History of Mexico (Bancroft)/Volume 4/Chapter 2

by Hubert Howe Bancroft

 

CHAPTER II.

ADMINISTRATION OF VICEROY ITURRIGARAY.

1803-1808.

Causes of the Revolution of Independence — Arrival of the Viceroy His Antecedents and Comportment — The Viceregal Family — Sordidness of Iturrigaray — His Visit to the Mines — Public Improvements Introduction of Vaccination — Sequestration of Property — Effect on the Land Owners — Humboldt's Visit — International Complications — Demands for Treasure — Difficulties with the United States — War with England — Military Preparations — European Affairs Abdication of Cárlos IV. — Iturrigaray's Indifference — Effects in Mexico of Events in Spain — Power of the Inquisition — Attitude of the Press — Sparks of Revolution

When the subjects of Spain in America awoke to a realization of their position, they found present no lack of reason for revolt. Almost every form of oppression that ever a people had been called to undergo at the hand of despotism they had suffered. The worst that had come to England's colonies we find among the mildest of Mexico's wrongs — so mild, indeed, that they were scarcely felt amidst the others weightier.

Hitherto, they had expected, as a matter of course, that the king of Spain would make such laws for his provinces as suited him. He was to his people almighty power, differing in degree rather than in essence from the power of the almighty, and they had learned to obey the one as the other. And if at the first there had been no more than the English colonies had to complain of — such as the interposition of authority between the people and laws of their making, dissolving or forbidding representative bodies, restricting migration and population, regulating the administration of justice, creating and sustaining unnecessary officers, keeping among them standing armies, imposing taxes, interference in commerce, and other little things—there might have been to this day no separation from the mother country, except, indeed, it had been the falling-in-pieces from natural decay. I say such was the feeling before revolution was thought of; after the people began to consider, then certain of these minor wrongs seemed exceedingly exasperating. But behind all these, if not indeed one with them, were more serious evils. Looking well into the causes of Spanish American revolt, we find there the full catalogue of wrongs and injustice common to political subordinations of this nature, and in addition some of the blackest crimes within the power of tyranny to encompass. What were such matters as duties per cent, free coming and going, sumptuary regulations, or even local laws and legislation beside intellectual slavery, the enforcement of superstition, the subordination of soul, the degradation of both the mental and spiritual in man!

In regard to material impositions, probably one of the most outrageous as well as most absurd within the range of European colonization was that which denaturalized the son of the Spaniard born in America. What ridiculous nonsense for reasonable beings to act upon, not to say believe in, that the blood of him of pure Spanish parentage who first saw the light under the clear skies of the New World should thereby be politically and socially debased! Such was the royal edict, and to the end that all in Mexico might the more and forever be bound body and soul to Spain. Thus while pretending to parental care, the Spanish monarchs would reduce the colonists to the position of serfs.

In New Spain the first Creoles^[1] were identified with the European Spaniards, and for several succeeding generations the ties of parentage prevailed over the distinctions of nationality. It has been claimed that even when these bonds of consanguinity were loosened by the ever increasing numbers of the Creole population and the divergence of interests, union between the two classes was still maintained as a security against insurrection of the native races. Indeed, Humboldt assigns this as a reason for the passive tolerance which the Spanish Americans exhibited during a long period of oppression.

But this was not all the reason; it was not in fact the chief or true reason. It had become so ingrained in their nature, the doctrine of loyalty, obedience to rulers, the divinity of kings, that to repudiate in any wise this idea was to defy the power of the almighty, and bring deserved death and the pains of hell. It was sin against God to disobey the king; and this rather than fear of uprisings held Mexico so long in servility. While such a state of things lasted, the Spaniards in Spain could deprive the Spaniards in America—or rather their descendants—of their legitimate political status, and aggrieve their rights with impunity; but none the less in due time did European pride and disdain provoke irritation and bitter jealousy. A mutual antipathy was thus gradually developed—an antipathy which was fostered by the action of the home government; for though by theory and law the privileges of all subjects of the crown were equal, in practice it was far otherwise.

Three prominent causes of disrupture were ever actively at work engendering hatred and thirst for independence. They were, in the inverse order of effect, social jealousies, exclusion from preferments, and the odious system of commercial monopoly enjoyed by the Spaniards. With regard to the first, it is un necessary to enlarge upon what has been said in the previous volume;^[2] but the question of political, military, and ecclesiastical preferments requires consideration, inasmuch as the exclusion of Creoles from them is as strenuously denied by the advocates of the Spanish faction as it is emphatically asserted by those of the creole class. Although the Spanish American was eligible to all offices, from the lowest to the viceregal dignity, the higher were almost exclusively filled by men from Spain;^[3] and in spite of the asseverations to the contrary,^[4] it cannot be denied that promotion to important positions was practically closed to American Spaniards. No stronger evidence can be found than in the opposition to American representation in the Spanish government, and the public expressions of scorn and odium heaped upon the race in the Cádiz periodicals of that time.

The Spanish rulers were determined that New Spain should be ruled exclusively by Spaniards, howsoever the published policy of the nation might be affected thereby; and their opportunities of obtaining political preferments being so much greater than those of the Creoles, they succeeded in securing for themselves all the higher offices. It is true that the Americans occupied most of the subaltern grades, but this only tended to bring them into more jealous competition with the Europeans by inspiring them to seek the more important. Although in the ecclesiastical preferments they were more favored than in political and military matters, during the last century of the colonial period they were gradually excluded from the high dignities of the church; and in 1808 all the bishoprics in New Spain, with one exception, and most of the rich benefices, were held by the European clergy. In the cloisters also of the regular orders there was the same want of fairness which even the alternative system failed to correct. Thus it was that as generation after generation passed away, not only in social communications but in public careers and professions, envy and jealousy became more marked, and finally developed into a deadly hatred between the two classes.

But after all, and toward the end, though not the most iniquitous, it was the commercial monopolies which caused the most wide-spread discontent. The entire control of trade by Spanish merchants, and the exorbitant prices charged by them for every commodity, the grinding restrictions upon such industries as interfered with the commerce of the mother country, and the limited amount of productions received by her, were more sweeping in effect, since all classes suffered, and the poor people the more severely. A bond of union to a greater or less extent was thus initiated between the Creoles, mestizos, and native Indians, all of whom at an early date exhibited inclinations to acquire independence. The Englishman, Thomas Gage, who was in Mexico in 1625, correctly estimated the prevailing sentiment, and in his observations about the disturbances during the administration of Gelves thus prophetically expresses himself: "The chief actors were found to be the Criolians or Natives of the Country, who do hate the Spanish Government, and all such as come from Spain; and reason they have for it, for by them they are much oppressed, as I have before observed, and are and will be always watching any opportunity to free them selves from the Spanish yoak." ^[5]

But apart from these main causes of discontent, other aggravations, permanent or periodical, excited a spirit of antagonism. Excessive taxation galled and irritated; the venality of officials and the corruptness of the judicial courts caused indignation; while the expulsion in 1767 of the Jesuits, who had ingratiated themselves in the hearts of the lower orders, insulted the people in their dearest affections. From that time conspiracy arose and became wide spread; and the attempt at Apatzingan, prematurely undertaken, and abortive though it proved, opened the eyes of the Spanish rulers to the fact that ideas of independence were abroad in New Spain. The measures adopted to suppress such wickedness only added fuel to the fire. Disdaining the further support of the church, the government determined to rely on military force, and organizing the army on a much larger scale, humiliated in a variety of ways the clergy, who thus alienated became a powerful element in working out the independence.

While the industries of the country were cramped, the masses were unaware of the extraordinary resources of New Spain; but when certain restrictions were removed by the home government, and the war with England at the close of the eighteenth century almost annihilated trade with the peninsula, great impulse was given to the development of internal resources and commerce with foreign nations. While belief in the necessity of dependence on Spain was thus being weakened, Humboldt opened their eyes to their resources, and set them further thinking of divorcement. Again, the Creoles were more intelligent, better informed, and far more numerous than the blueblooded Spaniards; in view of which we can only wonder that the people of Mexico remained in such humiliating subjection so long. The Spaniards in America and their children were even better educated than the Spaniards in Spain, and the higher their station and the more inflated their pride, the more their minds were filled with prejudice and ignorance. The establishment of the university at Mexico afforded facilities to the Creoles superior to any enjoyed by their fathers, who for the most part, exclusive of those holding high positions, were of inferior birth and breeding, and without title to the superiority claimed. Students and graduates in Mexico by no means confined themselves to the narrow curriculum prescribed by the university, and the prohibited works of French philosophers, of political and moral writers, and especially of Rousseau, found their way of late into the country. Proletarian principles, and the detestation of oppression which they breathed, were absorbed with avidity, and stimulated the longing for freedom. The very danger incurred by the study of these books, and the secrecy with which of necessity they were perused, only served to intensify insurrectionary ideas and provoke conspiracy.^[6] The liberal principles thus acquired by the educated class were gradually infused into the ignorant.

Nevertheless, it seems a little strange to us, to whom the doctrine of right of revolution has become so clear, and so cherished as the highest prerogative of liberty, that it should have made its way so slowly among an educated and intelligent people. But the cause is explained when we remember the powerful hold religion yet had upon these people. The first step toward freedom is to emancipate the mind from some of its superstitions. There can be no political liberty without some degree of religious liberty. It was primarily for religious liberty that the puritans had come from England to America; and the first step thus taken toward political liberty, they were prepared. to throw off the yoke for slighter cause than were the people of Mexico, who were satisfied with their religion, and had no desire to change it. Thus while their religion, still the strongest sentiment possessing them, constrained them to loyalty, they were ready to endure much by way of duty, and to escape damnation so much that it was rather Spain's weakness than Mexico's strength that secured independence, as we shall in due time see.

But gradually reason, long dormant if not dethroned, began to show signs of vitality, first in other quarters, and finally in Mexico. It was a period of political turnings and over-turnings in Europe and America, and it were a pity if Mexico, ground into the very dust by the iron heel of despotism, should not find some relief.

The downfall of monarchy in France, and the in dependence of the British colonies in North America, had established precedents of the successful uprising of peoples against the oppression of rulers. More especially was the acquisition of freedom by the United States regarded as a solution of the difficulty in regard to the right of revolution, as Spain in 1783 had somewhat imprudently recognized the independence of the English colonies, thereby tacitly excusing revolt in her own.^[7] While the proclivities of the people were thus becoming daily more dangerous, their anger was still further aroused by one of those acts of tyranny which Spain periodically committed in order to raise money in the colonies to meet home expenses. I refer to the sequestration of the funds of the benevolent institutions, a measure which seriously affected the welfare of almost every land owner in the country. As the particulars of this proceeding will be given later, it is only necessary to state here that numbers of families were ruined or impoverished by its operation. Thus Spain kept on using the goad. It is, however, a question how long the Creoles would have suffered had not political affairs in Spain, as we have seen, afforded an exceptional opportunity for throwing off the yoke. For nearly two centuries the watchfulness of the government had prevented serious outbreak; even during the war of succession the tranquillity of New Spain was undisturbed. The majesty of the king was so deeply impressed upon the masses that it is probable, had it not been for the occupation of Spain by Napoleon, a few salutary reforms would have secured the loyalty of Mexico. But when two Spanish monarchs in succession, Cárlos IV. and Fernando VII., were compelled to lay aside their crowns, the one in obedience to the will of a mob and the other at the dictation of a foreign parvenu, the glory of the Spanish throne had departed, and the awe with which the greatest earthly potentate had been venerated by his transatlantic subjects was seriously lessened.

Nevertheless, when in 1808 the Spaniards rose against the French invaders, the demonstrations of feeling throughout New Spain showed patriotism on the part of the Creoles, though perhaps as much by reason of hatred for the French as of any lingering affection for the Spaniards; and this, notwithstanding that the American deputies to the Spanish cortes, in their address on the 1st of August, 1811, represented that the Spaniards of America were so closely connected with the peninsula by the ties of interest and relationship, that leading men among them proclaimed the doctrine that the colonies ought to follow the fate of Spain, even if she succumbed to the power of Napoleon.^[8] Some go so far as to at tribute outright the outbreak of the revolution to the fear of subjection to the French.^[9] Be this as it may, the repeated defeats of the Spanish arms during the following year, the incompetency of the junta central in the peninsula, and still more its popular origin, destroyed any favorable impression which might have been created in the discontented ranks, and afforded an example to them of delegates, elected by the people, investing themselves with the supreme government. Thus revolutionary impressions became yet more strongly confirmed; for the Creoles could not recognize the right of a mob-appointed government claiming obedience from the subjects of a mighty monarchy.

And during this period, so critical to the existence of Spain's future hold upon the colonies, there was no viceroy in Mexico capable of appreciating the true condition of affairs; none who had the ability either to avert revolution or best serve Spain in accepting the situation. The incompetency and vacillation of the next three viceroys hastened the culmination of events, and during the years 1809 and 1810, the conspiracy to throw off the yoke of Spain spread fast and far throughout the land. It was on the 15th of September of the year last named that the strife began, and which was marked by reprisals as vindictive and cold-blooded as the annals of any Christian nation can record, as we shall see.^[10] With these preliminary remarks on the political attitudes of the two classes, and on the origin of their divergence, I now proceed to narrate the historical events which preceded the final rupture.

The fifty-sixth viceroy of Mexico, Jose de Iturrigaray, arrived with his family at Guadalupe, and took charge of the government on the 4th of January, 1803. He held the rank of lieutenant-general in the royal army, as had nearly all those who filled this office during the rule of the house of Bourbon in Spain. A veteran soldier and sexagenarian, he still retained a youthful energy and vigor.^[11]

Iturrigaray was a native of Cádiz, descending from a genteel but not illustrious family. With an honorable record in the Spanish militia, he had served with some distinction as a colonel of carabineers in the campaign of Roussillon, at the beginning of the French revolution in 1792. His reputation, however, as a military commander was not of the best;^[12] and his elevation to the viceregal office was due to the favor of Godoy, the Prince of Peace, who still maintained influence over the weak and incompetent king.^[13] His reception at Guadalupe and in the capital was, unlike that of Marquina, most flattering and obsequious. The festivities, begun in the former place, were continued in the latter with the customary processions and bull-fights. This unchecked privilege of the populace, in such agreeable contrast with the unwelcome prohibitions of the former viceory, combined with the gracious deportment of Iturrigaray and the affable demeanor of his stately spouse, gained him at once the favor of the people. Erelong, however, it was discovered that his condescension was but a cloak to less worthy traits of character.^[14] Branciforte's corruption was barefaced; dissimulation under a fascinating exterior was the prominent feature in Iturrigaray's character.^[15]

The family of the viceroy consisted of his wife, Dona Inés de Jáuregui y Arístegui, who although no longer young possessed many attractions, a grown up son, several younger children, and a numerous train of relatives, all bent on amassing fortunes. This was also the dominating passion of Iturrigaray, whose first act on taking charge of the government was to defraud the crown. Following the example of Branciforte, he had obtained a royal decree before his departure from the peninsula, permitting him to in troduce free of duty into New Spain unfinished family apparel.^[16]Under this pretence he landed a cargo of merchandise at Vera Cruz, which he sold in that port, netting an enormous profit.^[17] Moreover, he at once began a system of sale of offices and employments on his own account, and by an abominable venality established for his benefit an impost on quicksilver, by which he unjustly secured to himself large sums from the sales of that metal.^[18]

Other frauds were perpetrated in contracts for paper used in the government cigar manufactories, the contractors charging fictitious prices and paying a bonus to Doña Inés.^[19] The administration of Iturrigaray was modelled after that of his protector, Godoy, and it was believed that the king's favorite shared in the profits.

Sumptuous entertainments, presided over by Doña Inés, were given at the palace, with the twofold object of pleasure and profit. Thither assembled grave oidores, hypocritical inquisitors, venerable prelates, and members of the most distinguished families, who, to win the good favor of their viceregal hostess, vied with one another in their efforts to please, and in the costliness of their gifts.^[20]

Marquina never gained the affection of the people, because of his restrictions on all kinds of excesses. Iturrigaray would try the opposite course, and make the capital the centre of pleasure and dissipation. To the discredit caused by the venality of the father were added the profligacy and vulgar passion for play of his son José, who was a constant visitor to the cock-pit.^[21] Such conduct on the part of the viceroy and his family, though fascinating at first, could not fail to produce the same effect as the over-scrupulous proceeding of his predecessor; the halo of royalty which had protected viceregal authority for centuries was dimmed, and the respect formerly offered to Casafuerte, Revilla Gigedo, and others was now with held.^[22]

All the same the viceroy managed to accumulate a large fortune, consisting of coin, jewels, and plate,^[23] which was a great comfort, and this notwithstanding his extravagance and the enormous expenses of his court, which far exceeded his salary of sixty thousand pesos.^[24]

The desire to visit the rich mines of Guanajuato was obviously natural; he wished to see whence came the wealth he coveted.^[25] Without precedent in this respect, and without royal permission, Iturrigaray set out on this journey by way of Queretaro, Celaya, Salamanca, and Irapuato. The inhabitants of these regions, who had never beheld a viceroy, were over awed by the magnificence of his appearance, and thousands assembled to pay their respects. His arrival at the city of Guanajuato was celebrated by a triumphal procession and festivities. Among the presents graciously accepted by him was one of a thousand ounces of gold, upon the occasion of his inspection of the Rayas and Valenciana mines. Mining operators soon discovered how to gain the favor of this great man.^[26] In return for homage received, Iturrigaray magnificently granted the town of Celaya the privilege to celebrate occasional bull fights to defray the expenses of a bridge over the Laja.^[27]

In the matter of material improvements, we find little during this administration not started under former viceroys. There was the completion of two roads to Vera Cruz; one of them, passing through Orizaba and Cordova, begun by Branciforte, was in charge of the consulado. Credit, however, must be given Iturrigaray for his exertions to secure the capital against inundation. To inspire zeal, he deigned occasionally to labor on the works with his own hands, and by his care the city was saved from inundation in 1806. Yet this praiseworthy caprice eventually gained for him the enmity of the fiscal de lo civil, Zagarzurieta, as well as of Aguirre and the other oidores. Funds being required to carry on the works, Iturrigaray increased the impost on cattle, and to this Zagarzurieta raised objections, to which the viceroy would not listen; because, he said, Zagarzurieta was connected with the family of the greatest cattle-dealer in the country, and therefore was not disinterested.^[28]

Existing literary and benevolent institutions were favored to some extent, not, however, in a manner sufficiently effective to reflect unusual credit on the viceroy. Mining, internal commerce, and agriculture continued to prosper, owing to the efficient measures of his predecessors. An important event during this period, which marked a new era in medical science, but in which Iturrigaray merely complied with the royal orders, was the introduction of vaccination into New Spain.^[29] In the course of this history the terrible ravages of small-pox at different periods have been dwelt upon. Tenner's discovery, after having met with long opposition on the part of the medical faculty, finally overcame the prejudices of the age. In 1801 its value was recognized by the government of Spain, and its introduction in America intrusted to Alejandro Arboleya, professor of medicine, who came over with Iturrigaray. His method of preserving vaccine matter, however, was defective, and its application was not successful till two years later, when the home government sent out a special commission of medical men under Francisco Javier de Balmis.^[30] They arrived at Vera Cruz in July 1804. Some months previously Iturrigaray had imported vaccine matter from Habana, but found the prejudice against it so strong that only ten soldiers could be induced to use it. After the arrival of Balmis, however, the remedy was soon introduced throughout the country, when of course the horrors of smallpox were greatly diminished.^[31] During this period great increase of material wealth is noticeable. After the last peace with England, Spanish commerce revived; in 1805 one hundred and fifty thousand quintals of quicksilver were transported from Vera Cruz to Mexico for the mines, and during the same year more than twenty-seven millions of pesos were coined at the mint. But this epoch of opulence was soon to be terminated by fatal disasters, marked by bloodshed and ruin. A series of calamities, caused by foreign convulsions and misrule at home, was approaching Spain.

The Spanish government, involved under Godoy's rule in political difficulties, corruption, and extravagance, and harassed by the exorbitant demands of Napoleon, brought fresh discontent to the colonies by the adoption of a new method to draw from them the necessary funds to save the mother country from ruin. Spain's plight was desperate, and desperate must be the remedy, if, indeed, there was any. And woe in consequence must fall on Mexico!

It was decreed by royal order of December 26, 1804, to sequestrate all the real estate belonging to benevolent institutions,^[32] chiefly under control of the clergy, including the sums, by far the greater part of their wealth, invested by them as loans on city and rural property, the mortgages on which had lapsed. The amounts collected were to be appropriated by the crown for the amortization of government bonds, the obligation being recognized by the payment of interest.^[33] Though in Spain similar measures had been adopted,^[34] the attendant circumstances were different from those in Mexico. In the Old World most of the church property consisted of real estate, which being sold, the clergy received a perpetual income from the government equal to the interest on the capital rep resented, while the purchasers were obliged to con tribute to the royal treasury by the payment of taxes.

Throughout New Spain the accumulation and investments of the funds of these institutions had become enormous. There was scarcely a land owner, great or small, whose estate was not hypothecated to one or another of the benevolent institutions.^[35] The loan once effected, restitution of the capital was not demanded as long as the interest was punctually paid; nor did the debtors ever prepare for such an event, although most of the mortgages had lapsed.^[36] The sudden demand for the payment of these sums carried consternation throughout the country, and brought ruin on many proprietors. For all to raise money on short notice was impossible; so the sale of the property had to be forced not alone what belonged directly to the church, but that of the farmer, the merchant, the miner, and the mechanic. Thereby all industries suffered, while in the end the crown was no gainer, since the ruin of property holders cut down the revenue.

The execution of the decree was intrusted to a junta presided over by the viceroy, and composed of the principal civil and ecclesiastic authorities, and of special commissioners appointed by the crown.^[37] In order to stimulate the zeal of these functionaries, and to make the sequestration more productive, they were allowed a percentage of the sales.^[38] Such an incentive with such men as Iturrigaray left little hope for the people; and great was the clamor among all classes, especially the clergy, who were far from satisfied with this enforced investment.^[39]

Formal protests were made by many,^[40] and the pernicious effect of the measure was duly set forth; but no notice was taken of this action by the authorities. To make matters worse, Iturrigaray received orders from Spain that while steps were being taken to accomplish the sequestration, all funds belonging to corporations and communities, deposits of Indian tributes, the treasures lodged in sacred shrines, and even moneys designed to ransom prisoners should be appropriated. "Peace has been preserved at the cost of millions!" was the cry; "so pay! pay!" But the day was fast approaching when Spain's peace would be of small moment to Mexico. Never had royal license to fleece the colonists been more barefaced; never had the robbery of a people by their rulers been more merciless or infamous. And after all, only about ten millions of pesos were secured, when in 1809 the order was rescinded.^[41] Of this sum twenty-four million francs were delivered to Napoleon in May 1806, by Eugenio Izquierdo, Godoy's special agent at Paris,^[42] after a large amount had gone as commissions to royal officials in Mexico.^[43] The merciless rigor with which the viceroy executed every oppressive decree, and the irritating fact that he and a host of officials profited by the ruin of others, gained him the odium of the sufferers. Any discussions of a scientific or practical nature on the part of her subjects was at this juncture bad for Spain. Permission had been granted Humboldt by the court to visit the New World, with the privilege of access to official archives. The result of his sojourn in Mexico was his famous treatise on New Spain, 44^[44] containing abstracts of his political and economical observations. Some new ideas crept in upon the people concerning possibilities. With freedom, what might they not achieve! Such was the prevailing feeling which, mingled with the odium against the home government, increased by late acts of oppression, prepared Creoles and natives alike for revolution.^[45]

When Cárlos IV. ratified the humiliating treaty of 1796, which made him a subject rather than an ally of France, he considered neither the money he would have to pay, nor what would be the attitude of England. To annoy Napoleon, Great Britain offered the means of prolonging the war which broke out in 1803, while Spain, asserting her obligations to pay France former subsidies, maintained that she would be subject to far greater expense in case of further hostilities. This led to rupture with England; for though that power at first manifested no desire to declare open war with Spain, in 1805 neutrality was broken by the seizure by Nelson of four treasure-laden ships bound from America to Cádiz.^[46]

And now commerce again wanes, being carried on in neutral vessels only, while free intercourse with Spain is greatly interrupted. Moreover, besides being pressed by Napoleon for prompt compliance with the treaty of 1796, Spain is beset with calamities. Famine and pestilence are decimating her population; earthquakes destroy several towns in Andalusia; debts are enormous, and the exchequer empty; and lastly, England has lately seized her treasure-ships, and will probably capture others. More and more urgent, therefore, are the appeals to the viceroy for Mexican silver and gold.

Iturrigaray seems in every respect equal to the emergency. The colonists are made to bleed. From corporations, from the clergy, and from private individuals, thirteen millions of dollars are secured at this juncture, and shipped in four frigates, some five millions more being retained for later transportation. To make up this amount, he has not only seized any deposits, however sacred, he could lay his hands on, and forced money from the poor, but he has resorted to a swindling system of lotteries.^[47] It is true that in the matter of forced loans promises to pay are made, and a small annual interest promised.^[48]

The French just now are as much feared in New Spain as the English. French ships anchored at Vera Cruz are jealously watched by the viceroy, who refuses to furnish supplies to French troops stationed at Santo Domingo.

Difficulties, moreover, threaten with the United States. In 1801 Philip Nolan makes an incursion into Mexican territory as far as Nuevo Santander, under the pretext of purchasing horses, and erects some small forts. He is, however, attacked on the 21st of March by a force sent against him by the viceroy, and slain, his followers being dispersed or made prisoners. A few years later Burr attempts the invasion of Texas. During this period the first cloud arises between the United States and Mexico on the question of limits. Monroe's efforts at Madrid to arrange an amicable settlement are fruitless, and the American government orders troops to her southern frontier. ^[49]

Having thus the United States to watch, the long coast lines to guard against the English, and the ever-present pirates to beat off, Iturrigaray is like a hyena at bay. It is no easy matter amidst the dissatisfaction attending the royal robberies to enlist the colonists to fight. Of what avail is this pouring-out of their treasure if the old mother cannot protect them from her enemies?

It is in 1805 when the news of this rupture of Spain with England reaches Mexico, and spreads consternation among the people. Besides orders to prepare for defence, the viceroy is told to furnish Habana, Puerto Rico, and other exposed points with the necessary supplies. He is moreover authorized to increase the permanent forces by enlisting natives for service on the frontier, the veteran troops not being sufficient for that purpose. Two Spanish regiments stationed in Cuba are also ordered to Mexico.

But the viceroy is more clever than his master. Notwithstanding the many difficulties in the organization of troops, he soon has nearly 18,000 men at his command.^[50] Recruiting offices are established throughout the country; deserters are pardoned; the old militia, scattered or disbanded, are reunited and increased in number. The defences of San Juan de Ulua, where Lieutenant-colonel Juan María Soto is in command, are improved. To discipline the troops a camp is established at Jalapa. Command of the army is given to García Dávila, governor of Vera Cruz, efficient and experienced. Indeed, he is the only officer of rank in New Spain competent to fill the place. There are two other generals, Pedro Ruiz Dávalos and Pedro Garibay, but both octogenarians and subject to consequent infirmities.

The troops are exercised and drilled under the eye of the viceroy. There are reviews and manœuvres which awaken a military spirit in the Mexicans, who have never before witnessed spectacles of the kind. ^[51]

In 1806 intelligence of two events is received which spreads alarm throughout the country—the destruction of the combined Spanish and French fleets at Trafalgar by Lord Nelson on the 21st of October, 1805,^[52] and the attack on Buenos Aires by the English. It is thought that an attempt will presently be made on New Spain. Iturrigaray's friends begin to fall off. Several officers of high rank and merit withdraw from the encampment at Jalapa, among others Count Alcaraz, of the Spanish dragoons, Manuel García Alonso, Manuel García Queritana, and Lejarza, all commanders of high standing. He who becomes the most determined enemy, however, is the ex-corregidor of Querétaro, Miguel Dominguez. ^[53]

Meanwhile the star of Godoy, the scourge of Spain, is still in the ascendant. He puts on the titles of royalty, and holds communion with Napoleon, if indeed he does not conspire to sell Spain. At one time, all the strongholds of the peninsula being occupied by French, Godoy advises the king to take his family to Mexico. The court is at Aranjuez, and the intended flight becoming known, the populace rise and cry vengeance on Godoy. The tumult is only allayed by the abdication of Cárlos in favor of the prince of Asturias, who assumes the crown as Fernando VII. on the 19th of March, 1808. Godoy escapes popular fury by secreting himself, ^[54] but his house and those of his satellites are stripped, and everything in them is delivered to the authorities. The fallen Prince of Peace is afterward placed under arrest by Fernando and his ill-gotten property confiscated.

The downfall of Godoy was hailed in New Spain with universal satisfaction. Spaniards and Creoles were equally demonstrative in their loyalty to the king, confident that any change in the government which excluded the influence of Godoy must be for the better. On the arrival of the news of the abdication of Cárlos and the decrees of Fernando, ^[55] Iturrigaray was attending the cock-fights at San Agustin de las Cuevas, now Tlalpan, where the festivities of pentecost were being celebrated. He commanded the decrees to be read, and then went on with the games. Doña Inés was disgusted over the abdication, and the regidor Azcárate displayed his contempt by flinging aside the journal containing the news. ^[56]

The festivities at Tlalpan continued for three days, and not until they were concluded did the viceroy give orders for a public demonstration in honor of Fernando VII. This manifest indifference, which did not fail to create much bad feeling, was in truth owing to the fall of Godoy, his protector, and some began to suspect treasonable designs.

On the 23d of June the departure of the royal family to Bayonne and the abdication of Fernando were known in Mexico. ^[57] Then my lord Iturrigaray wore a pleasant countenance, and he was overheard to say that the king would never return to the throne.^[58]

These tidings of the dethronement of the royal family, and the assumption of the crown by Joseph Bonaparte, arrived in the midst of preparations for the solemn festivities to be held on the occasion of swearing allegiance to the young monarch. The impression which these events created in Mexico was at first painful. Creoles as well as Spaniards hated the French. Napoleon was their arch-enemy. They swore they would never be ruled by him, or any of his creatures. On the 14th of July, the viceroy received copies of the Madrid official gazettes confirming the news, and on the following day he convoked a council of the real acuerdo, at which it was resolved neither to obey the decrees of Murat, then commanding at Madrid, nor those of any government other than that of the legitimate sovereign. ^[59] The official portions of the Madrid gazettes were, moreover, ordered to be published. ^[60]

But the first surprise over, very different and vehement feelings began to spring up among the people. Their ideas were confounded at the possibility of being without a king. Those who had hitherto regarded a monarch as an infallible personage remembered the fate of Louis XVI., and beheld with consternation the sudden removal of their own kings, father and son. That a mob of his own subjects should effect the downfall of Cárlos IV. was not likely to maintain that faith in the high majesty of the Spanish sovereigns which for ages it had been impious to hold in doubt. Respect for monarchy was weakened, and the more reflective and enlightened recognized with satisfaction that these convulsions would augment the possibilities of independence for New Spain. The holy inquisition still maintained its power, and indeed we find it at this period more zealous than ever in attempting to stifle the progress of the age. Libertinism and impiety, as it was called, ^[61] were so great, that there were over a thousand cases pending before that tribunal. ^[62]

One of the victims of an auto de fé at this time was the presbyter Juan Antonio Olavarrieta, curate of Axuchitlan. In his possession was found a work written by himself, entitled Man and Beast. On the frontispiece was a representation of a tyrant king. The author had come well recommended from Spain to the chief inquisitor, Bernardo de Prado y Obejero, and great was the scandal. The auto was celebrated with more than ordinary solemnity in the presence of the secular and ecclesiastical authorities, the nobility, and principal persons of the city. Olavarrieta was sentenced and shipped to Spain, but managed to escape during the voyage. Soon after this the same ceremonies were repeated on the person of José Rojas, professor of mathematics in the college at Guanajuato. A man of extraordinary talents and great learning, ^[63] he possessed but little knowledge of the world. Carrying on a correspondence on philosophical and theological topics with a woman at Guanajuato, he was denounced by her and imprisoned. After sentence by the holy office, Rojas escaped to New Orleans. There he published in flammatory proclamations against the Spanish government, which being clandestinely introduced into Mexico caused no little annoyance to the political authorities and the inquisition. This institution consisted at the time of thirty-one officers, exclusive of a multitude of secret agents and spies, and their labors were so arduous and important that the inquisitors petitioned for an increase of salary on that ground. Such was the powerful array of zealots, ever on the alert to persecute those whose religious and political views dared to pass the bounds prescribed by church and state.

The deplorable condition of the press was another proof of the incessant endeavors on the part of the authorities to keep the people in intellectual bondage. It was not well for subjects of Spain to know too much of what was going on in the world. Four daily papers appeared in Vera Cruz between 1804 and 1807; three of them were soon discontinued, and the other was prohibited from publishing any political news from foreign countries, that being a privilege granted only to the Gazeta de Mexico. ^[64] In 1805 the Mexican writer Cárlos Maria Bustamante, and the alcalde del crímen Jacobo de Villa Urrutia, established the Diario de Mexico with but little better success. Being suppressed at one time, this periodical was allowed to appear again only on condition that it should be subject to the personal revision of the viceroy.

 

 

1. The dictionary definition of Creole is a native of Spanish America, born of European parents, or descended from European ancestors, as distinguished from a resident inhabitant born in Europe, as well as from the offspring of mixed blood, as of mulatto, born of a negro mother, or of mestizo, born of an Indian mother. To this definition as regards Creole I adhere; but in regard to the word 'mestizo,' I apply it generally to any intermixture of native American and European blood.
2. Hist. Mex., vol. iii. 742-4, this series. See also Cancelada, Tel. Amer., 146-55.
3. Walton, the author of Present State of the Spanish Colonies, London, 1810, secretary to the expedition which captured the city of Santo Domingo from the French, and resident British agent there, in his Exposé on the Dimensions of Spanish America, London, 1814, states, on page 47, 'that on examining authentic records, it results: that from the period of the first settlement up to the year 1810, out of 166 viceroys and 588 captain-generals, governors, and presidents who have governed in Spanish America, in all 754, only 18 have been Creoles, and these few merely in consequence of their having been educated in Spain.' Only three viceroys of Mexico down to 1813 were Creoles. Alaman, Mej., i. 12.
4. Torrente, Hist. Rev. Hispano-Amer., i. 72-4, quotes observations made by ' un Americano del sur,' who stoutly maintains the generosity 'de una nacion que fiaba a americanos los Vireinatos, Capitanias generales, Presidencias, Magistraturas, Arzobispados i Opispados;' and gives a list of European and American officials for the year 1811, in which he shows that 338 were of the latter class and only 76 of the former. He moreover enumerates the political, military, and ecclesiastical positions held by the Creoles during the same year. But I must remark that the appointments conferred upon Creoles at the commencement of the nineteenth century afford no criterion of the proportion which prevailed during the two preceding centuries. Spain felt her self compelled to open the doors of promotion in the hope of allaying the gathering storm. Cancelada, Tel. Amer., 265-73, argues that the Creoles were more favored than the Spaniards in the matter of appointments.
5. New Survey, 145. He, moreover, states that the Indians and mulattos 'brooked not the severe and rigorous justice and judgment of the Viceroy, no, nor any Government that was appointed over them from Spain.' Id., 142. HIST. MEX., VOL. IV. 2
6. It was the special province of the inquisition to guard against the importation of books. As late as 1807, a Mexican named José Roxas was denounced by his own mother for having a volume of Rousseau in his possession, and was confined for several years in the dungeons of the holy office. He finally made his escape, but died in 1811 at New Orleans. Ward's Mex., i. 110.
7. The reader is already aware that the conde de Aranda at this time proposed to Cárlos III. the independence of the Spanish colonies in America. See Hist. Mex., iii. 388-90. Dr Luis Quixano, a prominent leader of the revolution in Quito, made prisoner when Toribio Montes entered that city, deemed it advisable to retract his views on the right of a colony to assert its independence. He based his reconstructed argument on the principle that what is useful and convenient is not necessarily lawful and just. His exceedingly defective logic went no further, however, than to show that an oppressed colony has no more right to free itself from the mother country than has a slave to acquire freedom without the consent of his owner! 'Aunque á un esclavo le sea útil gozar de su libertad, el no se la puede tomar por si mismo contra la voluntad de su amo.' Hernandez y Dávalos, Col. Doc. Indep., v. 63-4
8. Such a course would certainly relieve them from the persecution of Spain, though neither covert irony nor hibernicism were intended. 'Muchos de los mismos gefes y otros Européos preferian á las claras, que la America debia seguir la suerte de la Peninsula, y obedecer á Bonaparte, si ella le obedecia.' Diputac. Amer. Represent., 1 de Agosto de 1811, 6.
9. Id., 8; Guerra, Hist. Rev. N. Esp., i. 138.
10. The same causes were at work in all the Spanish colonies in America; and it is significant to note the unanimity of the feeling entertained everywhere by the Creoles, as well as the synchronism of their start for the goal of freedom. In this same year five revolutions broke out in South America: that, of Caracas on April 19, 1810; that of Buenos Aires on the 25th of May following; that of New Granada on the 3d of July; that of Bogota on the 20th of the same month; that of Cartagena on the 18th of August; and that of Chile on the 18th of September. Diputac. Amer. Rep. 1811, 2-3.
11. As a Mexican writer says, 'Con el arrebatamiento y fuego de un francés atolondrado.' Medidas, Pacif., MS., 57.
12. 'Hombre de una mediana reputacion militar en su patria.' El lndicador, iii. 215. Compare also Disposicions Varias, i. 120; Bustamante, Cuad. Hist. , i. 10-11; Ratzel, Aus. Mex., 344-5; Gazeta Mex., xi. 222-3.
13. 'No fueron estos meritos los que lo elevaron al vireinato, sino el favor de D. Manuel Godoy.' Alaman, Hist. Mej., i. 40. Favorecido del principe de la Paz.' El Indicador, iii. 215.
14. The character of Iturrigaray was 'estremadamente popular.' Zavala, Rev. Mex., 30. The populace was 'complacida con el trato afable y popular de la Vireina, seňora de regular figura, y de un comportamiento airoso y galan.' Cavo, Tres Siglos, iii. 200.
15. 'Su caracter estremadamente popular disimulaba sus sórdidas ganancias.' Zavala, Rev. Mex., 30; Alaman, Hist. Mej., i. 47.
16. According to Real Orden, Sept. 12, 1802.
17. The sale amounted to 119,125 pesos, as attested by Rel., Real Acuerdo, Nov. 9, 1808, in Arch. Gen'l Mex. This fraud was the first of many serious charges proven against him in his residencia, of which an account will be given later.
18. He received generally a gold ounce per quintal of quicksilver delivered. Represent. Min. Guan., in Cancelada, Conducta Iturr., 92-5. Alaman states that the traffic in offices was managed through one of the vice-queen's maids, an elderly person, named Joaquina Aranguren, wife of Gabriel Palacios. Hist. Mej., i. 47. Some few miners, with whom a secret compact was made, were greatly favored, while the majority suffered for want of mercury, resulting in immense profits to the viceroy. These frauds are given in detail with attestation, in Representacion, Dip. Min. Guan., Oct. 31, 1808. Compare also Cancelada, Conducta, Iturrigaray, 92-5; Alaman, Hist. Mej., i. app. 43-4.
19. 19 ‘Se justifica el robo que hizo al rei argandole un peso mas en cada resma, con las cuentas misrnas de los que lo vendieron, que existen en autos de infidencia.' Cancelada, Conducta, 11. This author also charges Iturrigaray with shipping surreptitiously many millions of treasure out of the country, in English and neutral ships. This was the popular belief, but no proofs were brought forward. Id., 11-12. From the two contracts of 1806 and 1807 the viceroy's wife received 6,633 ounces of gold. Alaman, Hist. Mej., i. 47. Consult also Hernandez y Dávalos, Col. Doc. Indep., i. 643-4.
20. 'Hacia descender la corte hasta sobre el teatro, ó subia el teatro á la corte por la aficion que tenia á esta clase de diversiones. La conducta de la de Madrid bajo Maria Luisa, era el ejemplo que se seguia.' Zavala, Rev. Mex., 30; El lndicador, iii. 216-17.
21. 'La inclinacion de aquel al juego de gallos, concurriendo á la plaza pública en que se lidian.' Alaman, Hist. Mej., i. 48.
22. The avarice of this vicergal family was one of the chief causes of their downfall. Disposiciones Varias, i. 120; Bustamante, Medidas, MS., 57; Id., Cuad. Hist., i. 10-11; Alaman, Hist. Mej., i. 46-9; Mora, Rev. Mex., iii. 296-350.
23. "And 400,000 pesos invested in the funds of the mining institute, the safest place of investment at the time. Further on, after the removal of the viceroy, an account of the treasures found in the palace will be given.
24. According to the subsequent declaration under oath of his mayordomo, Antonio Paul. Alaman, Hist. Mej., i. 48.
25. 'En la larga serie de los vireyes que tuvo Nueva Espana, éste fué el único que conoció una parte del interior del reino.' Negrete, Mex. en Siglo XIX., i. 49.
26. 'A poco tiempo se advirtio que no le era desagradable recibir dones y regalos, y sucesivamente cantidades de dinero y alhajas por las provisiones que se llamaban de gracia.' Cancelada, Conducta, Iturrigaray, 10. See also Peña, Arenga Civic., 19-20. It is gratifying to us to learn from Bustamante, in Cavo, Tres Siglos, iii. 204, that 'the presents then received by the viceroy relieved partly the great necessities in which he stood.'
27. In connection with bull-fights, Bustamante takes occasion to slur Marquina, congratulating the people that the government had passed into the hands of a man 'accesible, jovial y divertido,' from the 'tétrico y adusto de un hombre anciano, que merecia estar en una porteria de capuchinos.' Cavo, Tres Siglos, iii. 201.
28. 'Porque su hija está casada con el primogénito del Marqués de S. Miguel de Aguayo, que es el primer ganadero y de los principales abastecedores de Mexico.' Id., 244-5.
29. Jenner, the discoverer, was a native of Berkeley, England; he was born May 17, 1749, and died January 24, 1823. For his biography, see the excellent work of Dr Baron, of Gloucester, 2 vols., 1827, 1838.
30. He was honorary physician to the king and honorary counsellor of the treasury. The other members of the expedition were Antonio Gutierrez, professor of medicine and surgery, Angel Crespo, secretary of the commission, Francisco and Antonio Pastor, Pedro Ortega, Doña Isabel Cendal, and lastly, 26 infants from a foundling-house, on whose bodies vaccine matter was preserved during the voyage. Lerdo de Tejada, Apunt. Hist., pt v. 342-4. This author received the particulars from two members, Gutierrez and Crespo. See also Humboldt, Essai Pol. The first child vaccinated was that of the viceroy. Alaman, Disert., iii. app. 87; Cavo, Tres Siglos, iii. 207; Rivera, Gob. de Mex, i., 522; Zamacois, Hist. Mex., vi. 15
31. Balmis extended his labors to Manila. Some of the commission went to South America, and one to Guatamala. The historical infants were reared at the expense of the government, and finally adopted by respectable families. Lerdo de Tejada, Apunt. Hist., pt v. 344; Cavo y Tres Siglos, iii. 207.
32. Obras pias, or fundaciones piadosas.
33. The sums were to be applied to the 'Caja de consolidacion de vales reales,' with interest to the respective benevolent institutions at 3 per cent, payable from the royal revenues. Cedulario, MS., i. 179-97.
34. According to Real Cedula, Oct. 15, 1805, the amount of ecclesiastical property permitted by the pope to be sold under bull of June 14th of the same year was such as to yield in interest 320,000.
35. The value of the real estate and the funds so invested of the obras pias in New Spain amounted in 1804 to $44,500,000. Humloldt, Essai Pol., ii. 476. In Soc. Mex. Geog. Boletin, ii. 3.3-6, the most moderate calculation of the value is, in the archbishopric of Mexico $20,000,000, and in the eight bishoprics, $30,000,000.
36. These-loans, made for the term of nine years, were at the expiration suffered to continue in force at the option of the contracting parties. See Alaman, Hist. Mej., i. 138.
37. 'Qui porte le titre de Junta superior de Real Hacienda.' Humboldt, Essai Pol., ii. 476.
38. See the royal order in Cedulario, MS., i. 179-97; also Humboldt. Essai Pol, ii. 47G-7; Alaman, Hist. Mej., i. 139; Not. de N. Esp., in Soc. Mex. Geog. Boletin, ii. 35-6; Zamacois, Hist. Mej., vi. 16-19.
39. 'La resistance fut si forte de la part des propriétaires, que depuis le mois de Mai 1805 jusqu'au mois de Juin 1806, la caisse d'amortissement ne percevoit que la somme modique de 1,200,000 piastres.' Humboldt, Essai Pol., ii. 477.
40. One by the merchants and laborers of Michoacan, under the direction of Abad y Queipo, afterward bishop elect; and another by the mining board, headed by Miguel Dominguez, corregidor of Querétaro, for which presumption he was removed from office by the viceroy. Bustamante, in Cavo, Tres Siglos, iii. 222-3.
41. 'Toda esta trápala,' says a marginal note on the cédula in Cedulario, MS., i. 179-97, 'del malvado Godoy, Solér, y sus sequaces se suspendio por Orden de 26 de Enero de 1809, pero yá no remedió los estragos incalculables y desastrosos que aquellos malvados y sus sequaces hicieron, con esta infame trápala, sin el mas minimo provecho del erario.' See also Humboldt, Essai Pol., ii. 476-7.
42. Toreno, Hist. Rev. Esp., tom i. lib. ii. 12.
43. The sum produced by the sequestrations, according to Cancelada, Tel. Mex., 29, was $10,509,537. Alaman, Hist. Mej., i. 140, and Bustamante. in Cavo, Tres Siglos, iii. 250, give $10,656,000. Soc. Mex. Geog. Boletin, ii. 35-6, gives productos $10,507,957, and reditos $524,904 pesos. Of the commissions known to have been paid to officials, who at the same time drew large salaries, the diputado principal Arrangoiz received $124,000; Iturrigaray, $72,000; the archbishop Lizana, who, according to Bustamante, was not a favorite with the Mexicans since his arrival in December 1803, $22,000; ministers of the treasury, $50,000; the secretary, $40,000; and so on to the amount of half a million. Cancelada hurls invectives against all connected with this wholesale robbery.
44. Essai Politique sur le Royaume de la Nouvelle Espagne, Paris, 1811. For biographical notice, see Hist. Mex., iii. 513, this series.
45. 'Este proyecto fué, sin duda, la primera Jornada de los desastres de la America—la, insurreccion fué la segunda.' Marginal note on royal cédula, in Cedulario, MS., i. 179-97.
46. The vessels were seized in reprisal for the assistance alleged by England to have been rendered by Spain to France during the war; more subsidies having been paid the latter than those stipulated for in the treaty of 1796. Bustamante, in Cavo, Tres Siglos, iii. 209.
47. See Gaz. de Mex., from 1804 to 1810, passim.
48. The viceroy was admonished, however, to come to some understanding with the archbishop and bishop, so as not to impede the process by prejudicial disputes with the clergy. This accounts for the $22,000 commissions to Lizana. See Cancelada, Tel. Mex., 29.
49. Alaman, Hist. Mej., i. 145-6. In 1805 James Monroe, U. S. minister at London, and Mr Pinckney, minister at Madrid, failed to agree with the Prince of Peace as to the limits of Louisiana, Texas, and Florida; the relations between the two countries assumed a delicate nature, and Monroe asked for his passport and returned to London. Consult Amer. State Pap., xii. 1-327; ii. 596-695, 798-804. On the feeling at this time in New Spain against the United States, I quote from the irascible Bustamante, who, in connection with the viceroy's military preparations, thus gives vent to his ire: 'Esta nacion, si puede dársele tal nombre á un ernambre espesísimo de aventureros, emigrados de la Europa por la miseria ó por sus crimenes, presenta la anomalia mas extraña y ridícula en la historia.' 'She proclaimed,' the author continues, 'the freedom of nations; developed the theories of Rousseau's social contract, which was followed by France and cost torrents of blood,' winding up with a pious exhortation against American slave-holders. See Cavo, Tres Siglos, iii. 217-1 8. Rivera, Gobernantes, i. 525-6, limits himself to stamping the claims of the U. S. against New Spain as 'el colmo de la injusticia y de exhorbitantes pretensiones, hijas de la ambicion. . . inicua. . . absurda.' Of what the Spanish population in Mexico consisted at the time, a contemporary of Bustamante gives, us an idea in El Indicador, iii. 216-17: 'Unos hombres semi-salvages, como los espanoles avecindados en el pais, que nacidos los mas en su pátria, en una condicion muy obscura, apenas habian podido medio civilizarse en Nueva España'
    HIST. MEX., VOL. IV. 3
50. Bustamante says 18,000 well disciplined troops. Medidas para la Pacif., MS., 58. Queipo, in Pap. Var., 164, no. i., states that there were stationed in the canton of Jalapa, serving under the viceroy's orders, 11,000 men, and that there were 6,000 more elsewhere ready to march when called upon. Alaman gives the number as 'cosa de catorce mil hombres' in the year 1806. Hist. Mej., i. 146.
51. Mex. Mem. Guerra, 10. On October 14, 1805, the spectacle of troops being landed and engaging in sham-fight with the enemy was witnessed by the inhabitants of Vera Cruz, the viceroy displaying great enthusiasm, taking part in the exhibition. 'No pudo el ingenio militar de Su Esciá olvidar su aficion, y montando a caballo mando por esquadrones varies rnovimientos de exercicio á los lanceros.' Diario de Mex., i. 92.
52. A subscription for the relief of the widows and orphans of those who fell in the engagement was raised in Mexico. The amount contributed up to Sept. 30, 1807, was 31,235 pesos. Gaz. Mex., xiii. xiv. xv., passim, and xvi. 641.
53. Dominguez was afterward reinstalled in his office by order of the king, dated September 11, 1807. Bustamante, in Cavo, Tres Siglos, iii. 223. When Iturrigaray's residencia was taken he was condemned to indemnify Dominguez for loss of salary, and pay him daños y perjuicios. This was not done till 1824, when on Iturrigaray's death his heirs, after contesting the case in the courts, were compelled to pay 12,000 pesos to Dominguez. Alaman. Hist. Mej., i. 265-7.
54. Fué confundido por la debil voz de un anciano Ministro. Ved aqui el traydor; el pueblo pide su cabeza: dijo Caballero á Carlos IV. señalando a Godoy; y este cobarde como si oyera el estampido de un trueno, calla, teme, huye, y temblando se oculta del Cielo y de la tierra. Asi permanece dos dias atormentado de la sed, del hambre, por las imprecaciones de los hombres, y los remordimientos de su consciencia.' Hernandez y Dávalos, Col. Doc., v. 841.
55. The abdication of Cárlos IV. and accession of Fernando VII. were published on the 9th of June, 1808, by an extra issue of the Gaz. de Mex. q. v.
56. Cancelada, who was present during the occurrences at San Agustin de las Cuevas, says, in Iturrigaray, Conducta, 14: 'La vireina, oida la abdicacion y suerte del ex-príncipe de la Paz, dixo: Nos han puesto la ceniza en la frente; y el regidor Azcárate al llegar con la lectura á los decretos del Señor Don Fernando VII. tiró la gazeta con desprecio en ademan de quererla pisar.' Negrete maintains that there is no proof of these assertions, although both Bustamante and Alaman accept them as true. They emanated, he says, from the statements of Cancelada, a bitter enemy of the viceroy, and should not be received as historical. Mex. Siglo XIX., i. 78.
57. The intelligence was brought by the ship Corza, which anchored in the harbor of Vera Cruz on the 21st of June. Gaz. de Mex., 1808, 424; Cancelada, Conducta, 15-16. Negrete commits an error in stating that this was the occasion when Iturrigaray received the news of Fernando's accession to the throne while diverting himself in the cockpit. Mex. Siglo XIX., i. 69.
58. ’Los oidores creyeron ver en esta vez en el semblante del virey pintado la alegria, y que se complacia en decir que el Rey no volveria al trono.' Cavo, Tres Siglos. iii. 227. This conduct and the occurrence at Tlalpan were subsequently brought forward in the accusations of treason against the viceroy. Compare Cancelada, Conducta Iturr., 15-16.
59. The revisor Oidor Aguirre added the words: 'Que S. E. y el real Acuerdo estaban penetrados de unos mismos nobles y leales sentimientos.' These Iturrigaray tore off, objecting to their publication. Cancelada, Conducta Iturr., 18-19; Verdad Sabida, 19. This action of the viceroy was considered by his enemies as a mark of disloyalty. The Verdad Sabida of Cancelada is severely criticised and the statements it contains denied by Lizarza in his Discurso vindicando Iturrigaray. For his reply on the above question, see p. 16. Much sympathy for Fernando was shown by the citizens of Mexico. Guerra, Rev. N. Esp., i. 3-18.
60. They appeared on the 16th of July in the Gaz. de Mex. 1808, xv. 465-75.
61. Iturrigaray, in Carta á Caballero; Cavo, Tres Siglos, iii. 208.
62. Bustamante remarks that a great number of these cases must have been of a political nature, 'pues este tribunal era el brazo derecho del despotismo.' Id.
63. 'Y de una memoria tan feliz, que aprendió literalmente las principales actuaciones de su causa, con solo haberlos oido leer.' Id., 207-8.
64. 'Escepto en casos muy estraordinarios, para no perjudicar á la Gaceta de Mexico, que era la que tenia el privilegio de publicarlas.' Lerdo de Tejada, Apunt. Hist., pt v. 344. The editor of this gazette was Juan Lopez Cancelada, author of several philippies against Iturrigaray, and whom Bustamante calls an 'español irrequieto, atrevido y charlatán, que habia insultado al Virey.' Cavo, Tres Siglos, iii. 215.