Part 25
In any one of the smaller cities and towns the parish priest, almost without exception, is a worthy and faithful _cura_, of devout and godly reputation, leading among his flock a simple life, wholly occupied in ministering to his charge according to the best of his abilities. Since the enactment of the laws of the reform there is nothing to tempt men to adopt their calling but their love of God and genuine interest in the welfare of their parish, often composed, for the most part, of ignorant Indians. These men are entitled to honor and reverence; their ample reward is the unwavering devotion of their congregations, and the satisfaction they may receive from observing the development of their simple minds.
In the year 1770, the Bishop of Puebla published there his form of the Mozarabic liturgy, the most ancient religious service of the Church of Spain, which flourished there until the eleventh century, when it was supplanted by the Roman liturgy. Even at the present time a chapel exists in the cathedral at Toledo, in Spain, where this service is habitually used, although in presence of but few if any worshippers.
The revival of Mozarabic rites in Mexico met with little attention; but its introduction alone shows a tendency towards independence of thought, very manifest later in the action of Juarez in the sequestration of Church property. Since 1868 a movement in favor of the Protestant Episcopal Church has increased to one of importance. Other Protestant denominations maintain missions in various parts of the country,--the Presbyterian, Methodist, and Baptist missions.
There is still a wide field open in Mexico for teaching the impressionable native of Anahuac the simple tenets of the religion of Christ. Purity, honesty, charity, the love of his neighbor, duty to himself, the knowledge of God,--these sure foundations of life are only needed by him as his first foothold in upward progress. As for the government, its present action, its promises for the future, are for the good of the native races. All persons born in the Republic are free; and freedom of education, freedom to exercise the liberal professions, freedom of thought, and the freedom of the press are guaranteed. That this government should prove itself able to carry out its intentions, and thus encourage in the vast area under its control the presence of order-loving immigrants from other countries, who, instead of creating and promoting disorder, as is often the case, shall set the example of industry and domestic living, is the result desired by all true friends of Mexico. Although among the many Germans, English, and Americans who have settled in the different cities and states of Mexico, there are many who have done so in the intention of earning honest livelihoods, without interfering with their neighbors, and even with the higher motive of improving the condition of those around them, it is not yet possible to say that the example of the foreigners settling in Mexico has been an advantage to its natives. Many of the acts of violence ascribed to Mexicans might be traced to men of other blood, who have sought that territory because they were not tolerated elsewhere. The general testimony of such observers as civil engineers, telegraph men, and others who in the development of the resources of the country have penetrated remote parts of it, is that the native Mexican is peaceful and quiet in disposition, leading a domestic life with his faithful wife, fond of his children, and diligently toiling to support his family. Of course there are exceptions to this, especially when the pulque habit has brutalized its victims; but it is asserted that the drunken quarrels in obscure places, often reported in newspapers, resulting in pistol-shot or dagger stroke, frequently arise less through the fault of the native than of the adventurers from other lands.
Testimony to the good intentions of the government of Mexico is in the improved condition of education there. The system of public instruction is by no means perfect, but it is certainly growing better and better. Free schools, sustained by city or state, are found in most towns and villages, even the smallest. Moreover, private schools are numerous in all the large towns and cities, and colleges and professional schools are found. All of the Mexican states (for such matters are left to the jurisdiction of each separately) compel free primary instruction, and appropriate annual sums to support it.
While these institutions promise much for the future, Mexico is not without her living writers who, in spite of the unfavorable atmosphere of disturbed politics, have found time to devote themselves to literature. Guillermo Prieto has a well deserved fame in his own country, and outside of it wherever he is known. He was born in 1810, and has passed his life in devotion to the liberal cause, which owes much of its success, to his personal bravery, the boldness of his writings, and his sagacious management of affairs. He has served in the higher offices of government, and written upon political economy and finance, but it is as a poet that he is honored and beloved. Prieto is not alone as a writer of prominence, but of others there is not room to speak. It would be a mistake to suppose that Mexico was lacking in the possession of fine minds, cultivated intellects, and eloquent pens.
It will, of course, have been perceived by this time that the Mexicans from whom so much is expected in the future are the descendants of the Aztec and other native tribes. These form a large part of the population of the country,--the portion which their remote origin, and the vicissitudes of their stay upon Anahuac, make the most interesting to the romantic lover of picturesque history.
The country is occupied also by those descendants of Spanish families who avoided the decree of exile issued in the early days of independence. Inter-marriages with Indian blood have crossed this stock, so that many good families in Mexico have Indian ancestors among their Spanish ones, and it would probably be rare to find a family wholly unmixed with this strain. What effect this grafting of Castilian character has had upon the native stock, is a subject interesting to students of national characteristics. Cruelty upon cruelty, superstition upon bigotry, might be pronounced a dangerous repetition likely to result from the mixture of the two races which established the Inquisition and revelled in the custom of human sacrifice. On the other hand, the lofty pride of the traditional Spaniard might find its match in the inherited love of splendor of the descendant of the Aztecs. However these things might be, the Mexican-Spaniard has not attained a high reputation among other nations for honesty, generosity, or elevation of character. Whatever may be the fairness of the prejudices against him, partly due to the disadvantages he has been under by being judged always by enemies who have invaded his country for his destruction and their own profit, it is less to this race than to that of the pure Indian blood of the country, that Mexico looks for the regeneration of her future history.
Vast tracts of profitable land in Mexico are still unsettled. As the government becomes more and more stable, it is probable that these will be occupied with emigrants from all other nations, eager to develop the great natural resources. There are at present many Germans engaged in all the branches of industry; and Englishmen, attracted by the great mining and other capabilities of the country, are yearly investing more and more capital in these enterprises. To the skill of English engineers is due the successful achievement of the Mexican railway, the first built of the great lines that now mark up the map in all directions. Many a Mexican company had faced the chasm between the capital and the gulf, but baulked before the leap. No government lasted long enough to ensure the success of the enterprise, until, in 1868 republican stability and English capital combined to push it forward, and in 1873 the road was opened to the public.
Two great lines connecting Mexico with the United States--the Mexican Central and the National Railway--are essentially American enterprises. The Yankee pervades Mexico--not, as many of its inhabitants fear, with the deep design of absorbing all its territory into the already large domain of the United States, but with his characteristic instinct for doing a good thing for himself. He finds a perfect climate, a productive soil, a land rich in metals and minerals, unlimited space for future railroads, telegraphs, towns, shops, business. There are instances, no doubt, where he thinks he has found a simple native population, easily imposed upon, whose ignorance he may work to his own advantage. But there is no doubt that Yankee liberality, intelligence, conscience, and capital have already done much, and will do far more, to advance the civilization of the country, and lift the spirit of the Aztec, kept low down by centuries of life at the very base of the social pyramid, so that it may ascend higher and higher towards its apex.
The darkest days of the Mexican Republic are over. Its members have learned sharp lessons from adversity; they have suffered every thing that their own headstrong conduct, their vain-glorious ambition could bring upon them--civil war, anarchy, invasion by the army of a neighboring government--their natural friend perverted to an enemy partly by their own folly,--the unwarranted intervention of a foreign potentate, the difficulties of debt, want of public faith, a low state of public honesty.
Out of all these troubles they have bravely emerged, and now take their stand, heavily weighted still, indeed, with the burdens of past mistakes, among them the lingering distrust of other nations, but young, full of promise, with all the elements surrounding them of a possible great future. This future must depend for the most part on their own exertions. The children of to-day must be reared in such enlightened fashion that they may avoid the mistakes and crimes of the generation before them; they must learn to long for honorable peace, and must resist the pull there is to their blood for change and military renown. They must seek glory in the permanence of their institutions and the development of their great resources, thus slowly winning the confidence of other nations.
Then they will find these other nations, and especially the powerful one next them on their own continent, ready to perform the neighborly part of protecting their interests, sympathizing in their prosperity, generously willing to share with them the growing fame of the civilization of America.
INDEX.
A
Aak, 78
Academy of Fine Arts, 226
Acamapichtli, 90
Acapulco, 225
Acatl, 76
Acolhuacan, 93
Aculco, 246
Aculhuas, 42
Agave, 34
Aguilar, Jérome de, 138
Agustin I., _see_ Yturbide
_Ahuehuete_, 22, 56
Ahuitzotl, 105
Aldama, 248
Allende, Ignacio, joins Hidalgo, 241; denounced, 244; attacked by Calleja, 246; forced to retreat, 247; captured and shot, 248
Alta California, 190; _see_ also California
Alvarado, 137, 160, 163, 173, 194
Amaquemecan, 38, 42
Amecameca, 99, 208
Ampudia, General, 318, 319, 322
Anahuac, 6, 8, 12, 17, 33
Anaya, General, 334
Angostura, 323
Apan, 36
Apodaca, Viceroy, 259, 262
Arista, General, 311, 342
Atlantis, 21
Atzacualco, 83
Atzcapotzalco, 42, 43, 51
_Audiencia_, 184
Austin, Moses, 304
Axayacatl, 101, 158
Ayaxzitl, 41
Ayotzinco, 156
_Ayuntamiento_, 184
_Azoteas_, 127
Aztecs, 43; emigration of, 83; wanderings of, 84; settlement at Chapultepec, 86; driven to the islands, 87; found Tenochtitlan, 88; their civilization, 89; extent of the kingdom, 106; religion of, 107; hieroglyphics, 111; paintings, 112; religion, 114; domestic life, 115; laws, 115; calendar, 116; cycle, 118; agriculture, 119; character, 120; priestesses, 121; policy of the nation, 123
Aztlan, 22
B
Bajan, Las Norias de, 248
Balam, 78
Barradas, 277
Basch, Dr., 375
"Baths of Montezuma,", 57
Baudelier, quoted, 30, 38, 170
Bazaine, Marshal, 356, 360, 367, 371, 373
Bocanegro, 277
Bonaparte, Joseph, 235
Bonpland, 224
Boot, Adrian, 218
Branciforte, Marquis of, 234, 235
Bravo, General Don Nicholas, 262, 268, 274, 307, 321
Buena Vista, 323
Bustamente, 262, 277, 278, 285, 287, 288
C
Cacamatzin, 130, 154, 156
Calderon, battle of, 247
Calderon, Conde de, _see_ Calleja
Calderon, Madame, 290; quoted, 227, 273, 282, 284, 293
Calderon, Señor, 290
California, 313, 316, 338
Calleja, General, 246, 247, 252, 258
_Calzadas_, 80
Calzonzi, 67, 176, 189
Campeche, 132
_Canoas_, 92, 127
_Cargadores_, 4, 405
Carlotta, Empress of Mexico, 350; her character, 358, 364; goes to Europe, 367; interview with Napoleon, 368; her madness, 369
_Carratelas_, 292
Casa de Cortés, 28
Casa Grande, 13
Casa-Mata, 268
Catholic Fathers, 9, 412
Cazadero, 202
Cempoallan, 143
Cerro de Borrego, battle at, 355
Cerro Gordo, 330
Ceutla, ruins at, 17
Chaak Mool, 78
Chalcas, 66
Chalchiuhtlatonac, 26, 38
Chalco, Lake, 12, 333
_Chapparral_, 5
Chapultepec, 86, 127, 156, 291, 338, 362, 399
Charles V., 10, 177, 214
Charles II., 220
Charles III., 226, 233
Charles IV., 227, 233
Chavero, quoted, 117
Chiapas, 18, 71, 265
Chichimecatl Tecuhtli, 41
Chichen-Itza, 76
Chichimecs, 26, 38-44, 64, 87
Chihuahua, 323
Chilpantzingo, 252
Chimalpopoca, 91, 94
_Chinampas_, 228
Cholollan, 28
Cholula, pyramid of, 14, 100, 106, 206
Cholultecas, massacre of, 154
Churubusco, 333, 334
_Cinco de Mayo_, 354
_Clerigos_, 344
Coahuila, 338
Coatlicue, 121
Coatzacoalco River, 106
Colima, 62
Colorado River, 24
Columbus, 131
Comonfort, General, 356
_Conquistadores_, 8, 12, 89
Contreras, Don Pedro Moya de, 216
Copan, 17, 71
Córdoba, 5
Cordova, 132
Cordova, treaty of, 264, 266
Cortazar, General, 285
Cortés, Fernando, alluded to, 2, 3; birth of, 135; character of, 136; commissioned by Velasquez, 127; his squadron, 138; at the Tabasco River, 139; worshipped as Quetzalcoatl, 141; sends gifts to Montezuma, 141; visits Cempoallan, 143; destroys the ships, 144; interview with Montezuma, 147; conquers Tlaxcalla, 152; at Cholula, 154; arrives in Mexico, 156; meeting with Montezuma, 157; seizes Montezuma, 159; expedition to Vera Cruz, 160; abandons Mexico, 163; retreat from the city, 164; gathers a new army, 171; campaign against Mexico, 173; at Coyoacán, 175; conquers Michoacan, 176; expedition to Honduras, 177; voyages to Spain, 178; death of, 178; burial in Mexico, 179
Cortés, Martin, 180
Cotton, 92, 406
Council of Music, 53
Coxcox, 22
Coyoacán, 175
Cozumel, 138
Cuahtemoc, 167, 170, 174, 175, 178
Cuauhnahuac, 92
Cuautla, 252
Cuba, 132
Cuepopan, 88
Cuernavaca, 28, 225
Cuextecas, 106
Cuicuicatzin, 155
Cuitlahuac, 101
Cuitlahuatzin, 161, 166
Cuitzao, Lake, 62
Culhuacan, 23
Culhuas, 87
D
Diaz, Bernal, 137; quoted, 127, 148, 181
Diaz, Porfirio, takes Oaxaca, 371; takes Puebla, 376, 384; a candidate for the presidency, 390; at the head of the revolutionists again, 392; his earlier life, 394; in the war of the reform, 395; campaign against Oaxaca, 395; an escape from government troops, 396; president, 398; re-elected, 398; his home, 399
Doblado, 346
Dolores, 240
Dominicans, 324
Dominiguez, Doña Josefa, 258
"Drinking cup of the Eagle," 101
E
Escobedo, General, 374, 375, 378
Estrada, Gutierrez, 299, 349
F
Farías, Valentine Gomez, 279, 282, 307, 321, 330
Ferdinand VII., 234, 259
Fischer, Father, 371
Forey, Marshal, 356
Franciscans, 324
Fremont, Colonel, 316
_Frijoles_, 26
G
Galves, Viceroy, 226, 228
Garces, Fray Julian, 204
Garibay, Viceroy, 236
Ghent, Fray Pedro de, 192
Gonsalez, General Manuel, 398
Good-Friday in Mexico, 294
Gorostiza, 334
Grant, Ulysses, quoted, 341
Grenaditas, Alhóndiga de, 243, 248
Grijalva, Juan de, 132-134
_Grito de Dolores_, 242
Guadalajara, 193, 246
Guadalupe-Hidalgo, treaty of, 338
Guanajuato, 19, 243, 409
_Guardias Rurales_, 298
Guatemala, 71, 265
Guerrero, 259; joins Yturbide, 261; joins in the Casa-Mata, 268; a candidate for the presidency, 275; president, 277; his government overthrown, 277; captured and shot, 278
Guillermo, 346
Guzman, Nuño de, 184, 185-194
H
Herrara, General, 262, 307, 342
Hicuxaxé, 66
Hidalgo, Manuel, birth and education, 238; life at Dolores, 240; declares independence, 241; _Grito de Dolores_, 242; takes Guanahuato, 243; takes Valladolid, 245; defeated at Aculco, 246; defeated at Calderon, 247; captured and shot, 248
Hidalgo, state of, 41
Historia Chichimeca, 60
Holy Brotherhood, tribunal of, 203
Houston, General, 305
Huactlatohani, 41
Huatusco, ruins at, 16
Huehue-Tlapallan, 19, 24
Huehuetoca, 218
Huematzin, 24
Huexotzinco, 106
Huitzilihuitl, 91, 92, 94
Huitzilopochtli, 29, 87, 88, 99, 105
Human sacrifices, 102
Humboldt, Alexander von, visits Mexico, 224-232
I
"Iguala, Plan of," 261
Indian, the name, 184
_Indios_, 184
Inquisition, 196, 216
Iré-Titatacamé, 65
Istaccíhuatl, 6
Iturrigaray, Don José de, 224, 236
Itzcoatl, 96, 97, 98
Ixtlilxochitl, Fernando de Alva, 23, 44, 60, 64
Ixtlilxochitl, king of the Chichimecs, 44, 45, 94
Ixtlilxochitl, of Texcuco, 130, 154, 155, 171
Izamal, 81
J
Jaramillo, Don Juan de, 183
Jesuits, 324
Jimenez, 247, 248
Joinville, Prince de, 281
Jorullo, 231
Juarez, Benito, his descent, 344; governor of Oaxaca, 345; president, 346; withdraws from the capital, 356; advances to Zacatecas, 374; enters the capital, 386; president, 387; character of, 389; re-elected, 390; death of, 390
Juarez, Doña Catalina, 137, 181, 182
_Juntas_, 235
K
Kinich-Katmo, 78
L
Lane, General, 340
Leon, Diégo Velasquez de, 132, 135, 137
Leon y Gama, quoted, 117
Le Plongeon, Dr., quoted, 78
Lerdo, Don Sebastian de Tejada, 391, 396
Lerma, River, 219
Le Teja, 372
_Liberales_, 344
Lopez, General, 377
Lorencez, General, 354
Loreto, Fort, 331
Louis Philippe, 281
M
_Maguey_, 35
Malinche, mountain of, 46
Malintzi, birth and early life, 145; in slavery, 146; given to Cortés, 146; becomes interpreter, 147; appearance of, 149; escape of, 164; life with Cortés, 180; marriage of, 183; death of, 183
Marina, _see_ Malintzi
Markets in Mexico, 228
Márques, General, joins the _clerigos_, 346; joins Maximilian, 372; becomes quartermaster-general, 375; sent to the capital, 375; his escape, 384
Martin de Valencia, Fray, 208, 211
Martinez, Enrico, 218, 219
Maximilian, emperor of Mexico, 350; his character and aims, 352; arrives in Mexico, 357; his reception, 358; life at court, 360; policy of, 362; appeals to Napoleon, 367; prepares to leave Mexico, 369; goes to Orizaba, 370; influence of the clerical party, 371; returns to Mexico, 372; at Querétaro, 374; his appearance described, 376; a prisoner, 378; death of, 380
Maxixcatzin, 171
Maxtla, 44, 48-51, 92-97
Mayapan, 71, 72
Mayas, 18, 70-82
Mayorga, Viceroy, 226
Meconetzin, 36
Meija, General, 373, 378, 380
Mendez, 378
Mendoza, Antonio de, character of, 191; his administration, 192-202
Merida, 80
Mexcalla, 106
Mexicans, 51
Mexico, climate of, 5; relief of, 6; early races of, 9; government of, 10; natural resources of, 11, 402; roads in, 80; natives of, 185; mines of, 229, 409; society in, 290; women of, 292; soldiers, 308; vegetation, 402; flowers, 403; market-place, 404; schools of, 415; literature of, 416; railways in, 418
Mexitli, 84
Mexitzin, 90
_Mezcal_, 36
Michoacan, 19, 62-69, 106, 176, 194
Mines of Mexico, 229, 409
Miramon, General, joins the _clerigos_, 346, 349; joins Maximilian, 372; advances to Zacatecas, 374; raises troops for Maximilian, 375; taken prisoner, 373; shot, 380
Mitla, 393
Mixcoatl, 40
Mixtecas, 19
Molino del Rey, 334, 360
Monasteries, suppression of, 412
Montaño, 176
Monte de la Cruces, 245
Monteleone, Dukes of, 179
Monterey, 317
Monterey (in California), 314
Montezuma I., 92, 98, 100
Montezuma II., 101, 124; coronation of, 125; court of, 128; interview with Cortés, 147, 157; a prisoner, 159; death of, 161
Montezuma, Conde de, 220
Montezuma's Cypress, 129
Morales, General, 328
Morelia, 194, 251
Morelos, José Manuel, birth of, 250; education of, 251; joins the Independents, 251; defends Cuautla, 252; calls first Mexican congress, 252; appointed captain-general, 253; defeated at Valladolid, 254; captured, 254; shot, 254; his character, 255
Morelos, state of, 41
Mound Builders, 20
Moyotla, 88
Mozarabic liturgy, 413
N
Nachan, 71
Nahuas, 19, 20
Nahuatl, language, 19, 27; legends, 22; family, 70
Napoleon I., 235
Napoleon III., 349, 360, 366, 368
Naranjan, Princess of, 65
Nata and Nana, legend of, 23
National Museum of Mexico, 33
Nevada de Toluca, 29
New Mexico, 313, 338
New Spain, extent of, 190
Nezahualcoyotl, 44-61, 96, 98
Nezahualpilli, 105, 125, 130
_Noche Triste_, La, 163
_Nopal_, 87
Noriega, General, 384
Northers, 1, 3
Novella, Francisco, 263, 264
Nueva Leon, 316
O
Oaxaca, 275, 392
Obregon, 229
O'Donojú, Don Juan, 223, 263-266
_Oidores_, 185
Olid, Christobal de, 137, 173, 176, 177
Olmedo, Father, 182
Orizaba, 1
Ortega, General, 346, 356
Otomis, tribe of, 19, 152
Otoncapolco, 164
Otumba, battle of, 168, 170
P
Païnala, 145, 183
Palenque, ruins at, 17, 72-76
Palo Alto, battle at, 311
Paredes, Don Maria, 284, 285, 307, 319
Parian, The, 275
Paseo, 291
Patzcuaro, 63, 68, 194, 230
Payne and Zarate, quoted, 37
Pedraza, Manuel Gomez, 275, 276, 278, 282
_Peones_, 256
Philip II., 9, 199, 214, 219
Philip III., 219
Philip IV., 219
Philip V., 233
Pillow, General, 336
_Pita_, 35
Popocatapetl, 6
Popotla, 164
Pottery of Mexico, 405
Prieto, Guillermo, 346, 416
Princess of Cloth, 92
Puebla, 204, 206, 262, 330, 333, 354, 356
Puebla, state of, 41
_Pulque_, 23, 35
Q
_Quemadero_, 216
Querétaro, 19, 246, 262, 374, 375
Quetzalcoatl, 29; legends of, 30, 33, 131; influence of, 32; statue of, 34
Quinames, 18
Quinatzin, 42
Quiroga, Vasco de, 197, 238
R
Railways in Mexico, 418
_Rebozos_, 296, 406
_Reclamacion de los Pasteles_, 281
Revillagigedo, Don Juan Vicente de Güemes Pacheco de Padilla, Conde de, 220-222
Robbers, 297
Royal University, founded, 203
Rubio, Manuel Romero, 399
S
Sabine River, 305
Sacramento, 323
Salanueva, Don Antonio, 345
Salm-Salm, Prince of, 375; Princess of, 378
Saloméa, Pass of, 393
Saltillo, 316
San Christobal, Lake, 12
San Diego, 252
San Juan de Ulóa, 137, 236, 281, 330
San Juan Teotihuacan, 168
San Luis, 19
San Nicholas, Colegio de, 230, 238, 251
Sandoval, Gonzalo de, 173
Santa Anna, Antonio Lopez de, 267; his connection with Yturbide, 273; at Oaxaca, 275; defeats a Spanish force, 277; becomes president, 278; in Texas, 279; a prisoner, 280; defeats a French squadron, 281; his home at Manga la Clava, 282; rivalry with Pedraza, 283; with Meija, 284; president again, 287; at the head of the army, 308; returns from Cuba, 320; in the war with the United States, 330-338; retires to Jamaica, 340; made Dictator, 344; conspires against the government, 387; banished, 388; death of, 388, 398
Schools of Mexico, 415
Scott, Winfield, 323, 324, 328, 330, 337, 339
_Serape_, 406
Shining Serpent, _see_ Quetzalcoatl
Sicuiracha, 65
Small-pox among the Aztecs, 167
Spanish, expelled from Mexico, 274
St. Domingo, 135
Sun, sacrifices to, 102
T
Tabasco River, 133, 139
Tamaulipas, 270
Tangoxoan II., 67, 176
Tarascans, 65; customs of, 68
Taylor, General, 312, 316, 337, 339
Tecpancaltzin, 28, 36
Tehuacan, 254
"Temple of the Cross," 74
Tenoch, 89, 90
Tenochtitlan, 43, 88, 126, 175
_Teocallis_, 9