Digitized by the Internet Arciiive in 2010 with funding from The Library of Congress http://www.archive.org/details/churchstateormex01clou ^^ ^S^\ •t"^^ CHURCH AND STATE MEXICAN POLITICS FROM CORTEZ TO DIAZ. 'iON 1 Y899 3y Wv'^K. CIvOLT]^. J-S^i^ 7/. SOI. DUCK OF TWO WARS. F/R5T SERGEANT "k," CO. 2D OHIO, MEXICAN WAR, COLONEL 2d Kansas cavalry, 18625. KANSAS CITY, MO. PECK & CLARK, PRINTERS'. — iSgS. — Kntered, according- to an Act of Congress, in the year JS96. by COI,. W. F. CI,OUD, In the Office of the I^ibrarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. O i^^:' 7 Klectrotyped by Carlton & Rose, Kansas City. "Eternal Vigilance is the Price of Liberty " TO the; above sentiment THIS VOI^UME IS APPROVINGIvY DEDICATED. W. pi". OlvOOD. Kansas City, Mo. CONTKNTTS. Book I. PAGE Chapter I. — Introduction, - - - ii Chapter II. — 1/192101521, - ... 25 Discovery. Conquest and Occupation of Mexico. Chapter III. — 1521 to 180S, .... 36 Viceroys. Policies. Inhunuuiit}'. Corruption. Chapter IV.— iSoSto iSii, ... - 48 Hidalgo. El grito de Dolores. Battles. Defeat. Death. Chapter V. — iSii to 1821, ... "66 Hidalgo's Successors. Overthrow of Revolution. Chapter VI. — iS2rtoiS23, - ... 80 Mexico Indeperident. Iturbide Kmperor. Career. Death. Chapter VII. — 1823 to 1S31, - - - - 92 Mexico a Republic. Insurrections. Tragedies. ' Chapter VIII. — 1831101844, . . . . 106 Santa Anna President. Dictator. Overthrow. Chapter IX.— 1844 to 1855, . . . . nS Santa Anna rc-eEtablished. Banished. War vpith U. S. More of Santa Anna as President and Refugee. Chapter X. — 1855 to 1S58, . - . . 132 Many Presidents. Revolutions. Confiscation of Church Property.. Chapter XI. — 1858 to 1859, - . . - 143 Juarez President. Zuloaga Church President. War. War. War. Chapter XII. — 1859101861, - - - - 154 Continued War. Juarez triumphant. Church defeated. Chapter XIII.— 1861 to 1863, - - - - 166 Many reforms. Church secures foreign intervention. Chapter XIV.— 1863 to 1864, - - - - 176 Maximilliaa Crowned Emperor. Monroe Doctrine. 6 CONTENTS. FAOK Chapter XV.— 1864 to 1866, - - - 186 Maximillian a failure. Frencli evacuate. Carlote insane. Chapter XVI.— 1866 to 1867, - - - 196 Maximillian overthrown. !E)xecut=d. Unvailing sym- patliy. Chapter XVII. — 1867 to 1872, ... - 203 Juarez re-elected. Many reforms. Death of Juarez. ChapterXVIII.— 1872 to 1878, - . - - 208 lyerdo President. Revolution. Diaz President. Chapter XIX.— 1878 to 1880, - - - - 216 Biography of Diaz. Reforms. Declines re-election. Chapter XX. — 1880 to 1895, - - . - 227 Gonzalez President. Diaz President three terms. Grand progress and elevation of people. Chapter XXI. ..-..-. 236 Chronological Table of Governors of Mexico. Chapter XXII. -..-._ 240 Miscellaneous facts. ChapTEP.. XXIII. . - - - . 259 Bull Fight. Chapter XXIV. .... . 265 Rome under X Rays. Book II. History of Texas atid of tho Mexican War. Chapter I. — Introduction - - - - 3 Chapter II. — Texas. 1684 to 1836, ... g Discovery and occupation. A Mexican State. Outrages. Chapter III.— 1836 to 1845, - - - - 19 Gains Independence. Annexed to the United States. Chapter IV. — Mexican War. 1845 to 1848, - - 32 Taylor's Battles and Victories. Chapter v.— 1848, - - - - - 43 Scott captures Vera Cruz and City of Mexico. Peace. Numbers of Army and Navy. The dead. PRKKACK. The doors to the temple of Janus were thrown wide open in 1S46 and two nations, Mexico and the United States, rushed to arms. Book II of this volume gives reasons for the con- flict, its details and results. Prompted by patriotism, youthful impulse, and a slight ripple in true love's course, the writer, clothed in the national blue, and enrolled as a volunteer from Ohio, found himself in July, 1846, on the banks of the Rio Grande, "with rifle in his hand." The march along the line of operations up to Buena Vista and a year of campaigning in Mexico gave oppor- tunity to learn much as to the country and the people, their social, religious and political life. Nearly a half century of observation and inquiry as to the history of that land and of the people, supple- mented by a recent tour of the country and a visit to each of the historic battle-fields, where American sol- diers gained victory, fame, and finally, on settlement, some land — has greatly augmented that knowledge and revivified and intensified the memories and emotions incident to the military campaign. But intense and interesting as are those emotions, the recent knowledge acquired as to Mexican politics has claimed earliest attention. Hence this volume, wherein the author holds strictly to the powers, parties 8 PREFACE. and politicians who have impressed themselves and their principles upon the very interesting history of Mexico by individual and combined efforts, and to a continuous chain of results which have followed. Much, very much of interesting truth about the land of "sunshine and flowers," and of the very peculiar people who inhabit the same is left out as not being embraced in the lines of this self-assumed task. What a world Mexico would have been under the control of Northern Europe. For data, the author has laid hands upon histories printed in both English and Spanish; the latter, obtained in Mexico, contain many facts which if ever presented in American books, has escaped his notice. These data with occasional quotations, grouped chronologically into as condensed form as possible, are now offered to the public with the hope that they are not entirely unworthy of perusal. This is more cheerfully done at this juncture in American politics, that facts in the history of Mexico may in some degree enlighten a deliberating people, to whom the matter of ecclesiastical meddling in national, state and municipal, political and educational affairs has become quite a vital one. In Mexico, Rome had her will as to such questions and matters for three centuries and a half, and this history shows, though in a faint degree, the results. If there is anything despicable therein, the author is not at fault, for he simply narrates facts and "tells the truth" as to what ecclesiasticism did for Mexico. Not only that, but he tells what Mexican statesmen and patriots have done to ecclesiasticism. % Organizations in the Union, whether secret or other- PREFACE. 9 wise, whose aim is to check and limit Church control of State questions, including education, cannot claim originality: as, by the truths herein it will be seen that Mexicans did such work more than a quarter of a century ago, and did it well. Secret societies, as Jesuits (largely political) and of that ilk, though suppressed in Catholic Mexico, are not dead, neither yet sleeping in the United States; and therefore there may be great propriety in patriotic Americans "fighting the devil with fire." If secret political w^ork is to be condemned, let the rule apply to emissaries of the church of Rome who con- spire against American popular education and against the independence of the State of anj^ Church control. Forming an opinion of the Romish church entirely upon its history in Mexico, it would be declared to be a base, sanguinary, political organization; seeking and using power for gain and individual advantage; entirely destitute of spiritual knowledge or experience and rest- ing alone in form. In that light the author treats it. To Inventors of Written Language? To many who have written histories, and especially to the authors of Willson's American history and Bancroft's "Historia de Mexico" and "Porfirio Diaz su Biografia," gratitude is hereby expressed for writing, and writings; otherwise this book had not been open to your inspection, my kind reader, from whom I crave indulgence. W. F. CI.OUD. Kansas City, Mo., March 23, 1896. History of Mexican Politics. book: I. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION. IN THE beginning, when the solar system was con- ceived, the orbs constructed, and space in the great family of systems assigned, the button was pressed by Omnific power, and there was harmonious unjarring motion. Then our earth, fulfilling its part, took to revolving on its axis, having a surface velocity of a thousand miles an hour; and while thus revolving it took a speed of a thousand miles a minute in its course around the central sun. It rushes through cold, cold, dark, dark, limitless space, fortunately carrying a thin coating of air and a coat, or spots, of heat, variable in location and in- tensity, and a hemisphere of sunlight, also variable, whereby life upon its surface is possible. Thus it has continued from — when? The family of mankind, who have peopled the sur- face of the earth for an indefinite time, failed to note the wonderful facts of speed, and systems of surrounding worlds until a comparatively recent period. Inspired writers omitted to mention facts as to nature, science, mathematics, astronomy, geography. The Great Teacher Himself confined His statements 12 HISTORY OF MEXICAN POLITICS, of truth to a very limited line of thought and observa- tion. The concentrated wisdom of man developed written language about forty centuries ago. About, or a little more than, four centuries have passed since Copernicus suggested, or restated, the facts of the Solar Sj^stem. The bold, persevering, and alleged, heretical navi- gator Columbus, made his voyage of discovery; and to- gether the astronomer and the sailor presented facts which were to revolutionize not only natural history and science, but theology also. The doctrines of a flat, stationarj^ earth and of a stationary upward heaven were antagonized and disproved by the neweducatipn. Then was aroused to battle against popular educa- tion the best organized and most extensive s^'Stera of Church and State which the world contains' upon its surface, and that fight thus commenced b}^ the Roman Catholic church has continued to the present time, for there is an irreconcilable contention between popish priestcraft and free and full knowledge. The great reformer, IvUther, and the telescope-per- fecter, Galileo, by reason of the truths which they pre- sented and taught, as to spiritual and natural things, both encountered fierce and severe opposition and pun- ishment. But even though a tongue should have been stilled and a recantation secured at the command of the Church the world still moves, and truth is a winner. The fires and torments of the Inquisition, built and constructed with all the fiendish hate and inventive genius of Roman Catholics, failed to suppress truth and education. The printing press, coincidently started in the fifteenth century, has proved more than a match for the bone-crushing presses of the "Holy Office. ' ' The latter FROM CORTEZ TO DIAZ. 13 have been stopped, it is hoped forever, while the first, in more perfected form continues to shed light, benefi- cent and converting light, dissipating the errors and cruelties of Rome. A clear case of the survival of the fittest. Out from the midst of the contest, in the seventeenth centur}-, from one who held delegated regal power from Europe, over a province in America, came the following utterance: "I thank God there are no free schools nor printing, and I hope we shall not have these hundred years. For learning has brought heresy and disobedi- ence and sects into the world, and printing divulges them and commits libels against the government. God keep us from both!" Thus the Church and the State in those days of the dominance of Rome detested and antagonized free schools and the printing press. The winds and the waves were propitious; and on the i2thof October, 1492, "old style," or the 24th of that month, "new style," Columbus realized to the most happy fruition the truth of the theory which he had matured, by long reflection and experimental inquiry; and the most important event recorded on history's pages, resulting from individual genius and enterprise, became an assured fact. A new world, or a new half of a very old world, was introduced to the astonished wiseacres and rulers of civilization, and the rotundity of the earth was demonstrated, to the disgust of the Church of Rome, in which was embodied the learning and the bigotry of the age. Yes, a new world was discovered and given over to that kind of civilization in which Rome presented and performed her will, as to dealing with the inhabitants 14 HISTOR V OF MEXICAN POLITICS, of the land and establishing her policies of civil, re- ligious, and educational governments; thereby showing just what are her aspirations, theories and intentions toward all peoples, in all ages, and furnishing object lessons to Americans in this nineteenth century of Christ. Rome never changes, is never reformed. Infalli- bility cannot submit to change of principle, plan, pur- pose nor process. When the compiler of this volume returned recently from a tour of inquiry in Mexico, May, 1894, he heard a distinguished Roman Catholic priest in Kansas City, Missouri, deliver an address before a Protestant assem- bly in the Congregational church in that city, upon the position which Satolli, the "American Pope," took on the question of the public school system of America. Having just returned from Mexico, a country which was, for three hundred and fifty years, subject exclu- sively to the educational system of Rome, and having seen the results in the ignorance, degradation and superstition of the people, and their poverty and lack of ambition, he was very much surprised to hear Father Dalton say: "The Roman Catholic church is not understood in the matter of education. Instead of being opposed to, it favors the public school S3^stem. The Roman Catholic church originated the public school system. If fault is found with the public schools, it is because they are not of a higher grade, and fail in the extent and scope of their instruc- tion. There should be education of the heart, the mind, the body. The Church does not wish religion to be taught in the public schools. Roman Catholics are proud of the existence and usefulness of the public FROM CORIEZ TO DIAZ. 15 schools, and gladly contribute to the maintainance of them, and pay tax for their support as cheerfully as they pay for their parochial schools. Priests of the Roman Catholic church who declaim against the public school system of this country speak only for themselves and do not represent the Church. Some Catholics have taught that each nationality, coming as immigrants to this country, should bring their Bishops with them, and thus maintain their forms of faith and systems of education; but recognizing as did the Pope of Rome the value of the public schools of America, he said 'No,' for the school system was first introduced by Rome. Rome has tried to follow the Pauline rule of being all things to all. The perpetuity of the Church is involved in this matter of education, and children to remain Catholics must have the two-fold education which is to be acquired in the ordinary school and in the parochial school." While delivering himself of these assertions, many of which are false to the knowledge of all, he failed in that ready and eloquent style which ordinarily character- izes his platform addresses, and struggled like a horse in quicksand; and one could hardly suppress the use of the old-time sajang: "Oh. w^hat a magnificent liar you would make, if you would only give 3^our attention to it." "This is my grievance; the State school is non-re- ligious * * I put the question: Ought we not to have in connection with the school religious instruction? I would permeate the regular State school with religion. " — Archbishop Ireland. "She (the Church) has the right of subjecting the study of philosophy, moral science, and civil law to ecclesiastical authority." — Cauou law of Pius IX, 1864. i6 HISTORY OF MEXICAN POLITICS, "It'-S (the States) assumption of the right to tax a powerful minority to support a school system which it will not use must be resisted." — Roman Catholic Re- view. Rome, April i8, 1895. — The pope, through the congregation of the propaganda, has addressed a letter to the Canadian bishops, condemning the frequenting of Protestant or neutral schools by the Catholics of Manitoba." The assertion that "Rome becomes all things to all" and "that children to remain Catholics must be taught in the parochial schools," however, should not be disputed. In charity to Priest Dalton, it may be said he spoke for himself only, and does not represent the Church. What the parochial schools of Rome have done for a people where ecclesiasticism had undisputed control may be seen in what the historian has written of our neighbor on the south. Is the school system of the Church reformed? Rome yields to force of circum- stances, at times, "becomes all things to all" for policy's sake. But does she ever experience a change of heart? History answers, "Never!" "Of the state of learning and education among the Mexican people," (and the desire on the part of the clergy to keep them in ignorance,) "some idea may be formed when it is considered that as late as 1840 among the entire white population of the country, not more than one in five could read and write; and among the Indians and mixed classes, not one in fifty; a startling fact for a republic, and one of the prominent causes for that incapacity for self-government which the people exhibited up to that time." — Willson's American His- tory. FROM CORTEZ TO DIAZ. 17 This ignorance was the result of a studied and sys- tematic effort to limit the degree of instruction accorded to the people. Whenever any proposition was made, in the early days, to favor the education of the people as a means to secure their elevation and advancement the cry was made by the clergy, "that the elevation of ser- vants and Indians was to imperil their future and eternal interests." The restriction of their education was with the full assent of the friars and the clergy, and they pre- dicted that instruction was useless, and would result in evil. The Viceroy Brancifort declared in 1795 "that a knowledge of the catechism was sufficient, and thus he proposed to deprix'e of education eighty or ninety per cent of the population." It was not until the reforms in the politics and con- stitution of Mexico in 1858-73, when liberty of teach- ing, of the press, of the forum and of speech was secured, that education was possible to the common people of that country, and the results are surprising and gratifying. May 15, 1894, at the opening of the Catholic Edu- cational Exhibit at the Grand Central Palace in New York, after Archbishop Corrigan had delivered an ad- dress. Congressman Bourke Cochran spoke as follows: "To declare," said he, "that the Catholic church is hostile to the republic is to declare that the mother is hostile to her offspring. Those who tell us that the Catholic church or its educational system is hostile to the government must speak a falsehood. We cannot have it otherwise. .What the church is doing to-day in the parochial schools is just the same that she did in ages gone by. I believe that the time has come when r8 HIST OR Y OF MEXICAN POLITICS, Catholics should assert themselves, and say that they are the men above all others whose training and faith compel them to be live citizens of this republic." Roman Catholics, unfortunately, have asserted themselves as "live citizens of this republic," and their "training and faith," applied to American politics has developed Tammany Hall. That organization is Catho- lic if anything, as to the personnel of officers and mem- bership. Developments of recent date tend to confirm the popular estimate of it, which has rested upon and in the minds of the people for many years, as the very personi- fication of dishonesty and corruption, debased, and debasing all departments of business over which that live, active element — the police — Catholics as a body, can by any means have control, whether legitimate or otherwise. The "training and faith" of its constituents, their numbers, character and policies, assure the people of this republic of continued evil results upon municipality, state and nation. What moral, political or healthful religious interest, would suffer if it were to be annihi- lated or — reformed? And for that matter, what if a like fate should fall upon Rome in America? It had been hoped by friends of truth, morality and religion, that the Roman Catholic church had heeded some of the lessons taught and illustrated in Protestant America; but look at the latest exhibition of ecclesi- astical power and discipline. Father Ducey sympathized with municipal and moral reform, and lent his aid to the movements to in- vestigate, punish and annihilate Tammany. Archbishop Corrigan, in his holy office representing Rome in ~ FROM CORIEZ TO DIAZ. 19 America in the evening of the nineteenth century of Christ, administered "canonical reproof" to Father Ducey for so doing, and "there you are." Those who swallow Rome must take her without expecting reform condiments. The crime of Tammany in politics is the crime of the century, that of polluting the American ballot. What political crime compares with it? Ask yourself! Inquire! To combat this crime, what is the state of public morals? In what condition is the public con- science to grapple with the great problems that are facing the country and demanding adjustment? The American people are the victims of a bad habit, the habit of tippling with corruption in politics. Whence came this gigantic evil and corruption so prevalent? From Tammany. From the "training and faith" of its members. Whence came a perverted public conscience? From the "live citizens of this republic," w^iose "train- ing and faith" have been acquired at the hands of Catholic teachers, lay as well as clerical. From a con- science acquired by Catholic training comes willing- ness to commit crimes against the ballot box, and the law, especially municipal law. The exemption of Tammany offenders from punishment has emboldened like crime throughout the country. A Tammany boss or a ballot machine boss has come to be considered a "smooth one," and as having perpe- trated a good joke when he gets the best of the people by avoiding punishment for well known crimes against election laws. * Every Catholic policeman who emerges from a saloon, kept by a Catholic, in all probability, on a Sun- day morning, wiping off his chin, feels that he has the 20 HISTORY OF MEXICAN POLITICS, people by the heels when he thus tolerates a violation of the municipal law, closing saloons on Sundays, when he thus commits moral perjurj-. Take the blue coat and the silver star off the Roman Catholic church communicant and place them upon Protestants who are in good standing in their churches. Who would then expect open saloons and the imbibing of beer by the custodians of the public peace and the sworn enforcers of the law on Sunday mornings, or conniving at or committing crime under ofl&cial authority? One class would have a Roman Catholic conscience inside the blue coat and the other a Protest- ant "inward mentor." The ease with which indulgence may be obtained and the facility with which absolution can be secured, from Roman Catholic priests, gives a tendency to crime and to the exercise of moral depravity the world over; and this fact should ostracize all professedly sacred, consecrated people who deal in indulgences and absolu- tions at so much per dozen, or singly, thus giving out falsely that God's permission for and condonement of crime and sin can be secured for a money consideration. Out upon such blasphemy! The Roman Catholic church has made a record showing its position as to republics, and just what that record is will be seen in the pages of this book. It will herein be shown that all ecclesiastics in good standing, from the pope to the lowest of the clergy in Mexico con- centrated their powers, spiritual, military and financial, to maintain monarchy, centralism and imperialism, and to defeat republicanism in that country, and that if any of their number favored a true republic they were de- nounced, excommunicated and executed. FROM CORTEZ TO DIAZ. ' 21 In the pages which treat of the Monroe Doctrine and its disregard by all the Catholic powers of Europe, will be seen how false is the assumption of Bourke Cochran that the Catholic church has ever been a foster- ing mother to this republic, or that the Union is in any sense the offspring of Rome, or that Rome had desire for its perpetuation; but otherwise that the pope ofl&cially and joyfully recognized the confederate states of America in 1863. While the battle to limit the power of ecclesiasti- cism in America is On, Pope L,eo XIII. enters the field in the form of an "encyclical," received at arch-episcopal headquarters. New York, in July, 1894, from which the following: "The liberty of the state, however, need not arouse rivalries and antagonisms, for the Church aspires to no power and obeys no ambition. What it desires solely is to preserve among men the exercise of virtue, and by this means assure their eternal salvation. And so it uses condescension and maternal processes. More than this, having regard to the requirements of all societies, it sometimes waives the exercise of its ozvn rights, as has been shown abundantly in its conventions ivith different states. Nothing is further from its thoughts than to trespass upon the rights of civil authority, which in re- turn should respect the rights of the Church, and beware of usurpiyig any part of thevi. And now we can con- sider what is happening in our time. What tendency do we see by many of the churches? Suspected, dis- dained, hated, accused, and what is worse, no efforts are spared to bring it under the yoke of the civil authority . Its properties are confiscated and its liberties narrowed; its education of the aspirants to the priesthood is ham- 22 HISTOR Y OF MEXICAN POLITICS, pered; religious societies are dissolved or forbidden. In short, we realize a revival of all the regalist methods. This is a violation of the rights of the Church. It is pre- paring lamentable catastrophes for society, for it is the open contradiction of the plans of God. The State has its own rights and duties. The Church has hers. Be- tween them should be bonds of strictest concord. So would surely be suppressed the unrest visible in the re- lations of Church and State. Another grave peril to unity is the Masonic sect, a formidable power which has long oppressed all nations, especially Catholic nations." By this manifest, Americans will see that the pope still urges the rights of the Church to be superior to those of the State, and that all attempts to bring the Church ^^ under the yoke of the civil authority'''' prepares society for "lamentable catastrophes," and moreover that "it is an open contradiction of the plans of God. " Fortunatel}^ any lamentable catastrophes which may befall American society for thus violating the plans of God will not be attended with the pains of the in- quisition. No thanks, however, to Rome. And any- thing of the lamentable nature which may threaten in the form of secret military Catholic societies can well be contemplated with complacence when it is recollected that in each and every case where Rome has taken up the sword to maintain ecclesiasticisms, she has lost irretrievably — from England centuries ago, to Mexico a quarter of a century since. Americans who fear because Rome is securing power in our army and in civil offices and is almost monopolizing the police departments of our cities, may know that to Rome there is a limit; that the reaction has set in, that the lines are being drawn, and that the FROM COR7EZ TO DIAZ. 23 issues now on-coming will remain in active contest until Americanism alone will rule in America. Rome never won a battle, except with such people as the Mexican Indians, and then it was o\\\y a tempo- rary victory; for in that nation there was providentially raised up one of the full-blood natives, Juarez, who "downed" the ecclesiastics for all time. And the complaint which the misinformed pope makes as to confiscations, forbidding and dissolving the societies of Jesuits, Nuns and Sisters of Charity, and suppressing priest-making schools should not be made against Protestant America, but against Catholic Mexico, where such things are true. The pope should study the map or have instruction given him, else people will refuse to believe him "in- fallible." The profusion of the words, "rights of the Church," "its own right," "to bring it under the yoke of the civil authority," show clearly that Leo XIII. still holds to the dictum of Pius IX. , announced when he was out- fitting Maximillian for his usurpation of authority as emperor over the republic of Mexico. "Great are the rights of nations, and they must be heeded; but greater and more sacred are the rights of the Church." As to any "unrest" which may exist "in the rela- tions of church and state," it "would surely be sup- pressed" if the "old man on the Tyber" and his satel- lites and superstitious dupes would be content with American institutions. All other churches and the state sustain very happy and restful amenities. Romanists monopolize the disquiet. If his holiness were to abandon his prejudices, ptove himself to be "worthy and well qualified," and 24 HISTORY OF MEXICAN POLITICS' seek "liglit," he might find that the detested sect of Free Masons are not such oppressors of nations as he f alsly charges them, to be. CHAPTER II. 1492 TO 1521. West India Islands Occupied — Greed oe Adven- turers — Natives Enslaved — Main Land Dis- covered — Civilization — Battles — Cortez — Pious Instructions — Impious Expectations — ■ Lands — Burns Ships — Marches on Mexico — ■ Hospitality of Montezuma — Traitorous Re- turn — Battles — Final Conquest — Facts as to THE Country. THE West Indian Islands, first discovered by Colum- bus, were quickly taken possession of by greedy and conscienceless Roman Catholic discoverers and adventurers. They not only took the lands, but to satisfy still further the greed which was their ruling passion, those false representatives of the meek, lowly, and inoffensive Christ, made slaves of the natives, and compelled them to work and labor for them upon their own former homesteads, without any compensation. The subjugation of the natives was accomplished only by the most cruel and barbarous processes. Wliilei making the conquest of Cuba one Panfilo de Narvaez,! who commanded a force which was scouring the island, encountered a chief named Hatuey. This chief had fled from St. Domingo to escape the oppression of the Span- iards, and he now made a desperate resistance. For so doing he was condemned to be burned alive. Then it 26 HIS7CR } ' OF MEXICAN POLITICS, was that lie made a wonderful reply more eloquent than volumes of invective. Being bound to the stake, with combustibles around him, and with the flaming torch in the hand of the willing executioner, a Roman Catho- lic priest — cross in hand — with oily words urged him to embrace Christianity that his soul might secure admis- sion to heaven. He inquired whether the white men would be found there? On being answered in the affirmative, he exclaimed, "then I will not become a Christian, for I would not go again to a place where I must find men so cruel." The fertility of the soil and the inexpensiveness of labor insured wealth, and multitudes of adventurers flocked to the. New World. Soon the lands were occu- pied to their utmost limits and capacity. Then the spirit of adventure, discovery and greed prompted to new voyages and new conquests; and fourteen years after the first landing was made upon the islands, the main land of the continent was discovered: and in 1506, the eastern coast of Yucatan first felt the accursed footsteps of the Roman Catholic slave-maker and despoiler. The month of March, 15 17, saw Francisco Fernan- dez de Cordova leave Cuba with a fleet of three small vessels, bound on an exploring expedition along the coast of Yucatan. On approaching the shore, the Spaniards were surprised to find, instead of naked savages as they had expected, a people decently clad in cotton garments. On landing, their wonder was increased at beholding several large edifices built of stone. The natives were much more bold and warlike than those of the islands, and the Spaniards were everywhere received with the most determined opposition. At one place fifty-seven of the Spaniards were killed, and Cordova himself received FROM CORTEZ TO DIAZ. 27 a wound of which he died soon after his return to Cuba. Notwithstanding the disastrous result of that expe- dition, another was planned the following year; and under the direction of Juan de Grijalva a portion of the southern coast of Mexico was explored, and a large amount of treasure obtained by trafficing with the natives. Velasquez, Governor of Cuba, under whose auspices the voyage of Grijalva had been made, enriched by the result and elated with success far be3-ond his ex- pectations, now determined to undertake the conquest of the wealthy countries that had been discovered, and hastily fitted out an armament for the purpose. Not be- ing able to lead the expedition in person, he gave the command to Fernando Cortez, who sailed with eleven vessels, having on board a force of 508 infantry, 16 cavalry and their horses, 109 sailors, and 200 native Cubans; they had also ten cannons and four falconettes. The command of this expedition was not given to Cortez without considerable hesitation , for want of con- fidence, as he had not the best moral or financial repu- tation. Velasquez and the clergy who had directed the policies of the expeditions gave the commander instruc- tions which contrasted notably with the conduct which he obser\^ed. The orders were, that ha should comport himself as a Christian warrior, that he should prohibit heresy among his followers, and that in no case should he commit any hostile act against the natives of the countrj'; and that wherever he directed his movements, it was his only duty to make known the infinite good- ness and glory of God and of his Catholic majesty, the the king. In spite of the apparent manifestation of pity and piety, neither the governor, Velasquez, nor the ecclesi- 28 HISTORY OF MEXICAN POLITICS. astics were persuaded that such instructions would be very punctually obeyed, and they expected that they would be so interpreted that a good financial end would result from the expedition. They were given merely for their effect upon the outside world, and with a hope to cover Velasquez from any possible censure from his sovereign, having a constant hope that they would re- ceive their share of the booty. In March, 15 19, Cortez landed in Tabasco, a south- ern province of Mexico, where he had several encount- ers with the natives, whom he routed with great slaughter. Proceeding thence westward and along the coast, he landed at the place where Vera Cruz is now situated. Here he was hospitably received by the natives, and two officers of a monarch, who was called Montezuma, came to inquire what his intentions were in his visit, and to offer him assistance to enable him to continue his journey.^ Cortez respectfully assured them, that he came with the most friendly sentiments, but that he was intrusted with affairs of such moment by the king, his soverign, that he could impart them to no one but to the Emperor Montezuma himself, and there- fore requested them to conduct him into the presence of their master. The officers, knowing that the request would be dis- agreeable to Montezuma, endeavored to dissaude Cortez from his intentions, at the same time making him valu- able presents, which only increased his avidity. Mes- sengers were dispatched to the monarch, giving him an account of everything that had occurred since the arrival of the Spaniards. Presents of great value, consisting of golden ornaments, finely woven cotton garments, and beautifully wrought feather robes, were returned by FROM CORTEZ TO DIAZ. 29 him; and requests were made, and finally commands given, that the Spaniards should leave the country — but all to no purpose. Cortez, after destroying his vessels, that his soldiers should be left without any resources but their valor, commenced to march towards the Mexican capital. On his way thither, several nations, tributary to Monte- zuma, but who were at the point of revolt, threw off their allegiance and joined the Spaniards. Montezuma himself, alarmed and irresolute, continued to send mes- sengers to Cortez; and as his hopes or his fears alter- nately prevailed, on one day gave him permission to ad- vance; and on the next command him to depart. As the vast valley of Mexico opened to the view of the Spaniards, they beheld numerous villages and culti- vated fields extending to the limit of their vision; and in the middle of the plain, partly encompassing a large lake and partly built on islands within it, stood the City af Mexico, adorned with its numerous temples and tur- rets; the whole presenting to the eyes of the Spaniards a view so novel and wonderful that they could hardly convince themselves that it was real, and not a mirage or a dream. Montezuma received the Spaniards with great pomp and display, admitted them within the city, assigned them a spacious and elegant edifice for their accommo- dation, supplied all their wants, and bestowed valuable presents among them indiscriminately. Cortez, never- theless, soon began to feel solicitude for his situation and safety. He was in the middle of a vast empire, shut up in the center of a large city, and surrounded by multitudes sufiicient to overwhelm him on the least intimation of the will of their sovereign. 30 HISTORY OF MEXICAN POLITICS, In this emergency, the wily Cortez with extraordi- nary daring and depravity formed and executed the plan of seizing the person of the Mexican monarch, and detained him as a hostage for the good conduct of the people. He next induced him, overawed and broken in spirit, to acknowledge himself a vassal of the Spanish crown, and to subject his dominions to the payment of tribute. Velasquez, the governor of Cuba, became jealous of Cortez and sent a hostile force to capture the adven- turer. This caused Cortez to absent himself from the city to meet the new danger which threatened him. In his absence the Mexicans, incited by the cruel- ties of the Spaniards who had been left to guard the capital and the Mexican king, flew to arms. Cortez, with rare good fortune having subdued his enemies and incorporated most of them with his own forces, return- ing, entered the capital without molestation. Relying too much on his increased strength, he soon laid aside the mask of moderation which had hitherto concealed his designs, and treated the Mexicans like conquered subjects. They, finally convinced that they had nothing to hope except in the utter extermina- tion of the invaders, resumed their attacks upon the Spaniards with renewed fury. In a sally which Cortez made, twelve of his soldiers were killed, which showed the Mexicans that their ene- mies were not invincible. Cortez, now fully sensible of his danger, tried what effect the interposition of Montezuma would have upon his irritated subjects. At sight of their king, whom they almost worshiped as a god, the weapons of the Mexicans dropped from their hands, and every head was bowed with reverence. But FROM CORIEZ TO DIAZ. 31 when, in obedience to Cortez, the unhappy monarch attempted to mitigate their rage and to persuade them to lay down their arms, murmurs, threats and reproaches ran through their ranks. Their rage broke forth with uncontrollable fury, and, regardless of their monarch, they again poured in upon the Spaniard's flights of arrows and volleys of stones. Two arrows wounded Montezuma before he could be removed, and a blow from a stone brought him down. The Mexicans, on seeing their king fall by their own hands, were struck with remorse and fled in horror. Montezuma himself, scorning to survive this last humiliation, rejected with disdain all attentions of the Spaniards, refused to take nourishment, and soon termi- nated his unhappy life. Cortez, now despairing of terms with the Mexicans, after several desperate encounters with them, began a retreat from the capital; but innumerable hosts hemmed him in on every side, and his march was almost a con- tinual battle. On the sixth day of the retreat, the almost ex- hausted Spaniards, now reduced in numbers, encount- ered at Otumba on an extended plain, the whole Mexican force, which extended as far as the eye could reach. There was no hope of succor or escape, and it was left for them to conquer or die. Cortez immediately led his men to the charge. The Mexicans received them with fortitude, 5'et their best battalions gave way before Spanish discipline and arms. The very multitude of their enemies, however, pressing upon them from every side, seemed sufficient to overwhelm the Spaniards. They, seeing no end of their toil nor any hope of victory, were on the point of yielding to despair. 32 HISTORY OF MEXICAN POLITICS, At this moment Cortez, seeing the great Mexican standard advancing and recollecting that on its fate depended the event of every battle, assembled a few of his bravest officers, and at their head cut his way through the opposing ranks, struck down the Mexican general, and secured the standard. The moment their general fell and the standard disappeared, the panic- struck Mexicans threw away their arms and fled to the mountains, making no further opposition to the retreat of the Spaniards. Notwithstanding the reverses which he had ex- perienced, Cortez still looked forward with confidence to the conquest of the whole Mexican empire. After receiving supplies and reinforcements, he,, in the month of December, 1520, again departed for the interior with a force of five hundred Spaniards and many thousands of friendly Indians. After various successes and reverses and a siege of the capital which lasted seventy-five days — the new sovereign, Guatemozin, having been captured — in August, 152 1, the city yielded; the fate of the Aztec empire was decided and Mexico became a possession of Spain. One can but regret that the Aztecs had not annihi- lated the Roman Catholic invaders; had forbidden their three centuries of crime and outrage: had maintained their civilization, a civilization which was superior to that of Spain, and by which Europe might have been instructed; and thus been left to work out their destiny parallel with the histories and destinies of aboriginal peoples, until the pure light of inspiration and Christi- anity, shining forth from Protestant evangelization, could have shown them the way to better things of a FROM C0R7EZ TO DIAZ. 33 religious order, and could have blended their native art and science — lost through Catholic superstition and greed — with that of Europe, to the betterment of both civilizations. They were entitled to continue as a power, a nation, a people, among nations, powers and peoples; and their criminal overthrow and debasement is one of the greatest outrages written in the world's history, and remains unjustified and unjustifiable. The original Aztec empire comprised but a small part of the territory embraced in modern Mexico. But the conquest of the chief military nation of the country gave the Spaniards possession from the gulf of Mexico to the Pacific ocean, and as far to the north and south of the valley as their explorers and colonists wished to penetrate and occupy. One of the most interesting facts relating to the new possessions of the conquering Spaniards was the climate. Although the difference of latitude alone would naturally have the effect of producing consider- able changes in the temperature of the more distant parts, yet it is not to this circumstance so much as the peculiarity of its geological structure that Mexico owes that singular variety of climate by which it is dis- tinguished from every other country in the world. The Andes mountains, which are a single chain in South America and the isthmus of Panama, divide into two chains on entering the northern continent which diverge to the east and west; but, still preserving their direction to the north, leave in the center an immense platform or table-land, intersected by the higher points or ridges of the great mountain chain by which it is supported, but raised in the more central parts to the 34 HIST OR Y OF MEXICAN POLITICS, heighth of 7,000 to 8,000 feet above the level of the sea. In a valley of this table-land, at an elevation of 7,600 feet, is situated the City of Mexico. Upon the whole of this table-land the effect of geographical posi- tion is neutralized by the extreme rarefaction of the air, while upon the eastern and western declivities it re- sumes its natural influences as it approaches the level of the sea. On the ascent from Vera Cruz, the changing cli- mates rapidly succeed each other, and the traveler in a few hours passes in review the whole scale of vegeta- tion. The plants of the tropics are exchanged for the evergreen oak, and the deadly atmosphere of Vera Cruz for the sweet, mild air of Jalapa. A little further the oak gives place to the fir, the air becomes more pierc- ing, the sun, though it scorches, has no longer the deleterious effect upon the human frame, and nature assumes a new and peculiar aspect. With a cloudless sky and a brilliantly pure atmos- phere, there is a great want of moisture and little luxuri- ance of vegetation. Vast plains follow each other in apparently endless succession, each separated from the rest by a little ridge of hills which appear to have formed at some previous period the basin of an extended chain of lakes. Such, with some slight variations, is the general character of the table-lands of the interior. Wherever there is water there is fertility, but the rivers are few and insignificant in comparison with the rivers of the United States, and in the interval the sun parches, instead of enriching the soil. High and barren plains of sand, from which isolated mountains rise to the regions of perpetual snow, occupy a large part of the interior of Northern Mexico. Nor does nature recover FROM CORTEZ TO DIAZ. 35 her wonted vigor until the streams which filter from the mountains are sufficiently formed to dispense moisture on their passage to the ocean. Almost all the fruits and grains of Europe succeed well on the table-lands, while bordering on the Pacific ocean and the gulf of Mexico tropical fruits are found in abundance. The whole eastern coast, extending back to that point in the slope of the mountains at which tropical fruits cease to thrive, is susceptible of the highest cultivation. CHAPTER III. 1521 TO 1808. Mexico Ruled by Viceroys — Polices — Laws — Troops — Catholic Religion Imposed — In- humanity — lyAS Cases Interferes — Official Corruption — Castes ^Poverty — Laws op the Indies — Inquisition. . ~ . THE conquest of Mexico by the Spaniards vested the ownership and sovereignty of the country in the crown of Spain. The government of Spain at the time was an absolute monarchy, and the monarchs of the mother country ruled their American possessions by Viceroys, the policies and laws of whose administra- tions were dictated from Spain and enforced by Spanish soldiers. This character of government was maintained until Mexico became independent in 182 1. The Catholic religion, introduced into the country by the Spaniards, was the only religion that was toler- ated in Mexico during the whole period of its colonial existence, and up to 1873, when the wise and benefi- cient reforms inaugurated by Benito Juarez, — the only full-blood Indian who ever occupied the chair of state in Mexico, — culminated in an amendment to the federal constitution, since which all religions are tolerated and protected. A few years after the conquest, six millions of the natives were induced by fraud and force to embrace the FROM CORIEZ TO DIAZ, 37 Roman Catholic religion. But, although they changed their profession, their faith remained essentially the same, inasmuch as they were not educated, and per- formed their religious ceremonies by rote and with the use of an unintelligible foreign tongue. Therefore they knew ver}^ little of religion but its external forms; audit was more than suspected that multitudes of the pro- fessed converts retained faith in their ancient idols. Many of the more intelligent contrasted, with a favorable verdict to their system, the cruelties inflicted in the "halls of torment" of the inquisition upon the victims therein disciplined, with the sacrifice of victims of war, offered in their own religious rites, wherein the most distinguished priests of their respective creeds per- formed the rites and inflicted the cruelties. They also held that the consuming of the bodies of their victims, which was part of their religion, was much more con- sistent than was the eating of the body of the Christians' God, as performed in the Holy Eucharist. The establishment of a colonial government was followed by the bondage of the natives, who were re- duced to the most cruel and humiliating form of slavery. The tyranny, inhumanity and greed of the con- qerers and adventuerers who occupied the agricultural lands and operated the mines, led to the perpetration of such excesses, and outrages upon the Indians that it became a well known fact, and was publicly charged, that fifteen million of them were destroyed in the first third of the century of the occupation of the country. Columbus having discovered the New World, and brought the Indians under the dominion of the Monarch of Spain, laid a tax upon the natives on his second voj-age to the new land. This tax was to be paid quarterly and was 38 HISTOR Y OF MEXICAN POLITICS. excessively exorbitant. Many were unable to pay and therefore they offered time service, or labor, as a substi- tute for gold and other products of the country. This was accepted and thus a beginning was made of the system of ''''repai'timientos^''' under which the natives finally were made the servants and slaves of the Span- iards. In 1528 a species of government, or court, called the audiencia, with Nuno de Guzman as president, was established in Mexico, and under his reign great cruel- ties were perpetrated. As usual, greed for gold was his ruling passion; so the chief inhabitants were invited to the City of Mexico with assurances of peace and protec- tion, but when within the power of the president the mask of kindness was thrown off and they were sub- jected to the most cruel treatment to compel them to produce and surrender the coveted gold. The king of one of the provinces was taken to the house of the president and then his. feet were placed in the fire to compel him to give up his treasures. All of the natives were enslaved and obliged to peform excessively laborious tasks. At times they be- came insubordinate when they were cruelly whipped with the lash. When their discontent appeared to be general they were declared to be in a state of insubordi- nation, and were subjugated with arms. Entire popu- lations were sold as slaves to countries distant from their places of nativity. In 1 54 1 while an exploring party of Spaniards were traveling through Panama they were surprised to find the entire abandonment of a country where there was evidence of previous occupation; and were informed, on inquiry, that other invaders had- murdered or sold into FROM C0R7EZ TO DTAZ. 39 slavery the entire population which once had happy- homes therein. In Honduras the inhabitants had been robbed of their properties, and then sold as slaves to other parts of the country; and in another province where there had been cities with from three thousand to fifteen thousand people, there remained in 1547 not more than two hundred persons. In a city that at one time had nine hundred houses, there was found only one single inhabitant, all the rest having been murdered or sold as slaves, and his soliloquy might well have been "thus do Roman Catholics teach Christ and evangelize In- dians. ' ' Cruel was the treatment of the natives in all the provinces dominated by the Spaniards, but in no part was the oppression so extreme as in Guatemala, where, under the dominion of Pedro Alvarado, there was re- pugnant licentiousness utterly indescribable. In their campaigns, against outlying tribes, when their allies needed rations, they were fed upon human bodies as a meat food, their captives being slaughtered for that use as so many cattle. When by reason of a super- abundant supply they could select, then the hands and feet of slaughtered children formed an appetizing dish. No respect was shown to family relations, and the natives were treated as brutes. Houses were entered and desolated; wives were separated from their hus- bands, and children from their parents; and all were distributed among the soldiers and mariners, as slaves, and compelled to work in the mines of gold and silver, where they perished by thousands. Very little distinction was made between the allies who assisted the Spaniards, and the other natives who 40 HIS'IORY OF MEXICAN POLITICS, were conquered by them. The children of their Tlas- calan allies were also made slaves until, in 1547, there remained scarcely one hundred living representatives of that brave and warlike nation, which sent its hundred thousand men along with Cortez to conquer the Aztecs. This terrible treatment caused attempts at resist- ance, when they were reduced to greater degradation. No one has language with which to describe the horrors that fell upon these unfortunate creatures. The murders on a grand scale, the gallows, the fire, the torments, the mutilations and branding with red-hot irons which fol- lowed the suppression of any attempt to revolt; and in the meantime the hunger, the fatigue, the blows, the prostrations and faintings under oppressively burden- some loads which marked their condition while in a state of submission; all this destroyed the people with terrible rapidity. The knowledge of these cruelties prompted Bartho- lemew de Las Cases, bishop of Chiapas, in Mexico, to resign his office and to make common cause against the perpetrators; and he accused them before the whole world. The cfert of Madrid, "his most Catholic majesty," awakened by the representations of I^as Cases and by the indignation of the civilized world — then being brought under the benign influence of Protestantism — became sensible at last that the tyranny and cruelties which he had so far permitted were repugnant to true religion, to humanity, and also to policy; and he took Steps to break the chains of the Mexicans. Certain laws were enacted by which their condition was to be ameliorated; but the enforcement of them was left to officers whose financial interests led them to give rnOM COR7EZ TO DIAZ. 41 the edicts only partial effect. The tenor of those laws was, that the natives should have their liberty upon the condition that they should not leave the territory where they were settled; thus, their lands being retained by the Spaniards, they were still obliged to labor for their oppressors, under local laws and regulations. I This system was gradually abolished about the be- ginning of the eighteenth century, owing to the in- creased abundance of negro slave labor, introduced on recommendation of Las Cases, yet the Indians were still deprived by the Spanish laws of all the valuable privil- eges of citizenship, were treated as minors under the tutelage of their superiors, could make no contracts be- yond the value of ten pounds, were forbidden to marry with the whites, were prohibited the use of firearms, and were ruled by petty magistrates appointed by the government, which seemed to aim at keeping the natives in a state of poverty and barbarism. Degenerated from the rank which they held in the days of Montezuma, banished into the most barren dis- tricts, where their indolence gained for them only a pre- carious subsistance; or, as beggars, swarming the streets of the cities, basking in the sun during the day and pass- ing the night in the open air, they afforded, during the long period of the Spanish rule, a sad and striking ex- ample of that general degradation which the govern- ment of Spain brought upon the natives in all the Spanish-American colonies. Nor was the colonial government established over the country at all calculated to promote the interests of the native Spanish population. For nearly three centu- ries, down to the year 1821, Mexico was governed by viceroys appointed by the court of Spain, all of whom, 42 HISTORY OF MEXICAN POLITICS, with one exception, were European Spaniards. Every situation in the gift of the crown was bestowed upon an European, nor is there an instance for many years before the revolution, either in the Church, the army, or the law, in which the door of preferment was opened to a Spaniard, Mexican born. Through this policy a privileged caste arose, dis- tinct from the Mexican Spaniards in feelings, habits and interests, the paid agents of a government whose only aim was to enrich itself without any regard to the abuses perpetrated under its authority. Before the revolution the population of Mexico was divided into seven distinct castes: i. The old Spaniards born in Spain and called Gachupines; 2. The Creoles or whites of pure European parentage, born in America and regarded by the Spaniards as natives; 3. The Indians or indigenous copper-colored race; 4. The Mestizos or mixed breeds of whites and Indians; 5. The mulattoes or descendants of whites and negroes; 6. The Zambos or Chino§, the descendants of negroes and In- dians; and 7. The African negroes, either free or slave. The Indians, comprising about two-fifths of the whole population, consisted of various tribes resembling each other in color, but differing greatly in language, customs and dress. Over twenty different Indian lan- guages are known to be spoken in the Mexican terri- tory. Next to the pure Indians, the Mestizos are the most numerous caste, and indeed few of the middling class are free from a taint of Indian blood. From the first breaking out of the Mexican revolu- tion, the distinctions of caste were all swallowed up in the great vital distinctions of Americans and Europeans. Many of the most distinguished characters of the revolu- FROM CORTEZ TO DIAZ. 43 tion belonged to the mixed races; and under the system of government first established at the close of the war, all permanent residents, without distinction of color, were entitled to the rights of citizenship. General Guerrero, who in 1824 was a member of the executive board and in 1829 became president, had African blood in his veins. With a nominal salary of about sixty thousand dol- lars, the viceroy of Mexico kept up all the pageantry of a court during several years, and then returned to his native country with a fortune of one or two millions of dollars, which it was notorious he had derived from a system of legalized plunder. The sale of titles and distinctions usually obtained from the king at the recommendation of the viceroy, was a source of great profit to both. But one still greater was that of granting licenses for the introduction of any article of foreign produce, for which immense sums were paid by the great commercial houses of Mexico and Vera Cruz. So lucrative wer or inspire vicious activity, was the semblance of order restored, and then it was largely the quiet and satiety of inebriation. Hidalgo, being educated, refined, and moreover a member of the sacerdotal order in the Roman Catholic church, had his sensibilities greatly disturbed by the disorder consequent on the sack of the city, and made sincere efforts to control his army. But the sum of $5,- 000,000 added to his treasury by their valor and assist- ance gave evidence that in the matter of spoils, thei general and his army was a unit in motive and mode of procedure. Hidalgo remained at Guanajuato, organizing and equipping his army and replenishing his treasur}^, until the loth of October, when he marched upon Valladolid,' 58 HISTORY OF MEXICAN POLITICS, his numbers having been augmented to 60,000 men. Valladolid surrendered without resistar>ce, but the Spaniards had fled to the capital. Here Hidalgo added several well organized and armed companies of militia to his army, as well as a vast multitude of spoils-thirsty Indians. But a still more valuable acquisition was the warlike Priest Morelos, who afterwards became one of the most distinguished generals of the revolution. When Hidalgo commenced his operations, the Spanish General Calleja was in command at San lyuis Potosi, some eighty miles north of Dolores. He promptly organized a force with which to contend with the revolt, but was misled as to the plans and move- ments of Hidalgo. So the "fighting parson" was per- mitted to march, slay and plunder without much resist- ance. Still Hidalgo knew of the general and his army, and also knew that if he wished to succeed he must act promptly. Therefore he marched from Valladolid — now called Morelia — toward the City of Mexico, on the 2oth of October. On the way he captured Toluca, within twenty-five miles of the capital. In the meantime Venegas, the viceroy, had col- lected about 7,000 men in and near the City of Mexico for its defense. A small corps, under the command of Truzillo, assisted by Iturbide, then a lieutenant in the Spanish service, having advanced to I^as Cruces, about twelve miles from the city, was met by Hidalgo with his whole force, then numbering nearly 100,000 men. A battle took place which lasted from 8 o'clock in the forenoon to 5 o'clock in the evening, when the loyalists were put to flight. Although the loss of Hidalgo had been great, he had gained a great victory, and the City of Mexico was at his feet. Allende and FROM CORIEZ TO DIAZ. 59 others of the army urged an immediate march for the prize, but for some unaccountable reason, he vacillated from his former vigorous policy, and after remaining for three days in camp on the field of battle, where the city was almost if not really in view, he ordered a re- tiring move and started back to the north. His soldiers, who had hoped for the rich spoils to be had in the sack of the city, were greatly disappointed at their loss. Allende and Aldama were disgusted at the failure to secure the grand political results which the occupancy of the city would have made possible. On the retreat to the north many desertions took place, and the subsequent career of Hidalgo was a .series of failures and disasters. On the 7th of November he unexpectedly met the army of Calleja, who was coming from the north in search of the insurgents. The meeting was on the plains of Aculco, and Hidalgo lost ten thousand men in the battle and slaughter which followed. He and most of his officers escaped, and with part of his army fled to Cela5^a, where he reorganized his defeated forces and added recruits, who either not knowing of or disregard- ing his defeat, still flocked to his standard, so that on the 15th of November he marched for Guadalajara. Here he was received with all the demonstrations of joy which could be awarded to victors and friends. It may be stated that when the revolutionary move- ments became known, the government offered large rewards for the heads of Hidalgo, Allende and Aldama, while the Church hurled anathemas at them and ex- communicated the three. Hidalgo was also called to appear before the inquisition, to answer to the charge of heresy and apostacy; and from the pulpit he was de- 6o HISTORY OF MEXICAN POLITICS, nounced as a monster of wickedness. The bishops and other clergy published addresses and exhortations in which they represented him in the most dark and despicable colors. The archbishop of Mexico issued edicts and denunciations against him and his followers. These acts of opposition on the part of the Church were not fruitless in their effects on the citizens from whom Hidalgo had and expected recruits; and, know- ing that unchallenged or neglected on his part, his in- fluence and hopes would be lost and disappointed, he took occasion while at Guadalajara to pay his respects to the edicts and the commands to appear before the inquisition. He therefore published a circular in which he solemnly declared that he never had apostatized from the holy faith of the Catholic church, and that he reprobated the charge of heresy. He claimed that in breaking the chains which held the people in oppression he had not performed any bad or censurable act. He further in said circular proclaimed the emancipation of all slaves, and decreed death to all who disobeyed his mandate. He exempted people of all classes from payment of taxes, and promised a con- gress which should enact just and beneficent laws for all people alike. He had an altar placed in the door of the cathedral and, robed in sacerdotal vestments, assisted by the clergy of the place, solemnized mass and closed with the Te Deum. By these acts Hidalgo fully challenged both Church and State. He also formally organized a provisional govern- ment and appointed many of the ofiicers; and, notwith- standing his subsequent personal failures and death, his following was such that most of the states in the north, FROM CORIEZ TO DIAZ. 6i and some in the center and south, were for a time lost to the control of the viceroy. His courageous acts did not fail to secure recruits, as in him and his success the people saw a new govern- ment erected in their behalf, while with his failure they would suffer deeper degradation and greater impositions because of their fellowship with him and their support of the revolution. Again he raised an army of 100,000 men and gave battle at the bridge of Calderon, a short distance from Guadalajara, on the 17th of January, 181 1. In this battle Hidalgo was defeated with great loss and his army was dispersed. He himself, with other officers, escaped, and by various roads retreated to the north and rendezvoused at Zacatecas. But in the rout of his forces the treasure boxes, containing $800,000, were saved. To return to the defeat of Hidalgo at Aculco, it may be stated that Allende then separated from the main army with a detachment to operate alone. He moved back towards Guanajuato, but en route encount- ered a part of the royalist forces, by whom he was de- feated. After this he moved rapidly to the city and slaughtered many Spaniards who had escaped the pre- vious massacre or had located there afterwards. Having so done, he moved to the north and joined Hidalgo at Zacatecas. Calleja, soon after Allende 's departure, entered the city of Guanajuato, where he avenged the royal cause for the excesses which the insurgent populace had previ- ously committed against the Europeans. To avoid the waste of powder and ball, it is said that he cut the throats of his victims or used the gallows. But an act of clemency may be mentioned in his favor — he brought 62 HISTORY OF MEXICAN POLITICS, the accused before a judge for trial. But the processes were brief and few accused escaped. Still, after con- viction, they were passed to the priest, who hastily per- formed the offices of the holy Church for the benefit of their immortal souls, an act of religious sympathy which the Priest Hidalgo altogether neglected as to his victims. As an illustration of the manner in which the royalist troops controlled the country, it is stated that on November i6, 1810, General Cruz, loyalist, attacked the village of Huichapan, where one of the insurgents chiefs, named Villagran, had made rendezvous and interrupted commerce and travel between Queretaro and the capital. The, chief took refuge in the hills and woods, when Cruz gathered all of the people of the town together, took all weapons and all implements of hus- bandry, and even the scissors of the women, and burned them and all of the houses to ashes, and then put all of the people to the knife. From Zacatecas, Hidalgo with his forces, reduced to about 4,000 men, marched to Saltillo. There, con- sidering the matter of future action and preparing to continue the contest for liberty from Spanish rule, it was decided that Hidalgo and his lieutenants should go to the United States, there to purchase arms and secure aid. They hoped that they would thereby soon be able to take the field with an army of sufficient numbers and suitable arms to meet successfully the heretofore better organized and armed royal forces. Hidalgo had previously appointed Aldama as minister to the United States, where he was to represent the new government and provide for aid. Aldama, however, was captured, and fell into the hands of the FROM C0R7EZ TO DIAZ. 63 enemy, who executed him at Monclove. From some of his attendants they learned of Hidalgo's plans, and thereby they were enabled to place an ambuscade on the road and to effect his capture, together with his officers, Allende and Jiminez, and also the treasure. In chains and with inhuman treatment the prisoners were taken to Chihuahua. There on trial they were all condemned to death. Allende and Jiminez with two others were shot on the 26th of May, but as Hidalgo was a priest, he was turned over to the ecclesiastical tribunal to be dealt with under the canonical laws. He suffered great humiliation in the processes of penance for more than two months, and then was taken to execution early on the morning of July 31, 181 1. His clerical robes were taken from him, and in the garb of a common prisoner and loaded with chains, he was led to the place of execution. He remained firm, calm and courageous to the end, and placed his manacled hand over his heart to indicate the spot at which the soldiers should aim. They were bad marksmen; for, though the balls cut through his hand at the first, it yet required three discharges to dispatch him, and the last was with the muzzle of the gun almost touching his body. As an incident in the life of Hidalgo, which to some extent shows his disposition and patriotism, it is stated that while at Saltillo he received an exemplar, or printed copy of an offer of amnesty from the Spanish cortes, made to all insurgents who should lay down their arms and return to their allegiance with assur- ances of pardon. This was accompanied with an ex- hortation from General Cruz; that he should avail him- self of the royal offer and thus put an end to the shed- ding of blood. 64 HISTORY OF MEXICAN POLITICS, Hidalgo replied that "He had no power to accept the offer. First, that he had no confidence in the good faith of the promises of the royalists; second, that he had no right to compromise or abandon the holy cause of liberty. Perhaps the cause of liberty might be gained by his death. What was life or death in comparison HIDAI^GO. with liberty? The end of his life could not be very distant, but the liberty which he expected to secure for his country would never die. So then, keep silent and fight General Cruz. To pardon is the right of God only, and pardon is for delinquents and not for a de- fender of his country."* *Historia de Mexico. FROM COR7EZ TO DIAZ, 65' The heads of Hidalgo, Allende, Aldama and Jiminez were cut off, and enclosed in iron cages were hung up at the four corners of the Castle Granadites, in Guanajuato. But in 1823, when the cause for which they had planned, fought and died had triumphed, they with their bodies were reverently placed in the great cathedral in Mexico, where they now rest in honor among the tombs of former viceroys and subsequent presidents. Inasmuch as the cause for which they died eventu- ally triumphed, they are entitled to have their names enrolled among those of famous patriots and martyrs of the world. The name of Hidalgo, the parish priest, anathe- matized, deposed and excommunicated by the ecclesi- astical authorities and executed by the government as he was, will live in the esteem and affections of all lovers of liberty and haters of oppression, while history is written and patriotism survives among men. With the death of the leaders of the revolution the royalists naturally supposed that the end had come. But they found their mistake, for the Grita de Dolores, once sounded, continued to flow, echo and resound in all parts of the country. It was the first cheering note of sympathy which the Indians had heard for three centuries, and it fell upon their ears with joy and inspired their hearts with hope and patriotic resolution. It was indeed a new era, as declared by Hidalgo on that never to be forgotten Sunday morning, the i6th of September, 18 10. CHAPTER V. 181I TO 1821. HiDAi^Go's Successors — BattivEs — Victories — De- feats—Congress — Declaration op Independ- ence — Capture and Death of Moreeos — In- quisition — IvAST Auto de fe — Defeat — Capture AND Death op Revolutionists — Overthrow of Revolution. ■ . ON THE fall of Hidalgo, Ramon Rayon, a lawyer whom Hidalgo had appointed secretary of state of the new government while at Guadalajara, as- sumed command of the remaining revolutionists at Sal- tillo and retreated with them to Zacatecas; but his au- thority was acknowledged by few. Though insurgent forces were organized through- out all of the central and northern provinces, yet there was no concerted action among their commanders. This was to be expected in view of the difficulty of com- municating with each other, the roads being few and the mails forbidden to them, and of the activity of the royalist government and commanders, who by the exer- cise of great vigilence over the country, and violence upon prisoners and couriers, secured and maintained control over all the principal cities. In the meantime Morelos, the priest, a former student of Hidalgo, who had joined the revolutionists at Valladolid, had not been idle. In October, before he FROM C0R7EZ TO DIAZ. 67 marched upon the capital, Hidalgo had sent him to operate in the South. There he developed considerable strength and marched toward Acapulco. In a battle near that city he, with an inferior army poorly equipped, defeated a large number of royalists, whereby he gained possession of eight hundred muskets, fiv-e pieces of artillery, a quantity of ammunition and a considerable sum of money. Seven hundred prisoners were taken, all of whom were treated with the greatest humanity. This success laid the foundation of all the after triumphs of Morelos, and from this time he made rapid and astonishing pro- gress. By a series of victories, which were never tarnished by cruelties during the year 1 8 1 1 , he overcame several detachments sent against him by the viceroy; and in February, 1812, he advanced into the valley of Mexico. The alarm created by this movement drew upon him the blood-thirsty General Calleja, who, with the army with which he had defeated Hidalgo and his hosts at Aculco and at the Bridge of Calderon, marched against this most formidable and skillful of all the in- surgent commanders. Morelos, having taken and fortified Cuautla as a base of action, met Calleja on the plains in which the town was situated, and defeated him, having inflicted the loss of five hundred men, who were left dead upon the field. But the blood of the Spanish general was raised to excessive heat at being defeated by this Mestizo chief with his badly armed Mexicans, and he advanced again to the conflict; but, instead of giving battle in the field, he contented himself with laying siege. 68 HISTORY OF MEXICAN POLITICS. Morelos made many assaults upon the besiegers with success. But famine reduced his forces, and want of food and water caused great distress. So great was the scarcity that a cat sold for six dollars, a lizzard for two, a rat for one. Worms, waterbugs and insects were consumed for food, and old hides and scraps of leather were added to the meat food of the besieged soldiers and citizens. The soldiers endured all this with fortitude and un- complaining resignation; and as all talk of surrender was to be met with death; it was determined when hope of re-enforcements and supplies had been abandoned that the place should be evacuated. This was effected with such skill that the enemy did not know of it until the rear guard was out of the walls. Then Calleja attacked and inflicted some damage. During this siege Victoria and Bravo, both young men, first distinguished themselves. At the same time Guerrero, in the successful defense of a neighboring town, began his long, perilous and distinguished career. While these events were transpiring Rayon. had conceived the idea of organizing the military move- ments into a system of attack, and at the same time, and to further that plan, to establish a national junta or representative assembly for the purpose of uniting the people in a more general coalition against the Spanish power. In accordance with these views a central gov- ernment, composed of five members, elected from the people of the districts, was installed in the town of Zitacuaro on the loth of September, 1811. This body acknowledged the authority of King Ferdinand, published their edicts in his name, and evinced a liberal and enlighted spirit in all its proceed- FROM CORIEZ TO DTAZ. 69 ings; but the flattering hopes excited by it among the Creoles were never realized. The good intentions and wisdom of the junta were shown by an able manifesto drawn up by General Cos, one of its nfembers, and transmitted to the viceroy. This paper was burned in the great square of the city by the public executioner; but, regardless of the contempt with which it was treated, it produced great effect upon the public mind, enforced as it was by the successes of Morelos in the field during the years of 1810-11-12. During the summer of the last named year the troops of Morelos were almost uniformly successful in their numerous encounters with forces of the viceroy. In August, after an engagement at Palmar that lasted three days, the village to which the Spaniards had retired was stormed by General Bravo, and three hundred prisoners were taken. These were all offered to the viceroy in exchange for the father of Bravo, then a prisoner at the capital and under sentence of death as a revolutionist; but the offer was rejected, and Bravo was immediately executed. The noble-hearted son. General Bravo, who was afterward honored with many high and important offices in the republic, instead of re- venging himself by the massacre of his prisoners, im- mediately set them at liberty, wishing, as he said, "to put it out of his power to avenge on them the death of his father, lest in the first moments of grief the tempta- tion should prove irresistible." In November, Oaxaca was captured by storm, although defended by a strong ro3^alist garrison; and in August of 18 13, the strongly fortified city of Acapulco surrendered, after a siege of six months. In the meantime a national congress, composed of 70 HISTORY OF MEXICAN POLITICS, the original junta and deputies elected by the neighbor- ing provinces, assembled at the town of Chilpancingo, about 130 miles south of the capital, on the 13th day of September, 18 13, and on the 13th of November pro- claimed the independence of Mexico. This measure produced little impression upon the country, as from that time the fortunes of Morelos, the founder and pro- tector of the congress, began to decline. Morelos had long entertained a desire to be pos- sessed of Valladolid, his native city, and there to estab- lish a center of operations. To accomplish this he left Chilpancingo in November, with a force of seven thous- and men, and marched upon that city, where he found a formidable force under Iturbide prepared to oppose him. With his usual impetuosity Morelos made the at- tack, but was repulsed with loss. On the following day Iturbide made a counter-attack while the revolutionists were holding a review on the adjoining plain. At the same time a large reinforcing insurgent force, mistaking their friends and allies, made a furious attack on their flanks. Iturbide taking advantage of their error, suc- ceeded in putting the whole army of the insurgents to flight, with the loss of all their artillery. On the 6th of January following Morelos was again attacked and de- feated by Iturbide. In the dispersion which followed Matamoras, a fel- low priest and insurgent-general in Morelos' army was taken prisoner; and although Morelos offered a number of Spanish prisoners in exchange for him, yet the viceroy rejected the offer, and ordered him shot. The insurgents, by means of reprisal, immediately put all of their prisoners to death. FROM CORTEZ TO DIAZ 71 Morelos never recovered from the losses which he sustained at Valladolid. Although he displayed as much resolution and energy as before, yet he lost action after action. All his strong posts were taken, the con- gress at Chilpancingo was broken up, and several of his best generals died on the field of battle or perished upon the scaffold. In November of 18 15, while convoying a small party of the deputies of congress to a place of safety, he was attacked by a large force of royalist troops. Ordering General Bravo to continue the march with the main body as an escort to the congress, and remarking that his life was of little consequence, so that the con- gress could be saved; he endeavored with only fifty men to check the advance of the Spaniards. He gained the desired time, and with only one living survivor was taken prisoner. Spanish barbarity prompted to the most severe and inhuman treatment. He was stripped of his clothing and taken in chains to a Spanish garrison. He suffered abuse and great humiliation on his way to the City of Mexico. His case was brought before the inquisition, which, having been suspended in June, 18 13, was re-established in January, 1814, to combat the spread of "revolution- ary ideas" in Mexico. This auto de fe was held on the 26th of November, 18 15. He was found guilty of heresy, of profaning the sacraments, of disregarding his religious obligations, of having despised totally all ecclesiastical authority, and of having lived immorally and in expiation, therefor, he ur.i made to put on the dress of a penitent, and in the presence of an immense audience abjure his heresies with religious exercises. The ceremony of reconcilia- 72 HISTORY OF MEXICAN POLITICS, tioii was held with the penitent upon his knees, reciting the proper ceremonial words, and enduring the proper ceremonial flogging. The torment of burning alive, practiced in earlier times by the alleged only and true church of the pure and inoffensive Christ, had been abolished. This was the last auio de fe held, as the inquisition had no further opportunity to exercise its power in Mexico. It was suppressed in Spain, and became in- operative in Mexico May 31, 1820, a short time before the overthrow of the Spanish dominion. Having been punished by the Church for spiritual delinquencies and offenses, Morelos was by decree of the state taken to execution on the morning of Decem- ber 22, 1815, at San Christobal Kcatepec, where in former days the viceroys were received. Here upon his knees he uttered the following simple prayer, "L,ord, if I have done well thou knowest it; but if ill, to thy in- finite mercy I commend my soul." Then he gave the signal, and a ball traversed the heart of "the servant of the nation." The portrait of Morelos adorns the national gal- leries, and it is also found in many private collections in the houses of patriotic citizens of Mexico, and his statue is erected in many public places. His memory is cherished as one of the bravest, purest and most suc- cessful patriots who upheld and suffered martyrdom for reform in political and spiritual methods in Mexico. Though disowned, condemned and punished by the Church, he was a religious enthusiast, always con- fessing himself before and after battle, and maintaining his religious life in field and camp. After the capture of Morelos the cause of the revolu. FROM CORTEZ TO DIAZ, 73 tion languished; for though it was svipported in many- parts of the country by leaders of courage and talent, yet no one possessed sufficient influence to combine the operations of the whole and prevent the jarring interests of the different leaders from discord. I The principal insurgent leaders were Teran, Guer- rero, Rayon, Torres, Bravo and Victoria. I Teran remained mostly in the province of Puebla, where, after having disbanded congress, which had taken refuge in his jurisdiction, he for some time carried on a desultory warfare in which he had varying success, though straitened greatly for want of arms. He was finally compelled to surrender, on the 21st of January, 18 1 7. His life having been secured by the terms of capitulation, he lived in obscurity in Puebla until the breaking out of the second revolution in 1S21. Guerrero occupied the western coast, where he maintained the revolutionary cause in the mountainous districts until 1821, when he joined Iturbide. Rayon commanded in the northern part of Valla- dolid. His principal stronghold was besieged by Itur- bide in January, 18 15, and an attack on his works was repelled on the 4th of March following. But finally, during his absence, the fortress surrendered in 18 17; and soon after Rayon himself, deserted by all of his adherents, was taken prisoner and was confined in the capital until the change of sentiment in 1821. The Padre Torres, vindictive, sanguinary and treacherous by nature, had established a sort of halt- priestly, half- military despotism in the Baxio, a very fertile region taking in parts of the states of Queretaro, Michoacan, Guanajuato and Guadalajara, the whole of which he had parcelled out among his military sub- 74 HISTORY OF MEXICAN POLITICS. alterns, men mostly without principle or virtue. From his fortress on the top of the mountain Los Remedios, he was the scourge of the country round, devastating the most fertile portion of the Mexican territory, and sparing none, whether Spaniard or creole, who had the misfortune to offend him. Yet, under the auspices of this man existed for the time the only shadow of, a gov- ernment that was kept up by the revolutionists. It was called the junta of Jauaxiila, but it possessed little authority beyond his immediate adherents. Bravo was a wanderer in different parts of the country, opposed by superior royalist forces until De- cember, 1817, when he was taken prisoner and sent to the capital. Victoria, at the head of about 2,000 men, occupied the important province of Vera Cruz, where he was a constant source of uneasiness to the viceroy, who at length formed a plan of establishing a chain of fortified posts sufficiently strong to command the communica- tion between Vera Cruz and the capital and restrain the incursions of the insurgents. During a struggle of two years against all the powers of the viceroy and several thousand regular troops sent out from Spain to quell this last and most formidable of the insurgent chiefs, Victoria was gradu- ally driven from his strongholds. Most of his old sol- diers fell; the zeal of the people in the cause of the revolution abated; the last remnant of his followers deserted him when, unsubdued in spirit, he was left actually alone. Resolved not to yield on any terms to the Spaniards, he refused the rank and rewards which the viceroy offered him as the price of his submission: and, unaccompanied by a single attendant, sought an FROM CORIEZ TO DIAZ. 75 asylum in the mountains and disappeared from view. During a few weeks he was supplied with provisions by the Indians, who knew and respected him; but the viceroy, fearing that he would again emerge from his retreat, sent out a thousand men to hunt him down. Every village that had harbored him was burned with- out mercy, and the Indians were struck with such terror by this merciless punishment, that they either fled at his appearance or closed their doors against him. For upwards of six months he was pursued like a wild beast, often surrounded, and on numerous occasions barely escaping with his life. At length it was an- nounced that his dead body had been found, and the search was discontinued. But the trials of Victoria did not end here. At one time he was attacked by a fever and remained eleven days at the mouth of a cavern, stretched on the ground, without food, expecting the hour of death. The vul- tures hovered around in expectation of their prey. One approached to feast on his half-closed eyes. He seized it by the neck and killed it. Nourished by its warm blood he had strength to crawl to water and slake his parching thirst. With torn clothes and lacerated body he was reduced to a skeleton. In summer he subsisted on roots, fruits and berries, and in winter on whatever he could obtain. For thirty months he neither saw a human being nor tasted bread. Thus nearly three years passed 'from the time of his exile in 18 iS. The last who had lingered with him were two faithful Indians. As he was about to separate from tlicni they asked where he wished them to look for him if any change in the politics of the country should take place. Pointing in reply to a mountain at some 76 HISTORY OF MEXICAN POLITICS, distance, particularly rugged and covered with, forests, he told them that on that mountain perhaps they might find his bones. The Indians kept this in mind, and as soon as the first news of the revolution of 1821 came to them they set out in quest of Victoria. After six weeks of search- ing they found footprints of a white man and watched around for some days, until their stock of provisions was exhausted, when suspending two corncakes on a tree, believing that Victoria would pass, and seeing them would know that friends were seeking hird, they returned to their homes for more food, intending to return. Their plan succeeded, for Victoria came to the place two days afterwards and found the cakes which, fortu- nately, the birds had not devoured. He had been four days without food, and he ate the cakes before the crav- ings of his appetite would permit him to reflect upon the singularity of finding them in that solitary spot, where he had never seen the trace of a human being. Not knowing whether they had been left there by friend or foe, but confident that whoever had left them intended to return, he concealed himself near the place in order to watch for his unknown visitor. One of the Indians soon returned and Victoria, recognizing him, started from his concealment to wel- come his faithful follower who, terrified at seeing a man haggard, emaciated and clothed only with an old cotton wrapper, advancing upon him from the bushes with a sword in his hand, took to flight; and it was only on hearing his name repeatedly called that he recovered his composure sufficiently to recognize his old general. He was deeply affected at the state in which he found FROM CORIEZ TO DIAZ. 77 him and conducted him instantly to his village, where the long lost Victoria was received with the greatest joy and enthusiasm. The report of his reappearance spread rapidly through the province, where it was not credited at first, so firmly was every one persuaded of his death; but when it was known that Guadalupe Victoria was indeed living, all the old insurgents rallied round him. A further account of this patriot will be found in connection with later events in Mexican historj^, in which he was destined to be a prominent actor, as well as a high and influential officer and statesman. About the time of the dispersal of the principal in- surgent forces in 18 17, and when the revolutionary spirit was on the decline, an unfortunate and unwise, but very daring attempt was made by Don Xavier Mina to establish the independence of Mexico on a constitu- tional basis and secure the liberty of Mexico without a separation from Spain. This visionary plan failed to awaken enthusiasm among the people, and chiefly claims attention from the military movements and achievements contiected therewith. Mina was a young Spaniard who had been engaged iu guerrilla warfare in Spain, operating first against the French who had displaced the royal family from the Spanish throne, and then against the forces of Ferdi- nand VII. who, on attaining the throne by the consent of Napoleon and the aid of the English troops, set aside the constitution which had been constructed by the Cortes and adopted in 1812. Mina, being defeated in Spain, determined to transfer the war against Ferdinand to the soil of Mexico, After securing munitions of war in lyondoii and re- 78 HISTORY OF MEXICAN POLITICS, cruits in the United States, he landed at Soto la Marina, about 125 miles north of Tampico. Here he constructed a fort as a basis of operations, and after leaving a garri son moved with the remainder of his troops rapidly toward the Baxio, where Torres was located. On the way he fought superior numbers of the enemy in many battles and with varying results, and finally reached Guanajuato, where his forces failed him by an unusual display of fear. He attempted retreat, but was captured; and in view of Torres, in his stronghold on the hill L,os Remedios, was shot. After his death dissensions broke out among the remaining insurgents, and every town and fortress fell into the hands of the royalists. Torres was killed by one of his own captains. Guerrero with a small force was on the western coast, cut off from all communica- tion with the interior; and Victoria, as has been related, had sought refuge in the mountains. In 1 8 19 the revolutionary cause was at its lowest ebb, and it was no idle boast when the viceroy declared, in a dispatch transmitted to the government at Madrid, that he would answer for the safety of Mexico without an additional soldier. Thus ended the first revolution in Mexico with the total dispersion and defeat of the Independent party, after a struggle of nine years from the first outbreak at Dolo- res. In the distractions of the war which made ene- mies of former friends, the most wanton cruelties were often committed by both armies. Hidalgo injured and disgraced the cause which he led by appealing to the worst passions of his Indian forces, whose ferocity appeared the more extraordinary after having lain dormant so many years. But the Spaniards were not FROM CORTEZ TO DIAZ. 79 backward in retaliating upon their enemies, and Calleja, the Spanish commander, eclipsed Hidalgo as much in the details of cold-blooded massacre as in the military art. Morelos was no less generous than brave, and with his fall terminated the most brilliant period of the revolution. The viceroy, Apodaca, who succeeded Calleja, adopted a conciliatory policy and judiciously distributed pardons from the king, whereby he reduced the insur- gents to an insignificant number. The revolution was from the first opposed by the higher orders of the clergy, who were by an encyclical letter from the Vatican directed to oppose all attempts to secure the separation of Mexico from Spain. The most opulent Creoles, whose business and religion were intimately connected with those of Spain and whom the viceroy conciliated, gave the government its principal support during the war. But though the country was exhausted by the ravages of war, and though open hostilities were quelled, subsequent events showed that the spirit of independ- ence was daily gaining ground and that Spain had entirely lost all those moral influences by which she had so long governed her colonies in the New World. " CHAPTER VI. ; 1821 TO 1823. Bonaparte Benkfits Mexico — Church Conspiracy — Iturbide Selected — Guerrero Joins Con- spiracy — Pean op Iguaea — Treaty of Cordoba — Mexico Independent of Spain — Regency — — Iturbide Emperor — Dissensions — Revolu- tion — Abdication — Exile — Return — Death as AN Outlaw. NAPOIvEON BONAPARTE is entitled to much credit for the independence of Mexico. He made open war upon the Roman Catholic tenet of the divine right of kings. He applied this hostility to Spain, where he dethroned Charles IV. and his son, Ferdinand VII. In their .stead he enthroned his brother Joseph as the king of Spain. In these a'cts he not only gratified his personal ambition, but he also, as if a world's statesman and patriot, advanced the theory of personal liberty and an enlarged bill of rights for even those who lived under a constitutional monarchy. Under the auspices of the Napoleonic regime, the people of Spain constructed a constitution. In this work the order of Free Masons took an active part, and as the tendency of the organic law thus enacted was to limit the power of the Roman Catholic church in political affairs, and to vest political power in the people, naturally as vindictive an organization as the Church FROM C0R7EZ TO DIAZ. 8i has shown itself to be would not forget to anathematize the Free Masons. Regardless, however, of that fact, the character of the Spanish government was thus changed from an absolute to a constitutional monarchy. By the funda- mental law thus enacted, many civil rights were secured to the people, among which were liberty of speech and of the press and a form of the elective franchise. Many wrongs were also redressed, such as the removal of the excessive church taxes of the past, the abolishment of the inquisition, and the discontinuance of the Roman Catholic as the exclusive religion of the countr3\ By the aid of Wellington and his British forces the French army and administration were removed from Spain in 1812 and Ferdinand re-enthroned. Immedi- ately on his return to power and that he might gratify his clerical supporters and advisers, the newly enthroned king abolished the new constitution, restored the in- quisition and so far as lay in his power, inaugurated reactionary measures as to all reforms established during the Napoleonic occupation. Spain then became the theater of a long and bloody civil war, but in 18 19 Ferdinand, deserted by his own troops, saw no safety but in submission to the people. He therefore ordered the reassembling of the cortes of 18 1 2, and in their presence swore to observe the con- stitution promulgated by that body. The inquisition was again abolished, several religious establishments were suppressed and their revenues confiscated to the state. The constitution and new orders as to the inquisi- tion and religious fraternities thus adopted in Spain of course had full effect in Mexico. Being liberal and 82 HISTORY OF MEXICAN POLITICS, progressive, those measures excited the hostility of the clergy and. principal Spaniards who had been such great beneficiaries under the old order, and their opposition took the form of a resolution "to separate absolutely from Spain and its radicalism. ' ' Obedient to orders from the Vatican the clergy had opposed the revolution of Hidalgo, but it was that the interests and revenues of the Church might be the better conserved. Now the same interests were im- periled. Therefore many of the clergy and disaffected Spaniards held secret consultations and perfected a con- spiracy having in view primarily the continuance of the rights of religious orders and the revenues of the Church; and secondarily, the methods whereby the people could be induced to co-operate. As a specious cry whereby the multitude could be enthused and aroused to action, it was declared that with the new order their religion was imperiled. To make their conspiracy effective it was necessary to have a military leader. One in whom they could trust, Don Augustin Iturbide, was selected. He was a Mestizo, having a Spanish father and a Mexican mother, was a soldier of many years' experience in the field, having been an officer of the royalist army which fought Hidalgo and in command of the army which de- feated Morelos at Guadalajara. Iturbide had become imbued with liberal ideas in the latter years of the revolution and sympathized with those who wished the independence of Mexico. He had resigned his office in the imperial army and retired t-o private life, and was just the man to lead in the new conspiracy, as he was a soldier with a brilliant record and "out of a job." He was also in financial straits FROM CORIEZ TO DIAZ. 83 and gladly accepted the proffered leadership, which he hoped would bring him both fame and riches. To secure an army as well as a leader, the con- spirators persuaded the Viceroy Apodaca to appoint Iturbide to the command of a force to operate against Guerrero, who still had a revolutionary army in the south. Iturbide departed from the capital, but with very different intentions from those which the viceroy supposed him to entertain. To carry out in appearance the plans of the viceroy he moved to the south and met Guerrero, but was defeated by him. Realizing the importance of securing the aid of the old revolutionists, Iturbide sought an interview with Guerrero and laid before him his plans; the end being the independence of Mexico, Guerrero joined and made common cause with Iturbide who, then having an army of 5,500 men at his command, moved to the little town of Iguala, on the road to Acapulco, where on the 24th day of February, 1821, he proclaimed his project known as the "plan of Iguala," and induced his soldiers to take an oath to svipport it. This plan had three clauses, called the "three guarantees." The first was, that the religion of the Mexican nation should be the Roman Catholic Apos- tolic, to the exclusion of all others, with all the rights, privileges and revenues of the Church unimpaired; the second, that the Mexican nation should be a constitu- tional monarchy with Ferdinand VII. or one of his brothers on the throne; and the third, that all inhabit- ants of Mexico, whether vSpaniards, Mexicans, Mestizos, Negros or Indians, should be citizens of the new nation, to whom all places of profit or preferment should be open, the only tests being virtue and merit. To carry 84 HISTOR Y OF MEXICAN POLITICS. these provisions into effect a constitution was to be formed by a Mexican congress, members of whicb were to be elected by the people. Iturbide lost no time in informing the viceroy of his work, and in view of the confidence which existed mutually, offered him the presidency of the junta to be formed to carry out the good work of independence. Apodaca refused and immediately issued a proclama- tion opposing the movement, warning the people against giving aid to the insurgents and offering pardon to all who would abandon the revolution. He also con- centrated an army a short distance south of the capital to defend and defeat. His actions not being sufficiently energetic to suit other officials he was deposed, and Don Francis Novello, a military officer, was placed at the head of the govern- ment. But his authority was not generally recognized and Iturbide was left to pursue his plans without inter- ruption. Having the co-operation of Guerirero all the old in- surgent chiefs, including the long missing Victoria, soon joined and with them whole detachments of the old revolutionary forces. The creole troops who had not joined in the first now took part in this second revolution. The clergy publicly gave countenance and support to the movement which they had secretly set on foot, and the most distant provinces soon sent in their adherence to the cause; and before the end of the month of July the whole country recognized the authority of Iturbide, with the exception of the capital, in which Novello had shut himself up with the European troops. Valladolid, Puebla and Queretaro were captured and the capital was besieged. Santa Anna now for the first FROM CORTEZ TO DIAZ. 85 time became prominent as a leader in the revolution and commanded a force at Vera Cruz. The whole country was in the hands of the Iturbidists. Under these conditions there landed at Vera Cruz General Juan O'Douoju, the sixty-fourth and last of the Spanish viceroys. Iturbide arranged to meet him at Cordoba, where he was induced to accept by treaty the "Plan of Iguala" as the only means of saving the lives and property of the Spaniards, then in Mexico, and of establishing the right to the throne in the house of Bourbon. B)^ this agreement, called the "treaty of Cordoba," the viceroy in the name of the king, his master, recognized the independence of Mexico on the 24th of August and gave up the capital. On the 27th day of September, 1821, Iturbide arrived at the convent of San Francisco, dismounted from his horse, was received by the city council and other officers, and the keys of the city were delivered to him. At the palace he was received by the viceroy, who had preceded him. Then there was a grand re- ligious ceremony with all the imposing rites of the Roman Catholic church, closing with the Te Denm. And so Mexico was liberated at last; and of all that immense territory which formed the brightest jewel in the crown of Spain, nothing was left but the citadels of San Juan de Ulua, Perote and Acapulco, and these soon after surrendered. The independence, for which Hi- dalgo, Morelos, Victoria, Bravo, and other heroes vainly fought during the long period of ten years was thus secured in seven months, and without further shedding of blood. All opposition being ended and the capital occu- pied, in accordance with the "Plan of Iguala," a pro- 86 HISTORY OF MEXICAN POLITICS, visional junta was selected, the principal duty of which. was to provide for calling a convention or congress, which should construct a constitution for the monarchy. At the same time a regency was named, which should govern the country ad interim. This regency was composed of Iturbide as presi- dent, O'Donoju, Barcena, Yanez and Velasquez de Ivcon. O'Donoju died in October, and Antonio Joaquin Perez, bishop of Puebla, was appointed in his place. Iturbide, to forward the interest by which he had been elevated to power, conferred the presidency upon the bishop of Puebla, while he assumed command of the army with the title of Generalissimo, lord high admiral, and also serene highness. To all of these titles was added a salary of $120,000 annually. While the revolution lasted, his will was the law of his followers in everything which tended to promote the separation from Spain. But the revolution had settled no principle, had established no system; and when .the old order had been destroyed and a new one was under discussion, the unanimity which had prevailed was at an end. When the provisional junta was about to prepare a plan for assembling a national congress, Iturbide desired that the members should be bound by oath to support the "Plan of Iguala" in all its parts, before they could take their seats in the congress. To this Generals Guerrero, Victoria and Bravo with many other original insurgents objected, wishing that the people should have liberty to adopt by their deputies such a plan of government as they should prefer. Iturbide carried his point, but the seeds of discontent were sown before the session of congress commenced. FROM CORIEZ TO DIAZ. 87 On the 24tli of February congress assembled, and three distinct parties were found among its members: the Bourbonists, who wished a constitutional motiarchy, with a prince of Bourbon on the throne; the republicans, who desired a federal republic; and the Iturbidists, who wished a monarchy, with Iturbide on the throne instead of a Bourbon. It soon became known that the Spanish govern- ment had repudiated the treaty of Cordoba, declaring it null and void. So the Bourbonists ceased to exist as a party; and the struggle for an organic political system was thus limited to the Iturbidists and the republicans. After a violent controversy, the republicans succeeded in carrying by a large majority a plan for the reduction of the army. The partisans of Iturbide then saw that his in- fluence was on the wane, and that if they wished ever to see him on the throne, action must be had before the memory of his services should be lost. Therefore they concerted their measures for inducing the army and the populace to declare in his favor. Accordingly, on the night of the i8th of May, 1822, the soldiers of the garri- son in the Cit}^ of Mexico and a mob assembled before the house of Iturbide; and, amidst the brandishing of weapons, proclaimed him emperor, under the title of Augustin the First. Iturbide, with consummate hypocrisy, pretending to yield with reluctance to what he termed the "will of the people," brought the matter before congress, which, overawed by his armed partisans and a mob, gave their sanction to a measure which they were powerless to op- pose. The choice was ratified by the provinces without opposition; and Iturbide found himself in peaceful pos- 88 HISl'ORY OF MEXICAN POLITICS, session of a throne, to which his own abilities and cir- cumstances had raised him. Had he been guided by counsels of prudence, and confined his authority within reasonable limits, he might have maintained his imperial office indefinitely; but, forgetting the unstable foundation of his throne, he began his reign with all the airs of hereditary royalty. A struggle for power immediately commenced be- tween him and congress. He demanded a veto upon each and every article of the constitution then under consideration; and the right of appointing and removing at pleasure the members of the supreme tribunal of justice. The breach continually widened and, at length, a law proposed by the emperor, for the establishment of military tribunals, was rejected by congress. Iturbide retaliated by imprisoning the most distinguished mem- bers of that body. Remonstrances and reclamations followed, and Iturbide, at length, terminated the dispute as Cromwell and Bonaparte had done on similar occasions before him, by proclaiming, on the 30th of October, the disso- lution of congress, and substituting in its stead a junta of his own appointme'nt, which new assembly acted as the ready echo of his will. Yet it never possessed any influence, and the popularity of Iturbide did not long survive his assumption of arbitrary power. Before the end of November an insurrection broke out in the northern provinces, but it was speedily quelled by the imperial troops. On the 6th of Decem- ber the youthful general, Santa Anna, a former sup- porter of Iturbide, but who had been dismissed by him from the government of Vera Cruz, published an address FROM CORl EZ TO DIAZ. 89 to the nation in which he reproached the emperor with having broken his coronation oath by dissolving con- gress; and declared his intention and that of the garri- son, which had united with him, to aid in the reassem- bling of congress and protecting its deliberations. Santa Anna was soon joined by Victoria, who had never consented to the empire, to whom he yielded the chief command, in expectation that his name and well kno.vu principles would inspire with confidence those ivho favored a republic. A force sent out by the em- peror to quell the revolt went over to the insurgents. Generals Guerrero and Bravo took the field on the same side. Dissatisfaction spread through the nation; part of ths imperial army revolted; and Iturbide, either fright- ened by the storm which he had conjured up, or really anxious to avoid the effusion of blood, called together all the members of the old congress then in the capital, and on the 19th of March, 1S23, formally resigned the imperial crown, stating his intention to leave the countr}', lest his presence in Mexico should be the pre- text for further dissensions. Congress, after declaring that his assumption of the crown was an act of violence and therefore null, will- ingly allowed him to leave the kingdom; and in view of the valuable services he had rendered the country, granted him an annual pension of $25,000, on condition that he make his domicile in Ital3^ With his family and suite he embarked for Leghorn on the nth of Ma}-,' Thus terminated the first Mexican empire. The fate of this ambitious and weak, though patri- otic, man whose previous career had been so brilliant and successful was indeed sad. His personal magnetism and the memory of benefits bestowed, together with hopes of 90 HISTORY OF MEXICAN POLITICS. possible future preferment, in case his star should be again in the ascendant, had made for him many friends who remained behind, and with whom he maintained correspondence and thereby was kept informed of the ^'icissitudes of Mexican political affairs. ITURBIBE. Misled by representations as to the strength of the monarchical party, and knowing that the government which succeeded him was unstable, he yielded to his in- clinations to regain his throne, and left Italy for I^on- don. From that place he sent warnings to the Mexican government of the schemes of the holy alliance, to re- FROM COR7EZ TO DIAZ. ~ 91 store Spanish rule in Mexico: and offered his services to the country to aid in resisting the movement. When congress had knowlege that he had left Italy and was contemplating a return, it passed ?a\ act of outlawry upon him, and pronounced sentence of death to be en- forced if he should return to Mexico. On the 14th of July he suddenly appeared in Soto la Marina. The Mexican commander in the state of Tamaulipas, in which that seaport is situated, in- vited him to land; and then informed him that, in ac- cordance with a decree of congress, he had but a few hours to live. The legislature of the state in special session discussed the propriety of enforcing the cruel sentence, and finally decided that the execution should take place. Five days afterward lie met his fate as a brave soldier in front of the Church at Padilla. A file of soldiers by a single discharge executed the congress- ional decree. His remains, after being buried in the Church at Padilla, were, in 1838, removed to the cathed.al in the City of Mexico and placed in the chapel of San Felipe de Jesus. Upon the sarcophagus enclosing his remains is inscribed the word "Liberator." Notwithstanding his fatal ambition, the patriot who visits his tomb can scarcely restrain a tear at the sad fate which thus terminated the life of a "Washington." CHAPTER VII. 1823 TO 1S31. Mkxico a Republic — The Constitution — Roman Catholic the Exclusive Religion — Political Parties — Republicanism — Centralism — Victo- ria President — Church Revolts — Montano Revolts — Both Suppressed — Pedraza Elected — Resigns — Santa Anna Revolts — Lawless- ness — Guerrero President — Spanish Invasion — Bustamente President — Overthrow and Death of Guerrero. ON The departure of Iturbide from Mexico an ex- ecutive junta was appointed which should ad- minister the government until the meeting of a new congress. This junta consisted of Generals Victo- ria, Bravo, Negrete and Guerrero, all distinguished soldiers of the revolution. Congress assembled on the 23d of August, 1823, and entered at once upon the work of formulating a constitution. On the 31st of January, 1824, the organic law thus prepared was submitted, and on the 4th of October following it was duly adopted. This instrument was modeled after the constitution of the United States. The absolute independence of the country was declared and the several provinces were united into a federal republic as "The United Mexican States. ' ' The legislative power was vested in a con- FROM COR7EZ TO DIAZ. 93 gress consisting of a senate and house of representatives. The senate was to be composed of two senators from each state, elected by the legislatures thereof for a term of four years. The house of representatives was to be composed of members elected by the citizens of the several states for a term of two years. The president was to be Mexican born, not ICvSS than thirtv-five years of age, and was to be elected by the legislatures of the states for the term of four years. The supreme court was to be composed of eleven judges not less than thirty-five years of age respectively, were to be Mexican born and elected by the legislatures of the states. The several states composing the nation were to organize their governments in conformity to the federal act. Each state was to protect its citizens in the full enjoyment of their liberty. No individual was to com- mence a suit at law without having previously attempted in vain to settle the case by arbitration. Trial by jury was not provided for, nor was proper publicity given to the processes of the courts in which justice was ad- ministered. The third article declared "The religion of the Mexican nation is and will be perpetually the Roman Catholic Apostolic, the nation will protect it by wise and just lazes and prohibit the ExercisK of any other WHATEVER. ' ' The constitution was not adopted without consider- able opposition. Among the newly enfranchised citi- zens there were very few who had ever held civil office, and the majority were entirely unread as to systems of government. The policy of keeping the people in ignorance of all literature except the catechism and 94 HISTORY OF MEXICAN POLITICS, prayers in lyatin, which had obtained in Mexico for three centuries, had utterly disqualified them for affairs of state; and when suddenly enfranchised and rendered eligible . to the high duty of deciding upon a national system they were in a condition to be wrongly in- fluenced, and to many the possession of liberty meant the right of license, libertinism and anarchy. From a comparison ot the history of Mexico with that of the United States, after whose organic laws and policies Mexico patterned, may be taught one of the most valuable lessons illustrated by history. Although Mexico was settled nearly a century before the United States, yet the latter had gone through all the hardships and trials of colonial existence, steadily progressed in general knowledge and the growth of liberal principles had outgrown their vassalage and firmly established their independence, while Mexico was still groping in spiritual and intellectual darkness without being fnlly aware of her slavitude. , When the United States declared her independence it was the deliberate result of a united and intelligent people, smarting under accumulated wrongs, rightly appreciating the value of freedom and with prudent foresight calmly weighing the cost of obtaining it. When once obtained the virtue, intelligence and patriot- ism of the people were sufficient to preserve it and to guard against all attempts at its subversion. In Mexico the first resistance to Spanish tyranny was but a sudden and isolated movement of a few in- dividuals with no great number fully grasping the ulterior object of freedom, and the masses of the igno- rant population who joined in the insurrection were in- fluenced by no higher motives than those of plunder FROM CORTEZ TO DIAZ. ' 95 and revenge. A declaration of independence found the people disunited, ignorant of the nature and extent of the evils which they were suffering, unaware of their own resources and ready to follow blindly wherever their chiefs led them. When independence was at length established it was merely for one despotism to give place to another, and a monarchy arose which was but the agent of the ecclesiastics and aristocrats to still further usurp the liberties of the people. The sudden overthrow of the empire of Iturbide made place for another system of government which, while republican in form and fair and comely in proportions, yet contained one of the most odious features of despotism. It contained among its provisions the law that the Roman Catholic religion should be adopted to the exclusion of any other what- ever. A principle more illiberal and unrepublican could not have been imagined, and where it prevails the idea and fact of a free government is an absurdity. Of all tyranny that which is exerted over the consciences of the superstitious and ignorant is the most baleful in its effects. It not only renders its subjects more than will- ing slaves and makes them glory in their bondage, but it incapacitates them for appreciating or enjoying the blessings of liberty when offered them. As soon as proper after the independence of Mexico had been secured, and while it was yet an empire under Iturbide the United States recognized it as an inde- pendent nation and sent Mr. Poinsett as minister to the new government. He remained in the same capacit}^ during the changes which resulted in the adoption of a constitu- 96 'HISTORY OF MEXICAN POLITICS, tion making Mexico a republic with a federal repre- sentative system. To his opportune aid cheerfully given the friends of the republic owed much. By it they were enabled to combat successfully all attempts to guide the new ship of state into the perilous waters of experiment; and she emerged from the' hands of the constitutional convention under full sail, flying the colors of a republic under a federal representative system, directed to her moorings by the hands of loyal and patriotic citizens of the new nation, who had fought for independence from the first time that the Grita de Dolores was sounded on the plains of Mexico or rever- berated among the mountains. With the independence of Mexico the Bourbonists ceased to exist as a separate political party, while the fall of Iturbide destroyed the political organization of which he was the head and so the Republicans had full control of affairs; but they were divided into two fac- tions with decidedly distinct policies. One was for federalism and the other for centralism. In the election which was held under the newly adopted constitution, Guadalupe Victoria was the candi- date of the federalists, while Nicholas Bravo stood for centralism. The canvass of the vote showed that Vic- toria had been elected president and Bravo vice presi- dent, thus embodying the two antagonistic policies of the party in the first administration of the republic. The president and vice president were both inaugurated on the 4th of October, 1824, for the official term of four years. The administration of Victoria commenced under the most happy and promising auspices. The republic had been established in peace; partisan excitement had FROM CORIEZ TO DIAZ. ' 97 been allayed; no one questioned the authority of the president, and a loan negotiated in England had pro- vided funds for the treasury of the nation. Notwithstanding all these very promising con- ditions there soon appeared signs of commotion. During the year 1825 certain political clubs were formed under the name and with the formulas of Free Masonry. Some were organized under the alleged guidance of the United States minister, Poinsett, and were known as Yorkinos. These became the nuclus of the federalists, and in that party the Iturbidists and Democrats gener- ally found a political home. Others were organized under the Scottish rites and were called escoces, and represented centralism; and all Bourbons, monarchists and the clergy here found political affiliations. The 5^ears 1825 and 1826 passed with few disturb- ances and the administration of Victoria was generally popular, and the country enjoyed a greater degree of prosperity than at any former period. But the con- stituent elements which formed the nation were so various, so uncongenial and so antagonistic that con- tinued peace could hardly be expected. The first attempt at revolution came from the Church, was headed by a dominican friar named Padre Arenas, and was designed to restore Spanish rule. This was suppressed, its leaders properly punished and rigorous measures adopted to expel all Spaniards from the country. The second attempted revolution was headed by Montano, an unknown lieutenant colonel, at Otumba. On the 23d of December, 1827, he proclaimed a plan for the forcible reform of the government. He demanded the abolition of all secret societies, the dismissal of the 7 — 98 HIS'IORY OF MEXICAN POLITICS, cabinet ministers, who were charged with being deficient in probity, virtue and merit; the dismissal of Mr. Poin- sett, who was held to be the chief director of the Yorkinos, and a more rigorous enforcement of the con- stitution and existing laws. The plan of Montano was immediately declared by the Yorkinos to have for its object "to prevent the banishment of the Spaniards, to avert the chastisement then impending over the conspirators against independ- ence, to destroy Republican institutions and place the country once more under the yoke of a Bourbon!" General Bravo, the vice president and the leader of the Scotch party, who had heretofore been the advocate of law and order, left the capital, made common cause with the insurgents and issued a manifesto in favor of Montano, in which he denounced the president himself as connected with the Yorkinos. By this rash movement of Bravo's the president was compelled to throw himself into the arms of the Yorki- nos, to whose chief. General Guerrero, he gave the command of the government troops that were sent to put down the insurrection. The outbreak was speedily suppressed. General Bravo, who was really at the head of the movement, which was for political effect, would not allow a conflict at arms; and, on the approach of Guerrero, surrendered. He and the principal leaders were banished the country by a decree of congress, but afterward they were permitted to return to their homes. The leaders of the Scotch party being removed, it was thought that in the ensuing presidential election, •September, 1828, the success of General Guerrero, the Yorkino candidate, was rendered certain. But unex- FROM CORIEZ TO DIAZ. 99 pectedly a new candidate was brought forward in the person of General Pedraza. who was Victoria's' minister of war. He, after an arduous contest, was elected presi- dent by a majority of only two votes over General Guerrero. The successful party, relying upon their constitu- tional rights and the sympathies of the friends of Vic- toria, looked forward to a peaceful administration to follow the election. But the opposition was unwilling to bow submissively to the will of the people expressed in accord with the constitution. They asserted that the election had been carried b}^ fraud and bribery, that Pedraza was the enemy of the liberties of the country, and they declared their determination to redress by an appeal to arms the injustice sustained by General Guer- rero, upon whose elevation to the presidency the as- cendency of the Yorkino party naturally depended. At this juncture Santa Anna, whose name had figured in the most turbulent periods of the revolution since 1821, again appeared upon the political stage; claiming that the result of the election did not show the real will of the people, he at the head of 500 men took possession of the castle of Perote. There on September loth he published an address declaring that the election of Pedraza had been procured by fraud, and that he had taken it upon himself to rectify the error by proclaiming Guerrero president, as the only effectual mode of main- taining the character and asserting the dignity of the Mexican nation. On September 17th President Victoria issued a proc- lamation, calling on the states and the people co aid in arresting the traitor to the laws and the constitution. Santa Anna was besieged at Perote, an action was loo HISTORY OF MEXICAN POLITICS, fought under the walls of the castle. Santa Anna escaped, was pursued and captured on the 14th of De- cember. But before that time, changes of public senti- ment had taken place at the capital: and the captive general in the course of twenty-four hours took com- VICTORIA. iiiand of the very army by which he had been taken prisoner. About the time of the flight of Santa Anna from Perote the capital became the rallying place for a num- ber of the more ultra of the Yorkino chiefs and ambi- tious and adventurous insurrectionists. On the night of FROM CORTRZ TO DTAZ. loi November 30th an armed mob seized the barracks" guns and ammunition, and began a reign of terror, wherein law and order was defied and millions of dollars worth of property was taken by pillage and violence. While thus despoiling citizens indiscriminately the mob made demands for the banishment of all Spanish residents, and at the same time they proclaimed that Guerrero had been elected president, and that he should take his office. Victoria was unable to restore order, and in the ab- sence of energetic action he was charged by many wnth being in sympathy with the insurrection. These lawless acts remained unchecked for two days, when order was restored by Guerrero himself, whom Victoria appointed minister of war in place of Pedraza, who had fled from the capital. To avoid civil war and the effusion of blood Ped- raza, disregarding the proffered assistance of his adher- ents, formally resigned .the presidency and obtained permission to quit the territories of the republic. Con- gress, which met on the ist of January, 1829, declared Guerrero to be duly elected president, having next to Pedraza the highest number of votes. General Busta- mente, a distinguished Yorkino leader, was made vice- president; a Yorkino ministry was appointed; and Santa Anna, who was declared to have deserved well of his country, was appointed minister of war. As Guerrero had been installed by arms, it was natural that he should trust to the same agency for a continuance of power. But the ease with which a revo- lution could be effected and the supreme authority over- thrown by a bold and daring leader had been demon- strated too fatally for the future peace of the country-. 102 HISTORY OF MEXICAN POLITICS, and ambitious chiefs were not long wanting to take ad- vantage thereof. The Spaniards had rendered themselves obnoxious to the people who had control in Mexico by their hostil- ity to the new order of things. So congress decreed in. March, 1829, that they should be expelled from the country, and in compliance therewith many were de- ported. To retaliate for this action and to regain the lost province in America, a squadron of Spanish troops was sent from Havana; and in July, 1829, about 4,000 men landed at Tampico and captured that city. To meet the emergencies of the times Guerrero was invested with dictatorial powers. After a campaign of two months the invading army surrendered to Santa Anna. Though the danger was past Guerrero did not surrender his extraordinary powers, and his enemies as- sumed that he had the intention to prolong his dictator- ship indefinitely. Bustamente, the vice-president, then in command of a body of troops, held in reserve to repel the Span- iards, deemed this a favorable opportunity for striking a blow for supremacy. Charging Guerrero with the de- sire of assuming arbitrary power and demanding con- cessions, he proceeded toward the capital for the avowed purpose of correcting executive abuses. Santa Anna, the minister of war, at first feebly opposed Bustamente, but at length joined him. The government was easily overthrown. Guerrero fled to the mountains in the south, and Bustamente w^as proclaimed his successor. Guerrero had the misfortune to have been of very low and humble parentage. His father was of a race; then denominated castes, who was entitled to neither civil nor political rights. But in the war of independ-" FROM CORIEZ TO DIAZ, 103 ence Guerrero had riseu to prominence and liigli rank, and in conjunction with Iturbide had secured the inde- pendence of Mexico. He was one of the four entrusted with the government when Iturbide resigned the impe- rial crown, and had held high rank and responsible command in the armj^ of the republic. In each and all of these positions he had acquitted himself with honor; and as president had firmly sustained the principles of liberty. But his humble origin secured opposition from the Spaniards and wealthy Creoles, while his republicanism assured the hatred of the clergy. In Bustamente these opposing elements found a willing ally, and congress was influenced to co-operate in deposing the president. But the question was, what to do. They had no power to declare his election illegal, for that would affect also the right of the vice-president. So congress declared that Guerrero was morally incapacitated for the high duties of the office, on its own motion deposed him therefrom, and elevated the vice-president, Bustamente. The leading features of Bustamente's administra- tion, which was sanguinary and proscrlptive, was the subversion of the federal constitution and the establish- ment of a strong central government. He was supported by the military, the priesthood and the great creole pro- prietors, while the federation was popular with a ma- jority of the people, and was sustained by their votes. Guerrero retired to his farm in the mountains of the south, glad to be relieved of the cares, excitements and hazards of his office. But he was popular with the peo- ple, who were pronounced in their denunciation of the outrage perpetrated upon him, and traced the hostility to his administration to the aristocrats and the clergy. ro4 HISTORY OF MEXICAN POLITICS, Fearing the results of a proposed revolution in behalf of Guerrero the administration pardoned six criminals, laying upon them the duty of assassinating the deposed president as the condition of their release. This new danger soon became known to Guerrero, and he sought safety in the solitudes of the mountains. GUERRERO. In the spring of 1830 Don Jose Codallos published a "plan," demanding of Bustamente the restoration of civil authority. Encouraged by this demonstration Guerrero appeared in the field, established his govern- ment at Valladolid; and the whole country was again in FROJr CORIEZ TO DIAZ. :o5 arms. The attempt of Guerrero to regain supreme power was unsuccessful. He was pursued to Acapulco and there, while being entertained at a comiDlimentary dinner on board a Sardinian ship, he was arrested, the captain of the vessel traitorousl}^ performing his part of the capture for the consideration of $70,000, paid by the centralists. After capture Guerrero was hurriedly taken to Oaxaca, tried b}- a court martial, condemned to death for "traitoroush' bearing arms against the govern- ment;" and on the 14th of February, 1831, he was exe- cuted by being shot; meeting his fate with courage and dignity. Thus a singular coincidence is presented in the fate of Guerrero and Iturbide. Though they differed essen- tially in their motives originally, thej^ finally joined in the campaign which resulted in the libert}' of Mexico. But both perished at the hands of the very government whose existence the}^ had made possible. The remains of Guerrero now rest in the Panteon de San Fernando in the capital; and his honored statue of bronze adorns the plaza of San Fernando, as a testimony that the Mexican people gratefully cherish the memory of that true patriot and friend of their liberties, and as a stand- ing censure upon the bloody traitors from the clerical centralist party who put him to death. CHAPTER VIII. 1 83 1 TO 1844. Santa Anna Revolts — Bustamknte; Resigns — Pkd- RAZA President — Santa Anna President — DicTATORiAi, Schemes — Gomez Farias Acting President — Church and Army I^imited — Santa Anna Joins Centralists — Proclaimed Dictator — Overthrows State Governments and the Constitution — Texas Revolts — Santa Anna Defeated and Captured by the Texans — Inde- pendence AND I^imits op Texas — Santa Anna IN Private Life — Bustamente President — Santa Anna Fights the French — Revolutions — Bustamente Overthrown — Plans — ^Juntas — Bases — Santa Anna Again in Politics. AFTER the execution of Guerrero tranquility pre- vailed in political affairs until January, 1832, when Santa Anna, pretending alarm at the arbi- trary measures of Bustamente, placed himself at the head of the garrison of Vera Cruz and demanded the reorganization of the ministry as a pretext for revolt. He then declared himself in favor of the restoration of the constitution and the enforcement of the laws. The friends of liberty and of the Democratic federal system rallied to his support. Bustamente in person took the FROM CORIEZ TO DIAZ. 107 field in command of the army operating against the in- surgents, and after a struggle which lasted nearly a year, proposed an armistice to Santa Anna. This was accepted, and in the conference which re- sulted it was agreed that Bustamente should resign in favor of Pedraza, who had been elected in 1828; that hostilities should cease and that the armies of both factions should unite in support of the president and of the federal constitution in its original form a*ud design. Santa Anna dispatched a vessel for the exiled Pedraza, brought him back to the republic and sent him to the capital to serve out the remaining three months of his unexpired term, he being installed December 26, 1832. In the meantime and while Bustamente was in the field the presidential office was occupied by General Melchor Muzquiz, who was appointed thereto by congress. Upon his accession to power Pedraza delivered to congress an elaborate address reviewing the events of the preceding four j^ears and passing an extravagant eulogium upon Santa Anna, his early foe but recent friend, and referred to him as his destined successor. In the election which followed Santa Anna was chosen president and Gomez Farias vice president. On the 15th of May the new president entered the capital, and on the following day assumed the duties of his ofiice. On the first day of June General Duran pro- mulgated a plan at San Augustin, twelve miles south of the capital, in favor of the Church and the army, at the same time proclaiming Santa Anna supreme dictator of the Mexican nation. Although it was believed that the president had io8 HIST OR Y OF MEXICAN POLITICS, secretly instigated this movement, yet he raised a large force, appointed Arista his second in command and left the capital with the avowed intention of suppressing the revolt. The troops had not proceeded far when Arista suddenly declared in favor of the plan of Duran, at the same time securing the president's person and proclaim- ing him dictator. When the news of this movement reached the military in the capital they announced themselves in its favor with shouts of "Santa Anna for dictator?" The vice president distrusting the sincerity of Santa Anna, and believing that he was employing a stratagem to test the probability of success in his ulterior aim at absolute power, rallied the federalists against the soldiery and defeated the ingenious scheme of the president and his allies. Affecting to make his escape Santa Anna returned to the city, and having raised another force pursued the insurgents, whom he com- pelled to surrender. Arista^was pardoned, Duran ban- ished, and the victorious president returned to the capital, where he was hailed as the champion of the federal constitution and the father of his country. Soon after Santa Anna retired to his estate in the country and the executive authority devolved upon Farias, the vice president. This distinguished patriot of Mexico deserves special mention, and the following is taken from the "Historia de Mexico," by the History Co., San Francisco, California, as a partial testimony of his work and worth: "Gomez Farias, the champion of reform in Mexico, was born in Guadalajara, where he received his diploma in medicine and afterwards had considerable patronage and soon was in good circumstances. Democratic to FROM CORIEZ TO DIAZ. 109 the heart he was always the champion of progress. He cared little or nothing for riches or honor, but was always anxions to serve his country without any com- pensation but the good opinion of the people. "His period was of short duration, though rough and perilous, and in it many events occurred of the greatest importance. The privileged classes received many rude blows from the hand of Farias, who always claimed that the civil authority should be above the military-. He tried to abolish the right and habit of cn3 ecclesiastics to interfere in secular affairs. "When left to bear the burden of state at such trying times, he commenced the work of reform in a university of which he was the principal, by excluding the clergy from teachijig therein; and he extended the same rule to all educational institutions which had support from the government. He abolished the sj^stem of taxes levied for the support of church-schools and other eccle- siastical institutions, and restrained the courts from enforcing by civil law the binding force of monastic vows, and thus left members of religious orders free to abandon their institutions. "He also expelled refugee monks who had flocked to Mexico on their expulsion from Central America and Guatamala. These measures of reform in which two of the most powerful classes of society were affected, pro- duced great agitation. The importance of the issues alarmed the clergy, who immediately took the defensive, fomented their pronunciamientos, intrigued with the functionaries and with the ignorant populace." The clergy and the army being thus interested in opposing Farias, signs of revolution appeared in different parts of the country, and the friends of Farias charge no HISTORY OF MEXICAN POLITICS, that he was too timid to meet the revolution, that he should have convened congress and organized a national guard, but he failed to take any action. Santa Anna, who had been closely watching events, deemed the occasion favorable to the success of his ambitious schemes, returned to the capital, resumed his duties as chief executive; and, having been proclaimed dictator by the army, he deserted the federal Republican party and system, espoused the cause and assumed the direction of his former antagonists, the centralists. On the 13th day of May, 1834, the constitutional congress and the council of government were dissolved by a military order of the president and a new revolutionary and unconstitutional congress was summoned by another military order. Until the new congress assembled the authority of the entire government remained in the hands of Santa Anna, who covertly used his power and influence to destroy the constitution he had sworn to defend. The states of the federation were more or less agi- tated by these arbitrary proceedings. When the new congress assembled in January, 1835, petitions and declarations in favor of a central government were poured in by the military and the clergy, while protests and remonstrances on behalf of the federal constitution were presented by some of the state legislatures and the people. The latter were disregarded and their sup- porters persecuted and imprisoned, while the former were received as the voice of the nation and a corrupt, aristocratic congress acted accordingly. The vice president, Gomez Farias, was deposed without impeachment or trial and General Barragan, a leading centralist, was appointed in his place. I in February, and early in March the ships of war appeared at the port, freighted with supplies. The squadrons from other nations were reluctant to give place to the trespassers, as they were considered semi- piratical, not having papers for their class or purpose. At the request of Juarez the commander of the United States squadron sought to examine into the regularity of their papers, when he was fired on. Deem- ing this act sufficient to subject the matter to further in- quiry, he seized the ships and took them to New Or- leans as prizes. On final investigation they were re- leased, as was expected by Juarez; but their hostile attacks, notwithstanding, were avoided; and for want of their aid and the materials of war which they con- veyed, Miramon failed in the attack. On the seizure of the ships the commander of the British squadron offered his mediation in the interest of the merchants of the city, whose loss would be serious FROM CORTEZ 7 DIAZ. i6i and unavoidable in case of bombardment. At his sug- gestion an armistice was agreed to, and an assembly of prominent citizens of Mexico was convened to consider some plan whereby the contest could be settled. This assembly proposed to call a convention of rep- resentatives from the several states to form a new consti- tution, that should be submitted to a vote of the people with a provisional government in the interim. Juarez took the ground that the country had a constitution and a government, and he insisted on calling a congress, according to the constitution of 1857. This being his ultimatum, Miramon announced the- commencement of a vigorous prosecution of the siege and bombardment. Accordingly, he used all of his ma- terials of war upon the city from pure malice, as he had no intention to assault. Having exhausted his ammu- nition and suffered much from want of supplies and from sickness among his troops, he abandoned his posi- tions on the 2ist of March and moved toward the capi- tal, ordering his officers to their old posts throughout the country. This retreat from Vera Cruz inspired the liberals with new life and hopes; and under a vigorous system of operations, many cities were captured and many states fully occupied. Miramon was, however, not idle, and after his retreat from Vera Cruz he made prepara- tions to open the campaign against the liberals in the center and north. Just at this time Zuloaga proclaimed his resump- tion of the presidency, basing the act upon the fact that Miramon, who was but his substitute, had exceeded his authority in negotiating the loan from the Swiss-French house. But the truth of the matter was, he wished to l62 HISTORY OF MEXICAN POLITICS, regain the power and office from which he had been displaced; and deemed the present time, when Miramon was suffering in reputation from his reverse at Vera Cruz, to be a proper opportunity, he accordingly im- proved it and resumed his office. But his plans were not laid with wisdom, as Miramon had not become un- popular, nor had he himself secured the confidence of his party nor the people. Miramon, active as ever, moved rapidly to the capital at the head of the army, and after a personal altercation with Zuloaga, arrested him, and then con- tinued his march against the enemy, carrying the prisoner with him. This conduct on the part of each showed that the loyalty of Miramon and the abnegation of Zuloaga, as exhibited a year previously, were founded in deceit and insincerity. The diplomatic corps in Mexico sustained Zuloaga, as the true president, the one with whom they had transacted all business in the interest of their respective countries. The Spanish minister took action to sustain him and thus conserve the peace of the country and se- cure the benefits which resulted from dealing with the president, and not a substitute, in which relation he viewed 'the position of Miramon. But it was all in vain, and only laid the foundation for radical action on the part of Miramon a few months afterwards, when he made a forced loan. With the captive Zuloaga under arrest, Miramon and the army arrived at lycon, where the prisoner made his escape. Miramon, not knowing the whereabouts or intentions of the fugitive, lost no time in submitting the matter at issue to the president of the supreme court of justice, Don Jose Ignatio Pavon. He in turn took the FROM CORTEZ TO DIAZ. 163 opinion of the councils of the states, and Miramon was declared to be the president. Miramon then with a gracious spirit turned the executive office over to the president ot the court, as had been done in similar cases before. That officer immediately convened representa- tives from the states which had been parties to the elec- tion of president in January, 1859, and which had put into force the principles of the conservative party. This body, by a vote of nineteen to four, favored Miramon, who was then declared to be president, to the exclusion of Zuloaga. Miramon in the meantime, with an army of 7,000 men, marched upon Siloa, where General Jesus Gonza- les Ortega had concentrated the liberal forces. A battle took place on the loth of August, when Miramon was defeated with the loss of all his artillery and trains, and the capture of many generals, colonels and other officers, together with a great part of his army. The star of Miramon was becoming obscured. However, when he returned to the capital he was re- ceived as if a victor, and he immediately took the oath of office as president under the new election. Zuloaga was again permitted to retire to private life. Ortega having defeated Miramon, prepared to move upon the capital. In anticipation of final success he is- sued a circular, directed to the representatives of foreign governments in the City of Mexico, in which he made known his determination to occupy the capital; he also informed them that under no pretext would any recla- mations be allowed for supplies furnished or loans made to the conservatives. The situation of the conservatives was indeed criti- cal, as only three grand centers of population were now i64 HISTOR Y OF MEXICAN POLITICS, under their control — Guadalajara, Puebla, and the City of Mexico; and they were also seriously divided by factions. That he might leave no hostile force in his rear Ortega moved upon Guadalajara, and after a siege of some weeks reduced that place, when he marched with his united army upon the City of Mexico. He di- rected his march to the eastward, so as to interpose be- tween the capital and Vera Cruz. Intrepid as ever, Miramon displayed the same ener- getic spirit by which he had sustained himself until the present time in his meteoric career. Notwithstanding that he was surrounded by people who were filled with consternation, he redoubled his efforts to maintain a cause which was at the point of collapse. He secured funds by forced loans and sequestrations, and had no regard for safeguards furnished by ministers of foreign countries. He moved to the field with a new army, composed of the troops taken from surrounding garrisons. At Toluca he gained a victory over Berioza- ble, and captured General DegoUado and the citizen- statesman, Gomez Farias. Inspired by these successes Miramon determined to march against Ortega, who had concentrated 16,000 men and had more than forty pieces of artillery. To confront this force, he had but little more than half that number of men. The armies met in the final battle at Calpulalpan; and after an engagement, which lasted from the 21st to the 23d of December, Miramon was de- feated, to the utter destruction of his hopes and the overthrow of the cause of centralism. He returned rapidly to the capital, turned civil affairs over to the local officers, and made his escape to the coast, where he took refuge on board a French vessel of war. , FROM CORTEZ TO DIAZ. 165 The victorious constitutional army, which was now increased to 25,000 men, marched immediately for the capital, which it entered on the 27th of December. It was received with applause by the citizens, who had adorned the streets and houses with garlands; and the heroes were greeted with a perfect rain of flowers. On the ist day of January, 1861, President Juarez arrived at the capital, and his welcome was a grand ovation, and such a one as was due to the president of the republic of Mexico. It was notable, however, that the Church greeted him with no imposing ceremonies, and no Te Deuin was let loose. ^%^W\^W\^^J%^V%^ r66 HlSl OR Y OF MEXICAN POLITICS. CHAPTER XIII. i860 TO 1863. Juarez in the; Capitai. — Elected President — En- forces Reforms — Suppresses Religious Orders Jewels to Treasury — Bells to Foundry — Pic- tures TO Academy of Art — Public Debt — Pay- ment Suspended — Treaty of London — Allied Occupation — Spanish and English Withdrawn — French Remain — Cinco de Mayo — French Defeated — Puebla Finally Captured. THE triumphant entrance of Juarez into the capital was full evidence of the overthrow of centralism and the establishment of Republicanism as the organic and fundamental principle of government. This the people of Mexico had decided in the most emphatic and unmistakable manner. The lines had been closely- drawn, the issues made up, the forces, both civil and military mustered, and the battle fought to a finish. The Church had lost and the state had won. With an honest desire that the full results of victory- might be decreed and decided by civil processes as well as on the field of battle, Juarez called an election for president in accordance with the constitution. His tenure of office was in a sense accidental, and he deter- mined not to hold it longer unless the people by an ex- FROM CORIEZ TO DIAZ. 167 pression of their wishes, made in accordance with the organic law, so decided. It was in the issue that the election of Juarez for president meant the enforcement of his decrees of July, 1859, published at Vera Cruz. Juarez was elected, took the oath of ofhce, and as iustructed at the polls proceeded immediately to the sequestration of Church property and to the disbanding of ecclesiastical societies. Monasteries were closed and the members of the various religious orders and socie- ties were expelled from the country, force being used when necessary. Bells were taken from church towers and sent to foundries to be cast into cannon for the use of the state. Jewels and massive chandeliers of gold and silver were converted into money for the treasury, and pictures were sent to the San Carlos Academy of Art. Buildings were sold and streets were opened through church property for the use of the public. It is estimated that from the property thus sequestrated the government secured the sum of $20,000,000. The era of reform had fully come, and though the measures were radical they had been called for, first by reason of the extortions to which the people had been subjected by the insatiable greed of the clergy for centuries, and second by the decrees of war and of civil proceedure. That which came to the public treasury was only a small part, a mere tithe of what had been wrongfully taken from the people. This struggle between the constitutional govern- ment and the Church party and its allies is known in T.Ijxican history by the name of the "War of the Re- form," and has made "La Reforma" a favorite appella- tion. By it the outreaching power, influence and domination of the Church was suppressed and the 1 68 HISTORY OF MEXICAN POLITICS, supremacy of the state and of the people was assured. The constitutional reforms which took place at that time are annually celebrated in Mexico on the 5th of February, and as a perpetual memorial of the beneficent era-, the beautiful Paseo which extends from the center of the city to Cliapultepec, though planned and laid out by the Emperor Maximillian, has been adopted by the people to show by its use and beauty that grand time in the history of the country. It is now called the "Paseo de la Reforma." But the Church party had allies who were not citi- zens of Mexico, who when needed came to its aid. The oft recurring matter of the foreign debt came up again, and inasmuch as the Juarez government was fully established, and its acts and decisions would be final and binding, it became a duty to examine carefully into any and all claims presented for payment. The Knglish had from the first days of independ- ence been the creditors of Mexico, and the alleged amount due to or claimed by citizens of England was about $80,000,000. Spain had some claims, mainly those acknowledged by Miramon, while French citizens held the loan negotiated by Miramon and other de- mands of doubtful nature. Many of these claims were originated as a part of a deep-laid scheme, whereby friends of the holy alliance could have foundation for basing the necessity and propriety of an European intervention in the affairs of Mexico, under the mask of business and financial negotiations and demands. The total amount claimed by citizens of the named nations was about $100,000,000. That he might have time to investigate these claims and secure funds for the payment of such as should be FROM CORTEZ TO DIAZ. 169 proved to be just, Juarez, soon after he was established ill the executive department in the City of Mexico, by direction of congress issued a decree in which he sus- pended payment upon the foreign debt for the term of two years. About the same time the French minister, Saligny, claimed that he was the victim of an attempted assault by being fired at while seated on the terrace before the French legation, and assuming that it was an inten- tional offense, demanded his passports. England and Spain also suspended diplomatic relations with Mexico. Napoleon III., emperor of France, then proceeded to execute a plan which for many years had prevailed in his intentions, and in which he had been encouraged by emissaries from Mexico, some of them representing the centralist government directly, and some the Church interest alone. Among the number was one Senor Jose Maria Gutierrez de Estrada, who in 1840 left Mexico as an exile for having disagreed with the republican, and suggested an imperial form of government. Another was Labastida, bishop of Puebla, whom Comonfort had exiled for the part which he took in a revolution in 1856. To these it was clear that Juarez would continue his republican policies and thereby insure the political death of the clerical party. It meant primary educa- tion of the people, a long forbidden right, as enforced in clerical rule, the recognition of the political rights of each individual which had been held by the clergy as "a da.nnable heresy," the disestablishment of the Church, the encouragement of immigration, and there- with the dissemination of independent thought; all of which was a program of progress which was sure to prove the deathblow to ecclesiastical dominion. I70 HIST OR Y OF MEXICAN POIITICS, By processes not fully disclosed except in the accomplishment, the Church in Europe concentrated upon a plan of action wherein the French emperor took the initiative in the conspiracy which was to result in the overthrow of Republicanism and the establishment of an empire in Mexico which, while it would be in some degree feudatory to France, would as a much more desirable object assist the Latin race in the struggle with the Anglo Saxon, sustain Catholicism and prevent the further spread of Democratic doctrines and institutions in America. The time chosen to put this scheme into operation was certainly most propitious. The United States was then engaged in civil war, and to the view of the Euro- pean conspirators, the confederates would succeed in the contest. When that consummation, so devoutly hoped for should be realized, the Confederate States government was to be the ally of the proposed empire, as against the United States and its international policies. Or if the government at Washington should be maintained and no separation of the Union take place, the war would so absorb the attention and military re- sources of the country that the Catholic-Latin empire coming out of and closely related to the courts of Europe could be organized and firmly consolidated, and thus the influence of the United States be effectually checked towards the south. Napoleon, however, did not at the time disclose his schemes nor his allies therein, but acted on the plausible business pretext presented in the fact that the debtor nation, Mexico, had refused to provide for the payment of its obligations. At his instance a convention of rep- FROM CORTEZ TO DIAZ. 171 resentatives, from the three creditor nations, was held in London. The result was the "Treaty of London," signed on the 31st of October, 1861. The treaty pro- vided for the concentration of a military and naval force sufficient to possess and hold all ports of entry on the Gulf of Mexico, and to collect and apply the revenues to the payment of the claims of citizens of the three blockading nations. It was also stipulated that no at- tempt should be made to interfere with the government nor the territory of Mexico. A copy of the treaty was sent to the government of the United States with a request for its co-operation; biit the secretary of state gave a very decided reply, in which it was not only announced that the project was distaste- ful to the president, but also a violation of the interna- tional policy of the union. Regardless, however, of the views of the American executive, as well as the policies of the nation, the allied forces under command of the Spanish marshal, Prim, landed at Vera Cruz in December, 1861, and pro- ceeded to carry out the proposed plans. There were 800 British, 2,600 French, and 6,200 Spanish troops, constituting a qombined army of g, 600 men. Coincident with the landing of the allies at Vera Cruz, there returned to Mexico a number of the former leaders of the clerical party, who, assured and embold- ened by the presence of the allied army, proclaimed the secret of their foreign mission and its ends, and thus an- nounced the conspiracy which had up to that time re- mained locked up in the minds of a few. They disclosed the plan of an empire, with the Archduke Maximillian on the throne. This called for a letter of opposition 172 HISTOR Y OF MEXICAN POLITICS, from Prim and -a protest from the Mexican minister at Paris, with a demand for his passports. Juarez well knew that the fortress of San Juan de Ulua could not successfully resist the allied bombard- ment and assaults. He therefore withdrew, and concen- trated his armies in the interior; and to avoid hostilities if possible, resorted to diplomacy. When the deliberat- ing parties first met they were made aware of the facts in the case and of the plans of Juarez, and preliminary terms were proposed by which the debts of Mexico could be funded to the end of final payment. It was then clearly developed that Napoleon had other schemes and other plans than those presented in the convention held in I^ondon. These facts, together with the inflexi- ble determination exhibited by Juarez, caused the Spanish representatives to vacillate. Finally in April Prim with the Spanish squadron retired from the enter- prise. The English followed the example of Spain in a few days, but not until they had secured a valuable business arrangement with Mexico. So ended the triple alliance. When it became manifest to Juarez that the French would continue their hostile invasion he exerted himself to the utmost; and appeals were made to all Mexicans to lay aside for the time their differences, and to unite against the common enemy. The army was put in the best state of organization, and funds were raised to pre- pare for a long contest. A decree was issued on January 25, 1862, in which the president declared that all citi- zens of Mexico between the ages of sixteen and sixty who did not take up arms in defense of the country were traitors. That any armed invasion of Mexico without a previous declaration of war, or any invitation of such an FROM CORTEZ TO DIAZ. 173 invasion by citizens or foreigners residing in the country, was a crime against the independence of the nation, and would be punished with death. Civil offi- cers were given extraordinary powers over the property of citizens, courts-martial were provided to take the place of ordinary tribunals and processes, and severe penalties were laid against Mexicans who entered the service of the invaders. By circulars addressed to foreign nations Juarez declared that the proposed empire was an infraction of the rights of the nation, and a pretext by which Mexico should be transformed into a colony of France. The withdrawal of the English and Spanish troops changed the aspect of the enterprise; and instead of an intervention it became an invasion without a previous declaration of war, and all attempts at concealment or evasion were thrown off. General Laurencez was placed in command of about 5,000 French troops, while Generals Marquez and Mejia, who had served with the armies of Zuloaga and Miramon, took command of the Mexican force, which was in sympathy with the in- vaders. These combined armies took position at Cor- doba and Orizaba. The French officers spoke boldly of having come to the country to suppress republican anarchy and to estab- lish a throne. On the i6th of April a proclamation ap- peared, convoking all Mexicans who sympathized with the intervention, and inviting them to place themselves under the standard then being raised by the most liberal people of Europe, and at the same time denying all in- tentions to make war against the Mexican nation. Emissaries were sent among the Mexicans to create hostility to the government; and on the 19th of April a 174 HISTORY OF MEXICAN POLITICS. pronunciameinto was issued, renouncing the authority of Juarez and declaring in favor of Almonte, who in turn issued his manifesto, in which he appealed to his fellow- citizens to give aid in the establishment, with the help of the French, of a government which should be stable, dignified and worthy of confidence. General lyaurencez organized an army of 6,000 sol- diers, and marched upon Puebla. The Mexican army which held that city was commanded by General Igna- cio Zaragoza, who was now prominently brought to public notice and honor. A battle was fought within and around the city on the 5th of May, 1862. The French were badly defeated, and retreated to Orizaba. This first battle and first victory brought to the front raany distinguished Mexicans, one of them being Gen- eral Porfirio Diaz, who in after 5^ears took part in the wars and politics of Mexico, and who has become the idol of all true Mexican patriots and statesmen. This victory on the "Cinco de Miyo," the 5th of May, is annually commemorated as a national holiday in Mexico. By this defeat Napoleon saw that the establishment of an empire in Mexico was a more serious undertaking than he had at first imagined. But he placed the forces under the command of General Forey, increased their number with French re-enforcements, and directed the general to accept and organize a Mexican con- tingent. He directed him also to set up a form of provisional government, and to give the people assur- ance that the government would be based on a new po- litical system. But he also instructed the general so to conduct his civil procedures that the French would be in the ascendant, Forey well understood what was expected of him, FROM CORTEZ 10 DIAZ. I75 and in September he published broadcast a manifesto, in which he claimed that the government of Juarez was a tyranny, and that he had come to destroy it in the in- terest of progress and civilization. He also restricted the assumptions of Almonte who, as provisional presi- dent, had not pleased the people or satisfied the clergy. In fact the general assumed a decided military dictator- ship over the country. In January, 1S63, Forey marched into the interior; and, on the i6th of March, appeared before Puebla with an army of 26,000 men. Zaragoza having died in the meantime, General Ortega was in command of the Mexi- can forces, numbering 22,000 men. He placed the city in the best state of defense on all sides, and awaited the attack. The French general, knowing well the stuff of which the Mexican soldier was made, avoided for a time a direct attack, and adopted the Fabian policy of wait- ing. So he did not make his first movement until the 26th. From that day the siege and assault continued until the 17th of May, when the white flag was displayed as a signal of surrender. The remaining force, which yielded to the French army, was 12,500 men. So tena- cious, courageous, and desperate was the garrison that they had consumed horses, mules and dogs as rations; and it was only when absolutely nothing edible remained that they laid down their arms. Their last ration con- sisted of a decoction of orange leaves. Famine did much to aid the French arms. CHAPTER XIV. 1863 TO 1864. Juarez Fleks the Capital — French Occupation — Manifestos — Regencies — Notables — Mexico a I Hereditory Monarchy — Maximillian Chosen Emperor — Terms and Conditions — Coronation in Austria — Visits Pius IX. — Benediction — Church Superior to State — Maximillian in Mexico — Monroe Doctrine — Violated by Roman Catholics — Americans Cannot Forget IT. AFTER the fall of Puebla the French army moved upon the capital. Juarez was disposed to make resistance, but the fact that only 14,000 men were at his command caused the evacuation of the city, which took place on the 31st of May, 1863. The government was transferred to Queretaro, and afterwards to San I/Uis Potosi. Upon the removal of the government the conservatives assumed command in the capital and openly declared for French intervention. On the loth of June General Forey entered the city, and on the 12th he published a manifesto in which he proclaimed his occupation of the capital, and gave much advice to Mexicans as to their political affairs in which the words "concord," "fraternity" and FROM C0R7EZ 70 DIAZ. 177 "patriotism" were interspersed with great profusion. Although he promised much more than lay in human power to fulfill, he asserted that after nearly half a century of republican anarchy, any kind of a govern- mental change would be for the welfare of the countrj'. On the 1 6th of the month he appointed a supreme council of the nation, which consisted of thirt3'-rive avowed monarchists. This council elected three regents, who were Gen- erals Almonte and Salas and the Archbishop I^abastida, he having been exiled a bishop but returned an arch- bishop, bold with the aid of French troops to enter the field of politics in the interest of the empire and the Church. This junta selected 215 citizens, regardless of rank Qf place of residence, who were called the "As- sembly of Notables," and were charged with the dutj' of formulating a new government. This assembly met for the first time on the 8th of July, and en the loth made their report, in which they declared for a limited monarchy in the form of a hereditary empire, with the Archduke Maximillian of Austria for emperor, and with the proviso that if that prince should decline the crown, then the Emperor Napoleon III. of France should have the right to select some other Catholic prince to occupy the throne of the new empire. His selection for this imperial honor and power was not the end of any ambitious scheme on the part of Maximillian, Imt was clearly the result of the ambition of the French emperor and his wish to respond to the emissaries of the Church from Mexico, supported by the same organization in Europe. Napoleon also wished to reinstate himself with the pope of Rome and with the house of Hapsburg, with both of whom he was in bad 178 HISTORY OF MEXICAN POLITICS, odor. So he entered into this scheme to give an im- perial crown to a scion of that Catholic house, and it is more than probable that the arrangements were all made before the signing of the treaty of Ivondon. Maximillian was the brother of Francis Joseph, emperor of Austria; and as one of that family was at birth endowed with titles, among which he boasted "Archduke of Austria," "Prince of Hungary," of Bohemia and Lorrena and "Count of Hapsburg. " He was married to Carlote, daughter of Leopold I. of Bel- gium, and was at the time of his selection in his thirty- second year. Though liberally educated and somewhat exten- sively traveled, he had not developed marked ability, nor had he held important oflEices. Under the circum- stances and as sadly shown in his career and death, he was but a puppet in the hands of a strategic meddler in the affairs of Europe and America. It is said that he was pressed by his creditors and very much disgusted with his prospects for position and revenue and gladly accepted the proffered crown. Still he knew of the existence of the republic, of the inflexible character of Juarez, of the prowess of the Mexican soldiers who had defeated the well-armed and commanded French troops in one battle, and had gained credit by their fight against superior numbers in another. He also knew that the United States govern- ment was opposed to the whole scheme. Therefore when the formal tender of the crown of the empire of Mexico was made to him in October, 1863, by the repre sentatives of the assembly of notables at the palace of Miramar, he declared his willingness to accept the same when the citizens of Mexico should in a general elec- FROM CORTEZ TO DIAZ, 179 tion ratify the act of the notables, and when the nations of Europe should guarantee protection from any dangers which might threaten his throne. The combined Franco- Mexican armies at that time on duty in Mexico numbered 48,000 men, all under command of Marshal Bazaine, and they occupied most of the states of the country. Bazaine was always the devoted servant of Napoleon, and he cheerfully fur- nished returns which showed that Maximillian was the choice of the people. Napoleon took it upon himself to furnish the demanded military force, and in the "Treaty of Miramar" promised to maintain the French army in Mexico until the empire was self-sustaining; and to that end 8,000 troops were to remain in the country for six years and the empire was to be guarded from invasions by the United States. "I, Maximillian, emperor of Mexico, swear to God by the Holy Scriptures, to insure by every means within my power the peace and prosperity of the nation, to defend its independence and to maintain the integrity of its territory. " Such was the oath to which Maximil- lian gave signature in the imposing ceremonies of his coronation which took place at the archducal palace of Miramar in Austria, on the loth of April, 1864. The Mexican flag was unfurled above the castle tower while twenty-one guns pealed their awful and prophetic roar across the placid waters of the Adriatic, and the ready and co-operative church choir sang their inevitable Te Deum. The Mexican delegation was moved even to tears under the combined influences and exercises. No Catholic prince so fully and gratifyingly in- ducted into the higher order of potentates so fully charged with the double duty of overthrowing a re- i8o HISTORY OF MEXICAN POLITICS, public, and on the ruins thereof erecting an empire, committed to the resurrecting and maintaining of Catho- lic and clerical dominance, would think of proceeding to his work without the papal benediction. - Therefore, and as he was a "Grace of God" sovereign "by right divine," Maximillian made a j^ilgrimage to Rome to re- ceive the required blessing. All that there transpired vvill never be made public, as the fiasco of the enterprise which so soon ended it all to the discredt of the conspiring European powers, and in the death of the deceived emperor placed the seal of silence upon many lips and closed hermetically the rec- ords of contemporary history. But while administering the communion to the emperor, his holiness, Pius IX., while presenting the host used these pregnant words : "Great are the rights of nations and they must be heeded, but greater and more sacred are the rights of the Church." Significant and ominous words are these, and therein is couched the papal view of the rights of nations and also of the superior rights of the Church as applied to Mexico and to all the world besides. On the 29th of May, 1864, the new-made sovereigns arrived unexpectedly at Vera Cruz, where the inhabit- ants received them coldly and without enthusiasm or even curiosity; and his first proclamation awakened neither admiration nor interest. The imperial party made their journey to the capital b}^ way of Puebla, where on the 7th day of June the empress celebrated her twenty-fifth birthday, and on the 12th they made their entrance into the city by way of Guadalupe, Hidalgo, amidst the most enthusiastic tokens of joy on the part of the people. A Te Deuvi in the great cathe- FROM CORTEZ TO DIAZ. iSi dral finished the reception and gave it the appearance of a grand religious demonstration. "In the various international congresses held in Europe regarding Hispano-Mexican affairs during the years in which the Mexican people were securing their independence and formulating their S5'stems of govern- ment, Great Britain had secured the right to supervise and work them up as being in better condition so to do than an}' other European country or the United States; and had it not been for the opportune and energetic protests of England and the United States against the intervention on the part of certain Eatiu nations in Europe, who constituted the so named 'Holy Alliance,' it is probable that after the triumph of Ferdinand VII. in Spain, whereby he became firmly seated upon the Spanish throne, said alliance, Spain and France, would have attempted by arms to .vindicate his claim to abso- lute power in Mexico."* The Monroe Doctrine was promulgated in 1823 to the gratification of England, whose minister of foreign affairs had long urged upon the United States so to do; and the firm stand thereby taken coincided with the policy and wishes of England, the citizens of which had financial and commercial relations with the new nation. In that year James Monroe, president of the United States, in his message to congress gave voice to senti- ments and principles which have been known in history as the "Monroe Doctrine." The Spanish provinces in South America and Mexico had long been struggling with Spain for their independence, and the people of the United States desired to recognize them as sovereign nations. The president declared that "the American *Hisioria de Mexico i82 HISTOR Y OF. MEXICAN POLITICS, continents are not to be considered as subject to future colonization by any European powers. ' ' He further said "that we should consider any attempt by European powers to extend their systems to any portion of this hemisphere aa dangerous to our jieace and safety. * * * * gut with the governments who have de- clared their independence and maintained it, and whose independence we have on great consideration and on just principles acknowledged, we could not view any interposition for the purpose of oppressing them or con- trolling in any other manner their destiny by any Euro- pean power, in any other light than as the manifesta- tion of an unfriendly disposition toward the United States. * * * * It is impossible that the allied powers shoul4 extend their political system to any por- tion of either continent without endangering our peace and happiness. * * * * j^^ jg impossible, there- fore, that we should behold such interposition in any form with indifference. ' ' He declared the true American policy to be "neither to entangle ourselves in the broils of Europe nor permit the powers of the Old World to interfere with the affairs of the new." This novel idea was equivalent to saying that the United States forbade the nations of Europe to acquire t^ntory this side of the Atlantic. However question- able it might be censidered for the president to avow so openly and fully sentiments like these, the people of the Union adopted them at once; and the line of policy then marked out has ever since been that by which the United States government has regulated its conduct on this important subject. For forty years this international policy had pre- FROM CORTEZ TO DIAZ. 183 vailed in the western hemisphere, aini been known, to and respected by all European nations. The international policy of the Old World is th^t which is called the "Balance of Power," which, whfle nearly indefinable, is notwithstanding 3o omaipr* sent and sensitive a force that if infracted by the threat- ening of a Belgian fortress, the invasion of a Swiss .Can- ton, or the loss of a key to a Church in Jerusalem, there would be written protocols, summoned conferences, and mustered armies. There existed at that time, as at the present, from the borders of Canada to the Straits of Magellan a complete system of republics professing the Same politi- cal creed. There was not an interest or an ambition of a single one of these republics which threatened an in- terest or an ambition of a single European power; and yet the states composing the holy alliance- — the empire of Austria, the empire of France, and the pope of Rome — with whatever of civil and divine power he pos.^essed, all united to disregard the righteousness of principle embraced in the Monroe Doctrine, and also to eliminate the great exemplar republic as a paramount political power. "The success of the establishment of a foreign em- pire in Mexico would have been fatal to all that the United States cherished, to all that it hoped peacefully to achieve. The scheme of invasion rested on the as- sumption of the dissolution of the Union and its division into two hostile governments." — Blaine. ■ ' The presence of Maximillian in Mexico to establish a monarchy on the ruins of a republic was clearly the work of the Roman Catholic Church. The attempt to suppress liberty, progress and popular education, and to i84 HISTORY OF MEXICAN POLITICS, continue the exorbitant revenues of tiie old ecclesiasti- cal system had the sympathy and assistance of the Romish Church from the lowest of the orders to his holiness, Pius IX; and had there been success it would have gratified all loyal Catholics the world over. About five months after the selection of Maximillian as emperor of Mexico and four months before his coro- nation the pope, following up a correspondence of syin- pathy with the confederacy, sent a letter addressed "To the Illustrious and Honorable Jefferson Davis, Presi- dent of the Confederate States of America," wherein among other terms of recognition he said: "It was pecu- liarly gratifying to Us to hear that you illustrious Sir as well as the people whom you govern,'' and "Would to God that the other inhabitants of those regions (the northern people) and their riders,'''' also, "We also pray the same all-clement Lord of Mercies to shine upon your excellency the light of his Divine grace, and to unite you and Ourselves in bonds of perfect love. ' ' "Given at Rome at St. Peter's the 3d day of Decem- ber, 1863, in the Eighteenth year of Our Pontificate. Pius, P. P. IX." The recognition of the confederate states by the pope had immediate and wide spread influence upon the loyalty of his followers in the Union armies, and soon an increased number of desertions was reported. Of deserters who were American born 45 per cent were Romanists. From the nation which furnishes, priests pot house politicians, and policemen for the United States, and from whose sons about 144 ,000 enlistments were made, the records show more than 100,000 desertions, the largest number occuring after his holiness joined the confeder- ate cause, and stood willing to have the I^ord of Mercies FROM CORTEZ TO DIAZ. 185 unite liim to Jefferson Davis iu bonds of perfect love by an act of Divine grace. Det the past be the past, but let it be the past with all the instructions and warnings thereby furnished to patriotic Americans, whose national tocsin is, "Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty." Object lessons like these, so clearly exposed to view on the pages of history, cannot be obscured by mists of falsehood; nor can their colors be obliterated bywords of oil falling from the lips of emissaries of the propagando, whose ofhce and inter- est it is to falsify the truths of history to further the schemes of Rome — that Rome which maintains a wise and vigilant system of pQzvcr and place getting in the United States through civil, political and personal effort of priest and layman — Rome, which subordinates all dictates of law and enlightened conscience to enforce the dogma of Pius IX. "Great are the rights of nations, and they must be heeded; but greater and more sacred are the rights of the Church." CHAPTER XV. 1864 TO 1866. MaximiIvLian lNCAPAB];je — Satisfi^ None — RefUvSES THE Pope AM) THE Church — Expenses — Debt — Decree op October — Executions — United States Troops on the Rio Grande — Monroe Doctrine Enforced — French to Evacuate — Empress Cari^ote in Europe — Napoleon Faii,s Her — Pius IX. A1.S0 — Cari^ote Insane. WHEN the emperor and the empress arrived at the capital they made the castle of Chapultepec their palace. There they established a court a*fter the European system, and were ready for the duties and pleasures of the empire. No newly installed sovereign ever had greater op- portunity^ or necessity for the exercise of statesmanship; none ever so fully and signally failed. Called to an em- pire i4i name only, it so remained. Without any form of constitution and without statute laws enacted or adopted by the empire when he entered his domain, none were formulated. Controlled by no law funda- mental or statutory, he was responsible to no representa- tive assembly. The country needed a firm, shrewd, practical sol- dier-statesman as ruler. It had one who dreamed of a kind of democratic imperialism, and to whom the prac- tical details df government was a bore. Mexico specially needed a reorganization of its FROM CORTEZ TO DIAZ. 1S7 treasury department, as the financial embarassment of the nation had been the ostensible reason for the over- throw of the republic; but the emperor failed also in that matter, and so the credit of the empire depreciated more and more. The army of the empire consisted almost entirely of foreign troops, and there was really no imperial army until, by reason of the withdrawal of the French, it be- came necessary to organize one; and then it was too late. The French army was strong and the emperor weak, therefore he leaned upon the French army. Bazaine had displayed statesmanship in emergencies as well as while acting under instructions from the French emperor; therefore Maximillian was willing that the general should continue to control the policies of the empire, while he cultivated the good graces of the people. He dressed in the costume of the country-, donned the broad-brimmed sombrero, mingled with the people, and was affable to all. He took interest in the heroes and traditions of the nation, made himself familiar wnth the forms and ceremonies of religion as taught and practiced, and performed various acts of beneficence. He also made feeble attempts to establish reforms in the administration of justice. In his good will and affability he cherished a de- sire to satisfy all parties; so both conse^rvatives and liberals w^ere admitted to his councils and taken intjp his cabinet. But his well-meant efforts were fruitless in securing unanimity of opinion or harmony of action; and political contentions continued, with the additional result of exposing his utter lack of knowledge of tke science of government and of statesmanship, and there- fore he satisfied neither party. i88 HISTORY OF MEXICAN POIITICS, Moreover, it was discovered that he had the ele- ments of deceit and insincerity in his nature. His policy seemed to be to temporize when possible, and to com- promise when compelled to act. As a spendthrift who, after suffering much from need, suddenly enters into a fortune, the emperor felt like having the world share his exuberance. So life at the capital and in some of the larger cities of the vicinity was gay during the IJright days of the empire. But the days of brilliance were soon over, for the people who were his subjects had greater interests involved than the personal pleasures of the emperor and his suite. Statesmen who had taken part in the politics and business of the country in the past, and who had given a welcome to the empire, hopeful that the change would be for the welfare of the commonwealth, seeing their mistake became disgusted and alienated. The Church party, which with great effort and ex- pense had co-operated in the schemes that had ended in his selection and coronation as emperor, demanded prompt and radical action in the administration of what they deemed justice, in their interest. Archbishop La- bastida and other high clergy, who in their political and ecclesiastical capacity had shaped public sentiment to favor the imperial system, demanded the reversal of the decrees of Juarez and the restoration to the Church of all the rights and property of which it had been des- poiled. General Bazaine at first and Maximillian in suit gave such unsatisfactory replies that they sent the clerical partj^ to the ranks of the disaffected. The legate of the pope who was specially sent from Rome to supplement and finish the business of Church FROM CORIEZ 70 DIAZ. 189 and state, which had not been fully disposed of when the emperor had his final interview with his holiness, raised his voice in unison with the archbishop in demanding the restoration of the properties which had been seques- trated, and in addition he insisted upon ''Hhe exchision from the Mexican empire of every form of religion but the Roman Catholic; the independent sovereignty of each bish- op in his diocese, the absolute control of schools and educa- tion, and the immunity of the Church from any interfer- ence of the civil authorities. ' ' Upon these demands the counselors of the emperor were divided; Many of his personal friends held titles to part of the real estate, and possessed much of the personal property once belonging to the clergy and the Church, and they stood in the way of favorable action. The emperor, however, could no longer temporize, as the issues were upon him. So he refused the nuncio, and in turn insisted upon nearly equal usurpations, in- cluding the principle that matrimony was a civil con- tract, and also upon the subordination of the Church to the state, and that the clergy should be classified with civil employees; insisting, moreover, upon confirming titles to the property of the Church, which had already been sold and disposed of. This was in reality equivalent to a disavowal of the bases on which the empire had been established, and a nullification of the motives for the war and an agree- ment to the justice of the liberal cause; and it so infuri- ated the clerical party that in 1865 they went so far as to promote a conspiracy in favor of Santa Anna, with whom they hoped to associate Diaz or some other liberal chief, and thus overthrow the new-made empire. Thus 19° HISTORY OF MEXICAN POLITICS, the faction upon which the emperor had founded his greatest hope for support was alienated. The country was held to apparent loyalty by an im- mense army composed of foreigners, to the exclusion of native soldiers. So the citizens of the country, who were patriots at heart, whether conservatives or liberals, became dissatisfied and hostile. Places in the emperor's suite were filled, mainly, with Belgian, Austrian and French soldiers or fledgeling noblemen, who did not disguise their contempt for the citizens of the country. These together with the commander of the French army were bitterly hated. But not the least cause of complaint was the in- creasing obligations of the country. The emperor ex- hibited the same financial incapacity in his imperial position which he did as an impecunious scion of royalty in Austria. To keep up the court pageantry to which he had been accustomed, and which to his mind was in- dispensable to imperial dignity, and to carry out some of his impracticable schemes in the country, he exhausted the revenues and increased the public debt. The single item of the imperial civil list amounted to $1,700,000, as against $60,000 which had been the president's salary. In addition to consuming the revenues arising from taxation, the debt of the country was increased until it amounted to $250,000,000; and under the pecu- liar conditions of the empire the rates of discount and interest were exorbitant. This extravagance and financial incapacity was a great disappointment to Napoleon, who had expected to receive financial aid from the reported fabulous wealth of Mexico, instead of having such a drain upon his ex- chequer as he was compelled to submit to in sustaining FROM CORTEZ TO DIAZ. 191 his troops in the country. Thus, without support from his people, and with a disappointed benefactor, the em- pire of Maximillian, which never promised any benefit to the people of Mexico, was doomed to collapse from the very beginning. While the empire was running its course, and while the elements of dissolution and disintegration were de- veloping, the government of _ Juarez was being moved from place to place, until it finally was located at Paso Del Norte, 1200 miles from the capital. There Benito Juarez, the true and constitutional executive of Mexico, maintained the forms of government, having but few adherents. Among them was Sebastian L,erdo de Tejada, an able lawyer and statesman, who was his faithful minister of relations. Strong of faith, and assured of the inevitable dissolution of the so-called empire, they list- ened with stoical indifference to the alarms which dis- persed their follow'ers. Word was brought to Maximillian that Juarez had abandoned his cause and crossed the Rio Grande into the United States. Impelled by that report he issued a decree on the 3d day of October, 1865; in which he de- clared that there was now but one government in Mexico and that one the empire. Therein he announced that any armed resistance to his authority would not be considered as war, but as the acts of bandits; that all such offenders should be tried by court-martial, and that the guilty should be summarily executed. General Bazaine issued an order to the army in which he said: "Hereafter the troops will take no prisoners and there will be no exchange of prisoners." All persons taken wnth arms in their hands were to be put to death, and rank was to receive no consideration. 192 HISTORY OF MEXICAN POLITICS Within a few days Generals Arteaga and Salazar, who were officers in the Republican army, were arrested by imperial soldiers, denied rights as prisoners of war, tried by court-martial, found guilty, sentenced to death, and on the 21st of October were executed by being shot. This severity and injustice inflicted upon distin- Maximillian. guished citizens of Mexico at the hands of foreign usurpers and invaders was more than could be endured. Some who had been supporters of the imperial cause re- fused longer to give aid to the emperor who could adopt such a cruel and barbarous policy, and the Republican FROM C0R7EZ TO DIAZ. 193 cause received the support of many who had previously remained neutral. The withdrawal of the decree did not diminish the hostility which it had inspired. During the entire time that the French troops had occupied Mexico, the United States administrative offi- cers had not ceased to inform Napoleon that his infrac- tion of the principles of the Monroe Doctrine would not be entirely ignored. But the unsolved problem of the Southern confederacy gave the emperor hope that there would soon be no United States, and that he had no reason for fear. The triumph of the federal arms in 1S65 and the appearance of General Sheridan with an army corps upon the Rio Grande opened the eyes of Napoleon. Then the warnings, protests, demands and threats of the secretary of state at Washington caused him to take a different view of the relations of his gov- ernment to the American international policy, and Maximillian was informed of the intention of France to withdraw its armies from the support of the empire. There was consternation at the imperial palace at Chapultepec on the 31st of May, 1S66, for on that day Maximillian received word of the intended withdrawal. Conscious of his weakness and of his inability to main- tain himself his courage forsook him, and his first im- pulse was to abdicate and return to the safety of his old home in Austria. The empress, however, in her misconception of the seriousness of the case and of the uncertainty of Euro- pean support, dissuaded him from taking the wise steps ivhicli he proposed. Confident that she could prevail upon Napoleon to fulfill the stipulations of the treaty of Miramar, she started the voy next day for Europe. When she arrived at Paris the French emperor avoided 194 HISTORY OF MEXICAN POLITICS, her, but persisting in her efforts she secured a hearing, only to be repulsed with rudeness. The interview terminated by his asking her by what route she pre- ferred to have the imperial railway coach convey her out of France. It was on her return from St. Cloud and this brutal rebuff that the first symptoms of insanity manifested themselves. He had firmly announced that he would do nothing for her, and that the French troops would certainly be recalled from Mexico, proffering at the same time advice to Maximillian to give up the im- possible struggle and to return to Europe. After her repulse by Napoleon, Carlote went to her old home at Miramar. Doubtless the quiet and peace of that home, and the pleasant memories of the happy years therein passed with her husband to whom she was lovingly devoted, and the contrast therewith presented to her mind as she contemplated the sad and possibly fatal involvements of Mexico, hastened the death of her intellect, which had received so serious a blow at the hands of Napoleon. After resting a few days she repaired to Rome to see Pope Pius IX. and to beg of him the fulfillment of his promises, and especially that he should direct the clergy in Mexico to cease their acts of discontent and indifference and to give their support to the empire. But the pope, like all of his predecessors and his only successor, was very human; and inasmuch as Maximil- lian had ignored the demands of his nuncio, he gave Carlote no encouragement. Then her reason succumbed fully to the intense strain, and falling on her knees before the pope, she cried in her frenzy: "Saint Peter FROM CORTEZ TO DIAZ. I95 issue a bull, I beg j^ou, to all Christians condemning those who wish to imprison me!" O futile faith, resting upon diplomatic promises made by Roman Catholic powers from his holiness down — or up— to the insincere trickster and coward, Napo- leon III. The pope had interest in Maximillian only as a tool to aid the Church to power and money; and as the emperor of Mexico had failed to comply with the impossible demands made upon him, the pope had no further interest in the future of the empire or of the emperor. Neither was it disinterestedness alone which im- pelled Napoleon to invade Mexico, establish the empire and select Maximillian, and when the crucial test came his visionary ambitions succumbed to stern reality. The patriotism and prowess of the Union armies maintained the American republic and its international policies and thereby overthrew the schemes of the French emperor, the holy alliance, and the infallible pope of Rome. "Poor Carlote!" The political part which she had to play in that tragedy of diplomacy ended in that sup- plication. She shut herself up soon after in Chateau Miramar, and later she was conveyed to Belgium, where she was confined at first in the castle of Tervueren and still later in the Chateau de Bouchout, where she still remains hopelessly demented. It is happily probable that she never knew the fate of Maximillian. For years she believed he still lived as a prisoner in Mexico, and would write letters to the sovereigns of Europe demanding their assistance in his behalf. CHAPTER XVI. i860 TO iS67.' MAXIMIL1.1AN VACIL1.ATES — Church to thk Rescue;— French Embark — Army Organized — Quere- TARO — -Emperor Captured — Tried — Condemned — Executed — Firmness op Juarez. THE news of the failure of the mission of Carlote reached the emperor at Chapultepec, and he was completely crushed. He saw no way out of his troubles, and doubted his ability to prolong the struggle. He immediately set out for Vera Cruz, as if his nearness to the coast could solve the doubt and indecision which prevailed as to his proper course. He remained in a state of vacillation for two months at Orizaba. An at- tempt which he made at abdication was unsuccessful, as it embraced terms which were not acceptable to the commissioners who were sent to secure the document. The clericals in Mexico were in equal doubt as to the course which they should take. The fall of the em- pire meant the return of Juarez and his decrees. To avoid that, to them, dreadful result they rallied to the support of the emperor, and pledged financial aid. Miramon had returned to Mexico, and he and other Mexican ofiicers pledged themselves to raise an army of Mexicans sufficient in numbers to take the place of the retiring foreigners. I^etters of S3^mpathy were also re- ceived from Europe. Thus encouraged Maximillian re- turned to the capital. FROM COR7EZ TO DIAZ. 197 In Januar3\ 1867, the French troops began to retire from the country, and by March they had all embarked ior Europe. Bazaine himself was the last to take ship, and his last and most sensible act on Mexican soil was, to write a letter to Maximillian, urging him to abdicate and offering him transportation to Europe. But b}^ reason of matters connected with the collapse of the em- pire, Maximillian had ceased to have communication with the French commander. He had been flattered into the belief that the presence of the French troops was not necessar}'; and that he could not only supply the troops, but that he could also furnish a better com- mander than Bazaine. So, as the rear of the retiring army passed his palace, he turned to one of his retainers and said: "At last I am free." In the unique language of Marshal Neil; Maximillian had got him a horse, and was off to conquer his empire. By the withdrawal of the French army the few sol- diers at the emperor's command were inadequate to hold the whole country, so the contest ceased to be national and degenerated into a partisan one. It was the old struggle of the centralist or Church party against the re- public and the constitution which Juarez had fought to a finish in 1S60. Some personal favorites of the emperor among the Austrian and Belgian soldiers, together with a small body of French troops remained in Mexico. The work of organizing an army of native soldiers was pushed with energy, but the forces fell far short of the numbers pledged. Ignoring such skillful and" mag- netic generals as Miramon and others, Maximillian per- sonally assumed command of the arm5^ The spirit of sanguinary partisanship which always prevailed among armed Mexicans w-as greatly intensi- igS HISIORY OF MEXICAN POLITICS, fied by some of the orders issued by the imperial com- mander. To Miramon, who held a subaltern command, he gave the order "to court-martial and sentence Juarez, I^erdo de Tejada, Iglesias, Garcia and Negrete, should he succeed in capturing them, but to defer their execu- tion until further special instructions. The same to ap- ply to all dissidents; to prisoners in arms no quarter is granted. ' ' This order furnished interesting reading to Juarez, into whose hands it fell soon after. Not only was there a failure in the matter of troops with which to fight the emperor's battles, but the nec- essary funds so lavishly promised by the Church were not forthcoming, and there was a woful want of money for the support of the empire. Inasmuch as the capital was deemed indefensible and the Church party was very strong at Queretaro, that place was selected as the im- perial headquarters. So, on the 19th of February, 1867, the imperial army was there concentrated. It consisted of 9,000 men, including 600 French troops, with thirty- nine pieces of artillery. When positions were taken, and the lines of defense and of offense were considered, it was pronounced by the emperor to be a "ratonera," or mouse trap. The foreign troops having vacated the country, the republican arrnies were able to concentrate around Que- retero; and after a siege of two months and a half, dur- ing which time the imperial army experienced all the horrors of famine incident to a total failure of supplies, the emperor determined to make a sortie, and escape to the mountains, and to adopt the same system of warfare which had been followed by the republican troops dur- ing the years of the French occupation. The time being fixed for the movement, one of the FROM COR7EZ TO DIAZ. 199 few Mexicans who had been near the emperor's person as a trusted favorite, traitorously visited the head- quarters of the republican army, and disclosed the plan. General Kscobedo, who commanded the republican forces, availed himself of the information, and placed a detail of his troops in position under the guidance of the traitor, and thus secured the headquarters of the em- peror. Though there was some fighting, the whole im- perial force was captured at daylight on the 15th of May, 1867. By this time Juarez had arrived at San lyuis Potosi, and there had his headquarters. From there he issued an order for the trial of the emperor and Generals Mira- mon and Mejia. A military court was convened under the decree of January 25, 1862, in which "all traitors and invaders of the country were condemned to the penalty of death." It consisted of a lieutenant-colonel and six captains. The court met at the theater Iturbide, in Queretaro, on the 13th of June. Maximillian was charged with treason, usurpation of imperial power with prolonging the civil war in Mexico, with signing and issuing his decree of October, 3, 1865, and of arbitrarily disposing of the lives and liber- ties of Mexican citizens; and Miramon and Mejia were charged as accomplices. Maximillian being unwilling to endure the humiliation of public exposure, plead in- disposition and remained away from the court. The two generals were present and comported themselves with great dignity. An able defense was made, conducted by attornej's of skill and renown in which local, international and natural laws and usages were presented to the court together with logical arguments. But all was in vain. 200 HISTORY OF MEXICAN POLITICS. The decree of October and the execution of Arteaga and Salazar were too fresh and formidable arguments and illustrations of the. imperial policy to be overcome. The prosecution urged in the closing argument that as the emperor and his associates had been apprehended with arms in their hands, they should be tried and con- demned on the principles of the October decree; and as they had treated Arteaga and his comrade, so they, no more, no less, should be convicted and executed. On the 14th inst. the prisoners were found guilty as charged and were sentenced to death. General Escobedo approved the sentence, and after some delay as to the hour of execution, it was fixed for the morn- ing of the 19th. At 6 o'clock on the morning of that day the three condemned dignitaries were conducted in carriages, each accompanied by his confessor to the Cerro de las Campanas — Hill of the Bells — where a con- siderable force of troops was stationed to keep at a dis- tance the immense multitude which had assembled to witness the execution and who by their loud vivas ex- pressed their sympathy for the unfortunate victims. Maximillian yielded the place of honor — the center — to Miramon «,s a tribute to his bravery, himself taking the left of the line. He gave presents to his executioners, bidding them to aim at his body, not at his head, as he wished his mother to look upon his un- marred face. Addressing the soldiers and the surround- ing throng, he said: "Mexicans, I die for a just cause, the independence of Mexico. God grant that my blood may bring happiness to my new country. Viva Mexico!^* Miramon and Mejia joined with their " Viva Mexico!''' and the volley was fired. Miramon died in- FROM CORTEZ TO DIAZ. 201 ' stantly, but another discharge was required to execute the sentence upon Mejia and the emperor. Maximillian had pride as a soldier, and left as his last words to his mother, the one living person dearest to his heart, the motto: "Behold, as a soldier I have performed my duty. ' ' Prompted by a spirit of kindness, friends had given him the false information that his be- loved Carlote was dead, and he died in full faith and hope of meeting her immediately beyond the grave. When the finding of the court and the dreadful .sentence became known to the world, universal sym- pathy was excited, and from all directions were poured in solicitations for the pardon of the condemned emperor and generals. Representatives of foreign powers, in- cluding the United States, joined in the requests. Gari- baldi and Victor Hugo, from Europe, also asked clemency. But all was unavailing. The grim singleness of purpose that had made Juarez great and admirable in all of his past official history and that had caused him to hold the welfare of the state as supreme, to the dis- regard of personal interests, maintained control when mercy to the individual meant injustice to the common- wealth. Among the reasons given for the refusal were "that if Maximillian should live, his cause would also survive and give occasion for further foreign and domestic uprisings for his reinstatement; that it would establish a dangerous precedent and encourage foreign govern- ments again to interfere with Mexican affairs, dictate her policies and pursue the debt created by the inter- vention and the empire. The opportunity was now presented to make it clear that a republic could be 202 HISTOR Y OF MEXICAN POLITICS, establislied in Mexico with ability to manage its affairs with perfect independence and with sufficient national pride to aim a blow at the dogma of 'the divine right of kings,' making it effective by executing a member of one of the principal reigning families of Europe " The body of Maximillian was carefully embalmed and in due time taken to Austria, where it rests in the imperial vault in the Church of the Capuchins in the city of Trieste. When the imperial army was concentrated at Queretaro, there were besides that place only three centers of imperial power, Mexico, Puebla and Vera Cruz, In March General Diaz laid siege to Puebla, which he captured after a month of fighting. The City of Mexico was also captured by Diaz on the day after the execution of the emperor, and Vera Cruz sur- rendered on the 4th of July following. During the war of the intervention and the empire there had been about 1,000 battles and skirmishes. Of Mexicans 73,000 had been enrolled in the republican army and about 15,000 as imperialists. It is computed that, including foreign troops, no less than 40,000 lives were sacrificed on the altar of the ambition of Napoleon III., and in the vain efforts of the ecclesiastics to impose imperial rule and priestly dominion upon the Mexican nation. CHAPTER XVII. 1867 TO 1872. Juarez Enters Capitai, — Welcome — Re-elected — Administration of Progress and Reform — Again Elected President — Dissatisfaction Appeased — Death of Juarez — Eulogy. ^ ^ /^N THE the 15th of July, 1867, Juarez made his Vs / entrance into the City of Mexico; and on the same day issued a manifesto to the effect that during the four years of his absence from the capital he had done nothing contrary to the integrity or sovereignty of the republic, nor had he consented to any compro- mise prejudicial to the integrity of its dominions, and that in all respects he had sustained the laws and the constitution of the republic of Mexico. "When he entered the capital he was received b> a municipal representation, which expressed for the peo- ple of the city their gratitude for his scrupulous respect for the rights and goods of all persons; recognizing equally the moderation which he had shown during the war; a war w^iich had been distinguished until recently by repugnant abuses, levies, forced loans, extortions, and the inhuman slaughter of prisoners."* With the withdrawal of the foreign and the defeat of the native imperial armies, the president, not needing its services any longer, proceeded to reduce the army to *Historia de Mexico. 204 HISTORY OF MEXICAN POLITICS, a peace footing. This was not accomplished without serious opposition, as many wished to hold their offices and draw pay and subsistence from the government. But Juarez preferred the welfare of the country to the benefit of the individual; so he persisted successfully in the reduction. "The extraordinary powers with which the presi- deiit had been invested were exercised to promote pro- gress and the national welfare, such as the construction of railroads, the establishment of schools of jurisprud- ence, enginery, arts, mechanics and agriculture. The president took occasion to carry to the extreme of his authority reforms in reorganizing the various branches of the government. This was a hazardous task, as it was difficult to decide upon men for the various public posts who were qualified and worthy of confidence. ' ' In December, 1867, Juarez was elected president for the second time; and during this term there occurred frequent political disturbances, which in fact continued nearly to the end of his administration. Revolutions were begun in various states, and a grave insurrection took form in Yucatan. "At the beginning of 1868 the public insecurity took alarming proportions, and robberies and assassina- tions were quite frequent; but 1869 began under more favorable auspices. The liberal institutions were more firmly implanted; and the administration, being re- organized with better material, pulsated with vigor, and there was hope that there v^^ould be no more serious disturbances. But these hopes were futile; for seditions developed in Puebla and San I^uis Potosi. These were suppressed, and in October the public peace was promoted by a law of general amnesty." FROM CORIEZ TO DIAZ. 205 But the presidential election soon occurring was the occasion for disquiet. In that election Juarez received 5,837 votes, Diaz 3,555, and I,erdo 5,874. Neither hav- ing a majority as required by the constitution, congress was called to make the selection. Juarez and lycrdo united their forces, and the former was duly announced as president. The partisans of Diaz claimed that fraud had been practised, and took up arms in revolt. Diaz, who had great regard for his old friend and compatriot Juarez, opposed the revolution and it was quieted; but not until many lives were sacrificed, among them that of General Felix Diaz, brother of Porfirio, a soldier who had gained victories and renown in the war with the French. In the midst of the conflict occurred the death of Juarez, who was attacked with cerebral fever in 1870, but who was then saved from death, although' he had a presentiment of his approaching end. So he published a manifesto to his friends, lamenting that he should not be permitted to live to complete the reconstruction of the affairs of the country. On the iSth of Jul}', 1872, the president retired to his house earlier than was usual with him, having the intention to pass a part of the next day in the grove at Chapultepec, where exercise jointly with a temperate bath generally contributed to restore him to a normal state of health. In the night he had an attack at the heart, and in spite of the ph3\sician's skill this grand man exhaled his last breath at 1 1 o'clock at night, sur- rounded by his family and friends. The sad event is thus chronicled in the history of Mexico: "The discharge of artillery proclaimed the minute in which the spirit of the great chief had flown. It pro- 2o6 H2S7 OR Y OF 31EXICAN POLITICS, duced profound sentiments of sorrow among the inhabi- tants of the capital. Unanimously occurred to them his bravery and firmness as the standard bearer of the liber- ties of the country, his unconquerable faith in his mis- sion, and the many noble qualities of his head and of his heart. If he had at times invaded the rights of the na- tion, if he had broken the precepts of the constitution, the acts were attributable more to his counselors than to himself. He was a man who bore sarcasm and insult with admirable resignation, who never manifested malice against his opponents; nor was he ostentatious in his triumphs, nor harsh in his treatment of enemies, nor did he ever exhibit heart-burning rancor. He disdained to compromise. To traditional prejudices he had no attach- ment, and direct results were always the end and object of his political efforts. To his duties he gave a strict compliance. The tenacity of his purpose sustained the republic during the darkest epoch in the struggle with the French army, and thereby he was enabled also to maintain his own dignity. In his country's gratitude he has erected to his honor a monument more enduring than all the chiseled, engraved and embossed centotaphs of the monarchs of Europe; and although eternal night obscures his person, the acts and character of Juarez will endure forever, engraved on the pages of history and in the hearts of all Mexicans. "* The patriotism of Juarez was unquestioned and dis- interested. It embraced all the interests of the state. In the interest of the commonwealth he fought one of the world's greatest battles. The results of the victory which crowned that conflict will enure to the benefit of Mexico for all time. Such revolutions never go back- *Historia de Mexico. PROM CORTEZ 10 DTAZ. 207 ward. In Mexico, as in Europe, liberty from the bonds of ecclesiasticism will prove to be perpetual. To select from the illustrious names which abound on the pages of Mexican history, that man whose life and whose character best exhibits the possibilities of- fered to youth of brain, honesty and industry, even in peculiar Mexico; who in early life was taught firmness and stability by the motionless snow-capped mountains, quietness and placidity by the lakes within the valleys, patriotism by the sorrows of his despoiled kindred, and ambition by the bright stars shining over his head while he watched his herds at night; the one whose life was a benediction; the one whose name is tenderly enshrined in every heart and lovingly voiced by every tongue; for such an one, go to the adobe hut, the home of the lowly Indian and select the child of poverty and orphanage, the youth of adversity and toil, the student of dilligence and promise, the man of virtue and integrity, the cham- pion of law and liberty, the emancipator of his nation from ecclesiasticism in politics — Benito Pablo Juarez. In the Pa7iteo7i de San Fernando a noble marble mausoleum marks the resting place of the I^incoln op Mexico. Upon a dais rests a sarcophagus containing his remains. On the top is his recumbent statue cold in death, over which a seraphim wnth over-shadowing wings stoops, and with sorrowful countenance and tear- ful eyes testifies a nations grief at the mortality of her noblest citizen — the grandest man in whose veins]ever coursed pure aboriginal blood. CHAPTER XVIII. 1S72 TO 1S7S. lyERDO President — Priest — Politics — Constitu- tion Amended — Anti-Church Reforms — Jesu- i its and Sisters "Go" — Lerdo's Ambition — Eeected President — Counted In and Out — Revolution — Diaz — Iglesius Assumed Presi-^ dency — Diaz's Revolution Successful — Diaz Provisional President — Three Presidents — Diaz Wins. UPON tlie death of Juarez, Sebastian Lerdo, who was at that time president of the supreme court, suc- ceeded to the presidency. He immediately took the oath of office and entered upon the discharge of his duties. He had been in the cabinet of Juarez as minister of relations, and with a friendship and tenacity greatly to be commended, had adhered to the president and shared his defeats and triumphs through the years of the intervention and the empire, and was in full sympathy with the work of reform. He first served as president ad interim, but on the i6th of December, 1872, congress duly elected him to serve the unexpired term of the deceased Juarez. Lerdo had been educated for the priesthood, but after graduating he abandoned the clerical profession and adopted that of law. This vacillation was not the result of any defect in his character, for he was a man FROM CORTEZ TO DIAZ. 209 who had sterling qualities and could dominate others. But his patriotism and his knowledge of the grievous wrongs inflicted upon the people by the indulgence of their greed for power and money on the part of the clergy caused him to adopt his new profession and also to enter the political arena where he could more eftectu- ally render assistance to Juarez and other reformers in the struggle between Church and state as a partisan of the liberal school. With the fall of "Maximillian and the empire came also the fall of centralism, and although Juarez did not live to see the regeneration of the country in all its full- ness, it came in due time. By article 127 of the constitution of 1857, all amendments to the same were to be adopted by a two- thirds vote of congress and then ratified by a majority of the state legislatures. Processes had been com- menr:ed during the life of Juarez which were completed in the time of Lerdo, who on September 25, 1873, by his official signature and proclamation gave full effect and authority to constitutional reforms which had been foreshadowed in the decree of Juarez, issued in July, 1859, at Vera Cruz. By these amendments there was an absolute separa- tion of Church and state, and moreover congress was prohibited from passing any law either favoring or pro- hibiting any religion. Matrimony was declared to be a civil contract, and the performance of the ceremony was devolved upon the civil authorities. Religious corpora- tions were prohibited from owning real estate or receiv- ing any revenues from the same, excepting the ground actually required to continue their legitimate business. All oaths were abolished and in their place a simple 2 lo HISTOR Y OF MEXICAN POLITICS, promise to perform duty faithfully, or in the case of witnesses, "to tell the truth" was substituted. All religious orders were disbanded, no obligation to a monastic or other religious order was to be permitted, and all who had taken an oath or entered into obliga- tion to perform any service of a religious nature were absolved from such oath or obligation. By these amendments, and because of other clauses in the constitution no one connected with ecclesiasticism is eligible to the office of deputy in congress, president of the supreme court or president of the republic. By their tenor and construction there is not in all Mexico a society of Jesuits, Monks, Nuns or Sisters of Charity; and there are no convents, religious orders nor priest- making schools. The Church had allied itself with Iturbide, with Centralism, with Santa Anna, with Zuloaga and Mira- nion, and finally with the invasion of the French and the empire of Maximillian in their determined and sanguinary efforts to maintain control of the govern- ment and the wealth of the country. Each and every one of them had failed, and in the reaction the Church and clergy lost rights and privileges in Mexico which they have in other civilized countries. The radical principles incorporated in the constitu- tion and the liberal measures introduced into the bill of rights growing out of the same developed marked opposition on the part of the clergy, and inspired by ex- communications and anathemas launched from the Vatican, the ignorant Indians prepared to take up arms. In 1874 the Jesuits, feeling the effects of the new order of things, resisted and displaj^ed great energy to stir up the fires of fanaticism because of the coming of FROM CORIEZ TO DIAZ. ' 211 Protestants into the country and the enforcement of the reforms of the constitution; but they fell before a vigor- ous prosecution of the law, and the reaction of justice also carried down all religious orders, including the Sisters of Charity, which had been tolerated up to that time. All of the societies were disbanded, and the mem- bers who did not avail themselves of the provisions of the constitution absolving them from their obligations, were banished from the country. The traveler in Mexico to-day fails to see upon the streets and else- where the black dress and costume so familiar in the United States. This will continue until the constitu- tion is amended or ignored. Under the tolerance granted to all religions, many Protestant churches immediately established their missions in the City of Mexico and elsewhere, and these are sustained with increase of numbers and influence in spite of the Catho- lic crusade against them; and so it will continue until the constitution giving this religious liberty is amended or ignored. But there is scarcely a possibility of an ecclesiastical reaction to that end. The beginning of the administration of I^erdo was marked as a very stormy one. Revolutions broke out in the north which embraced several states. These were suppressed by government troops, and the leaders were executed. After this, for two years and a half, the government had little opposition. The president exhibited signs of following in the footsteps of Santa Anna, in that he adopted measures regarding the states and their rights of a decided dicta- torial nature. He had a great desire to perpetuate his power, and in 1874 exhibited ambition to be re-elected 212 ^ HISTORY OF MEXICAN POLITICS, to the presidency. To prepare the way he issued a decree on May i8th, in which he declared that the electoral college alone should decide the result of the vote for president, thus taking a constitutional right away from the supreme court. A controversy immedi- ately arose which involved the judge of that court and many statesmen in different parts of the country. Peace had prevailed for an unusually long period, but it was broken in January, 1876, by General Her.- nandez, who pronounced against the government and proclaimed General Diaz chief of the revolutionary forces. On the 22d of March Diaz accepted the office, and in a manifesto declared that Mexico had been badly governed by I^erdo, that the laws and the constitution had been subverted, that the right of suffrage had been abolished, that elections were corruptly controlled by the president as dictator, that the courts of justice had been subordinated and corrupted, moreover that he was resolved to overthrow the government of I^erdo and his ministers and to place the country under a provisional executive, who should be named by the governors of the states that accepted the plan. Diaz began his military operations in Northern Mexico, but his success not being as great as he de- sired, he went to New Orleans, thence to Vera Cruz and finally to Oaxaca in the south, where he raised a suffi- cient force to meet the government troops put in the field by lycrdo. While these movements were taking place the elec- tion for president occurred on the 26th of October, 1876, and lycrdo was elected. But the methods and proc- -ses were apparently so marked by fraud that the chief FROM CORTEZ 10 DIAZ. 213 justice of the supreme court, Jose Maria Iglesias promptly but secretly went to the capital and declared the election fraudulent and void. By this act and decision L,erdo was formally de- posed. The constitution provided that in case the president of the republic should be deposed, or in any other manner become incapacitated to perform the duties of his office then, and in that case the chief justice of the supreme court should become president. Under these facts and laws Iglesias claimed to be the legal and constitutional president. In Guanajuato he took the oath of office, appointed his cabinet and set up his administration. He also organized an army. On the 15th of November Diaz with his forces met the government troops under command of General Altorre at Tecoac, and gained a signal victory. He .secured re-enforcements and moved upon the capital, lycrdo took alarm and on the 20th inst. left the capital, went to Acapulco and without formally resigning the presidency, took passage for the United States and located in New York city, where he remained until the day of his death. From there he occasionally issued orders and asserted his authority as president. Diaz entered the capital on the 23d of the month and was received with flattering demonstrations of welcome, and five days afterwards was installed as provisional president on the principles of his published plan. Mexico now had three presidents, each of them with adherents. Diaz placed General Mendez in the executive chair temporarily, while with an army he moved against Iglesias, who had been joined by many of I^erdo's troops. Without the sheddinggpf blood Diaz 2 J 4 HISTOR Y OF MEXICAN POLITICS, had a complete victory and returned to the capital, Iglesias having followed the example of Lerdo and taken refuge in the United States, making New Orleans his place of rest. For a time he also issued presidential orders, but becoming convinced that his cause was hopeless, he returned to Mexico and to private life on •his good behavior. The campaign for the pacification of the country by the suppression of the Iglesias forces commenced in December and ended in February. During that time state after state and army after army joined the revolu- tion, and the march of Diaz through the country was a constant and complete triumph. On the 15th of Febru- ary at the capital he relieved his substitute, General Mendez, and began his administration. By this time the states of the south, the east, the west and the center had allied themselves with the cause of Diaz, and only in the farthest north was there municipal opposition. Still there were many statesmen and patriots who opposed revolutions on principle. They had passed through many of them and had witnessed that the suc- cessful revolutionist often made his administration a personal one. With the career and character of Santa Anna fresh in their memories, many feared that Diaz might mar all the good work and retard the progress accomplished and secured by the constitution of 1857, with its benefits acquired at the cost of so much blood. Diaz considered it necessary to quiet the public apprehensions. He therefore published a special circu- lar in which he pledged himself to comply with the promises set forth in his plan, upon principles liberal and progressive, to sustain the guarantees and to pro- mote all needed reforms; and that he would not permit FROM CORTEZ TO DIA-Z, 215 anything of a partisan nature to hinder his efforts to promote the national welfare. That such grand ends might be secured, he asked the co-operation of men of all parties and solicited them to aid him with their views, wisdom and influence. This policy which was so different from that trf lycrdo, who was an egotist and an exctusiveist, pro- duced a good effect and captured the popular favor. An election for president and deputies to cougrese was ordered, and Diaz as provisional president t^(!|^' care that no frauds were perpetrated. Congress met in April, 1877, and the utmost harmony and good feeling prevailed. One month afterwards the election of Diaz was formally announced, he having had an almost unanimous vote from 200 districts. The people had openly elected their champion, having confidence in his patriotism and ability. At the election it was decided that the term of office began on the ist of December, 1876, and ended November 30, 1880. Opposed as he always was to all ostentation, Diaz entered into the office with the most simple forms possi- ble. Moreover, to the great surprise of all, he refused, as did also his substitute, Mendez, all compensation for services rendered during the provisiojial term. The partisans of Lerdo, with an army commanded by Gen- eral Escobedo, made some efforts to maintain the struggle in the northern states, b'ut without much effect upon the general welfare or the progress of the country, and with the capture of the general in June, 1878, and the dispersal of his forces in August, and with the paci- fication of Alvarez in the e^rtreme south the country was freed from armed malcontents. CHAPTER XIX. 1878 TO 1880. Biography of Diaz — Success as President — Re- forms IN AivL Departments — Justice — Courts- Army — P01.1CE — DiPivOMATic — Declines Re- election. PORFIRIO DIAZ was born in Oaxaca on the glori- ous anniversary of Mexican independence, Sep- tember 15,1 830, just twenty j^ears after Hidalgo had raised "Kl grito de dolores," on the night of that date. His parentage was' of mixed Spanish and Indian blood, with a preponderance of Spanish. His father was a man of good business capacity, having amassed quite a fortune. He was also distinguished as a revolutionist, and was a captain in the army, having been commis- sioned by General Guerrero. His death by cholera took place in 1833, and the mother was left to care for her three children. She was a woman of unusual capacity, being much superior to the woman of the times. Porfi- rio inherited from his parents many noble qualities, and the mother's great care and personal instructions added to his excellent impulses of head and heart, so that they were never abridged by any neglect on her part. The country at that time was in a constant state of war, and the property of the family depreciated in value so that the mother had difficulty in maintaining and educating her children. Porfirio was placed in school PORFIRIO DIAZ, PRESIDENT OF MEXICO. FROM CORTEZ TO DIAZ. 217 to be educated for the priesthood, as there was a heredi- tary chaplaincy among the family assets, and it was the wish of the dying father that his eldest son should be- come an ecclesiastic. The youthful Diaz made unusual proficiency in his studies, and held a high rank at ex- aminations. At the age of fourteen he was personally present^ to Benito Juarez, who was governor of the state of Oaxaca, and as such governor visited the school in which Diaz was a student, for the purpose of distribut- ing the premiums. The address of the governor was so marked with patriotism that Diaz was charmed. In a private conversation with Juarez, had after- wards, the governor spoke of the ills which the country had suffered at the hands of the Spaniards, and the bad effects of ill-advised efforts to force the methods of Spain and her religion upon the Indians by the use of arms, with such clearness that the young student had his mind opened, and saw things in such anew and forcible light that he scarcely slept that night. A friendship grew up between Juarez and Diaz, which lasted until the death of the former, and was mutually profitable. Diaz had been reared in a time of war, and while yet a child formed and commanded companies of boys; and their juvenile battles were not always without bloody results, as the noses and heads of the young com- batants would sometimes testify. When he was seven- teen years of age the martial spirit of the country wa^r excited, and troops were organized to resist the Ameri- cans, who under Generals Taylor and Scott had con- quered and occupied the country. Diaz and his fellow students took it upon themselves to form a military force, whose object was to drive out the invaders. 2i8 HISTORY OF MEXICAN POLITICS, They proffered their services to the governor of their state, who quietly but proudly laid the written offer away, feeling assured that such valiant youth would some day serve well the country which had the honor to call them her children. Diaz passed his course of studies with honor, and at the age of eighteen was proposed by the prelate in charge for his first orders and priestly vesture. To his suprise and grief, the prospective priest announced his determination to abandon the ecclesiasti- cal and to adopt the legal profession. So the prelate vehemently chided him for his folly, and in no flattering manner reminded him of his poverty. A friend, who had in some sense been his patron and financial assistant, added* to the reproof, and per- emptorily forbade him again to enter his house. The tears of his mother, while they touched his heart and prompted anew his ambition to achieve a name and to secure means for her relief, yet failed to change his plans. He entered the law office of his friend Juarez, who was associated in business with another of his friends, the patriot Perez, where with such assistance as. was secured by his own efforts as a teacher he found himself on the road to distinction and independence, while yet a youth. Having selected his own course, he pursued it until he reached the high office of president, and while on his journey to that exalted and responsible position, as well as while there, he was able to deliver many well directed and effective blows to the destruction of the political power of the clergy, and to render very valuable assist- ance to Juarez in his war upon the ' ' Church in Politics. ' ' His aid greatly accelerated the separation of Church and state and secured the reforms whose enactment preceded FROM CORTEZ TO DIAZ. 219 his entrance into that executive power, which he always administered with a spirit fully consistent with the wel- fare of the country. While Diaz was pursing his studies Santa Anna re- turned to the country as president in 1853. Soon after Juarez was arrested for political offenses and deported to Cuba, and Perez his partner, and the friend of Diaz, was arrested and imprisoned in the convent of Santo Domingo. The young patriot Diaz and his brother Felix, at the risk of their lives, availing themselves of the favor of a dark and stormy night, scaled the walls of the convent and liberated Perez. Soon after, when Santa Anna held the election which was to ascertain the will of the people as to the continuance of his dictatorial powers, such frauds were perpetrated that Diaz openly denounced the scheme and the processes; thereby securing for himself an order of arrest and death. Having knowledge thereof, he and a companion made their escape to a friendly guerrilla force in the mountains, of which Diaz soon became captain, and while in command he attacked and de- feated a force of Santa Anna's soldiers in the neighbor- hood. This developed his military genius and com- mitted him to a life of arms. He raised and successfully commanded troops in the interest of the liberal cause against Santa Anna, in favor of Alvarez and Comon- fort; and when Juarez was in contest with Zuloaga and Miramon he was the armed ally of Juarez; and after- wards, when the Church party secured the interventio^i of Napoleon, and during the reign of Maximillian, Diaz was always found fighting for the liberal and constitu- tional cause. He had command of Oaxaca and the south, and frequently of all the east; and when Juarez 220 HlSl OR Y OF MEXICAN POLITICS. was compelled to retire to El Paso during tire occupa- tion of the country by the French, Diaz was left in com- mand of two-thirds of the entire country with unlimited power to raise, equip, and command troops in the in- terest of the president and the constitution. He fought at Puebla with great distinction and ability on the memorable 5th of May, 1862, where the French were defeated. He again joined Ortega, and in resisting the combined armies in 1863 at the same place was wounded, and was among the prisoners there cap- tured. He made his escape, raised and commanded other troops, was appointed commander-in-chief by Juarez, and finally defeated the allied armies of Puebla, and also recaptured the capital after the withdrawal of the French troops, and held it for the occupation of Juarez when his government was finally triumphant at Queretaro. That was a meeting of no ordinary character, when the distinguished general and the unconquerable presi- dent met in the capital, each with his distinct honors resting proudly and gloriously upon him, the student of former years, now the successful soldier, and the gover- nor-preceptor, now the unchallenged president and world-renowned statesman and reformer, to whom the destines of Mexico were fully committed. Through un- counted trials and battles each had faithfully pursued his course, until now in peace and triumph they meet again, to renew more fully the confidences and friend- ships begun so long ago in the school iri Oaxaca. While in the field and at intervals oXquiet and in- action in military affairs, Diaz had pursued his studies; and while yet an active soldier he received his degree as advocate, having fully qualified himself in all the de- FROM CORTEZ TO DIAZ. 221 partments of study. It had been previously tendered him because of his many good qualities and distinctions, but he refused it until properly entitled thereto. Notwithstanding the fact that Porfirio Diaz had be- come the supreme magistrate of Mexico by force of arms; and as the end and result of revolution, it became a con- viction widespread among the people as his administra- tion proceeded, that it was not merely to gratify a per- sonal ambition that he took part in the revolution, and pressed it with his usual skill and energy to a success- ful conclusion. He had been too much of a patriot and statesmen, as well as a courageous and self-sacrificing soldier, to look with complacence and approval upon the abuse of power and disregard of the constitution and laws manifested in the administration of Lerdo. Having attained the high and very responsible posi- tion of president, he pursued a course of reform in the details of official life which resulted in a better civil ser- vice. He surrounded himself with the most able coun- selors, without regard to creed, politics or religion; and under auspices so noble the better part of the citizen- ship became united to support his administration, losing for the time all* party names; so that the terms "porfir- ists," "lerdists," and "conservators" disappeared, and men of influence and ability everywhere gave a hearty support to the president in the work which purified official life and secured the advancement of the country. Though in distant parts of the commonwealth there were those whose profession and interest it was and had been to commence and maintain revolutions and law- lessness, the wise and patriotic efforts of the administra- tion to effect their pacification and overthrow were so successful that after the first year of Diaz's administra- 222 HISTORY OF MEXICAN POLITICS, tion, it was indisputable that the country enjoyed greater repose than in any previous period of the national life. The clergy had become somewhat reconciled to the enforcement and effects of the new order of things, which they had vainly opposed. Their political schemes and their financial efforts to uphold the revolution of Zuloaga and Miramon, the intervention of Napoleon III., and the empire of Maximillian, had not stemmed the tide of reform; and though they persecuted, they could not prevent Protestants from entering into the new fields of Mexico so recently opened to their missions. So the ecclesiastical party gave Diaz little trouble; and as he treated them with the consideration due to their religious profession, a very friendly feeling grew up on the part of the clergy toward the government. The government of Diaz was a strong one in the matters of military power, of conciliation, of devotion to the public welfare, of regard for the constitution and laws, and in the rights of congress and the state governments. His administration was in all things the opposite to that of Santa Anna. Inasmuch as there were many soldiers who had fought for the constitution of 1857 against native and foreign armies, and many who had sustained the revo- lution also, who were suffering from wounds and disa- bilities, and as there were many widows and orphans of the martyrs who had fallen in those wars, it became the joy as well as the duty of Diaz to provide for their wel- fare and support by a liberal system of pensions. He also caused the issue of medals of honor to patriots who had rendered military services, which, all things being equal, entitled them to preference over others in posi- FROM CORTEZ TO DIAZ. 223 tions of profit, honor and trust in the government which they had successfuly maintained at the mouth of the cannon en the field of battle. For* the protection of the peace, and to secure the safety of the country against robbers and bandits, a system of rural guards was established, wherein many of the patriot soldiery found position and service. The diplomatic corps was purified, and new treaties were made with other nations, and many old ones were re- vised, whereby advantages were secured and abuses were corrected, all to the welfare of the commonwealth. To all these beneficient and patriotic acts was added a wise and progressive system of education. Encourage- ment was given to business enterprises, whereby the country was placed on the highway of prosperity. Facilities for transportation by railroads and interior canals were provided, and subsidies were judiciously granted to steamship lines, which aided much in the upbuilding of domestic and foreign commerce. That the country might receive all the revenues arising from external commerce and importations, a very extensive system of frauds upon the customs which had grown up by the neglect and indifference of previ- ous administrations, whereby millions of dollars had been lost to the treasur}^ was broken up and corrected. Thus all departments of service and all sources of reve- nue were placed in a high degree of perfection in the interest of the Mexican people. The department of justice was also investigated with salutary results. Under feeble and corrupt laws and rules of practice, abuses had grown up, so that criminals escaped the penalties due their offenses, and the legal processes were often made to advance, rather 224 HISTORY OF MEXICAN POLITICS,, than suppress crime, which had taken terrible propor- tions. This state of moral turpitude was very much favored by the civil wars and disorders which had so generally prevailed, and by distinctions of class. It had also been much encouraged and increased by the ease and facility with which absolution for all kinds of crime could be obtained from the clergy. President Diaz made effort to put a stop to this lawlessness by the administration of prompt and strict justice; and to that end he established penitentiaries, and actively prosecuted and punished all violators of law, without benefit of clergy. He reorganized the police system throughout the cities, and organized a system of rural guards in the country districts, and so impressed even the old bandits with the rights and terrors of the government and the law that they enlisted in the cause of justice, and became valuable and faith- ful conservators of peace, of law and of order. Diaz em- ployed one thief to suppress and capture other thieves, making it to their interest so to do. It is said that on one occasion, when Diaz was en- joying the relaxation of a hunting trip, he entered the house of a native, where he saw some rats imprisoned in a box. The president inquired why they were thus con- fined, and if they were intended to be used as food? The answer was, that they were not intended to be used as an addition to the meat food of the family, but as rat ex- terminators. ' ' How so?' ' said the interlocutor. " Well, ' ' said the ranchero, "we keep the rats until they are nearly starved, then we turn them loose, and in their famished condition they eagerly seize upon the first rat which they find, and ravenously devour him; this de- velops an appetite on their part for rat meat, which they FROM COR7EZ TO DIAZ. 225 gratify by pursuing and devouring their fellows as long as there are any in and about the premises. Thus we use one rat to catch other rats, and so rid our premises of them all." The president was at that time greatly exercised and annoyed by the number and extent of robberies and other outrages committed by bandits throughout the entire country. The thought occurred to try their ex- termination on the rat plan. It was plausible and ap- parently feasible, and so he sent a confidential agent to the chief of a notorious gang of outlaws, and with promise of personal safety induced him to come to a con- ference at the executive office- The result was the organization of the "rural guards," as a special corps of semi-military, semi-civil conservators of law and order, which was commanded by the outlaw chief himself, and was composed in part of all the bandits in the country. They were clothed, armed, equipped, mounted, subsisted and paid on such a liberal scale that they found it profitable to keep the peace of the country themselves, and to enforce order even among their old comrades in all parts of the land. Their knowledge of the roads and recesses of the country enabled them to hunt down promptly and secure the ar- rest and punishment of offenders, so that Mexico has become as secure a country for travel as any other of civilized time or history; with all these reforms there ensued a reign of peace, order, and security hitherto un- known in the republic. Under the direction of Diaz, the laws of Mexico were codified for the first time. Previously they had been, a confused mixture of loose and contradictory de- crees from <;olonial times, with subsequent additions of 226 HlSl OR Y OF MEXICAN POLITICS. tlie same style. He also reformed the irregular modes of proceedure, which in many cases was suspiciously secret. The judicial system was remodeled, and courts of inferior and superior jurisdiction were established, so that law, order, and system took the place of the dis- order and uncertainty which had so long prevailed. As to his relation to the cult of the times, Diaz was strict with respect to the exercise of individual opinions and creeds. Though he was very little im- bued personally with faith in religious dogmas, being quite liberal, even, it is said, to agnosticism, yet he con- ceded to all perfect liberty of thought and the full enjoy- ment of their rights and devotions, to be exercised in the form and manner to which they had been accustomed. And this is the reason why he had numerous friends and followers in the clerical party, for they knew that he would protect them against all exactions which passed the limits fixed by the laws of reform. One of the principal causes of political intrigues which led to revolution and anarchy was the desire of a president to succeed himself in ofiice. That this temp- tation should be removed the constitution was amended on May 5, 1878, by adding an article which prohibited the election of presidents and governors of states for consecutive periods. In spite of this, on the approach of the time for election in 1880, various states united in a movement to continue the executive power in the hands of a man so eminently qualified to promote the interests of the commonwealth, and to avoid exposing the country to the peril of reaction under a chief less apt and honorable. But Diaz remained firm in the promises and pledges he had given, to obey the law. Therefore he positively declined a re-election. CHAPTER XX. 1880 TO 1894. Gonzalez Ppesident — Policies — Clerical and Jesuitical Lawlessness — The Law SuvSTained — Diaz President — Resume op Executive Powers — Duties Well Performed — Mexico Has Peace and Prosperity — Diaz Has Three Continuous Terms — General Statements as to the Rights and Hopes of the Country. AMONG the aspirants for the presidency to succeed Diaz was General Manuel Gonzalez, first military- officer of the government who had been the able assistant of General Diaz in some of his campaigns, and who by his opportune arrival on the field at Tecoac, had greatly contributed to the victory at that battle, and had lost his good right arm in the service of his country. He had the support of the friends of Diaz in his candi- dacy and in due time congress announced his election. He was inaugurated on the ist of December, 1880. He received the country in a state of perfect peace and in a career of prosperity unexampled in the history of the commonwealth, and it is worthy of note that no important rovolutions occurred during his entire term. Still there were local disturbances in some cities and districts where the Catholics stirred up the fires of fanaticism because of the establishment of churches and schools by the Protestants; but the protection guaranteed 228 HISTORY OF MEXICAN POLITICS, to them by the laws and the coustitution was promptly and effectually given by the officers of the law, and the schools and missions were continued. This absence of revolution and the feeble and in- effectual attempt at ecclesiastical persecution was a clear demonstration of the peace of the country and of the supremacy of the state over the church, and that the clergy were learning to appreciate and respect the new order of things in progressive Mexico. To assist in the administration of affairs Diaz accepted a portfolio in the cabinet of Gonzalez for a short time, and by his aid the peace and development of the country continued. Some new business enterprises were commenced and others continued, but many citi- zens became hostile to the administration for real or fancied errors in the matter and manner of conducting the treasury department, but Gonzalez maintained his policies until the close of his term, when he was suc- ceeded by Diaz, who had a vote of 15,969 out of a total of 16,462. On the I St of December 1884, Diaz was inaugurated president for the second time. Dressed sensibly in black and escorted by a small guard he appeared in the national palace and in the presence of senators, deputies, public functionaries and the diplomatic corps, took the oath of office and retired as tranquilly as he had entered. Upon him devolved special duties and obligations, in some measure arising from the embarassed condition of the finances, that chronic complaint of Mexico; but he so applied himself to the work that order took the place of confusion, the credit of the nation appreciated with rapidity and her finances became greatly relieved. Notwithstanding the limitations of the constitution FROM CORTEZ TO DTAZ. 229 the president of Mexico is possessed of great power whereby he can make or mar the welfare of the country. His control of the army and his right to appoint chiefs and to remove them greatly exceeds the power vested in the president of the United States. His control of cabinet officers is very great, and his right to name officers of the diplomatic corps is full and ample. His power in treaty-making and also in levying tariff duties exceeds that of any other national executive. The establishment of custom houses is largely discretionary with him, as is also the right to open or close ports. He has also ample pardoning power. Add to this a de- cided influence in the greater part of the states by measures of supervising their elections and substantially of naming their governors, his military dispositions and his supervision of the public peace by direct action of independent representatives in all parts of the country, that the army is entirely under his view as chief, and his ability to direct its movements, nominate offi- cers and regulate to a certain point its pay and accom- modations, and the power of the president will be seen to attain vast proportions. But so wisely had Diaz fulfilled his duties and ex- ercised his discretionary powers that in his second term that part of the constitution which forbade the re-elec- tion of presidents for consecutive terms was rescinded, and thus privileged, the people of Mexico have kept him in the office of chief executive for three continuous terms, his last being for a tenure ending in 1896. Under his most excellent administration the country is more secure from revolution and strife and enjo^^s more the confidence of foreign nations as to its stability and 230 HIS'IORY OF MEXICAN POLITICS, permanence than ever before since it became an inde- pendent nation. With peace and security, capital and enterprise, have become emboldened to seek a place of investment and action and under the inspiring genius and the directing hand of the president, new resources have been developed and new methods of business adopted in agriculture, mining, manufacturing and transporta- tion, which under the benign influence of peace and security, have only to contend with the laws of trade and competition, instead of the bandit and the revolu- tionist of a few years ago. From being a nation at war within itself and against itself, it has ceased all warlike strife. From being the field where ambitious and un- scrupulous politicians elevated themselves at the ex- pense of the blood and treasure of the people, it has become the land of self-sacrificing public servants w'tia care for the elevation of their fellow-citizens and of tiie commonwealth. The military spirit of the citizen has been direct-o to the maintainance of the public peace, and Individ lial security, instead of being prostituted to the overthrow of the government and the elevation of political aspi- rants, which had been the case from the era of iaii^" pendence until the era of reform. Since the separation of church and state educadan has made vast strides in Mexico. Her statesmen ha / ^ recognized the fact that the stability of the republic depends upon the enlightenment of the masses, and the trend of legislation has been constantly in the right direction. In proportion to her financial ability Mexico is fostering popular education, and in her toieralion oi foreign instructors and schools shows tlia!: liberty c£ FROM C0R7EZ TO DIAZ. 231 conscience is becoming more and more a fact, and that fanaticism is giving place to enlightened love of liberty and truth. The advance in these directions for the past twenty- years is most gratifying, and more has been accomp- lished along those lines during these years than in all the previous years of Mexican history. There are free schools wherever there is sufficient population, and attendance under certain conditions is compulsory. The Church no longer has any supervision and its interference, even to the slightest degree, would not be tolerated and no clergyman is allowed upon any of the boards of public instruction. No public interest has claimed more attention from President Diaz than the school system, and under his direction surprising and gratifying progress has been made. System prevails and all departments are for- warded with public funds, private contributions and personal encouragement. The experience of the nation has demonstrated the wisdom of the separation of church and state. The Church has had opportunity to attain a degree of purity since divested of its great possessions, and since de- prived of its political power, and the state has become stronger since becoming free from ecclesiastical inter- ference. Experience has also demonstrated the wisdom of having the state assume the control of education, the providing by law for asylums, hospitals and sana- tariums and assigning to the Church solely its spiritual functions; and it has been found that each interest thus assigned has received greater care and consideration. Mexico is a republic in a limited sense only. The word "republic" signifies a government of the people 232 HlSl OR Y OF MEXICAN POLITICS. in which the sovereign power is delegated to the hands of representatives elected by the masses. In reality- Mexico is a confederation of states governed by an aristocracy, a government which approximates an autocracy, but without the hereditary feature attached. In view of the tendency of an appeal from the ballot box to the field of battle on the part of defeated candi- dates when two or more parties had contended for popu- lar favor, it has been considered wise and as providing for the public peace to restrict the forming of distinct and contending political parties. Therefore the government perpetuates itself by con- centrating into one party, as far as possible, all who have talent as statesmen and all who are of high order in the army. A judicious censorship of the press is also exercised, and thus the welfare of the country is re- tained in the hands of the few. No public meetings of political character are permitted, and no public dis- cussion of the principles or methods of the administra- tion can therefore be tolerated. Daily a telegraphic dispatch is received at adminis- tration headquarters from all parts of the country re- porting the condition of each locality as to political or criminal disturbance, and from the government prompt instructions are given to correct wrongs with the force at hand if sufl&cient. If necessary re- enforcements can be ordered to aid the civil and military powers, and thus by prompt action outbreaks are suppressed. The president thus has his hand upon the public pulse at all times. The population of Mexico is estimated at 12,000,000, audit is probable, considering the lack of education, the want of social organization and the poverty and lack FROM CORTEZ TO DIAZ, 233 of business qualifications and Iiabits of the people, that less than one-fourth of them are represented at a post- ofiice to send or receive letters. Three-quarters of the people are Indians, or intimately related to them in mixture of blood, and as a class are such as in the United States would not be allowed to exercise the elective franchise. It is claimed by Mexican statesmen that universal suffrage without discrimination is unjust; that to give the elective franchise to a population who are incapable of making a wise use of it is absurd; that to give the humble, ignorant negro or peon, who is scarcely re- moved from the conditions of slavitude, an equal voice in national affairs with an educated man of the middle class, who is a master of business or a thinker, is evi- dently an injustice; and to concede an equal participa- tion in politics to the vicious ragamuffin beggar — who is asking charity, who has no occupation and nothing at issue, and consequently has very few sensible ideas and no will to maintain order or to increase the common prosperity, as to the man of energy and business capacity who has property — is also an injustice. They hold that it is wise to restrict the right to vote to those who are possessed of goods and are educated. This re- striction excludes only the dangerous elements, and it also promotes reform and elevation and stimulates to efforts to overcome the stigma of ignorance and pauper- ism, and inspires many to seek their own elevation. Gradually the people are taking more interest in public affairs in their immediate localities and moving onward to acquire the needed qualifications for partici- pation in political matters generally. Still it is probable that at this time there is scarcely 234 HISTOR Y OF MEXICAN POLITICS, one in ten of the inhabitants who possess qualifications for the intelligent exercise of the elective franchise. Mexico is in a state of evolution, and all depends upon the government whether the country has prosperity and development, or the reverse. The army of Mexico numbers about 42,000 men. There is also an unpublished number of rural guards, who are located throughout the entire country to act as a police. They are specially located upon the lines of railroads and a squad of them stands at "attention" on the arrival of trains at stations to secure immunity from raids of robbers and under their influence, and as a re- sult of their vigilance, the peace and security of Mexi- can travel and tour is as great as in the United States or Europe. Without doubt a well organized and wisely com- manded army is a necessity to preserve the peace of the country, and it is the wish of all classes and of all par- ties that military power should be invoked to that wise and profitable end, at the discretion of the president, to whom they have learned to look for the cessation of war, intestinal war, wherein brother has shed the blood of brother and the son has murdered his father, only to forward the personal ambitions of men who wished to secure position and power; the great clamor of the people has been for the cessation of this mutual murder, that the public peace should be preserved, that thieves should be arrested, that organized bands of robbers should be overthrown, that smugglers and con- trabandists should be suppressed and punished, and that the hydra of revolution should be destroyed. For the attainment of all these desirable aims a permanent army is a necessity, audit is probable that when these FR03r CORTEZ TO DIAZ. 235 beneficent results have been attained, and when they have prevailed, until by reason of mental, moral and spiritual education, the people have settled into new lines of thought and custom, the sovereign power of the nation can be consigned to their hands directly. United with Juarez as the saviour of the country from the consuming and destroying power of ecclesi- asticism, the liberator of the south and the center, giving effective death-blows to imperialism in the last days of the war of reform, Diaz has proved to be the rightful custodian of the wonderful power vested in the hands of the president of the Mexican republic. Under his administration the country has attained the complete and happy consummation of intellectual liberty and progress, of which Hidalgo and Morelos dreamed, for which Farias and Comonfort contended, and which began to be established and enjoyed under the administration of the immortal Juarez. CHAPTER XXI. CHRONOLOGICAIv TABLE OF GOVERNORS OF MEXICO. Fernando Cortez, captain general 1523 Ivouis Ponce, captain general 1526 Marcos Auguilar, captain general 1526 Alonzo de Estrada, captain general 1527 FIRST AUDIENCIA. Nuno de Guzman, president 1528 SECOND AUDIENCIA. Sebastian Ramirez, president 1531 VICEROYS. Antonio de Mendoza, first official i535 Various viceroys, sixty-two in number, up to Juan O'Donoju, sixty-fourth and last 1821 Independence of Mexico, September 28, 1821. imperial regency. Iturbide, O'Donoju, Barcena, Perez, (a bishop,) Yanez, Velasquez, Bravo and Vallentin, in- stalled, September 28, 1821 THE EMPIRE. Iturbide crowned emperor of Mexico, July 21 1822 Abdication of Iturbide, March 20, 1823 EXECUTIVE POWER. Victoria, Bravo, Negrete and Guerrero, installed, March 31, , 1823 FROM CORTEZ TO DIAZ. 237 REPUBUC OP MEXICO. Guadalupe Victoria, president, October 10, 1824 Vincent Guerrero, president, April i, 1829 Jose M. Bocanegra, provisional president, Decem- ber 16, 1829 EXECUTIVE POWER. Pedro Velez, Lucas Alman and lyOuis Quintanar, December, 1829 Anastasia Bustamente, vice-president, assumed power January i , . . . 1830 Melchor Muzquiz, provisional president, August 14, 1832 Gomez Pedraza, president, December 24, 1832 Valentin Gomez Farias, vice-president, April i, . . . 1833 Santa Anna, president, May 15, 1833 Miguel Barragan, provisional president, January, 2S, 1835 Jose Justo Carro, provisional president, February 27. -° 1836 Anastasia Bustamente, president, April 19, 1836 Javier Echeverria, provisional president, 1841 Santa Anna, provisional president, 1841 Nicholas Bravo, provisional president, 1842 Santa Anna, president, June 3, 1843 Valentin Canalizo, provisional president, 1844 Jose Joaquin Herrera, provisional president, De- cember 5 , 1 844 Jose Joaquin Herrera, president, September 16, ... 1845 Jose Maria Paredes, provisional president, Janu- ary 3, 1846 Nicholas Bravo, provisional president, July 28, .... 1846 Jose Marino de Salas, provisional president, Aug- ust 22, 1846 238 HIS'IORY OF MEXICAN POLITICS, Santa Anna, provisional president, December 23, . . 1846 Gomez Farias, ad interim, January, 1847 Pedro Maria Anaya, substitute, April 2, 1847 Santa Anna, resumed the office, May, 1847 Manuel Pena y Pena, provisional president, Sep- tember 26, 1847 Pedro Maria Anaya, ad interim, November 12, ... . 1847 Manuel Pena y Pena, president supreme court, January 8, 1848 ■Jose Joaquin Herrera, president, June 3, 1848 Mariana Arista, president, January 15, 1851 Jean Ceballos, president supreme court, January 6, . 1853 Manuel M. lyombardino, provisional president, February 7, .' , 1853 Santa Anna, dictator, April 20, 1853 t)iaz de la Vega, provisional president, August 9, . . 1855 Martin Carrero, provisional president, August 15, . . 1855 t)iaz de la Vega, provisional president, September, II, 1855 Juan Alvarez, ad interim, October 4, 1855 Ignatio Comonfort, provisional president, Decem- ber 8, 1855 tgnatio Comonfort, president, December i, 1857 Benito Juarez, president supreme court, January 10, 1858 Benito Juarez, president, 1861 feenito Juarez, president, December, 1867 ]Benito Juarez, president, October, 1870 (Up to day of his death, July 18,) 1872 Sebastian Lerdo, president of supreme court, as- sumed executive office, July 18, 1872 Sebastian Lerdo, president, December 16, 1872 Jose Maria Iglesias, revolutionary president, Octo- ber, 1876 FROM CORIEZ TO DIAZ. 239 Porfirio Diaz, provisional president. December, . . . 1876 Porfirio Diaz, president, April 2, 1877 Manuel Gonzalez, president, December i, 1S80 Porfirio Diaz, president, December i, 1884 Porfirio Diaz, president, December i, 18S8 Porfirio Diaz, president, December i , 1892 (Term will expire, November 30,) 1896 QUASI EXECUTIVIIS. Felix Zuloaga, revohitionarj^president, January 22, 1858- Robles Pezuela, provisional president, December, . . 1858 Jose M. Pavon, president of supreme court, 1859 Manuel Miramon, provisional substitute, 1859 Felix Zuloaga, president, resumed power i860 Manuel Miramon, president, i860 FRENCH INVASION. Juan N. Almonte, provisional president, appointed \>y the French general, lyaurencez, 1862 Regency appointed by French general, which de- cided for an empire, 1863 Maximillian crowned emperor, April 10, 1864 (Executed, June 19, 1867 CHAPTER XXII. M^ MISCELLANEOUS FACTS. EXICO with about 5,000 miles of coast and several harbors has no navy and only a few harbor vessels. Though she has the castle of San Juan d'Ulua, which cost the Spanish government $40,000,000, and the castle of Perote, a scientifically constructed fortress covering more than forty acres of ground, and has a fortress at Acapulco of the same character, and has forts in other parts of her territory; she has not a single cannon mounted, either in the in- terior or on the coasts. San Juan d'Ulua is used as a prison where mur- derers and others of the worst criminal classes are con- fined and guarded, but not a gun is mounted to de- fend the harbor or city of Vera Cruz. Mexico is not a warlike nation and her adjoining neighbor on the south, Guatemala, is a feeble power and has no warlike record or schemes. The United States on the north has no policy of acquisition. Mexico can safely rest under the guardian- ship of the Union, which maintained the Monroe Doctrine in her behalf against Napoleon III. and his Catholic allies; and it is this assurance in that regard which protects the American coasts from Canada on the north to the straits of Magellan on the south; and it is so well appreciated that all of the American republics rest thereon fearlessly, and it is this which caused Brazil "BELLE OF OAXACA." FROM CORTEZ TO DIAZ, 241 recently ta prepare a monument and statue to the inter- natioual policy-maker, James Monroe Since the era of reform about 5,000 miles of rail- roads have been built in Mexico, with surveys for a great extension of that .system of communication. Thus the outside world has been introduced to the people and the country. The natural result will be the permanence of the reforms, the improvement of business, the better education of the people and the maiutaiuauce of the progressive policies of the government. It is estimated that 6,000,000 or 7,000,000 of Mexi- cans speak their native language, and the greater num- ber of these can speak no other. They can neither read nor write nor ever had an ancestor who cotild; they never slept in a bed nor wore stockings, either having feet entirely bare or shod with rawhide sandals; the soles of whose feet resemble the cuticle on the foot of the camel. On the mountains and in the valleys, on the coasts, on the table-lands and on the slopes they live in almost native and aboriginal style and method, except that Catholic priests have somewhat modified their religious habits, have substituted idols of canvas, paint and wax for those originally of stone and clay, though in morals they have deteriorated. The food of the millions is corn, beans and pepper, the same substantially as was the subsistence of the natives when conquered by Cortez in 1521, and had been for an indefinite period. The corn is first boiled, then hulled and afterwards mashed with a stone rubber upon a flat stone until of the consistence of dough, when it is patted between the hands down to a thin cake, 16 — 242 HISTOR Y OF MEXICAN POLITICS, baked upon a hot stone or sheet iron, and comes off a "tortilla." The beans and pepper are stewed together in an earthen or iron vessel and to this is added, if fortune has favored, a modicum of meat. When the cooking is completed all the family squat down upon the ground around the pot containing the stew, and making a spoon of the tortilla, they each at will, dip out and eat, spoon and all. Of table cutlery they are entirely destitute; dishes are unknown, table- cloth and napkins are viimis, and having eaten their spoons no dishes remain to be washed. A jar of water or pulque and a gourd supply drink and cup. Approach a country house — it is of adobe and stands without shade, fence or grass plot. The dogs and dust annoy you on the outside while the dust and fleas render your stay inside anything but comfortable. The floor is dirt. There are no beds, tables or chairs. The people sleep upon mats spread upon the ground. The bedding consists of the blanket or rebosa of the men and the same with a quilt for the women and children. On the coasts and low lands the houses are of palm leaf or other vegetable growth, constructed around a frame work of poles, and often look like straw or fodder stacks. Houses rarely have chimneys. In the city never. Of books, papers and libraries, they are almost entirely destitute. A picture of the virgin of Guadalupe or of some saint or Scripture scene, possibly adorns the walls with a half -christian, half-heathen shrine of some kind at which to worship. Their education consists in the ability to say some prayers in Latin and make re- sponges by rote, and to cross themselves and take off their hats upon meeting consecrated persons or passing FROM COR7EZ TO DIAZ. 243 consecrated places. Millions are thus circumstanced and pass along generation after generation. In cities and among the better educated and wealthy citizens in the country may be found better food, furniture and accommodations, graduated up to the most luxurious style of living, in the best of fur- nished abodes. In the City of Mexico upon the paseo can be seen turnouts of the finest coaches with pure- blood Andalusian horses and liveried servants, equal in style to European cities. The houses of the wealthy and the better classes are built with a court or "patio" within, which is square and of sufficient size to contain a fountain with trees, shrubs, vines and flowers. The horses and car- riages are kept in the lower story, while the rooms above are the family apartments. Often a highly walled lot of ground is attached which is filled with trees and fountains, and thus in that hot country becomes a per- fect paradise. Such enclosures are seldom absent from church property and residences of the clergy. The inside of the house is the home, the outside the castle. The windows are barred and closely guarded from intrusion by shutters. Rarely is glass found in the windows. As evening approaches members of the family open a part or all of the shutters and enjoy the air and views of life on the outside, but seclusion and exclusion is the rule. In the city the houses never are supplied with chimneys; in the country rarely are they to be found. Cooking is done and occasional heat secured by the use of charcoal and braziers. The one entrance is a large double door through which carriages can pass. These doors are thick and strong and in the older houses are made to shut against 244 HlSl OR Y OF MEXICAN POLITICS. an outside stone barrier at the bottom wbicli effectually guards the entrance from unwelcome guests. This was required in revolutionary times, for the rabble as well as the soldiery sought spoils from any and all who had goods of value. A small door is usually made, within the main one, through which persons can pass. By law all ingress or egress to and from houses on streets in towns and cities must be by the one door on the street. ' Thus no one can retreat by the back way, and'there are no alleys. At each intersection of streets a policeman stands day and night, and thus the coming and going of all is under the surveillance of the officers of the government Lands are not surveyed and platted as in the United States, When land is disposed of by the gov- ernment, it is only in large quantities, and then it is described and defined by monuments, metes and bounds. At this time the government, to avoid speculators, sells only to those who give assurance of actual improvement by persons or colonies. The Indian title is never extinguished or recognized , the theory of the conquerors remains in force, and that was that the Indian had no rights which a Catholic conqueror was bound to respect. This has entailed within the native an odium towards the white man as vivid and intense as in the first days of the conquest and spoliation. But he is powerless. Colonists are left to make terms with those who live upon lands which were the homes of their ances- tors. Many on attempt have found this a difficult matter. The native is not anxious for employment at manual labor upon his tropical homestead, where pro- fuse and lavish nature has furnished him a simple fare FROM CORTEZ lO DIAZ. 245 without great effort on his part. He lives much in the open air, dresses simply, where he dresses at all, eats what he can get, has little use for money, knows noth- ing about accumulating wealth and has no sympathy with progress or enterprise, and therefore nothing to stimulate him to laborious action. Nor is he willing that others should intrude upon his old home and haunts, and he finds many methods to thwart civiliza- tion, cultivation and modernism. When the stranger immigrant wishes to secure improved lands or small tracts there is great difficulty in finding any who will dispose of their ancestral entail- ment; immigrants find little encouragement and soon ascertain that their room is preferred to their company. Lands are not taxed, so large holdings are attended with no expense, except as to that part which is worked. When an heir succeeds to an estate, he makes careful estimate as to the amount of money he will need to live at the place and in the style which suits his fancy, and then he works his lands for that sum only. He will entail the estate intact as he received it, and thus generations "have, hold and keep," for they rarely ever sell. Taxes ar^ levied largely upon incomes, business and enterprise. The keeper of a modest restaurant in the city, who paid his landlord $35 per month, was taxed upon his business $20 per month for the benefit of the government and $1.25 per year on occupation, while in addition he would pay an annual tax upon the gross amount of business done. The tax on coffee buyers is $600 per annum for each place of purchase and a like amount for each travel- ing agent or purchaser. Coffee sacks are 6 cents each 246 HISl OR Y OF MEXICAN POLITICS, on importing the sacks and 5 cents each when exported full of coffee. The export tax on coffee is $1 per 100 pounds. A stamp tax which reaches all business docu- ments, advertisements and posters produces a large revenue. It is the current remark of foreigners doing business in Mtxico, that the government officials lie awake of nights studying up old laws and planning new ones whereby successful business enterprise may be more heavily taxCd; and it is a constant struggle on the part of the enterprising capitalist who has invested in the country to avoid substantial confiscation. Of the Americans who located in or made ventures of a business nature in Mexico up to a recent date, the natives had no very good opinion, and summed up their estimate as follows: "Frontiersmen, mean, vulgar and indecent, fugitives, vagabonds, refugees from justice, gamblers by profession, speculators in mines, peddlers, charlatans and adventurers, politicians who have been rolling around until they have reached Mexico; workers on railroads who have been discharged, and lawyers and doctors without clients, constituting the worst element of strangers who exist in the country; of bad form, without conscience or morality, who discard as ridiculous the idea of tolerating any principle of justice, interfering with the affairs of the nation, setting by this action the worst possible example and creating the worst possible opinion against the probity and good inten- tions of the Americans. lyiving the lives of idlers in hotels and saloons, talking in a loud voice and in a boastful manner about 'revolution, invasion and mani- PROM C0R7EZ TO DMZ. lifl fest destiny.' Chewing tobacco, drinicing liquor blaspheming, playing billiards and conducting them- selves in such a manner as to cause disgust among respectable Americans as well as Mexicans." "One of the first signs in populations of recent formation along side of the railroads, showing the superior culture of the north, consists in large l|tters, announcing the «ale of 'Whisky Punch,' 'Brandy Smash,' 'Champagne Cocktails,' 'American Mixed Drinks,' and other things of that style. It is rarely the case that one hears the American speak his language in the country without the use of boast and blasphemy."* Of Europeans was written: "The Europeans in Mexico take little interest in the progress of the country, having neither sympathy with Mexicans nor their in- stitutions, and on the contrary giving offensive ex- pression to their superiority. They maintain their own social life, attend their own schools, clubs and places of amusement and mix very little with the natives." "The Mexicans receive business advances from the people of the United States with the same warmth and ardor that they do those of the French. "But the Spaniard is the most odious of all nationali- ties. Under the policy of exclusion which prevailed for three centuries, all strangers were kept out of Mexico; so when the era of independence dawned there were only Spaniards, Mexicans, and a mixed class composed of the union of the blood of those two peoples. The Spaniards were educated and used to political power, and they regarded all Creoles and mixed people and na- tives with contempt. "The French commenced to come to the countr>' *Biografia de Diaz. 248 HIST OR Y OF MEXICAN POLITICS, soon after the establisliment of independence, and en- gaged in the hotel and restaurant business; and their efforts resulted in offering to the people a better service than had the Spanish. The Germans came at the same time, and became the best merchants of the period."* At this time the French and the Germans do the most of the dry goods trade. The Spanish-speaking people have the grocery and produce, and the English have the hardware and machinery, and still hold the railroads to the port of Vera Cruz, of which they were the original projectors. Americans share with the Eng- lish in railroads from the United States, while the Mexi- can government owns the Tehuantepec line from the Gulf to the Pacific. The English are mainly the bankr ers and brokers, but Americans are beginning to share the business. Ocean commerce is in the hands of for- eigners, but the coasting trade is done by Mexicans. Of the state of public and private morals in Mexico little need be said to give emphasis to the well known fact, that in no strictly Roman Catholic country has a high moral standard ever been urged or attained; and a few facts will show that Mexico is no exception to the rule. Speaking of the ancient artificial pyramid at Cho- lula the Mexican historian truthfully says, that the same is now occupied with a Church with two towers and a large bell in each, that it is mouldy and time- stained without, but adorned wkh paint and gold and artistic displays, with portraits and statuary within; and that in the city adjoining are many grand churches with *BiogTafia de Diaz. FROM CORTEZ TO DIAZ. 249 the Plaza de Torres, or bull ring, iu the midst, where the clerks and the faithful of the Church reunite to see the bloody sport of the bull-fight after they have assisted iu their divine offices in public service or mass in their respective places of worship in the morning. It should be borne in mind that bull-fights take place on Sundays and feast days only; like Sunday schools of Protestant- ism. In the City of Mexico the "soiled doves" rise from their couches in licensed houses at 6 o'clock in the morning of Sundays, attend early mass for the quieting of their consciences and retaining their churchly rela- tion, and then return to their shamful occupation, assured, under the system of appeasing God and secur- ing condonment for past and contemplated crime for a money consideration, taught them by their priests, that they stand justified by cash while others depend upon faith to secure that saved condition. Many a bright youth in the city is pointed out as the progeny of a priest; and it is said that if all the clergy were to strictly observe their vows of celibacy a certain class of specialists would have less practice and reduced incomes. One of the hindrances to securing converts to Pro- testantism from the mestizos and natives is the new and rigid system of morals and spiritual purity taught and urged as inseperable from Christian living within the pale of Protestant churches. On Sundays lottery tickets are sold on the streets, and at Church doors, drinking places are open in all parts of city and country, gambling, cock and bull fights are tolerated and licensed; fairs, markets, hawk- ing and peddling compete with open stores; mechanics 250 HIS! OR Y OF MEXICAN POLITICS, and toilers follow their regular occupations; fandangos and balls are openly maintained and patronized, and all, all, all, proprietors and patrons are in good standing in the Roman Catholic church if they have duly patronized the priest and paid his fees. By reason of the excessive charges made by priests for performing the marriage ceremony many thousands of impecunious loving couples in Mexico take up with each other annually, and then from time to time pay money into the hands of the priest, which finally amounting to the $\o or $15 required, the pair are duly married, and their children baptized at one and the same time and occasion. This lamentable state of public morals caused the transferring of the marriage rite from the religious to the civil order on the part of the reform- ers; but the clerical anathema still sways the public mind, for there, as in the United States, the Church proclaims that marriage by a magistrate or Protestant, and not by a Roman Catholic priest is void, and the off- spring thereof are bastards. "She (the Church) has the right of treating all marriages which are not solemn- ized according to the form of the Council of Trent as in- valid, even those solemnized according to a form pre- scribed by the civil law." — Canon laws of Pius IX., 1864. Under this teaching the people adopt and the priests force the concubinage as stated, the rule being, "no money no marriage ceremony." Just after the traveler on the ' ' National' ' has crossed the 10,000 feet of mountain ridge that bounds the "Valley," and has the City of Mexico nearly in view, he can see off to the right a magnificent Church — the "Church of the Thieves. " Why so called? Well, in the days when bandits made profitable forays upon silver PROM CORIEZ TO DIAZ. 251 trains en route to the city, many pious thieves perform- ing their devotions in chapel of humble proportions, ere they went out to business, vowed a good bestowment upon the Church if successful. Being greatly prospered by a raid soon after, and attributing it to their prayers and vows, and being moved by the maxim, "honor among," etc., they testified their piety and loyalty by furnishing funds from their robberies, whereby was built a grand Church; hence the name. In 1826 in a conversation with the British minister and lamenting the debased state of the Mexican people, a distinguished member of a cathedral chapter used this remarkable and truthful phrase, "Son muybuenosCato- licos, pero muy malos Christianos," They are very good Catholics, but very bad Christians, and that it had been too much the interest of the lower orders of the clergy to direct the attention of their flocks, rather to a scrupu- lous observance of the forms of the Catholic church, than to its moral and spirit, from which their revenues derived little advantage. To commit theft is such a habit with many of the population that all who have valuables secure them by the most careful exercise of precautions, such as high walls, strong doors, huge bolts and locks, closely barred and shuttered windows, and the possession of fire arms ready for use. But should a thief secure personal property and dis- pose of it to a "fence" or otherwise, it would be of no avail for the despoiled owner to find, identify and claim it; for, under the usages of the country, the possession of personal property, coming through the channel of purchase, carries title. The claimant would be in- 252 HISTORY OF MEXICAN POLITICS, structed to catch and punish the thief as his only re- dress. Should a citizen resist an attempt at assault or theft he, as well as the offender, would be arrested and held for trial. Railroad companies have often lost valuable prop- erty by theft, and on finding it in the hands of a pur- chaser have failed to recover it, on the above named usage. So, having obtained wisdom by experience, it is now a rule with all officers and employees of such companies to remove carefully all links, pins, and other valuable parts of cars and trains, and to lock them in secure places, otherwise they would be irrecoverably lost by theft. But justice is prompt and inexorable in many cases. Under the administration of justice by the processes adopted by the rural guards, when any thief, or other criminal, especially a noted one, is captured he is rarely brought to trial, but is dispatched en route and the re- port is made that he attempted to escape, and that his death was necessary. By this means justice has her dues, and the government avoids excessive criminal costs. In February, 1894, when the writer was in Mexico, the usual Sunday night fandango was being enjoyed at the mining city of Pachuca. An incensed Mexican shot and killed a woman for real or fancied offense. Im- mediately the doors were locked, and all persons placed under arrest. The proper civil officers were called, a trial had with all witnesses required to prove the crime; sentence was passed, the offender turned over to the proper officer, who kept him in custody, the priest called, who by Roman Catholic processes prepared the FROM CORTEZ TO DIAZ. 253 culprit to join the society of the blessed in the hereafter; and on Tuesday morning at sunrise the convict was executed by the discharge of the unerring volley from fire arms. Although Yucatan is a state of Mexico it is not entirely subject to the national dominion. It is practi- cally a peninsula, and divides the Gulf of Mexico from the Caribean sea. Its length is 260 miles north and south, and 180 miles wide. It is but little elevated above sea level, and is peculiarly flat. The basic forma- tion is fossiliferous limestone. The soil is loam of ex- traordinary richness, which is covered with dense forests of rare and valuable timber. Scattered throughout these forests are the ruins and remains of large cities, and of magnificent and stupendous edifices which, doubt- less, once were temples for gods and palaces of monarchs. The outward and inward walls of these structures are covered with sculpture, bas-reliefs and inscriptions which, by alphabetical and hieroglyphic writings, pre- sent volumes of history. The perfection of form, the harmony of design and the excellence of execution, surpassing the art exhibited in Old World ruins, testify to the high degree of civili- zation attained by people and builders. The beauty of the decorations and the exquisite proportions of these wonderful structures inspire unspeakable emotions of amazement and admiration within all who are permitted to behold them. Dr. le Plongeon, a noted explorer and archeoligist, has recently secured and translated some of the few MSS saved from destruction at the hands of the Roman Catholic Bishop Luanda, who accompanied the Spanish 254 HISl OR Y OF MEXICAN POLITICS, invaders, and wlio, with characteristic iconoclasm, com- mitted to the flames all literature and works of civiliza- tion of native creation which he could secure. These MSS are written on sheets of parchment, prepared from deer skins, in the colored characters of an alphabet formulated in a pre-historic period. The northern part of Yucatan is occupied by an en- terprising and thrifty population, who have constructed railroads from'their principal cities to their seaports with- out aid from outside capital, and whose productions and commerce have made them independent. That part alone holds oflEcial relations with the Mexican govern- ment. The southern part is occupied by a remnant of the Mayan nation, whose idioms are almost identical with the incriptions upon the ruins of the country. The shameful cruelties inflicted upon them by the Spaniards has entailed hatred and hostility, which has been mani- fested in their many efforts to throw off the yoke of Spain and of Mexico whenever opportunity has offered itself. During the war with the United States the natives took advantage thereof and succeeded, after a long and sanguinary struggle, in freeing the southern part from the white man's control. In their strongholds, in the southwest part, they remain independent, and are a terror to the white man and his Indian allies. Their war cry is "death to the white monkeys." Their hos- tility and prowess forbids tour, research and travel through that part of Mexico. One of the most notable facts in Mexico is the con- trol which the state exercises over the Church and the FROM CORIEZ TO DIAZ. 255 clergy. All Churches are under the supervision of the state, which limits the number of the clergy who may be tolerated in their professional capacity. This is reactionary, as in the days before the reform many more of the sacerdotal order were imposed upon the various communities than were needed, as in Puebla, a city of 70,000 inhabitants, where for each thousand half-naked, bare-footed Indians, there was a costly Church to maintain, and an aggregate of 300 of the ec- clesiastics; and in like manner, if not in proportional numbers, the clergy were distributed throughout the country. Processions used to be numerous, and Church parades and imposing demonstrations were of daily oc- currence. Priests wore the insignia of their offices in the form of a peculiar hat and coat. Now no processions are allowed, nor are the clergy permitted to dress in any manner to show their sacerdotal character; and as else- where stated, there are r.o religious orders in the country, therefore no Sisters of Charity are to be seen. This rigid discrimination is also of a reactionary' nature, inasmuch as insurrections and political revolutions came from such orders, and it is ungraciously received by the subjects of the discipline. While it is manifestly dictatorial and unrepublican for the state authorities to limit the forming of distinct political parties, to exercise censorship over the press, to restrain adverse criticism of the administration, to forbid religious societies and to restrain forms of dress and public demonstrations, the peace of the country practically demands it. With millions of superstitious Indians susceptible of being led to revolution, and with a clergy who have 256 HISTORY OF MEXICAN POLITICS too often shown their wish and will to dominate the civil government by church revolt, it is necessary to forestall action by such methods. Ask an intelligent Mexican business man how it was possible for Juarez and his associate reformers to dispossess the Church of property and power? The an- swer will be, "thj priests left their true domain of re- ligion, became politicians, and worked against the ma- terial and political interests of the country. Having entered politics they were met hy a stronger party which put them out of political and f.aancial place, power and possessions; and though I myself, and almost all other Mexican citizens, receive the communion at the hands of the priests as loyal Roman Catholics, we yet do not want the priests to rule the state. ' ' Ask an ecclesiastic the same questions, and why the priests and their religious clientage submit to the decrees and results of the reform, and he will answer, "the Church is a Church of peace and submits to wrong on that principle." "While there is no distinct class who advocate the annexation of Mexico to the United States, yet if broached as a proposition none would be likely to advo- cate it as gladly as would the clergy, who would thereby be translated from the exclusiveism of Catholic Mexico to the exceedingly broad liberalism of the Protestant United States. FROM CORTEZ TO DIAZ. 257 Kings of thought and HeroKS of action took part in the work of reform in Mexico. Unfamed statesmen and patriots took counsel, shaped sentiment and devised \va3s and means without ostentation or publicity. Upon a few notaljle characters fell the duty of taking the lead, such as Juarez whose crowning culogium "He disdained to compromise" was a summary of his rigid adherence to principle. Lerdo, cabinet officer and companion'of Juarez, distinguished in the law, still whose ambition and subtilty finally led to his overthrow. Ortega, whose brief, brilliant career of success in the command of troops in the field, and whose defense of Puebla gave renown, and who refused proffered honors a the hands of the French as an in- ducement to his betrayal of Juarez and the constitution. Diaz also, whose genius, generalship and patriotism were inherent and intuitive. He also refused the seductive offer from Bazaine of civil place which promised almost imperial power, as ]\Iaximillian's star was being eclipsed and Napoleon III. wished to sub- stitute a Mexican for the Austrian 0:1 the throne. Nearly as stubborn as Juarez and quite as astute and learned in the law as I^erdo, Diaz with his patriotism and skill has been equal to every phase of emergency iu the evolution of true republicanism in Mexico. The ideal "citizen president," the nearly dicta- torial but withal paternal controller of the gox^ernment and the people, endearing himself to all. Po.-sessed ot personal magnetism, partly intuitive, bat' oonsisang largely in his methods, he secures the fealty of all vvitii whom he has- official relations. Wresting power irom i,erdo, ^e, by meriting it, 258 HISTOR Y OF MEXICAN POLITICS, secured alliances with I^erdo's best friends and sup- porters, notably Romero Rubio, a distinguished lawyer and patriot, who entered the cabinet; and Escobedc, who as general, commanded I^erdo's troops, was first captured by armed men and then by the kindness of Diaz. But the most marked instance of Diaz's peculiar style is seen when he captured Puebla from the French. There, among the hundreds of officers captured, and whose fate by the rules of that war was death, was a French officer from whom Diaz had once escaped, for whose recapture $10,000 was ofiicially offered, to which the now captive had then added ^i,oco from his private purse, all to be paid for the capture or death of Diaz. The prisoners were under guard in a church, Diaz enters and finds them, like true Catholics in extremis, confessing to the priests and making disposition oi their earthly effects; all overwhelmed with sorrow and many in tears. He surveyed the scene, called attention, ad- dressed them as ^'friends''' and assured them that he would without consent from his superiors, take the re- sponsibility of disposing of them in his own manner. He told them that though they had made a mistake in fighting against the republic, they still were needed as good citizens of the same, and adding many words of kindness and patriotism, assured them that they were free. Needless is it to say that he bound them to him as friends with hooks of steel. The Frenchman could not find words to express his very peculiar emotions, and Diaz only escaped a rush of hand shaking and the peculiar "Mexican embrace" of hundreds by immediate and precipitate retreat. CHAPTER XXIII. A BULI. FIGHT. A CALM Sunday morning has dawned upon sun- bright, ilovver-bedecked Mexico. Deep toned bells and musical chimes from many cathedrals and churches have called to early mass, and thousands of people have responded. Throngs have assembled and duly celebrated the mass and punctilliously fulfilled the forms and duties of their Christian faith for the morning hours. The afternoon comes and the same pious people Ihroug the streets; they press in multitudes to a com- mon center which is the "Plaza de Torres" or bull ring, where without violating their Roman Catholic con- sciences, they give themselves up to the pleasure of the sport the balance of the day. The history of bull fighting in Mexico is but another chapter added to that of Spain, simply chang- ing the names of the stars of the profession. The people of Mexico inherit the bloody fascination of the sport, and what has been written of the exciting fimcions in the Plaza de Torres of Spain will describe as well the fights in the arena of Puebla, Toluca, Tlalne- pantla, the City of Mexico or any other of the republic. It is very much like baseball in America, the national place of excitement and amusement. One is bloodless or intended to be, the other is a failure without the ex- citement of a sanguinary outflow. 26o HISTORY OF MEXICAN POLITICS But it does not follow that the bull fighter is a "tough." In the profession are college graduates who have held with credit the degree of A. M.; and Pouciano Diaz, the star of Mexico, recentlj^ reported killed by a bull, was a modest, well-appearing man of intelligence and good breeding, brave but not a bully, correct but not foppish, and altogether not spoiled by his profes- sional success; he was a semi-god to the masses, and the impersonation of all that was great to the people. This had been demonstrated in a positive manner from time to time, when they unhitched the mules from his carriage, and with shouts hundreds of them hauled him through the streets in triumph to his hotel. The Plaza de Torres is in shape -sfoxj like the cyclo- rama buildings in America, only much larger; inside is a monster amphi-theater seating thousai: Js of people, encircling the arena is a high fence or barrier with a foot rail about eighteen inches from the ground on the inside on .which the performers step and leap over the fence when too closeh'' pursued by the bull,, landing in an open space between the audience and the ring. The opening of the performance is brilliant and exciting, the audiences are nearly always large, some- times numbering 15,000 to 20,000, all eager for the fray; gay colors are everywhere, bands are playing the live- liest airs and all is excitement. The feeling of the novice under the circumstances is one of amazement and anxious expectation; there is a grand flourish of trumpets, a gaily caparisoned horse- man dashes in, gallops to the president's box. A kej'- is thrown to him — the key of the door leading to the pens where the animals are kept. The horseman catches the key (or fails at his peril), and gallops back FROM CORTEZ TO DTAZ. 261 to the entrance and disappears. If the key is not caught the man is hissed out of the ring. Amother flourish of trumpets and loud huzzas from 20,00© of throats announce the coming of the company. It is indeed a brilliant spectacle. The matadores and banderilleros on foot and 'Cuo^ picadores ox\. horseback, all clad in the gayest, grandest costumes, and in all colors and gold embroideries, march to the president's box. The president is a municipal or state officer and has full direction of the performance. He is saluted by the company, the superfluous performers retire, and all is ready for the fight. Now the wildest excitement pre- vails and the scene is the picture of pandemonium. All eyes are turned toward the low strong doors under the band stand; they are thrown open and from a darkened pen the bull bounds into the ring. As he passes under the rail a steel barb with ribbons attached, showing the breeder's colors, is fastened in his shoulder. He gallops to the middle of the ring, stops and looks around with fear and astonishment. He looks grand. Surprise and fear give way to rage. He paws the earth and snorts in his frenzy, and discovering the red cloth of the espada, starts toward him on the run. The man goes over the fence, but not too quickly, for he has hardly disappeared before the bull's horns are thrust through the boards. The animal turns and spies a horse, and woe be unto the horse for his time has come. The picador with his lance is totally unable to keep the bull fr.om goring the horse and it is killed. The horses are not valuable ones, being old and retired, but gotten up for this occasion are blindfolded and ridden in to a certain fate. Another man Is chased out orthe ring and another horse wounded. A signal 262 HISTORY OF MEXICAN POIITICS, from tile president and a bugle call directs the horses to be removed. Now comes the most interesting part of the performance, the thrusting of the banderillas. The bull is surrounded by his tormentors. It is a con- test between skill and brute force. A banderilla is a wire about two and a half feet long. On the end is a sharp barbed point and the wire is covered its entire length with colored paper ribbons. The banderillo is the man who places them into the bull's shoulders; he must stand in front of the animal and wait the attack. The bull, maddened at his audacity, starts at him at full speed; the man steps out of his way gracefully, and skilfully thrusts the bander- illas in the bull's shoulders as he passes by. As soon as the animal can check his headlong speed, he turns only to find another banderillo with two more bander- illas. These and two more are thrust into his shoulders, all hanging there. Bellowing now, he is wild. Another signal from the president instructs that the bull has had enough and must be killed. This is where the matador, the primer-espada, distinguishes himself. His skilful killing of the bull by a single thrust of the sword is what determines the brilliancy of the star. The matador must face the bull, sword in hand, and await the attack. It is assassination to strike while he is at rest, and calls for hisses and missiles from the audience. The blood-red cloth or muleta is flaunted in front of the bull. The maddened animal closes his eyes and makes one more dash for victory or revenge and falls in death, the sword of the matador is thrust between the shoulders to the hilt and has pierced the animal's heart. Wild bursts of applause fill the air; hats, canes, FROM CORTEZ TO DIAZ. 263 cigars by the bushel are thrown into the ring by the delighted spectators; men shout and sing, ladies wave their handkerchiefs and mantillas; the matadc-r bows his' acknowledgments, throws the hats and canes back to their owners, who seem grateful that he should honor them thus. The band plays, the gates are opened, three gaudily decorated mules harnessed abreast are driven in, a rope is thrown over the dead bull's horns and he is dragged out. The wait between the acts is not more than a minute. The bugle calls, the low doors open and another bull gallops in, and thus on till six are killed at one performance. But should the advertised number not be killed, then on the next Sunday the number omitted must be added to the victims for that time. The skill and agility of the performers is some- thing wonderful and consists, in part, in holding the red cloak in such a way that the bull rushes for the cloak instead of nim who holds it. The bull shuts his eyes and does not see the man as he quickly steps to one side and escapes, but often he must save his life by flight and leap over the barrier around the ring. The Plaza de Torros is the bull ring, and the funcion is the performance. The best seats are on the shady side, those in the sun being sold at cheap prices. Seats in the shade, $2 to $3; boxes from $12 to $20, accord- ing to the company playing. The star fighter is a matador or espada, and he it is who finally kills the bull with his sword. The banderillo is the man who thrusts the banderillas in the animal's shoulders, and the banderilla is a dart with a barbed point, orna- mented with colored ribbons. The plait of hair or queue, worn on the back of the head by a bull fighter, 264 HISTORY OF MEXICAN POLITICS indicates that he has passed the degree of banderillo. If he commits any offense against the code of ethics, or repeatedly fails in the act of placing the banderillas,his queue is cut off in public and he is forever disgraced. The picadore is the man on horseback, but he doesn't stay there long after the entrance of the bull; yet while he does, he goads the animal with a pike or pole with a steel point. The capeadores are the men who handle the capes or cloaks which are flaunted in the bull's face to worry him. The muleta is the red cloth used by the espada at the killing, and the cachetero is he who puts the finishing dagger stroke between the horns; and when he has done so six times (with exceptions as stated) the show is over. Responding to an influence of moral reform, an effort was made a few years ago to legislate against bull fighting, and all performances were interdicted in the federal district. Now there are four rings within the city limits, and no well regulated town in the republic is without its Plaza de Torres. CHAPTER XXIV. ROME UNDER CATHODE, OR "X," RAYS. The Aztec was entirely unacquainted with the horse, the mule, the burro, the cow, the ox, the sheep, and the hen; and also had no wheeled vehicles, nor did he know of iron in any form. His implements of metal were made of copper. Superior to the North American Indian, he was a house builder, using stone, wood and brick. He was also a city maker, and constructed aqueducts, dikes and causeways, to make city life pleasant. As an engineer his attainments and skill were of a high order. He was a record keeper, and preserved his civil, political and religious laws, histories and literature, in a style peculiar to himself — by pictorial illustrations, being words, sentences and idioms, in pictures. Doubt- less the Aztec records and histories contained data, and possibly positive information as to the pre-historic races who constructed the pyramids of Mexico — larger at the base than those of Egypt — and told of those who built the monuments, temples, houses, fortifications, stairs, courts and paved ways, which exist as ruins all over Southern Mexico and Central America. But the historian who looks to Mexico to solve problems of antiquity is confronted with voiceless stone and a blank page; for while the Aztecs were at the apex of their literature, art and science, the Roman Catholic made his appearance, and got in his work. Then these 266 HISTOR Y OF MEXICAN POLITICS, iconoclasts — yes, those worse than image-breakers— those art and science crushers, those education destroy- ers, gathered togetlier all of the records of the Aztec nation, their histories, their laws, their decrees, their religious tenets, their astronomical records of observa- tion, investigation and conclusion (which had attained such perfection that they had a more accurate calendar than had the astronomers of Europe) in short, gathered together all the literature of a higly civilized people into mountains of bound volumes and manuscrips, and then burned all to ashes — and destroyed a great civilization — in the name of Christ? Their kind of Christ! Would not Rome do so again not only in Mexico but in the United States, so that priestcraft might be in the ascendant? Could go back to temporal power, though she denounced and silenced the Galileo, the Copernicus, the I^uther, of to-day, and crushed out the American public school system as pernicious and un- worthy of Catholic patronage? Forget not this: "Great are the rights of nations, and they must be heeded; but greater and more sacred are the rights of the Church," as said Pius IX. Pius IX. is dead and gone to his account. But I^eo XIII. lives to perpetuate the work of iconoclasm. He also is on record as to Rome's policies and politics. In November, 1885, he issued the following: "We exort all Catholics to take an active part in all municipal affairs and elections, and to further the prin- ciples of the Church in all public services, meetings and gatherings. All Catholics must make themselves felt as active elements in daily political life in the countries where they live. They must penetrate wherever possible in the administration of civil affairs. All Catholics should FROM CORTEZ TO DIAZ, 267 do all in their power to cause the constitutions of the states, and legislation, to be modeled in the principles of the true Church." This commits Rome to the work of overthrowing our constitutions. Catholics are strictly "in it. " So are Americans. No more disguise. Religion is religion, but politics is politics. A microscope must possess rare power to discover any line separating Rome's religion from politics. The corner stone, arch and keystone of Rome are Peter, Priest, Politics. The irrepressible conflict is on, and this country cannot survive half Rome and half American. I^et all who think alike prepare to act together. The secessionist of American history established, not a monarchy or a hierachy, but a republic. The Con- federacy was to run parallel with the federal Union, each with a bill of rights locating sovereignty in the people. lyCo XIII. now plots a revolution to subvert the constitution and establish a hierarchy with soverignty vested in the Vatican ; the seat of empire of the alleged "true Church. " I,eo adopts peculiar and characteristic methods to unify his forces for political action. To adults he applies the policy of segregation. His priests and clergy of higher order are forbidden to hold any fraternal conventions with other Church people. His communicants are called out of American benevolent and social orders, and societies under pain of excom- munication, and are commended to membership in the "Clan na gael," the Catholic Knights, the Knights of Father Mathew, the Ancient Order of Hibernians; and of that ilk, into whose portals it is impossible for any to enter who are not Roman Catholics. In those societies 268 HISTORY OF MEXICAN POLITICS oath bound obligations to Rome and tier policies divide or obliterate loyalty to American principles and consti- tutions. All that is lacking to subvert the spirit and letter of our constitutions is enough Roman Catholic voters — or time serving political demagogues — or indifferent citizens who close their eyes and cry peace, peace; who ignore Rome's secret organizations and methods, but are painfully afflicted over patriotic efforts of Americans to effect counter organization with the sole object of pre- serving religious and political liberty. Had Rome — of such — a majority, the world would con realize the reign of the Pittsburg Bishop O'Con- nor's declaration. "Religious liberty is merely endured until the opposite can be carried into effect without peril to the Catholic Church." And " Protestantism has not, and never can have, any rights where Catholicity has triumphed;" as said the Catholic Review, June, 1865. . lyOvers of liberty, political, religious and social, should not stand on the defensive alone, but should carry the war into the camp of popular educations only enemy, Rome, religious liberty's only enemy, Rome, the constitution's only enemy, Rome, by the most per- sistent, aggressive and effective methods, and by indi- vidual mid organized effort, and thus meet force with force in their chosen field — the secrecy of council, plan and united action. To maintain the orders and exortations of Rome in America her subalterns resort to insidious methods. They sustain them upon no publicly proclaimed plat- form, offer no argument, appeal to no intelligence, nor ask popular verdict upon testimony, argument or prin- FROM CO RTF Z TO DIAZ. 269 ciple. With men and women it is an imperative order; while the declaration and admission made by Father "Dalton, that children to remain Catholics must have a prepossessed, prejudiced, parochial school education points out the course adopted with children. They therefore commence with the child, and ex- cluding — or perverting — instruction in philosophy, historic truths, political and moral science, natural rights of manhood, religous libert}^ civil law and inde- pendent research, they inculcate Church dogmas, fables of the supernatural, legends of the dead past, and super- stitutions of the present. They boldly and broadly arro- gate the bestowment, by God, upon Peter, and his alleged pontificial successors, of all things material and spiritual, carrying with the gift all power and rights, over men and over governments, civil, political and social. All this in extensive and continuous detail is burned, as it were, into the mind and the conscience of the pupil, and creates a blind faith and a loyal devotion calculated to abide through life. While there may be individual Catholics who would not favor the pope's dictum in America it would yet be an insult to intelligence, to assume that any com- municant in America could in any degree infiurence the decrees and policies of Rome. Thus there is in America a bigoted class, almost as numerous as may be Rome's communicants, which is the army of the propaganda ever ready to sustain Church efforts to change constitutions, control legisla- tion and politics, secure ofl&cial positions and patronage, and overthrow the public school sj^stem. The most skilful, experienced and conscienceless politician in the world, the Roman pontiff himself, giving orders, point- 270 HISTORY OF MEXICAN POLITICS, ing out the lines of action and fixing the objective point. Among the defending and counteracting forces' whereby American patriots can resist Rome is the sys- tem of popular education in the common school, so fiercely assaulted by pope, archbishop, bishop and priest, and the time has come to make the issue and to demand and insist upon legal enactments, whereby attendance at the same shall be made compulsory if not absolutely exclusive. Every American child should have an American education in the mutual interest of the child and the commonwealth. Rome is the only organization, political, civil or re- ligious, which, in its organic capacity, denies to children the right of public popular education — of an education untrammeled by ecclesiasticism. In this is Rome, right or wrong? The parent or priest who would lay bare the infant- ile brain, and with scalpel eliminate the noble self- asserting liberty-inspiring organs by anatomical extir- pation, would do no more serious injury to the child or the commonwealth than is being done by priest and parent in the superstition-filling, spirit-crushing, big- otry-enthusing, and unpatriotic teaching imparted to pupils in Roman Catholic parochial schools. American liberty does not assure license to teach political heresy, or error in the interest, or at the insti- gation of domestic or foreign Churches, be they Mormon or Roman, Methodist or Buddist, Christian or Heathen. While parochial schools continue in this country their text books and system of teaching should be sub- ject to inspection, correction, revision and rejection, ROM CORTEZ TO DIAZ. 271 and tne schools brought fully under the control of Superintendents of Public Instruction. If therein is taught no doctrines dangerous to the state such inspection and revision would not be objec- tionable; but if for any reason it should bear so hard upon any teacher or pupil, be he citizen, resident or visiting foreigner, that it became unendurable it would be a relief to know that the right and privilege of emnii- gration has never been and probably never will be denied to such a sufferer in this free country. Still let him avoid Mexico where, thovigh the people are Roman Catholics, they yet have excluded priests from public politics, and from any control of the public schools and where attendance at the same is compulsory. Centuries of priestly dominion and exactions taught Mexican states- men and patriots many useful political truths. Shall not American statesmen and patriots share in that in- struction? Our constitutions certainly carry, inherently, the right of self-preservation. A glorious sight trulj' to Americans when Leo XIII., SatoUi, y otro Dagos re- model state constitutions and shape legislation. I^et Rome beware of the fate of Uzza, who laid profane hands upon "Izrael's sacred Ark." Should Rome viodel our constitutions Jefferson would fail to see in their letter and spirit his patriotic work. Franklin would see his st»atesmanship destroyed, and Washington would think his generalship, courage, persistence and patriot ism, had all been in vain. Another grave peril to America, as well as to good government everywhere, is the absolution and indul- gence false theology of the Church of Rome. It is the positive enemy of the state, having the direct tendency 272 HISTORY OF MEXICAN POLITICS to corrupt public as well as private morals, and should be crushed out by law as were the corrupt prac- tices of the mormons of Utah. Suppose some capitalized Protestant Church Assur- ance Company should follow the spirit of the recent en- cj^clical of Pope L,eo XIII. to the English people, and advertise that for a consideration they would assure complete and full indulgence, "once a month," in sin and crime, the specific offence being subject to the will and wish of the assured, regardless of any moral or civil tenet, decree or statutory enactment to the contrary, and thus suspend, annul and abrogate God's divine moral law as well as the statutes of the state; would it be tolerated by Church or state? All should be treated alike. Rome should have no special license to dishonor God, encourage crime, cor- rupt public morals, and humbug guilty dupes. I,etthe good sense and the high moral sentiments of the un- romanized American conscience be chrystalized into law to that end, adding thereby statutory enactment, to pure religious teaching and moral suasion, thus defend- ing our America from the immoral and criminal teach- ing of Rome. There are ten commandments, recognized as from God by Hebrew and Christian, by Unitarian and Trini- tarian, by Romist and Protestant. A man, the pope of Rome, says any one or all of these commandments may be ignored, violated, broken, without consequent guilt or punishment for a consideration to be specified by himself. An indulgence, a plenary, which, is full and com- plete, indulgence contemplates a violation of God's law, else rvo indulgence is needed, and its proffer is FROM CORTEZ TO DIAZr 273 illogical and absurd. A good or sinless act in contem- plation requires no indulgence; only bad or sinful acts are associate with indulgence, therefore its proffer, on the part of the first party the pope, premises the- com- mission of sin, on the part of the second party the ac- ceptor of the conditions. Thus the pope assumes to annul God's law for a consideration. Is that pure and true religious teaching? What say the members of the Romish Church? What says Protestantism? What say Americans? Take a case. An Euglish husband lusts after a maid. Every divine, moral and civil law says that the gratification of his passion would be criminal. While deliberating in fear of law, and held in check by con- science, the husband hears the Pope's offer, to-wit. : Say certain prayers for the unity of the English with the Romish Church and you may have plenary, or full and complete indulgence ' 'once a month. " He accepts, says the prayers and consummates his lustful desires. Let all Catholicism answer; is the adulterer exonorated from heinous guilt on the proffer and by the agency of the pope? What say the priests, the bishops, the arch- bishops and cardinals of Rome, in this dawn of the twentieth century of Christ? What a base state of personal morals must abide in the very character of Leo XIII., Pope of Rome, to prompt him to thus let loose the murderer, the thief, the blasphemer, the seducer and the libertine to prey upon the commonwealth of Protestant England. If that country is not thereby reduced to the deplorable moral standard of Italy, credit should be given to Protestant education and morals. It would be humorous, if not so disgustingly 274 HISTORY OF MEXICAN POLITICS criminal, to see the alleged vice-gerent of God thus offer and barter the right to commit sin and crime as an inducement to people to pray for the increase of his dominion in England. What next from the illogical, blasphemous dago of Rome? Wisely construing the spirit of the constitution which says: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." Congress prohibited the claimed right of Mormons to persist in time honored immoral practices, though clothed in the guise of religion. I,et the same interposition of constitutional power overthrow mediaeval, dark age, immoral practices of Rome, though in the cloak of religion and promoted by Leo XIII. and his priestly marshals. Mormon's practiced indulgences, Leo peddles the same. Rome has been losing, losing, losing upon each battlefield in the centuries of her contest with good gov- ernment, pure morals and education. In Mexico she has fallen under the wheels of the car of progress, and by her own children has been crushed lower than if in contest with Protestantism; for the lessons of extortion and oppression were well learned in the centuries of hard experience. So they were ruthlessly applied when the people's turn came, and the Church was the victim. The United States is Rome's last hope. Here she expects to recoup for her losses in all the world beside, deeming our liberality to be her opportunitv. "Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty." BOOK II HISTORY OF TEXAS AND OF THE MEXICAN WAR. History of Texas and Mexican War, BOOK II. CHAPTER I. Introduction to Book II. NO HISTORY of Mexican politics would be com- plete without the stating of prominent truths re- lating to the independence of Texas, the annexa- tion of that state to the American Union and the war between Mexico and the United States. The involve- ment of the slavery question in its various aspects and interests cast such a shade of prejudice over the above named transactions at the time of their occurrence that an impartial history of the facts can scarcely be found and the American mind even to this day is so affected by histories heretofore written touching these matters, that it may be impossible to secure acceps to public candor in any attempt to remove or correct those preju- dices and prepossessions at this time. Yet, as one who carried a musket as an American volunteer soldier in the war with Mexico, the compiler of facts hereinafter presented feels a sense of duty rest- ing upon him to assert that great injustice is done when the United States and her gallant and conquering armj^ who achieved victory in Mexico in 1846-8 are written down as wrong-doers. 4 HISTORY OF TEXAS Mexico imposed upon Texas more of the grievances and outrages of misrule than did England upon the American colonies. Texas endured with patience, hoping and petitioning for a return to the methods of the constitution, and with assurances of an unswerving fealty to Mexico, made her appeals for redress. Regardless of constitution, of right or pledge, the outrages continued, until beyond the bounds of endur- ance and finally culminated in the sending of an army which invaded Texas, to subdue the people by force. This army acknowledged no principle of action but the base will of Santa Anna, the dictator; and had for its object the slaughter of all who would not surrender all individual and constitutional rights. This left the people no alternative but disgraceful submission or an honorable struggle for independence. Then the people in an orderly manner proceeded to sever their political relations with the outrageously offending nation, and with a wonderful display of mar- tial power, defeated the Mexican army in one campaign, captured their oppressor, the Mexican president, secured their independence by a treaty mutual in its terms, obligations and benefits, assumed their place among independent nations, and maintained their nationality for nine years without any attempt on the part of Mexico to re-establish its authority over the lost province. The United States had the right to treat with Texas for political unity, regardless of the wishes or threats of Mexico and without consulting Spain either, which country had not yet assumed national amenities with its successfully rebellious Mexican people. "When annexation was consummated the Mexican government, people and army, took such action that AND MEXICAN WAR. 5 war was unavoidable and justifiable on the part of the United States. The war was conducted on the highest civilized principles, was brought to a close on the first possible opportunity and on the most equitable terms consistent with the principles of justice and refined civilization, and the results upon progress, human rights and good government have been so manifest that any and all who contributed thereto should be regarded as benefactors of their own country, as well as of "the rest of mankind. ' ' CHAPTER II.— TEXAS. 1684 TO 1836. DiSCOVER'Y AND OCCUPATION OF TeXAS — CHANGES OwNESiS — Jointly With Coahuila a Mexican State — Wants Separate Statehood — Suffers Outrages From Santa Anna, Mexican Dic- tator — Defends and Defeats — Provisional Government — Captures the Alamo — Battles AND Outrages — Declaration of Independence. TEXAS, containing nearly three hundred thousand square miles of territory and extending seven hundred and forty miles north and south and eight hundred and twenty-five miles east and west, greatest distances considered, and reaching from the Sabine to the Rio Grande, was the home and the hunt- ing grounds of unknown Indian tribes when Cortez with his few hundreds o^ Spaniards conquered the Aztecs. In 1684 the French explorer, La Salle, descended the Mississippi river, and at its mouth took possession in the name of I^ouis XIV. , king of France, of the entire region. Hence the name lyouisiana, as applied to that then unbounded domain. In 1687 a French settlement was founded'^at Matagorda bay, but in 1690 Spaniards in superior numbers drove out the French and established colonies in the country, which they named New Phillipines, but the Comanche and Apache AND MEXICAN WAR. 7 Indians harassed the settlers and greatly retarded their success. In 1762 lyouisiana was ceded to Spain by the French, but in 1802 it was returned to Napoleon Bona- parte, then first consul of France; and in 1S03 he, with- out taking formal possession, sold it to the United States. While the boundaries were not specifically mentioned, it was considered that the Louisiana pur- chase embraced Texas. So settlements were immedi- ately begun in the new territory, and within fifteen years there were nearly 10,000 Americans settled there, and efforts were made to hold the country against S;^ain, which claimed that the land transferred to F/ance in 1802 did not include Texas. In the contests which ensued more than 2,500 Americans and Hispano Mexicans were killed. The revolution of 18 10 gave opportunity for lawlessness and hostilities which was fully improved. But in the year 18 19 these residents of Texas were greatly surprised to learn that the United States, when purchasing Florida from Spain, had surrendered Texas to that country in the treaty. They made a vigorous protest to the government at Washington, wherein they stated that they had supposed themselves to be safe under the protection of the government of the United States, and now they found themselves suddenly "aban- doned to the dominion of the crown of Spain and left a prey to all those exactions which Spanish rapacity is fertile in devising by a treaty, to which they were not a party." Their protest of course was fruitless of results. The Spanish authorities in Mexico, however, mani- fested a disposition to welcome their newly acquired citizens and enacted such laws, having the object to 8 HISTORY OF TEXAS encourage immigration, that the American-born popula- tion of the province of Texas soon became reconciled, numerous and prosperous. The leading pioneer in Texas colonization was Moses Austin, a native of Connecticut, who in 1821 obtained leave from the government to plant a colony. He died soon after, and in obedience to his request his son, Stephen Austin, proceeded to the country, selected a site for a colony between the Brazos and the Colorado, and before the close of the year the hum of industry broke the silence of the wilderness. As the grant had been made by the Spanish authorities of Mexico, it became necessary on the change of government to have the grant confirmed. Austin went to the City of Mexico for that purpose. The confirmation was obtained first from Iturbide and afterwards from the federal government. The absence of Austin caused the partial abandonment of the colony, but his return again started the work, and in twelve years the settlement contained 10,000 people. In May, 1824, Texas became provisionally annexed to Coahuila until its population and prosperity should entitle it to a separate state organization, and in August the two provinces united and became one of the states of the Mexican republic. On the 24th of March, 1825, the state colonization law was passed, under which grants were made to empressarios or contractors, the greater number of whom were from the United States. The object of the law was to secure immigrants. The terms were favorable and the encouragement great. So under the extraordi- nary efforts thus made by the Mexican' government, many new colonies were formed, chiefly by former citi- AND MEXICAN WAR. 9 zens of the United States. By one of the terms of the contracts, all newcomers were to possess a certificate of membership in the Roman Catholic church, otherwise they could not acquire title to their lands; schools and churches of that faith were also provided for. Peace and prosperity prevailed with the exception of some Indian troubles up to 1826, when some dis- appointed applicants for land inaugurated a movement to throw off the Mexican yoke and establish a republic by the name of Fredonia. Austin and a large number of bona fide settlers assisted in the suppression of this outbreak. The movement, however, had a marked effect upon the feelings and policy of the Mexican gov- ernment towards American immigration. Troops were sent into the country under various pretexts, until in 1832 they numbered 1,300. Other causes conspired to increase the jealousy of Mexico and alarm her for the eventual security of Texas. In 1827 the minister from the United States was directed to offer Mexico $1,000,000, and two years after "to go as high as $5,000,000" for a boundary between the high-lands of the Nueces and the Rio Grande, stating that there was "a deep conviction of the real necessity of the proposed acquisition which would guard the western frontier, protect New Orleans and secure un- disputed possession of the Mississippi river. ' ' Instead of receiving these propositions with favor, Mexico had an increase of jealousy which was shown by a law pub- lished in 1830, evidently directed against Texas, and which suspended many contracts already made, and prohibited the entrance of people from the United States unless furnished with a Mexican passport. This rigorous and unforseen enactment subjected many immigrants lo ' HISTORY OF TEXAS to great injury and loss. Many who had already settled were denied titles to land, and others who had abandoned their homes in the United States were ordered on their arrival to leave the country, this being the first intimation which they received of the existence of the law. At the same time the garrisons in Texas were increased and civil authority began to be super- ceded by martial law. The commandants of the garrisons illegally took into their own hands the enforcement of the anti- immigration laws of 1830, committed violent and arbi- trary acts in contravention of state law and authority, and infringed upon the personal liberties of the people. In 1 83 1 a state commissioner was arrested while he, in pursuance of his official duty, was putting settlers in possession of their lands. Peaceful and respectable citizens were arrested simply because they had rendered themselves obnoxious to military officers, one of whom was the gallant and patriotic Travis, who afterwards defended the Alamo and became a martyr to Texan independence. Incensed by these lawless acts, the colonists assembled to the number of 150 men, and led by John Austin, respectfully applied for the release of the prisoners. A refusal was given and the prisoners were subjected to the outrage of being pinioned to the ground.- An attack was then made upon the garrison. After a battle and a parley the Texans had success and secured the release of the prisoners and the surrender of the troops and fort. In the entire affair eleven Texans were killed and fifty-two wounded, twelve of them mortally. Of the 125 Mexicans who composed the garrison, about one-half were killed and seventeen lost their hands by the skillful use of rifles in the hands AND MEXICAN WAR. il of Texans, who shot at the hands of the cannoners as they attempted to fire the artillery. Thus on the 26th of June, 1832, took place the first collision of settlers and Mexican soldiers. During these events the revolution in Mexico was in progress, which resulted in the overthrow of Busta- mente and the restoration of the federal constitution Avhich had been subverted by him. Santa Anna acquired his first influence in national affairs, restored Pedraza and was himself elected to the presidency in 1833. He assumed absolute power and dictated the policies of Mexico regarding Texas until the independ- ence of the latter was secured. In April, 1833, representatives of the people of Texas met at San Felipe de Austin — now Austin, the capital of Texas, and petitioned the Mexican govern- ment for the erection of Texas into a state, giving good and sufiicient reasons for their action and petition. They represented the fact that Texas possessed the necessary elements for a state government, which she asked might be given her in accordance with the guarantees of the act of May 7, 1824. For 'her attach- ment to the federal constitution and to the republic the petitioaiers pledged their lives and honor. Stephen F. Austin took this memorial to Mexico, where he arrived soon after the accession of Santa Anna to the presidency. He was misunderstood, delayed and refused. He wrote to the municipality of Bexar, recommending that the people of Texas should immedi- ately organize a state government as the only course that could save them from anarchy and destruction. After being unfavorably commented on by Texans, the letter was sent to the Mexican government. Orders 12 HISTORY OF TEXAS were issued for the arrest of Austin, which were exe- cuted at Saltillo, 600 miles from the capital, where he was found en route to his home. He was taken to the City of Mexico, imprisoned in a dungeon, and for more than a year was refused the privilege of speaking to or corresponding with any one. It was only at the end of two years and a half , in September, 1835, that he was permitted to return to his home, having witnessed during his captivity the usurpations of Santa Anna and the overthrow of the federal constitution of 1824. The arbitrary proceedings of Santa Anna and the collision between him and congress had divided public sentiment in Mexico, and Texas experienced the ill effects of the issues. Two parties sprung up among the Americans, one for proclaiming the province an inde- pendent state of the Mexican federation at every hazard, the other wishing to obtain a state government by con- stitutional methods without resorting to revolution. None, however, sustained the arbitrary measures of Santa Anna. When the intelligence of the "Plan of Toluca" reached Texas, together with the favor it re- ceived from the usurping authorities of Mexico, it be- came evident to the people that the federal system of 1824 was to be dissolved by force; that the vested rights of Texas under the constitution were to be disregarded and violated and that the liberties of the people were to have no better guarantee than the capricious will of their most bitter enemies. Hitherto the great majority of Texans had opposed violent measures; they had repeatedly declared them- selves ready to discharge their duties as faithful citizens of Mexico, attached by interest and inclination to the federal contract, and they consoled themselves under AND MEXICAN WAR, 13 the many evils they had suffered with tlie hope that they would soon have the benefit of a good local gov- ernment by the acknowledgment of Texas as an inde- pendent member of the Mexican Union, nor was it until the course of events demonstrated the fallacy of this hope that they yielded to despondency or planned for resistance. When Stephen Austin returned to Texas from his imprisonment in Mexico, on his advice committees of safety were organized and the people resolved to insist on their rights under the constitution of 1824. In the meantime Santa Anna was concentrating troops for the invasion of Texas, and the old barracks at Matamoras, Goliad and San Antonio de Bexar were being prepared to receive large re-enforcements. The constitutional governor of Coahuila and Texas was deposed by the military and a new one appointed by Santa Anna, and the commandant at Bexar was ordered to march into Texas and capture offensive persons, to disarm citizens and to provide for a complete military control of the country. Satisfied that the moment for decisive action had arrived, the central committee of safety called the people to arms to defend themselves, their rights, their homes and their country. On the 3d of November a general convention of delegates assembled at San Felipe, Austin, and on the 7th adopted a declaration of rights setting forth the reasons which had impelled Texas to take up arms and the objects for which she contended. After setting forth, as causes of the present hostile position of Texas, the overthrow of the federal institutions of Mexico and the dissolution of the social compact which had existed 14 HISTORY OF TEXAS between Texas and the otlier members of the con- federacy, the declaration asserted that the people "had taken up arms in defense of their rights and liberties, which were threatened by the encroachments of military despots and in the defense of the republican principles of the federal constitution of Mexico. ' ' Moreover, the compact of union entered into by Texas and Coahuila with Mexico was declared to have been broken by the latter, and to be no longer binding on Texas; yet the people pledged themselves to continue faithful to the Mexican government so long as that nation should adhere to the constitution and laws under whose guaran- tees Texas had been settled and had become a member of the Mexican republic. The convention also proceeded to the formation and adoption of a plan for a provisional government of Texas, and chose Henry Smith governor, with ample executive power, and Samuel Houston commander-in-chief of the army. General Austin was appointed commissioner to the United States. When Santa Anna with his army had suppressed the constitutional party in Zacatecas in May, 1835, and found himself without armed opposition, except in Texas, he concentrated his forces for the conquest of that part of his dominions. But the Texans met force with force, and defeated a detachment of the Mexican army on the 28th of September, near the town of Gon- zales, and on the 8th of October they captured Goliad with its garrison. Emboldened by these successes they concentrated their forces and laid siege to San Antonio de Bexar, where the Mexicans had a force in the city as well as in the famous Alamo, the whole numbering 1300, while the Texans could muster only 500 men. AND MEXICAN WAR. 15 At daylight on the morning of the nth of Decem- ber, the black and red flag which had been waving from the Alamo during the siege, in token of no quarter, was withdrawn, and a flag of truce was sent to the Texans, indicating a desire to capitulate. Soon terms were agreed upon. General Cos and his officers were allowed to retire to Mexico on their paroles of honor, they would not in any way oppose the re-establishment of the federal constitution of 1824, and the troops were allowed to go or stay at will. On the 15th General Cos with his humiliated followers commenced the march to the interior, and in a few days not a Mexican soldier was to be seen from the Sabine to the Rio Grande. Tills defeat exasperated Santa Anna and he concen- trated a force of 8,000 men, with a large artillery train on the Rio Grande, personally took the command and directing General Urrea with a division to sweep the country from Matamoras along the coast in the direction of Goliad, he marched with the main force upon Bexar. The Texans divided their forces, leaving only 150 men, under command of Colonel Travis, to defend the Alamo, while others, to the number of about 500, were with Colonel Fannin at Goliad. Santa Anna laid siege to the Alamo on February 23d. Colonel Travis with his little band defended against more than 4,000 Mexicans. He wrote to the Texan commander for re-enforcements, declaring his intention to defend to the utmost. He said, "I will never sur- render nor retreat. I am determined to sustain myself as long as possible, and die like a soldier who never for- gets what is due to hie own honor and that of his country." Soon after midnight, on the 6th of March, the en- 1 6 HISTORY OF TEXAS tire army, commanded by Santa Anna in person, sur- rounded the Alamo for the purpose of taking it by storm at any cost; and amidst the discharge of musketry and artillery the advance was made towards the fort. Twice repulsed in their attempts to scale the walls, they were again impelled to the assault by the exertions of their officers; and borne onward by the presure from the rear they mounted the walls and, in the expressive language of an eye witness, they "tumbled over like sheep." Then commenced the last struggle. Travis received a shot as he stood on the wall cheering on his men; and as he fell a Mexican officer rushed forward to despatch him. Summoning up his powers for a final effort, Travis met his assailant with a thrust of his sword and both expired together. The brave defenders of the fort, overborne by multi- tudes and unable in the throng to load their fire arms, continued the combat with the butt ends of their rifles until only seven were left, and these were refused quarter. Of all the persons in the place only two were spared, a Mrs. Dickerson and a negro servant of the commandant's. Colonel James Bowie was murdered in his sick-bed, and the eccentric David Crockett of Ten- nessee lay dead, surrounded by victims of his personal prowess. The bodies of the dead were stripped, thrown into a heap and burned, after being subjected to brutal in- dignities. Santa Anna and his brother-in-law, General Cos, each thrust their swords and daggers into the bodies of officers. Travis especially had his face and limbs mutilated. No authenticated account of the Mexi- can loss has been obtained, but it has been variously estimated at from i,ooo to 1,500. AND MEXICAN WAR. 17 While these events were taking place at E.xar, a general convention of delegates had assembled at Wash- ington, on the Brazos, in obedience to a call of the pro- visional government, for the purpose of considering the question whether Texas should continue to struggle for theVe-establishment of the Mexican federal constitution of 1824, or make a Declaration of Independence and form a republican governme-nt. On the 2d of March, 1836, the convention agreed unanimously to a Declc ration of Independence, in which the provocations which .^ed to it were recited, and the necessity and justice of the neas- ure ably vindicated. "The Mexican government," the Declaration asserted, "by its colonization laws, invited and induced the Anglo-American population of Texas to colonize its wilderness, under the pledged faith of a written coustitution, that they should continue to enjoy that constitutional liberty and republican government to which they had been habituated in the land of their birth, the United States of America. 'In this expectation they have been cruelly disap- pointed, inasmuch as the Mexican people have acqui- esced in the late changes in the government made by General Antonio I^opez de Santa Anna, who, having overturned the constitution of his country, now offers to us the cruel alternatives, either to abandon our homes, acquired by so many privations, or submit to the most intolerable of all tyranny, the combined despotism of the sword and the priesthood. ' ' After a recapitulation of the numerous grievances endured from Mexican mal-administration and faithless- ness, the Declaration thus continues: "These and other grievances were patiently borne by the people of Texas, until they reached that point at which forbearance i8 HISTORY OF TEXAS ceased to be a virtue. We then took up arms in defense of the national constitution. We appealed to our Mexi- can brethren for assistance; our appeal has been made in vain. Though months have elapsed, no sympathetic response has yet been heard from the interior. We are consequently forced to the melancholy conclusion that the Mexican people have acquiesced in the destruction of their liberty, and the substitution, therefor, of a mili- tary government. The necessity of self-preservation now decrees our eternal political separation. We, there- fore, the delegates of Texas, with plenary powers, in solemn convention assembled, appealing to a candid world for the necessities of our condition, do hereby re- solve and Deci,are, that our political connection with the Mexican nation has forever ended; and that the peo- ple of Texas do now constitute a Free Sovereign, and Independent Repubwc, and are fully invested with all the rights and attributes which properly belong to independent states; and conscious of the rectitude of our intentions, we fearlessly and confidently commit the is- sue to the decision of the Supreme Arbiter of the desti- nies of nations. ■-■ii^^ -'^j chaptp:r III. 1S36 TO 1845. Constitution Adoptkd — Statb: Government Or GANizED — Inaugural, Address — Mexican Troops Sweep the State — Santa Anna Pre- PARiis TO Re;turn to Mexico — Battee oe San Jacinto — Santa Anna Defeated and Captured — Treaty — Independence of Texas — Santa Anna Visits President Jackson — Sent to Mexico — Peace and Independence — Reccog- nized by the United States, France and England — Annexed to the United States. FIFTY delegates subscribed the Declaration, and on the 17th of March, 1836, a constitution forthe Re- public of Texas was adopted, and executive officers were appointed to perform the duties of the government until the first election under the constitution. David G. Burnett, the son of an officer of the American Revolu- tion, was appointed provisional president. In his inaugural address he reminded the delegates of their duties and of the glorious enterprise in which they were engaged, referred to the inheritance of gallantry descending to them from 1776; and e.Korted them to unite as brothers with a single eye to the one Qoramon object, the redemption of Texas. He said, "We are about as we trust to establish a name among the na- tions of the earth; let us be. watchful, that this name 20 HISTORY OF TEXAS .shall not inflict a mortification upon the illustrious peo- ple from whom we have sprung nor entail reproach upon our decendants. 'We are acting for posterity; and while, with a devout reliance on the God of battles, we shall roll back the flood that threatens to deluge our borders, let us present to the world such evidences of our moral and political rectitude as will compel the respect, if not constrain the sympathies of other and older nations. The day and the hour has arrived when every free-man must be up and doing his duty. The Alamo has fallen; the gallant few who so long sus- tained it have jdelded to the overwhelming power of numbers; and, if our intelligence be correct, they have perished in one indiscriminate slaughter; but they per- ished not in vain! The ferocious tyrant has purchased his triumph over one little band of heroes at a costly price; and a few such victories would bring down speedy ruin upon himself. Let us, therefore, fellow citizens, take courage from this glorious disaster; and while the smoke from the funeral piles of our bleeding and burn- ing brothers ascends to heaven, let us implore the aid of an incensed God, who abhors iniquity, who ruleth in righteousness and will avenge the oppressed. ' ' While Santa Anna was operating against San An- tonio de Bexar, Urrea in obedience to orders moved along the coast, meeting with but little resistance from parties sent out for the assistance of families removing to places of safety. In all encounters he was successful and captured many small parties, all of whom he in- variably put to death. Colonel Fannin, having depleted his force by sending out detachments, finding that Ur- rea was moving upon Goliad with greatly superior num- bers, attempted a retreat, was surrounded and compelled AND MEXICAN WAR. 21 to surretider. He was taken back to Goliad , where were finally assembled about 400 prisoners. These were all cruelly put to death with the exception of a fortunate few, who escaped. These butcheries were made under orders of Santa Anna in accordance, as he afterwards declared, with a law of the supreme government. Inas- much as he was at that time substantially the govern- ment, he was therefore not exculpated; and the massacre of Fannin and his companions in arms stamps with in- famy the government of Mexico and all officers con- cerned in the act. From the hour that the fate of Travis and Fannin and their brave comrades became known, a spirit was awakened among the hardy population of the west which would never have slumbered while a Mexican soldier remained east of the Rio Grande. It was this which led to a rapid influx of Americans into Texas; and though they were not required to secure her independence, they aided in strengthening the military resources of the na- tion, and thus discouraged the Mexicans from making any further systematic attempts to subdue the country, The barbarities of the Mexicans also excited sympathy throughout the United States, and thus largely prepared the way for the entrance of Texas into the American Union. But Santa Anna entertained no sentiments of sym- pathy for the sufferings or wrongs inflicted upon the Texans. On the contrary, he was highly elated with the success which had followed his campaigns; and, under the impression that the people would make no further resistance, he began to apportion his forces to different quarters for taking complete military posses- sion of Texas. One division was sent to San Felipe de 22 HISTORY OF TEXA^ Austin, another to Goliad, and a third to the post of Nacogdoches near the American frontier. Believing that his presence in the country was not necessary, he made preparations to turn the, com.mand over to General Filsola and start on the istof April for the City of Mexico. He, however, abandoned for a time his own departure and the movement of his forces, that he might pursue and dispose of the last remaining Texan army, which, under the command of General Houston, was concentrating near the head of Galveston Bay. In due time he drew near to this last force of the enemy, and after some skirmishing the two armies con- fronted each other on the banks of the San Jacinto, on the 2oth of April, and encamped for the night. About 9 o'clock on the morning of the 21st, General Cos re-en- forced Santa Anna, bringing his numbers up to nearly 1600 men, while Houston had 783. At 3:30 o'clock Houston ordered a parade of his forces, having previ- ously destroyed the bridges on the only road to the Brazos, thus cutting off escape for the Mexicans should they be defeated. The troops paraded with alacrity and spirit. The disparity in numbers increased their en- thusiasm and heightened their anxiety for the conflict. The order of battle being formed, the calvary, sixty-one in number, commanded by Colonel Mirabeau B. I^amar, moved to the front of the enemy's left, for the purpose of attracting their attention, while the main body ad- vanced rapidly in line, the artillery consisting of two six pounders, taking station within 200 yards of the enemy's breastwork. With the exception of the cannon, which vigorously discharged grape and canister, not a gun was fired by the Texans until they were within close range AND MEXICAN WAR. 23 of the enemy's lines, when the war cry, ^'Remember the Alamo!'' was raised. The inspiration of that cry, the memory of the death of their comrades, and the fact that the murderers were now before them, increased their zeaB and courage to a frenzy. They rushed in one desperate charge upon the enemy's works, and after a conflict of twenty minutes gained entire possession of the encamp- ment with the artillery, colors, camp equipage, stores and baggage. Such was the suddenness, desperation and violence of the onset that the Mexicans were panic- stricken, and in dismay threw down their arms and fled in confusion. The Texan cavalry fell upon the fugitives and cut them down by platoons. Never was a route more total or a victory more complete. The whole Mexican army was annihilated. Scarcely a single soldier es- caped. Of nearly 1600 men who commenced the action, 630 were killed, 208 wounded, and 730 captured; while of the Texans only eight were killed, and seventeen wounded. On the next day Santa Anna, disguised as a common soldier, was made prisoner while hiding in the timber. Not knowing his name, his captors at hi-s request conveyed him to General Houston, who had been wounded in the ankle, and was slumbering on a blanket at the foot of a tree, with his saddle for a pillow. Santa Anna approached, pressed his hand (giving, it is said, the grip of a world-wide secret order) and an- nounced himself as president of the Mexican republic and commander-in-chief of the army. By Houston's de- sire he seated himself on a medicine chest, but was greatly agitated. Some opium having been given him at his request, he swallowed it and appeared more com- posed. He then said to Houston, "You were born to no 24 HISTORY* OF TEXAS ordinary destiny; you have conquered the Napoleon of the West." As far as his having in custody the president and absolute dictator of Mexico was concerned, he spoke the truth. Santa Anna in his person was the embodiment of the Mexican national government, and his will was law. He deposed governors and installed rulers, he subverted the constitution and substituted his own de- crees, and none dared to deny his authority or dictation, but Mexican historians call him Napoleon the Little. Now he was in the hands of the survivors cf the Texan army, a part of which he had murdered without restraint of conscience or law, and the question which agitated his mind was, what was to be his fate. The same ques- tion was raised among the Texan soldiers, and the unanimous verdict was, "Let him be put to death as a barbarous monster who has forfeited a thousand lives. ' ' Only one man stood up against the execution of the sentence so universally pronounced, and that was Gen- eral Houston, who, while he approved the justice of the sentence, nevertheless had in view motives of policy and a wish to serve the state. It was only by the exer- cise of extraordinary firmness on his part that the life of the prisoner was spared. After due deliberation the general agreed upon an armistice with his prisoner, whereby all Mexican troops in Texas were to retire. The leniency shown Santa Anna came near disrupting the Texan army, ar. 1 a stop was put to the plan of sending the captive president back to Mexico, in accordance with the terms of the armistice. In the meantime President Burnett arrived at the camp, and a convention was held between those two AND MEXICAN WAR. 25 presidents, one representing Mexico and the other Texas. On the 14th of May, 1836, it was stipulated that hOvStilities were immediately to cease between Mexican and Texan troops. The Mexican army was to retire be- yond the Rio Grande; prisoners were to be exchanged; and Santa Anna was to be sent to Vera Cruz as soon as should be thought proper. On the same day a treaty was signed by the two presidents, stipulating that the Mexican cabinet should receive a mission from Texas; that a treaty of amity and commerce should be estab- lished between the two republics; that the Texan terri- tory should not extend beyond the Rio Grande; and that the immediate embarkation of Santa Anna for Vera Cruz should be provided for; "his prompt return being indispensable for the purpose of effecting his engage- ments." The release of Santa Anna was, however, still opposed and hindered by the army, and it was not until December that General Houston, then become president, sent him out of the country by way of the United States. Santa Anna had previously written to President Jackson expressing his willingness to fulfill his stipula- tions with the Texan authorities, and requesting his mediation. On the i6th of December Santa Anna reached Washington, where he held secret conferences with the executive, and on the 26th of the same month left'the city, being furnished by President Jackson with a ship of war to convey him to Vera Cruz, where he ar- rived on the 20th of February following, just ten months after his capture. He, true to his perfidious nature, im- mediately addressed a letter to the minister of war, wherein he disavowed all treaties and stipulations what- ever, as conditional to his release, and declared that rather than have made any he would have suffered a 26 HISTORY OF TEXAS thousand deaths. The Mexican congress had on the 2oth of May by a decree suspended the presidential authority of Santa Anna while he was a prisoner, and had given information of the same to the government oi the United States. The battle of San Jacinto gave peace to Texas, and the rank of an independent state among the nations oi the earth. On the 3d of March, 1837, her independence was recognized by the United States. This was followed by recognition and treaties on the part of France in 1839, and on the part of England in 1840. Mexico, however, still maintained a hostile attitude towards her; and by repeated threats of invasion kept alive the martial spirit of the Texans, but no serious attempt was ever made to restore Mexican authority in that state. All attempts on the part of Texas to establish treaty relations with Mexico were fruitless until 1840, when the latter so far abated her opposition as to receive a Texan agent, and permit him to submit the basis of a treaty; but on the restoration of Santa Anna to power, in 1 84 1, Mexico again assumed a war-like attitude, de- claring to the world that she would not vary her posi- tion " 'till she planted her eagle standard on the banks of the Sabine." From the independence of Texas to the time when she became a state in the American Union, as many in- vasions of Mexico by Texan troops were attempted as were made or projected by the Mexicans into the terri- tory of the lyone Star state, but in each case they were fruitless of national results. When Texas, sxDon after the battle of San Jacinto, asked the United States to recognize her independence, it was with the avowed design of treating immediately AND MEXICAN WAR. 27 for the transfer of her territory to the American Union. The opinions of President Jackson as expressed by mesr sage to congress were, that it woukl be unwise, as it might, however unjustly, subject the United States tc the imputation of seeking to establish the claim of hei neighbor to a territory with a view to its subsequent acquisition by herself. He therefore advised that no steps be taken until the lapse of time, or the course oi events should have proved beyond cavil, or dispute the ability of the Texan people to maintain their separate sovereignty, and the government constituted by them. During the presidency of Mr. Van Buren in 1837, another and more formal proposition was made by the Texan envoy at Washington to secure annexation. But the president earnestly and successfully resivSted any favorable action thereon. There was serious antagon- istic action taken in several of the states against annexa- tion, and the people of Texas were not by any means a unit in its favor. But in the presidential election held in the United States in 1844, the question of the annexa- tion of Texas was in issue, and the matter was favorably determined by the election of Mr. Polk, who had earnestly approved the measure. The congresses of both nations having taken proper .steps to that end, the act of union took place, and in 1845 Texas became a state in the American Union. As Texas was actually independent, that independ- ence carried with it all the rights and privileges of sovereignty, and she was as capable of disposing of herself by treaty as the most independent nation is of transferring to another power any part of its territory. That the United States, in its sovereign capacity, had an undoubted right to enter into the treaty of 28 HISTORY OF TEXAS annexation, notwitiistanding the remonstrances of Mexico, and that as between the United States and Mexico all this furnished no just ground of complaint on the part of the latter is clearly set forth in Marten's "Law of Nations," pp. 23-4: "All that is required for a state or nation to be entirely free and sovereign is that it must govern itself and acknowledge no legislative superior but God. If it be totally independent, it is sovereign;" and p. 79: "A foreign nation does not appear to violate its perfect obligations, nor to deviate from the principles of neutrality, if it treats as an inde- pendent nation people who haye declared and still maintain themselves independent." History abounds with examples in which revolted provinces have been acknowledged and treated as sovereign states by other nations, long before they were recognized as such by the states from which they re- volted. Mexico herself, which was recognized as inde- pendent by the United States in 1821, stood in the view of Spain as a revolted province up to 1836, the year of Texan independence, when the fact of her separate existence as a nation was finally assented to by the Spanish government. Notwithstanding these legal maxims and facts Mexico by her minister at Washington, said, "The Mexican government is resolved to declare war as soon as it receives intimation of such an act" — annexation of Texas. The annexation being consum- mated, it became the right and duty of the United States to provide for the defense of her new frontier, and especially as she was informed that Mexico would make war upon her. The cause of the war was the annexa- tion of Texas and not the entrance of General Taylor AND MEXICAN WAR. 29 upon the territory between the Nueces and the Rio Grande as urged by some historians. That the Rio Grande was the true boundary of the newly acquired state is sustained by the facts, that it was so set forth in the Texan Declaration of Independence; that it was sustained by the success of the revolution; that it was so confirmed by the treaty with Santa Anna, which TREATY was ratifcd and signed by Filsola, then in command of the Northern Mexican army, and that Filsola was authorized by letter from the Mexican president ad interim to do whatever should be necessary to procure the release of Santa Anna and to save his troops and munitions of war. The obligations and benefits of that treaty were mutual, Texas acquiring the independence of all the territory east of the Rio Grande; and Mexico saving the army and the life of her president. That Bustamente who succeeded Santa Anna as president repudiated the treaty, cuts no more figure than would similar action on the part of President Diaz to-day. The threats of Mexico to declare war, the hostile spirit manifested by her population and .the actual assembling of troops with the title "army of the North" and "army of invasion" on her northern frontiers, with the avowed object of reconquering the whole of Texas, devolved the duty upon the ¥nited States to prepare for the threatened war on international principles as set forth by the above quoted author, page 273: "If a sovereign sees himself menaced with an attack, he may take up arms to ward off the blow, and may even commence the exerci.se of those violences that his enemy is preparitig to exercise against him without being chargeable with having begun an offen- 30 HISTORY OF TEXAS sive war;" and page 369: "The justificative reasons of a war show that an injury has been received, or so far threatened as to authorize a prevention of it by arms." It has been charged that the Anglo-American settlers of Texas emigrated to that country with the fraudulent design of eventually wresting it from Mexico and annexing it to the American Union; and.also that the United States countenanced the scheme and per- mitted armed bands from the states to join the Texan armies. Whatever of individual wish and intention may have existed as to a final transfer of the territory of Texas to the United States by revolution or otherwise, certainly no concerted action was had until, in violation of both constitutional and statute law, and of personal rights on the part of the Mexican government against the settlers, a necessity was laid upon the inhabitants of Texas to resort to the last right to which oppressed people are by nature entitled — revolution: and when the issues were made up, the case as presented to the world made it a virtue for nations possessed of common humanity to act upon international law as presented in Vattel's "I^aw of Nations," page 218: "When a people from good reasons take up arms against an oppressor, justice and generosity require that brave men should be assisted in the defense of their liberties. When, there- fore, a civil war is kindled in a state, foreign powers may assist that party which appears to them to have justice on its side." Also Marten's "lyaw of Nations," page 80: "Any sovereign prince has a right to lend assistance to the party whom he believes to have justice on his side. ' ' AND MEXICAN WAR. 31 There are no facts, however, to prove that the American govern me fi^ as such countenanced the revolu- tion, although it may be admitted with philanthropic pride that thousands of American citizens warmly sympathized with the revolutionists, and as individuals gave them much aid and comfort. They aided Texas as they had before aided Mexico in her just revolution. But the g-oz'ern men i sent an armed force to the Texan frontier to enforce neutrality. During her time of independent national existence the office of chief magistrate of Texas was held as fol- lows: David Burnett appointed provisional president in 1836. Sam Houston president from 1836 to 1838. Mirabeau B. Lamar from 1838 to 1840. David Burnett from 1840 to 1842. Sam Houston from 1842 to 1844. Anson Jones from 1844 to date of annexation to the United States. CHAPTER IV, Mkxican War, — 1845 to 1847. Mexico Inaugurates War — GeneraIv Taylor Com- mands THE American Army — Marches to the Rio Grande — Hostilities — Battles op Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma — Call for Vol- unteers — Monterey Surrenders — Santa Fe Captured — California Occupied — Chihuahua Captured — General Winfield Scott and Plan OF Campaign — Victory at Buena Vista: IN ACCORDANCE with the warlike policy of Mexico, Mr. Almonte, the Mexican minister at Washington, immediately after the resolution of annexation had passed the American congress, protested against the measure which he declared Mexico would regard as an act of warlike aggression to be resisted by all means within her power, demanded his passports and returned home. On the 4th of July, 1845, Texas assented to the terms of the resolution of annexation; and expecting that Mexico would carry her threats of war into execu- tion, requested the president of the United States to occupy the ports of Texas and send an army to the de- fense of her territory. Accordingly, an American squadron was sent to the gulf of Mexico, and General Taylor then in command at Camp Jessup, in the western part of Eouisiana, was ordered to the southern part of AND MEXICAN WAR. 33 Texas. By the advice of the Texan authorities he located at Corpus Christi, where by the beginning of August he had an army of about 4,000 men. On the 13th of January, 1S46, when it was believed that the Mexicans were assembling troops on their northern frontiers with the avowed object of re-conquer- ing Texas, and when such information had been re- ceived from Mexico as rendered it probable, if not certain, that she would refuse to receive Mr. Slidell, the envoy, whom the United States had sent to negotiate a settlement of the difficulties between the two countries, General Taj-lor was ordered to advance his forces to the Rio Grande, the southern and the western boundary of Texas. Aside from the acts specified there already existed serious causes for complaints, and in his message to congress in 1837, President Jackson declared that they would justify, in the eyes of all nations, immediate war. Ever since Mexico had been a republic she had proved to be a despoiling and unjust neighbor. Civil wars had impoverished her treasury and her authorities had replenished it b}^ confiscating the property of Americans upon land and in the gulf of Mexico. After continued remonstrance for years a treaty was entered into in 1831, adjustment for damages agreed upon and promises made for payment. Notwithstand- ing this agressions continued, and in 1840 the aggregate amount of American property which had been unlaw- fully seized by Mexicans, was more than six millions of dollars. Eighteen changes had taken place in Mexico in the office of chief magistrate, impoverishment and dis- honesty had delayed payment and administrations were 34 HISTORY OF TEXAS unwilling to assume obligations of their overthrown predecessors, and so the claims remained unsettled when the annexation of Texas took place and peaceful relations between the United States and Mexico were suspended by act of the Mexican administration. On the 8th of March the advance column of the army under General Twiggs was put in motion, and on the 28th of the same month General Taylor, after having established a depot at^Point Isabel, twenty-one miles in his rear, took his position on the northern bank of the Rio Grande, where he hastily erected a fortress called Fort Brown, v^'iLliin cannon shot of Matamoras. On the 26tli of April the Mexican general, Ampudia, gave notice to General Taylor that he considered hostili- ties commenced and should prosecute them, and on the same day a company of American dragoons commanded by Captain Thornton, was attacked while making a reconnoisance thirty miles above Fort Brown, on the American side of the Rio Grande, when sixteen were killed and wounded and the remainder were captured. This was the commencement of actual hostilities — the first blood shed in the war, although Colonel Trueman Cross, cf the quartermaster department, had been mur- dered a few days before by a party of Mexican guer- rillas. The movements of the enemy, who had crossed the river above Matamoras, seeming to be directed toward an attack on Point Isabel to cut off the Americans from their base of supplies, caused General Taylor to move to that place on the ist of May with his principal force, leaving a small command to defend Fort Brown. After having garrisoned the depot, on the 7th of May General Taylor set cut on his return. At noon the next day the AND MEXICAN WAR. 35 Mexican ami)-, numbering about 6,000 men, with seven pieces of artillery was discovered near Palo Alto, drawn up in battle array across the prairie through which the advance led. The Americans, only 2,300 in nvimber, advanced to the encounter, and after an action of about five hours, which was sustained mostly by the artillery, drove the enemy from their position and encamped upon the field of battle. The Mexican loss was about 100 killed, that of the Americans but four killed and forty wounded, but among those mortally wounded was the distinguished Major Ringgold of the artillery. At 2 o'clock in the afternoon of the next da)' the American army again advanced, and after a march of two hours came up with the enemy, who had taken a strong position in a ravine called the Resaca de la Palma, three miles from Fort Brown. The action was commenced on both sides by the artillery, but the Mexi- can guns commanded by General La Vega were in a better position for effectiveness than at Palo Alto," and their fire was very severe. An order to dislodge them was gallantly executed by Captain May at the head of a squadron of dragoons which, charging throvigh a storm of grape shot, broke the ranks of the enemy, killed or dispersed the Mexican artillerymen and took General La Vega prisoner. The charge was supported by the infantry, the whole Mexican line was routed and the enemy fled in confusion, abandoning their guns and a quantity of ammunition; and when night closed in over the scene not an armed Mexican was to be found north of the Rio Grande. The next day the army took up its former position at F^ort Brown, w^hich had sus- tained with little loss an almost uninterrupted bombard- ment of seven days from the Mexican batteries in Mata- 36 HISTORY OF TEXAS moras; nevertlieless, the army mourned the death of Major Brown, its gallant defending commander. The news of these encounters produced the greatest excitement throughout the Union; it was not doubted that Mexico would receive a severe chastisement and a war spirit, unknown before to exist, heralded in antici- pation a series of victories and conquests, terminating only in the "Halls of the Montezumas." The presi- dent In a message to congress declared that "Mexico had invaded our territory and shed the blood of our fellow-citizens on our own soil," and congress adopting the spirit of the message, after declaring that war ex- isted "by act of the republic of Mexico," authorized the president to accept the services of 50,000 volunteers and placed $10,000,000 at his disposal. The call for volunteers was responded to by the prompt tender of the services of more than 300,000 men, who seemed to anticipate a march to the Mexican capital in the ranks of a conquering army, but as a pleasant pastime or a holiday excursion. Most of the summer of 1846 was occupied by the government in preparations for the invasion of Mexico from several directions at the same time. A force of about 23,000 men was sent into the field, the largest part of which, placed under the command of General Taylor, was to advance from Matamoras into the enemy's country in the direction of Monterey. General Wool, at the head of about 3,000 men, concentrated at San Antonio de Bexar, was to march upon Chihuahua, while General Kearney with a force of about 1,700 men was to march from Fort lycaven worth upon Santa Fe, the capital of New Mexico. The difiiculty attending the removal of supplies AND MEXICAN WAR. 37 from New Orleans which was his base, made it im- possible for General Taylor to commence operations actively until the latter part of August. But with his accustomed energy he appeared on the 19th of Septem- l)^'r before Monterey with 6,600 men, having garrisoned his line of communications. Monterey, the capital of Generai^ TAY1.0R. New Leon, was a city of about 15,000 inhabitants, strong in its natural defenses and garrisoned by about 10,000 troops, regular and irregular, under the com- mand of General Ampudia. On the morning of the 21st the attack was com- 38 HISTORY OF TEXAS menced, whicli was continued with great spirit during the day, with the important results of getting possession of the enemy's line of retreat and the capture of two strong forts in the rear of the city. The assault was continued the next day, when the bishop's palace, a strong position and the only remaining fortified height in the rear cj; the town, was gallantly carried by the troops under General Worth, who was in command of operations in the rear of the city. On the morning of the 23d the lower part of the city was stormed by Gen- eral Quitman, the troops slowly advancing by digging through the adobe and stone walls of the houses. In the same manner General Worth's troops ap- proached the center, and by night the enemy was con- fined chiefly to the plaza or central square of the city and to the citadel, a strong and scientifically constructed work on the north of the place. Early on the morning of the 24th the Mexican general submitted propositions which resulted in the surrender and evacuation of Monterey and an armistice of eight weeks, or until in- structions should be received from either of the re- spective governments. In obedience to orders received from Washington, General Taylor on the nth of November gave notice to the Mexican general that hostilities would be renewed on the 13th instant, and about the middle of the month Saltillo, the capital of the state of Coahuila, was occu- pied by the division of General Worth. I^ate in Decem- ber General Patterson took possession of Victoria, the capital of Tamaulipas, while about the same time the port of Tampico was captured by Commodore Perry. In the meantime General Wool, after crossing the Rio Grande, finding his march to Chihuahua in that AND MEXICAN WAR. 39 direction, impeded by the lofty and unbroken range of the Sierra Madre, had turned south and joined General Worth at Saltillo; while General Kearney, somewhat earlier in the season, after having performed a march of nearly 1,000 miles across the wilderness, had made himself master of Santa Fe and all of New Mexico with- out opposition. After General Kearney had established a new government in New Mexico, on the 25th of September he departed from Santa Fe, at the head of 400 dragoons, for the California settlements of Mexico, bordering on the Pacific ocean. But after having pro- ceeded 300 miles and learning that California was already in the hands of the Americans, he sent back all of his force but 100 men and pursued his way across the continent. In the early part of December a part of General Kearney's command that had marched with him from the east, set out from Santa Fe on a southern expedi- tion, expecting to form a junction with General Wool at Chihuahua. This force, numbering about 900 men, was commanded by General Doniphan, and its march of more than 1,000 miles through an enemy's country, from Santa Fe to Saltillo, is one of the most brilliant achievements of the war. During the march this com- mand fought two battles against vastly superior forces, and in each defeated the enemy. The battle of Bracito, fought on Christmas da}', opened an entrance into the town of El Paso, while that of the Sacremento, fought on the 2Sth of February, 1847, secured the surrender of Chihuahua, a city of great wealth, and containing more than 40,000 inhabitants. While these events were transpiring on the eastern borders of the republic, the Pacific coast had become 40 HIS TOR V OF TEXAS the scene of military operations, less brilliant, but more important in their results. In the early part of June, 1846, Captain Fremont, of the topographical engineers, while engaged at the head of about sixty men in explor- ing a southern route to Oregon, having been first threatened with an attack by De Castro, the Mexican governor on the California coast, and learning after- wards that the governor was preparing an expedition against the American settlers near San Francisco, raised the standard of opposition to the Mexican government in California. After having defeated in various engagements several greatly superior Mexican forces, on the 4th of July Fremont and his companions declared the inde- pendence af California. A few days later Commodore Sloat, having previously been informed of the com- mencement of hostilities on the Rio Grande, hoisted the American flag at Monterey. In the latter part of July Commodore Stockton ' assumed the command of the Pacific squadron, soon after which he took possession of San Diego, and in conjunction with Fremont entered the city of Los Angeles without opposition; and on the 22d of August, 1846, the whole of California was in the undisputed military possession of the United States. In December following, soon after the arrival of General Kearney from his overland expedition, the Mexican inhabitants of California attempted to regain possession of the government, but the insurrection was soon sup- pressed. It has been stated heretofore that after the close of the armistice which succeeded the capture of Monterey, the American troops under General Taylor spread them- selves over Coahuila and Tamaulipas. In the mean- AND MEXICAN WAR. 41 time the plan of an attack on Vera Cruz, tlie principal Mexican port on the gulf, had been matured at Wash- ington,. and General Scott was sent out to take complete command of the army in Mexico. By the withdrawal of. most of the regulars under General Taylor's com- mand for the attack on Vera Cruz, the entire force of the Northern American army, extending from Mata- moras to Monterey and Saltillo, was reduced to about 10,000 volunteers and a few companies of the regular artillery and cavalry, while at the same time the Mexi- can general, Santa Anna, was known to be at San Luis Potosi, at the head of 22,oooof the best troops in Mexico, prepared to oppose the further progress of General Tajdor or to advance upon him in his own quarters. In the early part of Februarj^ 1847, General Taylor, after leaving adequate garrisons in Monterey and Sal- tillo, proceeded with about 5,000 men to Agua Nueva, where he rem.ained until the 21st of the month, when the advance of Santa Anna, with his whole army, in- duced him to fall back to Buena Vista, a very strong position a few miles in advance of Saltillo. Here the road runs north and south through a narrow defde, skirted on the west by impassable gullies, and on the cast by a succession of rugged ridges and precipitous ravines which extend back nearly to the mountains. On the elevated plateau or table-land forn:ed by the con- centration of these ridges, General Taylor drew up his little army, numbering in all 4,759 men, of whom only 453 were regular troops; and here on the 22d of February he was confronted by the entire Mexican army, then numbering, according to Santa Anna's official report, about 17,000 men, but stated by him in 42 HISTORY OF TEXAS his demand for the surrender of the Americans to be 20,000. On the morning of the next day, the 23d of Febru- ary, the enemy began the attack with great impetuosity; but the resistance was as determined as the assault, and after a hard fought battle, which was continued during the greater part of the day, the Mexican force was driven in disorder from the field, with a loss of more than 1,500 men. The American loss in killed, wounded and miss- ing was 746. Among these twenty-eight officers were killed on the field. This important victory broke up the army of Santa Anna, and by effectually securing the frontier of the Rio Grande, allowed the Americans to turn their whole attention and strength to the great enterprise of the campaign, the- capture ( f Vera Cruz and the march thence to the Mexican capital. CHAPTER V. 1848. Scott Captures Vera Cruz — Battle of Cerro Gordo — Perote Surrenders — Puebla Occupied — Depletion op Army — Re-enforced — "On, ' ' to Mexico — First View op City — Detour to Solid Ground — Battles of Contreras and Churubus- co — Armistice — Fruitless Efforts for Peace — Battle op Molino del Rey — Storming op Cha- PULTEPEC — The City Occupied — Peace — Num- bers OP Army and Navy — lyOSSES — Bivouac op THE Dead. ON THE 9th of March, 1847, General Winfield Scott, in command of an army of 12,000 men, landed without opposition a short distance south of Vera Cruz in full view of the city and the renowned castle of San Juan d'Ulua. On the 12th the investment of the city was completed; on the i8th the trenches were opened, and on the 2 2d the first batteries began their fire at the distance of 800 yards from the city. From the 2 2d until the morning of the 26th almost one continued roar of artillery prevailed, the city and castle batteries answering to those of the besiegers, and the shells and shot were rained upon the devoted town with terrible activity, and with an awful destruction of life and prop- erty. At length, just as arrangements had been made for an assault, the governor of the city made overtures for surrender. On the night of the 27th the articles of 44 HISTORY OF TEXAS capitulation were signed, and on the 2gth the American flag was unfurled over the walls of the city and castle. The way was now open for the march towards the Mexican capital, and on the 8th of April General Twiggs was sent forward, leading the advance, on the Jalapa road. But Santa Anna, although defeated at Buena Vista, had raised another army, and with 12,000 men had strongly intrenched himself on the heights of Cerro Gordo, which completely commanded the only road which leads through the mountains into the in- terior. General Twiggs reached this position on the 12th, but it was not until the morning of the i8th, when the commander-in-chief and the whole army had arrived, that the daring assault was made. Before noon of that day every position of the enemy had been stormed in succession, and 3,000 prisoners had been taken, together with forty pieces of bronze artillery, 5,000 stand of arms, with other munitions and materials of war. On the day following the battle the army entered Jalapa, and on the 22d the strong castle of Perote sur- rendered without resistance with its vast armament and munitions of war. On the 15th of May the advance under General Worth entered the ancient and renowned city of Puebla; anr' when the entire army had been concentrated there, in the very heart of Mexico, so greatly had it been reduced by sickness, deaths, and the expiration of terms in the volunteer service, that it was found to number only 5,000 effective men. With this small force it was impossible to keep open a communi- cation with Vera Cruz, and the army was left for a time to its own resources, until the arrival of supplies and re- enforcements enabled it to march upon the Mexican capital. AND MEXICAN WAR. 45 At length, on the 7th of August, General Scott, having increased his effective force to nearly 1 1 ,000 men, in addition to a moderate garrison left at Puebla, commenced his march from the latter place to the capi- tal of the republic. On the third day of their march they reached the pass of Rio Frio, forty-five miles dis- tant from theCity of Mexico. This was the highest point of their line of march, being 10,120 feet above the ocean. At this point the army had anticipated resistance, and indeed some defensive works had been commenced. But their abandonment left the road to the capital un- obstructed. A march of a few miles further and the army passed over the highest crest of the mountains; and one of the most splendid scenes of the world opened upon the eyes of the weary soldiers. The whole vast plain of Mexico was before them. The coldness of the air, their fatigue and danger were forgotten, and their eyes were the only sense that had enjoyment. Mexico with its lofty towers and superabundance of domes, its bright reality and its former fame, its modern splendor and its ancient mag- nificence, was before them; while around on every side its multitude of lakes seemed like silver stars embla- zoned upon a velvet mantle. On the nth the advanced division under General Twiggs reached Ayotla fifteen miles from the city. A direct march to the capital by the national road had been contemplated, but the route in that direction presented, from the nature of the ground and the strength of the fortifications, almost insurmountable dif- ficulties; and an approach by way of Chalco and San Augustin, by passing around Lakes Chalco and Xochi- jjjilco, to the south, was thought more practicable, and 46 HISTORY OF TEXAS on the 1 8th the entire army had succeeaed in reaching San Augustin, ten miles south of the city, where arrangements were made for final operations. The City of Mexico, situated near the western bank of lyake Texcoco and surrounded by numerous canals and ditches, could be approached only by long, narrow causeways leading over impassable marshes, while the gates to which they conducted were strongly fortified. Beyond the causewa3's, commanding the outer ap- proaches to the city, were the strongly fortified posts of Chapultepec and Churubusco and the batteries ot Con- treras and San Antonio, armed with nearly loo cannon and surrounded by grounds either marshy or so covered by volcanic rocks that they were thought by the enemy entirely impracticable for military operations. Seven thousand Mexican troops under General Valencia held the exterior defense of Contreras, whilJ Santa Anna had a force of nearly 25,000 men in the rear, pepared to lend his aid where most needed. On the afternoon of the 19th some fighting occurred in the vicinity of Contreras; and early on the morning of the next day the batteries of that strong position were carried by an impetuous assault, which lasted only seventeen minutes. In this short space of time less than 4,000 American troops had captured the most formidable entrenchments, within which were posted 7,000 Mexi-. cans. The post of San Antonio being flanked and un- supported was evacuated by its garrison, which was terribly cut up in the retreat. The fortified post of Churubusco, about four miles northeast from the heights of Contreras, was the next point of attack. Here nearly the entire army of the enemy was now concentrated, and here the great battle AND MEXICAN WAR. 47 of the day was fought; but on every part of the field the Americans were victorious, and the entire Mexican force was driven back upon the city, and upon the only remaining fortress of Chapultepec. Thus ended the battles of the memorable 20th of August, in which g,ooo GENERAt, vSCoTT. Americans, assailing strongly fortifitd positions, had vanquished an army cf 30,000 Mexicans. On the morning of the 21st while General Scott was about to take up battering positions, preparatory tc summoning the city to surrender, he received from the enemy propositions which terminated in the conclusion 48 HISTORY OF TEXAS of an armistice ior the purpose of negotiating a peace. With surprising infatuation the enemy demanded terms that were due only to conquerors; and on the 7th of September hostilities were recommenced. On the morn- ing of the 8th the Molino del Rey, or "King's Mill," and the Casa de Meta, the principal outer defenses of the fortress of Chapultepec, were stormed and carried by General Worth after a desperate assault, in which he lost one-fourth of his entire force. The reduction of the castle of Chapultepec itself, situated on an abrupt, rocky height 150 feet above the surrounding grounds, was a still more formidable under- taking. Several batteries were opened against this position on the 12th, and on the 13th the citadel and all its outworks were carried by storm; but not without very heavy loss to the American army. The battle was continued during the day on the lines of the great cause- ways before mentioned; and when night suspended the dreadful conflict one division of the American army rested in the suburbs of Mexico and another was actu- ally within the gates of the city. During the night which followed the army of Santa Anna and the officers of the national government aban- doned the city, and at 7 o'clock on the following morn- ing the American flag was proudly floating to the breeze above the walls of the national palace of Mexico. I'he American army had reached its destination. Our sol- diers had gained the objects of their toils and sufferings; and, as the fruit of many victories, were at last permitted to repose on their laurels, in the far-famed "Halls of the Montezumas. " Thus Mexico, the capital of the ancient Aztecs, the seat of the Spanish-American empire in America, had AND MEXICAN WAR. 49 passed from Aztec and from Spaniard to the Anglo- American, the bold, hardy, energetic, ingenious, invin- cible, ambitious and adventurous being, whose genius the forms of civilization cannot confine, and to whose dominion continents are inadequate. In what hour of time or limit of space shall this man of the moderns, this conqueror over land and seas, nations and governments, find rest in the completion of his mighty progress? Commencing his march in the cold regions of Scandinavia; no ice chilled his blood, no wilderness delaj-ed his footsteps, no labor wearied his industr}^ no arms arrested his march, no empire sub- dued his power. Over armies and over empires, over lands and over seas, in heat and cold, and wilderness and flood, amidst the desolations of death and the decays of disease, this north-man has moved on in might and majesty, steady as the footsteps of time, a-nd fixed as the decrees of fate. How singular, how romantically strange is this, — his wild adventure and marvelous conquest in the valley of valleys! How came the uorth-man and the Moorish Celt here to meet and here to battle, in this great Mexi- can valley? lyook at it! Inquire! Ask yourself how came they here! Are they the citizens by nature of this continent? Are they the aborigines of these wild and wonderful forests? Never! How came they then to be contending for the lands and groves of those whose children they are not? In the beginning of the sixteenth century Hernando Cortez landed on the coast; and at the head of Spanish troops marched on to the conquest of Mexico, over whose effeminate inhabitants the Spaniard for more than three centuries held undivided dominion. Not 50 HISTORY OF TEXAS many years after the Anglo Saxon landed on the coasts of the northern Atlantic. He, too, marched on to con- quest. The native citizens of the forest disappeared be- fore him. Forests, mountains and Indians were ineffectual to oppose him. From the banks of the St. lyawrence tolhe Sabine he is conqueror over nature and native. In the south the natives die or become slaves to the S,paniard. In the north they fade and perish before the Anglo- American. The one spreads his empire from the Gulf of Mexico to the far shores of California; the other from the At- lantic to the mountains and western coast of Oregon. Each extends over breadths of land and power of re- sources unknown to the empires of antiquity. Eygpt and her millions, with the famed valley of the Nile, fade before the broad magnificence, the mighty growth of these American empires. Kven the terrible and far-see- ing eagles of Rome grow dizzy and dim in their sight, as they look down from the summits of history upon these continental nations — these colossal giants of the modern world. And now this Spaniard and this north-man meet, in battle panoply, in this valley of volcanoes, by the an- cient graves of unknown nations, on the lava-covered soil where nature once poured forth her awe-inspiring flames, and the brave Aztecan once sung of glory and of greatness. Three centuries since these warrior nations had left their homes beyond the wide Atlantic. ' Two thousand miles from each other they planted the seats of their empire; and now, as if time in the moral world had completed another of its grand revolutions, they have met in mortal conflict. Like the EAGIvS and the VUI.TURE, who had long pursued different circles in the AND MEXICAN WAR. 51 heavens, and long made prey of the weak tenants of the air, their circles have been enlarged until they cross each other. They meet; they shriek; they fight. The victorious eagle bears the vulture to the earth and screams forth through the clouds his triumphant song of victory. The conquest of the Mexican capital was the finish- ing stroke of the war; and on the 2d of Februar}- follow- ing the terms of a treaty of peace were concluded upon b}^ the American commissioner and the Mexican govern- ment. This treat}^ after having received some modifi- cations from the American senate, was adopted by that body on the loth of March, and subsequently ratified by the Mexican congress on the 30th of May of the same year. The most important provisions of the treaty were those by which the United States obtained a large in- crease of territory, embracing that which was then known as New Mexico and Upper California. T^e boundary between the two countries was fixed in the center of the Rio Grande, up that stream to the southern boundary of New Mexico, thence westward, within pre- scribed limits, to the Pacific ocean. The free navigation of the Gulf of California and of the River Colorado was guaranteed to the United States. For the territory and privileges thus obtained the United States surrendered to Mexico "all castles, forts, territories, places and possessions" not embraced in the reded territories, agreed to pay Mexico $15,000,000 and to assume the liquidation of all debts due American citi- zens from the Mexican government. The land thus acquired was within a fraction of 750,000 square miles, which was thereby removed from 52 HISTORY OF TEXAS the policies and influences of Mexico and placed under those of the most liberal, free, progressive and happy government on the face of the earth. Who can assert that the establishing of American policies and principles firmly in Texas, and extending and maintaining them over New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, part of Colorado and all of California, has not minis tered to the welfare of mankind? What if they werr still under control of Mexico, or had passed to the dominion of any other nation, who could and would have limited the glorious destiny and beneficent in- fluence of our own country? When' America shall canonize her political saints, whose administrations and personal actions have brought glor}^, honor and profit to the commonwealth, Thomas Jefferson and his agents in France who oppor- tunely secured L,ouisiana will not deserve more brilliant crowns than will James K. Polk and his armed allies who secured Texas, New Mexico and California, upon which England had fixed a covetous eye, and for the loss of which she exacted better terms from the United States in the settlement of the question of the northern boundary of Oregon than would have been conceded had we not at the time been burdened with the Mexican contest. The American navy rendered very valuable services in the war with Mexico. The enemy had no navy, therefore there were no engagements upon the sea. But the blockade so effectually enforced by the skill and vigilance of the navy greatly contributed to the exclu- sion of food, munitions of war and even skilled officers and soldiers, which other nations would have willingly sent into Mexico but for the presence of the navy. The AND MEXICAN WAR. 53 effective action of the Pacific squadron has already been stated, and it consisted of three frigates and six other war vessels, carrying in all 275 guns. The gulf squadron under Commodore Perry num • bered seven ships of war, four steamers and one brig. On the 14th of November the fleet took possession of Tampico. In the same month Tuspan and Tabasco were captured. Both of these cities were well defended by Mexican troops and fortifications, and the latter place being about 100 miles up a narrow and crooked river with defenses, the navy had, severe fighting on both water and land, but accomplished the capture of all defenses and finished their work with great credit. In the assault upon Vera Cruz and San Juan d'Ulua the navy co-operated with the army on both land and water. STATlvSTlCvS Of the; Unitkd States Army Engaged in the Mexican War. The following tables show the number of regulars and volunteers, the number furnished by each state, and the total strength and losses of the army: REGUI.ARS. Original army in Texas, May, 1846 3,554 Number of recruits sent up to April i, 1848, .... 29,603 Total regulalars 33» I57 54 HISTORY OF TEXAS voi^unte;ers furnished by each state. Arkansas i ,423 Alabama 3,oi i California 558 Florida 323 Georgia 2 ,047 Indiana 4)47o Illinois 5,973 Iowa 229 Kentucky 4,800 Louisiana 7 ,448 Massacliusetts '. i ,047 Maryland and the District of Columbia i)330 Michigan 972 Missouri , 6,739 Mississippi 2,319 Mormons 585 New York 2,665 New Jersey 424 North Carolina 936 Ohio 4)694 Pennsylvania 2,464 Soutli Carolina i ,054 Tennessee 5.410 Texas 6,672 Virginia i ,303 Wisconsin 146 Total volunteers 69,042 THE NAVY. The number of officers, marines and enlisted sailors may not, in the ab3ence of complete statistics, be stated with accuracy; but more than 10,000 men contributed AND MEXICAN WAR. 55 to the conquest of Mexico, performing duty on ship- board as a part of the American navy, and are right- fully embraced in the number of combatants doing duty in the Mexican war, thus bringing the aggregate up to more than 1 10,000 in regulars, volunteers and the navy. The actual number in service in Mexico exceeded 80,- 000. This number was not called out at one time, but in successive periods. At the time that the war closed, the adjutant general of the army reported that there were actually more than 40,000 men in the field. Of this number 150 officers and 1,500 men died in battle or from wounds received there; 100 officers and 12,000 men perished by disease, always more fatal than shot or shell; and many more were ruined in health or disabled by wounds — in all about 25,000 men laid down their lives or sacrificed their health in the war. Of those who gave their lives on the battle field, or who died in hospitals, thousands lie in unmarked and unrecognizable graves, all along the routes of advance and around the captured cities in Mexico. In the American cemetery, located in the western suburbs of the City of Mexico, over 400 victims to shot, shell or disease, rest in one common grave, and over their remains their country has erected a monument which honors their place of sepulture. Among the chivalrous soldiers who fell at Buena Vista, and whose bodies were returned to their native states for sepulture, were Colonel McKee and lyieuten- ant Colonel Henry Clay, junior of Kentucky. The ceremonies of burial were made additionally impressive by the recital of the following poem, written by Theodore O'Harra for the occasion. 56 HISTORY OF TEXAS THE BIVOUAC OK THE DEAD. The muffled drum's sad roll lias beat The soldier's last tatto; No more on life's parade shall meet The brave and daring few. On fame's eternal camping ground Their silent tents are spread, And glory guards with solemn round The bivouac of the dead. No rumor of the foe's advance Now swells upon the wind; No troubled thought at midnight, haunts Of loved ones left behind; No vision of the morrow's strife The warrior's dream alarms; No braying horn or screaming fife At dawn shall call to arms. Their shivered swords are red with rust, Their plumed heads are bowed; Their haughty banner trailed in dust Is now their martial shroud. And plenteous funereal tears have washed The red stains from each brow. And their proud forms in battle gashed Are free from anguish now. The neighing steed, the flashing blade, The trumpet's stirring blast, The charge, the dreadful cannonade, The din and shout are past; Nor war's wild note nor glory's peal Shall thrill with fierce delight Those breasts that never more shall feel The rapture of the fight. AND MEXICAN WAR. 57 Like the fierce northern h-tirricane That sweeps the great plateau, Flushed with the victory yet to gain, Came down the serried foe. ' Who heard the thunder of the fray i Break o'er the field beneath, \ Knew well the watchword of the day | Was "Victory or death!" I i Full many a norther's breath has swept O'er Angostura's plain; ; And long the pitying sky has wept j Above its mouldered slain. The eagle's scream or raven's flight i Or shepherd's pensive lay I Alone now wake each solemn height | That frowned o'er that dread day. ' Sons of the "dark and bloody ground," Ye must not slumber there, Where stranger steps and tongues resound Along the heedless air. Your own proud land's heroic soil j Shall be your fitter grave. She claims from war her richest spoil— The ashes of the brave. ! I I So 'neath their parent turf they rest, ; Far from the gory field; ' Borne to the Spartan mother's breast On many a bloody shield; The sunshine of their native sky Smiles sadly on them here, And kindred eyes and hearts watch, by The heroes' sepulchre. 58 HISTORY OF TEXAS Rest on, embalmed and sainted dead. Dear as the blood ye gave! No impious footsteps here shall tread Tlie herbage of your grave; Nor shall your glory be forgot While Fame her record keeps, Or Honor points the hallowed spot Where Valor proudly sleeps. Yon marble minstrel's voiceful stone In deathless song shall tell, When mauy a vanished age hath flown, The story how ye fell. Nor wreck, nor change, nor w'nter's blight, or time's remorseless docm Shall dim one ray of holy light That gilds your glorious tomb. "TARS. . c: