel of events come to realize these Utopian offapring of a patri- otic sentiment; but we will occupy ourselves with the sta- tistical mineral notices of that territory. There are nine mineral districts (minerales) which are now recognized in California: their names are San Antonio, Zule, Santa Anna, Muleje, Triumpho, Las Virgenes, El Valle Per- dido, Los Flores, Cuecuhilas. There is a range traversing from north to south for the space of forty leagues in that territ01·y, which contains also a multitude of veins which have not been explored. In all these minerals abound, but the irregular and inconstant labor of some of the mines does not permit us to consider them as in action. Explorations of some mines of gold and silver have been made in California, but they remain in the same state with the oth~r minerales. One and another have been worked superficially, but their possessors abandoned them when they presented any obstacle, which made the working more costly, so that it is no exaggeration to say they all are now abandoned. In a country almost a wilderness (deszerto), where the want of convenie~ces . in exploration of the mines failed to engender the stimulus of acquiring and preserving the proprietorship of the discoveries,* and where, with the same facility with which they abandon one known vein, they * The proprietorship of mines in Mexico is acquired by proof being made t-0 the mining court of discovery and actual working; and is again lost by an abandonment of four. months; there is no other source of title to mineral lands. 404 .APPENDIX. proceed to work another new vein - in a country where the great part of the inhabitants might ·well be considered as tribes that have only reached the first grades of civilization, rnth~r than organized societies, it i s not strange that there is a want of mineral recognizances where only the mines at which the metals are easily procured, and not costly in extracting from the ore, are worked . Notwithstanding that which has been said, there are va- rious residents of the mineral districts referred to that ex- tract gold and silver sufficient to cover their commercial transactions, to pay their laborers and the salaries of their . operatives, . to procure certain necessaries, and to enjoy cer- tain luxuries which many of their fellow - citizens do not en- joy . To ascertain to what value these extractions of met- als ascend is extremely difficult for the want of data with which to aid any calculation. The benefiting (extracting the metals from the ores) is no less imperfectly done than the labor · of the mines. There are no haciendas for benefiting; many 1rnrsons that engage themse l ves in mining speculations have in that territory one, two, and even five horse - mills, with which they grind the metal; this they mix with quicksi l ver and salt-imitat- ing the process by the patio-in proportion of 50 pounds of the first and 75 of the second to 625 (25 arobas) of metal, and, proceeding by means of fusion in bad ovens, they obtain silver. Some others obtain it by means of vases of refining with ' the aid of lead . The consumptions of the Californians in the extraction of the precious metals c · onsist of quicksilver, salt, and wood; the first they h a ve purchased i n the last years at two dol- lars a pound, the sec o nd at t h irty - seven and a half cents for twenty - five pounds, and the third at a quaTter of a dollar a mule - load. It is to be presumed that when the quicksilver of Northern California comes to compete with the quicksilver of Spain in the mineral districts of the interior* of the re- public, the price of this principal element for conducting the working of mines '\Vill fall greatly in all the nation, and that _ * Th i s term is applied to all places distant from the capital. APPENDIX. 405 the Mineria will assume a grade of prosperity never yet seen in our country; and Lower California, by its proximity to the places of the production of mercury, will obtain it, with- out doubt, at a still l ower price. , The day-laborers, who work the mines of this territory, receive for their labor from sev- enty-five cents to one dollar; but there is not a fixed num- - ber, neither is their occupation constant. It is not necessary to speak of the existence of companies for explor ing mines in a country where them is such a scar- city of population, and where there is not an accumulation of capital sufficient in orde1· that a part of it might be em- ployed in the hazardous enterprises of mineral industry. The judges of first instance are the authorities that in Low- er California take cognizance of all accounts concerning the affairs of mines ( a la J.)Iineria) . In the river which passes by Muleje and Gallinas, the in- habitants of those plac~s collect the sands, from which they obtain small quantities of go l d in dust. In another placer, which embraces an extension of seven leagues, they also ex- tract some gold in dust il\ quantities as insignificant as those which result from the sands of the 1·iver mentioned. Silver and gold are the only metals that have claimed the attention of the Californians, because they derive an advant- age from tlieir extraction, and not because there do · not ex- ist other meta]s less . valuable, but which yield proportiona- bly greater profit to the miners that undertake the explora- tion; these are lead, copper, iron, magistral, crystal of Roca, loadstone, and alum. E. THE REMAINS OF CORTEZ. The account of the disposition of the remains of Cortez, given on page 279, is the one commonly received, and con- tained in works of standard authority. Since this volume was placed in the hands of the printers, I have received a new number of the Apuentes Historicos, which contains an- 406 APPENDIX. other account, which is undoubtedly the true one · . Accord- ing to this, when the body of Cortez was first brought to America, it was taken to Tezcuco, and buried at the San Franciscan convent, beside that of his friend, King Don Fer- nando. In the course of the following century it was taken to Mexico and buried in the con vent of the Jesuits ( the Pro- for is probably intended). After the Revolution, it was transported to Sicily by the agent of his descendant, the :present " Marquis of the Valley." THE END . G Cover Portrait Page title Preface Contents Chapter I Chapter II Chapter III Chapter IV Chapter V Chapter VI Chapter VII Chapter VIII Chapter IX Chapter X Chapter XI Chapter XII Chapter XIII Chapter XIV Chapter XV Chapter XVI Chapter XVII Chapter XVIII Chapter XIX Chapter XX Chapter XXI Chapter XXII Chapter XXIII Chapter XXIV Chapter XXV Chapter XXVI Chapter XXVII Chapter XXVIII Chapter XXIX Chapter XXX Chapter XXXI Chapter XXXII Chapter XXXIII Chapter XXXIV Appendix back cover