XXIV.
REVOLUTIONS.
Mexico could not always remain indifferent to the current of events in Spain. Changes which shook Europe to its uttermost limit raised a tempest whose waves broke with violence even on the remote shores of the province.
Spain, after Philip V., was governed by three of his sons in succession, the last of whom, Charles III., held the throne until 1788. He was a prince of excellent intentions and blameless morals, and through his ministers he brought the country to a degree of prosperity to which it was little accustomed since the days of Philip II.
His good works extended as far as Mexico, where he caused to be founded in the capital, the Academy of Fine Arts, still in existence. His memory in the days of the viceroys was preserved in New Spain as that of the greatest and wisest of monarchs. His son, Charles IV., succeeded him. It must not be forgotten that the Emperor Charles V. was Charles I. of Spain—fifth Charles only of those of Austria.
Charles IV., in no sense a relative of Charles V., being a Bourbon with instincts and traditions wholly
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