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RECOLLECTIONS

OF

MEXICO

BY WADDY THOMPSON, ESQ.,
LATE ENVOY EXTRAORDINARY AND MINISTER PLENIPOTENTIARY
OF THE UNITED STATES AT MEXICO.

NEW YORK & LONDON.
WILEY AND PUTNAM.
1846.

Entered according to act of Congress in the year 1846, by
WILEY AND PUTNAM,
in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Southern District of New York.

R. Craighead's Power Preas T. B. Smith, Stereotyper,
112 Fulton Street. 216 William Street
-p ^ ^

TO THE HON. W. C. PRESTON.
My dear Preston ¦
I inscribe this volume to you in testimony of a friendship contracted
when we were room-mates in college, and which has continued to increase
until the shadows of evening begin to fall upon our path.
Faithfully your friend,
WADDY THOMPSON.

PREFACE

I have yielded with a good deal of reluctance to the importunities of
many of my friends in consenting to.devote the little leisure which is left
me from professional and other avocations, to writing the following
pages. No thought of such a thing ever occurred to me during my
residence in Mexico, or I should have supplied myself, as I had abundant
means of doing, with the materials for such a work. The book, there
fore, will be found to contain just what its title imports — " Recollections
and Desultory Dissertations." The reader must not expect the life and
freshness of a finished picture, but mere sketches and outlines — nor that
minute exactness of detail on many subjects which may be desirable,
although I believe that the sketches will be found to be generally accu
rate ; I can say in the words of an affidavit to an answer in chancery,
"that the facts stated as of my own knowledge are true, and those
stated on the information of others I believe to be true." I am not
sure, however, that a description of the customs, scenes, and peculiar
ities of a country is not generally the better for being written a year or
two after the writer has left it. The want of exactness in minute par
ticulars is compensated by the absence of a sometimes wearisome tedious-
ness of detail, and often of circumstances of interest only to the writer.
And it is perhaps also true that the general remembrance — a sort of
skeleton map which is left on the mind of the writer will give to the
reader a more accurate cou§ d'ceil of the country and all its peculiarities,
physical and social, than a more minute description. Before I went to
Mexico I sought in vain for some work which would give me some idea
of the society, manners, and customs of that unique, and, in a great de
gree, primitive people. This want has been since supplied. I could have

VI PREFACE.
dilated these sketches to an almost indefinite extent, but I have endeavored
to avoid tediousness and drivelling, and have therefore omited to notice
many things which at first struck me as very strange. I have visited
no other Catholic country ; but to one educated in the unostentatious
purity and simplicity of the Protestant religion, there is something very
striking in the pomp and pageantry of the Catholic ritual as it exists in
Mexico, and I must say something equally revolting in its disgusting
mummeries and impostures, which degrade the Christian religion into
an absurd, ridiculous, and venal superstition. If such things are not
practised in other Catholic countries, why, then the priests of Mexico
are alone responsible ; but if these things are not confined to Mexico, the
sooner and more generally they are exposed the better.
It is equally true of nations as of individuals, that those who are not
entirely assured of a well-established and unquestioned position, are
peculiarly sensitive to criticism, however kindly meant or respectfully
expressed. Of no people in the world is this more true than of the
Mexicans. They understand perfectly their true position in the estima
tion of the world, notwithstanding their characteristic vaunting and
gasconade. I think that it is generally true that men are most apt to
boast of qualities which they are conscious of not possessing. The
Mexican character has much that is good in it, but very much also that
is bad. In bearing testimony to the former, I cannot be silent as to the
latter — for indiscriminate praise is in its effects censure. My fault
has been much more that of extenuation than " setting down
aught in malice" — the latter would be impossible, for I was treated
with so much kindness by people of all classes, from the lepero in the
streets up to the President, that it would be a source of deep pain to me
to know that I had wantonly wounded the feelings of any one person in
the broad circumference of the Republic. I assure them in all sincerity
that I take a deep interest in their continued advances in the great
career of civil liberty, and their ultimate success in establishing Repub
lican institutions on a permanent basis. God grant them success, both
on their own account as well as for the great cause in which they have
so long, struggled, and under circumstances so discouraging.
THE AUTHOR.
February S, 1846.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.
Departure from New Orleans — Peak of Orizaba — St. Juan de Ulloa —
City of Vera Cruz — The Vomito— Condition of the Negro Popula
tion — Mexican system of Servitude — New Custom House — Mexican
and American contrasts  1
CHAPTER II.
Line of Stages between Vera Cruz and Mexico — Noble Disinterested
ness of an American Stage Driver — Vera Cruz to Jalapa — Miscel
laneous Hints — Property of Santa Anna in Jalapa — Great beauty
of its situation — Perote  10
CHAPTER III.
Route to Puebla — Cultivation of the Soil — The Maguey — Pulque — Pri
mitive Plough — Indifference to Agricultural Wealth — Robbers on
the Road — Execution by the Garote — Gaming an Incentive to Rob
bery — Singular Story of a Robber  15
CHAPTER IV.
Puebla the Lowell of Mexico — Obstacles to Manufactures — City of
Cholula — Incredibility of Cortes' Narrative— First sight of the Val
ley of Mexico — Description of the Valley — Neglect of resources in
the supply of the Capital — Arrieros  27
CHAPTER V.
The City of Mexico— The Palace— Cathedral— Wealth of the Church-
Masses, a Productive System of Revenue — The Streets and Build
ings of Mexico — Curious Position of Stables — Inundations of the City 37
CHAPTER VI.
Early visit to Mr. Kendall, of the Santa Fe Expedition — Death of
the wife of Santa Anna— Presentation to Santa Anna — Historical
Sketch — Career of Santa Anna — Victoria  51

Vlll CONTENTS.
CHAPTER VII.
Official and Private Intercourse with Santa Anna — Santa Anna's First
Interview with General Jackson — His Explanation of the Massacre
of the Alamo — Decimation of the Prisoners of Mier — Anecdotes of
Gratitude and Humanity in Santa Anna — Character of Santa Anna. 66
CHAPTER VIII.
Public Characters of Mexico — M. Bocanegra — Triqueros — Tornel —
Paredes— Valencia— Count Cortina — Bustamente — Gomez Farrias —
Almonte — Cuevas, the Archbishop of Mexico  82
CHAPTER IX.
Public Release of Texian Prisoners — General spirit of Kindness to
them — Their Work in the Public Streets — Anecdotes of Virtue and
Disinterestedness on the part of the Prisoners  92
CHAPTER X.
Catholic Ceremonies — Procession of the Host — Corpus Christi Day —
Our Lady of Remedies — Connection of the Image with the early
History of Mexico — Present state of its Worship  101
CHAPTER XI.
Religious Drama — " Mystery" of the Nativity — The Virgin of Guada-
loupe — Sincerity of Mexican Churchmen exhibited in a Scene of
Penance — Morality of the Clergy  110
CHAPTER XII.
The Museum — Old Indian Weapons at the period of the Conquest —
Hieroglyphics— Armor of Cortes — Journal of Bernal Diaz — Pedro
de Alvarado — The Stone of Sacrifice  H6
CHAPTER XIII.
The New Theatre — Market — Alameda — The Paseo — Aqueducts — Wa
ter Carriers — Drones — Great National Pawn Shop — A Necklace of
Pearls — Four Diamond Rings — Anecdotes of a Revolutionary country 125
CHAPTER XIV.
Gambling Festival of St. Augustin— Cock-fighting— Anecdotes of
Mexican Honesty— Visit to the city of Tezcuco— Mexican Horses
—Pyramids— Ruins— An Indian Inn— Extraordinary Ruin  132
CHAPTER XV.
Scientific Institutions-^Mineria— Academy of Fine Arts— Absence of
Benevolent Institutions— Health of the Climate — Freedom from
Intemperance— Fruits— Education of the Common People  132

CONTENTS. '* IX
CHAPTER XVI.
Diplomatic Position upon entering Mexico — Fellow Travellers —
Friendship with Englishmen — Aversion of Englishmen to General
Jackson  154
CHAPTER XVII.
Kindness and Courtesy — Society of Dinner Parties and Entertainments
— Mexican Ladies wanting in Beauty — Do not dance well— Charity —
Routine of daily Life — Costliness of Dress— In the Streets — Women
generally Smoke — A day in the Country  160
CHAPTER XVIII.
Congress of Deputies — Patriotism — The Army — Undisciplined Troops
— The Lasso, an Instrument of Warfare — Mexican and American
Cavalry — Mode of Recruiting the Army — Texian Conflicts with the
Mexicans  167
CHAPTER XIX.
Review of Mexican History since the Revolution — Provisions of the
Constitution of Tacubaya — Departments of Government — Powers
and Duties of the various Officers — Free Institutions without the
Spirit of Freedom  178
CHAPTER XX.
Want of Statistics — Census — Amount of Exports— Specie Exported
— Excessive Taxation — Taxes on Internal Commerce — Tobacco
Monopoly — Peculation — Table of Revenues— Dilapidation of the
large Estates  187
CHAPTER XXI.
Prohibition of Raw Cotton — Attempts to procure a Modification of this
Policy — Public Debt of Mexico — Mines of the Precious Metals —
Present Productiveness — Undeveloped Resources— Capacities of
Mexico if inhabited by the people of the United States  201
CHAPTER XXII.
Want of Navigable Streams in Mexico — Railroad from Vera Cruz to
Mexico — Valley of the Mississippi — Mineral and Vegetable Pro
ductions — Cotton — Rice— Wax — Silk — Manufactures of Cotton —
Mechanic Arts  205
CHAPTER XXIII.
A Miscellany Chapter — Three Lions of Mexico — Calendar Stone —
Burial Ground of Santa Maria — The Paseo — Santa Anna's Coach

X CONTENTS.
driven by an American — Reflections — Mexican Carriages — Costly
Equipage — Mexican Women on Horseback— The Theatre — The
Bull Fight — Mean Temperature— Character of the Mexicans, by
Clavigero  212
CHAPTER XXIV.
Adjustment of American Claims — Order for the Expulsion of Ameri
cans from California Rescinded — Various Negotiations — Anecdote
of Santa Anna's love of Cock-fighting  223
CHAPTER XXV
The California Question — Captain Suter's Settlement — Value of the
Country — Importance to the United States — English Influence in
Mexico — Annexation of Mexican Provinces to the United States —
Present Relations  232
Conclusion  242
APPENDIX.
Translation from the True History of the Conquest of New Spain, by
Bernal Diaz  252
Passage relating to General Victoria  274
The Execution of Morelos  277
Letter of General Jackson in Reference to a Texian Prisoner  279
Diplomatic Correspondence  ,  284

RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO.

CHAPTER I.
Departure from New Orleans — Peak of Orizaba — St. Juan de Ulloa — City
of Vera Cruz — The Vomito — Condition of the Negro Population — Mexi
can system of Servitude — New Custom House — Mexican and American
contrasts.
Not finding, on my arrival at New Orleans, the vessel
which had been ordered there to carry me to Vera Cruz;.
and aware of the deep and general interest which was
felt in the fate of the Texan prisoners of the Santa Fe"
Expedition, I determined to avail myself of the first con
veyance which presented itself. The revenue cutter
Woodbury was politely offered me by the Collector of
the port of New Orleans, which I gladly accepted. The
fine sailing qualities of this admirable little vessel, and the
kindness of its excellent and most skilful officers, Capt.
Nones and Lieutenants Faunce and Wilson, left me no
cause to regret this determination. We left New Orleans
on the 2d of April, 1842, and on the 9th were in sight of the
Peak of Orizaba : but, from adverse winds, and no winds at
all, we did not enter the harbor of Vera Cruz until the 10th,
when we anchored under the walls of the famous castle
of St. Juan de Ulloa. Few sights can be more grand and
imposing than the mountain of Orizaba, as seen from the
2

2 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [cHAP. I.
sea. The elevation of this mountain above the level of
the sea is, according to Humboldt, 17,400 feet. All above
the height of 15,092 feet is covered with' snow — for that
is the point at which, in that latitude, the region of perpetual
snow begins. Clavijero, who is in general to be relied
.upon, says that this mountain is without any doubt the highest
ppoint of the territory of Mexico ; but in this he is mistaken
— subsequent more accurate observations and calculations
ihave shown that Popocateptl, in the vicinity of the
icity of Mexico, has an elevation of 17,900 feet above the
level of the sea. Orizaba is a volcanic mountain. In the
year 1545 it emitted smoke and ashes ; but since that time
¦there has been no eruption of any sort. It is about fifty
mile.s from the coast, and may be seen at the distance of
one hundred and' fifty miles at sea. The first view which
I had of it was literally a glimpse, for it was difficult to
¦ distinguish the mountain from the clouds which surrounded
it. I can conceive of nothing which conveys more of the
sublime and beautiful than this lofty mountain, " with its
.diadem of snow," seen from on board a ship of war ; a
union of all the grandeur and sublimity of a lofty mountain
with the vastness and power of the ocean, and the symmetry
¦and beauty of one of the noblest structures of man.
The little island of St. Juan de Ulloa, which is entirely
•covered with the fortress, is some five or six hundred yards
from the mole at Vera Cruz, between which points all the
•commercial shipping anchors. It can scarcely be called a
harbor, but an open road, like most of the others on the
Gulf of Mexico. It frequently occurs that violent north
winds (called " los nortes," or northers) drive the vessels on
¦shore, and seriously injure the mole itself. Vessels of war
•of other nations, anchor about three miles below, near the
island^ ,of Sacrificios.. A very narrow channel affords the

CHAP. I.] ST. JUAN Vii ULLOA. 3
only passage for vessels of war, which must of necessity
pass immediately under the guns of the fort. The fortress
of St. Juan de Ulloa has always been looked upon as one
of the strongest in the world. With a proper armament
and competent engineers, I should regard it as almost
impregnable, if indeed that term can now be with truth
applied to any place after the recent inventions and im
provements in this department of military science. When
it was blown up in 1839, by the French, the armament
was in a most wretched condition, and as to scientific engi
neers and artillerists, there were none. Even then it
would not have been so much of a holiday affair as it was,
had it not been for the accidental explosion of the maga
zine. Any future assailant must not expect so easy a vic
tory if it is tolerably defended. I was very much surprised,
however, to learn that, in the beginning of the year 1843,
when an attack was anticipated from the English, General
Santa Anna ordered the fortress to be dismantled, and the
guns removed to Vera Cruz.
But Vera Cruz is much more effectually protected than
by all her fortifications, by the northers and vomito (the
yellow fever). The former have been the terror of all
seamen since the discovery of the country. The latter
prevails on all the Atlantic coast of Mexico during the
whole year, and with the greatest malignancy for two-
thirds of the year ; and it so happens, that the few months
of comparative exemption from the ravages of the yellow
fever are precisely those when the northers prevail with
the most destructive violence.
I can see no advantage which could be gained by get
ting possession of Vera Cruz which would be at all com
mensurate with the loss of life, from disease alone, in retain
ing it. It is not the only port which Mexico possesses ;

4 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [cHAP. I.
and if it were, there is no country in the world which would
be so little injured by cutting off all its foreign commerce,
for there is no single want of civilized man which Mexico
is not capable of furnishing. The town, it is true, might
be destroyed, and heavy losses and much individual suffer
ing be caused, but these are amongst the ¦painful and
deplorable consequences, not the legitimate objects of
honorable war.
The present city of Vera Cruz is not the same which was
built by Cortes, and which was the first European settle
ment ever made upon this continent, that is to say, in
the year 1519. The villa rica de la Vera Cruz, the rich
town of the true cross, which was settled by Cortes, is dis
tant about six miles from the present city. Vera Cruz is
rather a pretty town, with broad and reasonably clean
streets. It would no doubt be as healthy as any other
place in the same latitude and climate, if it were not for
some large swamps in the rear of the city. The vomito is
by no means the only, nor do I think it the most fatal of the
diseases which prevail there. The bills of mortality in
some years exhibit a great number of deaths from some
other diseases, whilst in other years much the greatest
number die of vomito. This difference is owing, I think,
in a great degree, to the greater or less number of sol
diers sent down there in the most sickly months — stran
gers alone being subject to the disease. There is no in
stance of a person born in Vera Cruz having been attacked
by this disease, although carried away in early infancy,
and not returning until fully grown. I have heard state
ments made upon this subject much stranger even than this.
It is not regarded there as by any means the most danger
ous type of fever. Eminent physicians have even told me
that of all the forms of fever, they regarded it as the most

CHAP. I.] YELLOW FEVER. 5
manageable and least dangerous, if medical aid is called for
in due time. According to the estimates of those most
entitled to confidence, less than five per cent, of those
attacked die. This estimate does not include the patients
in the hospitals, for the reason that the general terror of
being sent to the hospital is so great, that many are deterred
from applying for relief until their cases are beyond the
reach of remedies. Some facts came under my observa
tion which went very far to shake my confidence — never
very great — in medical theories. The universal treatment
of yellow fever, by the Vera Cruz physicians, is very sim
ple, and certainly not very unpleasant ; — it is nothing
more than cold applications to the stomach, and lime juice
and sweet oil given internally ; and this practice is so
generally successful, as to give the result which I have
stated — five per cent, of deaths. They say there that calo
mel is certainly fatal ; but hear the other, the calomel side
of the question. The prisoners of the Santa F^ expedition
were released on the 16th of June, and arrived at Vera
Cruz in August, where they remained more than a month ;
forty-five of them were attacked by the yellow fever, and in
its most malignant form, as may be well supposed, from their
irregular habits and the total destitution of all the comforts
of a sick bed. They were attended by a young physician
who belonged to the expedition, and whose practice was
to give large doses of calomel — not more than one died.
I am not certain that a single one died of the disease.
There are a good many negroes in Vera Cruz ; more,
probably, than in any other portion of Mexico. I did not see
half-a-dozen negroes in the city of Mexico in a residence
there of two years, and very few mulattoes. It is a very
great mistake to suppose that they enjoy anything like a
social equality, even with the Indian population ; and, al-

6 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [CHAP. I.
though there are no political distinctions, the aristocracy of
color is quite as great in Mexico as it is in this country;
and the pure Castillian is quite as proud that he is a man
without " a cross," as was old Leather-stocking, even if
that cross should have been with the Indian race however
remote. The negro, in Mexico, as everywhere else, is
looked upon as belonging to a class a little lower than the
lowest — the same lazy, filthy, and vicious creatures that
they inevitably become where they are not held in bond
age. Bondage or barbarism seems to be their destiny — a
destiny from which the Ethiopian race has furnished no
exception in any country for a period of time long enough
to constitute an epoch. The only idea of the free negro
of liberty in Mexico, or elsewhere, is exemption from labor,
and the privilege to be idle, vicious, and dishonest ; as to
the mere sentiments of liberty, and the elevating conscious
ness of equality, they are incapable of the former ; and, for
the latter, no such equality ever did or ever will exist.
There is a line which cannot be passed by any degree of
talent, virtue, or accomplishment. The greater the degree
of these, which, in rare individual instances, may exist, and
the nearer their possessors may approach this impassable
barrier, they are only. the more miserable. This may be
called prejudice, but it is a prejudice which exists wherever
the Caucasian race is found ; and nowhere is it stronger
than in Mexico. The negro is regarded and treated there
as belonging to a degraded caste equally as in the United
States ; much more so than in South Carolina ; in quite as
great a degree as in Boston or Philadelphia.
Whilst upon this subject, it may not be inappropriate
to allude to the system of servitude which prevails in
Mexico — a system immeasurably worse for the slave, in
every aspect, than the institution of slavery in the United

CHAP. I.] SYSTEM OF SERVITUDE IN MEXICO. 7
States. The owners of the estates (haciendas) receive
-laborers into their service. These laborers are ignorant,
destitute, half-naked Indians ; certain wages are agreed
upon, which the employer pays in food, raiment, and such
articles as are absolutely necessary ; an account is kept of
all these things, and neither the laborer nor his family can
ever leave the estate until all arrearages are paid. These
of course, he has no means of paying but by the proceeds
of his labor, which, being barely sufficient for his sub
sistence, he never can get free ; and he is not only a
slave for life, but his children after him, unless the employer
chooses to release him from his service, which he often finds
it convenient to do when the laborer becomes old or dis
eased. Whatever may be the theoretical protection from
corporal punishment which the law affords him, the Mexican
slave is, practically, no better off in this respect than is the
African slave in this country. All the laborers in Mexico are
Indians ; all the large proprietors Spaniards, or of mixed
blood. I say all ; there may be a few exceptions, but
they are very few of either. So of the army; the higher
officers are all white men, or of mixed blood, the soldiers
all Indians.
The cathedral in Vera Cruz is a very decent Gothic
building, with the same profusion of paintings and statuary
which is to be found in all Mexican churches : making up
in quantity what is wanting in quality. There may be seen
there a wax figure of the Saviour laid in the tomb, of the life
size, and singularly beautiful. There are three representa
tions of the crucifixion, as large as life, and of different shades
of color, each retaining all the features and lineaments
to which we are accustomed in the portraits of Christ,
somewhat strangely combined with the peculiarities of
the physiognomy of two of the three races which con-

8 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [cHAP. I.
stitute the inhabitants of Vera Cruz— a pious fraud, no
doubt intended to flatter each of those races for the good
of their souls.
A new and very handsome custom house has just been
completed on the mole at Vera Cruz. The material of which
it is built is brought from Quincy, in Massachusetts, although
there is stone equally good within ten miles of Vera Cruz, —
a fact strikingly illustrative of the characters of the people
of the two countries. Such comparisons, or rather contrasts,
are, indeed, constantly presented to the American* travel
ling in Mexico.
Mexico was colonized just one hundred years before
Massachusetts. Her first settlers were the noblest spirits
of Spain in her Augustan age, the epoch of Cervantes,
Cortes, Pizarro, Columbus, Gonzalvo de Cordova, Cardinal
Ximenes, and the great and good Isabella. Massachusetts
was settled by the poor pilgrims of Plymouth, who carried
with them nothing but their own hardy virtues, and indomi
table energy. Mexico, with a rich soil, and a climate
adapted to the production of everything which grows out
of the earth, and possessing every metal used by man —
Massachusetts, with a sterile soil and ungenial climate, and
no single article for exportation but ice and rock — How
have these blessings, profusely given by Providence, been
improved on the one hand, and obstacles overcome on the
other 1 What is now the respective condition of the two
countries ? In productive industry, wide-spread diffusion of
knowledge, public institutions of every kind, general happi
ness, and continually increasing prosperity ; in letters, arts,
* Whenever I use the term American, I mean a citizen of the United
States : as when we say Bonaparte, we mean Napoleon ; and it is so under
stood everywhere.

CHAP. I.J AMERICAN AND MEXICAN CONTRASTS. 9
morals, religion ; in everything which makes a people great,
there is not in the world, and there never was in the world,
such a commonwealth as Massachusetts. " There she is !
look at her !" — and Mexico.

CHAPTER II.
Line of Stages between Vera Cruz and Mexico — Noble Disinterestedness of
an American Stage Driver — Vera Cruz to Jalapa — Miscellaneous Hints
— Property of Santa Anna in Jalapa — Great beauty of its situation —
Perote.
There is a very good line of stages, making three trips
every week between Vera Cruz and Mexico, which has
entirely superseded all other modes of conveyance. Al
though the fare is enormously high, yet it is much cheaper
than the litera, more expeditious and on every account more
pleasant — except that the literas are very rarely robbed.
This line was established by an American some years since,
but is now owned by a rich Mexican — who is daily grow
ing wealthier by it. The horses are all Mexican, generally
small, but of great spirit and durability ; seven horses are
generally driven, two at the wheels, then three abreast and
two more in the lead. The stages are built at Troy, New
York, and the drivers are all Americans — and a most wor
thy set of fellows they are.
I cannot forbear to mention here a matter honorable to
two of my countrymen. When the prisoners of the Texan
Santa Fe expedition were liberated by General Santa Anna,
in June, 1842, they were furnished with as much money as
was supposed to be necessary to take them home. But
being unable to procure a vessel, and consequently detained
some time in Vera Cruz, they were without money or cre
dit, arid in the midst of disease and death. Mr. L. S.
Hargoos, an American merchant, with a liberality and hu-

CHAP. II. J DISINTERESTEDNESS OF A STAGE DRIVER. 1 1
manityof which few men would have been capable in like
circumstances, advanced them between ten and fifteen
thousand dollars. Some time afterwards he travelled to
Mexico in the stage, and rode outside with the driver Nathan
Gilland, a native of New York. Gilland asked him if it was
true that he had advanced so large a sum to the Texans as
he had heard. Mr. Hargoos told him that it was.
The next morning about the time the stages were start
ing from Perote, the one returning to Jalapa, the other going
to Mexico, Gilland took Mr. Hargoos aside and said to him,
" Sir, I do not think it right that you should suffer all the
loss by the Texans — you knew none of them and only
relieved them because they were Americans ; now, I think
it nothing but fair that all the Americans in Mexico should
share the loss, and here are two hundred dollars which I
am willing to give for my part of it." " Very well, Nathan,"
said Mr. Hargoos, " if I should ever stand in need of two
hundred dollars, I will certainly call upon you."
Foreigners ridicule the indiscriminate use which we make
of the term gentleman, and its application to stage drivers
and persons in similar stations in life. May it never be
more abused than by its application to one capable of thus
feeling and acting ! It would be unjust to the other Ame
rican drivers on the same line not to say that I do not doubt
that every one of them would have done the same thing ; I
do not believe that any one of them gave less than five hun
dred dollars and some of them twice that sum to the Texan
prisoners during their confinement in Mexico.
The stage leaves Vera Cruz at eleven o'clock at night,
and arrives the next evening about three o'clock at Jalapa.
For the first few miles from Vera Cruz the road passes
along a sandy sea-beach, and then commences the ascent
of the mountain which is continued almost without interrup-

12 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [cHAP. II.
tion to Jalapa, and thence to Perote. The distance from
Vera Cruz to Jalapa, as the road runs, is about seventy miles.
In a direct line, it is probably not much more than one third
of that distance. The road, considering the country through
which it passes, is a very good one. It was constructed by
the vice-royal government. The Puente Nacional (Na
tional Bridge), formerly called Puente del Rey (the King's
Bridge), is a very handsome structure of stone. It would
be so regarded anywhere, but it is all the more striking from
the rareness of such works in Mexico, and it is the soli
tary object which relieves the universal appearance of wild-
ness and desolation on the whole route from Vera Cruz
to Jalapa.
The habitations (for houses they are not) which are seen
on the road side, at distances of fifteen and twenty miles
from each other, resemble rather chicken coops than the
abodes of human beings. They are constructed of canes
about ten feet long, the large end resting on the ground,
standing upright and wickered together in one or two places,
and covered with the leaves of the palm tree. In the vil
lages the houses are generally small filthy hovels of ten or
twelve feet square, built of unburnt bricks, with a small en
closure, in which the chili (red pepper), and a small patch of
Indian corn for tortillas is cultivated. A Mexican village
very closely resembles an American Indian village  with
the difference that the Mexican hovels are built of brick
instead of being log cabins. The same idleness, filth, and
squalid poverty are apparent.
The road for its entire extent from Vera Cruz to Jalapa,
passes through the lands of General Santa Anna— which
extend an immense distance on both sides of it ; much of this
land is of good quality, and would produce cotton and sugar
most profitably. Very little of it is in cultivation, with the

CHAP. II. J JALAPA. 13
trifling exception of the chili and corn patches. General
Santa Anna owns immense herds of cattle, some forty or fifty
thousand head, which graze upon it. He also permits others
to graze their cattle upon his lands for a rent which they pay
him ; I believe, forty dollars per annum for a hundred head.
I do not. know that I have ever seen a more beautiful spot
than the city of Jalapa. When the atmosphere is clear you
may see the shipping in the harbor of Vera Cruz with an
ordinary spy-glass, and the white caps of the waves with
the naked eye. The elevation of Jalapa above the sea is a
little more than four thousand feet. It is situated on a shelf
of the mountain; the summit of which at Perote, a distance
in a direct line of about twenty miles, is still four thousand
five hundred feet higher than Jalapa. The whole horizon,
except in the direction of Vera Cruz, is bounded by moun
tains ; amongst them Orizaba, which is distant from Jalapa
about twenty-five miles. But from the remarkable clear
ness of the atmosphere, and the sun shining upon the snow
with which it is always covered, it does not seem to be five
miles. All the tropical' fruits grow there, and are cultivated
with great care and taste. It is not exaggeration to say
that it is impossible for one who has not been on the table
lands of Mexico to conceive of a climate so elysian. There
is not a day and scarcely an hour in the year when one
could say, I wish it were a little warmer or a little cooler.
It is never warm enough to pull off your coat, and rarely
cold enough to button it.
No spot of the earth will be more desirable than this for
a residence whenever it is in the possession of our race, with
the government and laws which they carry with them
wherever they go. The march of time is not more certain
than that this will be, and probably at no distant day.
Perote, the next town on the road, is thirty-five miles

14 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [cHAP. II.
from Jalapa, and is eight thousand five hundred feet above
the level of the sea. This name has been- made familiar to
American readers as the place of confinement of the Texan
prisoners, and more recently of General Santa Anna himself.
Its great elevation and the vicinity of the mountain of Ori
zaba make the climate uncomfortably cold at night ; the
only region that I visited in Mexico which I found so. Its
very large and strong military fortress is entirely useless
now I should think, unless the constant succession of civil
wars in that ill-fated countrv is never to end.

CHAPTER III.
Route to Puebla — Cultivation of the Soil — The Maguey — Pulque — Primitive
Plough — Indifference to Agricultural Wealth — Robbers on the Road —
Execution by the Garote — Gaming an Incentive to Robbery — Singular
Story of a Robber.
The stage leaves Perote a little before daylight and arrives
at Puebla, a distance of eighty miles, before sundown. The
road passes for nearly the whole distance over a broad
plain, generally uncultivated, comparatively uninhabited,
without a stick of timber and rarely a drop of running
water. As you approach the city of Puebla, there are farms of
considerable extent on both sides of the road. The grains
chiefly cultivated are wheat, barley, and Indian corn. The
wheat is used for bread by the better classes, and I have
never seen better bread anywhere. The Indian corn is used
chiefly, I believe entirely, by the Mexicans in making tor
tillas. There is not a corn-mill in Mexico. The tortilla is
the bread, and the only bread of the great mass of the people.
The grain is softened by soaking it in water, it is then ground
on a smooth stone, with a long roller made also of stone ;
and after mixing the due proportion — which is always a
very large proportion of chili and some lime, it is spread out
in a thin layer and cooked as we do the hoe cake. Corn is
not used at all as food for horses ; the only grain used for
that purpose is barley, and the only fodder is wheat straw
— an article generally regarded by us as of little or no value
for food. In this, I am satisfied that we are mistaken. . I
had a very large pair of American horses, and I was at first

16 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO, [cHAP. III.
afraid that, however well the barley and wheat straw might
agree with the Mexican horses, it was not substantial
enough for mine. But I found that they became so fat upon
it that I was obliged to curtail their allowance.
Rye and oats are very little cultivated, if at all. I never
saw a grain of either in Mexico. Much the most profit
able culture in Mexico is that of the plant maguey, or Agave
Americana. The small ditches, which are the only
fences, are all bordered with it, and fields of large extent are
also planted with it. The favorite drink of the Mexicans,
pulque, is obtained from this plant. This beverage is,.
indeed, almost necessary to the existence of a Mexican ;
and if obliged to part with either, he would give up his
meat rather than his pulque. The maguey grows, in good
land, to an enormous size, the centre stem very often
twenty-five or thirty feet high, and twelve or fifteen inches
in diameter at the bottom ; the branches a foot and a half
wide, and four or five inches thick. When the plant is in
its efflorescent state, which varies from seven to fifteen
years from the planting, the centre stem is cut off at the
bottom, and a bowl made, in which the juice accumulates.
This is extracted with a rude suction-pipe, made of a long
gourd,' which the Indian laborer applies to his mouth ; and
when the gourd is filled, the contents are emptied into an
ox-hide, dressed and made perfectly tight. There the liquor
ferments, when it is drawn off into smaller vessels made of
the skin of a hog, and in these it is carried to market. The
modern inventions of hogsheads and barrels have by no
means come into common use in Mexico. These skins
look for all the world like a hog cleaned and dressed. I
saw them every day, hanging in front of the pulque shops
as a sign, and I had been some time in Mexico before I dis
covered that they were really not porkers. One plant

CHAP. III. J THE MAGUEY  PULQUE. 17
of the maguey often yields one hundred and fifty gallons.
Baron Humboldt says that a single plant of the maguey will.
yield 452 cubic inches of liquor in twenty-four hours, and:
for four or five months, which would amount to nearly thrice
the quantity I have stated. The pulque has very
little strength — about as great as that of cider. Its smell is
very much that of putrid meat, and is, of course, offensive
to every one who drinks it for the first time ; but most
persons like it after they become accustomed to it.
A short distance from Puebla, on the route to Mexico,.
the road passes for several miles through a very beautiful
plain, and in cultivation as far as the eye can reach on
either side of the road. These farms were a great deal the
best that I saw, both as to soil and cultivation ; and I should
think, from the appearance of the wheat which was growl
ing, that it would have yielded twenty bushels to the acre.
The system of agriculture in Mexico is, like everything
else, so wretchedly bad, that it is impossible to form any
accurate opinion of the productiveness of the soil, the more
especially as, on the whole route from Vera Cruz to
Mexico, with the exception of a very few places, and for
very short distances, there are no trees nor other natural
growth but a few scrubby bushes, some palms, and the
almost innumerable varieties of the cactus. The whole
country is of manifestly volcanic formation, at least the
upper strata. I have never been at any place where some
species of lava was not presented, and in infinite varieties,
some having very much the resemblance of cinders just
taken from an iron furnace ; others so entirely petrified as to
have little of the appearance of lava, except by their porous
ness. The soil is generally, I think, not very rich. In
many places, such as the plain of which I have been speak
ing, the land is very good ; nowhere, however, to be com-

18 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [CHAP. IH.
pared with our richest oak and hickory lands. The plough
in universal use is that used two thousand years ago —
neither more nor less than a wooden wedge, without a par
ticle of iron attached to it." The hoe is a wooden staff,
with an iron spike in the end. What is still more remark
able, the only animal used in ploughing is the ox ; a planter,
with twenty thousand horses and mules (by no means an
unusual number), will only use his oxen in the plough. If
you ask why this is, the only answer I can give is, that the
Spaniard never changes his habits, nor anything else but
his government. All the passion for change which exists
in other men, with him is concentrated in political
changes. It is this peculiar characteristic which has tended more
than any and every other cause to produce the present
' degraded condition of Spain. At the beginning of the six
teenth century, Spain might justly be regarded as the most
powerful of the nations of the earth ; she had not only ex
pelled the Moors, but had conquered a large portion of
Africa ; discovered America, and was in possession of its
untold and seemingly exhaustless treasures, with a galaxy
of great men, which all the rest of the world could scarcely
equal. What is she now ? a bye-word amongst the na
tions ; whilst other countries have been moving on in a
constant career of improvements in every way, she has
folded her arms in sullen pride ; and, as she has refused to
advance, she has of necessity retrograded, for nations can
not long remain stationary.
I believe that it is true, and it is most remarkable if true,
that there is not in the world such a thing as a railroad in
any country where the Spanish language is spoken, with
the exception of a short one in Cuba, which owes its exist
ence to American enterprise. During my residence in

CHAP. III.] INDIFFERENCE TO AGRICULTURAL WEALTH. 19
Mexico, constantly as the contrast between everything
there and in my own country was presented to me, the
feelings which were excited were not so much of pride and
exultation in our own happier destiny, and superiority in
everything, as the more generous one of a profound sym
pathy for the wretched condition of a country upon which
a bountiful Providence has showered its blessings with a
more profuse hand than upon any other upon the face of
the earth. Whilst in our cities and towns you hear the
busy hum of incessant industry, and the shrill whistle of the
steam-engine, there you hear nothing but the drum and fife ;
whilst we have been making railroads, they have been
making revolutions.
A more striking proof of the unconquerable repugnance
of the Mexican to labor cannot be given, than the fact that
short staple cotton sells there at from forty to forty-five
cents per pound, while they have lands and climate as well
adapted to its culture as ours, and these lands dirt cheap ;
yet they never make enough for their own small consump
tion. The importation of cotton is positively forbidden by
law ; but this law is often relaxed, by selling the privilege
to mercantile companies to import a certain number of bales.
If such prices could be obtained at home, our northern
people would discover some plan of raising it profitably in
hot-houses. Although the whole road from the city of Vera Cruz to
the city of Mexico passes through a country inexpressibly
picturesque and beautiful, yet the ignorant, idle, and de
graded population, the total absence of cultivation and
improvement, and a general appearance of wildness and
desolation, produced with me feelings partaking of gloom
and melancholy. Neither in going nor returning did I see
one human being, man, woman, or child, engaged at work of

20 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [cHAP. III.
any sort. The great mass of the population doze out their
lives with no higher thoughts or purposes than the beasts
which perish around them.
The reader will, doubtless, be surprised that I have
brought him thus far without any mention of robbers. I
was neither robbed nor attacked by robbers. For the first
two or three stages from Vera Cruz, I took an escort with
me, a corporal and four privates ; but happening at one of
the places where the horses were changed to examine their
arms, I found that only one of the carbines — a musket
about two feet long — had a lock in good order, and
that one not being loaded, I dismissed the guard and had
no escort afterwards except at one or two points on the
road. I had with me, however, a much more reliable
defence in three young Americans who accompanied me,
who, together with myself and servant, were all well arm
ed. So, doubtless, thought the robbers, for on two or three
occasions we met with them, but were not attacked.
They never attack the stage when two or three of the pas
sengers are foreigners, and are known to be armed. When
the stage stops for the night, or to change horses, some one
of the robbers examines the baggage, and if it promises a
rich booty and the passengers have the appearance of soft
customers, they are certain to be attacked before the stage
has gone five miles. But if the passengers are armed and
there is a prospect of resistance, the robbers wait for an
easier prey ; they wisely calculate that some one of them
may be killed, and each of them knows that that one may
be himself — upon the same principle that one brave man
armed often repels a mob.
At one of the little villages where we changed horses, I
was very much struck with the dashing and picturesque
appearance of a man who rode by, richly and gaudily dress-

CHAP, ill.] ROBBERS ON THE ROAD. 21
ed, on a fine horse gaily caparisoned. I asked the stage
driver if he knew him ; he said that he did, and that he was
the captain of a band of robbers who had plundered the
stage several times since he had been driving. I asked him
why he had not informed against him and had him punish
ed ; he replied, that if he had done so he certainly would have
been shot by some others of the band the next time he had
passed the road, and I have no doubt that he would have
been, for nowhere is the maxim of " honor amongst thieves "
more rigidly adhered to than amongst Mexican thieves.
There have been frequent instances of robbers, who had
been convicted, being offered a pardon upon the condi
tion that they would discover the names of their con
federates, which offers they have firmly rejected, and sub
mitted to the certain alternative of the punishment of death.
I expected that we should have been attacked, but we were
not, the robber-captain rightly judging that the booty to be
gained was not worth the danger. The Mexicans, when they
travel, never arm themselves, thinking it better to take but
little with them, and to surrender that quietly, than to have
a scene on the route. The road, a few miles from Perote,
ascends a very high mountain, where the passengers gene
rally get out of the stage and walk. Some of my companions
had left their weapons in the stage ; I directed them to go
back and get them. It was very well that they did ; for,
as we were ascending the mountain, we met three or four
ill-looking rascals, who the driver said were robbers ; if
they had not seen the arms in our hands, we should cer
tainly have been attacked. In less than a month after this,
five or six Americans left their arms in the stage at this
same place, and they were robbed of everything they had
with them. The morning that we left Perote, just about
daylight, I was riding outside with the driver, when I saw

22 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [CHAP. III.
a horseman approaching the stage on my right hand ; he
followed us for a short distance, gradually diminishing the
space between us. I knew that he must be one of a robber
band, and raised my double-barrelled gun so that he could
see it, when he immediately rode away through the path
less plain, and I confess I was rejoiced that he did so ; for,
although I knew that my party were more than a match
for any ordinary band of robbers, which generally consists
of five or six — rarely more than ten or twelve — yet I had
no ambition for the eclat of a successful encounter with
robbers, and no wish to have blood upon my hands, even
if it should be the blood of a highwayman. I have passed
through few scenes more exciting ; dashing along at a
rapid rate over the elevated plain of Perote, on one side
the white peak of Orizaba towering in the clouds above us,
on the other a robber chief with his band near at hand, and
our Mexican escort a little in the rear on their small, Arab-
looking horses, with their not less Arab-looking riders ; and
never did the Bedouin of the desert hold a firmer or more
graceful seat. The scene was altogether picturesque ; but
picturesque as it was, I had no desire that it should be
repeated, and it was not.
At the period of my arrival in Mexico, the stage was
robbed almost every trip ; but, before I left there, General
Santa Anna, with his characteristic energy, had nearly
cleared the road of banditti. No efforts were spared to
discover them, and he never pardoned one after conviction.
I witnessed the execution of one of them by the garote, a
description of which may not be uninteresting. The execu
tion took place early in the morning, in the yard of the
Acordada prison. There was a very large concourse, and
amongst them many persons of great respectability; others
beside myself of the diplomatic corps, carried there no

CHAP. III.] EXECUTION BY THE GAROTE. 23
doubt, as I was, by curiosity. The convict, dressed in a
white gown, was placed on a wooden bench with a high
back, like a barber's chair. Through this back the ends of
an iron collar passed, to which a crank was attached ; the
neck of the convict was placed in this collar, and a single
turn of the crank caused instant death. Nothing could be
more tender and affectionate than the manner of the priests
who were in attendance. Kindness and benevolence, how
ever, in all their forms, are striking traits in the Mexican
character, as, I think, they are of the Catholic clergy every
where. No other country presents equal temptations and facili
ties to highwaymen to those which exist in Mexico. The
road from Vera Cruz to Mexico is the great highway for
travelling and commerce. Nearly all the commerce on the
Atlantic side enters the port of Vera Cruz, and not five per
cent, of the travellers to the city pass any other route.
Much the greater portion of the road passes through an
uninhabited desert. In many places the road is cut
through the side of the mountain, and bordered on both
sides with a dense evergeen shrubbery, furnishing as secure
hiding-places as the everglades of Florida.
With the general population of the country lazy, igno
rant, and, of course, vicious and dishonest, there is no lack
of recruits for the road. Most frequently, however, the
chief, and sometimes all of the band, live in the towns and
cities. Perhaps the most powerful incentive to robbery is
to be found in the insatiable and, as it would seem with the
lower classes of Mexicans, constitutional passion for gam
ing, and the entire absence of all restraint in its indulgence.
Men go to the monte tables with thousands, and leave them
pennyless. They know that the stage will pass certain
points at certain hours ; the idea occurs to the unfortunate

24 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [cHAP. III.
gambler to try his hand at another game, where the chances
of winning are greater, as are also the consequences of
losing much more serious ; and the thing is done almost
as soon as the thought occurs.
Shortly before I left Mexico, the stage was robbed near
Puebla. The robbers all had the dress and bearing of
gentlemen. When the operation of rifling the pockets and
trunks of the passengers was finished, one of the robbers
said to them, — " Gentlemen, we would not have you to sup
pose that we are robbers by profession ; we are gentlemen
[somos caballeros], but we have been unfortunate at monte,
and that has forced upon us the necessity of thus incom
moding you, for which we beg that you will pardon us."
Innumerable are the stories of robberies which one hears in
Mexico, some of them of thrilling interest and romantic
character. The case of Colonel Yanes, who was executed
a few years since, is full of incidents of a character deeply
dramatic. I will briefly sketch them as they were told to
me. The Swiss consul resided in the street of St. Cosme.
About twelve or one o'clock in the daytime, a carriage
drove up to his door, and three men got out, one in the
dress of a priest ; they were admitted by the porter, and
the door closed, when they immediately seized and gagged
him, went into the house, and robbed and murdered the
consul. The only clue for the discovery of the murderers
was a metal button with a small piece of blue cloth at
tached to it, which was found clenched in the fingers of the
murdered man, and which he had torn from the coat of one
of the robbers. Suspicion at last rested upon a soldier who
was seen with more money than he could account for.
His quarters were searched, and the coat from which the
button had been torn was found there. He was convicted,

CHAP. III.] SINGULAR STORY OF A ROBBER. 25
but he relied with the utmost confidence upon a pardon, as
Colonel Yanes, the favorite aide-de-camp of President Santa
Anna, was his accomplice. He was brought out to be
executed, and had actually taken his seat on the fatal bench,
with the collar placed around his neck, and the crank
about to be turned, when he said — " Hold ! I will disclose
who are my accomplices — Colonel Yanes is the chief!"
The execution was suspended, and on searching the house
of Yanes, a correspondence in cipher was discovered which
fully established his guilt in this and in other robberies.
Yanes was the paramour of a woman in Mexico very
nearly related to one whose word was law, and whose in
fluence over her relative was known to be very great, and
upon that reliance was placed for a pardon, at least ; but
she was not disposed to trust to that, and let her lover
suffer the disgrace of conviction — she went to the judge
with whom the cipher had been deposited, which fur
nished the evidence of the guilt of Yanes, and offered
him a large bribe to give it up. He was an honest man
and an upright judge ; he sternly refused the bribe, and
firmly resisted the menaces of this powerful woman. In a
day or two he died suddenly, as all supposed, of poison. A
successor was appointed of principles less stern, who ac
cepted the bribe, and promised to destroy the paper ; but
when, in confession to his priest, he disclosed his corrupt
conduct, the worthy man prevailed upon him, if he had
not destroyed the paper, not to do so, and he did not.
Yanes, in the meantime, was informed that this evidence
would not be produced against him, and that the prosecu
tion would rest entirely upon the testimony of his accom
plice. Upon the trial, with the habitual air of command of
an officer, and the habitual fear and submission of the
common soldier, Yanes browbeat and confused his accuser

26 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [CHAP. III.
to such a degree, that he felt secure of an acquittal. At
this moment the fatal paper was produced, and he was con
demned and executed. His not less guilty paramour still
resides in the city of Mexico.

CHAPTER IV.
Puebla the Lowell of Mexico — Obstacles to Manufactures — City of Cho-
lula — Incredibility of Cortes' Narrative — First sight of the Valley of
Mexico — Description of the Valley — Neglect of resources in the supply
of the Capital — Arrieros.
Puebla is a beautiful city, with lofty houses, built in the
purest style of architecture, and broad and remarkably
clean streets. Its police is greatly superior to that of
Mexico. The cathedral of Puebla is a magnificent edifice,
which has been said, though hardly with justice, to rival
the cathedral in Mexico. Peubla is the Lowell of Mexico.
The principal cotton manufactories are located there, and
some of them in very successful operation, which can bem
said of very few others. The English and other foreign
merchants had, in 1842, either by the force of argument or
some more potential influence, induced the President to con
sent to the admission, on more favorable terms, of coarse
cotton goods ; but the united and violent opposition of the
manufacturers of Peubla defeated the arrangement. I
said that very few of these establishments in Mexico were
prosperous, or ever have been, although the price of an
article of cotton goods is in Mexico thirty cents a yard,
which sells in the United States for six cents. This results
from many causes, which appear insuperable. The first
of these is the high price of the raw material, which ranges
from forty to fifty cents per pound, and in such articles as
coarse cottons, the raw material constitutes the chief
element of value. The importation of raw cotton is abso-

28 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [cHAP. IV.
lutely prohibited, and the tariff policy in Mexico, as in all
other countries, rests upon a combination of different in
terests which are benefited by it ; and although neither the
manufacturers nor the cotton growers constitute a numerous
class in Mexico, yet their combined influence with the aid
of the catch-words " National independence, home indus
try," &c, which have had so much power in a much
more enlightened country than Mexico, are all-sufficient
to sustain the prohibitory system — by which a Mexican
pays for one shirt a sum that would buy him five in
any other country. Another immense disadvantage of
the Mexican manufacturer is, that all his machinery is im
ported and transported by land at enormous cost — and when
any portion of it gets out of order, the difficulty and delay
of repairing it, and the consequent loss, are incalculable.
There are many other reasons which will always make the
business of manufacturing unprofitable in Mexico. It is
needless, however, to prove this by argument when the
universal experience and the results of experiments made
under the most favorable circumstances, all confirm that
opinion. However tempting to such an investment may
be the high prices of the manufactured articles, those high
prices are equally tempting to smuggling in a country with
ten thousand miles of frontier and sea-board. There is,
perhaps, no other country where the receipts of the custom
house are so little to be relied on as to the amount of im
portations, and where smuggling is carried to so great an
extent ; even where goods are regularly imported, innumer
able frauds are practised both by and upon the custom
house officers.
The great city of Cholula, of which both Cortes and Ber
nal Dias give such glorious descriptions, was situated about
six miles from the present city of Puebla. The following

CHAP. IV.] CITY OF CHOLULA. 29
translation of the description which Cortes gives of the city
of Cholula in one of his letters may not be uninteresting : —
" The great city of Cholula is situated in a plain and has twenty
thousand householders in the body of the city, besides as mapy more in
the suburbs. There is not a palm's breadth of land which is not culti
vated, notwithstanding which, there is in many places much suffering
for bread. The people of this city dress better than the Tlascalans. The
most respectable of the citizens wear something like a Moorish cloak
over their other clothes, but somewhat different, as those worn here have
pockets ; yet in the shape, the cloth and the fringe, there is much
resemblance to those worn in Africa."
He adds that he had himself counted the towers of more
than four hundred idol temples. The account of Bernal
Dias, although more brief, yet represents it as a populous
and most extraordinary city, and he adds, that it was
famous for the manufacture of the finest crockery-ware, as
in Castile were the cities of Talavera and Palencia. The
city of Puebla is at this day equally celebrated for the same
manufacture. It was here that the terrible slaughter was committed
which has left the deepest stain upon the otherwise glorious
and wonderful character of Cortes. The Cholulans had
received him with every demonstration of friendship into
their city, and had afterwards concerted a plan to destroy
all the Spaniards ; this plot was discovered through the
address and sagacity of that miracle of a woman Dona
Marina, the Indian interpreter of Cortes, whose great
qualities throw into the shade our own Pocahontas. Much
allowance is to be made for the circumstances with which
the Spanish hero was surrounded, with only about five
hundred men in the midst of a powerful, warlike and hostile

30 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [cHAP. IV.
people.* Not a vestige, literally none, — not a brick or a
stone standing upon another remains of this immense city,
except the great pyramid which still stands in gloomy and
solitary grandeur in the vast plain which surrounds it, — " and
there it will stand for ever." This pyramid is built of unburnt
bricks ; its dimensions, as given by Humboldt, are, base
1440 feet, present height 177, area on the summit 45,210
square feet. The base is greatly out of proportion with its
height, if compared with the Egyptian or other similar
Mexican piles. All other pyramids of which we have any
account are carried up to a point, and have not the same
large area upon the summit ; from which, I think that it
may well be supposed that it was once of much greater eleva
tion, or that to render it such was the original design of the
builders. A Catholic chapel now crowns the summit of this
immense mound, the sides of which are covered with grass
and small trees. As seen for miles along the road, an artifi
cial mountain standing in the solitude of a vast plain, it is
a most imposing and beautiful object.
A short distance after leaving Puebla the road for several
miles passes through the beautiful cultivated plain of which
I have heretofore spoken. This vast plain, all of which is in
cultivation, extends on each side of the road as far as the
eye can reach. The farms, in the quality of the soil, houses,
fixtures and cultivation, are greatly superior to any others
which I saw in Mexico. To the right lies the territory of
the great Republic of Tlascala, which first offered such
fierce resistance and afterwards gave such important assist
ance to Cortes in the conquest of Mexico. It is difficult to
reconcile the accounts given by Cortes and Bernal Dias,

* At the end of this volume will be found a translation of Bernal Dias'
account of this affair.

CHAP. IV.] INCREDIBILITY OF CORTEs' NARRATIVE. 31
of the immense population of the city and country of Tlas
cala with the very small territory which they occupied.
Cortes says, " The territory of Tlascala contains a popula
tion of five hundred thousand householders, not including
the adjoining province of Guasincango." " This city," says
he, " is so large and contains so many wonderful things, that
I must leave much untold ; the little which I shall relate is
almost incredible, because it is a much larger and a much
stronger city than Granada, the houses as good and the popu
lation much greater than was that of Granada at the period
of its conquest, and much better provided with the produc
tions of the earth, such as bread, &c. There is a market
where more than thirty thousand people daily assemble and
buy and sell, &c, &c. There are houses where they wash
and shave the head like barbers ; they have baths also.
Finally, they have in all respects good order and police,
and are altogether a civilized people." In one of Cortes' battles
with them they brought into the field one hundred and fifty
thousand warriors. It is difficult to conceive how a terri
tory not more than fifty miles long and thirty wide,
and with the state of agriculture at that time, could have
sustained such an enormous population ; but the difficulty
is in some degree removed when we reflect that they had
no horses nor other domestic animals.
With all my admiration of Cortes, and it is very great,
I must confess to some little incredulity when I read such
accounts as the following. Speaking of his battles with the
Tlascalans, he says : —
" And thus they drew us on, while engaged in fighting, until we found
ourselves [about five hundred Spaniards'] in the midst of more than one
hundred thousand warriors, who surrounded us on all sides. The battle
lasted the whole day, until an hour before sunset, when they drew off.
In this contest, with six pieces of ordnance, five or six hand guns, forty

32 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [cHAP. IV.
archers, and thirteen horsemen that remained with me, I did them much
injury, without suffering from them any other inconvenience than the labor
and fatigue of fighting and hunger. And it truly seemed that God fought
on our side, since with such a multitude of the enemy opposed to us,
who discovered so great courage and skill in the use of arms, of which
they had many kinds, we nevertheless came off unhurt.
" Afterwards, at daylight, more than one hundred and fifty thousand
men, who covered the land, made an attack in so determined a manner
upon our camp, that some of them forced an entrance and engaged the
Spaniards at the point of the sword, when it pleased our Lord to afibrd
us his aid to such a degree, that in four hours they no longer annoyed us
in our camp, although they still continued their attacks ; and thus we
were engaged until evening, when the enemy at length drew off."
Again not a Spaniard killed or wounded ! Nothing that
we read in the most extravagant romances equals this ; all
the fictions of the Orlando Furioso ; all the achievements
of the " furious Roland," are quite feasible compared with
this. These Spaniards must not only have had the charmed
armor of some of Ariosto's heroes, but a " charmed life"
also. One cannot pass through this now barren and almost
desolate region, and in sight of the mountain of Malinche,
where once stood the capital of the renowned Republic of
Tlascala, without his thoughts recurring to its former great
ness and power, and its heroic and faithful people. The
road passes within about twenty miles of the mountain of
Pococatapetl, the highest point of the territory of Mexico ;
but the brightness of the atmosphere, and a tropical sun
shining upon the snow with which it is always covered,
make the distance seem very much shorter, not indeed
more than one or two miles. In descending the mountain
at about the distance of twenty-five miles, the first glimpse
is caught of the city and valley of Mexico. No descrip
tion can convey to the reader any adequate idea of the

CHAP. IV.] FIRST SIGHT OF THE VALLEY OF MEXICO. 33
effect upon one who, for the first time, beholds that magni
ficent propect. With what feelings must Cortes have re
garded it when he first saw it from the top of the mountain
between the snow-covered volcanoes of Popocateptl and
Iztaccihuatl, a short distance to the left of where the road
now runs ! The valley was not then, as it is now, for the
greater part a barren waste, but was studded all over with
the homes of men, containing more than forty cities, besides
towns and villages without number. Never has such a
vision burst upon the eyes of mortal man since that upon
which the seer of old looked down from Pisgah.
The road enters the basin of the lake some sixteen or
eighteen miles from Mexico. On the right hand is the salt
lake of Tezcuco, on the left the fresh water lake of Chalco.
During the rainy season, the road, for the whole extent of
the valley, is miry and deep. Seven miles from the city
the road passes a small rocky mountain, for which the
Spanish word is "Piflol," and that is the name which this
bears. From that point to the city, the ground on both
sides of the causeway is, at all seasons, covered with water.
According to Humboldt, one-tenth of the valley is still
covered with the water of the lakes Tezcuco, Chalco, Ho-
chimieco, Zampango, and San Christoval, and a much
larger portion during the rainy season. When the water
subsides, large deposits of salt are left on the surface, pre
senting very much the appearance of a reclaimed marsh
covered with frost. This is the salt which is generally
used by the Mexicans. The city does not stand, as I have
seen it represented, in the centre of the valley, but near the
north-eastern part of it, not more than three miles from the
mountains, in the direction of the village of Guadaloupe.
Cortes gives to the valley a circumference of two hundred
miles, meaning, no doubt, at the crest of the mountains.
3

34 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [cHAP. IV.
Clavigero, a much later, and, on this subject, more reliable
authority, fixes it at one hundred and twenty miles, at the
lowest point of elevation. The latitude is 19° 26', and lon
gitude 276° 34' ; and its elevation above the level of the
sea 7,470 feet. The appearance of the valley is that of an
oval basin, surrounded on all sides with mountains of every
degree of elevation, and every variety of appearance, from
the Pinolis (little rugged promontories) to Pococatapetl, the
highest mountain in Mexico, and, I believe, the highest upon
this continent, and covered with perpetual snow, ten thousand
four hundred feet higher than the city itself. As you ap
proach the city from the direction of Vera Cruz, there are a
few small mountains scattered over the valley, of a conical
shape, and manifestly formed by the eruptions of the neigh
boring volcanoes of Pococatapetl and Iztaccihuatl. In every
other direction the valley is a level plain ; it might almost be
called a barren waste. From the small patches in cultiva
tion, the soil appears rich and productive ; I have seen
very fine wheat and Indian corn growing, even with Mexi
can cultivation. The average production is said to be
twenty bushels of wheat to the acre ; yet of this rich val
ley, in the midst of which is a city of near two hundred
thousand inhabitants, not one acre in a hundred is culti
vated ; it is used almost exclusively for grazing. Each
proprietor has his farm enclosed by a small ditch, upon the
banks of which the Agave Americana is planted, with large
herds of indifferent cattle grazing upon pastures as indif
ferent. If this magnificent valley were occupied by a popu
lation from this country, there is not a foot of it that would
not be cultivated like a garden, and nowhere would the
care and industry of the farmer meet a richer reward. The*
¦city of Mexico alone would furnish a market for its products
of milk, butter, cheese, fruits, vegetables, meats, corn, wheat,

CHAP. IV.] SUPPLY OF THE CAPITAL. 35
&c. In short, every production of the earth which man
uses could be advantageously produced there, and readily
sold at high prices.
The city is, however, actually supplied with every arti
cle of this kind from a much greater distance ; coals, vege
tables, poultry, and other articles of no very great weight,
are brought in panniers on the backs of half-naked Indians.
The heavier articles, and even plank and scantling, are
packed on mules or jackasses, and brought from forty to
fifty miles. A carpenter lived next door to me, and seeing
some jackasses loaded with planks twenty feet long, and
very thick, eight of them on each of the very small ani
mals, four on either side, I was induced to inquire what
distance they had been brought, and I found that it was
nearly sixty miles — the greater part of the way through the
mountains. The load of each jackass could not have been
worth more than three or four dollars. Wagons are never
used by the Mexicans. Some of the English mining com
panies use them for the transportation of their machinery,
and there are a few others in use by foreigners. Nearly
all the European goods of every description, which are
consumed in the central departments of Mexico, and a large
portion of those sold in the remoter districts, are landed
in Vera Cruz, and carried on mules and jackasses to
the city of Mexico, and thence distributed throughout
the Republic.
Travelling from Vera Cruz to Mexico, you are scarcely
ever out of sight of caravans of arrieros (muleteers) going
and returning. It is the mode of transportation to which
they have been accustomed, and nothing can induce them
to change it. A Frenchman, some few years since, estab
lished a line of wagons on the route, and died whilst I was
in Mexico leaving a fortune of some four hundred thousand

36 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [cHAP. IV.
dollars — all of which he had made from a very small begin
ning — yet no one was disposed to continue the business.
They are satisfied with what they have been accustomed
to in all things ; and perhaps in this particular instance they
have reason to be, for these muleteers make a great deal of
money. The load of each mule or jackass is four hundred
pounds, for the freight of which from Vera Cruz to Mexico
they receive five dollars the hundred pounds, and the
mules subsist on the coarsest and scantiest food, such
as straw and the short grass of those almost barren
plains where they turn them out to graze at night. The
arrieros are as a class, stout, hardy, and honest men ; they
are never robbed, and are always faithful and honest —
indeed I think all similar classes in Mexico are quite as
honest as they are elsewhere. It has happened to me in
more instances than one that on purchasing in a shop some
small articles, I have paid what I supposed was the price
but which was in fact more, the change has been returned
to me ; and, in some instances, the shopkeeper would follow
me into the street to give it to me.

CHAPTER V.
The City of Mexico— The Palace— Cathedral— Wealth of the Church-
Masses, a Productive System of Revenue — The Streets and Buildings of
Mexico — Curious Position of Stables — Inundations of the City.
The city of Mexico is said to be the finest built city on the
American Continent. In some respects it certainly is so.
In the principal streets the houses are all constructed
according to the strictest architectural, rules. The founda
tions of the city were laid, and the first buildings were
erected by Cortes, who did everything well which he
attempted, — from building a house or writing a couplet to
conquering an empire. Many of the finest buildings in
Mexico are still owned by his descendants. The public
square is said to be unsurpassed by any in the world ; it
contains some twelve or fifteen acres paved with stone.
The cathedral covers one entire side, the palace '
another ; the western side is occupied by a row of
very high and substantial houses, the second stories of
which project into the street the width of the pavement ;
the lower stories are occupied by the principal retail mer
chants of the city. The most of these houses were built
by Cortes, who, with his characteristic sagacity and an
avarice which equally characterized him in the latter part
of his life, selected the best portion of the city for himself.
The President's Palace, formerly the palace of the vice
roys, is an immense building of three stories high, about five
hundred feet in length, and three hundred and fifty wide ;
it stands, on the site of the palace of Montezuma. It is dif-

38 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [cHAP. V.
ficult to conceive of so much stone and mortar being put
together in a less tasteful and imposing shape ; it has much
more the appearance of a cotton factory or a penitentiary,
than what it really is ; the windows are small and a parapet
wall runs the whole length of the building, with nothing to
relieve the monotony of its appearance except some very
indifferent ornamental work in the centre ; there are no
doors in the front either of the second or third stories — no
thing but disproportionately small windows, and too many
of them ; the three doors, and there are only three in the
lower story, are destitute of all architectural beauty or
ornament. Only a very small part of this palace is appro
priated to the residence of the President ; all the public
offices are here, including those of the heads of the different
departments ; ministers of war, foreign relations, finance and
justice, the public treasury, &c, &c. The halls of the
house of deputies and of the senate are also in the same
building, and last and least, the botanic garden. After pass
ing through all sorts of filth and dirt on the basement story
you come to a dark narrow passage which conducts you to
a massive door, which, when you have succeeded in open
ing, you enter an apartment enclosed with high walls on
every side but open at the top, and certainly not exceeding
eighty feet square, and this is the botanic garden of the palace
of Mexico ; a few shrubs and- plants and the celebrated ma-
nita-tree, are all that it contains. I have rarely in my life
seen a more gloomy and desolate looking place. It is much
more like a prison than a garden. A decrepit, palsied old
man, said to be more than a hundred years old, is the
superintendent of the establishment; no one could have
been selected more in keeping with the general dilapidation
and dreariness of this melancholy affair.
But the cathedral, which occupies the site of the great

CHAP. V.] THE CATHEDRAL. 39
idol temple of Montezuma, offers a striking contrast. It is
five hundred feet long by four hundred and twenty wide.
It would be superfluous to add another to the many descrip
tions of this famous building which have already been pub
lished. Like all the other churches in Mexico, it is built in
the Gothic style. The walls, of several feet thickness, are
made of unhewn stone and lime. Upon entering it, one is
apt to recall the wild fictions of the Arabian Nights ; it
seems as if the wealth of empires was collected there. The
clergy in Mexico do not, for obvious reasons, desire that
their wealth should be made known to its full extent ; they
are, therefore, not disposed to give very full information
upon the subject, or to exhibit the gold and silver vessels,
vases, precious stones, and other forms of wealth ; quite
enough is exhibited to strike the beholder with wonder.
The first object that presents itself on entering the cathe
dral is the altar, near the centre of the building ; it is made
of highly- wrought and highly-polished silver, and covered
with a profusion of ornaments of pure gold. On each side
of this altar runs a balustrade, enclosing a space about eight
feet wide and eighty or a hundred feet long. The balusters
are about four feet high, and four inches thick in the largest
part; the handrail from six to eight inches wide. Upon
the top of this handrail, at the distance of six or eight feet
apart, are human images, beautifully wrought, and about
two feet high. All of these, the balustrade, handrail, and
images, are made of a compound of gold, silver, and cop
per — more valuable than silver. I was told that an offer
had been made to take this balustrade, and replace it with
another of exactly the same size and workmanship of pure
silver, and to give half a million of dollars besides. There
is much more of the same balustrade in other parts of the
church ; I should think, in all of it, not less than three hun
dred feet.

40

RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [cHAP. V.

As you walk through the building, on either side there
are different apartments, all filled, from the floor to the
"ceiling, with paintings, statues, vases, huge candlesticks,
waiters, and a thousand other articles, made of gold or sil
ver. This, too, is only the every day display of articles of
least value ; the more costly are stored away in chests
and closets. What must it be when all these are brought
out, with the immense quantities of precious stones which
the church is known to possess ? And this is only one of the
churches of the city of Mexico, where there are between
sixty and eighty others, and some of them possessing little
less wealth than the cathedra] ; and it must also be remem
bered, that all the other large cities, such as Puebla, Guada
lajara, Guanajuato, Zacatecas, Durango, San Louis, Potosi,
have each a proportionate number of equally gorgeous esta
blishments. It would be the wildest and most random con
jecture to attempt an estimate of the amount of the precious
metals thus withdrawn from the useful purposes of the cur
rency of the world, and wasted in these barbaric ornaments,
as incompatible with good taste as they are with the
humility which was the most striking feature in the charac
ter of the founder of our religion, whose chosen instru
ments were the lowly and humble, and who himself regarded
as the highest evidence of his divine mission, the fact that
" to the poor the gospel was preached." I do not doubt but
there is enough of the precious metals in the different
churches of Mexico to relieve sensibly the pressure upon the
currency of the world, which has resulted from the diminished
production of the mines, and the increased quantity which
has been appropriated to purposes of luxury, and to pay the
cost of much more tasteful decorations in architecture and
statuary, made of mahogany and marble.
But the immense wealth which is thus collected in the

CHAP. V.] MASSES. 41
churches, is not by any means all, or even the larger por
tion, of the wealth of the Mexican church and clergy.
They own very many of the finest houses in Mexico and
other cities (the rents of which must be enormous), besides
valuable real estates all over the Republic. Almost every
person leaves a bequest in his will for masses for his soul,
which constitute an incumbrance upon the estate, and thus
nearly all the estates of the small proprietors are mortgaged
to the church. The property held by the church in mort
main is estimated at fifty millions.
Mexico is, I believe, the only country where the
church property remains in its untouched entirety. Some
small amount has been recently realized from the sale of
the estates of the banished Jesuits ; but, with that excep
tion, no President, however hard pressed (and there is no
day in the year that they are not hard pressed), has ever
dared to encroach upon that which is regarded consecrated
property, with the exception of Gomez Farrias, who, in
1834, proposed to the legislative chambers to confiscate all
the church property, and the measure would, no doubt, have
been adopted, but for a revolution which overthrew the
administration. But it is impossible that such a state of things can last
always. I have heard intelligent men express the opinion,
that one-fourth of the property of the country is in the
hands of the priesthood : and, instead of diminishing, is
continually increasing. As a means of raising money, I
would not give the single institution of the Catholic religion
of masses and indulgences for the benefit of the souls of the
dead, for the power of taxation possessed by any govern
ment. No tax-gatherer is required to collect it ; its pay
ment is enforced by all the strongest and best feelings of
the human heart. All religions and superstitions have their

42 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [CHAP. V.
priesthood and their priestcraft, from the reptile worship of
the Nile to our own pure and holy religion ; but of all the
artifices of cunning and venality to extort money from
credulous weakness, there is none so potential as a mass for
the benefit of souls in purgatory. Our own more rational
faith teaches that when a man dies his account is closed,
and his destiny for good or evil is fixed for ever, and that he
is to be judged by the deeds done in the body ; but another
creed inculcates that that destiny may be modified or
changed by prayers at once posthumous, vicarious, and
venal. It would seem to be in direct contradiction to the
Saviour, in the comparison of the camel passing through
the eye of a needle. Nothing is easier than for a rich man
to enter the kingdom of heaven ; he purchases that entrance
with money. He who can pay for most masses, shortens
in proportion the period of his probation of torment in pur
gatory. Who is it that will not pay his last farthing to
relieve the soul of a departed friend from those torments 1
I do not know how the fee for these masses is exacted, but
I do know that it is regularly paid ; and that, without the
fee, the mass would be regarded of no value or efficacy.
We read in the history of the conquest of Mexico that
Cortes paid large sums for masses for the soul of Sandoval,
when he died, and provided large sums in his will for
masses for his own soul. I remember that my washerwoman
once asked me to lend her two dollars. I asked her what
she wanted with it. She told me that there was a particu
lar mass to be said on that day, which relieved the souls in
purgatory from ten thousand years of torment, and that she
wished to secure the benefit of it for her toother. Tasked
her if she was fool enough to believe it. She answered,
" Why, yes, sir ; is it not true V and with a countenance of
as much surprise as if I had denied that the sun was shining.

CHAP. V.] MASSES. 43
On a day of religious festival (the anniversary of Saint Fran
cisco), I have seen, stuck up on the door of the church of
San Francisco, one of the largest and most magnificent in
Mexico, a small advertisement, of which the following was
the substance : —
" His Holiness the Pope (and certain bishops which were
named) have granted thirty-two thousand three hundred
years, ten days and six hours of indulgence* for this mass."
I do not remember exactly the number of years, days
and hours, but I positively assert that it specified the num
ber of each, and I believe that I have stated them correctly.
The manifest object of this minute particularity is to secure
the more effectual belief in the imposture. By thus giving
to it the air of a business transaction, a sort of contract be
tween the devotee and the Almighty, by his authorized
agent and vicegerent on earth, the Pope, is established — a
contract the more binding in its character because the
receipt of the consideration is acknowledged. I tremble at
the apparent blasphemy of even describing such things.
Mr. Brantz Mayer, in his very interesting book, gives a
literal copy of an advertisement which was stuck up in the
beautiful church of Gaudaloupe on the festival of Nuestra
Sefiora de Gaudaloupe, of which the following is a transla
tion : — •
" The faithful are reminded that the most illustrious Bishops of Puebla
and Tarazora have granted an indulgence of eighty days for every quar
ter of an hour which the said images are exposed, and five hundred days
for each Ave Maria which is recited before either of them. Lastly, the
most excellent Fr. Jose Miria de Jesus Belaumzaron, for himself, and
for the most illustrious the present Bishops of Puebla, Michoacan,
* An indulgence is defined : A remission of the punishment due for sins ;
a plenary indulgence, is a remission of the whole punishment ; a particular
indulgence, a remission of a part only.

44 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [cHAP. V.
Jolisci, and Durango, has granted an indulgence of two hundred days for
every word of the appointed prayers to our most exalted lady, for every
step taken in her house, for every reverence performed, and for every
word of the mass which may be uttered by the priest or the hearers ; as
many more days of indulgence are granted for every quarter of an hour
in which these images are exposed, in the balconies, windows, or doors,
for public adoration."
A distinguished friend of mine, who resided some time in
Mexico, has still in his possession some curious specimens
of these indulgences, varying, in the number of years of
remission of punishment, according to the prices paid :
among others, one which grants to a single prayer all
the good effects of a hundred. These effects are all
graduated according to a regular scale, so many years
of remission for each prayer or mass, and so many years
of punishment for each sin. I remember, on one occasion,
giving some order to a servant on Sunday, when he told
me that he must go to mass ; that he would suffer seven
thousand years in purgatory for every mass which he
neglected on Sunday, or any day of religious festival.
They have a saint for all occasions. There is no human
want that there is not some particular saint to whose par
ticular " line of business '' the matter belongs ; and by
proper devotions to him his powerful aid is secured. They
have a saint for horses, and on the festival of that saint,
which is his birth-day, horses are carried to the priest, and
for a small sum receive the blessing ; a perfect security
against " all the ills which horse flesh is heir to." In what
is such a superstition superior to the idol-worship which it
superseded ? That was at least sincere, both on the part
of priest and devotee. Is this ?
How enormous must be the revenues derived from this
source, amongst a people who believe implicitly in the

CHAP. V.] STREETS AND BUILDINGS OF MEXICO. 45
efficacy of these masses to purchase, both for the living
and the dead, a remission of the punishment and torments
of purgatory, and for every crime, too, which man can
commit ! In the language of Tetzel, the great vender
of indulgences in the time of Luther, who asserted that
these indulgences which he sold were efficacious for the
remission of every sin, even " si quis virginem matrem
vitiasset (If one should violate the Virgin Mother, let
him pay — let him pay largely, and it shall be forgiven
him). Even repentance," said he, " is not necessary, and
more than all this, indulgences save not the living alone,
they also save the dead. Ye priests, ye nobles, ye trades
men, ye wives, ye maidens, ye young men, hearken to
your departed parents and friends who cry to you from the
bottomless abyss, we are enduring horrible torments, a
small alms would deliver us ; you can give it, but you will
not ! The very moment," continued Tetzel, " that the
money clinks against the bottom of the chest, the soul
escapes from purgatory, and flies to heaven. Bring your
money — bring money — bring money ! " The people to
whom Tetzel sold his indulgences, from which he received
so immense an amount, were far less ignorant than the
mass of the Mexican population. At no period, and in no
country, have the efficacy of these indulgences been more
universally believed and relied upon, than they are in
Mexico at this day. The reader may imagine, if he can,
the treasures with which the coffers of the church are filled
from this source alone.
The streets of Mexico are uncommonly wide, much more
so than is necessary, considering that they are not obstructed,
as in our cities, by drays and wagons. The side-walks are
uncommonly narrow. The streets are all paved with round
stones ; the side-walks with very rough flat ones. The

46 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [cHAP. V.
houses on the principal streets are all two and three stories
high. The elevation of the rooms, from the floor to the
ceiling, eighteen and twenty feet, gives to a house of two
stories a greater height than we are accustomed to see in
houses of three. The roofs are all terraced, and have parapet
walls of three or four feet high, answering all the purposes
of a breast-work, a use too commonly made of them in the
frequent revolutions to which that unfortunate country
seems to be for ever destined. The walls are built of rough
stones of all shapes and sizes, and large quantities of lime
mortar. They are very thick, in ordinary buildings from
two to three feet, and in the larger edifices of much greater
massiveness. The foundations of most of the largest build
ings are made with piles. Even these foundations are very
insecure, and it is surprising that they are not more so, with
such an immense weight of stone upon such an unsteady
foundation. The streets cross each other at right angles, di
viding the whole city into squares. Each one of these squares
is called a street, and has a separate name ; a serious incon
venience to a stranger in the city. Instead of designating
the street in its whole extent, by one name, and numbering
the houses, each side of every square has a different name,
and names which sound, to Protestant ears, very much like
a violation of the Third Article of the Decalogue ; such as
the street of Jesus, and the street of the Holy Ghost. A
gentleman will tell you that he lives in the Holy Ghost, or
that he lives in Jesus ; certainly not always true, if taken in
the sense in which our preachers use these words. In most
of these streets there is a church, which gives name to the
street in which it stands. In many instances these churches
and convents (that of San Augustine for example) covers
the whole square, not with separate buildings, but one
single edifice, with the usual patio or court, an open space

CHAP. V.] THE BUILDINGS OF MEXICO. 47
in the centre. There is not, I believe, a house in the
city without this court, of greater or less dimensions,
in proportion to the size of the building. There is only one
door on the lower floor, and none at all on the outside of
the upper story. This door is very strongly built, and high
enough for a coach to pass through ; it opens into the patio
through which you pass to the steps leading to the upper
stories, where alone everybody lives except the lowest
classes. In all the establishments of the better classes, the
basement story is only occupied by the servants and as
lumber-rooms, and what struck me as very strange, as sta
bles. I do not suppose that there is such a separate building
in the city as a stable. In visiting Count Certuna, for ex
ample, whose whole establishment is altogether princely,
and others of equal splendor and luxury, I found this court
on the ground floor used as a stable, and passed through
rows of horses and carriages to make my way to the most
spacious halls, filled with fine paintings of the great mas
ters, and furnished throughout in a .style altogether gorge
ous. In some of the larger private buildings thirty and
forty different families reside ; each one having rented one
or two rooms : all entering at the only outside door into the
court, which is the common property of all — and from which
each one has an entrance to his own rooms on the ground
floor or the gallery* above, which runs all around the build
ing. I do not think that the area covered by the city
of Mexico can exceed two miles in length, and a mile and
a half in width ; a very small space to be occupied by a popu
lation of nearly two hundred thousand. But, it is not at all
surprising when you see thirty or forty families, enough to
make a respectable village, all huddled away in one house,
and consider what a large number sleep in the open air in

48 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [t'HAP. V.
that delightful climate. How pure must be the atmosphere
when the city of Mexico is so remarkably healthy, notwith
standing such a crowded and filthy mode of living, and
with a tropical sun shining upon the moist surface of the
whole valley ! One would think the latter sufficient of itself
to produce the most fatal malaria.
It is a little curious that whilst the buildings and popula
tion of Mexico are thus crowded into so small a space, and
the rents are three times as high as in the city of New York,
yet all around the city there is a vacant ground, and as dry
as the city itself, which may be had almost for the taking.
I was riding out with a friend one evening when he showed
me a square containing between five or six acres, just in the
rear of the Plaza de Toros on the outskirts of the city, and
not more than half or three quarters of a mile from the public
square, which he had just purchased for four hundred dollars.
Why such lots are not improved and the city extended, I
cannot easily comprehend.
At the period of the Conquest, the water of the lakes
flowed through all the streets of the city, which were
crossed in canoes or on bridges. Inundations of the city
to the height of several feet were of frequent occurrence.
These inundations were caused by the overflowing of the
lakes San Christoval and Zumpango, and the rush of their
waters into the bed of the lake of Tezcuco, on an island in
which the city of Mexico was, and near the border of which
it is now situated. The great square of the city of Mexico
is four feet one inch elevated above the mean level of
the waters of the lake Tezcuco ; San Christoval is twelve
feet eight inches, and Zumpango thirty-one feet eleven
inches higher than Tezcuco ; and Xachimilco and
Chalco three feet eleven inches higher than the city of

CHAP. V.] INUNDATIONS OF THE CITY. 49
Mexico. Previous to the arrival of the Spaniards,
and for nearly a century afterwards, the only protection
against these inundations consisted in dykes between the
lakes San Christoval and Tezcuco. In the year 1607, the
viceroy determined to construct some more effectual bar
rier. The plan which was adopted was to drain the lake
of Zumpango by a tunnel and canal, which would give a
different outlet to its waters. A tunnel was accordingly
cut through the mountain, 21,654 feet long ; and a canal
28,216 feet long, through which the water flowed into the
river Tula, which empties into the river Panuco. This
herculean work was finished by fifteen thousand Indians in
eleven months ; but, from the giving way of the roof of the
tunnel, another plan was resolved on, which was, to remove
the top of the tunnel, and make it an open canal. This last
work was commenced in 1629, and not completed until
1789. The whole length of this canal is 67,537 feet ; its
greatest depth 197 feet, and its greatest breadth 361 feet.
There are other stupendous works connected with this
canal : the stone dykes between Zumpango and San Chris
toval, between the latter and Tezcuco, and the great canal
which empties the waters of the Guatillan into the river
Tula. The last great inundation of the city occurred in the
year 1629, when the water rose to the height of three feet,
and remained so for five years. It was at length carried off
by the effects of a succession of earthquakes, but the security
is still by no means regarded as perfect. There are clouds
called culebras (snakes), from some supposed resemblance
in form, which portend heavy rains, and always cause a
general apprehension of an inundation. At such times, all
the bells in the city are rung, for the purpose of propitiating
the God of the storm, and averting the calamity. The
4

50 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [cHAP. V.
result has always been favorable — whether from the ring
ing of the bells and post hoc ergo propter hoc, I shall not
decide. In this connection, I will mention another„equally
curious superstition ; — I do not know that it is peculiar to
Mexico. At a late hour every evening all the bells of the
city are tolled, and the belief is, that whilst the bells are
ringing, the souls in purgatory are released from torment.

CHAPTER VI.
Early visit to Mr. Kendall, of the Santa Fe Expedition — Death of the
wife of Santa Anna— Presentation to Santa Anna — Historical Sketch —
Career of Santa Anna — Victoria.
I arrived in Mexico on Saturday evening, and early on
Sunday morning I went to see Mr. Kendall and the Texan
prisoners. Although I had not then any personal acquaint
ance with Mr. Kendall, I felt a deep interest in his suffer
ings, an interest which was heightened by the terms in
which many of my friends in New Orleans had spoken of
him to me. I was very sure that no man who did not pos
sess fine qualities could have inspired the feelings which
were entertained towards him. I felt it to be my duty that
my first visit should be to him. I did not believe that by
doing so I should in any way give offence to the Mexican
Government, or diminish my ability to procure his release.
I have always found the highest policy to consist in pur
suing the promptings of just and honorable sentiments. I
am satisfied that it was so in this case. Desirous as I was
to see Mr. Kendall, my visit to him thus promptly was
dictated quite as much by policy as by feeling ; I knew
that all the movements of the new American minister were
closely observed, and that it was generally supposed that I
had gone to Mexico specially on account of the American
citizens confined there, and with very strong instructions.
I have reason to know that my visit to Kendall was imme
diately reported at the palace, and the effect was what I

52 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [cHAP. VI.
anticipated and desired. He was confined in the hospital
of San Lazaro — a most appropriate name. I have visited
many hospitals in the United States, but never have I seen
such an exhibition of loathsome disease. The brother of
Mary and Martha would have been a healthy-looking and
well-dressed gentleman, compared with any of the inmates
of this hospital bearing his name. Mr. Kendall was
quietly seated amongst the lepers, looking over some
American newspapers which I had sent him the evening
before. I took my seat by him, and became so much inter
ested in conversation with him, that I did not think, for
some time, of the danger to which I was exposed in breath
ing the very air of pestilence.
I went from San Lazaro to the convent of St. Jago, where
the other prisoners of the Santa ¥6 expedition were con
fined. This convent is situated on the great square of
Tlatilalco, and I stood on the spot where the Spaniards at
last succeeded in capturing " the hero boy" Guatemozin,
who made so glorious and heroic a defence of his country
against the Spanish invaders. I know of no siege recorded
in history which equals that of Mexico, in the indomitable
spirit and stern fortitude which were displayed, and the
extent of the sufferings endured by the besieged, nor a
scene more touching, nor language more truly heroic than
that of Guatemozin when brought a prisoner into the pre
sence of Cortes ; " I have done all which it was my duty to
do in the defence of my country and people until I am
reduced to my present condition, now do with me as you
please." At the period of my arrival in Mexico, the wife of
General Santa Anna, who is since dead, was dangerously
ill. The night after my arrival, the last ceremonies of the
Romish Church, and the last consolations of that religion

CHAP. VI.] DEATH OF THE WIFE OF SANTA ANNA. 53
were administered to her with a magnificent procession of
all the dignitaries of the church, headed by the archbishop,
and numbering altogether more than twenty thousand per
sons ; amongst whom (I place them in the order which is
that of precedence there) were all the highest officers of the
church, the army and the government. She was spoken of
by every one, even the bitterest enemies of her husband, as
a lady of rare virtue, and with the benevolence which belongs
to the character of woman everywhere, she had strenuously
exerted all her influence with her husband for the release
of the Texan prisoners. Under ordinary circumstances, I
should have felt restrained by his domestic afflictions from
urging the President for my presentation, but the vessel
which carried me to Vera Cruz would be detained to take
home -my predecessor, Mr. Ellis, and the yellow fever was
raging there with an almost unprecedented fatality. I felt
great solicitude for the health of the officers and crew —
and was anxious that their exposure to the pestilence should
be as brief as possible ; I felt, too, that every moment which
Kendall and other Americans were unjustly confined in
Mexico, was a reproach upon their government, and
although I did not for a moment suppose that I could do
anything in their behalf — which, under the circumstances,
would not have been done by the worthy and most
faithful minister who then represented our country in
Mexico — yet, I was apprised that the Mexican cabinet
looked with much apprehension upon what they supposed
the instructions of the new minister, and the high ground
which they anticipated that he would take. I was anxious
to avail myself of this state of feeling, and to enter upon my
duties at the earliest moment. Notwithstanding the dan
gerous illness of the Senora Santa Anna, an audience was
granted me. I had intended to have delivered my address

54 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [CHAP. VI.
upon my presentation in English, but a circumstance
occurring which it is not necessary to mention, deter
mined me to risk my Spanish. I, of course, had to allude
to the President's wife, and in doing so I spoke of her, as
" son estimable esposa," your estimable wife ; I sen no Eng
lish copy of my address to the United States, but it was
published in Spanish papers of the city, some of which
came to this country, and the bungling translator for some
of our papers translated the words " son estimable esposa,"
your estimable spouse. Now, although the word " spouse"
is pure old English, perhaps it is a little too old, and I was
a good deal ridiculed for using it, but the ridicule was due
to the translator, not to me ; I did not choose to correct the
mistake, thinking of the story of Alcibiades and his dog — and
I think I have cause of congratulation considering that I
was only two years in Mexico, and that during that time
so many important and difficult questions were thrown upon
the mission, if this was the only cause which I gave for cen
sure or ridicule. When I was presented, General Santa
Anna and all his cabinet ministers were dressed in rich mili
tary uniforms. I was struck with the contrast to the simple
unostentatious habits of our own Chief Magistrate ; but it
was illustrative of the difference between the two govern
ments, — the principal points of resemblance between which
are in name. If Mexico ever has been a Republic, it has
been a military Republic.
General Santa Anna has for the last quarter of a century
played so conspicuous a part in the drama of Mexican poli
tics and civil war, as to have attracted the attention of the
world, and to have made his name in some degree historic.
No history of his country for that period can be written
without the constant mention of his name ; indeed, I regard
him, as more than any other man, the author and finisher of

CHAP. VI.] HISTORICAL SKETCH. 55
the last and successful struggle of Mexico for Independ
ence and a Republican form of government. The first
abortive effort which was commenced in 1809, by Hidalgo
and Allende, had not for its object the establishment of a
Republic, or of free institutions ; if, indeed, free institutions
can exist under any other form of government. That
movement had its origin in feelings of enthusiastic and
devoted loyalty, which up to that time was the ruling
passion in the heart of every Spaniard. The abdication of the
legitimate monarch of Spain, the atrocious perfidy by which
it was obtained, and the transference of the sovereignty
of the country to the Emperor of France, which country
had for centuries been regarded as the hereditary enemy of
Spain, were the true causes of the insurrection in Mexico in
1809. It was begun under the auspices of the Spanish vice
roy, and had for its object, real as well as professed, the saving
of that portion of his dominions for Ferdinand VII. Al
though that movement was commenced by Hidalgo, a
priest, and afterwards prosecuted by Morelos, another priest,
yet the great body of the clergy were opposed to it, and it
of course failed. I say of course failed, for a residence in
a Catholic country has thoroughly satisfied me that no poli
tical movement can succeed where that religion prevails, to
which the priesthood is opposed. And it will constitute a new
epoch in history whenever that priesthood is not opposed to
any great movement in favor of human liberty. I know no
sympathy which is stronger than that of the Catholic clergy
with despotic power — nothing so fatal to these pretensions
as the unshackling of the human mind by the spirit and the
influence of free institutions. The struggle was continued
with ever-changing leaders, and various results, until 1821,
when General Iturbide, a Spanish officer in command of a
large army intended to crush the small remnant of the pa-

56 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [cHAP. VI.
triot forces, and to extinguish the smouldering embers of
the revolution, went over to the cause of the patriots, and
at once changed the whole face of affairs. In truth, the de
fection of Iturbide was in itself the revolution. The inde
pendence of the country was achieved without a single
battle, or a blow being struck by Spain. But the real
patriots of the country very soon discovered that it was
not the liberty of their country which they had achieved, but
only a change of masters. In one year and three months
after the adhesion of Iturbide to the cause of independence,
he usurped the supreme power, and was declared emperor
by the army and a wild mob of ragged leperos. Although
there was a large number of republicans, and as enthusi
astic and devoted patriots as any country ever produced,
the revolution was really no more a movement in favor of
liberty than was that of 1809. Its real authors were the
priests, and therefore it succeeded. Certain decrees of the
Spanish Cortes, confiscating the estates, and otherwise en
croaching upon the prerogatives of the church, caused great
excitement amongst the Mexican clergy, and they put the
ball of revolution in motion, never dreaming that it would
roll as far as it did. The basis of the movement was what
was called the plan of Iguala, or the Three Guarantees,
which was drawn up by Iturbide, and submitted by him to
the chiefs of the army on the 24th February, 1821, who
were then assembled at Iguala. This paper sets forth the
three great objects of the revolution :
1. The preservation of the holy Catholic religion.
2. The intimate union of Creoles and Europeans.
3. The separate independence of Mexico.
The form of the government was to be a limited monar
chy, and the crown to be offered to Ferdinand VII. As I
before remarked, the defection of Iturbide consummated

CHAP. VI.J HISTORICAL SKETCH. 57
the revolution without the shedding of one drop of blood.
He who had proven himself false to his king, was not less
so to his country and the cause of liberty which he had es
poused. He very soon evinced by many arrogant and
arbitrary acts what were his real purposes and objects, and
on the night of the 18th of May, 1822, he was proclaimed em
peror. Having thus, by double treachery to his sovereign
and country, acquired the supreme power, his first acts
showed that he was ambitious to add to the epithets to
which he had entitled himself, that of tyrant also.
No similar body, under like circumstances, has evinced
more virtue, firmness, and constancy, than did the Congress
of Mexico in resisting the usurpation and tyranny of Itur
bide, surrounded as he was by his pretorian band. But all
resistance seemed in vain, and the power of the usurper
seemed to be firmly established, the republican party utterly
crushed, and the spirit of liberty itself extinguished, ex
cept in a few heroic bosoms. Bravo had retired to the
south, and Victoria was hiding himself in the caverns of the
mountains, whilst Iturbide was revelling in imperial splen
dor, surrounded by an army of fifteen thousand men.
It is not my purpose to write either a history of the Mex
ican revolution or a biography of General Santa Anna, but
this sketch is necessary to enable the reader justly to appre
ciate the public career and character of the latter.
Such, then, was the state of things in Mexico in January,
1823, when General Santa Anna, then only a Colonel, and
in command of a single regiment in Vera Cruz, raised the
banner once more of republican liberty, and forthwith com
menced his march towards Mexico, unsupported but by his
own regiment. Iturbide despatched General Echavari
to meet him, and, as he did not doubt, to crush the rebellion
at a single blow. After various skirmishes between Jalapa

58 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [CHAP. VI.
and Vera Cruz, where they met, Santa Anna managed to
bring over General Echavari to the republican cause,
with all his force. This at once gave him the command
of a respectable army, and well-grounded hopes of success.
Santa Anna was then only thirty years of age, and had no
extended reputation in the country. He was only known
as an intrepid and successful Colonel of a regiment, and he
wisely considered that the great interests involved, required
that the chief command should be given to some of the old
heroes of the Revolution, whose name would be a watch
word for every Mexican patriot ; and he at once deter
mined to call Victoria from his hiding-place in the moun
tains, to give him the chief command, and to serve in a
subordinate station himself. The revolution was soon con
summated; Iturbide dethroned and banished, and a federal
Republic ultimately established. Santa Anna, from the
first, declared in favor of this form of government, and
zealously aided in its establishment. There was another
and a powerful party in favor of a central government. He
faithfully sustained the government thus established, until
it was fairly tried and generally thought, by the most
enlightened men, that the experiment had failed. Any opi
nion, which my short residence in the country would enable
me to form upon this question, would not be entitled to much
weight. But I confess that I shall be most agreeably sur
prised if a Federal Republic shall succeed in Mexico, for
many years to come ; nor do I see much reason for such a
form of government there. The representative principle is
the great security of the rights of the citizen, and it is an
all-sufficient security where the interests of the constituent
and the representative are identical. I do not mean the
interest of the individual constituent and representative, but
of the constituent and representative bodies. This identity

CHAP. VI.J HISTORICAL SKETCH. 59
does not exist in a country embracing various and antago
nist interests, and those interests concentrated in different
and distinct sections, as in our own country. In such a
case the interest of a majority of the representatives may
be directly opposed to the interests of the minority, who
may thus not only be injured by acts of legislation not
only not injurious, but positively beneficial to the majority
of the representative body, and their immediate constitu
ency. The only security in such a state of things is the
federal principle ; and the great difficulty exists in the com
bination of the federal and representative principles. How
far it is practicable to combine these principles, is the great
problem in political philosophy which we have undertaken
to solve. It is probable that we may be able to do it suc
cessfully. But it is scarcely possible for Mexico ; nor is
there much necessity for such an experiment there. In
Mexico there is no such variety of productions and employ
ments, and therefore no such conflict of antagonist interests
as to prevent one government from operating equally bene
ficially on all the different sections of the country ; and
therefore the less necessity for the partition of the powers
of government between one whose objects are purely inter
nal, and another exclusively external and national. It is
much to be feared, too, from the great extent of the Terri
tory, and the sparseness and ignorance of the population,
that a federal government would, in Mexico, really be no
government at all.
That such a form of government is the best for us, is no
good reason that it is the best also for Mexico, but rather
the contrary. Governments should be cautiously adapted
to all the general peculiarities of a people ; and every peo
ple has these peculiarities. The government which would
suit one would, therefore, not be apt to suit another people

&

r 1
60 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [CHAP. VI.
equally well. I ride my own gentle and well-trained horse
with a light bridle, but it is no reason why my neighbor,
whose horse is wild and untractable, should do the same.
This short retrospect of Mexican history will, I think,
satisfy the reader that. Santa Anna is entitled to all the
credit of beginning the last and successful movement for
the establishment of a Republican government in Mexico,
and under circumstances in which very few men would have
had the boldness to have attempted it. When the whole
country was trembling under the absolute and despotic
power of Iturbide, and the spirit of resistance and the
hopes of liberty almost extinguished, unsupported but by his
single regiment, he unfurled his banner, and instantly com
menced the march towards the capital, where Iturbide was
surrounded by 15,000 veteran troops. Where shall we
find an instance of greater disinterestedness than that of this
young and ambitious officer, surrendering to another the
chief command, and the glory of the achievement, if it
should be successful, at the same time that his own danger
and responsibility were in no degree diminished in the
event of a failure ?
A passing word as to Gen. Victoria. The annals of the
Mexican war of independence furnish many incidents and
characters worthy of a place in the pages of Plutarch —
luminous traces in the general darkness of faction and an
archy — none of these characters command more of my
respect than that of Gaudaloupe Victoria. Through all
the changing phases of that struggle he was always con
stant and faithful. He never despaired of the ultimate
success of the cause of republican liberty — faltered in its
support, or compromised with its enemies. When the
Spanish power had entirely suppressed the insurrection of
Hidalgo and Morelos, Victoria fled to the mountains, where

CHAP. VI.] CAREER OF SANTA ANNA. 61
he remained in concealment until deceived by the profes
sions of Iturbide, and believing that the liberty of his coun
try was his real as it was his professed object, he rallied
under his standard. When the real designs of Iturbide
were developed, and he usurped the supreme power, we do
not find Victoria mingling with the throng of his minions,
filling the high station which it was in his power to have
done, and revelling in the splendors of the Imperial Court.
We find him again the occupant of his cavern in the moun
tains, enduring privations and sufferings which give to his
life more the air of a romance than of real history. Santa.
Anna again unfurls the banner of freedom, and Victoria
again emerges from his hiding-place, and rallies under it.
Wherever and whenever that banner was raised, without
calculating the chances of success or the consequences of
failure, this brave and virtuous man, with a romantic devo
tion to the liberty of his country, never hesitated in his
course. The crowning glory of his life is, that he died so
poor that he was buried at the public expense, and this
after filling the highest offices of his country, where the fa
cilities of peculation are infinite, and the practice of it
much too common.*
I shall pass over in this notice of the public career of
Santa Anna, all the events of the war, in which he bore a
part, between the dethronement of Iturbide and the landing
of the Spanish General Barradas at Tampico in the sum
mer of 1829, in command of 4000 Spanish veterans, with
the confident hope of crushing for ever the revolutionary
movement in Mexico. Active hostilities on the part of the
mother country had been so long suspended that Mexico
did not anticipate such an invasion, and was wholly unpre-
* A Sketch of Victoria taken from Ward's Mexico will be found in the
Appendix.

62 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [cHAP. VI.
pared to meet it. Santa Anna, who was in Vera Cruz,
was no sooner informed of the landing of the Spaniards
than he immediately collected a force of seven hundred
men and crossed the gulf in open boats, a distance of sixty
miles, and landed at Zuspan, avoiding the Spanish vessels
of war which were cruising in the gulf. From Zuspan he
transported his troops in canoes and perogues across the
Lake Jomiahua, and disembarked within three leagues of
Tampico, which town the Spanish army then occupied.
Santa Anna was informed when he landed that General
Barradas had gone on an expedition into the interior with
three thousand men, leaving one thousand to garrison the
fortress. He resolved on an immediate attack, which he
made at daylight the next morning, 1st of August, 1829,
and after a vigorous assault of four hours, the garrison ca
pitulated. The capitulation had scarcely been concluded,
when General Barradas made his appearance at the head
of three thousand men : Santa Anna was cut off from the
possibility of a retreat by the river, which flowed between
the fort where he then was, and his quarters. In this criti
cal emergency, nothing could have saved him but one of
those stratagems which have so often decided the fate of
armies and of empires, and of which the mind of Santa
Anna has so often shown itself in an eminent degree fruit
ful. He managed to impress General Barradas with the
conviction that he was at the head of an overwhelming force,
which the Spanish General the more readily believed as
he could not have imagined that without such a force such
an enterprise would have been attempted. He, therefore,
instead of an immediate attack, proposed to enter into ne
gotiations, and that whilst those negotiations were going
on, Santa Anna should return to his own quarters. To
this Santa Anna consented, and with drums beating and

CHAP. VI.J CAREER OF SANTA ANNA. 63
banners waving, crossed the river and returned in safety to
his quarters. The mortification of Barradas was extreme
when he ascertained that this miserable force of little more
than six hundred men had caused him such terror, and had
escaped from his clutches ; such, however, were the effects
produced upon the Spanish General by the extraordinary
gallantry of the act that he did not attack the Mexican
General even after he was informed of the extreme weak
ness of his force. Santa Anna was reinforced in a few
days by some four or five hundred men. He attacked the
Spaniards every night and generally successfully ; and on
the 11th of September,, a vigorous attack was made upon
the fort on the Bar, which was garrisoned by a regiment
of Spanish troops, when the Spanish General entered into a
capitulation, surrendering all his arms and munitions of
war. The remnant of the Spanish invading army, amount
ing to about twenty-two hundred, sailed shortly afterwards
for Havana. Santa Anna's force at no time exceeded fif
teen hundred men. This was the last attempt which was
made by Spain to recover her power in Mexico.
Taking all the circumstances attending the campaign of
Tampico, the desperate courage which could alone have
suggested it, and the consummate prudence and caution in
its execution, one is forcibly reminded of General Jackson's
attack of the British, on the 23d of December. I do not
mean, by comparing them, to say that they are in any de
gree equal ; nor do I know any campaign in history which
can be advantageously compared with that of General
Jackson in Louisiana. It was a miracle — I think the
greatest miracle in military history, taking into considera
tion the vast superiority of the enemy, who that enemy was,
and the general result in killed and wounded on both sides.
The revolution which Santa Anna set on foot and con-

64 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [cHAP. VI.
summated in the fall of 1841, which resulted in the over
throw and banishment of President Bustamente, exhibited
the same boldness in the undertaking, and tact and sagacity
in its execution. Bustamente was in Mexico, in command
of eight thousand troops : he himself an old commander of
much experience and reputation, and undoubted courage ;
Santa Anna was on his estate at Mango de Clavo, near Vera
Cruz. He pronounced (that is the Mexican word for com
mencing a revolution) against Bustamente, and forthwith
took up the line of march towards Mexico, at the head of
four or five hundred men ; not soldiers, but such men as he
could pick up about Vera Cruz, and on his estates ; and,
with no other force but these raggamuffins, he had the
audacity to show himself in the immediate vicinity of the
city of Mexico. Bustamente did not attack him for a few
days, from some cause, probably contempt for the move
ment ; but these few days were fatal to him, and in a few
days more he was forced to surrender his power and leave
the country.
A provisional government was organized by the chiefs
of the army assembled at Tacubaya, a village three miles
from Mexico. By the seventh article of this provisional
government, •' as he understood it," Santa Anna was in
vested, in effect, with absolute power. This provisional
government was to last until a new constitution was formed,
and the government organized under it. This was not done
until shortly before I left the country, and the only consti
tution which was in force during my residence there was
the plan of Tacubaya ; and I must say, that of the hun
dreds of laws which were dictated by Santa Anna during
that time, I think there were very few which were not
wise and necessary. And it should redound to his lasting
honor, that, surrounded as he was by faction, intrigue, and

CHAP. VI.J CAREER OF SANTA ANNA. 65
enemies, who have since overthrown him, in no single
instance was any man punished for a political offence.
Very few dictators, in possession of absolute power for the
same length of time, and surrounded by the same circum
stances, can say as much. The reader will, at least, agree
that he is not the sanguinary monster which some have
supposed him to be.

CHAPTER VII.
Official and Private Intercourse with Santa Anna — Santa Anna's First
Interview with General Jackson' — His Explanation of the Massacre of
the Alamo — Decimation of the Prisoners of Mier — Anecdotes of Grati
tude and Humanity in Santa Anna — Character of Santa Anna.
After this sketch, and it is a very brief one, of some of
the leading events in the public career of General Santa
Anna, if the reader is sufficiently interested I pro
pose to devote another chapter to an account of some
incidents of my official and private intercourse with him,
and of many other matters which will perhaps be more
illustrative of his character and feelings as a man.
General Santa Anna, is now fifty-four years of age. He
is about five feet ten inches high, with a finely proportioned
person. His complexion is of an olive cast, but not indi
cating any mixture of blood, although I believe he is not of
pure Castilian lineage. I do not know that I have ever
seen a more striking and finely formed head and face ;
there is scarcely a feature or a point in either that Spurz-
heim or Lavater would desire to change. I remember to
have heard a distinguished American statesman remark
when Santa Anna was in Washington, that he had rarely
seen a face indicative in a higher degree of talent, firmness,
and benevolence ; and when I say as I do, that I think that his
face is not an inaccurate index to the volume of his charac
ter, I beg the reader not to start and lay down the book
before he has read a few incidents which I propose to nar
rate, and for most of which I vouch, as they have passed

CHAP. VII.J INTERVIEW WITH SANTA ANNA. 67
under my own observation. I am well aware that I should
better satisfy the great mass of readers both in this country
and in Mexico, by speaking in a different vein of this now
fallen man ; but it would be both unjust and ungrateful in
me to do so. I trust that I may without impropriety say,
that the history of my mission will show that I never
stooped to flatter General Santa Anna when at the height
of his power, neither can I find it in my heart to traduce
him now. He has at different times, at my instance,
released from imprisonment more than two hundred Texan
prisoners, and has so often afforded me that highest of all
happiness, that of making others happy, that I should be gra
tified to know that in his present fallen state anything which
I may write of him has given him one moment's gratifica
tion. I shall not, however, be betrayed by this desire into
writing one line which my own deliberate judgment does
not approve.
Mr. Poinsett had an interview with General Santa Anna in
1822. He saw and judged of him free from the false glare
of high position and extended reputation. Santa Anna was
then only a colonel of a regiment. Mr. Poinsett was particu
larly struck with his high bearing and polished manners.
Mme. Calderon de la Barca bears the same testimony to the
grace, ease, naturalness of his manners, and the thoughtful-
nessand repose which are so striking in his countenance ; and
on this subject there is no authority so conclusive as that of
a well-bred and accomplished lady. I have seen no coun
tenance except that of General Jackson, whose range of
expression was so great, where there was so great a differ
ence between the quiet expression of the face when at
rest and in a gentle mood, and its terrible ferocity when highly
excited. The mildness of the lamb and the fierceness of
the enraged tiger would not much too strongly express this

68 RECOLLECTIONS QF MEXICO. [cHAP. VII.
difference. Such is his character, by nature kind and
affectionate, but subject to bursts of passion fiery and fierce.
He is a Spaniard ; a race which, with its many noble traits
of character, is everywhere regarded as more than
ordinarily sanguinary ; perhaps not more so by nature
than others. They have been from the earliest period
engaged in civil wars, and civil wars are everywhere san
guinary to a proverb. That between the Goths and the
Moors lasted for eight hundred years, and there were ele
ments in that protracted contest calculated to increase even
the characteristic ferocity of civil wars. It was a religious
war, and more even than that, it was a war of races. The
civil war between the mother country and Mexico, in
which Santa Anna was bred, was not the best possible
school for lessons of clemency. No quarter was generally
the law of that war, at least on the part of Spain, and
almost the only law which Spain respected. It would be
strange indeed, if one brought up in such a school should
not have committed some acts not strictly conformable to
our notions. Yet, I believe, that with the exception of his
conduct in Texas, and the order for decimating the Texan
prisoners of Mier, his character is free from stain in this
particular ; whilst his military career has been illustrated by
many acts of noble clemency which would do honor to any
commander. He attempts to justify himself for the shooting of the
men of Colonel Fanning's command, and for the massacre at
the storming of the Alamo. As I had never before heard
any justification whatever of either of these acts, I will
state what passed between Santa Anna and myself on this
subject in the last interview which I had with him. He
was describing to me his first interview with General Jack
son, at Washington city, and it was so characteristic of that

CHAP. VII.J INTERVIEW WITH SANTA ANNA. 69
gallant old man, that I will endeavor to give it in Santa
Anna's own words. When he arrived in Washington, Mr.
Forsyth, then Secretary of State, called upon him and re
quested that he would go with him and see General Jack
son, who was confined to his chamber, where he received
Santa Anna. After the usual salutations and ceremonies, and
some short conversation on other subjects, General Jackson
said to him : " Well, General Santa Anna, tell me why you
abandoned the republican party in Mexico and went over
to the priests ?" Santa Anna said to me, laughing heartily,
that although he felt that it was rather an awkward affair
for the President of one republic to be thus catechized by
the President of another, yet that he answered the question
to the entire satisfaction of General Jackson, by stating all
the circumstances of his position, and the condition of the
country. When he had finished his defence on this point,
General Jackson said to him : " Well, Sir, now tell me ano
ther thing ; why did you massacre the Texans of Fanning's
command, and at the Alamo?" Santa Anna said, that he
then justified himself for those acts, or his participation in
them, and that General Jackson expressed himself satisfied
on that point also. I give you the statement of Santa Anna.
I of course do not vouch for it. When he told me this I
could not forbear saying to him, " And did General Jackson
say that you had satisfied him on that point?" " Yes, he
did, Sir," was his reply. I then told him that I had never
heard one word in justification of those acts, and begged
that he would repeat to me the substance of what he had
said to General Jackson. He said that he would do so
with great pleasure ; that he was not surprised that I had
never heard but one side of that matter, or of anything
else connected with the war between Texas and Mexico ;
that he knew, when he travelled through the United States,

70 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [cHAP. VII.
shortly after those scenes in Texas, that his name was never
mentioned but as a murderer and assassin ; " Yes, Sir,"
said he, " and it is most honorable to your countrymen, that
nowhere did I receive the slightest indignity, but was treat
ed everywhere with the most marked respect — even in the
steamboats, where, as you know, there is not much cere
mony or respect for persons."
As to the affair at the Alamo, he said that it was not ex
pected of any commander to restrain his troops when a
place was taken by storm, and still less so when the dispro
portion of the forces of the besiegers and besieged was so
great as to make a successful defence altogether hopeless —
that in such a case, to protract the defence was a wanton
sacrifice of the lives of the assailants — and unjustifiable ;
that scenes equally sanguinary were enacted by the troops
under the command of the Duke of Wellington at the
storming of San Sebastian, Ciudad Riego, and Badajos.
The Texans who defended the Alamo did not exceed one
hundred and fifty men, without artillery, against between
four and five thousand Mexicans, with artillery. He added
that he had seven different times summoned them to surren
der, and offered them quarter, which he would have taken
the risk and responsibility of granting, but that they refused
to accept it, and fought to the last and died gloriously.
As to the shooting of Fanning's men, he said that the cam
paign of Texas had been commenced under a special act
of the Mexican Congress, providing that no prisoners should
be made ; and added, that if the law was a sanguinary one,
that the odium should attach to the legislature which passed
it, and not to the military commander who obeyed and exe
cuted it. I replied, that in that case, no capitulation should
have been entered into, but that, after it had been done, it was
obligatory, and I saw no justification whatever for violating

CHAP. VII. J MASSACRE OF THE ALAMO. 71
it. He replied : " That is true ; and when the officer to
whom Colonel Fanning had surrendered informed me of it,
and of the capitulation, I wrote to him, that although it was
a violation of the law, yet as he had entered into the capitu
lation, it must be scrupulously respected." -He said, that
shortly after this, the officer in charge of the Texan pri
soners wrote to him that he was suffering extremely from
want of provisions, and that most of the Texan prisoners
had secret arms, which they refused to surrender, and that
there were constant indications of a revolt among them.
There were only about three hundred Mexican soldiers to
guard near five hundred Texans.* He also said, that when
* The massacre of Colonel Fanning's command was regarded in this coun
try with great and general horror, as it deserved to be, but it was not with
out illustrious examples. The following account of the slaughter of the
Turkish prisoners at Jaffa is taken from Scott's Life of Napoleon. They
were executed in precisely the same manner as were the unfortunate
Texans — fired upon first with musketry, and the horrible butchery finished
with the sword and bayonet. Change the names, and Sir Walter Scott's
description of the wholesale murder at Jaffa would be an equally exact
account of the massacre at Goliad. It does not, therefore, lie in the mouth
of any admirer and eulogist of Buonaparte to denounce Santa Anna, even
if he is to be held wholly responsible for the act : —
" After the breach had been stormed, a large part of the garrison, esti
mated by Buonaparte himself at twelve hundred men, which Miot raises
to betwixt two and three thousand, and others exaggerate still more, re
mained on the defensive, and held out in mosques and a sort of citadel to
which they had retreated, till, at length, despairing of succor, they sur
rendered their arms, and were, in appearance, admitted to quarter. Of
this body, the Egyptians were carefully separated from the Turks, Mau-
grabins, and Arnaouts, and while the first were restored to liberty, and
sent back to their country, these last were placed under a strong guard.
Provisions were distributed to them, and they were permitted to go by
detachments in quest of water. According to all appearance, they were
considered and treated as prisoners of war. This was on the 18th of
March. On the 20th, two days afterwards, this body of prisoners were
marched out of Jaffa, in the centre of a large square battalion, commanded

72 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [cHAP. VII.
he received this last communication, he sent to the officer
in command a copy of the law of the Mexican Congress
above referred to, but ordered him expressly to commit no
act of unnecessary cruelty ; and if any executions were
ordered, that it must be done only in cases of clear guilt
and from stern necessity, and strictly according to military
by General Bon. Miot assures us that he himself mounted his horse,
accompanied the melancholy column, and witnessed the event. The
Turks foresaw their fate, but used neither entreaties nor complaints
to avert it. They marched on, silent and composed. Some of them,
of higher rank, seemed to exhort the others to submit, like servants of the
Prophet, to the decree which, according to their belief, was written on
their forehead. They were escorted to the sand hills to the south-east of
Jaffa, divided into small bodies, and put to death by musketry. The
execution lasted a considerable time, and the wounded, as in the fusillades
of the Revolution, were despatched with the bayonet. Their bodies were
heaped together, and formed a pyramid, which is still visible, consisting
now of human bones, as originally of bloody corpses."
Nor would it very well become an Englishman to use any harsh terms
of the actors in the massacre of the Texans at Goliad. The atrocities per
petrated after the battles at the river Raisin and Fort Meigs were infinitely
more horrible. After a formal capitulation, in which protection was pro
mised, the American prisoners were delivered over to the savage allies of
the English, in comparison with whose cruel tortures any ordinary mode
of killing was mercy, the British officers standing by and making no effort
to prevent it. None but cowards are cruel. In a few months after these
butcheries, the same British troops, with their leader, General Proctor,
fled at the first charge like frightened wolves from the American army
under General Harrison at the battle of the Thames. The battle-cry
of Colonel Short, when leading the charge at Fort Sandusky, was, " Give
the damned Yankees no quarter." When they were repulsed and beaten,
their wounded were treated with the kindness of brothers. What a noble
revenge ! The murderous forays of the British troops, at Hampton and
other places on the Chesapeake, would have disgraced a band of Scottish
marauders of the sixteenth century. Most of these buccaneers shortly
afterwards went to New Orleans ; the bones of many of them are there yet.
I have no disposition to perpetuate feelings of hostility against England,
but acts of murderous atrocity like those to which I have alluded deserve
to be held up to eternal execration.

CHAP. VII.J THE PRISONERS OF MIER. 73
usage. He said much more upon this point, but the above
is the substance. I confess that whilst I thought his de
fence for the slaughter of the Alamo in some degree an
exculpation, that the shooting of Fanning's command, pri
soners of war under a formal capitulation, was wholly un
justifiable, and an act of unmitigated murder — a guilt from
which Santa Anna is not free, as the officer committing the
act was never punished for it.
The decimation of the prisoners of Mier I regard as an
act of much greater atrocity than either of the others.
Those prisoners were not on parole, and had a perfect right
to escape if they could ; nothing was more common in the
Peninsular war, than for British officers to refuse to be
released on their parole, preferring to take the chances of
escape, and not to deprive themselves of the right of serv
ing again during the war. When the news of the re-cap
ture of the Mier prisoners was received in Mexico, General
Bravo was acting as President ad interim? and issued an
* The long military career of Bravo has been that of a brave, virtuous,
and humane man. Some instances are recorded of him, of a generosity
which would do honor to any commander during the war of Independence.
In Ward's Mexico, we find the following anecdote of his magnanimity :
" In the first of these actions Bravo defeated Don Juan Labaqui, the com
mandant of the regiment of Patriots of Vera Cruz, at the head of a strong
detachment. The engagement lasted three days, when the village in
which the Spaniards had taken refuge was taken by storm (20th August,
1812). Three hundred prisoners, taken upon this occasion, were placed
by Morelos at the disposal of Bravo, who offered them to the Viceroy
Vinegas, in exchange for his father Don Leonardo Bravo, who was then
under sentence of death in the prison of the capital. The offer was
rejected, and the sentence against Don Leonardo ordered to be carried into
immediate execution. His son, in lieu of making reprisals by the massa
cre of his prisoners, instantly set them at liberty, " wishing " (as he said)
" to put it out of his own power to avenge on them the death of his parent,
lest, in the first moments of grief, the temptation should prove irre
sistible."

74 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [cHAP. VII.
order that they should all be shot. As soon as I heard of
this, I called at the office of Mr. Bocanegra, the Minister of
Foreign Affairs, and in the most respectful manner, ex
pressed the hope that all the privileges of prisoners of war
would be extended to the Texans, and that no act of undue
severity would be committed. He was very much excited,
and it was the only instance, in all my intercourse with
him, that his conduct was not dignified and courteous ; for
he is a very polished and amiable gentleman. He said to
me : They are not American citizens, and you have, there
fore, no right to interpose in their behalf. I replied : They
are human beings and prisoners of war, and it is the right
and the duty of all nations to see that' Mexico does not vio
late the principles and the usages of civilized war — more
particularly is it the duty of the United States to maintain
those laws and usages on this Continent. He replied with
much warmth, that Mexico would listen to no suggestion
upon the subject, from any quarter. I rose from my seat,
and said : Then, Sir, shoot them as soon as you choose, but
let me tell you, that if you do you will at once involve in
this war a much more powerful enemy than Texas — and
took my leave. An express was immediately sent, coun
termanding the order to shoot them all, and another order
given that they should be decimated, which was executed.
I afterwards received from some of the Texan prison
ers, a heart-sickening account of the execution of those
upon whom the lot fell. It was a cold-blooded and atro
cious murder, of as gallant men as any country can boast
of. A career of public service, now not a short one, has
afforded me no happiness at all equal to that which I derive,
from reflecting upon the part which I bore in this transac
tion. I may have been the instrument of saving the lives
of a hundred and fifty or more of those brave and patri
otic, but unfortunate men.

CHAP. VII.J THE PRISONERS OF MIER. 75
In a military career of thirty years, these are the only
instances, so far as I have ever heard, of any acts of cruelty
or even severity, perpetrated by Santa Anna. In the vari
ous civil wars in which he has borne a conspicuous part,
and always been successful, he has not only spared the
lives and property of his vanquished enemies, but if, as was
generally the case, they were banished, ample provision was
made for them, which was punctually paid ; a somewhat
rare thing in Mexico. There was one single exception to
this remark : General Mexia, who was beaten at the battle
of Acajeta, at the head of an insurrectionary army, was
ordered to be shot in one hour. When the order was com
municated to him, he said : " General Santa Anna is very
generous ; if I had made him prisoner, I should not have
given him fifteen minutes." They were playing at a game
upon which each had staked his head, and Mexia lost.
There were some occurrences which passed under my own
eye, and for the truth of which I vouch, which will better
illustrate the character of General Santa Anna than any
general dissertation of mine, and which will be entitled to
more consideration than my own individual opinion. When
Santa Anna was a prisoner in Texas he was put in chains.
The proud spirit of a soldier and a Castillian could not bear
this indignity, and he attempted to commit suicide by tak
ing laudanum. He was relieved from its effects, and other
wise kindly treated by Doctor Phelps, of Texas. On the
arrival of the prisoners taken at Mier, Santa Anna ascer
tained that there was one whose name was Phelps. He
sent for him, and asked him if he was related to Doctor
Phelps of Washington, Texas ; when the young man replied
that he was his son, Santa Anna ordered that he should be
released, sent an aide-camp with him into the city, and pur
chased two or three suits of clothes for him, and gave him

76 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. LCHAP- vn-
a room in his palace. I was informed of all this, and as
there was an American ship of war at Vera Cruz, about to
sail to the United States, I wrote a note to Santa Anna,
offering young Phelps a passage. He replied, thanking me
for the offer, but declined it, saying, that he felt himself for
tunate in having it in his power to return, in some degree,
the kindness of Doctor Phelps to him, when he was a pri
soner in Texas, and that he preferred sending his son home
at his own expense ; which he did, giving to him also a
draft on his factor in Vera Cruz, for whatever sum of money
he might ask for.
Amongst the prisoners taken at Mier, was a very shrewd
and handsome boy, of about fifteen years of age, John Hill.
On their arrival in Mexico, this boy was not closely con
fined as the other prisoners were, and he came to see me,
and requested that I would ask the President to release
him. I told him to go himself, and I was sure that Santa
Anna would be more apt to do it on his own account than
on mine.
A few days afterwards the little fellow returned to my
house very handsomely dressed, and told me that he had
been liberated, and gave me the following account of what
had passed between himself and the President. When he
requested Santa Anna to release him, the latter replied,
" Why if I do you will come back and fight me again. The
Santa Fe prisoners were released on their parole of honor
not to bear arms again against Mexico, and it was not three
months before half of them had invaded the country again;
and they tell me that you killed several of my Mexicans at
Mier." The little fellow replied, that he did not know how
many he had killed, but that he had fired fifteen or twenty
times during the battle. " Very well," said Santa Anna, " I
will release you, and what is more, I will adopt you as my
son, and educate and provide for you as such."

CHAP. VII.J ANECDOTES. 77
The boy was sent to the house of General Tornel, the
Minister of War, and was really, as I know, adopted on a
full footing of equality in his family, and treated with the
most parental kindness. He was afterwards placed at the
principal college in Mexico, where he was pursuing his
education when I left the country. General Santa Anna
not only paid the charges of his education, but in all re
spects cared for him as for a son. Some time after his
own discharge, little Hill came to me, to request that I
would obtain the release of his father; I told him no, that he
was a more successful negotiator than I was, to go and try
his own hand again. He did so, and obtained at once the
release of his father, and afterwards of a brother, who was
also among the prisoners.
I might protract this narrative almost indefinitely by de
scribing similar instances, but I will mention only one
more, and it impressed me more favorably than any other,
because it was a triumph of the better and more generous
feelings and impulses of our nature, over the previously
formed determination of calculating policy. At the period
of my leaving Mexico, there were thirty-six Texans con
fined at t'.e castle of Perote, who had been made prisoners
by General Wool at San Antonio, in Texas, in the fall of
1842. 1 was very anxious that they should be released,
and with that view, stopped some days at Jalapa, as Santa
Anna was daily expected at his beautiful country seat, the
Encero, five miles distant from that city. When I visited
him, he turned the conversation upon the purpose of the
government of the United States to annex Texas, and
spoke freely but respectfully on the subject. It was not
positively known then in Mexico that such a negotiation
was on foot ; at least I did not know it, perhaps Santa
Anna did. I was not disposed to enter into any discussion

78 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [cHAP. VII.
with him, but his remarks at length became so strong that
I could not be silent, and I replied to him with a good deal
of warmth, and at the close of a short and pretty animated
discussion, I said to him — " What do you intend to do with
the Texan prisoners ? do you intend to keep them here
always ?" " What else can I do, Sir ? if I release them on
their parole, they will not respect it, and I gain nothing by
making them prisoners, for they immediately take up arms
again, as did the prisoners of the Santa Fe Expedition,
and," he added, " I was informed that you intended to ask
the release of these prisoners ; but I beg that you will not
do it, for great as the pleasure would be to oblige you, my
duty forbids it." I told him that he knew that I was not
apt to abandon my purposes, and that I would ask it, and
what was more, that I knew he would release them. I
added that the prisoners taken at San Antonio did not
know that it was the Mexican army which was approach
ing, but supposed it was a band of robbers which was in
festing the place ; the Texans had all told me so. He re
plied, " I know they say so, but it is not true ; Gen Wall
entered San Antonio, with cannon and music, and any one
knows that robber bands have neither." " Well," said I, " if
they did, they were defending their homes and hearths, and
a gallant defence they made, and a generous enemy should
respect them the more." " That," said he, " is putting the
matter on a different footing. Are there any particular
individuals of the San Antonio prisoners whom you wish
released V " Yes, there are." " Then," said he, " send
me a list of their names to-morrow." " No, I will give
them to you now," I replied. " Very well," said he, " who
are they ?" I answered, " all of them. How can I distin
guish between men, all strangers to me, personally, whose
cases are in all respects the same, and why should you 1"

CHAP. VII.J ANECDOTES. 79
" Well," said he, with manifest emotion, " I have been ad
vised not to do it, and had made up my mind that I would
not, but you shall take them all with you."
In giving this narrative, I have been forced to speak more
frequently of myself than I could wish ; I could have
simply stated that those men were liberated at my request,
but that would most inadequately have conveyed the idea
of the true character of the transaction, — the yielding of
all considerations of policy, to the promptings of feelings
of generosity and kindness. I do not believe, that of the
hundreds of Americans in Mexico, there was one who
would not promptly have done all that I did. No unwor
thy motive can be imputed to Santa Anna for this act ; my
functions as Minister had ceased, and I was then only a
private American citizen, who had no power to serve him
in any way, and whose name, even, he would in all proba
bility never again hear mentioned.
During the war in Yucatan the government of Mexico
was in a great exigency for thirty or forty thousand dollars.
Mr. Hargoos, an American merchant of Vera Cruz,
advanced the money upon the personal pledge of Santa
Anna, that it should be paid at a stipulated time at the
custom-house in Vera Cruz. Mr. Hargoos at the time
appointed presented his order and was refused pay
ment. A few days afterwards, Santa Anna was in Vera
Cruz, and Mr. H. called to see him, and informed him that
he had presented the order which he had given him and
that payment had been refused, the officer of the custom
house saying that he did so by the orders of Santa Anna —
which Mr. Hargoos said he did not believe. Santa Anna
said that he had given such orders, that there was no money
in the treasury to pay the army, not enough even to purchase
their rations, and that he must wait until it was more con-

80 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [CHAP. VII.
venient to pay him. Hargoos, very much excited, said, "You
know, sir, that I would not have advanced this money,
except upon the pledge of your word of honor, which I
have not known violated before ; I have been your friend,
sir, in more trials than one, and have respected and confided
in you, henceforth these feelings are changed ; good evening,
sir." Santa Anna called him back and said to the military
friends by whom he was surrounded, " Gentlemen, have
you heard the language which this man has used to me ?"
Hargoos said, " I come from a country where no station
protects a man from being told the truth. Is not what I
have said true ?" " Yes, sir," said Santa Anna, " it is — and
I respect you for your firmness in saying what you have ;
I have flatterers enough about me, but few who will tell
me the truth." The money was paid immediately.
The reader will judge whether a man can be wholly bad
who is capable of such acts. I am by no means an indis
criminate admirer of General Santa Anna ; he is not what
Coleridge calls a " model man." He has many great faults
and some vices both as a public and private man ; but many
high and generous qualities also : most of his vices are
attributable to his country and education. He commenced
life ardently in favor of a Federal Republic, but very
soon became convinced that his country was not prepared
for such a government — an opinion, in which I think most
intelligent foreigners who have visited Mexico agree with
him. I believe he is a patriot ; his great vice is avarice,
and he has at last fallen a victim to it. The total want of
all real responsibility of all public officers, not only in
Mexico, but in all Spanish countries, offers the most dan
gerous temptations to peculation and bribery. If I may
believe the half of what I have heard, he is not free
from these vices. With this exception, and it is a great and

CHAP. VII.J CHARACTER OF SANTA ANNA. 81
damning one, I think that the general course of his adminis
tration was patriotic and wise. I dare to say, that both with
reference to its internal concerns, and the maintenance of
the public faith, as well as in conducting its foreign relations,
that Mexico has never been better governed than during
his last presidency, when he was literally the state, and sin
cerely desiring, as I do, the welfare of that country, I should
be glad to see him again at the head of its government, 
an event not impossible.

CHAPTER VIII.
.Public Characters of Mexico— M. Bocanegra — Triqueros—Tornel— Paredes
—Valencia — Count Cortina — Bustamente — Gomez Farrias — Almonte—
Cuevas, the Archbishop of Mexico.
"Mr. Bocanegra, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, was a dis
tinguished lawyer, and was also one of the judges of the
Supreme Court. He left the Bench in 1841, to enter the
Cabinet of General Santa Anna. Everybody in Mexico
speaks of him as an eminent and virtuous judge. I presume
ithat there are more questions and involving a greater varie
ty of principles of international law, which are thrown upon
4he American legation in Mexico, than on any other of our
foreign missions. I had, therefore, much to do with Mr.
Bocanegra; and besides this, I negotiated with him two
important conventions, and I can say in all sincerity, that
whilst I found him always faithful to his own country, and
tenacious of her interests, that he was uniformly courteous
and fair ; and never sought any of those small advantages
'which many erroneously suppose to be the duty of a diplo
matist. As a companion, he was eminently joyous and con
vivial. I entertained for Mr. Bocanegra great respect, and
a very sincere regard. That Mexico may find a man who
will conduct the business of the office of Minister of Foreign
Affairs with more ability and success, is, I think, little to be
expected. Mr. Triqueros, the Minister of Finance, whilst I was in
Mexico, is not more, I should think, than forty years of age.
He was a successful merchant in Vera Cruz, and I thought

CHAP. VIII.J PUBLIC CHARACTERS OF MEXICO. 83
managed the finances of the country with signal ability and
success. He found the business of his department in a
state of utter confusion, with a large public debt, and a civil
list, which it must be impossible for the country to pay for.
any long period. It seemed a miracle that funds could be
found to sustain the government even for a year. It had
been the habit of the government to issue a government
paper, receivable at the custom-houses, in the payment of
duties. The market value of this paper has for a long time
never been higher than from thirty to forty cents in the
dollar. At this rate the government issued it and redeemed
it at par. Besides this enormous loss, it was impossible for
the head of the Department to make any calculation upon
the accruing and available revenues, as it could not be an
ticipated how much of the import duties would be paid
in this depreciated government paper. Mr. Triqueros at
once set to work to remedy the evil, which he did in the
only way by which it was practicable — by funding the
whole debt, and setting apart a portion of the revenue from
duties on imports for the payment of the interest on the
debt thus funded. Most of the foreign creditors were dis
satisfied with this arrangement, although I foresaw and told
them that it would be advantageous to them, as they after
wards found that it was. Their earnest remonstrances
on this and other matters connected with the public debt,
induced the Diplomatic Representatives of other countries
to hold a meeting for the purpose of remonstrating against
it. I was invited to the meeting, but I did not attend it,
nor any other similar meeting of the Diplomatic corps. It
looked rather too much like an alliance, and I found no dis
inclination on the part of Mexico to accede to all proper
demands which I made upon her, and, therefore, did not
need any aid in protecting my countrymen, and maintain-

84 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [cHAP. VIII.
ing their rights. I went farther than this. I told my col
leagues of the Diplomatic corps, that they had no right to
interfere in the matter, that it was only in cases of torts
and not of contract that a nation was bound, or had the
right to interfere for the protection of citizens or subjects.
That if the citizen or subject of one nation made a contract
with the government of another, his only reliance for the
performance of that contract was upon the good faith of the
government contracted with. No principle of the law of
nations is better settled than this, nor upon more substan
tial reasons.
At this particular juncture, it would not be very grace
ful, at least, for our government to demand of other govern
ments the punctual performance of contracts made with
our citizens.
General Tornel, the Secretary of War, is a remarkably
fine looking, and in every respect, a striking man. He
would be regarded as an accomplished man in any coun
try. He is a very elegant, sometimes an able writer.* If
what I sometimes heard in Mexico is true, there is another
and less favorable side of the picture. But of all the cities
in the world, Mexico is the most gossipping, and I should
be restrained from saying anything disparaging of General
Tornel, from the consideration that there was a pretty vio
lent collision between us a few days after my arrival in
Mexico, and that our relations were for some time of a very
unfriendly character, and never very cordial.
General Paredes, the author of the revolution, which
terminated in the overthrow and banishment of Santa Anna,
* He well deserves the title of" The patron of Learning in Mexico," and
has entitled himself to the lasting gratitude of his country, for his con
tinued and successful efforts, for the establishment of schools and colleges,
and the diffusion of learning among his countrymen.

CHAP. VIII.J PUBLIC CHARACTERS OF MEXICO. 85
is a man of talents and acquirements in his profession, and
all speak of him as a gentleman and a patriot. But some
how or other, no one looks to him for the Presidency. I
do not know how this happens, unless it is that he is opposed
to the Federal party, and Santa Anna was at the head of
the other party. And besides that, Paredes, Valencia, and
Tornel, were the three most prominent men in Mexico.
But there was a tripartite jealousy and hatred between
them which always secured the combination of two of
them against the other.
Paredes, Valencia, and Canalizo, were the three Generals
in the most important commands under Bustamente. Pa
redes and Valencia went over to Santa Anna, and thereby
consummated the overthrow of Bustamente's government.
Canalizo adhered with a noble fidelity to the fortunes of his
chief, and after Bustamente was vanquished, Canalizo held
out for a long time at the head of only three hundred men,
and by his remarkable gallantry obtained the sobriquet of
the " Lion of Mexico." As soon as Santa Anna was firmly
seated in power, he showered favors of all sorts upon Ca
nalizo ; amongst other things, appointing him President ad
interim during his own absence from Mexico. He very
soon quarrelled with Valencia and Paredes. The former
gave up his command, and the latter was arrested and im
prisoned in the little town of Tula, thirty miles from Mex
ico. Paredes resides in the city of Guadalajara, where he
is greatly beloved and respected. The department of Gua
dalajara is in every respect the finest in Mexico, with more
intelligence, and of course, virtue, better farms, a better
population, and sounder political principles than any other.
I knew, when I left Mexico, that Paredes was only waiting
for the proper moment to strike, and that his friends in
Guadalajara were perfectly organized, held regularly secret

86 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [cHAP. VIII.
meetings, and were also only waiting for the moment of
advantageous opportunity. This, unfortunately for himself,
Santa Anna gave them. Reposing in the false security
which his flatterers had made him believe that he enjoyed,
and no longer apprehending any danger from Paredes, he
appointed him governor of Sonora, a department upon the
Pacific ocean. On his way to his department, Paredes
passed through Guadalajara, and his arrival there was the
signal for the pronunciamento which resulted in the defeat
and overthrow of Santa Anna.
General Valencia is an officer who has risen from the
ranks to his present high position, a fact conclusive of talents
and courage, whilst it is at the same time an excuse for his
want of education and manners, which very strongly mark
the parvenu.
General, Count Cortina, as he is commonly called in
Mexico, is a very different sort of person. He is a fine
specimen of the Castilian gentleman ; brave, accomplished,
cordial, generous, and punctiliously honorable. He has
filled many high offices in Mexico, and during my residence
there commanded a fine regiment of grenadiers.
He possesses a very large fortune, and lives in a style of
princely magnificence. I doubt if there is on this continent
so fine a collection of paintings and statuary as is to be
seen at his house. There are five or six large rooms, the
walls of which are covered from the floor to the ceiling
with paintings of the old masters : many of them by Mu-
rillo. I did not know General Bustamente personally. He was
banished shortly before I went to Mexico, and did not re
turn until after the overthrow of Santa Anna. It was a
somewhat singular fact, that three Mexican Presidents were
in a state of banishment at the same time — Gomez Farrias,

CHAP. VIII.J PUPLIC CHARACTERS OF MEXICO. 87
Bustamente, and Santa Anna. When Santa Anna arrived
in Cuba, he met Bustamente there, returning to Mexico.
If he had gone to New Orleans he would have met Gomez
Farrias. Although Bustamente had been banished but a few
months before my arrival in Mexico, I can with truth say
that I never once heard his name mentioned but with re
spect. This is not a little singular, when it is remembered
that his successful rival was then in power, and there was
no form of adulation which he did not hourly receive.
Bustamente's career has been by no means a brief one, be
ginning, as it did, in the war of independence. Yet that
whole career is unstained even with an imputation of a cruel,
a dishonorable, or an unpatriotic act. All concede him pa
triotism, valor, and disinterestedness. At the period of his
overthrow, fifty thousand dollars of his salary was found to
be due him, which he had not drawn, leaving it to be ap
propriated to the always pressing exigencies of the govern
ment ; and he left the country so poor as to be forced to
sell everything he possessed, even down to his walking
cane, which was offered to me by the person who had pur
chased it. Among the Romans it was regarded as the
highest honor of one who had filled high stations, that he
died so poor as to be buried at the public expense. It is
much more honorable to one who has been President of
Mexico, where the total absence of all responsibility affords
so many temptations to peculation.
All the contracts made by the government for clothing,
arms and munitions for the army, loans, and in short for
everything, are made privately by the executive, and with
none of the restraints and securities which exist among us.
And this fact alone is sufficient to show the wide door
which is opened to every species of fraud and peculation.
I remember that in one of my accounts as minister, one

88 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [CHAP. VIII.
item of three dollars was not fully vouched, and it was dis
allowed. Instead of being offended, I was really gratified,
and the more proud of my government, where so exact a
system of responsibility existed, and which was so rigidly
enforced. All that I have said of General Bustamente may with
equal truth be said of Gomez Farrias, with the addition that
he is a man of a very high order of talents and extensive
attainments. For high endowments, and spotless purity of character,
public and private, Gomez Farrias would be a rare man in
any country. The only fault ever imputed to him is that
he is too much of an " exaltado ;" that he carries his ideas of
liberty to an extent impracticable in Mexico ; or in other
words, that he is too great an admirer of our institutions,
and endeavors to assimilate those of Mexico too much to
them. General Almonte is known to many in this country, and
wherever he is known, it would be superfluous to say that
he is in all respects an elegant and accomplished gentleman,
virtuous, brave, and honorable. I have heard some of the
Texans who were at the battle of San Jacinto say that
the Mexicans who were saved on that occasion, owed their
lives to General Almonte. The desperate onslaught of the
Texians with their wild yells, glittering bowie knives,
and clubbed rifles, was a thing to which the Mexicans were
so entirely unacustomed, that they were thrown into a state
of perfect panic. They would not fight, and the thought
never occurred to them to lay down their arms, or other
wise make a formal surrender. The Texans, of course,
continued the slaughter ; for after the charge of the Tex
ans, it ceased to be a battle. In this state of things, Al
monte said to the officers who stood around him — " Gen-

CHAP. VIII.] M. CUEVAS. 89
tlemen, you see that our men will not fight, they are panic-
stricken ; let us get them together and surrender them," which
he did, and thus put a stop to the massacre. He it was who
saved the life of the woman, the only survivor of the sanguin
ary scene at the Alamo, and afterwards furnished her with a
horse, and the means of going to her friends. He was
Secretary of War in the administration of Bustamente,
and a very recent experience has shown how large a for
tune may be realized by the incumbent of that office. Al
monte, however, left the office with a large portion of his
salary due him, and was so poor that he supported himself
until he was appointed Minister to the United States, by
delivering popular lectures.
I trust that I commit no indelicacy in stating a fact uni
versally known in Mexico ; if I thought that it would in
any manner be so regarded by General Almonte, I would
on no account do it. He is the son of General Morelos,
the name most honored and enshrined in the heart of every
Mexican, as it well deserves to be. Hidalgo and Morelos
were the principal authors of the revolutionary movement
of 1809 ; they were both Priests. Morelos in command of
the patriot army had a brilliant career of victories, but was
at last vanquished by a superior force, and made prisoner
and shot. His life was as pure as that of Aristides, and he
died with all the dignity of Socrates. Like Socrates, too,
the means of escape were offered him, which he rejected.
I have seen his portrait in the house of General Almonte,
and elsewhere ; he is always represented in the uniform of
a Mexican General, but with a priest's mitre, instead of the
military chapeau on his head.
Mr. Cuevas, the present Minister of Foreign Affairs, I
knew slightly; he had much reputation in Mexico for
talents, and is a very worthy and most agreeable gentle-

90 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [cHAP. VIII.
man, with the admirable manners of all Mexican or Span
ish gentlemen, a point in which they are unequalled. The
striking characteristics of their manners are naturalness,
cordiality, frankness ; as an American lady in Mexico well
expressed it, a " refined frankness," which never transcends
the bounds of strict propriety, and a perfect repose equally
removed from timidity and too great boldness — what the
French so well express by their words " beau tranquille,"
a quality of which I think they possess very little them
selves. Of General Herrera, I only know that he is an old Gene
ral of good character and talents, but so far as I am ac
quainted remarkable for nothing.
Seiior Echavari,- who is, or very lately was Minister
of Finance, is, I believe, only distinguished for great wealth,
and a great hatred of all foreigners.
In this sketch of conspicuous men in Mexico, perhaps a
good Catholic would complain that I had not noticed any
of the dignitaries of the church. I met on two or three
occasions at large dinner parties at the President's, the
Archbishop of Cesarea. I never could ascertain exactly
the office and functions of the latter, but took it for granted
that they were very high from the fact that he was the
only person of that character except the Archbishop of
Mexico, who was an invited guest on these formal and state
occasions. The foreign ministers were seated nearest
" the salt," and those high functionaries of the church were,
propter dignitatem, seated in the same neighborhood;
we were, therefore, very much thrown together. The
Archbishop of Mexico is a stout, healthy looking and very
agreeable old gentleman, the personification of a burly
and jolly priest. He is a man of learning and well spoken
of by every one. I took a great fancy to the Archbishop

CHAP. VIII.J THE ARCHBISHOP OF MEXICO. 91
of Cesarea and I believe that it was in some degree
mutual. I might almost say with the romantic German
girl who met another over a stove, at an inn on the road
side, that at the first sight we swore " eternal friendship to
each other." When I was about to leave the room he
came to me and asked where I lived, and said that he
intended to call upon me. I begged that he would not do
so, but allow me to make the first visit (for that is the cus
tom in Mexico), the stranger making the first call upon the
resident. But the next day, the good old man called at my
house, and as I happened not to be at home he would not
leave his card, but told my servant that he would call again
as he did not wish me to regard his visit as one of mere
form. This, of course, brought about a great intimacy
between us, and I often visited him at his country house on
the borders of the city. I shall never forget the pleasant
hours which I have spent there, nor cease to remember the
venerable and good old man with gratitude and affection.
He is a man of learning, especially on all matters connected
with the church and its history. He spoke with great
satisfaction of the Puseyite movement, and said that sooner
or later we must all come to it, that the Catholic was the
only true church, and that the Puseyites were good enough
Catholics for him. When I called to take leave of him he
was more than ever kind to me ; when he parted with me
he said to a canonigo who was present, we must constantly
offer up prayers for this man, he is too good a man to be a
Protestant. I did not say the converse to him, whatever I
may have thought, but I trust that I am neither so bigoted
nor prejudiced as to believe that there is any Christian
Church, whatever may be its forms of faith or worship,
which does not number amongst its members men as good
and virtuous as those whose religious opinions conform
to my own.

CHAPTER IX.
Public Release of Texian Prisoners — General spirit of Kindness to them —
Their Work in the Public Streets — Anecdotes of Virtue and Disinterest
edness on the part of the Prisoners.
On the 16th of June, 1842, the Texian prisoners of the
Santa Fe expedition were released by General Santa Anna,
that being his birth-day or rather the anniversary of his
saint (Saint Antonio), which is the day kept by all Mexi
cans instead of their own birth-day. I knew that they
were to be released on that day on the parade ground near
the city, and fearing that the immense populace which
would be assembled might offer them some violence, I went
out knowing that my official station would protect me and
might enable me to protect them. Never was fear more
groundless, nor a surprise more agreeable. Santa Anna
reviewed on that occasion a body of more than ten thousand
troops, and there were not less than thirty or forty thousand
other persons assembled in the field. When the order for
their liberation was given it was received with acclamation
and shouts by the Mexican troops, which extended through
the whole vast concourse. The officers and others threw
pieces of money to the Texians, and as they passed through
the crowd, instead of jeers and insults every Mexican had
a word of kindness for them, running up to them and shak
ing hands, and exclaiming " amigo, amigo !" my friend, my
friend ! I saw one poor Lepero pull off his blanket and
offer it to a Texian who was rather more ragged than he
was himself. As they passed along the streets men and

CHAP. IX.J RELEASE OF TEXIAN PRISONERS. 93
women would run out from their shops and offer them
bread and other articles. Let it be remembered that these
men had invaded their country, and that they had been
sedulously taught to regard them as their born enemies,
los Texanos (the Texians) having all the associations with
a Mexican that the words los Moros (the Moors) had with
their Gothic ancestors. I could not refrain from asking myself
whether if the people of any other country had invaded ours
and been made prisoners, they would under like circum
stances have passed through such a crowd not only with
out insult, but with such demonstrations of kindness and
sympathy. There were a few instances of atrocious bar
barity practised upon these prisoners upon the frontiers of
Mexico, when they were first captured. But after they
had advanced within 1500 miles of the city the general
treatment which they received was kind and respectful ; I
think there was no single exception to this remark whilst
they were confined in the convent of Saint Jago near
Mexico. It is true that they were sometimes carried out
in chains to work on the streets, but this was by the orders
of the government, and the Mexican officers in charge of
the prisoners could not disobey the order. But their com
pliance with it was in mere form, for they generally said to
the Texians work just as little or as much as you choose,
and precious little was the work they did.
The Mier prisoners, a hundred and sixty, were several
months at work on a street in Tacubaya, and all the work
which they did, would have been done by two Irishmen in
a week. When I say that they were kindly treated, I
mean by the officers in charge of them, and would not be
understood as justifying or apologising for the government,
in ordering them to work on the streets at all, particularly
in chains ; on the contrary, as soon as I was informed of

94 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [cHAP. IX.
the fact, I remonstrated against it, and it was discontinued.
This, by the way, was the cause of the sparring between
General Tornel and myself, to which I alluded, as having
occurred the first week that I entered upon the duties of my
office. But any treatment which the Texian prisoners
received in Mexico, was kind and humane, in comparison
with the treatment of American prisoners, during our late
war with England, at Dartmoor and elsewhere. I know
that they were much better fed than the Mexican soldiers
were. An incident occurred, whilst the prisoners were
confined in Tacubaya, which is characteristic, not only of
the Mexicans of both sexes, but of woman everywhere.
On one occasion, and it was one of the very few exceptions
to the remark which I have just made, a subaltern Mexican
officer struck a Texian who was at work on the streets ; a
young lady of one of the most respectable families, and I
sincerely regret that I have forgotten her name, who hap
pened to be passing by, called the officer to her, and asked
him if he was a Mexican by birth. He replied that he was
not. • She said, " I am rejoiced to hear it, sir, and I did not
suppose that you were, for I did not believe that any Mexi
can would be guilty of so cowardly an act as to strike a
prisoner, who dare not return the blow."
Whilst bearing this testimony to the humanity and gene
rosity of Mexicans, I cannot omit paying a just tribute to
the Texian prisoners. I do not believe that the rank and
file of any army was ever superior to them in courage, and
other high qualities. Their number was so great that my
means were altogether inadequate to supply all their wants,
but I told them that when any of them were sick, to let me
know it, and I would furnish them with such things as their
necessities required. It more than once occurred, that
when I visited them I found some of them sick, and unable

CHAP. IX.J GENERAL SPIRIT OF KINDNESS. 95
to eat the coarse food of which their rations consisted.
When I asked them why they had not applied to me, their
reply was, " Why, sir, you have had to advance so much
money on our account, that we were unwilling to tax you
any farther." I had very few applications for money, and
in every instance, where I regarded the advance as a loan,
I have since been paid, with not more than one or two
exceptions. There are one or two instances of heroic vir-
ture, that I take special pleasure in recording. Amongst
the prisoners taken at San Antonio in Texas, by General
Wool, in the fall of 1843, was Mr. Samuel A. Maverick, a
gentleman of very large fortune, and with a young and
interesting family. He was a man of fiery and impatient
temper, and chafed, under his confinement, like a chained
tiger. A good deal had been said about a reannexation of
Texas to Mexico, and negotiations were about being entered
into to that end. I knew that Mexico only desired to save,
in some degree, the point of honor, and that almost any
terms would be conceded ; such as that Texas should have
her own laws, religion, &c. ; that no Mexican troops should
be quartered in Texas ; the Texians to make their own reve
nue laws, appoint their own revenue and other officers,
pay only a nominal amount to Mexico ; in one word, and
in the language of a distinguished member of the Mexican
Cabinet, in conversing with me on the subject, " actual inde
pendence, with a mere nominal recognition of the sove
reignty of Mexico." That even such a reunion, in name
only, could have lasted long, no one could have believed.
I know that the Mexicans themselves had no such idea.
Santa Anna had boasted so much of reconquering the
country, which he found himself unable even to attempt,
that I have strong reasons to believe that he would have
allowed the Texians to dictate the terms of even this nomi-

96 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [cHAP. IX.
nal reannexation, which must have been of very short dura
tion, and would, in the meantime, have given the Texians
the advantage of the market of Mexico for their cotton,
the high price of which there would very soon have filled
up Texas with a population large enough to have enabled
her to have dictated terms to Mexico. This was early in
1843, when annexation to the United States had not been
spoken of seriously, nor, so far as I knew, thought practi
cable by any one. 1 wrote to Maverick, who was then
confined in the castle of Perote, saying to him, that if he
was in favor of such a reannexation as that, and which
would have been so in name only, and would say so to me,
that I had no doubt Santa Anna would release him. I give
an extract of his letter in reply.
" You say that you think that Santa Anna will release me if I say that
I am in favor of the reannexation of Texas to Mexico. I cannot per
suade myself that such an annexation, on any terms, would be advan
tageous to Texas, and I therefore cannot say so, for I regard a lie as a
crime,*and one which I cannot commit even to secure my release ; I
must, therefore, continue to wear my chains, galling as they are."
A man of principles less stern might, with an easy
casuistry, have said, " I am dealing with an enemy who
has violated the terms of my capitulation, and it is excusa
ble that I should in turn deceive him." How many men
are there who would not have thus reasoned 1 Such an act
recorded by Plutarch would have added another page as
bright as that which perpetuates the noble constancy and
heroic virtue of Regulus.
Maverick was shortly afterwards released, as a personal
favor to me, together with Mr. William E. Jones, formerly
of Georgia, and Judge Hutchison, formerly of Mississippi,
where he was distinguished for great learning, and beloved

CHAP. IX.] ANECDOTES. 97
by every one for his virtues. I sent them " on their way
rejoicing," The residue of the prisoners taken at San An
tonio, thirty-six in number, were those of whom I have be
fore spoken as being released by General Santa Anna in so
handsome a manner at the time I was leaving Mexico.
Colonel Wm. G. Cooke, of the Santa Fe expedition, was
engaged in the battle of San Jacinto. Two or three days
after the battle two Texian boys, who were hunting for
. estray mules and horses, discovered a Mexican in the grass.
One of the boys cocked his gun, and was taking aim at him,
when the other told him not to shoot, as the man was un
armed. They found that he was a Mexican, but had no idea
of the value of their prize. They determined, however, to
take him to the Texian camp, some ten miles distant, and
made him mount behind one of them, while the other walk
ed. When they approached the Texian camp the Mexican
prisoners exclaimed, El Presidente, El General Santa
Anna. This was immediately after the massacre of the
Alamo and Goliad, and the first impulse of the Texians was
to put him to death. Colonel Cooke, however, rallied the
guard and saved the life of Santa Anna.
After Colbnel Cooke was released from imprisonment in
Mexico, with all his companions, he remained a few days at
my house, and when, in answer to my inquiries, he narrated
these facts, I asked him why he had not communicated this
to me before, and stated my belief that Santa Anna would
have liberated him instantly. His reply was, that in saving
the life of Santa Anna he had done no more than his duty,
and that he could not think of asking any reward for it ;
neither would he have accepted his own discharge without
that of all of his men ; that he would not under any circum
stances have been released and left them in captivity. All
of the prisoners were released on the 16th of June, except
6

98 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [cHAP. IX.
Colonel Navarro, to whose niece Colonel Cooke was then
engaged, and has since been married. He could not speak
of Navarro without great emotion. I asked him if I might
inform Santa Anna that he was the officer who had saved
his life after the battle of San Jacinto, and that he took a
very deep interest in the fate of Navarro. This he could
not resist. He was willing to do for a friend what he
would not do for himself. I mentioned the facts to an aide-
de-camp of Santa Anna, who promised me that he would
communicate them to him. But probably he never did so.
All my efforts in favor of Navarro were fruitless. He,
however, made his escape from the castle of St. Juan de
Ulloa, and returned to Texas.
Amongst the prisoners of Mier, there were two of the
name of Reese, Charles and William, the latter a boy of
about sixteen. On his arrival in Mexico, I applied to Santa
Anna and obtained his release. A few days afterwards he
called to see me, and said — " My brother Charles is engaged
to be married ; and, besides this, I know that he would be
much more useful to my father and mother than I would,
and I should like, sir, to take his place as a prisoner, and
let him go home." In this he was not acting a part : he
spoke under deep excitement and with a glistening eye, and
I do not know that his was the only moist eye in the room.
I could protract these pages indefinitely in narrating similar
acts. From the time of my arrival in Mexico until I left
the country, there was rarely a month that it was not my
good fortune to obtain the discharge of some of the pri
soners, and I fully realized the truth of the lines of the
greatest of poets : —
" The quality of mercy is not strained,
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath ; it is twice blest :
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes."

CHAP. IX.] ANECDOTES. 99
Happy as those poor fellows were, I doubt if they were
happier than I was.
It is the fashion of the world to complain of ingratitude ;
I am sure that I shall never have cause to make that com
plaint against the Texian prisoners in Mexico. Those last
released to me came home with me in the Bainbridge. The
yellow fever was prevailing in Vera Cruz, and the surgeon
of the Bainbridge thought that there would be great danger
in receiving the Texians on board, and the commander of
the vessel, Captain Mattison, a most worthy and excellent
gentleman, determined not to do so. I had obtained their
release, and brought them down to Vera Cruz, and if they
had been left there they must have suffered, for they
had neither money nor credit, besides the great danger
they were in from yellow fever. I could not think of leav
ing them under such circumstances, and, impatient as I
was to return, I at once determined to remain with them.
Capt. Mattison, however, at length agreed to receive them
on board upon my taking " all the responsibility," which I
did ; and I was not a little rejoiced that no injury resulted
from it. There was not a case of yellow fever on board.
The Texian prisoners all called to see and take leave of me
in New Orleans, and it occurred, in more than half-a-dozen
instances, that after beginning to express their gratitude to
me they would burst into tears, and could not finish what
they had intended to say. They could have made no
speech half so eloquent as those tears. I advanced to the
prisoners of the Santa F6 Expedition a sum which I thought
was sufficient to have defrayed their expenses home ; but
they were unavoidably detained five or six weeks longer
than I had anticipated, and must have been subjected to
extreme suffering if Mr. Hargoos, an American merchant in

100 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [CHAP. IX.
Vera Cruz, had not, with a liberality which has few exam
ples, advanced them more than ten thousand dollars.
When the late Mr. Forsyth was American Minister in
Spain, he obtained the discharge of some Americans who
had been made prisoners in Mexico, during the war of In
dependence. They were all sent to the United States at
the expense of our government, and the charges were paid.
I thought this precedent justified me in sending home the
Texians, who were natives of this country. I could see no
substantial difference in the two cases. Besides this, the
English and Prussian ministers in Mexico sent home the
Englishmen and Germans who belonged to the expedition,
at the charge of their respective governments, and I had
been instructed to use all my influence to obtain the dis
charge of the Texians — not surely to let them starve,
which they must otherwise have done. The advances
made by me were paid by the government. Those made
by Mr. Hargoos have not been paid. I have never
been able to see any reason for the discrimination. It is
true, that I did not positively pledge myself to Mr. Har
goos that his advances would be paid by the government.
If I had done so, I should have felt bound to pay him if the
government did not, and had I the means of paying so
large an amount. But I sent him the precedent in the case
of the prisoners sent home by Mr. Forsyth, and said to him,
that I did not doubt that our government would pay him.
I still do not doubt that if the claim were presented to Con
gress that it would be paid.

CHAPTER X.
Catholic Ceremonies — Procession of the Host — Corpus Christi Day — Our
Lady of Remedies — Connection of the Image with the early History, of
Mexico — Present state of its Worship.
The things which most strike an American on his first
arrival in Mexico, are the processions, ceremonies, and
mummeries of the Catholic worship, of which I would
fain hope there are more in Mexico than in any other coun
try. The natural proneness of every ignorant people to
regard the external symbols and ceremonies of religion,
and an incapacity to appreciate its true spirit and sublime
truths, give to the Catholic ritual, with all its pomp and
circumstance, its pictures, statues, processions, and im
posing ceremonial, peculiar power and influence. Yet
through these conditions it may be that in a merely
temporal point of view, it is the best for such a people.
For the Christian religion, however it may be degraded,
is immeasurably superior to all others, and it may be
well, therefore, that ignorant people, who are inacces
sible by mere rational means, to the great truths which
it teaches, and the sublime morality which it incul
cates, should have those truths and that morality impress
ed upon them in the only way in which it is practica
ble, by external objects, such as images, and the like. And
I am satisfied that much good is accomplished in this way.
But as to any rational idea of true religion, or any just con
ception of its divine author, the great mass are little more
enlightened than were their ancestors in the time of Monte-

102 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [chap. X.
zuma. And their religion is very little less an idolatry
than that of the grotesque images of stone and clay, of
which it has taken the place. There is scarcely an hour
in the day when the little bells are not heard in the street,
announcing that some priest is on his way to administer
the sacrament to some one sick or dying. The priest is
seated in a coach, drawn by two mules, followed by ten or
a dozen friars, with lighted wax candles, chanting as they
go. The coach is preceded by a man who rings a small
bell to announce the approach of the Host ; when every
one who happens to be in the street is expected to uncover
himself and kneel, and the inmates of all the houses on the
street do the same thing. Nothing is more common than
to hear them exclaim, whenever they hear the bell, " Dios
viene, Dios viene," — God is coming, God is coming; when,
whatever they may be doing, they instantly fall on their
knees. What I have described is the visit of the Host to
some common person. The procession is more or less
numerous, and the person in the coach of more or less dig
nity, from an humble priest to the archbishop of Mexico,
according to the dignity and station of the person visited.
Sometimes the procession is accompanied by a large band
of music. The visit of the Host to the Senora Santa Anna,
of which I have heretofore spoken, was attended by a pro
cession of twenty thousand people, headed by the arch
bishop. Until very recently, every one was required to
kneel, and a very few years since an American shoemaker
was murdered in his shop for refusing to do it. But now
they are satisfied if you pull off your hat and stop until the
Host passes.
Shortly after my arrival in Mexico, the day of Corpus
Christi was celebrated with unusual pomp. The street for
near a mile from the palace, thence down another street

CHAP. X.] PROCESSION OF THE HOST. 103
for some distance, and thence back again to the palace,
was canopied with canvass, under which a procession of
thirty or forty thousand persons marched, followed by pro
bably twice the number, who did not constitute a part of
the regular parade. Of this procession some eight or ten
thousand were Mexican troops, with their gaudily capari
soned horses, and the officers in their glittering uniforms.
At the head of the procession was a sort of platform or
litter, upon which the host was carried by some of the
highest dignitaries of the church. At a short distance fol
lowed on a similar litter, " Nuestra Senora de las Reme-
dios," Our Lady of Remedies — a little alabaster doll, with
the nose broken, and the eye out. It would be an unpar
donable omission in any sketches of Mexico, not to notice
her ladyship, the Virgin of Remedies, as it is one of the
two superstitions peculiar to that country, and of all others,
perhaps, the one most important, and the most gene
rally believed. The story is this : After the first entrance
of Cortes into the city of Mexico, and he had seized Monte
zuma in his palace, surrounded by his guards, and carried
him through the streets of Mexico, to his own quarters, and
by this daring act acquired an absolute power over him. and
through him over his countrymen, it seemed that the
conquest of the country was complete, and that the Span
ish power was firmly established there ; so true is it, that
often in a crisis of real danger the greatest audacity is
the highest wisdom.
Diego Velasquez, the Governor of Cuba, who first pro
jected the expedition to Mexico, and appointed Cortes to
the chief command, became jealous of him just as the ex
pedition was about to sail, and revoked his authority. But
Cortes was not the man to be thus trifled with and thwart
ed, and set sail in defiance of the orders of Velasquez, who

104 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [CHAP. X.
hearing of the wonderful success which had crowned the
enterprise, fitted out another large expedition of more than
thirteen hundred men, the command of which was given to
Pamphilo Narvaes, with orders to proceed to Mexico, and
supersede Cortes in his government. Narvaes arrived in
Vera Cruz about the time that Cortes had, by the most won
derful combination of consummate wisdom and daring
courage, established the Spanish power firmly in Mexico.
But a new danger greater than any through which he
had passed, great as they certainly were, presented itself,
and one which would have been fatal to almost any other
than that wonderful man. He had only about four hun
dred and fifty men in all ; but he at once resolved with two
hundred and seventy of these to proceed to Vera Cruz and
attack Narvaes, and left Pedro Alvarado, his favorite cap
tain, in command of the residue in the city of Mexico.
Cortes marched at once to Vera Cruz, where he met and
vanquished Narvaes at the head of his thirteen hundred
men. Narvaes himself was made prisoner. On the re
turn of Cortes to Mexico, although his forces were greatly
augmented by the defeat of Narvaes, the dangers to which
he was exposed had increased in an infinitely greater de
gree. During his absence Alvarado had attacked and mas
sacred a large number of the Mexicans whilst they were
assembled at a festival (it was said for the purpose of get
ting possession of the jewels which they wore). This ex
cited the Mexicans to fury and madness, and on the return
of Cortes to Mexico he found the whole city and country
in a state of revolt He was attacked incessantly day and
night, and at last, unable to hold out longer, he determined
to abandon the city. Mexico was at that time surrounded
on all sides by water, and was only connected with the
land by three causeways. Cortes selected for his retreat

CHAP. X.J OUR LADY OF REMEDIES. 105
that which led to the town of Tacuba. The Mexicans had
taken up the bridges, and the slaughter of the Spaniards
was to the last degree horrible ; of thirteen hundred men
a little more than four hundred were all that escaped, and
every one of these more or less severely wounded. He
made his way, however, to the top of a high hill twelve
miles from Mexico, where he halted and fortified himself,
and in a day or two proceeded to the country of his faith
ful friends the Tlascalans. The night on which Cortes re
treated from Mexico, is to this day familiar to every Mexi
can as noche triste, the woful or sorrowful night. This
hasty sketch of a deeply exciting passage in the history of
the Conquest, brings us to " our Lady of Remedies."
During the few days which Cortes remained on the
hill which I have mentioned, he found in the knapsack of
one of his soldiers, a small alabaster doll, about eight
inches high, with the nose broken and one eye out, which
the soldier had brought with him from Spain. The poor
remnant of his army were of course despondent and broken-
spirited, and in that age of fanaticism (and never was an
army in Palestine animated with a higher degree of reli
gious enthusiasm than were the conquerors of Mexico),
Cortes determined to avail himself of the wooden doll
which had providentially, it would seem, been thrown in his
way. He exhibited it to his soldiers, and told them that it
was an image of the Virgin Mary, which she had sent him
from heaven, and that she had promised him that she
would intercede for them, cure their wounds, secure them
a safe return to their Tlascalan allies, and afterwards the
certain conquest of Mexico. Cortes made, or rather cut
his way back to Tlascala with the small remnant of his
army, and afterwards again invaded and conquered Mex
ico. 6*

106 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [cHAP. X.
One of the first things which he did after completing the
conquest was to build a chapel on the top of the hill to
which he retreated on the noche triste, which he dedicated
to the Virgin Mary of Remedies. In this chapel he placed
the miraculous image, where it has been kept for more than
three hundred years with wax candles always burning, and
maids of honor in constant attendance. I asked a gentle
man connected with the church, what was the value of the
diamonds worn by the image of our Lady of Remedies when
I saw it in the procession. He said he did not know ; but
that her whole wardrobe and jewels were worth more
than a million of dollars. Amongst these are different petti
coats of diamonds, pearls, and emeralds. On special occa
sions, our Lady of Remedies is carried to the city, such as
the prevalence of the cholera, or other pestilence. When
it is found that the disease is abating in a particular quar
ter of the city, the image is carried there ; if the disease
disappears, it is of course the work of " our Lady of Re
medies ;" if it continues, it is attributed to the sins of the
people, which are said to be so great that the powerful in
tercession of the mother of God cannot avail to have them
pardoned. The cures of our Lady of Remedies, like those
of humbler physicians, are by no means gratuitous, but her
services are a source of large revenue to the church.
The reader will naturally ask, does any one believe such
an absurdity ? I answer yes ! Everybody believes it, and
it would be regarded in Mexico little less than blasphemy
to doubt it. As a proof of this I will mention one or two
facts. The anniversary of the presentation of this image to
Cortes is religiously observed, and of all the religious festi
vals in Mexico it is the most numerously attended. This
anniversary is in August. I had some curiosity to witness

CHAP. X.J PRESENT STATE OF WORSHIP. 107
it, and rode out to the chapel, twelve miles from Mexico.
I can form no accurate estimate of the immense concourse
which was assembled. If I were to say fifty thousand, I
might be under the mark ; if I were to say a hundred
thousand, I might not be over it.
Besides those who had come as a religious duty, thou
sands had gone there for the amusements, games, and mum
meries which are practised on such occasions ; and the
diseased from all quarters came there to be cured. As I
entered the church I saw a poor Indian woman kneeling
before a priest, a white man, with a sick child in her arms.
She kissed the hand of the priest, and then handed him two
or three coppers, which were worth more than every arti
cle of clothing which she had on, and perhaps more than
everything else which she possessed in the world. When
I caught the eye of the priest, I will not say that he winked
at me, but there was a certain sinister leer, the meaning of
which could not have been mistaken, and which I interpret
ed as saying to me, " You, and I understand these things."
I thought of Dives and Lazarus, and I do not doubt that in
another world the resemblance will continue. I thought,
too, of the simple, unostentatious, and sincere worship in
my own country — a worship of spirit and of truth — and I
could not help asking myself, Is it indeed the same God
which we worship, the same religion which we profess ? I
wished to see the doll, and was at first told that it could not
be seen, but when Mr. Black, the American consul, who
accompanied me, announced that I was the minister of the
United States, a servant was sent to show it to me ; for the
title el ministro, the minister, or other high station, is an
" open sesame " to everything in Mexico. A deference is
paid to station to which we are, and I hope will long re
main, unaccustomed. I was carried to a handsome altar,

108 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [cHAP. X.
where the image stands, but found, to my regret, that the
original was not there. It had been carried to Mexico
when the Senora Santa Anna was sick, and had not been
returned. There was, however, a small wax doll in its
place, as its deputy, decked off with diamonds and other
jewels not of any great value. I went shortly afterwards
to the cathedral, in Mexico, to see the original, which was,
as I have described it, a small mutilated alabaster doll ; and
having the weather-beaten appearance which a service in
two or three campaigns in the conquest of Mexico had
caused. Various are the stories of the attempts to repair
the injured nose and supply the lost eye, all of which have
ended in the death of the daring sinner who would attempt
to improve an image made in heaven.
It was this miserable doll which I saw carried in that
magnificent procession of which I have spoken, in which
were all the high dignitaries of the government, the church,
and the army ; and following immediately the Host itself,
which Catholics believe to be Christ in the flesh.
I would remark here a fact which surprised me very
much. All know that the doctrine of the real presence in
the eucharist is a cardinal point in the Catholic creed, the
sanguinary conflicts which this dogma has given rise to, and
the controversies arising out of two Greek words, the only
difference between which is a single letter — yet I never
asked the question of a Catholic in Mexico, and I did so of
more than fifty of all classes, from foreign ministers to
coachmen and servants, who believed it any more than I
did. Whenever I asked the question, " Do you really be
lieve that the bread and wine used in the sacrament are the
flesh and blood of Christ ?" the reply in almost every in
stance was the same as that made to me by more than one
member of the diplomatic corps who were Catholics and

CHAP. X.J PRESENT STATE OF WORSHIP. 109
educated gentlemen. " What, Sir, do you think that I am
a fool ? no, I believe no such thing. I believe it is a type,
an emblem, but nothing more." I replied, " Then you are
no Catholic ; ask your priest, and he will tell you so." They
answered, " Very well, we have never before heard of it,
but if the priests say so we have no doubt that it is true,
for their lives are dedicated to these studies and they know
more about it than we do."
Can free institutions exist in a country where such
a state of things exist. Are men either capable of
breaking the shackles of despotism, or maintaining free in
stitutions, who delegate to others the privilege and authori
ty of thinking for them on matters involving their eternal
welfare ?
There was an Irish priest who lived many years in
Mexico, and now, I believe, lives in Texas — Padre Mal-
doun. He abandoned the Catholic church, and gave as his
reason, that on one occasion a portion of the bread which
was used in the sacrament was left, and that the rats ate it,
which they would not of course have done if it had really
been the flesh of God incarnate.
Many are the stories, however, which the Catholics relate
of fowls and hungry dogs refusing to touch bread which
had been thus consecrated.
I reserve for another chapter the other great superstition
peculiarly Mexican, which is in no degree less absurd and
ridiculous than that of our Lady of Remedies.

CHAPTER XI.
Religious Drama—" Mystery" of the Nativity— The Virgin of Guadaloupe—
Sincerity of Mexican Churchmen exhibited in a Scene of Penance-
Morality of the Clergy.
Amongst the dramatic representations in Mexico, mys
teries or religious dramas are very common on occasions
of certain festivals — some of them of a character not a
little shocking to the eyes and ears of a Protestant. Not
an unusual piece on Christmas-Eve is the representation of
the Nativity. Joseph appears on a mule with Mary behind
him, seeking for lodgings all over the city of Bethlehem,
and at last they enter the stable — where the accouche
ment takes place not in the sight but in the hearing of the
audience, with all those circumstances equally revolting to
decency and a just respect for holy things. I have seen a
similar representation of the story of the virgin of
Guadaloupe, and have now a copy of the drama; it
was at the theatre " de los gallos," " Theatre of the chicken
cocks," a very large edifice formerly used as a' cock-pit but
now converted into a theatre. The story is this :
In the year 1531, the Spaniards thinking that the Indians
were not converted fast enough to nuestra santa ft (our
holy faith) as they always called it, set on foot the follow
ing contrivance : — An Indian Juan Diego (John James)
was going to Mexico early in the morning, and as he was
passing over the mountain three miles from the city, he saw
a female descending from the clouds. He was terribly

CHAP. XI.J THE VIRGIN OF GUADALOUPE. Ill
frightened of course, but the figure, which turned out to
be the Virgin Mother, told him not to be alarmed, that she
was the Virgin Mary ; that she had determined to become the
patron saint of the Mexican Indians, and to take them under
her especial protection ; and that he must go to the city and
tell the bishop that she wished to have a church built at the
foot of the mountain, and dedicated to her as the patroness
of the Mexicans. The poor Indian flew to the city, and
when admitted into the presence of the bishop delivered
the message. The bishop was incredulous and drove him
off. The next day he met the Virgin by appointment
at the same place, and told her that the bishop would not
believe him. " Very well," said she, " do you meet me here
to-morrow at the same hour, and I will give you a proof
which the bishop will not doubt." Punctual to his appoint
ment Juan Diego went the next day and had another inter
view with the Virgin. She told him to go up to the top of
the mountain and he would find the ground covered with
roses, to fill his apron with them and carry them to the
bishop. The Indian found the roses, and as none had ever
grown there, they were, of course, placed there by a mira
cle ; he filled his apron and went again to the bishop, con
fident in the miraculous evidence of the truth of his state
ments which he carried with him. When he opened his
apron to exhibit the roses he found to his utter consternation
that there had been painted upon it by another miracle a
portrait of the Virgin, dressed not like the poor carpenter's
wife, but in a gorgeous cloak of blue velvet with stars of
gold all over it. The bishop could not, of course, resist
such evidence as that. The church was ordered to be
built, the Indians all contributed whatever they had, and
came into the fold by thousands. The Mexicans were not
like other people whose patron saints were mere common

112 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [CHAP. XI.
mortals ; the Mother of God herself was theirs. The ori
ginal miraculous portrait in a rich frame of gold inlaid with
diamonds and pearls, is still to be seen in the church which
was built, and almost every Mexican has one of more or
less value in his house, and of every variety from cheap
engravings to the most costly paintings ; below the picture
are these characteristic Latin words, " Non fecit taliter
omni nationi." When I first went to Mexico, I was look
ing at one of these paintings, and I asked a friend who was
with me what they meant ? Why, said he, they mean that
she has never made such cursed fools of any other people.
There never was a more accurate translation, although not
very literal ; the Mexicans, doubtless, would say that it was
not a very liberal one.
If the reader should again ask, and does anybody believe
this ? I answer, that on the anniversary of this miracle I
went to the church of Guadaloupe where more than fifty
thousand people were assembled, amongst them the Presi
dent Bravo and all his cabinet, the archbishop, and in short
everybody in high station in Mexico. An oration in
commemoration of the event was delivered by a distin
guished member of the Mexican congress. He described
all the circumstances of the affair as I have given them,
but with all the extravagance of Mexican rhetoric, just as
one of our fourth of July orators would narrate the events
of the Revolution. The President and others exchanged
all the while smiles and glances of pride and exultation.
The church is the most beautiful building of the kind I ever
saw ; it is not so large and imposing, and there is a less
gorgeous display of "barbaric gold "than the cathedral,
but upon the whole it appeared much more beautiful.
Instead of the balustrade partly of gold of the cathedral it
has one of pure silver, and of the same size as that in the

CHAP. XI.J THE VIRGIN OF GUADALOUPE. 113!
cathedral. Most of the vases, waiters, candlesticks, &c, ,
are of the same metal.
But I do not know why such things as these which I
have been describing should excite " our special wonder."
Are there not stories equally ridiculous which are believed.
in other Catholic countries. Saint Nicholas is the patron
saint of boys, because, as the tradition goes, a friend had.
sent his two sons to St. Nicholas to be educated by him ;
on their journey they were murdered by the innkeeper
where they lodged. This being revealed to, St. Nicholas
in a dream, he repaired to the place, and found the inn
keeper boiling the flesh and bones of the boys to make soap
of them. St. Nicholas, by a miracle, restored them to life..
I have often seen engravings representing the miracle.
There are few edifices in the world held in so devout
reverence as the convent of St. Catharine, on Mount Sinai,
the history of the building of which on that desert moun
tain, as I understand it, is this : — St. Catharine died in.
Alexandria, and long afterwards appeared to a pious monk.
in a dream, and told him that her bones had been removed,
by a miracle, to Mount Sinai, and that she wished the
convent to be built on the spot. Upon examination, a
human skeleton was found imbedded in the solid rock, — of
course the bones of St. Catharine, and carried there by a
miracle. The convent and temple were erected, and it is
said to be one of the most beautiful structures in the world ;
none, perhaps, is held in greater reverence. But I feel that
I am treading on dangerous ground. The fault is not mine
for describing these things as I have seen them. I quarrel
with no man for his religious opinions ; but I have a right
to discuss them, and to describe the rites and ceremonies
as I have seen them. No one can doubt the sincerity of the
professors of a religion, so many heroic martyrs of which
have perished at the stake, and which for so long a time

114 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [cHAP. XI.
was the only Christian church ; and, even now, can boast
of a larger number than all other Christian sects united. I
believe that they are at least as sincere in the great cardinal
principles of their faith as the Protestants are ; that is, the
great body of the church, I cannot say as much for the
priests ; and, I must say, that in that greatest of virtues,
charity, in all its forms, they are greatly superior to us.
There is scarcely a desert upon the face of the earth which
Catholic charity has not penetrated. It was the remark
of Cook, the great traveller, that he never, in any country,
applied to a woman for relief that he did not receive it, if
it was in her power to bestow it. I doubt not that he
might have said the same thing of the Catholic priests.
Their houses are always the abodes of hospitality and
benevolence. I have seen, in the church of San Augustin, one or two
hundred people assembled at night ; the chapel was dark
ened, and they took off their clothes and lacerated them
selves severely with pieces of hard, twisted cord, made like
a cat-o'-nine-tails. It was not such a flogging as Sancho
gave himself to disenchant Dulcinea, but a real bona fide
castigation. Of this I have no doubt, for I picked up one
of the disciplinas, the instrument used, and it Was wet and
soaked with blood. I stood at the door as the -i penitents
came out, and recognized amongst them some of the most
respectable people in Mexico. No one in his senses can
doubt the sincerity of those who will voluntarily inflict such
torture upon themselves.
There was an amusing incident connected with this
scene of self-castigation. Some mischievous boys (for boys
are pretty much the same in Mexico as everywhere else)
had contrived to get into the church, and for fear that the
whipping would not be well done, they commenced opera
tions themselves. They were discovered, perhaps, from

CHAP. XI.] MORALITY OF THE CLERGY. 115
the greater severity of their blows than those which the
men were inflicting on themselves, and there was a great
commotion for a short time. The whipping lasted for ten
or fifteen minutes, and the sound was very much like the
pattering of hail.
I do not think that the clergy of Mexico, with very
few exceptions, are men of as much learning as the
Catholic clergy generally are in other countries. The
lower orders of the priests and friars are generally entirely ly
uneducated, and, I regret to add, as generally licentious.
There is no night in the year that the most revolting spec
tacles of vice and immorality, on the part of the priests and
friars, are not to be seen in the streets of Mexico. I have
never seen any class of men who so generally have such a
" roue" " appearance as the priests and friars whom one
constantly meets in the streets. Of the higher orders and
more respectable members of the priesthood, I cannot speak
with the same confidence ; if they are vicious, they are not
publicly and indecently so. Very many of them have
several nephews and nieces in their houses, or, at least,
those. who call them uncle. The reason given for the in
junction of celibacy, that those who are dedicated to the
priesthood should not be encumbered with the care of a
family, is, I think, in Mexico, much more theoretical than
practical. I cannot close these remarks without saying that there
are men who belong to the Priesthood of Mexico, whose
pure, virtuous, and self-sacrificing lives would make them
ornaments of any Christian sect in any age or country, —
the Bishop of California for instance, who, after spending
the prime of his life in doing the work of his Divine Master,
returned to Mexico utterly destitute, and lived on charity.
He had all his life been in the receipt of a large income, all
of which he had expended in charities.

CHAPTER XII.
The Museum — Old Indian Weapons at the period of the Conquest — Hiero
glyphics—Armor of Cortes — Journal of Bernal Diaz — Pedro de Alva
rado — The Stone of Sacrifice.
Of the sights in the city of Mexico, the museum may be
considered the first and most important. To an antiquary,
it presents many curious things. Catlin would luxuriate in
it. But it contains little else than Indian antiquities —
the instruments of war used by the Mexicans at the period
of the conquest, bows and arrows, lances, swords, cotton
armor and their wooden drums, the sound of which is
described by Bernal Diaz, " was like a sound from hell."
Many of these weapons are precisely the same as those
used in former times by our own Indians. The most curi
ous of these is the sword described by Bernal Diaz, as
"espada como navajas — a sword like razors." It was a
wooden staff, four or five feet long, with four blades, about
ten inches in length, and shaped like a razor, inserted on
each side at right angles, with the staff. These blades are
made of obsidian volcanic glass, in which the country
abounds, and which is not distinguishable from the glass of
a black bottle, and is quite as brittle. Yet Bernal Diaz
says, that he has seen a horse's head cut entirely off with
one of these swords. There is also in the museum, a mask
made of this very fragile material, and having all the
polish of the finest glass.
There are some curious specimens of the paper used by

CHAP. XII.] OLD INDIAN WEAPONS. 117
the ancient Mexicans, made of one of a species of the
cactus (of which there are in Mexico nearly two hundred
varieties), with their still more curious hieroglyphic writing
upon it. It is very much to be regretted that no Rosetta
stone has yet been discovered, which furnishes a clew to
Mexican Hieroglyphics. If this ever is done, most impor
tant information may be obtained, not only as to Mexican
history, but of the creation, and the history of the human
race. The discoverers not only of Mexico, but of His-
paniola, Peru, and every other country on this continent,
found the natives familiar with all the leading events in the
history of man, up to the Deluge. Everything afterwards
was a perfect blank. With some of them the story of Adam
and Eve in the garden was almost identical with the
scriptural account of it. There is in the museum in Mexico,
an ancient Mexican painting of the Deluge, the conception
of which is very striking. Amongst other things, we see
the Bird with a branch in its claw. A miniature copy of
it may be seen in the Spanish edition of the Abb6 Clavi-
gero's history of Mexico.
The armor of Cortes is there also, and I confess that I
never contemplated anything of the kind with so great an
interest. Whilst looking at it I could well understand the
Catholic veneration for relics. This was the armor in
which he had fought all the bloody battles in that most
romantic achievement in all history — the conquest of Mexico.
For I declare that in reading the history of the conquest of
Mexico by Bernal, the most enchanting book I ever read in
any language, and in which the beauties of Ossian and
Froissart are combined, I rose from the perusal more with
the feeling that I had been reading an epic poem than a
history. I felt as if I knew personally all the heroes of the
Spanish army. Christoval, de Olid, Alvarado, Sandoval,

118 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO [cHAP. XII.
and all, and when one of them was killed, I could almost
have wept for him as for a brother. And here before me
was the armor which had covered the limbs of that almost
unequalled creature, that "miracle of men," Hernando
Cortes, statesman, orator, hero, and consummate in all.
Bernal Diaz was one of the officers of Cortes, and kept
a regular journal, which he afterwards wrote out more
fully. He came from the Department of Old Castile,
where every one spoke and wrote with great purity ; and
his history is the most reliable authority upon the Conquest
of Mexico. The letters of Cortes are the reports of the
commander of an army, and therefore, in some degree,
wanting in details. Gomara obtained his facts from con
versations with Cortes and others of the conquerors, and
the book of Solis is more a romance than a history. Ber
nal Diaz describes what he himself saw, scenes m all
of which he was an actor, and in the simple style of an old
soldier recounting his battles by the fire-side, with occa
sional passages of great beauty and eloquence. It really
seems to me that any other history of the Conquest is
like a rhetorical version of Froissart.*
* I regret to see that Mr. Prescott has fallen into some errors as to the
" Old Chronicler," and, I think, underrates his work. He expresses sur
prise that Bernal Diaz should have remembered so minutely the incidents
which he relates, after the lapse of fifty years, when his chronicle was
written. Our distinguished countryman seems not to have noticed the
fact, that Bernal Diaz kept a journal during the whole of the wars of the
Conquest, in which he regularly noted the events as they occurred, and
afterwards wrote it out, as he says, " en limpio."
I think that Mr. Prescott is also mistaken in supposing that he was
entirely uneducated. The many classical and historical allusions with
which the work abounds, prove his learning. The licentiates to whom
he submitted his history, admitted that it was written in pure Castilian.
The style is not rhetorical, it is true, and in my humble judgment it is
none the worse for that. I am a lover of nature in all things, and I think

CHAP. XII.] PEDRO ALVARADO. 119
The armor of Pedro Alvarado, the greatest of Cortes'
captains, was also in the museum. It was offered for sale
together with his commission to Mr. Mayer, the secretary
of the American legation, for a hundred dollars ; but he
very properly declined purchasing them until they had first
been offered to the superintendent of the museum, by whom
they were secured. I found them both too small for me,
Cortes was of very much the same stature as Napoleon,
and like him was very thin when a young man, but later in
life became corpulent. The armor of Alvarado was even
smaller than that of Cortes. I believe that very few of the
suits of armor, some of which are to be found in all parts of
Europe, are large enough for the men of the present day.
In looking at one of these coats of mail the incredulity with
which one reads the accounts of the battles of the conquest,
when a hundred Spaniards resisted such swarms of Mexi-
that the secret of true beauty, in everything, is simplicity and naturalness.
In composition, eloquence and architecture, there is the greater perfection,
in proportion to the nearer approach to the works of the great architect. So
thought the Greeks, who have left us the finest models. One looks in vain
for pretty places in a Grecian column, or in the Oration de Corona ; but as
a whole each is perfect. Who does not prefer the simple beauty of the
scriptures, the natural eloquence of the book of Job, or the noble subli
mity of the Psalms of David, to the stately strut of Gibbon ? My own
opinion of the narrative of Bernal Diaz is, that it is written in a style of
great beauty, although simple and unambitious; one which secures the
untiring interest of the reader, the deepest sympathy with the actors in the
scenes which he describes, and leaves the most lasting impression upon the
mind of the reader. He makes you acquainted with all the peculiarities
of the person and character of each of his heroes. You sleep with them,
watch with them, jest with them, and fight with them. You even know
their horses, and a dramatic effect is thus given to the narrative. You
charge with that being of romance Sandoval, upon his horse Motilla, and
assist Cortes to mount Romo and escape from the Mexican squadrons that
surround him ; and when the horse falls down the mountain and crushes
Alvarado, you almost feel that your own bones are broken.

120 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [cHAP. XII.
cans, is very much diminished. It is a perfect covering of
polished steel for the whole body, leaving the wearer only
vulnerable at the joints ; and with such arms as the Mexi
cans used it must have been an accident, and a very rare
one, that it was penetrated. The horse was almost as
effectually protected ; besides the covering of other parts,
all his body from the saddle back was protected with an
" anquera" which was made of the thickest bull's hide, and
which was attached to the saddle and covered all the rump
of the horse down to his hocks. The lower part of this
anquera had small pieces of iron attached to it like fringe,
which jingled like bells. This last was an invention of
Cortes to strike his Indian enemies with the greater terror.
Nothing more illustrates the tenacity with which the
Spaniards adhere to all their old customs and habits, and
which has made them so striking an exception to the
advancement which is observed in every other country, in
this age of progress, than the fact that these anqueras are
still in general use in Mexico ; no horse is fully caparisoned
without one. And this is by no means confined to the
military, but private gentlemen also use them, many of them
costing a sum which would seem incredible — bedizened
all over with that profusion of silver and sometimes of gold,
and other excessive and gaudy ornaments which charac
terize everything Mexican. Nothing can be more grotesque
than the appearance of the horse ; his approach is announced
for some time in advance by the jingling of the iron appen
dages of the auquera.
It was Alvarado, whose extraordinary personal beauty
induced them to give him the name of Tonatiuh (the sun).
He survived the completion of the conquest, and was
appointed Adelantado of Guatemala, and had projected a
large expedition of discovery in the Pacific ocean, for

CHAP. XII. J PEDRO ALVARADO. 121
which the ships were all finished and ready to sail, when
he went to suppress an insurrectionary movement amongst
some of the Indian tribes. As he was ascending a moun
tain, on the sides of which the Spaniards and Indians were
engaged in battle, one of the horses was wounded, and
tumbling down the mountain fell upon and crushed Alva
rado. Nothing can be more touching than the account
by Bernal Diaz, of his death and the grief of his wife.
There is a street in Mexico which still bears his name,
and commemorates the extraordinary leap which he made
across one of the canals from which the bridge had been
removed on the Noche Triste. It is called " El salto de
Alvarado," Alvarado's leap. Bernal Diaz, however, says
that Alvarado never made the leap, active as he was. He
says, " As there are still certain persons who have never
seen the place, and know nothing about it, who will insist
that Alvarado did certainly make this leap the night when
we went flying from Mexico ; I again assert that he could
not possibly have done it. And in proof of this, there
is the bridge and the water at this day, with the same
height of the bridge, and the same depth of water as for
merly — and the bridge is so high and the water so deep that
it is not possible to have reached the bottom with a lance.
There was a soldier in Mexico whose name was Ocampo,
who was in the habit of writing pasquinades and infamous
libels against many of our captains, in which he would
put many ugly things which ought not to be repeated
for they were not true, and amongst other things against
Alvarado, he said that having left his friend Juan Velas
quez de Leon and two hundred of the soldiers, besides the
cavalry which belonged to the rear-guard, to perish, he
escaped himself by this great leap, as the proverb has it,
'He jumped and saved his life.' Whether he made the

122 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [cHAP. XII.
leap or not he was a glorious hero, such an one as the
world has not often seen since the discovery of gunpowder,
which has had pretty much the same effect upon individual
heroism as that of the discovery of the art of printing on
eloquence." A colossal bronze statue of Charles the Fourth of Spain
stands in the court-yard of the same building where the
museum is kept. It was designed by a Mexican artist,
Tolsa, and cast by another Mexican ; the latter, I think, an
Indian. It is said by competent judges not to be surpassed
by more than two similar works in the world.
They have there also the great sacrificial stone upon
which human victims were sacrificed. It is a large mass of
stone some four feet high, and eight feet in diameter, of cir
cular form, with figures in relief, elaborately cut on the top
and sides. I think that it is the best specimen of sculpture
which I have seen amongst the antiquities of Mexico. It
is a curious problem how they were able to cut stone with
out other instruments than those made of copper, jade and
obsidian. It was the custom that the captive or other victim to be
sacrificed fought seven of their best gladiators ; if he was
victorious his life was spared, but if vanquished he was
placed on this stone and his heart taken out, and whilst yet
palpitating it was offered to their God. That this was
really the sacrificial stone there can be no doubt, as the
Spaniards were themselves made to witness the sacrifice at
one time of sixty-two of their companions who fell into
the hands of the Mexicans at the battle of the "Narrow
Causeway," in Mexico, where Cortes was in such immi
nent peril. Bernal Diaz thus describes the scene :
" And again the great drum of Huichilobos (the idol) sounded with
many smaller drums, and shells, wliistles and a kind of small trumpets,

CHAP. XII.J THE STONE OF SACRIFICE. 123
the combined sounds of which were most sad and frightful ; and when we
looked above to the lofty idol temple whence the sounds came, we saw
them pushing and buffeting our companions whom they had made prison
ers when they defeated Cortes, as they were carrying them to be sacri
ficed; and when they had arrived at the top of this temple where their
accursed idols were kept, they put plumes on the heads of some of the
prisoners, and made them dance before Huicholobos (their idol), and
immediately after they had finished dancing, they laid them on their backs
on stones, which had been made for such sacrifices, and with knives
made of flint they cut open their breasts and took out their hearts, and
while they were yet palpitating offered them to their idols. The bodies
they threw down the steps to the Indian butchers, who were waiting
below to receive them, who cut off the arms and legs, and skinned the
faces, which, with the beards on, they dressed as skins are dressed to
make gloves. These they exhibited at their feasts, and in this manner
they were all sacrificed. They ate the arms and legs, the hearts and
blood were offered to their idols, and the other parts of their bodies were
thrown to the lions, tigers, and serpents which were kept in the menage
ries, which I have described in a former chapter. All these cruelties
were seen from our tent by Pedro Alvarado, and Sandoval, and all our
other captains. The curious readers of this narrative will imagine what
our grief must have been, and we said amongst ourselves, oh, thanks to
God that they have not also sacrificed me, and let it also be considered
that although we were not far off, we could not prevent it, but could
only pray to God that he would save us from so cruel a death. At that in
stant large squadrons of Mexican warriors came charging upon us, and
all our efforts to repulse them seemed unavailing. They said to us, ' You
all have to die in the same manner, for our gods have often times so pro
mised us.' The threats which they uttered to our Tlascalan friends
were so horrid as to terrify them greatly ; they would throw to them the
legs of Indians, and the arms of our soldiers which they had roasted,
saying, eat the flesh of these Teudes,* and of your brothers, for we are
satiated, and of those which are left you may fill yourselves."
t
The author, Bernal Diaz, in a subsequent part of his his
tory, says, that although men are generally frightened by the
* A word meaning gods, which the Mexicans applied to the Spaniards.

124 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [cHAP. XII.
first battle in which they are engaged, and rarely after
wards, yet he frankly confesses, that although before he
witnessed this sacrifice, he had been in many and perilous
battles, and had never been conscious of trembling, yet that
he was a coward ever afterwards, and never went into
battle without a certain sinking and sickness of the heart.
I could fill many pages with descriptions of other things
which are to be seen in the museum in Mexico. But as I
have very little taste for such affairs, I must refer the reader
to the interesting volume of M. Brantz Mayer, whose de
scriptions are very full and accurate.

CHAPTER XIII.
The New Theatre — Market — Alameda — The Paseo — Aqueducts — Water
Carriers — Drones — Great National Pawn Shop — A Necklace of Pearls —
Four Diamond Rings — Anecdotes of a Revolutionary country.
The new Theatre in the street Bergard, which was
finished in 1843, is said to be the finest in the world, except
that of Saint Carlos at Naples. I can conceive of nothing
of the kind more elegant in its architecture, or perfect in
its arrangements. I have seen in it a concourse estimated
at seven or eight thousand, and it was not full. There are
eight tiers of seats, with a pit sufficient to accommodate a
larger audience than the whole of any ordinary theatre.
In the rear of each box there is a room for the accommoda
tion of those who occupy the box. These boxes, in certain
tiers, rent for two and three thousand dollars per annum,
some of them I believe for even more. The whole thea
tre is lighted by splendid chandeliers. It was called the
theatre of Santa Anna ; the name was of course changed
after his fall by a people who were capable of disinterring
the leg which he lost in a most heroic defence of
Vera Cruz at the time when it was attacked by the
French, and which had been brought to Mexico a few
short months before, been buried with great pomp, and
a funeral oration pronounced over it by a distinguished
member of the Mexican Congress.
With more truth in Mexico than in any other country
may one say of popular applause and favor —
" Thou many-headed monster thing,
Oh who would wish to be thy king."

126 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [CHAP. XIII.
The new Market just finished and also named in honor
of Santa Anna, is admirably arranged for its purpose.
Of all the spots in Mexico, the Alameda is the most
beautiful. It is a public square on the western border
of the city, containing about forty acres, enclosed by a
stone wall. It is covered with a thick growth of poplar
trees and hence the name ; the whole square is intersected
with walks paved with flag-stones ; all these walks unite
in the centre where there is a beautiful jet d'eau, and from
this point they diverge in every direction, and again unite
in four or five smaller circles. There is a carriage-way
inside of the wall entirely surrounding the square.
A short distance from the Alameda is the Paseo — the
fashionable ride. It is a broad road just on the outside of
the city, of perhaps a mile in length, and terminating at
the aqueduct. Here everyone in Mexico who has a coach
of his own, and every one who has not, who has money to
pay the hire of a hackney coach, assemble, besides hundreds
and often thousands of horsemen. I would say at a ven
ture that I have frequently seen a thousand carriages and
more than five thousand horsemen on the Paseo. If I were
now to return to Mexico, and desired to see any of my ac
quaintance, 1 would go to the Paseo, with the utmost confi
dence of meeting them there. It is just as much a habit
of their lives to ride on the Paseo in the evening, and to go
to the theatre at night, as it is to breakfast or dine. The
carriages used by the ladies are always closed, but with
pannels instead of curtains ; through the windows of their
coaches they see and are seen by their lovers, exchange
glances, and salute them most gracefully with their fans.
In this way and almost in this way only, are the courtships
conducted, and often for months and years, without the
parties ever having exchanged a word with each other.

CHAP. XIII.J AQ.UEDCJCTS. 127
So of the theatre ; it is not an occasional recreation, as
with us, but a part, and by no means an unimportant part
of the business of life. You are perfectly certain to meet
the same faces every night of the year at the theatre. I
once asked a very accomplished and elegant woman, who
was the mother of eight or ten children, and whose family
circle consisted of as many more persons — " Do you go,
Madam, to the theatre every night ?" " Oh, yes, Sir," she
replied, " how else could I possibly get through the even
ings ?"
They have no fire-places in Mexico, and I think that this
circumstance has a very great influence on their character.
It is not easy to estimate the moral influence of these
family reunions, to which we are accustomed, around the
fireside on long winter evenings, which are passed in read
ing some excellent book, or in conversation not less in
structive. The two aqueducts by which the city is supplied with
water, were constructed by the Vice Royal Government,
and have the solid and substantial character of all Spanish
architecture. The lower aqueduct is in precisely the same
place as that which the Spaniards found there at the Con
quest, and by the destruction of which so much suffering
was caused to the Mexicans. Its whole length is 133,426
feet, a portion of which, however, is nothing more than a
canal walled with stone. The other, the water of which
is supplied by the Spring of Chapultepec, is only 10,826 feet
in length. The aqueducts rest on stone arches about fif
teen feet high, and on these arches is a species of canal
made of stone, through which the water flows. One ter
minates near the Alameda, which is on the outskirts of the
city ; the other, at a greater distance. The water is car
ried into the city, and sold at a very small price by poor

128 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [cHAP. XIII.
Indians (aquadores). They carry one very large stone jug
on their back, with a leather band attached to it, which
comes over the forehead, and another with a similar band
over the back of the head, and the jug suspended in front.
If either of these jugs is broken, the Indian of course falls,
for the balance is most accurately adjusted. Nothing
would be easier than to conduct the water in pipes into
every house in the city, and at very small expense ; but
this I suppose has never occurred to them ; and perhaps if
it had, it would not have been done, as it would throw the
aquadores, a numerous class, out of employment. I do not
think that the addition which would thus be made to the
immense number of idle leperos about the street would be
at all noticed.
In walking the streets of Mexico, it would be very safe
to bet that eight out of every ten persons you would meet
would be officers, soldiers, priests, friars, or leperos, and it
would be difficult to decide which class is the most nume
rous. All but the last of these classes are not only unpro
ductive, but a charge upon the country. It does not seem
to me that the whole productive industry of the country, so
far as the Mexicans are concerned, and excluding the pro
fits of the labor and capital of foreigners, would be suffi
cient to support these drones.
I should not omit to notice the great national pawn-shop of
Mexico, Monte Pio, the funds of which are supplied by the
Government, an institution under the superintendence of
Don Francisco Tagle, a distinguished and virtuous man.
Persons who are pressed for money, and have anything
whatever to pawn, take it there and have it valued, and
receive in money two-thirds of the sum at which it is
valued. They are allowed to keep the money for six
months, at an interest of six per cent., when, if they are not

CHAP. XIII.J GREAT NATIONAL PAWN SHOP. 129
able to redeem the article which they have pawned, it is
sold, provided the sum advanced with interest is bid for it ;
if that is not the case, it is not sold. Whatever sum above
that amount the article is sold for, is paid over to the
owner. A very large and splendid building, on the public square,
which was built by Cortes, and which, I believe, is still
owned by his descendants, is appropriated to this institu
tion, very many rooms of which are filled with the infinite
varieties of articles which have been pawned ; all of which
the superintendent very kindly showed me. In one room
are hung up old garments of the Indians, the larger portion
of which are literally of no earthly value but to a paper
manufacturer ; in another, the swords, epaulettes, and uni
forms of military officers, plate of every description, snuff
boxes set in diamonds, and sets of pearls and brilliants, one
of which I saw being valued at ten thousand dollars. The
effects of this institution are altogether beneficent, as many
necessitous and ignorant people are saved by it from those
harpies, pawnbrokers and usurers.
The habit of accumulating jewels is always most common
in revolutionary times and countries, as wealth is more
portable, and, what is more important, more easily con
cealed in that than in any other form. I was very much
struck with one instance of this, which came under my ob-
., servation. There was an old Indian woman, who sold
vegetables at the house at which I stayed when I first went
to Mexico ; she never wore stockings, nor any other arti
cles of clothing but a chemise and petticoat, and reboza (a
long shawl). I noticed on her neck one day a strand of
beads which looked like pearls, but it is very difficult for
one not accustomed to them to distinguish the genuine
pearls from the cheap imitations. I said to my hostess,
7*

130 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [cHAP. XIII.
" Of course those are not real pearls which that old woman
wears." " Indeed," said she, " they are." I asked what
was their value, and was told fifteen hundred or two thou
sand dollars. All the balance of her worldly gear was,
doubtless, not worth ten dollars. I entered into conversa
tion with the old Indian woman, asked her why she had
not laid out her money in something more useful, a house,
for example. " Yes," said she, " and have it destroyed in
some revolution, or have high taxes to pay for it ! No," she
continued, " I am now secure against ever suffering ; when
I am sick or very old, I can pawn this at Monte Pio, or sell
them one at a time, as I have bought them."
I will mention another instance of a similar character.
A very worthy man, a native of the United States, had
married a Mexican woman, from whom he had separated,
not without cause. She was about to commence legal
proceedings against him, and, as he was a foreigner and she
a Mexican, he saw the danger to which he was exposed.
They both called upon me, and asked my interposition to
procure an amicable arrangement between them. With
not a little difficulty I at length brought them to terms— he
allowed her a hundred dollars a month. A few months
afterwards she came to see me, and complained that the
allowance was not a sufficient one. I told her that I was
afraid that she had been a little extravagant, and my eyes,
at the same time, rested on four new diamond rings which
she had on her fingers. She became very angry, and,
amongst other things, said : " You are unjust, sir, to say so ;
look here, sir," holding out her hand, "do you call a woman
extravagant who, out of so small an allowance, has saved
enough money in a few months to purchase four such rings
as these ?" " Well, really, madam," said I, " it is rather an
odd proof of your frugality, that you have purchased four

CHAP. XIII.J FOUR DIAMOND RINGS. 131
costly rings." " Yes, sir," said she, " you say so because
you know nothing of the habits of our country. I have
bought these rings that hereafter, if I should be reduced to
want, I may sell them, or pawn them at Monte Pio."
The old vegetable woman, I have no doubt, stated what
was the true motive for her purchase of the pearls ; I had
some doubt in the other case.

CHAPTER XIV.
Gambling Festival of St. Augustin — Cock-fighting — Anecdotes of Mexican
Honesty — Visit to the city of Tezcuco — Mexican Horses — Pyramids —
Ruins — An Indian Inn — Extraordinary Ruin.
Shortly after my arrival in Mexico, the great gambling
feast of St. Augustin took place. I am not sufficiently
learned upon the subject of Catholic saints to know why
St. Augustin is the patron of gamblers, and his anni
versary is celebrated by all sorts of games. The village
of San Augustin is about twelve miles from Mexico, and
there this festival is celebrated. Every human creature
in Mexico, high and low, old and young, who can get there,
is certain to go. Rooms are engaged, and preparations
made for weeks beforehand. Doubloons, which are gene
rally worth only fifteen dollars and a quarter, as the festival
approaches rise in value to sixteen and seventeen dollars.
It is not genteel to bet anything but gold. The scene opens
with cock-fighting, about twelve o'clock. It is attended by
everybody. When I entered the cock-pit, Santa Anna and
General Bravo, with a large number of the most distin
guished men in Mexico, and quite a large number of ladies
of the highest circles, were already there. The master of
ceremonies on the occasion walked into the pit, and ex
claimed two or three times, " Ave Maria purissima los
gallos vienen" — " Hail, most pure Mary, the chicken-cocks
are coming." Whereupon a cock is brought in covered,
and a challenge is proclaimed, d Voutrance, to all comers,
which is very soon accepted. The fowls are then unco-

chap. xiv.J cock-fighting. 133
vered, and allowed to walk about the pit, that the specta
tors may see them, and select the one on which they choose
to risk their money. Those in the seats call some of the
numerous brokers who are always in attendance, and give
them whatever sum of money they desire to bet, and desig
nate their favorite cock. Before the fight commences, the
broker returns and informs the person whose money he has
received whether his bet has been taken. If he loses, he
sees no more of the broker ; but if he wins, he is perfectly
sure to get his money. A small gratification is expected
by the broker, but never asked for, if it is not voluntarily
given. I have been surprised to see these fellows, who
are often entrusted with the money of a dozen different
persons, never make a mistake as to the person for whom
the bet was made, nor the amount of it. And it is another
evidence of what I have before remarked as to the honesty
of that class of Mexicans, that they never attempt to go off
with the money, which they could so easily do, for it would
be as impossible for a stranger to identify one of these
Indians, as it would be to select a particular crow out of a
flock of a hundred.
I saw, on these occasions, a sign which I thought omi
nous — there was always the most vociferous shouting when
ever Santa Anna's fowl lost his fight.
As soon as the cock-fighting is over, the gambling at
monte commences. There are a great many public tables,
and some private ones. It is at the latter only that Santa
Anna plays. There are many tables where nothing but
gold is bet, others where nothing but silver, and other
tables again for copper. The game is a perfectly fair one,
and one at which cheating is, I should think, impossible.
There is some very small advantage in the game in favor
of the bank. I think it is only this : if the bet is decided in

134 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [cHAP. XIV.
favor of the better on the first turn, there is a very small
deduction from the amount paid, an eighth, or perhaps a
fourth. But there is another, and a much more important
advantage to the bank, in this, as in all of these public
games ; men always double and bet high when they have
won, and, generally speaking, if the bank wins one bet in
three, the better has lost in the end. I had not seen one of
these public games played for very many years until I went
to Mexico, and only saw it twice there ; but my own obser
vation has fully satisfied me of the truth of what I have
said, and I should be rejoiced to know that this suggestion
had prevented any one person from indulging in those most
pernicious of games, pernicious as all games of chance are.
I was very much struck with one thing which I noticed.
I have seen, I am sure, fifty thousand dollars on the tables
at once, probably in fifty different piles, and belonging to as
many different betters, and yet I never witnessed a dispute
of any sort as to the ownership of any one of these piles.
I have seen a sum which the person who bet had omitted
to take up when he had won ; no one claimed it until it had
increased to quite a large sum by winning double every
time ; and when, even, it would be asked whose bet it was,
and thus announced that it was forgotten, no one would
claim it.
The gravity and propriety of Spanish manners are never
wanting, even at the gaming-table. I have seen men in
the humbler walks of life lose several thousand dollars, and
perhaps the last which they possessed, without a frown, or
the slightest sign of emotion of any sort. Greatly per
nicious as is the practice of gaming everywhere, and in all
its forms, I do not think that it is anywhere so much so as
in Mexico. The people of all mining countries are charac
teristically thriftless and improvident, but, I believe, nowhere

CHAP. XIV. J COCK-FIGHTING. 135
more than in Mexico. There are very few instances in
Mexico of men who have any idea of that certain compe
tency which is the reward of industry in any employment,
and the savings of even small earnings, whereby the
small gains of one year swell those of the next, which is
so well expressed in the maxim of Dr. Franklin, " that the
second hundred dollars is much easier made than the first,
the first assisting to make the second." Whilst they habi
tually postpone everything, hasta manana, until to-morrow,
they never think of making any provision for that to-mor
row. If they ever do lay up money, it is for the purpose
of attending the feast of San Augustin, and with the hope
of winning a fortune with it. They hear of some one, per
haps, who has done so, but they do not think of the thou
sands who have lost.
There is a dance on the green in the evening, and an
other ball in the cock-pit at night, to which every one is
admitted who is decently dressed and can pay for a ticket.
The first people in the city, of both sexes, are seen dancing
with the most dissolute and depraved, not only in the same
dance, but as partners. This feast lasts three or four days,
and, from all that I saw, I should say that it is almost the
only occasion when persons of respectability in the city of
Mexico gamble at all. Sometimes an evening is passed in
playing at monte for fourpences, when not more than three
or four dollars are lost by any one. I can only say that,
with the exception of the annual feast of San Augustin, I
never saw a pack of cards during my residence in Mexico,
except on two occasions, when a game of whist was played
at the houses of private gentlemen. I am quite sure that it
is only on such occasions that General Santa Anna plays at
all. I have heard much said of the gambling of priests and
ladies in Mexico — I never saw nor heard there of either
doing it ; nor do I believe that there is any foundation for

136 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [cHAP. XIV.
the charge, — for I should regard it as a charge, and a very
discreditable one.
I have already expressed the opinion that the calls upon
the Minister from the United States in Mexico, for his offi
cial interposition, and cases involving an infinite variety of
questions of international law, are more numerous than in
any other of our foreign missions. They make the office
of such minister by no means a sinecure — I certainly did
not find it one. This reason alone would have prevented
me from making frequent excursions into the country ; I
had on several occasions made all my arrangements for
such an excursion, when some difficulty arose with the
government which prevented my leaving the city. In addi
tion to this, there is not a road in Mexico two miles from
the city which is not infested with robbers, and the precau
tions which are necessary on this account are not a little
inconvenient. I was anxious, however, to visit the ancient
city of Tezcuco, which at the period of the conquest was
second only to the city of Mexico ; it is also a place famous
in history as the spot where Cortes launched his thirteen
brigantines, which were used with so much effect in his
second and successful attack upon the city of Mexico.
They were built in Tlascala, sixty miles distant, and were
carried to Tezcuco by the Tlascalans, and put together and
launched there. The city of Tezcuco was at that time on
the eastern shore of the lake, but the waters have receded
and left it three miles distant ; the site of Mexico is the
same now as then, but it was then surrounded by water
and connected with the mainland by three causeways — the
same receding of the waters of the lake at Tezcuco leaves
the city of Mexico the same distance from the western
shore. The lake is daily crossed by Indians from the neigh
borhood of Tezcuco, carrying vegetables, coal and other

CHAP. XIV.J THE CITY OF TEZCUCO. 137
articles to Mexico for sale. I was anxious to have crossed
the lake in one of their boats, but could not procure one at
the only time when it was convenient for me to leave
Mexico. I therefore hired a hackney coach drawn by four
spirited little white horses and driven by an American, and
took the land route, which doubled the distance. For some
twelve or fifteen miles our journey was by the road to Vera
Cruz, through the valley — and thence leaving one of those
small mountains of which I have spoken on our left, in a
north-eastern direction, I arrived in Tezcuco with a very
agreeable party of gentlemen, most of them American,
about sundown. We were told in reply to our inquiries as
to the best inn, that the only one in the place was a small
hovel, which was pointed out. When we applied there,
however, we found to our astonishment that beds and lodg
ing were not at all understood in the city of Tezcuco (as
it is still called, and it has a population of seven or eight
thousand souls) as constituting any part of the accommoda
tion of an inn. All that our utmost endeavors could
accomplish for the accommodation of a party of ten or
twelve was to obtain one room in a dilapidated old house
of one story, the only door of which opened into the stable
yard, through which we had to pass to get into the apart
ment ; there was not an article of furniture in the room of
any sort, chair, table, or even a bench. Our next difficulty
was to obtain straw to sleep on ; a very insufficient supply
of this article was at last with great difficulty procured.
Some of the young gentlemen of the party very kindly
went into the city to ascertain if either for love or money
they could procure a bed of any sort for me ; they returned
with a cot with a mattrass attached to it. I was really
grateful, but I very soon found that my gratitude was due
only to the kind feelings which had induced them to take

138 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [cHAP. XIV.
so much trouble on my account and not for any comfort
which the cot would afford me, for it was swarming with
bugs. I made as comfortable a bed as I could of some of
the straw and covered myself with my cloak ; following the
example of the soldiers of the conquest who always slept
with their armor on, I did not pull off my clothes, but
passed the night in them as a protection. We arose very
early the next morning and, mounted on very indifferent
looking little Mexican horses, took the road for St. Juan
de Teatihuacan, in the neighborhood of which stand the two
remarkable pyramids of the Sun and Moon, as they are
called, upon no sufficient authority. I said that our horses
were indifferent looking ; I am quite sure that in no part of
the United States would any one of them have sold for
thirty-five dollars, yet more active, durable and fine going
animals I have nowhere seen. The distance from Tezcuco
to the pyramids was more than eighteen miles, nearly every
foot of which was passed in a rapid gallop ; we returned to
Tezcuco the same evening, after having examined every
thing in the neighborhood.
The Mexican horses are not handsome (I never saw a
handsome one) ; they are generally about fourteen hands
and from that to fifteen hands high, but they have nothing
of the peculiar formation of ponies. They are raised on
grass altogether : the experience in this country is that
horses raised on grass are not generally good. It is said
that there is no instance of a horse being distinguished on
the turf, which even when a colt was fed chiefly on grass.
But it is otherwise in Mexico. I have never seen any
horses which were capable of enduring so much fatigue
on the road, and of maintaining a rapid gait for so long a
time. For several miles before we arrived at the pyramids we

CHAP. XIV.J PYRAMIDS. 139
had a full view of them ; and when I first saw them I sup
posed that they were mountains. I have not access to a
copy of Humboldt's Researches, but I find in a very brief
synopsis of the work, which has been published as one* of
the volumes of the Family Library, that he states the height
of the largest of these pyramids at a hundred and fifty,
and the smaller one at a hundred and forty-four feet. I
am confident that they are of greater elevation, and still
more confident that there is a much greater difference than
six feet between them. Mr. Mayer says that the highest of
these pyramids is 171 feet. Mr. Glennie says 221, which
I have no doubt is nearer the true height. The base is 684
feet. They are perfectly square at the base, and run up to a
sharp point, a fact which I think furnishes a strong reason
to believe that the pyramid of Cholula either has once had
a much greater elevation than it now has, or that such was
the original design. Why else the large area on the top,
when all other similar structures in Mexico are carried up
to a very narrow apex ? These pyramids are built of un
hewn stone of all shapes and sizes. That of Cholula is
built of unburnt bricks. They are now covered with earth,
and overgrown with grass and small bushes. There is an
entrance to the smaller of these pyramids, through which a
man may pass on his hands and knees. This aperture is on
the southern side, and about half-way up the pyramid, and
terminates on the inside on a flight of stone steps which ex
tend to the bottom, in the centre of which is a well. The
whole face of these artificial mountains is covered with
fragments of figures and images of clay of ten thousand
different kinds, and with broken instruments of obsidian ; in
short, with fragments of almost all the Indian antiquities
which one is accustomed to see in Mexican collections. I

140 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [CHAP. XIV.
mean literally what I say, that the whole pyramid is thus
covered. One may shut his eyes and drop a dollar from
his hand, and the chances are at least equal that it will
fall upon something of the kind. The bases of the two
pyramids are some two or three hundred yards from each
other. A few hundred yards from the pyramids, in a secluded
spot, shut closely in by two small hillocks, is a very remark
able stone — no doubt a sacrificial stone. I think it is about
ten feet long, five or six feet broad, and as many feet in
height. It is very handsomely hewn, with a well cut cor
nice, but has none of the human or other figures in relief,
which are so well cut on the sacrificial stones in Mexico.
The whole weight of this huge mass of porphyritic stone
cannot be less than twenty-five tons. There is no stone of
the same kind, or any other in as large masses, within seve
ral miles of the spot where this now stands. How did it
get there ? The ancient Mexicans had no beasts of burden
of any sort, and so far as we know, no other means by
which such large masses could have been moved.
From the pyramid which I have been describing a broad
street leads off in a southern direction for six or eight
hundred yards, and terminates in the ruins of a large city.
These ruins cover an area very nearly as large as that of
the present city of Mexico, and the streets are as distinctly
marked by the ruins of the houses. There is one large public
square of twenty acres, with the ruin of a stone building in
the centre of it ; with many more smaller squares in different
places, and each of them having the same ruin in the centre,
but about as much smaller than the ruin in the large square as
the proportionate difference in the size of the squares them
selves. If it was desired to build a new city on the same spot,
one could not be laid out in any respect better than by adopt-

CHAP. XIV.J PYRAMIDS. 141
ing the plan of this one which is in ruins. The streets and pub
lic squares are designated by the large piles of rock in close
juxtaposition on the sides of each, but each pile separate,
and having exactly the appearance, only larger, of a long
row of potato hills. These stones have manifestly not been
placed one upon another, but have exactly the appearance
of a brick or stone house which has tumbled down. Those
who have seen individual ruins of that sort, know that the
bricks or stones will fall and ultimately form an almost per
fect cone, and would not hesitate a moment in saying that
these cones which I have described were formed in that
way. It has been suggested that each of these is a sepa
rate pyramid, and that they were all places of sepulture.
Nothing, I think, can be more absurd. It is perfectly appa
rent that no more art has been used in making the pile, than
is practised by a farmer in throwing together the stones
which he finds in his fields. And if it was a place of burial,
why was it laid out in streets and squares ? Why have no
human bones been found there ? and more than all these, if
it is indeed a vast burial plain, where did the people come
from who are buried there ? It could only have been for a
limited extent of the adjacent country that it was so used,
and the whole population of Mexico, since the flood, might
be expected to be found there, if it was in truth a place of
sepulture. I have thought it proper to say thus much, as
some recent American travellers in Mexico have adopted
the very absurd idea which I have been combating.
On the western side of this ruined city is a ravine of
some forty feet wide, the sides of which are for the greater
portion of its extent of a soft rock. On each bank of this
ravine there are niches of eighteen inches or two feet in
diameter and of a circular form ; these are said by the natives
of the country to have been places of sepulture, which I think

142 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [cHAP. XIV.
more probable. From the earliest times of which we
have any record or tradition this portion of the country
has never been uninhabited, and as every people, savage
or civilized, regard with peculiar sacredness the places
where the dead are deposited, it is not probable that such a
tradition should exist if it had not been founded in truth ;
whilst it is altogether improbable that if these ruins are the
tombs of generations, however long past, no tradition
of it should exist now and did not at the period of the
conquest. Our own Indians never lived in large cities, but
always in small and detached villages. Not so in Mexico,
as all know. It is a little remarkable, however, that in the
ruins of so large a city as this must have been, that not a
single piece of hewn stone should be found, except the
large sacrificial stone which I have described, and
which is as well cut as it could be done at the present day,
which makes it still more curious, that they should have
had the art but did not practise it. Whilst looking at these
ruins and often on other occasions, I deeply regretted that
Mr. Stephens, our distinguished traveller and altogether
unequalled writer of books of travels, had not accompanied
me to Mexico, which he at one time had an idea of doing.
Mexico is even yet very much a terra incognita. I know
no wider field for such researches, nor one from which
more valuable information may be collected, and no one
more capable of making those researches and reporting
their results, than that distinguished gentleman. We
returned the same evening to our lodgings in Tezcuco,
which I really did not find uncomfortable after the fatigues
of such a day. I must by no means omit to notice the inn
of Tezcuco, as it is there called, and which was meant by
the person of whom we made inquiries on our arrival in
the city ; although it was, strictly speaking, only an eating-

CHAP. XIV.J AN INDIAN INN. 143
house or restaurant. The inn consisted of one low dirty
room, about fifteen feet square, which served for parlor,
dining-room and kitchen. The only furniture was some
wooden forks stuck in the ground, upon which two or three
undressed planks were placed for a table — a rough bench
on each side, and some earthen pans in which our meal
was cooked, and others of the same kind out of which we
ate it. As to knives and forks, they were a modern luxury
of which I do not suppose that our old Indian hostess had
ever even heard. The supper consisted of a single dish,
which would be strictly true, if the term dish is applied to
the rude article in which the multifarious hotchpotch was
served up, for it consisted of about as many different things
as were contained in the sheet which St. Peter, with less
reason than we had, thought unclean. Pork, beef, mutton,
turkey, fowl, cabbage, Irish potatoes, carrots, squashes,
beans, onions, tomatoes, and red peppers were all boiled to
gether. So that the beef tasted like mutton and the mut
ton like beef — the cabbages were carrots and the carrots
cabbages — and it therefore made very little difference
which was selected, for they all tasted alike. This mode
of cooking was by no means peculiar to " mine hostess" of
Tezcuco ; so far as I know it is universal in all Mexican
houses. The next morning I visited a much more remark
able ruin, and one which I regarded as in all respects one
of the most extraordinary which has yet been discovered
in this continent Extraordinary in itself from the im
mense labor which its construction must have cost, and its
Cyclopean character, but still more so from the difficulty of
saying with any reasonable certainty what was the object
in constructing it.
There is a small mountain about three miles east of Tez
cuco. On the almost perfectly precipitous side of this

144 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [cHAP. XIV.
mountain, at an elevation of eighty to a hundred feet,
there is a circular basin of five or six feet in diameter, cut
in a solid rock. There is another mountain very near this ;
the summits of these by an air line are not more than
three quarters of a mile apart ; this last mountain is some
twelve or fifteen miles distant from the main ledge of moun
tains which bound the eastern portion of the valley of Mex
ico. From this circular basin in the rock, the side of the
mountain is cut down and levelled exactly as if it had been
done in grading for a railroad for about half a mile, where
an embankment some sixty feet high connects the two ad
jacent mountains. From the point where this embankment
strikes the second mountain, the side of that is cut down
and made perfectly level, for a distance of a mile and a
half, and with a width of about thirty feet. The grading
of this mountain commences at a point about north-west,
and terminates at another point a little north of east ; thus
extending nearly two thirds of the circumference of the
mountain, where another embankment like the first in ele
vation and construction, begins and extends through the
plain to the distant mountains, which, as I was informed,
are some twelve or fifteen miles off. I walked on it for
more than a mile, and judging as I did only from the eye,
I thought that the distance was quite as great as my guide
said it was. There is an aqueduct placed upon the level
thus made by the embankments, and cutting down the
mountains the whole distance from the basin in the rock to
the distant mountains, whence the water was brought.
This aqueduct is formed of a very hard plaster, made of
lime and small portions of a soft red stone. It is about two
feet wide, and has a trough in the centre about ten inches
wide. This trough is covered with a convex piece of the
same plaster, which being placed upon it when the plaster

CHAP. XIV.J EXTRAORDINARY RUIN. 145
was soft, seems to be all one piece, making together a tube
of ten inches in diameter, through which the water flowed
from the distant mountains to the basin which it enters
through a round hole about the size of one made with a
two-inch auger. No plasterer of the present day can con
struct a more beautiful piece of work ; it is in its whole
extent as smooth as the plastering on a well-finished wall,
and is as hard as stone. I have a piece of it now in my
house which I took from the aqueduct. Very often for the
distance of many yards these pipes are perfect, and would
hold water as well as they did the day that they were con
structed. No one can say for how many hundreds of
years they have been exposed to the weather ; from all
appearances, these pipes made of lime will endure as long
as the native rocks of the mountains upon which they are
placed. Near the basin are the walls of a small house,
rudely constructed of unhewn stone, and steps to ascend
the mountain. With that exception, there is no vestige of
human habitation or workmanship near it. For what use
was this cyclopean work intended ? It could not have been
to water the city of Tezcuco, for that stands in the plain
below ; and its site is not so elevated as the base of the
mountain, and all the labor of cutting down the two moun
tains, and throwing up the embankments for so many miles,
was wholly useless. But what is still more conclusive, the
work terminates at the basin ; it, is not continued a foot
farther. It is called Montezuma's bath, as nine-tenths of
the antiquities of the country bear his name — but Monte
zuma had about as much to do with it as I had ; it would
be a gigantic work if designed to water any city in the
United States or in Europe. It is a work very nearly or
quite equal in the labor required for its construction to the
8

146 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [cHAP. XIV.
Croton Aqueduct. Could it have been a bath, and for the
use of an individual ? Hardly, I think. The only conjec
ture left us is, that it was in some way connected with the
religious rites of those who constructed it, as I have little
doubt the pyramids were also.
Extraordinary as this work certainly is in itself, and the
reflections to which it gives rise, it is unaccountable that
it should have escaped the notice of all who have given us
accounts of the other antiquities of Mexico. I find not a
word about it in Humboldt, and what is still more remark
able, Clavigero, himself a Mexican, and a man of learning
and great research, has not noticed in, neither Cortes, nor
Bernal Diaz, nor any other of the conquerors ; and there it
is, not in a remote department, but within twenty miles of
:the city of Mexico.

CHAPTER XV.
Scientific Institutions — Mineria— Academy of Fine Arts— Absence of Be
nevolent Institutions— Health of the Climate — Freedom from Intempe
rance—Fruits—Education of the Common People.
Humboldt, who visited Mexico in 1804, says that the
scientific institutions of the city of Mexico were at that time
equal if not superior to those of the United States. I
am disposed to think that La Guera Rodriguez, the beauti
ful lady who enchanted him so much, was not the only
thing in Mexico which he saw couleur du rose. The only
institution of any character in the city is the Mineria — the
College of Mines, as its name implies. The building itself
is altogether magnificent. It is very spacious, and built of
hewn stone in the most perfect architecture. When that is
said nearly all is said which can be said with truth. The
professorships are very few, chiefly those connected with
physical science, and the chairs filled by persons of ex
tremely moderate attainments. The philosophical appara
tus is altogether contemptible ; and what is still more
remarkable, the mineralogical collection is very small, and
contains nothing at all remarkable. General Tornel, the Pre
sident, is, as I have always said, an accomplished man and an
elegant writer. But his whole life has been spent in the
excitement and bustle of politics, and of Mexican politics,
and it is altogether impossible that his scientific attainments
can be even respectable with reference to the position which
he occupies.

148 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [cHAP. XV.
The University, which was founded in 1531, is in a de
clining condition, if indeed it is not already extinct. There
are some other colleges as they are called, but they are
scarcely respectable primary schools.
The Academy of Fine Arts is, I think, very much below
the college of the Mineria. There are some very good
casts in plaster of the most celebrated works in statuary,
and a great many very inferior paintings. There is not in
all Mexico even a tolerable portrait painter.
One would suppose that in the dogged resolution which
they seem to have formed, not to advance in anything with
the age in which they live, that an exception would have
been found in the matter of coinage of the precious metals
in which their country abounds, and with which they con
tribute so much to the currency of the world — but it is not
so. The process is, in almost every particular, the same
that it was at the period of the conquest. They have not
even a steam-engine in the mint in the city of Mexico,
which has doubtless coined far more of the precious metals
than any other in the world.
There are scarcely any of those charitable institutions to
which we are accustomed in all our principal cities. There
are more of these, I have no doubt, in either of the cities of
Boston or Philadelphia than in Mexico.
There was something like an asylum for the insane — but
during my residence in Mexico, General Valencia, under
some claim which he set up to the ground and building,
turned all the lunatics into the streets, as I was informed.
There is a very large and well-arranged Hospital, which
was founded by Cortes out of his own private funds — the
Hospital of Jesus. Until a very few years past his bones
were deposited there, as he directed in his will ; but they
have been carried to Naples by the Duke of Monteleone,

CHAP. XV. J HEALTH OF THE CLIMATE. 149
the only branch of the family of the Conqueror of Mexico
which is not now extinct. I was told in Mexico that he
purchased these remains for twenty-five thousand dollars
— if as an act of filial piety, it was a most mistaken
one. I have also heard that in the frequent emeutes of the
Mexican populace, and their rage against the gachupines
(European Spaniards), that the tomb of Cortes was in dan
ger of being desecrated, and that it was on that account
that his bones have been removed.
There is, however, scarcely any other city where
charitable institutions are so little needed. I have never
seen a population where congenital deformities are so rare
as in Mexico, and I am sure I saw nearly all which existed.
Mendicity is not forbidden, and any serious deformity is, as
far as a security for subsistence is concerned, a rare good
fortune, and they are sure to make the most of it.
Blindness is not uncommon, resulting, I suppose, from
the extreme rarity of the air in that elevated region. I was
surprised to hear, mild and equable as the climate is, that
from the same reason which I have just mentioned, it is
fatal in all pulmonary affections. Although there is not
perhaps in the world a healthier region than the table-lands
of Mexico, their bills of mortality (if they had any such
thing, which they have not, or statistics of any kind) would
exhibit very few cases of remarkable longevity. On the
contrary, I think that the Mexicans are a remarkably short
lived race. This must result from climate alone. They
indulge less in excesses of any kind than almost any other
people. If I may judge from what I myself saw I should
say that in the use of spirits no people are more temperate.
The Spaniards are characteristically so everywhere, and
they constitute almost exclusively the better classes. The
lower classes are restrained by the laws; drunkenness

150 RECGLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. LCHAP* xv-
being there, as it should be everywhere, punishable, as a
misdemeanor. I am sure that during my residence in
Mexico I did not see a dozen men drunk, and I have seen
assemblies of fifty and a hundred thousand people with
out one case of drunkenness. As to intemperance amongst
respectable people, it is almost unknown. There is, it is
true, a single exception, and that of a very distinguished
man, and that may be the reason, amongst others, that he
has not attained the highest distinction in his country. It is
very rarely that you will see a Mexican^ gentleman drink
anything stronger than claret wine, an immense quantity of
which is sold there. They are equally temperate in eat
ing ; the lower classes because they cannot get the means
of indulgence. Although the grass is green the year round,
and from the sparseness of the population, one would sup
pose every man would be able to own his small farm and
stock of cattle — yet it is not so. The lands of the country
belong to a few large proprietors, some of whom own tracts
of eighty and one hundred leagues square, with herds of
sixty and eighty thousand head of cattle grazing upon them,
whilst the Indian laborers upon these farms rarely have
meat enough.
I question very much if there is any population in Europe,
not even the Irish or the French, who eat less meat than
the Mexicans ; but there is certainly no country where
extreme poverty brings with it so few sufferings. The
climate is so mild, that clothing of any sort is. only required
for decency, not for comfort. The constant succession of
fruits of every variety is, in itself, a resource which few other
countries offer. It is not uncommon that one of those large
estates, of which I have spoken, furnishes a climate in
which every vegetable production will not only grow, but
which is perfectly congenial to its growth, the lowlands

CHAP. XV. J FRUITS. 151
producing all the fruits and vegetables of the tropics, and
the elevation gradually increasing to a region of perpetual
snow. And then there is the banana, so easily cultivated ;
and Humboldt says, that the same spot of ground, planted
in wheat, which will support one man, if planted in the
banana, will support twenty-five. Besides the aversion of
the Indian race to labor of any sort, may not this be the
great reason for the universal indolence of the Mexican
people ? It is necessity alone which, generally speaking,
forces men to toil ; and that which is true of individuals is
true of nations, which are but the aggregations of indivi
duals. The great mass of the population of Mexico have
no inducement to labor as we do, for all they desire is a
mere subsistence, and the bounties of Nature supply them
with that ; and as to any of those honorable aspirations to
better their condition and advance themselves in life, they
are as ignorant as the cattle which graze their wide plains
and die.
The apples and peaches of Mexico are not good, the
latter decidedly inferior. The pears are very fine. They
have one species of this fruit which is decidedly the best
that I have ever seen ; it is nearly the size of a goose-egg,
and its flavor as delicious as that of the famous Philadelphia
pear. All the fruits of the tropics — the orange, pine-apple,
banana, mango, cherimoya, and last and least in size, but
most exquisite in flavor, the tuna — are produced in Mexico
in great perfection. I have nowhere eaten a fruit more
refreshing and delicious than the tuna. It is the produce
of one of the infinite varieties of the cactus, of which I have
seen twenty different varieties growing on an acre of land.
One of these varieties runs up to the height of thirty or forty
feet, in the form of a beautifully-fluted column, and is used
to enclose gardens, by planting close together. That

152 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [CHAP. XV.
which produces the tuna grows to the height of thirty feet,
and covers an area of twenty feet in circumference, with
the leaves (if leaves they may be called) dropping over
each other like the shingles of a house. These leaves are
exactly like those of the prickly pear on our mountains,
only larger, generally of twelve or eighteen inches in
breadth. The fruit is about the size, and very much the
shape, of a duck's egg. The combined flavors of a water
melon, a cucumber, and a lump of sugar candy, will give
some idea of this delicious and refreshing fruit, as it melts
in the mouth. The cherimoya is a large fruit, and is alto
gether delicious. The idea which occurs to every one on
eating it for the first time is, that it is a vegetable custard.
I scarcely ever offered it to an American who did not
make that comparison, thinking that he had said an original
and smart thing ; but I had heard it before at least a hun
dred times. They have a fruit very much like what we
call the " May-apple," which abounds, I believe, in every
part of the United States. It is of the same size, and the
flower has all the peculiarities of the passion-flower. The
fruit itself is precisely the same, except that it has a yellow
rind, not unlike that of a lemon. It does not grow on a
vine running on the ground, like our May-apple, or May-
cock, as it is sometimes called, but upon one more like a
grape-vine. I will close this somewhat heterogeneous melange of
Mexican scientific and literary institutions, fruits, idle and
ignorant leperos, &c, with a notice of a thing which struck
me very forcibly. I had not a servant during my resi
dence in Mexico who did not read and write — neither very
well, it is true, but quite as well, or better, than the same
class in this country. I often observed the most ragged
leperos, as they walked down the streets, reading the signs

CHAP. XV. J EDUCATION. 153
over 'the store doors. How this happens, I know not, un
less it be the effect of Lancasterian schools, which are
established all over the country, chiefly, I think, through
the instrumentality and exertions of General Tornel — a no
ble charity, which should of itself cover a multitude of sins
much greater than those which even his enemies impute to
him.

CHAPTER XVI.

Diplomatic Position upon entering Mexico — Fellow Travellers — Friend
ship with Englishmen — Aversion of Englishmen to General Jackson.

When I first arrived in Mexico, it was very manifest that
I was regarded with distrust and dislike. This was in
some degree owing to the impression which existed not
only with the government but the people generally, that my
mission had a special reference to the American citizens
who accompanied the Santa Fe expedition, and who were
then confined in Mexico ; but still more to the active
part which I had taken as a member of Congress on the
question of the recognition by our government of the inde
pendence of Texas. In a speech upon that question I made
a good many disparaging allusions to Mexico, all of which
were known there. I had also moved the resolutions two
or three days before the adjournment of Congress on the
4th of March, 1837, which secured that recognition, at a
most critical period of the affairs of Texas, as an amend
ment to the appropriation bill. I was of course regarded
in Mexico as the enemy of the country, and the general

CHAP. XVI.] DIPLOMATIC POSITION. 155
opinion was that I had been sent there for the purpose of
causing a rupture between the two governments, to
give us the right to enter into and terminate the war
between Texas and Mexico. The next day after my arri
val, a gentleman connected with the government inquired
(evidently for a purpose) of an American in Mexico
whether I had brought my family, and when told that I had
not, he again asked when they were to come. I am satis
fied that if my family had accompanied me, it would have
indicated a purpose, and a confidence of remaining there
for some time, which would have had an injurious effect.
My predecessor had demanded the release of Mr. Kendall
and three other Americans, who had accompanied the
Sante Fe expedition about the middle of February, 1842,
and had received a peremptory refusal ; and thus matters
stood until my arrival in Mexico. I landed at Vera Cruz
on the 10th of April, and arrived in Mexico on the 16th.
On the 14th of April, Mr. Ellis received a promise from the
minister for foreign affairs, of the release of these prisoners.
Although I had not at that time arrived in Mexico, I have
no doubt that my arrival at Vera Cruz was known to the
government. Couriers between the two places are con
stantly employed by the government, and so important an
event as the arrival of a new minister from the United
States, in the then existing state of our relations, would, as
a matter of course, be reported at the earliest moment. And
whilst I say in all candor, and it is no more than justice to
say, that Mr. Ellis had done everything which in his situa
tion I could have done ; yet I have no doubt that Mr. Ken
dall and his companions owed their release neither to the
efforts of Mr. Ellis nor myself, but to a certain prestige
which I carried with me from the circumstances to which
I have adverted. Indeed I was informed by a distinguished

156 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [cHAP. XVI.
member of the diplomatic, corps that he knew that the
Mexican cabinet were very apprehensive about the matter,
and anxious for some honorable escape from the false posi
tion in which they had placed themselves. Mr. Kendall
and three others were released to Mr. Ellis upon his appli
cation on his audience of leave. There were three others
whose cases I thought were in all material respects the
same, but Mr. Ellis thought differently — and could not con
scientiously, and therefore did not, demand their release.
Immediately, however, after my presentation, I brought the
matter to the notice of the minister of foreign affairs,
and he sent me an order for their release, without any dis
cussion whatever of the merits of their cases. I have rarely
seen three so happy men. The release of their com
panions and refusal to discharge them had, as may be sup
posed, deprived them of all hope, and their delight on being
so unexpectedly relieved from such a state of despair can
not well be imagined.
I would mention here a circumstance which annoyed me
not a little. A few days before my arrival at Puebla, two
of the Texians who had been confined there made their
escape, Major Howard and another whose name I have for
gotten. They were secreted by an Englishwoman at
great peril to herself; when one of her friends asked her
why she had done so imprudent a thing, and added, they
are not Englishmen, she replied, that she knew they were
not, but that they had white skins and spoke the English
language. The Mexican officers of all grades were every
where on the lookout for the refugees. They very wisely
determined not to take the route to Vera Cruz where they
would be expected, but to go- to Mexico, for nowhere is
concealment so easy as in a large city. I had heard of
the escape of two of the prisoners, and as soon as it was

CHAP. XVI.] FRIENDSHIP WITH ENGLISHMEN. 157
daylight I at once recognized them as my fellow-passengers
in the stage, and a Mexican captain was another. One of
the Texians, a fine looking and striking young man, whose
person and bearing at once bespoke .his race and country,
was less cautious than Major Howard, an old Indian war
rior. He talked a great deal, and all about Texas. I found
myself in the same stage with these Texians, in the worst
possible odor with the Mexicans on account of my well-
known feelings towards Mexico, and about to make my
entry into Mexico under such circumstances. If they had
been discovered, it would have been in vain to have denied
my knowledge of them or participation in their plan of
escape. They were not, however, suspected, and got out
of the stage before it arrived in Mexico, and never, I am
sure, was I so much rejoiced to be rid of two as agreeable
companions. The generous and honorable sentiment so well expressed
by the Englishwoman of Puebla leads me to remark that
my residence in Mexico furnished me more evidences than
one, of the powerful sympathy of race. Even the re
vengeful character of the Spaniard yields to it. Notwith
standing the recent termination of the fierce and sanguinary
civil war which has raged between Mexico and the mother
country, no other people are so favorably regarded by the
Mexicans as the Spaniards. And I can say with truth,
that I never met an Englishman there that I did not feel the
full force of " the white skin and the English language" — and
I had no cause to believe that the same feeling was not
entertained towards me by the English gentlemen in Mexi
co ; and why, in .God's name, should it be otherwise ? I
would not sell " for the seas' worth," my share of the glorv
of my English ancestry, Milton, Shakspeare and John
Hampden, and those noble old barons who met King John

158 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [cHAP. XVI.
at Runnymede ; and on the other hand, Englishmen should
have a just pride in the prosperity and greatness of our
country. In the beautiful language of a highly gifted and
liberal minded Englishman, Mr. Charles Augustus Murray,
" whether we view the commercial enterprise of America
or her language, her love of freedom, parochial, legal or
civil institutions, she bears indelible marks of her origin ;
she is and must continue the mighty daughter of a mighty
parent, and although emancipated from maternal control,
the affinities of race remain unaltered. Her disgrace must
dishonor their common ancestry, and her greatness and
renown should gratify the parental pride of Britain."
Accursed be the vile demagogue who would wantonly
excite another and fratricidal war between the two greatest
and only free countries of the earth !
I should not satisfy my own feelings if I were not to
notice here the circle of English merchants, who reside in
Mexico. I have nowhere met a worthier set of gentlemen
— enlightened, hospitable and generous. I can with great
truth say, that the most pleasant hours which I passed in
Mexico were in their society, and I shall never cease to re
member them with kindness and respect. I now and then
met with a little of the John Bull jealousy of this country,
but I playfully told them that I could pardon that,— that it
was altogether natural, for that the English flag had waved
on every sea and continent on the face of the globe, and that
for the last thousand years it had rarely, if ever, been
lowered to an equal force, except in conflicts with us,
where its fate had always been to come down. I believe
that I may say that their greatest objection to me was, that
I was rather too fond of talking of General Jackson and
New Orleans. There is no single name which an English
man so little likes to hear as that of General Jackson, and

CHAP. XVI.] AVERSION OF ENGLISHMEN. 159
none so grateful to the ears of an American in a foreign
land, only excepting that of Washington. I do not doubt
that it will be known and remembered long after that of
every other American who has gone before him, except
Washington and Franklin, is swallowed up in the vortex of
oblivion. I have been the political opponent of General
Jackson, and should be so now upon the same questions. I
believe that he committed some very great errors, but that
he did all in honor and patriotism. I have at the same
time always had a just admiration for his many great
qualities and glorious achievements, and I should pity the
American who could hear his name mentioned in a foreign
land without feeling his pulse beat higher.

CHAPTER XVII.
Kindness and Courtesy— Society of Dinner Parties and Entertainments-
Mexican Ladies wanting in Beauty— Do not dance well— Charity —
Routine of daily Life— Costliness of Dress— In the Streets— Women gene
rally Smoke— A day in the Country.
Notwithstanding the general prejudice which existed in
Mexico against me when I first went there, I was treated,
although somewhat coldly, always and by all classes with
the most perfect respect. In this particular the higher
classes of all countries are very much alike, but I doubt
whether there is any other country where the middling and
lower classes are so generally courteous and polite. There
is no country where kindness and courtesy are more certain
to meet with a proper return. It may be that three hun
dred years of vassalage to their Spanish masters may have
given the Indian population an habitual deference and
respect for a race which they have always regarded as a
superior one. No people are by nature more social, none
less so in their habits. It is not the fashion to give entertain
ments of any sort. And what I regarded as a little re
markable, the members of the Mexican cabinet, most of
whom were men of fortune and had ample means at hand,
not only never gave entertainments, even dinner parties to
the members of the diplomatic corps, but never even
invited them to their houses, — when invited to such parties
however by any of the foreign ministers, they never failed
to accept the invitation. With any other people theie

CHAP. XVII.J DINNER PARTIES AND ENTERTAINMENTS. 161
would be a seeming meanness in this. But such was not
the case. No people are more liberal in the expenditure
of money. General Santa Anna had two very large din
ner parties whilst I was in Mexico, and two or three balls ;
but I heard of nothing else of the kind, except at the houses
of the foreign ministers. Santa Anna's dinners were
altogether elegant, and he presided at them with great
dignity and propriety. On such occasions he was joyous
and hilarious. The company, without an exception, had
the appearance and manners of gentlemen ; I sat next to
him on these occasions, and his aides-de-camp, who were
not seated at the table, would occasionally come to his seat
and say some playful thing to him. I was much struck
with the style of the intercourse between them ; marked by
an affectionate kindness on his part, and the utmost respect,
but at the same time freedom from restraint, upon theirs.
His balls were very numerously attended. The compa
ny was by no means select. In fact I saw there very few
of the ladies belonging to the aristocracy ; but very many
others who had no business there. This, however, is una
voidable in a revolutionary country like Mexico. Every
President holds his power by no other tenure than the caprice
of the army, and he is forced, therefore, to conciliate it.
If a corporal, who has married the daughter of the washer
woman of the regiment, has risen to the highest station in
the army, his wife cannot be slighted with safety — and such
cases have occurred.
I wish that I could in sincerity say that the ladies of
Mexico are handsome. They are not, nor yet are they
ugly. Their manners, however, are perfect ; and in the
great attributes of the heart, affection, kindness, and benevo
lence in all their forms, they have no superiors. They are
eminently graceful in everything but dancing. That does

162 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [cHAP. XVII.
not " come by nature," as we have the authority of Dog
berry that reading and writing do ; and they are rarely
taught to dance, and still more rarely practise it.
I think that in another, and the most important point in
the character of woman, they are very much slandered. I
am quite sure that there is no city in Europe of the same
size where there is less immorality. Indeed, I cannot see
how such a thing is possible. Every house in Mexico has
but one outside door, and a porter always at that. The old
system of the duenna, and a constant espionage, are observed
by every one, and to an extent that would scarcely be be
lieved. I have no doubt, however, that whatever other
effects these restraints may have, their moral influence is
not a good one. The virtue which they secure is of the
sickly nature of hot-house plants, which wither and perish
when exposed to the weather. Women, instead of being
taught to regard certain acts as impossible to be committed,
and therefore not apprehended or guarded against, are
brought up with an idea that the temptation of opportunity
is one which is never resisted.
I do not think that the ladies of Mexico are generally
very well educated. There are, however, some shining
exceptions. Mrs. Almonte, the wife of General Almonte,
would be regarded as an accomplished lady in any country.
The Mexicans, of either sex, are not a reading people. The
ladies read very little.
The general routine of female life is to rise late, and spend
the larger portion of the day standing in their open win
dows, which extend to the floor. It would be a safe bet at
any hour of the day between ten and five o'clock, that you
would in walking the streets see one or more females stand
ing thus at the windows of more than half the houses. At
five they ride on the Paseo, and then go to the theatre,

CHAP. XVII.J COSTLINESS OF DRESS. 163
where they remain until twelve o'clock, and the next day,
and every day in the year, repeat the same routine. In
this dolce far niente their whole lives pass away. But I re
peat that in many of the qualities of the heart which make
women lovely and loved, they have no superiors.
The war of independence was illustrated with many in
stances of female virtue of a romantic character, one of
which I will mention. And I again regret that I have for
gotten the name of the noble woman whose virtue and love
of country were so severely tested. The lady to whom I
refer had two sons, each of whom was in command of a
detachment of the patriot army. One of them was made
prisoner, and the Spanish General into whose hands he had
fallen, sent for his mother and said to her, " If you will in
duce your other son to surrender his army to me, I will
spare the life of the one who is my prisoner." Her instant
reply was, " No ! I will not purchase the life of one son with
the dishonor of another and the ruin of my country." This
fact is historic, and is more true than history generally is.
The ladies of Mexico dress with great extravagance,
and I suppose a greater profusion of " pearl and gold" — I
will not say more barbaric — than in any other country. I
remember that at a ball at the President's, Mr. Bocanegra
asked me what I thought of the Mexican ladies ; were they
as handsome as my own countrywomen? I of course
avoided answering the question ; I told him, however, that
they were very graceful, and dressed much finer than our
ladies. He said he supposed so, and then asked me what I
thought the material of the dresses of two ladies which he
pointed out had cost ; and then told me that he had hap
pened to hear his wife and daughters speaking of them, and
that the material of the dresses, blonde, I think, had cost
one thousand dollars each. I asked on the same occasion,

164 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [cHAP. XVII.
a friend of mine who was a merchant, what he sup
posed was the cost of an ornament for the head thickly set
with diamonds of the Senora A. G. He told me that he
knew very well for he had imported it for her, and that the
price was twenty-five thousand dollars ; she wore other
diamonds and pearls no doubt of equal value.
I have said that there are very rarely if ever anything
like evening parties, or tertullias ; social meetings, or calls
to spend an evening are quite as unusual, except among
very near relations, and even then the restraint and espio
nage are not at all relaxed. Persons who have seen each
other, and been attached for years, often meet at the altar
without ever having spent half an hour in each other's
company. Ladies of the better classes never walk the
streets except on one day in the year, the day before Good
Friday, I believe it is. But they make the most of this
their saturnalia ; on that day all the fashionable streets are
crowded with them, in their best " bibs and tuckers," and
glittering in diamonds.
The streets are always, however, swarming with women
of the middling and lower classes. The only articles of
dress worn by these are a chemise and petticoat, satin slip
pers, but no stockings, and a rebozo, a long shawl impro
perly called by our ladies, a mantilla. This they wear over
the head and wrapped close around the chin, and thrown
over the left shoulder. Whatever they may be in private,
no people can be more observant of propriety in public ;
one may walk the streets of Mexico for a year, and he will
not see a wanton gesture or look on the part of a female
of any description, with the single exception, that if you
meet a woman with a fine bust, which they are very apt
to have, she finds some occasion to adjust her rebozo, and

CHAP. XVII.J A DAY IN THE COUNTRY. 165
throws it open for a second. This reboza answers all the
purposes of shawl, bonnet, and frock-body.
The women of Mexico, I think, generally smoke ; it is
getting to be regarded as not exactly comme il jaut, and
therefore they do it privately. As the men generally
smoke, they have the advantage which Dean Swift recom
mends to all who eat onions, to make their sweethearts do
so too.
One of the favorite and most pleasant recreations of the
Mexicans is what they call un dia de campo, a day in the
country. A party is made up to spend the day at Tacu
baya, or some other of the neighboring villages, or at
some house in the suburbs of the city, where a dinner is
prepared, and a band of music sent out ; and the day and
a large portion of the night spent in dancing. , Never have
I seen a more joyous and hilarious people than they are on
these occasions.
I shall never forget one of these parties which was given
to General Almonte, just before he left Mexico on his mis
sion to this country. It was a genuine, roistering, country
frolic. We got into boats, and with the music playing,
were rowed for some distance by moonlight, in the canal
which terminates in the Lake of Chalco, and then amongst
the Chinampas or floating gardens, which are now nothing
more than shaking bogs. The very thin stratum of soil .
which had formed on the water of the Lake is made more
unsteady, when a small space of an acre or two is sur
rounded by a canal. There are now none of the floating
gardens described by the conquerors, which were formed
by artificial means, and moved about from one part of the
lake to another.
The men who are met in the street, are almost
exclusively officers and soldiers of the army, priests

166 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [cHAP. XVII.
and leperos, the latter quite as useful, and much the least
burdensome and pernicious of the three classes. The
Mexicans of the better classes generally wear cloth cloaks
at all seasons of the year, and the Indians blankets ; for
ornament, I suppose, for the weather is never cold enough
to make either necessary. One thing, however, I could
never account for, I did not feel uncomfortably cold in a
linen coat, nor uncomfortably warm with my cloak on.
All the physical peculiarities of the Indians of Mexico are
precisely the same as those of our own Indians ; they are,
however, much smaller. Their appearance is very much
the same in all respects as those of the straggling Indians
who are seen about our cities ; nothing of the elastic step
and proud bearing of our natives of the forest. Such a
noble looking fellow as the Seminole Chief, Wild Cat,
would create a sensation there ; he might possibly get up
a pronunciamento — I have no doubt he would attempt it.
In a word, I am by no means sure that in exchanging the
peculiar civilisation which existed in the time of Monte
zuma for that which the Spaniards gave them, that they
have improved the condition of the masses ; they have lost
little of the former but its virtues, and acquired little of the
latter but its vices. I have already remarked that, although
there are no political distinctions amongst the various
castes of the population of Mexico, that the social, distinc
tions are very marked. At one of those large assemblies
at the President's palace, it is very rare to see a lady whose
color indicates any impurity of blood. The same remark
is, to a great extent, true of the gentlemen, but there are a
good many exceptions.

CHAPTER XVIII.
Congress of Deputies — Patriotism — The Army — Undisciplined Troops —
The Lasso, an Instrument of Warfare — Mexican and American Cavalry
— Mode of Recruiting the Army — Texian conflicts with the Mexicans.
The Congress of Deputies is a highly respectable looking
body. I have seen no similar body anywhere superior in
this respect, or which is more dignified and orderly. Span
ish decorum and gravity, which 1 have before remarked
are never forgotten, even in the excitement of the gaming
table, are proof against what our own experience would
lead us to believe is a much severer trial, the excitement
and irritation of political strife. Two members of the
Mexican Congress who would fight on the floor of Con
gress would be in danger of the garote. The manner of
some of the speakers is decidedly oratorical. As to the
matter I cannot speak, as the gallery where seats are pro
vided for the diplomatic corps is so high that it is impossi
ble to hear. Their style, however, like that of all Mexi
cans, is excessively grandiloquent, always in " Ercles vein."
But what is much more to their honor is, that in the ever-
shifting scenes in the drama of Mexican revolutions and
civil wars, there has not been a single instance of a Mexi
can Congress proving false to the trust confided to it. It
is true that there have been subservient Congresses, but
they were not composed of the members originally elected.
The strong measure of all usurpers, from the time of Crom
well, was resorted to of dissolving the original Con
gress, and assembling another selected by the President

168 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [cHAP. XVIII.
from his own subservient tools, and who were no more, of
course, than the passive instruments of his will, and the
registers of his edicts. The resistance made by the Con
gress of Mexico to the usurpation and arbitrary acts of
Iturbide may be advantageously compared with that of the
English Parliament to Cromwell, and more closely with
the conduct of the French Chambers towards Buonaparte.
The course of Pedraza, as a member of the Mexican Con
gress during the last administration of Santa Anna, when
his power was absolute, and he seemed to be altogether
impregnable, was worthy of all admiration. It was firm,
cool, resolute, and patriotic.
The better classes of the Mexicans are generally edu
cated to some extent, and, I think, as generally patriotic
They have the sentiment of liberty, but it is vague and unde
fined, and a devoted attachment to the word " Republic,"
but, I greatly fear, are not altogether capable of laying
wisely the broad and deep foundations of such a govern
ment which would be suited to their peculiar circumstances.
God grant that they may ! for they deserve success ; and
I can say, in all truth, that there is no other country,
except my own, in whose advances in the great career of
civil liberty I feel so strong an interest.
The first spark struck out from our own great move
ment was kindled in Mexico. The nation has passed
through the severest trials, and, in many instances, developed
characters of the most disinterested patriotism and exalted
virtue. That which is in all respects the greatest nuisance, and
the most insuperable barrier to the prosperity and progress
of Mexico, is the army. They will tell you there that it
amounts to forty thousand men ; but they have never had
half that number. I have no doubt that the accounts at the

CHAP. XVIII. J UNDISCIPLINED TROOPS. 169
Department of War exhibit nearly the number stated, but a
large proportion of them are men of straw — fictitious names
fraudulently inserted for the benefit of the officers who pay
them. They are paid every day, or, rather, that is the law ;
but the pay is just as fictitious as the muster rolls.
They have more than two hundred generals, most of them
without commands. Every officer who commands a regi
ment has the title of general, and is distinguished from ge
nerals who have no commands by the addition of" General
effectivo." The rate of pay is not very different from that
of our own army. Each officer and soldier, however, is
his own commissary, no rations being issued ; and they are
well satisfied if they receive enough of their pay to procure
their scanty rations, which was very rarely the case, except
with Santa Anna's favorite troops, whom he always kept
about his person, and this made it their interest to sustain
him. In one of the last conversations which I had with
him, I told him that the army would remain faithful to him
just so long as he could pay them, and no longer, and that
I did not see how it was possible for him to pay them much
longer. The result proved the truth of both predictions, and that,
I have no doubt, was the cause of the revolution which
overthrew him. It is not alone with the French sans
culottes that " la liberte" et la peine" is a cry of fearful
potency. Shortly before I left Mexico, an officer in the
army came to the city and settled his accounts with the
War Department, and received a certificate that twenty-
five hundred dollars were due him ; after hawking it about
amongst the brokers, he sold the claim for a hundred and
twenty-five dollars, which was five cents on the dollar.
They say that they are obliged to have a standing army,
9

170 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [cHAP. XVIII.
and that they can only enforce their laws " by the grace of
God and gunpowder." This may be true, but I doubt it.
But if it be, is there any military man who will deny that
five thousand soldiers well-paid, fed and disciplined,
would be more efficient than fifty thousand such troops as
they have ? It has been the policy of all great commanders
not to take doubtful and undisciplined troops into a great
battle. I do not hesitate to say that if I was in command
of an army of ten thousand disciplined troops, and was
going into battle, and was offered ten thousand more Mex
ican troops, that I would not take them. Napier, in his
history of the Peninsular War, describing some battle uses
this expression : " The British army was strengthened or
rather weakened by twenty thousand undisciplined Spanish
troops." The inequality between disciplined and undisci
plined troops is estimated by military men as one to five.
This inequality is much greater with large masses, and I
do not think that any commander could perform a tactical
evolution with five thousand Mexican troops. I do not be
lieve that such an one — a manoeuvre in the face of an enemy—
ever was attempted in any Mexican battle ; they have all
been mere melees or mob fights, and generally terminated
by a charge of cavalry, which is, therefore, the favorite
corps with all Mexican officers. I should regard it, from
the diminutive size of their horses and the equally diminu
tive stature and feebleness of their riders, as utterly ineffi
cient against any common infantry. I said so in conver
sation with Colonel B  n, an officer who had seen some
service, and had some reputation. I was not a little amused
at his reply. He admitted that squares of infantry were
generally impregnable to cavalry, but said it was not so with
the Mexican cavalry, that they had one resource by which
they never had any difficulty in breaking the square. I

CHAP. XVIII.J UNDISCIPLINED TROOPS. 171
was curious to know what this new and important discovery
in the art of war was, and waited impatiently the " push
of his one thing," when to my infinite amusement he replied
— the Lasso ; that the cavalry armed with lassos rode up
and threw them over the men forming the squares, and
pulled them out, and thus made the breach. I remembered
that my old nurse had often got me to sleep when a child,
by promising to catch me some birds the next day, by put
ting salt on their tails, which I thought was about as easy
an operation as this new discovery of the Mexican colonel.
I had read of " kneeling ranks and charging squadrons," but
this idea of lassoing squadrons was altogether new to me.
Buonaparte fought and gained the battle of the Pyramids
against the best cavalry in the world, the Mamelukes, en
tirely in squares. He lost the battle of Waterloo because
the British squares were impenetrable to the next best — the
French cavalry — during all of that long and awful conflict.
The idea, however, of the lasso did not occur to the Mame
lukes in Egypt, nor to Buonaparte at Waterloo. I was re
minded of the equally novel attack of the Chinese upon the
English, when they were all formed in battle array and
the Chinese threw somersets at them instead of cannon
balls and shells.
The Mexican army, and more particularly their cavalry,
may do very well to fight each other, but in any conflict
with our own or European troops, it would not be a battle
but a massacre. Frederick the Great, who was the author,
in a great degree, of the modern system of tactics, had
three maxims as to cavalry. First, that a cavalry corps
should never be charged but should always make the
charge. Second, that, in a charge of cavalry, they were
not going fast enough unless when halted the froth from
the mouth of the horse struck the rider in the face ; and

172 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [cHAP. XVIII.
third, which was rather the summing up of the first two,
that the spur was more important than the sword. In other
words, that the impulse and momentum of the horse was
of more consequence than the arms and blows of the rider.
What then must be the murderous inequality between a
corps of American cavalry and an equal number of Mexi
cans ? The American corps, from the superior size of their
horses, would cover twice as much ground, and the ob
struction offered by the Mexicans on their small and
scrawny ponies would scarcely cause their horses to stum
ble in riding over them ; to say nothing of the greater in
equality of the men themselves, five to one at least in
individual combats, and more than twice that in a battle.
The infantry would be found even more impotent.
I do not think that the Mexican men have much more
physical strength than our women. They are generally of
diminutive stature, wholly unaccustomed to labor or exer
cise of any sort, and as a conclusive proof of their inferior
ity to our own Indians, I will mention the fact that frequent
incursions are made far into the interior of Mexico by ma
rauding bands of Comanches, who levy black mail to an
enormous extent upon the northern provinces of Mexico.
It is not unusual for bands of a hundred Comanches thus
to penetrate several hundred miles into Mexico and carry
off as many horses, cattle and captives as they choose ;
there are not less than five thousand Mexicans at this
moment slaves of the Comanches — and of all our western
tribes the Comanches are the most cowardly, — the Dela
wares frequently whip them five to one.
The soldiers of the Mexican army are generally collected
by sending out recruiting detachments into the mountains,
where they hunt the Indians in their dens and caverns, and
bring them in chains to Mexico ; there is scarcely a day

CHAP. XVIII.J MODE OF RECRUITING. 173
that droves of these miserable and more than half naked
wretches are not seen thus chained together and marching
through the streets to the barracks, where they are scoured
and then dressed in a uniform made of linen cloth or of
serge, and are occasionally drilled — which drilling consists
mainly in teaching them, to march in column through the
streets. Their military bands are good, and the men learn
to march indifferently well — but only indifferently well — •
they put their feet down as if they were feeling for the
place, and do not step with that jaunty, erect and graceful
air which is so beautiful in well drilled troops. As to the
wheelings of well-trained troops, like the opening and shut
ting of a gate, or the prompt and exact execution of
other evolutions, they know nothing about them. There is
not one in ten of these soldiers who has ever seen a gun,
nor one in a hundred who has ever fired one before he
was brought into the barracks. It is in this way that the
ranks of the army, are generally filled up — in particular
emergencies the prisons are thrown open, which always
contain more prisoners than the army numbers, and these
felons become soldiers and some of them officers. Their
arms, too, are generally worthless English muskets which
have been condemned and thrown aside, and are pur
chased for almost nothing and sold to the Mexican gov
ernment. Their powder, too, is equally bad ; in the last
battle between Santa Anna and Bustamente, which lasted
the whole day, not one cannon ball in a thousand reached
the enemy — they generally fell about half-way between the
opposing armies. What would they think of such fights as
we had on the northern lines, when Miller stormed the
English battery, or when, in the language of General
Brown, "General Jessup showed himself to his friends in a
sheet of fire." I do not think that the Mexicans are defi-

174 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [CHAP. XVIII.
cient in courage ; or it might be more properly said that
they are indifferent to danger or the preservation of a life
which is really so worthless to the most of them. But with
the disadvantages to which I have adverted, the reader
will not be surprised that in all the conflicts with our
people, in which they have been more or less engaged
for the last thirty years, they have always been defeated.
The following brief sketch of some of these battles I
have taken from the report of Mr. Moffit, who was sent
as Commissioner to Texas, in 1837, by General Jackson,
to collect such information as would enable him to act
understanding^ upon the question of the recognition of the
Independence of Texas : —
" In order that you may determine whether her history thus far may
be considered as experience that will teach successfully by example, I
submit the following summary :
" In the year 1827, when the Texians, near Nacogdoches, had been
aggrieved by the military at that post, and had ineffectually endeavored to
procure their removal, they took up arms for the purpose, and with 250
undisciplined men defeated 375 regulars, under General Las Piedros.
" In 1832, under the administration of Bustamente, and after the vio
lation of the federal constitution, a detachment of 132 Texian settlers,
under Captain John Austin, besieged and reduced the fort at Velasco,
garrisoned by 173 Mexicans, under Colonel Ugarticha, with great loss to
the besieged.
" In 1835, the Mexican garrison at Anahuoca, under Captain Tenoria,
surrendered to Colonel Travis, commanding a smaller force. In October
of the same year, the Mexican cavalry from the fortress at Bexar were
completely routed at Gonzales.
" A few weeks after, 92 Texians, under Colonels Bowie and Fanning,
fought the battle of Conception, and defeated 450 Mexicans. In Novem
ber, Lepartittlan, on the Nueces, was captured by Adjutant Westover.
The battle near Bexar was fought in the same month, and 400 Mexicans
were obliged to retire under cover of the artillery of the town, before
200 Texians. And in December, the city of San Antonio and the Alamo,

CHAP. XVIII.] TEXIAN CONFLICTS. 175
defended by 1,300 Mexicans, under General Cos, surrendered to 400
Texians, commanded by Colonel Milam. This terminated the first cam
paign in the cause of civil liberty in Texas.
" The second commenced with a small expedition against Metamoras,
which failed, and was succeeded in March, 1836, by the assault of Santa
Anna upon the Alamo, its surrender, and the massacre of the Texians.
" Then followed the defeat of the Mexicans at the Mision del Refugio,
by Captain King, and the destruction of Gonzales on the retreat of General
Houston. " The second fight at Refugio terminated favorably to the Texians,
under Colonel Ward — but Colonel Fanning, a. few days after, submitted
to General Urrea, and 400 men were shot.
"On the 21st of April, 1836, the decisive battle of San Jacinto was
fought, in which General Santa Anna, with 1,300 men, was defeated by
General Houston, commanding 783 ; and on the 24th of the same month
all the Mexican forces retreated beyond the frontiers of Texas. This
concluded the second campaign, and thence, it is said, a new epoch in her
history was dated.
" If we recur to the military incidents of Mexico, in which persons
from the United States took part, even while that country was under the
dominion of Spain, it will be seen that nearly all the conflicts were dis
astrous to her subjects ; and there seems to be a fatality against her that
is likely to keep pace with all her pretensions on this side of her natural
boundary, the Rio Grande. As early as 1810, the military post at Baton
Rouge, whose commandant had committed many wrongs against Colonel
Kemper, was attacked by 40 Americans, under General Thomas, and the
garrison, with Colonel Lassus and 120 men, subdued. The Mexicans
about that time had commenced a revolution against Spain, and Colonel
Ross, with 500 men, proceeded into Texas to aid the patriots : he attack
ed and took the strong town of Goliad without any loss, and soon after
defeated and captured 1,500 Mexicans. This army determined upon the
conquest of Mexico, and routed and cut to pieces 3,000 men near San
Antonio. "A reinforcement of 4,000 Mexicans assaulted Bexar in the absence
of the American generals, but the trooops resolved to act themselves, and
defeated the assailants with the loss of only three men.
"In 1812, General Toledo, who had revolted from the Spanish govern
ment, took command of San Antonio, and, with Ross's force of 400, and

176 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [CHAP. XVIII.
300 Indians, routed another Mexican army of 4,000 men. These events
led to the general revolution which separated Mexico from Spain ; and
ever since then, whenever the Texians have been engaged, either with
the Mexicans to establish a republic, or against them to defend it, they
have almost invariably prevailed."
In the account which Mr. Moffit gives of the battle at
Bexar where General Cos surrendered to Colonel Milam,
he has overstated the Texian force. There were only
two hundred and nineteen Texians engaged in that battle,
and they had no artillery but one six pounder. The Mexi
can force was fourteen hundred men, with twenty-two
pieces of artillery. The Mexicans were in a stone build
ing with walls three or four feet thick, and were protected
besides by an outside stone-wall two feet high and six feet
thick. The attack was made about midnight, the Texians
clambering over the walls as best they could. At daylight,
General Cos surrendered and gave up his twenty-two
pieces of artillery, only stipulating for the return of his
men to Mexico, and some of his small arms.
The battle of Mier was fought under precisely equal cir
cumstances, so far as defences were concerned — the
troops on both sides firing from the flat roofs of the houses.
There were two hundred and seventy Texians engaged
against twenty-six hundred Mexicans. The battle lasted
eighteen hours, and the result was less than thirty Texians
killed and wounded, and from five to seven hundred Mexi
cans. From information, upon which I have entire reli
ance, the Mexicans were about to retire and had their
horses saddled for that purpose, when the Texians were
most unfortunately induced to surrender, — their ammu
nition being nearly exhausted, and hearing that a large
reinforcement of the Mexican army was near at hand.
When the prisoners who were taken at Mier, rose upon

CHAP. XVIII.J TEXIAN CONFLICTS. 177'
their guard on the march to Mexico, there were less than
two hundred Texians, and the Mexican guard consisted of
two hundred infantry and one hundred cavalry. The
Texians had of course no arms of any sort, and the Mexi
cans anticipated the attack. Yet in fifteen minutes the
Mexicans were defeated. Shall we go to war with such a
people ? Shall we send Scott and Worth to glean a field
which has been thus reaped ?
If the main body of the Texians had not returned to
Texas and had penetrated further into Mexico, no one can
fix a limit to their triumphs. I have no doubt that they
would have been extensive and important. I regret that
I have not yet been able to procure a copy of General
Green's account of that short but most remarkable cam
paign, and the consequences which followed it.

CHAPTER XIX.
.Review of Mexican History since the Revolution — Provisions of the Con
stitution of Tacubaya — Departments of Government — Powers and Duties
of the various Officers — Free Institutions without the Spirit of Freedom.
Anything like an outline of the history of Mexico since the
trevolution which separated that country from Spain, would
•extend these pages very much beyond the limits which I
ihave prescribed to myself, and would require more time
than I have at my disposal. The following hasty glance
must therefore suffice. The overthrow of Iturbide in
.1823 was followed by the adoption in 1824 of a federal
'constitution, of which that of the United States was the
>model. Experience proved that this was much too closely
followed. The constitution lasted, however, for a period
imuch longer than any other is likely to do in Mexico. In
1828, Santa Anna made a successful movement against the
government of Pedraza, overthrew it, and shortly after
wards in the same way again put down Guerrero, who
was subsequently treacherously and foully murdered. In
1832, Santa Anna again pronounced against Bustamente,
•and placed Pedraza in power. In 1833, he was elected
President himself, and in 1835 he established the federal
system, and aided by the priests founded a central govern
ment which was the cause and the just cause of the revolu
tion in Texas. Never could any people say, with more
truth, non inhcecfedera veni.
In 1836, Santa Anna invaded Texas with a large army,

CHAP. XIX.J CONSTITUTION OF TUCUBAYA. 179
was defeated at San Jacinto, and made prisoner. After
this he remained on his estate at Manga de Clavo, until
1839, when, in a gallant attack upon the French who
had landed at Vera Cruz, he lost his leg and recovered
his reputation. In the fall of 1842, he again pronounced
against Bustamente, overthrew and banished him. The
chiefs of the army assembled at Tucubaya, a village three
miles from Mexico, established a provisional government
until a new constitution could be formed. By the seventh
Article of the plan of this provincial government, it is pro
vided that the President shall have all powers necessary
to organize the nation and all the branches of the gov
ernment. Santa Anna construed this grant as in fact con
ferring upon him absolute powers. He is not without high
authority, however, in construing the words, " necessary
powers," which there, as elsewhere, were only intended
to convey auxiliary powers, into a grant not only of sub
stantive, but of all possible powers. Members were elected
to form a new constitution, and assembled about the time
of my arrival in Mexico. Their discussions were clever
enough, but they talked too much about Greece and Rome.
Perhaps the examples of these countries were more to their
purpose and tastes than others more modern and more free ;
their labors were about being closed, and it was known
that the result would be the adoption of a constitution
federal in its form. Santa Anna retired to his estate at
Manga de Clavo, leaving old Bravo, President ad interim.
Pronunciamentos were gotten up all over the country by
the different military garrisons, in which the work of the
Convention was denounced and the President requested to
close its sessions, which he did. The event was celebrated
by a grand military procession through the streets of
Mexico. I have seen nothing so revolting as it was, nor

180 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [cHAP. XIX.
anything which made me so despondent as to the future
destinies of Mexico. It marched by my door, and I cannot
express my feelings when I saw the ignorant and debased
soldiery headed by their officers, who, as to the true prin
ciples of a government calculated to secure the liberties of
the people, were little better informed, thus celebrating the
triumph of brute force over the will of the people fairly
expressed. I would here remark, that although I have a well settled
opinion that a federal government is not suited to the cir
cumstances aud condition of Mexico, yet I am well satisfied
that the federal party numbers in its ranks much the larger
portion of the true patriots of the country. It was said,
with how much truth I cannot decide, that Santa Anna
absented himself from Mexico at this important juncture to
avoid the responsibility of the act of closing the sessions of
the Convention, and to throw that responsibility upon
General Bravo. A new Convention soon after assembled,
which was composed chiefly of members nominated by the
President. This Convention adopted a constitution which
went into operation in the beginning of the year 1844.
Although I cannot go the whole length of the opinion
expressed by Pope, that the government " which is best
administered is best," yet I am satisfied that the present
constitution of Mexico is better than another of those
changes so disastrous to the country, and which have made
Mexico the object of ridicule everywhere.
Some of the leading provisions of this constitution are
the following : —
Slavery is for ever prohibited.
The liberty of the Press is guaranteed ; a guarantee, how
ever, purely theoretical; it is no more free than in France,
nor as free.

CHAP. XIX.J DEPARTMENTS OF GOVERNMENT. 181
Equally theoretical is the provision that no one shall be
arrested but by the authority of law.
No taxes to be imposed but by the legislative authority.
Private property not to be taken for public uses but with
just compensation.
Mexicans to be preferred for public offices to strangers,
if their qualifications are equal — a qualification, by the way,
of this provision which neutralizes it.
Persons who have attained the age of eighteen years are
entitled to the rights of citizens, if married ; if unmarried,
twenty-one years ; and who have an annual income of two
hundred dollars, either from labor or the profits of capital.
After the year 1850, those only are to exercise the privi
leges of a citizen who can read and write.
By becoming a domestic servant, the privileges of a
citizen are suspended ; so, also, pending a criminal prose
cution — being a habitual drunkard or gambler, a vagrant or
keeping a gaming-house.
The rights of citizenship are lost by conviction of an in
famous crime, or for fraudulent bankruptcy, or by malver
sation in any public office.
The legislative power is composed of a house of deputies
and a senate, one deputy for every seventy thousand inha
bitants ; a supernumerary deputy shall be elected in all cases
to serve in the absence of the regular deputy.
The age prescribed for members of Congress is thirty
years. They must have an annual income of twelve hun
dred dollars. One half of the members to be re-elected
every two years.
The Senate is composed of sixty-three members, two-
thirds of whom are to be elected by the departmental
assemblies, the other third by the House of Deputies, the
President of the Republic, and the Supreme Court ; each

182 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [cHAP. XIX.
department to vote for forty-three persons, and those hav
ing the highest number of votes of the aggregate of all
the departmental assemblies are elected senators. The
judges of the Supreme Court and the President shall vote
in like manner for the remaining third ; and out of the
names thus voted for by each of those departments of the
government, the House of Deputies selects the proper num
ber (twenty-one). The first selection of this third of the
Senators to be made by the President (Santa Anna) alone.
The President of the Republic and Judges of the Supreme
Court are required to vote only for such persons as have
distinguished themselves by important public services,
civil, military, or ecclesiastical. Amongst others disquali
fied from being elected members of the House of Deputies
are the Archbishops, Bishops, and other high Ecclesiastical
officers. The Senators elected by the Departments are required
to be five agriculturists, and the same number of each of
the following occupations — miners, merchants, and manu
facturers ; the remainder to be elected from persons who
have filled the office of President, Minister of State, Foreign
Minister, Governor of a Department, Senator, Deputy,
Bishop, or General of Division. The age of a Senator is
thirty-five years, and an annual income of two thousand
dollars, is required.
One-third of the Senate to be renewed every three years.
All laws must originate in the House of Deputies.
All treaties must be approved by both Houses of Con
gress. Congress has a veto upon all the decrees of the
Departmental Assemblies which are opposed to the Con
stitution or the laws of Congress.
Congress are forbidden to alter the laws laying duties on

CHAP. XIX.J DEPARTMENTS OF GOVERNMENT. 183
imports which are intended for the protection of domestic
industry. No retrospective law or laws impairing the obligation
of contracts to be passed.
The Senate to approve the President's nomination of
foreign ministers, consuls, and of officers in the army above
the rank of Colonel.
Members of Congress not to receive executive appoint
ments except with certain limitations, amongst which is the
consent of the body to which they belong.
The other powers of Congress are pretty much the same
as in our own or other popular Constitutions. The Presi
dent must be a native of the country, and a layman, and
holds his office for the term of five years. It is made his
duty to supervise the courts of justice, and he may pre
scribe the order in which cases shall be tried He may im
pose fines not exceeding five hundred dollars upon those
who disobey his lawful commands. Certain large powers
are conferred upon him in relation to Concordats, Bulls, De
crees, and other ecclesiastical matters. He possesses a
very qualified veto upon the acts of Congress. He may
call an extra session of Congress, and prescribe the only
subjects to be considered. The President not to exercise
any military command without the consent of Congress.
Not to leave the Republic during his term of office, nor for
one year after its expiration, but with the consent of Con
gress, nor to go more than six leagues from the Capital,
without the like permission. He shall in no case alienate,
exchange or mortgage any portion of the territory of the
Republic. All his acts must be approved by the Secretary
of the Department to which it properly belongs. He can
not be prosecuted criminally except for Treason against
the national independence or the form of government es-

184 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [cHAP. XIX.
tablished by the Constitution during his term of office, nor
for one year afterwards. .
During the temporary absence of the President, his func
tions devolve upon the President of the Senate ; if his ab
sence continues longer than fifteen days, a President ad
interim shall be elected by the Senate. The other grants
of power to the Executive seem to be pretty much copied
from our own Constitution.
The different Secretaries may attend the sessions of
either branch of Congress, whenever required by them, or
so ordered by the President, to give any explanations which
may be desired. The Secretaries are responsible for all
acts of the President in violation of the Constitution and
laws which they may have approved.
The Council of the President consists of seventeen mem
bers selected by himself. These Councillors must be thirty-
five years old, and have served at least ten years without
intermission in some public station.
The Judges of the Supreme Court must be forty years
old. The government may be impleaded in this Court by any
individual (I think a wise and just provision) ; as may also
the Archbishops and Bishops in particular cases.
A permanent court martial is also organized, composed
of Generals and lawyers, appointed by the President.
Each Department has an assembly of not more than
eleven, nor less than seven members. Their powers are to
impose taxes for the use of the Department ; establish
schools and charitable institution^ ; make roads and keep
them in order ; arrange the mode of raising troops which
may be required of the Department ; establish corporations ;
superintend the police, and encourage agriculture ; propose
laws to the Congress, and fit persons to the President for

CHAP. XIX.J POWER AND DUTIES OF THE OFFICERS. 185
the office of Governor of the Department (from the per
sons thus recommended, the President, except in extraor
dinary cases, must make the selection), establish judicial tri
bunals for their Departments, with many other powers of a
similar character, and constituting the assembly a sort of
state legislature, with jurisdiction of matters appertaining
strictly to the Department.
The whole Republic is divided into sections of five hun
dred inhabitants. Each of these sections selects by ballot
one elector. These electors in turn elect others in the
ratio of one for every twenty of the electors thus primarily
elected. These last constitute the electoral college of the
Department, which again elect the deputies of the general
Congress, and the members of the Departmental assembly.
All persons who have attained the age of twenty-five years
are eligible as primary electors. The secondary electors
must also have an income of five hundred dollars a
year. On the first of November preceding the expiration
of the term of office of the President, each of the Depart
mental assemblies is required to meet and cast their votes
for his successor. A majority of the votes of this assem
bly decides the vote of the Department. On the second
day of January both houses of Congress assemble together
and declare the election. If no one has received the votes
of a majority of the Departments, the two houses of Con
gress make the election from the two who have received
the greatest number of votes. If more than two have an
equal number of votes, the election is made from those who
have received such equal number. If one has received a
higher number, and two others have received a less and
equal number of votes, Congress selects by ballot one of
these last to compete with him who has received a
higher number. This election is required to be finished in
a single session.

186 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [cHAP. XIX.
In cases pf a tie a second time in these elections, the
choice is lo be made by lot.
Punishments shall in no case extend to confiscation of
property, or to attainder.
No cruel punishment shall be inflicted in capital cases,
only such as are necessary to take life.
The judges are responsible for any irregularities or mis
takes in their official proceedings. They hold their offices
for life.
Amendments of the Constitution to be made by a vote of
two-thirds of both branches of Congress.
The Catholic religion is established to the exclusion of all
others. Most of the other provisions of the constitution
seem to be almost exactly copied from that of the United '
States. I think that this constitution is calculated to elevate the
character of those who framed it very much beyond the
general estimate of the intelligence of the Mexicans ; and
that it is still more creditable in the general spirit of liberty
which runs through all its provisions. I do not see that
any of the guarantees are wanting for the security of the
rights of the citizen or the public liberty. But of what
avail are free institutions without the spirit of liberty
amongst the people ; or what avail are both without general
intelligence and virtue ? " Quid valeant leges sine moribus 1"
The history of other countries answers the question, but
none so conclusively as the present almost hopeless condi
tion of Mexico — with a constitution quite liberal enough for
any country. It is the profound remark of an eminent
writer " that to endeavor to make a people free who are
servile in their nature, is as hopeless as to attempt to re
duce to slavery a nation imbued with the spirit of freedom."
I would very much prefer the spirit of liberty with despotic
institutions, to free institutions without the spirit of liberty.

CHAPTER XX.
Want of Statistics — Census — Amount of Exports — Specie Exported — Ex
cessive Taxation — Taxes on Internal Commerce — Tobacco Monopoly —
Peculation — Table of Revenues— Dilapidation of the large Estates.
There is no such thing in Mexico as a statistical collection
of any sort. It is a characteristic fact that the only attempts
which have been made to make such a collection have been
by foreigners — by Baron Humboldt, in 1804, and Mr.
Brantz Mayer, recently the Secretary of the American
Legation in Mexico. Mr. Mayer had access to the best
sources of information, of which he has with praiseworthy
diligence availed himself. No census has ever been taken
since the revolution, not even in arranging the ratio of re
presentation in Congress. With such a population there
would be great difficulty in making out a census with any
tolerable accuracy. The whole population of the Republic
is estimated or rather guessed at as amounting to seven
millions. Of these it is supposed that between four and four
and a half millions are pure-blooded Indians, about one
million of white Europeans or their descendants, and the
remainder Mulattoes, Mestizoes and Zambos. My own
observation would lead me to believe that the number of
mulattoes is very small. I am sure that I never saw half a
dozen in the city of Mexico, and the African blood is, I
think, easily detected. The appearance of the mulattoes is
almost as distinct from the Indian as it is from the white
man ; there is a manifest difference even in color. Of the

188 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [cHAP. XX.
number of Mestizoes, descendants of the Indian and white
races, it is impossible to form even a conjecture with any
approach to accuracy. As the cross partakes more or less
of either of the races, it is difficult to say whether the indi
vidual is of pure or mixed blood. When the Indian cross is
remote it is difficult to distinguish the person from a swar
thy Spaniard, and so vice versa. Neither do I think that
there are many Zambos, for the African blood shows itself as
distinctly in the cross with the Indian as with the white man.
I have never looked upon any color so horribly revolting
as that of the Zambo. Many of the inhabitants of the Pa
cific coast are very dark, as dark as brown negroes, and
darker than mulattoes, but have none of the physical or
physiognomical peculiarities of the negro. They are tall,
well-formed, fine-looking men, with limbs and faces much
more Grecian than African. If I were to form an opinion
from what I saw, I should say that the estimate of white
persons is a large one. They are very much confined to
the cities, and a few wealthy proprietors, who reside upon
their estates. I am quite sure that nine of every ten per
sons whom one meets in the streets of Mexico are Indians
or Mestizoes, and it is in that city that the white population .
is greater in proportion than anywhere else ; in travelling
in the country it would be safe to wager that forty-nine of
every fifty persons you might meet would be Indians. I
have heretofore spoken of the sympathy of race, but it is
not half so strong as the antipathy of race. The feelings
of the Indians of Mexico towards the Spaniards is very
much the same now that it was at the period of the Con
quest. Although everything admonishes them that the
European is the superior race, they are generally averse to
alliances with them, and whenever such are formed, they
are prompted more by interest than inclination. How can

CHAP. XX.J EXPORTS. 189
it be otherwise ? The original wrongs of the invasion of
their country, and the horrible massacres which followed
it, have been aggravated by three centuries of grinding
oppression, without one effort to educate them or to pro
mote their advances in civilized life. The single exception
which can be made to this remark is in the efforts to con
vert them to " nuestra santa fe." And as to the masses,
I have before remarked that these efforts have done little
more than to substitute one worship of images for another.
In the neighborhood of the cities the natives professed
the Christian religion ; many of them from fear, others from
interest, and others again in sincerity, captivated by the
thousand objects which address their senses and excite their
feelings. In the more remote and secluded portions of the
country they worship in secret the same grotesque figures
which were the objects of the devout adoration of their
early ancestors. A very intelligent Indian promised to
procure for me some of these idols, which, failing to do, he
told me in great confidence, knowing that I was no Catho
lic, that the Indians who had them would not sell them at
any price. " What," said I, " do they still worship them ?"
" Yes, Sir," said he, " with as much devotion as they ever
did, but always in secret." The principal difference that I
could see in the two superstitions was, that the Christian
images were the handsomest. But I am not sure that in this
they are any the better suited to the notions of an ignorant
and uncivilized people, whose only idea of a God is that he
is powerful and revengeful ; and hence the universality of
the practice of all savage people, of offering sacrifices to
propitiate his wrath. With such an idea of God, I can
conceive of nothing better than an ancient Mexican idol.
From the best attainable data, the annual exports of Mexico
amount to about twenty millions — less than two miilions of

190 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [cHAP. XX.
which consist of all other articles than the precious metals.
I have no doubt that the amount of specie exported is very
much larger than is indicated by the books of the custom
houses. A duty of six per cent, is levied upon all that is ex
ported, and no one acquainted with the character and prac
tices of Mexican custom houses, and I may add, of their
officers, can believe that the whole amount is returned.
The duty upon all that is not returned goes into the pockets
of the officers of the customs, and I have no doubt that it
amounts to a very large sum. Gold is an article so easily
smuggled that enormous sums are sent off in almost every
vessel which sails for Europe. The amount of duties on
imports varies, of course, with their ever-changing tariff.
Those who had the best means of forming an accurate
estimate during my residence in Mexico, told me that it
amounted to from four to six millions per annum. This,
also, would be a most fallacious standard by which to esti
mate the amount of importations, for the same reason.
Eminent writers upon political economy say that any duty
above twenty-five per cent, offers temptations to smuggling
too strong to be resisted. With all the efforts of Buonaparte
to carry out his continental system, he was unable to pre
vent smuggling upon the very limited coast of France — and
the insurance in England upon a cargo of goods intended
to be smuggled into France was little more than on the
same cargo to be regularly imported. How extensive must
the practice be in a country of more than ten thousand
miles of seaboard and frontier, and with so sparse a popu
lation ! The amount of revenue from imports would indi
cate an importation of not more than fifteen millions of
dollars. What goes with the other five millions of exports,
to say nothing of the large amounts of specie clandestinely
exported ?

CHAP. XX.J TAXATION. 191
In addition to the revenue derived from imports, the di
rect taxes are exceedingly onerous. Everything is taxed,
from the splendid palaces, coaches, and plate of the wealthy,
to the dozen eggs which the poor Indian brings to mar
ket. I do not suppose there is any city in the world where
houses are taxed so high, and hence the enormous rents.
But after paying the taxes very little is left to the proprietor.
A decent house cannot be had for less than twenty-five hun
dred dollars, and from that price to four and five thousand
dollars per annum.
The government seems to have been engaged in the ex
periment of how much taxation the people can bear, and
they have really achieved a miracle almost as great as that
of extracting blood from a turnip. There is no country in
the world, which, from its unsurpassed climate, variety of
productions and lands, to be had almost for the taking, which,
in proportion to its population, is capable of producing so
much, — certainly none which does produce so little. The
population of Massachusetts is about one-tenth as great as
that of Mexico, and its productions very nearly in an inverse
ratio with the number of the respective populations — exclud
ing the produce of the mines very much more than in that
inversed ratio. Where they find the subjects of taxation
was a riddle which I was unable to solve.
Besides the sources of revenue which I have mentioned,
there is another and a very large one from imposts on
internal commerce, that is between one department and
another. Every article of commerce thus passing from
one department to another, provided it has been opened
and the bulk broken, is thus*taxed. The principal revenue
from the alcaba, internal duties, thus derived is from the
duty on specie. The revenue from duties on internal com
merce in 1840, amounted to four millions and a half.

192 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [cHAP. XX.
Another fruitful source of revenue is the percentage of the
produce of the mines, seignorage, coining, &c. The
charges upon money taken from the mines amount to about
five per cent, all of which is paid to the departmental
government. The General Government receives in addition
to this about three per cent, which goes to support the
College of the Mineria in the city of Mexico.
The tobacco monopoly has heretofore been a source of
very large revenues to the government. The culture of
tobacco is prohibited except to a very limited extent in the
districts of Orizaba and Cordova. Each farmer is restrict
ed to a limited number of acres. The tobacco produced is
sold to the government at a stated price, which was very
much below its real value, by whose agents it was made
into cigars and snuff, and sold at very large profits. I say
made into cigars and snuff, for those are the only forms in
which it is used ; I do not suppose that there is one native
Mexican who uses tobacco for chewing. Within the last
three years this monopoly was sold by the government to
a private company. This company agreed to pay $ 50,000
per month for this monopoly, which in the time of the Vice
Regal government yielded the enormous sum of five mil
lions per annum. This contract has since been rescinded,
and the government still possesses the monopoly, which
would if properly managed, and if smuggling could be pre
vented, produce very nearly as much at this time. But the
latter is impossible, and the receipts from this source very
little more than cover the expenses of the establishment.
At all events the net proceeds do not exceed the sum
stipulated to be paid by the company to which it was trans
ferred, that is to say $600,000 per annum.
A similar sale took place just before I left Mexico of the
interest of one third which the government owned in the

CHAP. XX.J REVENUES. 193
Fresnillo mine, which is at this time the most profitable of
all the mines in Mexico. The government derived a reve
nue of upwards of five hundred thousand dollars per annum
from this mine, which it nevertheless sold in fee simple for
about four hundred thousand dollars. That is to say, that
sum was all which went into the public exchequer — how
much more in gratifications I know not ; but a very large
sum of course. Is it any wonder that officers in the army
are forced to sell a certificate of pay due them amounting
to twenty-five hundred dollars, for one hundred and
twenty-five ?
Before the revolution the King of Spain received among
other Ecclesiastical revenues, the ninth part of the tithes,
which was granted him by the Pope. After the revolution
compulsory process for the collection of tithes was abolish
ed, and since that time the government has received no
thing from this source, nor am I aware of any other
revenues which are derived from the church.
There are revenues derived from the cock-pits, the sale
of pulque, the monopoly of playing, cards, and the ice
which the Indians bring on their backs in panniers, from
the mountain of Popocatepelt, a distance of forty miles,
which last has amounted to as much as fifty thousand
dollars a year.
Another source of revenue is the manufacture of gun
powder, of which an immense quantity is used, not only in
their civil wars, but in the mines, firing cannon on days of
religious festivals, and fireworks, for which the Mexicans
have a great passion. The powder manufactured in
Mexico is of the most inferior quality ; good powder such
as is used by sportsmen sells as high as four dollars the
pound. The chief, if not the only benefit which the gov-
10

194 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [cHAP. XX.
ernment now derives from this source, is the powder which
is used in the public service.
The revenue from the post-office amounts to little more
than what is required to pay the expenses of the establish
ment. It would be very much larger if it were not for the
numerous government expresses which are charged upon
the post-office establishment.
Some small amount is realized from the sale of lottery
tickets, which would be larger but for special grants to the
convents and other religious establishments, to raise funds
by lotteries.
Heretofore something was derived from the manufac
tories of salt, of which a very large quantity is used. In
addition to the consumption in the ordinary modes, large
quantities are used in the process of amalgamation in the
mints. It is obtained from Yucatan and some establishments
in the northern departments, and the Lake of Tezcuco, on
the borders of the city of Mexico. When the rainy season
ceases and the waters subside, a large portion of the bed of
the lake is covered with a deposit of salt which is that
chiefly used in the neighborhood of the city of Mexico.
The revenue from the different mints is considerable, but
there are no data from which it can be accurately stated.
Heretofore the only mint was that in the city of Mexico,
but others have been established in Guadalajara, Guana
juato, Chihuahua, Durango, Zacatecas, San Louis, Potosi
and Guadaloupe de Calvos. The profits of the mint in the
city of Mexico were at one time very great, but the num
ber of officers, clerks and laborers is as great now as it was
when there was no other in Mexico, and of consequence
these profits are very much diminished. Most of these
mints are leased by contract to private companies for a
stipulated sum. From half a million to a million of dollars

CHAP. XX.J REVENUES. 195
are, probably, derived from this source. The per cent-
age upon the metals taken from the mines, which is 25 cents
upon every mark of silver, or about 3 per cent, will give say
another million of dollars, and there are other duties amount
ing to about five per cent. These last are appropriated to
the payment of the expenses of the governments of the
departments, but as the government is now organized these
expenses are charged to the central government. The
three per cent, above mentioned is dedicated to the sup
port of the Mineria (the College of Mines).
Under the government of the federalists, each depart
ment or state was required to pay a sum which was
assessed for the support of the Federal government, as was
the case under our own government of the confederation —
and, as with us, this contingent was not always paid.
Another item in the reports of the Mexican Secretaries
of the Treasury is the Discuatos de los Invalidos de Monte
Reo — which was a certain per centage of the officers
and soldiers which was retained for the purpose of rais
ing a pension fund, exactly upon the plan of our own
Naval Pension Fund ; but as the army are never paid their
full wages, this fund is little more than a fiction.
The maritime custom-houses, in 1832, yielded to the gov
ernment the sum of twelve millions, that is to say that sum
was acknowledged to have been received by the respec
tive custom-house officers ; how much more the actual
receipts were can only be conjectured. It would, however,
be very safe to say at least one third.
The receipts at the Maritime Custom Houses do not now
amount to more than six or seven millions. As nothing
is more capricious than Mexican legislation on the subject
of imports on foreign commerce, it is very difficult to form
an estimate approximating accuracy upon this point

196 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [cHAP. XX.
Their tariff has recently been reduced, and an increase of
revenue will certainly be the consequence. Besides the
revenue from imports as shown by the books of the custom
house, a very considerable amount is derived from special
licenses given to private companies to import certain arti
cles, such as cotton, the importation of which is prohibited,
upon the payment of a stipulated sum to the government.
The receipts of the interior custom-houses cannot be much
less than those in the seaports. The duty on money, for
example, sent from Mexico to Vera Cruz to be exported,
besides the duty of six per cent., is five per cent. All
goods sent from one department to another are also sub
ject to a duty if the bulk has been broken.
The direct taxes, such as those on houses, lands, car
riages, and horses, transfers of all property, capitation taxes
cartos de seguridad (letters of security), which all foreign
ers are required to have, taxes on pulque, ice, in short
everything, amount to some three or four millions.
The following, although not pretending to minute accu
racy, may be regarded as in some degree an approximation
to a correct estimate of the revenues of the government,
and the sources from which they are derived : —

From the Maritime Custom-Houses,

#6,500,000

Interior Commerce,

. 4,500,000

Direct Taxes 

. 3,000,000

Per centage on Produce of Mines,

. 1,000,000

Profits of Mints 

. 500,000

Tobacco Monopoly, .

. 500,000

Post-office, Lotteries, Manufactures of

Powder and Salt, .

. 500,000

Tolls and all other sources,

. 500,000

$16,000,000

CHAP. XX.J DILAPIDATION OF ESTATES. 197
It is proper to add to this amount the taxes levied by the
different departments which may be stated at four millions
more, making an aggregate of twenty-one millions, to which
an addition should be made of five or ten millions more
which is paid, but embezzled, and, therefore, does not find
its way into the public treasury.
With a government wisely and honestly administered,
this sum is more than is necessary. But how that of
Mexico is supported with it, and whence it is derived, are
both, as I have said, inexplicable to me. Besides their
army, of thirty to forty thousand, for that is the number on
the pay list, and an immense disproportion of this army
officers, not less than from two to three hundred generals,
an otherwise enormous civil list, and the interest on a
debt very little short of a hundred millions of dollars,
there are a great variety of other and extraordinary
charges upon a government so unstable and revolutionary.*
With a productive industry at least fifty times as great as
that of Mexico, very little more than the sum above stated
is levied upon our people, doubtless not so much if we
take into the estimate the greater expense there of collec
tion, which is estimated at thirty per cent. Taking pecu
lations into the calculation, I have no doubt it is much
more. And all of these taxes are of course, like all taxes,
ultimately paid by the people. The annual expenditure of
the Vice regal government was never more than eight
millions of dollars. Can it be true that it costs more to
execute laws made by the people themselves than the edicts
of a despot ?
* The Report of the Secretary of the Treasury in 1832, contains an esti
mate of the whole expenses of the government for the next year, amount
ing to $22,392,508. Of this sum the estimate for the army is stated at
$16,466,121.

198 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [CHAP. XX.
To all these heavy items must be added the taxes which
are levied by the different departments for domestic pur
poses, the heavy exactions of tithes and other compulsory
contributions to the church. These last have been esti
mated at two millions, but they must greatly exceed that
amount. There are in the city of Mexico alone, seven or
eight hundred secular and near two thousand regular
clergy. The salaries of some of them are enormous.
Under the Vice regal government the various perquisites
and salary of the archbishop amounted to f 130,000, and
those of several of the bishops to f 100,000, but they are all
much less now. Exclusively of donations and birth-day
presents, which are often very large, the archbishop does
not receive more than thirty or forty thousand dollars, and
the incomes of the bishops are proportionately reduced.
Some idea may be formed of the amount of these birth
day presents, from the fact that General Santa Anna, on
the anniversary of his birth, has been known to receive
presents to the amount of $20,000.
All these enormous charges are to be paid out of the
productions of a country where less is produced than in
any other, except from the mines. Perhaps the universal
dilapidation of all the old and large estates may indicate
the quarter from which much of the revenue has hitherto
been derived.
The large estates and possessions of the banished Jesuits
have supplied the government with very large sums. But
these, with the mine of Fresnillo, have all been sold and the
money wasted. These spendthrift expedients of selling
estates to pay current expenses must soon have, if they have
not already, an end ; and I do not see how even an econom
ical and frugal administration will, in future, be able to find
the means of defraying even the necessary expenses of the

CHAP. XX.J DILAPIDATION OF ESTATES. 199
government, and this is perhaps the greatest of all the many
difficulties which are to be overcome.
There are not many wealthy men in the city of Mexico,
fewer I think than in any city in the United States of
treble the same size. The larger number of these are per
sons who have made their fortunes by government con
tracts and speculations in government stocks. Most of the
large estates at the commencement of the revolution have
become dilapidated. These large estates were chiefly, if not
entirely, owned by Spaniards who were generally the adhe
rents of the cause of the mother country, for the maxim of
Juvenal, "Quantum quisquis habet in urbe tantum habet
et fidei," is as true now as it was when the line was written.
An incident occurred which afforded me a distressing
proof of the ruin which the revolution had caused to the
loyalists of Mexico, and at the same time a gratifying evi
dence of the estimate, which was general there, of the influ
ence of my government.
A poor fellow in rags called to see me, and asked my
aid in procuring indemnity for an estate of his father,
amounting to five or six millions, which had been appro
priated by one of the patriotic Generals to the use of his
army, during the war of Independence. I told him that as
he was not an American citizen, I could not assist him in
my official capacity, and that it was not proper that I
should do so in any other way. He then asked me
whether if he were to come to the United States and be
come a citizen, I could not then interpose in his behalf. I
told him that I could not. I had, however, some curiosity
to look into his papers, which furnished the most conclusive
evidence of the justice of his claim. Such cases were not
at all uncommon.
I have rarely met with a more accomplished and elegant

200 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [cHAP. XX.
lady than the venerable old Countess who is so gratefully
and affectionately mentioned by Mr. Brantz Mayer. She
was reduced from great opulence to extreme poverty,
but with the great penury which her household exhi
bited, she showed in her manners, conversation and senti
ments, all of the high bred Castilian lady.
Machiavel says that in a new government everything
should be new. " Whoever makes himself head of a state
(especially if he suspects his ability to keep it) must, as the
best course, make everything as new as himself, — alter the
magistracy, create new titles, confer new authorities, un-
charter corporations, advance the poor, impoverish the rich ;
and what is said of David may be said of him — ' he filled the
hungry with good things and the rich he sent empty away.'"
The Mexican revolutionists at least resembled David in
one half of what is said of him — but only in that half.

CHAPTER XXI.
Prohibition of Raw Cotton — Attempts to procure a Modification of this
Policy — Public Debt of Mexico — Mines of the Precious Metals — Present
Productiveness — Undeveloped Resources — Capacities of Mexico if inha
bited by the people of the United States.
The article of raw cotton is one of the articles which are
prohibited. The home supply is never equal to the very
small demand of their own manufacturers, and the law is,
therefore, relaxed very frequently.
The privilege of importing a certain number of bales is
granted to some commercial company for a stipulated sum,
paid to the government, and, as it was said, a douceur not
less in amount to the officers of the government.
I made very great exertions to procure a modification
of this prohibitory policy, more particularly as to raw cot
ton and coarse cotton goods, but in vain. I found Santa
Anna thoroughly armed with all the arguments in favor of
the protective policy, and I confess that I think that if there
is a country in the world where that policy is wise, that
Mexico is that country. Every Mexican who can be
tempted to labor is just that much gained to the productive
ness as well as to the morals of the country ; and, if they
could be generally so tempted, too high a price could not
well be paid for such a boon.
The public debt of Mexico may be, I think, safely stated
to be little, if anything, less than a hundred millions of dol
lars. Of this amount, something more than sixty millions
are due to foreigners, including a debt of thirty-six millions
TO*

202 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [CHAP. XXI.
of the Vice-royal Government, which was assumed by
Mexico after her independence, and twenty-five millions
more to Mexican citizens. A large portion of this debt was
oi-iginally in the form of Treasury notes, receivable at the
Custom House. This was the estimate when I left Mexico,
near two years ago. Since that time there have been two
revolutions — and revolutions are nowhere unexpensive — so
that, including these and all other floating and unliquidated
demands, such as the claims of our own citizens for in
demnity, I am very confident that the whole public debt
does not fall short of the amount which I have stated.
According to Humboldt, there were three thousand mines
of the precious metals in Mexico in 1804. Since that time
many more have, no doubt, been discovered. Any one
who discovers a new mine receives a grant from the
government for a certain portion of land, including the
mine. Not one-fiftieth of these mines are worked, which
is attributed, in a great degree, to the high price of quick
silver. This is caused by the monopoly, by the Rothschilds,
of the quicksilver mines of Spain, from which the article is
chiefly supplied.
There are no veins of gold ore which have yet been dis
covered in Mexico, with the exception of a few in the
neighborhood of Oaxaca. A very small amount of gold is
obtained from working the earth of deposit mines. The
principal portion of the gold is found in combination with
silver ores. The ores of Guanahuato afford the largest
proportion of gold, which is about three pennyweights of
gold to one mark of silver. Where the proportion of gold
thus combined with silver is small, they are never separated,
the amount of gold not being an adequate compensation for
the very expensive process of separation. These ores are
principally found in veins of various width, and generally

CHAP. XXI.J MINES. 203
with a dip of about forty-five degrees, and always in beds
of primitive rock, most commonly porphyry. In this, I
think, they differ from the mines yet discovered in this
country ; I know of none which have been found in that
species of rock.
The produce of the mines of Mexico is quite as large, or
larger, now than at any other period, taking an average of
ten years, but nothing so profitable to the proprietors,
owing to the immense investments in machinery, and the
greater labor of raising the ores now compared with the
rude and unexpensive machinery heretofore used, and the
comparatively small labor of taking out the ores. The
company which now owns the great mine of Real del
Monte have, in the last few years, expended, in machinery
and other ways, several millions of dollars. The shaft of
that mine is nearly a thousand yards deep. Baron Hum
boldt gives the gross produce of the mines of Mexico, from
1690 to 1803, both years inclusive, as amounting to
$1,358,452,020, about twelve millions of dollars per annum.
The highest amount, which was in the year 1796, was
$25,644,566. The produce of the year 1804 he states at
$24,000,000. Mr. Ward estimates the annual produce, for
a few years prior to 1810, at $24,000,000. After that
period, from the revolutionary condition of the country, it
dwindled almost to nothing — -in one year to three and a
half millions of dollars. The official returns for the year
1842 exhibit an exportation of gold and silver, as registered
at the Custom Houses, amounting to $18,500,000. The
facility with which large values in gold may be concealed,
and thus clandestinely exported, and the temptation to do
so from the high duty of six per cent, on exportation,
caused a very large amount to be smuggled. That this
was extensively practised was known to every one in
Mexico. To form any accurate estimate of the amount of

204 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [cHAP. XXI.
the exports of specie, a very large addition must be made
on this account. Three or four millions would scarcely
cover it. Add to these the amount retained in the country,
and it will be very safe to assume the present produce of
the mines at from twenty-two to twenty-four millions of
dollars per annum. The whole amount coined at the mint
in the city of Mexico since the Conquest is $443,000,000 ;
since 1690, $295,968,750. Mining in Mexico, as every
where else, is a game of chance ; and, like all games of
chance, there are many more losers than winners amongst
those who play at it.
It is risking very little to say that if Mexico was inhabited
by our race, that the produce of the mines would be at
least five times as great as it now is. There is not a mine
which would not be worked, and as many more new ones
discovered. In five years, with sucha population, and only
of an equal number with that which Mexico now has, I do
not hesitate to assert that the mineral and agricultural ex
ports alone would nearly equal all the exports of any other
country of the world. The last time I examined the tables
upon that subject, the whole exports of the produce of Bri
tish labor was about two hundred and sixty millions of dol
lars per annum. Mexico in the possession of another race
would approach that amount in ten years. Recent mani
festations of a rabid, I will not say a rapacious, spirit of
acquisition of more territory on the part of our countrymen
may well cause a race so inferior in all the elements of
power and greatness to tremble for the tenure by which
they hold this El Dorado. 'Tis not often, with nations at
least, that such temptations are resisted, or that " danger
winks on opportunity." I trust, however, that our maxim
will ever be — " Noble ends by worthy means attained," and
that we may remember that wealth improperly acquired
never ultimately benefited an individual or a nation.

CHAPTER XXII.
Want of Navigable Streams in Mexico — Railroad from Vera Cruz to Mex
ico — Valley of the Mississippi — Mineral and Vegetable Productions —
Cotton — Rice — Wax — Silk — Manufactures of Cotton — Mechanic Arts.
It would seem that the only valuable gift which a bountiful
Providence has withheld from Mexico is that of navi
gable streams. There is no such thing as a steamboat
running a single mile in any river in the whole Republic.
Perhaps there are not five hundred miles of all their rivers
which are navigable for boats of the smallest size. It may
be that the progressive improvements in the science of rail
roads may furnish the means of supplying this defect. I
do not doubt that a railroad from Vera Cruz to the city of
Mexico, constructed at almost any cost, would be extremely
profitable to the stockholders. A very large proportion of
all the European manufactures and merchandise which are
consumed in all Mexico are landed at Vera Cruz, and car
ried to the city of Mexico on mules, at a very high rate of
freight, and thence distributed all over the Republic. The
distance from the city of Mexico to Acapulco is not more
than one hundred and seventy miles, and by extending the
railroad to that point the great desideratum of a connection
between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans would be accom
plished. The elevation to be overcome is about eight
thousand five hundred feet. I am not sufficiently versed iii
such matters to say whether the thing is practical, but if it
is, I should have no hesitation in saying that the investment

206 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [cHAP. XXII.
would pay a good interest even if the road should cost two
hundred thousand dollars a mile. The commerce of Mex
ico alone would insure this ; and if to that can be added
the immense trade of India and China, it would be difficult
even to conjecture the future profits. I have not much
faith in the Indian race ever being induced to labor — but if
anything could accomplish this, it would be such a measure
as I have indicated. Industry languishes without adequate
reward ; and there is nothing which so stimulates produc
tion as the facility of transportation. I believe that next
to the influence of our free institutions, there is no other ele
ment of the future greatness and power of this country in
anyT degree equal in importance to the Mississippi river. I
remember to have read in some of the memoirs of Buona
parte, I think in the volume written by the Abbe Marbeuf,
an account of the discussion between Talleyrand and Buo
naparte when the latter was about to cede Louisiana to the
United States, very much in opposition to the advice of
Talleyrand ; but Buonaparte, who was very much the more
far-seeing man, knew that England would have seized upon
it, and therefore wisely determined to put it out of harm's
way. Talleyrand said to him in this discussion, "You
have been anxious to build up a navy. No nation ever had
a powerful military marine without first having a large
commercial one ; this you cannot have without commerce.
This country of Louisiana is capable of supplying every
want which France itself does not produce, and in the in
terchange of these you may build up an extensive and pros
perous commerce." All of this is true.
Most of the other large rivers of the world run through
very much the same lines of latitude ; not so with the
Mississippi, which flows through regions affording almost
every climate inhabited by civilized man, and supplies the

CHAP. XXII.J MINERAL AND VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS. 207
productions, mineral and agricultural, of every part of the
globe — the peltries of the frozen forests of the Rocky
Mountains, the grains of the north-western States, the cot
ton, sugar, and rice of the south-western, and lower down,
the fruits of the tropic. We may get into a steamboat at
the Balize, and ascend the river two thousand miles to the
Falls of St. Anthony, without any perceptible difference in
the width or breadth of the stream, bordered for the
whole length with the broadest and most fertile lands in the
world. Then, there are the Red River, Arkansas and Mis
souri, navigable for two or three thousand miles, and ter
minating in as yet a terra incognita, — to say nothing of
the Ohio, Cumberland, Tennessee and many others, any
of which would be regarded as great rivers anywhere
else. Malthus would never have felt any fears, if he had
ascended the Mississippi, of population overrunning sub
sistence. No one who has never ascended that river, can
have any adequate conception of the population, wealth,
and power, to which the country which it washes is cer
tainly destined.
Perhaps, in one point of view, the Mexicans are fortu
nate in having no such river, for if they had it is not
possible that they would be permitted to retain the pos
session of the country — nor unless they improve the advan
tages so profusely showered upon a land so favored would
it be right that they should.
There are not only no navigable streams in Mexico, but
very few of any sort in the portions of the country which I
visited ; I' do not think that the road from Vera Cruz to the
city of Puebla crosses running water a dozen times in a
distance of two hundred miles. There is scarcely any
timber of any description on the table lands of Mexico.
The loftier mountains which rise above these table lands

208 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [cHAP. XXII.
are very well timbered. This deficiency causes the less
inconvenience as the Maguey affords not only a cheap and
secure fence, but when it matures it is a source of large
profit, and as for fire, they need none except for cooking.
The fuel used for that purpose is charcoal, brought by
the Indians from the mountains in panniers and sold very
cheap. From the data heretofore given, the reader will perceive
that the productive labor of Mexico, beyond the supply of
the means of subsistence, means almost exclusively that
which is employed in mining operations, and that those
operations are very much confined to the precious metals.
No country more abounds in large masses of iron ore,
and it so happens that the regions where it is found are
well timbered and are capable of supplying at little cost
the fuel for its manufacture, yet very little iron is made
there ; there may be one or two iron furnaces, possibly
more, but the greater portion of what is used is imported.
The quantity used, however, is probably less than in any
other of the same population. Horses, for instance, are
never shod, and it is curious to see them galloping unshod
over the streets paved with stones.
Tin, lead, and the finest copper are also found there
in large bodies, but very little of either is taken from the
mines. Cochineal, cocoa, vanilla, jalap and hides are the princi
pal, I may say, the only articles of export, except the pre
cious metals. These vary in amount from one to two
millions a year.
Two crops may be raised in the year in much the larger
portion of Mexico. This, however, is rarely done, for the
people are too indolent to cultivate even one. I believe
that this is in a great degree attributable to the want of

CHAP. XXII.J MINERAL AND VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS. 209
transportation and a convenient market. The farmers
make enough to supply the domestic demand, and if they
made twice as much they would probably receive a smaller
gross sum for it.
The immense estates of which I have spoken of eighty
and 100 leagues square, with eighty or a hundred thou
sand cattle, and fifteen or twenty thousand mules and horses,
yield very little profit. Perhaps not one acre out of ten
thousand on these estates is cultivated. The grass is green
all the year round, and their horses and cattle receive and
seem to require no other food ; they multiply as the birds
do, and with little more profit to the proprietors of the
estates. Now and then, the government purchases five
hundred or a thousand horses for the army, but, with
this exception, there are very few occasions when they can
be sold. The average price for droves of unbroken horses
is eight or ten dollars a head, and mules the same. The
mules are generally small, but by no means too small for
any service, nor smaller than those frequently used in this
country. I have seen mules, however, in Mexico, as large
as any I have ever seen elsewhere. The most of these
are brought from California, and other departments north
of Mexico ; a pair of these large mules will sell for a
thousand dollars, and that sum has frequently been paid
for one fine saddle mule.
I have before remarked that enough cotton is not raised
to supply the very limited demand of the Mexican manu
facturers. The most of this is produced in the districts
which lie upon the Pacific Ocean, but the climate of nearly
all Mexico is suited to the growth of cotton. I can see no
reason why it is not produced in much larger quantities,
bearing, as it does, so enormous a price, except the charac
teristic indolence of the people. If the country was occu-

210 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [CHAP. XXII.
pied by a population from this country equal to that of
Mexico, the amount of cotton produced in the world would
be doubled.
A sufficient quantity of rice is produced to supply the
domestic demand. It is very generally used.
An immense quantity of beeswax is consumed, as may
well be supposed from the number of churches, in all of
which wax candles are always kept burning, as well as in
their religious processions — from the visit of a poor priest
to a dying lepero to a procession of thirty or forty thousand
on the festival of Corpus Christi. But they will not make
a sufficient supply even of this article. Large quantities
are annually imported.
Very little silk is made in Mexico. A company, how
ever, has lately been organized for the purpose of intro
ducing the culture extensively, and has sent an agent to
France as preliminary to that object. I should think that
no country in the world offered more, if as many, advan
tages for the raising the silk-worm and making silk.
Last, and by no means least, is the cultivation of the
maguey, or American aloe, the juice of which, after fer
mentation, is the great Mexican drink — pulque. No other
culture in Mexico is half so profitable. It is perhaps inac
curate to say culture, for no labor whatever is bestowed
upon the plant after it is first put in the ground.
I have no data from which to form even a conjecture of
the number of yards of coarse cottons which are annually
manufactured in Mexico. It is estimated that eight mil
lions of dollars are invested in these manufactories. From
that fact those skilled in such matters may be able to form
some estimate of the quantity manufactured. It would
be well, however, in making such an estimate to consider
that the same machinery could be put up in this country at

CHAP. XXII.J MECHANIC ARTS. 211
one-third of what it has cost in Mexico, and that an esta
blishment in which the managers and operatives were
Americans would probably make at least five yards for
one. With the exception of a few of the manufactories in
Puebla the business of manufacturing cotton has not been
profitable in Mexico. One or two Americans have gone
there and attempted it, but their experiments have ended in
bankruptcy. The mechanical arts are in a low condition. Most of the
articles of every description which are used there are
brought from other countries, with the exception of plate,
saddles and a few others. Large quantities of plate are
manufactured both for churches and individuals. I never
saw a handsome piece, however, which was made there.
They say that the saddlers of no other country can make
a Mexican saddle. I do not think any decent saddler would
if he could. There are two articles, however, which I be
lieve have never been manufactured in any other country
— the rebozo (a long shawl worn by the women), and the
sarape, which is used all the year round by the men. The
rebozo is made either of cotton or silk, and sometimes one-
half of each. Those made of cotton are most esteemed,
and sell for the highest price. They sell for from twenty
to fifty and a hundred dollars. If they could be made as
other similar fabrics are, by European skill and machinery,
they would not cost ten dollars. The sarape is nothing
more than a blanket, the warp of cotton and the filling of
wool, with all the fantastical figures woven upon it which
characterize the Indian taste for wampum and beads.
They sell at from three dollars to three hundred. In summer
or winter nearly every Indian you meet has one thrown
over his shoulders, and in the rainy season no man rides
five miles without one.

CHAPTER XXIII.
A Miscellany Chapter — Three Lions of Mexico — Calendar Stone— Burial
Ground of Santa Maria — The Paseo — Santa Anna's Coach driven by an
American — Reflections — Mexican Carriages — Costly Equipage — Mexi
can Women on Horseback — The Theatre — The Bull Fight — Mean Tem
perature—Character of the Mexicans, by Clavigero.
There are so many things in Mexico of a character so
unique, and to an American so new and striking, that there
is great danger of falling into a wearisome tediousness and
drivelling on the one hand, or omitting many objects of
interest on the other. And as most readers will more
readily pardon the latter fault, I will hasten to a conclusion,
that I may turn to other more pleasant and profitable occu
pations. The reader will find this chapter a sort of
melange of such disjointed recollections as my memory
may serve me with — and of course without any harmony
or coincidence — as a frugal housewife makes a carpet or a
bed-quilt of all the scraps which she may happen to have
on hand.
As to the physical circumstances of the country, or more
exact information as to the mines or other matters of that
character, the reader is referred to the work of Baron
Humboldt. As to the early history of Mexico nothing can
be added to the comprehensive and elaborate work of the
Abbe Clavigero ; and a very full account of the antiquities
of the country will be found in Mr. Brantz Mayer's book.
I have mentioned two of the three things in Mexico

CHAP. XXIII.J CALENDAR STONE. 213
which are first shown to every foreigner, the Colossal
Equestrian Statue in bronze of Charles IV. of Spain, and
the great Sacrificial Stone. I must not slight the third and
much the most important of the three — Montezuma's Dial as
it is called, which has been worked into the corner of the
cathedral. It is a large mass of porphyritic stone of ten feet diame
ter, and circular shape. In the centre is a human head
with the tongue hanging out, cut in relief ; around this
head are five circles of hieroglyphic figures, intended for
the computation of the different divisions of time in the Cal
endar of the ancient Mexicans. Their civil year was
divided into eighteen months of twenty days each. The
five intercalary days were added to the last month,
and the fractions of hours were computed at the end of a
cycle of fifty-two years. Thirteen years constituted a
tlalpilli, — four of these a cycle of fifty-two years, which
were represented by bundles of reeds bound together with
a string, — two of these cycles of fifty-two years constituted
another division of a hundred and four years, which was
called an old age. I do not remember the Mexican term.
I copy the following extract of a very interesting letter
upon the subject from the Abbe" Hervas to Clavigero : —
" The Mexican year began on the 26th of February — a day celebrated
in the era of Nabonassar, which was fixed by the Egyptians 747' years
before the Christian era — for the beginning of their month Toth, corres
ponding with the meridian of the same day. If these priests fixed upon
this day as an epoch because it was celebrated in Egypt, we have there
the Mexican calendar agreeing with the Egyptian. But independent of
this, it is certain that the Mexican calendar corresponded greatly with
the Egyptian. On the 26th day of February of the above mentioned
year, according to the meridian of Alexandria, which was built three
centuries after, the year properly began.

214 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [cHAP. XXIII.
" The year and century have, from time immemorial, been regulated by
the Mexicans with a degree of intelligence which does not at all cor
respond with their arts and sciences. In them they were certainly very
inferior to the Greeks and Romans, but the discernment which appears
in their calendar equals them to the most enlightened nations. Hence
we may imagine that this calendar has not been the discovery of the
Mexicans, but that they have received it from some more enlightened peo
ple, and as the last are not to be found in America, we must seek for
them elsewhere, in Asia or in Egypt. This circumstance is confirmed
by your affirmation that the Mexicans had their calendar from the
Taltecas (originating from Asia), whose year according to Boturini was
exactly adjusted by the course of the sun — more than a hundred years
before the Christian era ; — and also from observing that other nations,
namely, the Chiapanese, made use of the same calendar with the Mexi
cans, without any difference but that of their symbols."
How greatly it is to be desired that some clue may yet
be found to the Mexican hieroglyphics — how much light
would thereby be shed not only upon the question whence
came the settlers of this continent, but also upon the history
of our race ! The reckless fanaticism of the conquerors left
no monument of Mexican superstition or history, which it
was possible for them to destroy, — there is not a vestige
in the city of Mexico of the architecture of its ancient in
habitants. The reader is aware that so obstinate was the
resistance of the Mexicans in the last and successful siege,
that Cortes was forced to tear down every house, and that,
literally, he won not the great city of the Aztecs, but one
vast heap of ruins.
The burial-ground of Santa Maria in Mexico is the most
beautiful of the kind I have ever seen — and it is really not
a misapplication of the term beautiful, to apply it to a
graveyard such as this. It is a space of ground of some
eight or ten acres, enclosed with a stone wall about fifteen
feet high and ten thick. This wall serves the double pur-

CHAP. XXIII.J THE PASEO. 215
pose of enclosing the ground and as a place to deposit the
dead. Little niches are made in it large enough to receive
a coffin, like the pigeon-holes in a desk.
The whole area is laid off in gravel walks and bordered
with flowers and shrubbery, and beautiful marble tombs
all over it. Lamps are always kept burning at night,
and altogether I have never seen any other last resting-
place which had so little of gloom about it.
The lower classes are buried in other places and without
coffins ; they are carried to the grave on rude litters, but
the children and women generally on beds made of roses
and other flowers.
The wife of General Canalizo died whilst he was Presi
dent ad interim, during the absence of Santa Anna. She
was embalmed and had a pair of glass eyes inserted, and
lay in state for several days, gorgeously dressed and glit
tering in jewels ; every one was admitted to the great
chamber of the palace where the body was exposed. It
was a most revolting spectacle, and all the more so to
those who knew the modest, gentle and unostentatious
character of that very uncommon woman. She seemed
to be unconscious of the great dignity of the station to
which her husband had been elevated, and spent her whole
life in acts of charity and benevolence, and was singularly
averse to all sorts of ostentation and parade.
None but Catholics are allowed to be buried in the
regular burial-grounds, and if buried anywhere else, there
is no security that the sacredness of the grave of one
regarded as an infidel will not be molested. To the disgrace
of Mexico, the rites of sepulture have to be secured to foreign
ers, not Catholics, by treaty. Two of the Texians died at
Puebla Nacional ; one of them, to protect his corpse from
violation, professed the Catholic faith ; the other, a very gal-

216 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [cHAP. XXIII.
lant and fine young man, Lieut. Sevey, refused to do so.
It was with great difficulty that his friends could obtain the
privilege of burial for him, which was at last accomplished
by a bribe of a hundred and fifty dollars to the priest.
Let us now turn from burials and burying-grounds to a
very different place — the Paseo, with its glittering throng.
Until very recently European or American coaches were not
used. There are a good many there now owned by wealthy
persons. The duty upon their importation is very high,
and they sell for twice as much as in the United States,
and hence are not generally used. The President has a
very splendid barouche drawn by four American horses, and
I am ashamed to say driven by an American. I can never
become reconciled to seeing a native American performing
the offices of a menial servant — but I felt this the more on
seeing a foreigner and in a foreign land thus waited on by
one of my countrymen. I was more than ever thankful
that I lived in that portion of our country where no man is
theoretically called a freeman who is not so in fact, in feel
ings and in sentiments ; no decent Southern American
could be induced to drive anybody's coach or clean his
shoes. I have no doubt that if the liberties of this country
are ever destroyed that they will perish at the ballot-box ;
men whose menial occupations degrade them in their own
self-esteem, and deprive them of the proud consciousness
of equality, have no right to vote.
The President of Mexico never leaves his palace but
with a large escort of cavalry, the King of Prussia walks
the streets of Berlin unattended ; the one is a despotism,
the other a republic. But there are few such despotisms
as the Prussian, and few such republics as the Mexican.
The Mexican carriages are altogether unique and gro
tesque. The distance between the two axletrees is gene-

CHAP. XXIII.J COSTLY EaUIPAGE. 217
rally twelve feet ; they have high cross-bars both behind
and before, to which are attached the leathern traces upon
which the carriage swings. The enormous size of these
carriages is made the more striking from the fact that they
are drawn by two small mules, with a postillion mounted
on one of them. One part of the harness was new to me,
which was a leathern bag for the mule's tail. This bag is
also used when they ride on horseback.
The dress of the gentlemen when they ride on the Paseo
is gaudy in the extreme ; nothing is regarded more vulgar
than to be seen on horseback in a dress coat or any other
than a roundabout. These are richly embroidered with
silk or with gold and silver lace, and covered all over with
buttons. Their cherivalles are equally fine, and generally
open from the knee down. The dress of the horse is even
more dashing and infinitely more costly. One thousand
dollars is by no means an unusual price for a saddle. I
have seen in a saddler's shop at one time half a dozen sad
dles at prices ranging from five hundred to a thousand dol
lars. One gentleman in the city has a saddle the cost of
which exceeded five thousand dollars. The scene exhibited
every evening on the Paseo is altogether picturesque.
Three or four thousand persons with gay equipages and
rich dresses pass and salute each other on the broad road,
bordered with handsome trees, two beautiful jets d'eau, with
Chapultepec on one side and the snow-covered mountains
of Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl on the other ; while on
all sides far around extend the wide plains of the valley.
The Mexican women generally ride with their feet on
the right side of the horse, exactly the opposite side from
that to which we are accustomed. Very frequently they
ride with a foot on each side — not on the Paseo however.
11

218 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [cHAP. XXIII.
Let us now go, as every one does in Mexico, from the
Paseo to the theatre.
No people have so great a passion for the stage as the
Spanish. Much the larger portion of Spanish literature is
dramatic. There are several theatres in Mexico besides
the new and magnificent one which I have already de
scribed. The " Teatro Principal " was, before the erection
of the new one, the largest and most fashionably attended.
The actors were all natives of Mexico, if indeed it is not
an abuse of the term actors to apply it to such mere recit
ers, and by no means good reciters, as they were.
A company of actors came to Mexico in 1843, and were
engaged at a small theatre on the outskirts of the city ; but
their superiority was so very decided to anything of the
kind to which the Mexicans had been accustomed, that
they very soon had the theatre crowded. I believe they
are now playing at the new theatre. They would all have
been considered good, none of them first-rate performers in
this country, with one remarkable exception — the Senora
Conette. I have rarely seen her equal in the wide range
of comic characters which she played. I frequently at
tended the theatre to witness her performances, but I
always left before the afterpiece if she did not play in it,
and this was not without some risk, as I often walked home
a distance of half a mile through the unfrequented streets
of a badly-lighted city — a thing I could not easily have been
induced to do when I first went to Mexico.
The bull-fight is the passion the lower classes of
Mexicans, and very much a passion with all. I have seen
ten thousand persons assembled on such an occasion.
I shall not detain the reader with a description. They are
in nothing different from bull-fights elsewhere, except that
the horns are sawed off and the bulls are generally tame

CHAP. XXIII.J TEMPERATURE. 219
and spiritless. I do not know whether it resulted from the
inequality of the contest, the poor beast being thus deprived
of his only power of defence or attack, but I declare that
my sympathies were generally with the bull.
The Hill of Chapultepec and Montezuma's cypress at its
base, and the fortress on the summit, the evangelistas or
professional letter- writers, &c, &c., have all been described
by others.
The mean temperature of the city is about 58, and the
range above or below that point but very small. I have
been in no other country in which the temperature becomes
so much cooler after sunset, and what is inexplicable to me
I frequently walked half a mile at mid-day in that tropical
sun without the slightest perspiration. This, I think, is no
recommendation but an objection to the climate of Mexico,
and is, I have no doubt, the cause of much disease. The
rainy season generally commences in the last days of May
and continues to the first of October, sometimes a little
later ; during that period there is rain every day. Not
what one would' call a rainy spell, but the sun shines
brightly in the morning and generally until noon or a little
later, and then pleasant showers, sometimes very heavy
rains, but never accompanied with violent winds. After
the rain ceases in October, not another drop falls until the
last of May. This is the case in the table lands. In the
region lying between the degrees 25 and 35, on the Pacific
ocean, this is reversed, and the rainy season occurs there in
the winter months ; occasionally in January and February
there is a cool night and sometimes they say there is a little
frost — I never saw any. The difference, however, between
the summer and the winter months is scarcely felt ; indeed,
in the day time, it is a little cooler in the summer from the
constant rains, but the climate is altogether delicious. In

220 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [cHAP. XXIII.
one word, I do not believe that there is a country in the
world for which God has done so much, very few for which
man has done so little.
The reader who has followed me through these desultory
recollections, is, doubtless, able to form a pretty accurate
opinion of the country, its character, resources, customs,
and population, without any dissertation of mine. Clavi
gero, a man of learning and ability, and himself a Mexican,
has drawn the character of his countrymen, I think impar
tially, and in the main justly ; I subjoin a translation of it,
putting in italics those portions in which I do not concur.
" The Mexicans are of good stature, generally exceeding instead of fall
ing short of the middle size, and well proportioned in all their limbs. They
have good complexions, — narrow foreheads, — black eyes, — clean, firm,
regular, white teeth, — thick, black, coarse, glossy hair, — thin beards, — and
generally no hair upon their legs or thighs ; their skin is of an olive
color; there is scarcely a nation upon earth where there are fewer
deformed persons — and it would be more difficult to find a single hump
backed, lame or squint-eyed man amongst a thousand Mexicans than
among a hundred of any other nation. The unpleasantness of their
color, the smallness of their forehead, the thinness of their beard, are so
far compensated by the regularity and fine proportion of their limbs, that
they can neither be called very beautiful nor the contrary, but seem to
hold a middle place between the extremes. Their appearance neither
engages nor disgusts, but among the young women of Mexico there are
many very beautiful and fair, whose beauty is at the same time rendered
more winning by the sweetness of their manner of speaking, and by the
pleasantness and natural modesty of their whole behavior.
" They are very moderate in eating, but their passion for liquors is
carried to the greatest excess.
" Their minds are, at bottom, in every respect, like those of the other
children of Adam, and endowed with the same powers, nor did the Euro
peans ever do less credit to their own reason than when they doubted that
of the Americans. The state of civilisation among the Americans when
they were first known to the Spaniards, which was much superior to that of
the Spaniards themselves when they were first known to the Phoenicians,

CHAP. XXIII.J CHARACTER OF THE MEXICANS. 221
that of the Gauls when they were first known to the Greeks, or that of
the Germans and Britons when first known to the Romans, should have
been sufficient to check such an error of man's mind, if it had not been
the interest of the inhuman avarice of some ruffians to encourage it.
Their understandings are fitted for every kind of science, as experience
has shown. Of the Mexicans who have had opportunities of engaging in
the pursuit of learning, which is but a small number, as the greater part
of the people are always engaged in the public or private works, we
have known some good mathematicians, excellent architects and learned
divines. Many persons allow the Mexicans to possess a great talent for
imitation, but deny them the praise of invention, a vulgar error which is
contradicted by the ancient history of that people.
" Their minds are affected by the same variety of passions as the
people of other nations, but not in an equal degree. Mexicans seldom
exhibit those transports of anger or phrenzies of love which are so
common in other countries ; they are slow in their motions, and show a
wonderful tenacity and steadiness in those works which require time and
long continued attention.
" They are most patient of injury and hardship, and where they sus
pect no evil intention, are most grateful for any kindness. But some
Spaniards who cannot distinguish patience, from insensibility, nor dis
trust from ingratitude, say proverbially that the Indians are alike insen
sible to injuries and to benefits. The habitual distrust" which they
entertain of all who are not of their own nation prompts them often to
lie and betray, so that good faith has certainly not been so much respect
ed amongst them as it deserves to be.
" They are by nature taciturn, serious, and austere, and show more
anxiety to punish crimes than to reward virtues. Generosity and per
fect disinterestedness are the principal features of their character. Gold,
with the Mexicans, has not the value which it seems to enjoy elsewhere.
They give without reluctance what has cost them the utmost labor to
acquire. The respect paid by children to parents and by the young to
the old, seem to be feelings born with them. Parents are very fond of
their children also ; but the affection which husbands bear to their wives
is certainly much less than that borne by wives to their husbands, and
it is very common for the men to love their neighbors' wives better than
their own.
" Courage and cowardice seem alternately so to affect their minds that

222 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [CHAP. XXIII.
it is often difficult to determine which predominates. They meet dan
gers with intrepidity when they proceed from natural causes, but they
are terrified by the stern look of a Spaniard. That stupid indifference
about death and eternity, which many authors have thought inherent in
the character of every American, is peculiar only to those who are yet so
rude and uninformed as to have no idea of a future state. Their singu
lar attachment to the external ceremonies of religion is very apt to de
generate into superstition, as happens with the ignorant of all nations of
the world ; but their proneness to idolatry is nothingmore than a chimera
formed in the brains of ignorant persons. The instances of a few moun
taineers are not sufficient to justify an aspersion upon a whole people.
To conclude : the character of the Mexicans, like that of every other
nation, is a mixture of good and bad, but the bad maybe easily corrected
by a proper education, as has frequently been demonstrated by experi
ence. It would be difficult to find anywhere youth or a body of people
more willing to receive the light of the Gospel than were their ances
tors." I will add that the modern Mexicans are not in all re
spects like the ancient ; as the Greeks of these days have
little resemblance to those who lived in the days of Pericles.
The ancient Mexicans showed more fire and were more
sensible to impressions of honor. They were more intre
pid, more active, more industrious, but they were at the
same time more superstitious and cruel.

CHAPTER XXIV.
Adjustment of American Claims — Order for the Expulsion of Americans
from California Rescinded — Various Negotiations — Anecdote of Santa
Anna's love of Cock-fighting.
Of matters connected with the Legation it is not fit that I
should speak, except of those which have been made public
by the government. The commission for the adjudication
of the claims of American citizens against the government
of Mexico adjourned in February or March, 1842. The
awards which that commission made in favor of American
citizens amounted to about two millions of dollars. The
Mexican government had, by the terms of the convention
which established that commission, the alternative of pay
ing the awards either in coin or their own treasury notes
at their option. The market was already flooded with this
depreciated government paper, and new emissions were
daily made. The market value of these treasury notes
was about thirty cents on the dollar, and if this additional
two millions had been thown on the market, they would
have depreciated still more ; the owners of these claims knew
this, and were anxious to make some other arrangement.
The awards were not sent to me until October. I demand
ed the money ; but it was a mere form, for every one
knew that the government neither had the money nor the
means of raising it, and coercion was out of the question
as they would have availed themselves of the alternative
of the treaty and given the treasury notes, which would

224 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [cHAP. XXIV.
only have been changing the evidence of the debt, and to a
less advantageous form. In a week, however, I made a
new convention with the government, by which the claim
ants have received fifteen per cent of the principal of their
debt, and about nineteen per cent of interest — which is
twice as much as the market value of the whole of the
claims when I went to Mexico — which was less than
twenty cents on the dollar. If I have not been misin
formed, one of these claims, and a large one, was sold for
six cents on the dollar, and many others at the same rate.
I wrote to some of the claimants in all our large cities, ad
vising them not to sacrifice their claims, and I also said the
same thing to the Secretary of State, and requested him to
make it public, which I believe he did.
By the new convention which I negotiated, there was
saved to the persons interested, from eighteen to twenty per
cent — the export and transportation duties, eleven per cent
freight and insurance to Vera Cruz, at least five per cent, in
that country of highway robbers and revolutions, and two
and a half per cent for the commissions of the agent who
received the money. All of these things were altogether
just, but they had not been provided for in the former con
vention — and that which I negotiated was wholly on my
own, responsibility. I thought that it was no more than
fair that the government of Mexico should pay the com
missions of the agent, because if the whole amount of two
millions had been paid at once, any one would have re
ceived and remitted it for one third of the commissions
which would have been charged when there were twenty
different instalments running through a period of five
years. If the money had all been paid at one time, a gov
ernment vessel would have been ordered to take it to the
United States without charge.

CHAP. XXIV. J ADJUSTMENT OF AMERICAN CLAIMS. 225>
All the instalments which fell due whilst I remained in.
Mexico were paid. A small portion of the two last was
not paid until perhaps a month after it was due, and the
money was immediately sent to Vera Cruz, and shipped
from there as soon as it could be counted.*
There were eighteen claims submitted to the commis
sion at Washington, and which were not finally decided ;
the American commissioners adjudging in all of them.
about a million of dollars to the claimants, and the Mexi
cans allowing nothing. These cases, for want of time, were
not decided by the umpire, Baron Roene. There were
seven other cases which were not considered by the com
missioners for want of time, and because in one of them
the Mexican Government did not furnish all the docu
mentary evidence which was required.
I was anxious to have made provision for the settlement
of these cases at the time that I negotiated the Convention
of January, 1843, but my government thought otherwise.
In November, however, of that year, I received instruc
tions to negotiate another Convention for the settlement of
these claims. I would gladly have avoided the responsibi
lity of this second convention if I had looked only to
personal considerations, but the Mexican government was
at that time under serious apprehension of a collision with
England, and I knew that so advantageous an opportunity
would not again occur. I succeeded, but with difficulty,
in obtaining every concession which I had been instructed
to ask, and on some points more, with the single exception
* The persons interested in these claims are more indebted for the pay
ment to Mr. Emilius Voss than any other person. As imputations have
been made against this gentleman, it is but just to say of him, not only that
he is an accomplished merchant and an upright man, but that in all high
and honorable qualities he has no superior in Mexico or anywhere else.
11*

226 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [cHAP. XXIV.
of the place of meeting of the new Commission, which I
agreed should be Mexico instead of Washington. The
former commission had met at Washington, and it seemed
to me nothing but fair that this one should meet at Mexico.
I know of no rule that such commissions shall assemble in
the country of the claimant ; the legal rule in controversies
between individuals is the reverse. The forum is in the
¦ country of the defendant. But this new commission was not
ialone for the settlement of the claims of American citizens or
the government of Mexico, but also the claims of Mexican
¦ citizens upon the government of the United States, so that
the equities were at least equal ; but the Mexican plenipo
tentiaries offered that if I would concede to them the point
of the commission meeting at Mexico that I might name
ithe umpire, to which I at once acceded. I could not see
any great importance as to the place where the commission
met, the more especially as nearly all of the seven claims
which alone were to be submitted to this commission de
pended upon documentary evidence entirely, and all these
¦ documents were in the public archives of Mexico. And,
as it was certain that the Mexican and American com-
¦missioners would disagree upon all of these claims, I did
regard it of primary importance who should be the umpire.
If that umpire had been, as he would have been (if Mexico
had selected him), some one of the presidents of the South
American Republics, there never would have been any
¦ controversy as to what vessel should bring the money
diome. I knew of the sympathies as well as the antipathies
of race, but the Senate of the United States thought other
wise, and disapproved of that clause of the convention. I
think that all the parties interested will have occasion to
regret that decision ; I am sure that all those will, who are
¦interested in the eighteen cases submitted to and not

CHAP. XXIV.J VARIOUS NEGOTIATIONS. 227
decided by the umpire under the former commission — for
those cases were not to be submitted to the new commis
sion but were to be referred at once to the umpire under
the new convention, and would long since have been
settled. Near the end of December, 1843, 1 received information
that the government of Mexico had issued an order in July
previous expelling all natives of the United States from the
department of California and the three adjoining depart
ments. No attempt however had been made up to that
time to execute this order. A similar order had been
issued a few years before, including not only citizens of the
United States but British subjects also, and this order had
actually been executed to the great damage, and in some
instances, ruin, of the persons removed. All the efforts of
the English and American ministers to procure a rescision
of this order were ineffectual for six months. I had the
good fortune, however, after a somewhat angry corres
pondence, to have the order rescinded, not, however, until
I resorted to the " ultima ratio" of diplomacy, and demanded
my passports — a measure which a Minister is rarely jus
tifiable in resorting to without the orders of his govern
ment. I confess I was very much afraid that the passports
would have been sent to me, but I thought that the step,
extreme as it was, was justified by the circumstances, and
that it would cut short a very long discussion. The result
showed that in this calculation I was right. The order
was rescinded, and expresses forthwith sent to all of the
four departments, the distance of some of which was two
thousand miles.
With all their boasting the Mexicans are more afraid of
us than of all other powers. They do not care about a
maritime war, for they have scarcely any ships, either of

228 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [cHAP. XXIV.
war or commercial vessels, and as to a blockade, they will
thank any foreign power for one. But they know we can
approach them by land, and the Texians have given them
" a taste of our quality."
I was anxious before I left the legation that the " docket
should be cleared," and as there were five cases remaining,
some of them of long standing, I asked an interview with
the Minister of Foreign Affairs to discuss and settle them.
I would advise all our future Ministers in that country to
adopt that course, and never write when they can obtain a
personal interview. Written discussions with them are as
endless as the web of Penelope. The habitual procrastina
tion and the vanity of writing make it so, and if the Minis
ter of Foreign Affairs happens to be a lawyer, as was Mr.
Bocanegra, the pleadings never stop short of the sur- rebutter.
All the members of the cabinet met me to discuss the cases,
and the result was, that all I asked was conceded to me in
all of them. I will repeat here what I said in the last note
which I addressed to the Minister of Foreign Affairs :
" that during the whole time of my mission I had made
but one single demand upon the government which had not
been conceded ;" and I will venture to say that these de
mands were much more numerous, and involving a greater
variety of nice questions of international law than has
occurred with any other of our missions for the same pe
riod. I claim no credit for this beyond that of a rigid
adherence to the great principle which governs our inter
course with other nations — " to ask nothing but what is
right, and to submit to nothing that is wrong" — a maxim
the first part of which should be even more strictly observed
in our intercourse with weak powers, and still more with
the weaker powers of this continent. I am not aware that
any complaint has ever been made that I had refused my

CHAP. XXIV.J VARIOUS NEGOTIATIONS. 229
interposition when asked. There were a few matters in
which I felt much interest, and which I knew could only be
arranged with President Santa Anna himself, I therefore
waited a few days at Jalapa in the neighborhood of which
place is his beautiful country-seat, " Encerro." The first
of these objects was the release of the Texians made pri
soners at San Antonio, which he granted me, as I have be
fore stated.
An order had been issued for closing the custom house at
Santa Fe and stopping the inland trade, in which our coun
trymen were very much interested. This order had not
originated in any hostile feelings towards the United States,
but was issued because General Armigo, the governor of
that department, kept all the revenues himself and paid
nothing to the government. Santa Anna promised me that
the order should be rescinded, and it was done immediately
afterwards. Another order had been issued a few months
before, requiring all goods of a certain description which
had been imported into Mexico, and which were not sold
by a stipulated time, to be reshipped, or that they should be
forfeited to the government. This order he also consented
should be rescinded or satisfactorily modified — which was
done. Another, and a very important one to many Americans
in Mexico, was that which prohibited the privilege of the
retail trade to all foreigners, — all my efforts to procure a
rescision of this order were ineffectual, and this is the one
exception to which I have alluded. One of the members
of the diplomatic corps, the French Minister, had felt it his
duty to write a note on the subject, which Santa Anna re
garded as very harsh in its terms and spirit. After I had
discussed the matter with him for some time he said, " I know
nothing about these questions of international law, I am

230 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [cHAP. XXIV.
only a soldier, and have spent my life in the camp — but
eminent Mexican lawyers tell me that we have the right to
enforce such an order, and if we have I know that it will
be beneficial to Mexico. These foreigners come here and
make fortunes and go away ; let them marry here, or
become Mexican citizens, and they may enjoy this and all
other privileges." He added that if all the other ministers
had taken the same course that I had, that he might have
consented to rescind the order, but that whilst he was the
President he would cut his throat (suiting the action to the
word with great vehemence) before he would yield any
thing to insult or menaces — alluding to the note of the
French Minister. He became very much excited, and
with his fine eye flashing fire, went on in a strain of real
eloquence. " What," said he, " has Mexico gained by her
revolution, if she is thus to be dictated to by every despot
in Europe ; before, we had but one master — but if this is
permitted we shall have twenty. We cannot fight on the
water ; but let them land, and I will drive them to their
boats a little faster than I did in 1839" — and then casting
his eye to his mutilated leg, with that tiger expression
which Mrs. Calderon noticed — he said, " they have taken
one of my legs, they shall have the other, and every limb
of my body before I will submit to their bullying and
menaces. Let them come, let them come as soon as they
please, and in every defile of these mountains they will
find a Thermopylae."
These were his very words. If he did not feel what he
said, I have never seen the hero and patriot better acted.
Again I thought of General Jackson. The reader may be
assured that whatever may be the faults of Santa Anna, he
has many points which mark him " as not in the roll of
common men."

CHAP. XXIV.J SANTA ANNA'S LOVE OF COCK-FIGHTING. 231
When I first visited him at Encerro, he was examining
his chicken cocks, having a large main then depending —
he went round the coops and examined every fowl, and
gave directions as to his feed ; some to have a little more,
others to be stinted. There was one of very great beauty, of
the color of the partridge, only with the feathers tipped with
black, instead of yellow or white ; and the male in all re
spects like the female, except in size. He asked me if we had
any such in this country, and when I told him that we had
not, he said that if that one gained his fight he would send
him to me, — he was the only one of fifteen which did not
lose his fight ; and shortly after my return, when I visited
New York, I found the fowl there. I had thought no more
about it, and had no idea that he would.
After examining his chicken cocks we returned to the
house, and then he was all the President — and to have
listened to the eloquent conversation which I have sketched,
one would not have supposed that he had ever witnessed a
cock-fight. The taste for this amusement, which amongst us is re
garded as barbarous and vulgar, is in Mexico by no means
peculiar to Santa Anna. It is universal, and stands scarcely
second to the bull-fight.

CHAPTER XXV.
The California Question — Captain Suter's Settlement — Value of the Coun
try — Importance to the United States — English Influence in Mexico —
Annexation of Mexican Provinces to the United States — Present Rela
tions.
Iconfess that in taking the high ground which I did upon
the order expelling our people from California, that I felt
some compunctious visitings, for I had been informed that
a plot had been arranged and was about being developed
by the Americans and other foreigners in that department
to re-enact the scenes of Texas. I had been consulted
whether in the event of a revolution in California, and its suc
cessful result in a separation from Mexico, our government
would consent to surrender their claims to Oregon, and that
Oregon and California should constitute an independent
republic. I of course had no authority to answer the ques
tion, and I would not have done so if I could.
The inhabitants of California are for the most part
Indians, a large proportion naked savages, who not only
have no sympathies with Mexico but the most decided
antipathy. Mexico has no troops there, and the distance of the
department prevents any being sent.
Captain Suter, who was one of Buonaparte's officers, and,
I believe, is a Swiss, has for many years had an establish
ment there, and is the real sovereign of the country if any
one is, certainly so de facto if not de jure. The govern-

CHAP. XXV.J VALUE OF THE COUNTRY. 233
ment of Mexico has done none of these things, such as set
tlement, extending her laws, and affording protection,
which alone give to a civilized people a right to the coun
try of a savage one. As to all these, the natives of Califor
nia are as much indebted to any other nation as to Mex
ico ; they only know the government of Mexico by the
exactions and tribute which are levied upon them — it is
literally a waif, and belongs to the first occupant. Captain
Suter has two forts in California, and about two thousand
persons, natives and Europeans, in his employment, all of
them armed and regularly drilled. I have no doubt that
his force would be more than a match for any Mexican
force which will ever be sent against him. He has once or
twice been ordered to deliver up his forts, and his laconic
reply has been, " Come and take them."
From all the information which I have received, and I
have been inquisitive upon the subject, I am well satisfied
that there is not on this Continent any country of the same
extent as little desirable as Oregon, nor any in the world
which combines as many advantages as California. With
the exception of the valley of the Wallamette, there is
scarcely any portion of Oregon which is inhabitable
except for that most worthless of all — a hunting popula
tion — and the valley of the Wallamette is of very small
extent. In the south the only port is at the Columbia river,
and that is no port at all, as the loss of the Peacock, and
others of our vessels, has proven. To say nothing of other
harbors in California, that of San Francisco is capacious
enough for the navies of the world, and its shores are
covered with enough timber (a species of the live oak) to
build those navies. If man were to ask of God a climate,
he would ask just such an one as that of California, if he had
ever been there. There is no portion of our western coun-

234 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [.CHAP. xxv-
try which produces all the grains as well; I have been
told by more than one person on whom I entirely relied,
that they had known whole fields to produce — a quantity
so incredible that I will not state it. The whole face of
the country is covered with the finest oats growing wild ;
sugar, rice, and cotton find there their own congenial cli
mate. Besides all these, the richest mines of gold and sil
ver have been discovered there, and the pearl fisheries have
always been sources of the largest profits ; and more than
these, there are the markets of India and China with nothing
intervening but the calm and stormless Pacific ocean.
The distance from the head of navigation on the Arkan
sas and Red rivers to a navigable point of the waters of
the Gulf of California is not more than five or six hundred
miles ; let that distance be overcome by a railroad, and
what a vista is opened to the prosperity and power of our
country. I have no doubt that the time will come when
New Orleans will be the greatest city in the world. That
period would be incalculably hastened by the measures
which I have indicated, which would throw into her lap
the vast commerce of China and of India. Great Britain,
with that wise and far-seeing policy for which she is more
remarkable than any other government, has already the
practical possession of most of the ports of the Pacific
Ocean — New Zealand and the Sandwich Islands, and very
soon the Society Islands also. We have a commerce in
that ocean of more than fifty millions of dollars, and not a
single place of refuge for our ships.
I will not say what is our policy in regard to California.
Perhaps it is that it remain in the hands of a weak power
like Mexico, and that all the maritime powers may have
the advantage of its ports. But one thing I will say, that

CHAP. XXV.J ENGLISH INFLUENCE IN MEXICO. 235
it will be worth a war of twenty years to prevent England
acquiring it, which I have the best reasons for believing she
desires to do, and just as good reasons for believing that she
will not do if it costs a war with this country. It is, per
haps, too remote from us to become a member of the Union.
It is yet doubtful whether the increase of our territory will
have a federal or a centralizing tendency. If the latter, we
have too much territory ; and I am by no means sure that
another sister Republic there, with the same language,
liberty and laws, will not, upon the whole, be the best for
us. If united in one government, the extremities may be
so remote as not to receive a proper heat from the centre —
so, at least, thought Mr. Jefferson, who was inspired on politi
cal questions if mortal man ever was. I am not one of those
who have a rabid craving for more territory ; on the contrary,
I believe that we have enough. I know of no great people
who have not been crowded into a small space — the Egyp
tians, the Romans, the Greeks, and another people who
have exercised a greater influence upon man and his des
tiny than all others, the Jews ; and, in our own time, the
English. I want no more territory, for we have already
too much. If I were to make an exception to this remark,
it would be to acquire California. But I should grieve to
see that country pass into the hands of England, or any
other of the great powers.
Whenever the foreigners in California make the move
ment of separation, it must succeed. The department of
Sonora, not half the distance from Mexico, has been in a
state of revolt for the last four years, and the government
has been unable to suppress it. The civil war there has
been marked by acts of horrible atrocity, which are al
most without precedent in any country. It is true that
they do not eat the flesh of their enemies, but they leave

236 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [cHAP. XXV.
them hanging on the trees to feast the birds of prey.
There is scarcely a road in the whole department where
such spectacles are not daily exhibited.
There is a great mistake, I think, in the opinion which is
general in this country of the great ascendency of English
influence in Mexico. It is true that Mr. Pakenham had
much influence there, which his great worth and frank and
honorable character will give him anywhere ; but my
opinion is, that the general feeling of the Mexicans towards
the English is unfriendly. They have a well-grounded
jealousy of the great and increasing power which their
large capital gives them ; and, if the feelings of the Mexi
can people were consulted, or the opinions of their most
enlightened men, England is the very last power to which
the Mexicans would transfer California, or any other portion
of their territory. I am quite sure that they would prefer
that it should be an independent power, than to have any
connection or dependence of any sort upon England. The
most valuable of the Mexican mines are owned and worked
by English companies, and at least two-thirds of the specie
which is exported goes into the hands of the English. The
British Government keeps two officers, or agents, in
Mexico, with high salaries, to attend to this interest alone.
It is with the money thus derived that the English establish
ments on this continent and in the West Indies are sup
ported. The amount of the specie annually obtained from
Mexico is more than half as great as that which is kept at
one time in the Bank of England. The stoppage of this
supply would very much derange the whole monetary sys
tem of England ; on this account, it is to be apprehended
that in the event of a war between the United States and
Mexico, that England would very soon be involved in it.

CHAP. XXV.J ANNEXATION. 237
If the coast of Mexico should be blockaded, England will
demand that the line of steam-packets to Vera Cruz should
be exempted from its operations. These packets, although
commercial vessels, possess a sort of quasi-government
character. This, of course, our government could not con
cede ; and the interruption of the regular supply of the pre
cious metals from Mexico would be most disastrously felt in
England. Knowing all this, I was well satisfied that all that
we have heard about England stimulating Mexico to de
clare war against this country was ridiculously absurd.
Such a war would injure England more than either of the
belligerents. All her interests are opposed to it, unless,
indeed, she intended to participate in that war. I have the
best reasons for saying, that there is no other power in the
world with which England would not prefer to engage in a
war ; not that she fears us, for England fears no nation, nor
combination of nations, as all her history proves ; but such
a war would be, more than any other, disastrous to her com
mercial, manufacturing, and all other industrial pursuits.
England has no single motive for a war with us. It is
not of this country that she is jealous, but of the northern
despotism of Europe, and mainly of Russia, and has been
so since the seizure of the fortress of Aczaco, in 1788. And
well may England and all Europe tremble under the shadow
of that terrible military despotism now holding one-eighth
of the territory of the globe, and continually extending its
limits and its power. All the wars of the present century
which have weakened other European powers have result
ed in the aggrandizement of Russia. The government is
not only a despotism, but essentially a military despotism.
The studies in which her people are educated are princi
pally those of war and diplomacy. Russia and the United
States are antipodes and antagonists. The wise and far-

238 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [c'HAP. XXV.
seeing statesmen of England see this and calculate, as well
they may, upon our sympathy, in a conflict with Russia.
I repeat, England wants no war with us, although we may
force her into one. " That old and haughty nation proud
in arms " will never submit to injustice or insult.* But to
return from this perhaps uncalled-for digression to the
jealousy of England which is felt in Mexico.
A leading member of the Mexican cabinet once said to
me that he believed that the tendency of things was to
wards the annexation of Texas to the United States, and
that he greatly preferred that result either to the separate
independence of Texas or any connection or dependence
of Texas upon England ; that if Texas was an independent
power, other departments of Mexico would unite with it
either voluntarily or by conquest, and that if there was any
connection between Texas and England, that English manu
factures and merchandise would be smuggled into Mexico
through Texas to the utter ruin of the Mexican manufac
tures and revenue.
In one of my last interviews with Santa Anna I men
tioned this conversation. He said with great vehemence,
that he " would war for ever for the reconquest of Texas,
and that if he died in his senses his last words should be an
exhortation to his countrymen never to abandon the effort
to reconquer the country ;" and added, " You, Sir, know
very well that to sign a treaty for the alienation of Texas
would be the same thing as signing the death-warrant of
* Our worst enemy among the sovereigns of Europe is Louis Philippe,
the catspaw-king. Every people struggling to be free look to the United
States for light and aid, and it should be a source of pride to us that
every despot regards us with fear and hatred. Well may the treacherous
citizen-king exclaim with reference to America, with the fallen archangel
to the sun — " How ! oh sun, I hate thy beams."

CHAP. XXV.J PRESENT RELATIONS. 239
Mexico," and went on to say that " by the same process we
would take one after the other of the Mexican provinces until
we had them all." I could not, in sincerity, say that I thought
otherwise ; but I do not know that the annexation of Texas
will hasten that event. That our language and laws are
destined to pervade this continent, I regard as more certain
than any other event which is in the future. Our race has
never yet put its foot upon a soil which it has not only not
kept but has advanced. I mean not our English ancestors
only, but that great Teuton race from which we have both
descended. There seems to be a wonderful adaptation of the English
people to the purpose of colonization. The English colony
of convicts at New South Wales is a more prosperous
community than any colony of any other country. That
the Indian race of Mexico must recede before us, is quite as
certain as that that is the destiny of our own Indians,
who in a military point of view, if in no other, are supe
rior to them. I do not know what feelings towards us in
Mexico may have been produced by recent events, but
whatever they may be. they will not last long ; and I be
lieve that the time is not at all distant, when all the
northern departments of Mexico, within a hundred miles
of the city, will gladly take refuge under our more stable
institutions from the constant succession of civil wars to
which that country seems to be destined. The feeling is
becoming a pretty general one amongst the enlightened
and patriotic, that they are not prepared for free institu
tions, and are incapable themselves of maintaining them.
There is very great danger that the drama may close
there, as it has so often done in other countries, with
anarchy ending in despotism, — such is the natural swing of
the pendulum. The feeling of all Mexicans towards us,

240 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO. [cHAP. XXV.
until the revolution in Texas, was one of unmixed admira
tion ; and it is our high position amongst the nations,
and makes our mission all the more responsible, that every
people, struggling to be free, regard us with the same feel
ings — we are indeed the " looking-glass in which they
dress themselves." As a philanthropist, I have deeply de
plored the effects of the annexation of Texas upon the feel
ings of the people of all classes in Mexico, towards this
country, as diminishing their devotion to republican insti
tutions ; this should not be so, but it will be. Ours is
regarded as the great exemplar Republic in Mexico, as
everywhere else, and the act which they regard as such an
outrage, must have the prejudicial effect which I have indi
cated — still more will that effect be to be deprecated, if it
should throw Mexico into the arms of any great European
power. The northern departments of Mexico contain all the
mines, and more of the wealth of the country than any
others ; and they all hang very loosely to the confederacy ;
— they receive no earthly benefit from the central govern
ment, which in truth they only know in its exactions. All
the money collected from them is expended in the city and
elsewhere, and they have not even the satisfaction of
knowing that it is beneficially or even honestly used. The
security which would be given to property, as well as its
great enhancement in value, would be powerful induce
ments with all the owners of large estates which are now
comparatively valueless. The only obstacle that I know
of to such a consummation, infinitely desirable in my judg
ment, to the people of those departments, less so to us,
would be in the influence of the priesthood. They are
well aware that such a measure might very soon be fatal,
not only to their own supremacy, but that of the Catholic

CHAP. XXV.J PRESENT RELATIONS. 241!
religion also, — but they would have on the other hand a
powerful motive in the security which it would give them
to their large church property — no motive but interest
would have any influence with the people of Mexico, for
they certainly do not like us. Their feelings towards
us may be summed up in two words, jealousy and admiration,
— they are not going to declare war against us, I have
never doubted for a moment about that. Public opinion in
Mexico, to all practical purposes, means the opinion of the
army, and the very last thing in the world which the army
desires, is such a war, — nor do I believe that one Mexican^
in a thousand does,. however they may vaunt and bluster —
just as a frightened school-boy whistles as he passes a,
graveyard in the night. I have just as little idea that they
will negotiate now, or until matters are adjusted between.
England and this country. I doubt whether they will do'
so even then, for the government of Mexico owes our citi
zens as much money as they could expect to get from us
for their quit-claim to Texas, and Mexico, therefore, will
have no motive to negotiate as long as she is not pressed
for these claims ; and the restoration of official intercourse
is not of the slightest consequence to her. The few Mexi
cans who would come here, would be in no danger of being
oppressed, and nothing would be more convenient to-
Mexico than that we should have no minister there to
trouble the government with complaints.

CONCLUSION.

Whilst I was engaged in writing the last chapter, I
received through the newspapers the intelligence of ano
ther revolution in Mexico. Machiavelli remarks of the
Republic of Florence at one period of its history, that a
revolution every five years was a necessary part of the
-system. Without a radical reform, revolutions in Mexico
must unavoidably occur at much shorter periods.
Another profound remark of the same great man, whose
character presented the strange paradox of the apologist
and the instructor of tyrants, whilst his life was a martyr
dom to liberty, is "that every revolution contains the seeds
of'another and scatters them behind it." In Mexico, these
•seeds have been sown broadcast over the land, and sprout
:spontaneously. Whoever may be at the head of the gov
ernment, and however wisely and honestly it is adminis
tered, there can be no well grounded hope that revolutions
will not be constantly repeated without many and radie*!
reforms. Such administrations there have been in Mexico,
!but I have great fears that they are not likely to occur
again : whatever may be the checks and guarantees pro
vided in the constitution, those in power are practically
¦under no restraint, — and how pure soever the feelings and
purposes with which they enter into office, the temptations

CONCLUSION. 243
are too many and too powerful to be easily resisted ;
but, as things how are, there are difficulties which no
degree of virtue or talents can surmount. It is hot possible
to raise a sufficient revenue to support such an army, church
establishment, and civil list, with a population so poor, so
indolent and unproductive. The experiment of establish
ing free institutions upon a permanent basis in Mexico, is
full of difficulties, — they may yet be overcome, but the task
is a herculean one. The population consists of ignorant
Indians, debased by three centuries of worse than colonial
vassalage, and the Spanish oppressors of these Indians ; and
it is hard to say which condition — that of the oppressors or
the oppressed — most disqualifies for a just appreciation of
the great principles of civil liberty, and a firm and reso
lute purpose to establish free institutions. No people has
ever established or long maintained a free government
without an enthusiasm, a romantic and self-sacrificing en
thusiasm in the cause of liberty, that Greek feeling by
which men were taught that they were born for their coun
try. There is more of this feeling in Mexico than is gene
rally supposed, and more than might be expected consider
ing the demoralizing influences to which the country has so
long been subjected, the greatest of which has been the
constant succession of revolutions ; but I greatly fear that
this feeling is not often to be found in high places.
General Paredes is now at the head of the government.
That he is brave and patriotic I have never heard denied ;
but his whole life has been spent in the camp, and he must
be deficient in many of the qualities which are demanded
by his present responsible position. He must want the
necessary reading and information to lay the foundations
of a government wisely adapted to the peculiar circum
stances and condition of Mexico, and, besides this, he has

244, RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO.
always been suspected of a strong leaning towards monar
chy as the form of government best suited to his country
men. He has, however, passed a portion of his life in this
country, where he must have learned something both of
the theory and practical workings of free institutions ; may
he profit by the information thus acquired, and use it for
the good of his country, — his mission is a high one, and I
hope that he may execute it worthily. It was beyond
doubt in the power of Iturbide to have established a repub
lican government in Mexico, which would have been perma
nent. Deep and lasting is the execration which he deserves
for not having done it ; let General Paredes profit by his
example. If he would hearken to the counsel of one who
sincerely desires the welfare of Mexico, and who enter
tains for him individually feelings of kindness and respect,
I would advise him to call around him men of known and
unquestionable probity and patriotism, qualities much
more important than high talents. Such men there are in
Mexico. Gomez Farrias, Pedraza, Bustamente, Almonte,
if called to the administration, would give assurance to
every one that its purposes were pure and patriotic. Let
him not inquire into past political opinions or party divi
sions, the present crisis is one pf too portentous importance
to think of such things for a single moment ; let the army
be immediately reduced to not more than five thousand
men, — the privates would rejoice to be released from a ser
vice into which they were carried by force, and let the
officers be disbanded and made to go to work of some sort,
and for the first insurrectionary word or act let them be gar-
roted, not shot, that would be too good for them. The army
of the Vice-Regal government did not exceed ten thousand
men ; can it be that a despotism is less a government of
force than a Republic ? If the army was thus reduced and

CONCLUSION. 245
other reforms made, the burden would not be so heavy as
to require that the laws should be enforced by the bayo
net, or else the experiment of a republic might as well be
abandoned at once.
If there is anything true in the science of political econo
my — if any proposition not mathematical is susceptible of
demonstration, it is that the productive labor and resources
of Mexico are inadequate to the maintenance of such an
army, civil list, and church establishment. And with the
Mexican people the only panacea for evils of all sorts is a
new revolution. Without this and other reforms, nothing
is more certain than another revolution before two years,
probably before one, and those now in power will be hurled
from their places. All the civil wars of the Roman empire
after the time of Julius Caesar, originated with the generals
of the army. This must be so in Mexico, and even in a
greater degree from the inherent and constitutional tenden
cy of the Spanish race to civil wars. But for those wars
Spain would have been at this day the most extensive and
powerful empire in the world. The army of Mexico has
never done anything else than to make revolutions. There
is no single good which it has accomplished. What use
has Mexico for a standing army 1 No foreign power will
ever invade her. There is no motive, not even that of
plunder, to do so, for they are so impoverished that they have
nothing but the wealth of their churches, and surely no
civilized enemy would take that. They have fears that we
will assail them. I believe that those fears are groundless,
but if they are not, what earthly resistance could Mexico
offer ? A feeble woman and a strong man armed would
inadequately express the inequality of such a contest. Her
impotency and helplessness are her best protection. They
talk as they have done for years of invading Texas. No

246 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO.
such thing was attempted before the annexation of Texas
to this country ; and an invasion now only excites a smile
whenever it is spoken of. Not one man of sense in Mexico
either desires or anticipates such a thing. The real cause of
the last revolution was not, as was professed, because the
government of Herrera was opposed to invading Texas, but
because Paredes very much preferred to such an invasion
to return to Mexico and achieve a much easier and more
bloodless triumph over his own government. So it will
always be — an army may commence the march, but long
before it arrives on the frontier of Texas there will be a
new pronunciamento, and it will return and overthrow the
government ; for three months is quite long enough to make
any administration unpopular. We shall then have another
series of patriotic proclamations and high-sounding pro
mises to reconquer the revolted province, as it is still called.
General Paredes has just returned from the Texas frontier,
and no one knows better than he does that it would be im
possible to induce a Mexican army of fifty thousand men to
cross the line, and if they did and there were ten thousand
Americans there to meet them, not a Mexican would escape
except as a deserter.
There is another and equally indispensable reform which
I have little hope will be made — the curtailment of the
revenues and the power of the priesthood, and the free
toleration of all religions. Without this I have no hope
whatever for the country. When Charles I. of England
visited Spain he said that he had never liked the Catholic
religion, but that he had never detested it until he had
visited a Catholic country. I do not choose to say that,
but I will say that the prevalence of that religion to the
exclusion of all others, and the power of the priesthood as
it exists in Mexico, are, in my judgment, incompatible with

CONCLUSION. 247
a Republican form of government. Wherever such a state
of things exists, there is a power behind the throne greater
than the throne. The more ignorant the people, the greater
is this power, and hence the opposition of the Catholic
priesthood in other countries than Mexico to the diffusion
of knowledge. I have not visited any other Catholic coun
try, but in Mexico the subjection of fortune, mind and body
to an ignorant and licentious priesthood, is a crying and a
burning shame. But to say nothing of anything else, the
impositions levied by the church, in one form or other, are
more than the country can bear. It may be that no ad
ministration will be strong enough to cope with the power
of the priesthood. It is said that Santa Anna tried it and
was forced to yield. If this be so, they might as well
abandon at once all hope of free institutions. The two
things cannot exist together ; they never have, and they
never will.
The impression is a very generaf one, and is daily grow
ing more so, that the Mexican people are not prepared for
a republican form of government. It will be seen, however,
that by their very complex plan of elections, the right of
suffrage is very much restricted, giving to the government
a somewhat aristocratic character, — this in a great mea
sure removes the objection. The better classes of Mexi
cans are generally intelligent, and I think as patriotic as
the people of most other countries. Their revolutionary
history abounds with characters and incidents of disin
terestedness and virtue altogether romantic. They possess
many of the elements of a great people, and it is our pecu
liar and high duty to assist in their development — a duty
enforced alike by philanthropy and by policy. But it must
be confessed that the mass of the population are very much
unenlightened.

248 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO.
Nowhere is there greater enthusiasm for the mere words
" liberty and republic," of the true meaning of which they
have very little conception. In the language of Milton's
withering denunciation of his own countrymen —
" They bawl for freedom in their senseless mood,
And still revolt when truth would set them free —
Licence they mean when they cry liberty,
For who loves that must first be wise and good —
But from that mark how far they, rove we see,
For all this waste of wealth and loss of blood."
But it has been the apology of tyrants and usurpers in all
times, that the people were not capable of governing them
selves — indeed, it is said that no people are. If the people
of Mexico are not now prepared for a republican govern
ment, when will they be ? If a European Prince should be
in mercy sent them, or some military chieftain of their own
should again usurp supreme power, will they then be taught
the great principles of civil liberty and the rights of man,
so that at some future day they will be prepared to receive
free institutions ? I borrow from an elegant writer* the
best reply to all such arguments.
"Till men have been for some time free, they know not how to use
their freedom. The natives of wine countries are always sober. In
climates where wine is a rarity, intemperance abounds. A newly
liberated people may be compared to a northern army encamped on the
Rhine or the Xeres. It is said, that when soldiers, in such a situation,
first find themselves able to indulge without restraint in such a rare and
expensive luxury, nothing is to be seen but intoxication. Soon, how
ever, plenty teaches discretion ; and after wine has been for a few
months their daily fare, they become more temperate than they had ever
been in their own country. In the same manner the final and perma
nent fruits of liberty are wisdom, moderation, and mercy. Its immediate
* Macaulay.

CONCLUSION. 249
effects are often atrocious crime, conflicting errors, scepticism on points
the most clear, dogmatism on points the most mysterious. It is just at
this crisis that its enemies love to exhibit it — they pull down the
scaffolding from the half finished edifice ; they point to the flying dust,
the falling bricks, the comfortless rooms, the frightful irregularity of the
whole appearance ; and then ask in scorn, where the promised splendor
and comfort are to be found ? If such miserable sophisms were to pre
vail, there would never be a good house or government in the world.
" Ariosto tells a pretty story of a fairy, who, by some mysterious law of
her nature, was condemned to appear at certain seasons in the form of a
foul and poisonous snake, — those who injured her during the period of
her disguise were for ever excluded from participation in the blessings
which she bestowed. But to those who, in spite of her loathsome
aspect, pitied and protected her, she afterwards revealed herself in the
beautiful celestial form which was natural to her, accompanied their
steps, granted all their wishes, filled their houses with wealth, made
them happy in love, and victorious in war, — such a spirit is liberty. At
times she takes the form of a hateful reptile — she grovels, she hisses,
she stings, — but wo to those who in disgust shall venture to crush her !
And happy are those who, having dared to receive her in her degraded,
frightful shape, shall at length be rewarded by her in the time of her
beauty and her glory.
" There is only one cure for the evils which newly acquired freedom
produces — and that cure is freedom ! When a prisoner leaves his cell,
he cannot bear the light of day — he is unable to discriminate colors, or
recognize faces, — but the remedy is not to remand him into his dun
geon, but to accustom him to the rays of the sun. The blaze of truth
and liberty may at first dazzle and bewilder nations which have become
half blind in the house of bondage — but let them gaze on, and they will
soon be able to bear it. In a few years men learn to reason — the ex
treme violence of opinion subsides ; hostile theories correct each other ;
the scattered elements of truth cease to conflict, and begin to coalesce ; —
at length a system of justice and order is educed out of the chaos.
" Many politicians of our time are in the habit of laying it down as a
self-evident proposition, that no people ought to be free till they are fit to
use their freedom. The maxim is worthy of the fool in the old story
who resolved not to go into the water till he had learnt to swim ! If
13*

250 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO.
men are to wait for liberty, till they become wise and good in slavery,
they may indeed wait for ever."
It is entirely true that it is not by keeping men in dark
rooms that they are taught to discriminate colors, and it is
equally true that to expose suddenly to a bright light those
who have long been kept in darkness, is apt to destroy
the vision for ever ; so those who have long been kept in
the darkness of despotism should receive the light of free
dom cautiously and gradually. I have already expressed
the opinion that Mexico is not now prepared for institutions
as free as ours, but it by no means follows that she must be
consigned to hopeless despotism. It has been suggested,
and is even talked of in Mexico, that the only salvation
for the country is that a monarchy should be established
there, and some European prince placed upon the throne.
Better that the seven phials of the Apocalypse should be
poured out upon that devoted country. Such a measure
would involve the extermination of the Mexican people,
more particularly, if, as has been suggested, that prince
should be one of the sons of Louis Philippe. No united peo
ple can be conquered, and upon such an issue as that, there
would be little division of opinion, and never has there
existed a race of more unyielding obstinacy and indomi
table fortitude than either the Spanish or the Mexican.
The three sieges in history which have grown into proverbs
for the heroic fortitude with which they were character
ized, Numantia, Saguntum, and Saragossa, were all in
Spain, — and the siege of Mexico, more remarkable than
either, attests the constancy and fortitude of the Mexicans.
A much more probable result is the successful usurp
ation of some military chieftain of their own, but he must
be a man of high qualities. It may be that the different

CONCLUSION. 251
departments may slough off, and each form for a time a
separate government, a sort of San Marino, but not like
San Marino secure in its virtues from the contempt or
aggression of more powerful neighbors. The destiny of
Mexico is in her own hands ; the present state of things'
cannot last much longer, no people can long endure such
misrule, tumult, and anarchy. There must be a change ;
the present forms may continue for a time, but it will only
be a lingering agony. The path of liberty is thorny and
steep, not without much toil and many trials, has any
people obtained the summit to which it leads ; that Mexico
may do so, I sincerely hope, although it would almost seem
to be hoping against hope. I can only say, and I do so in all
sincerity and truth ; — may God send her a safe deliverance !

APPENDIX.

TRANSLATIONS FROM THE TRUE HISTORY OF THE CONQUEST OF
NEW SPAIN BY BERNAL DIAZ.
What the Marqms del Valle did after Ms return to Castile.
As his Majesty had now returned to Castile, from an expedition to chastise
the city of Ghent, he raised a large army to attack Algiers, and the Marquis
del Valle went to serve in it, and took with him his son and heir, and
also his son Don Martin Cortes by Donna Marina, and a large retinue of
esquires, servants, and horses. He embarked in a handsome galley with
Don Henrique Henriques : but it pleased God to raise so violent a storm
that nearly the whole royal armada was lost. The galley in which Cortes
sailed was also sunk. But he escaped with his children and the gentlemen
who accompanied him, but not without great risk of their lives — although
at such moments there is no time for reflection, when death was staring
them in the face, many of the servants of Cortes said that they saw him
bind around his arm some small bundles containing very precious stones
which, being a great lord, he had carried with him — and not because he
had any use for them. When he reached the shore in safety, he found
that he had lost all these valuable jewels, which were worth many dollars
in gold.
All of the Captains and Masters of the Camp who constituted the royal
council advised his Majesty to abandon the siege of Algiers, and sail for
Bexia — since they saw that our Lord had been pleased to raise such a
storm that they could do no more than they had done. Cortes was not
summoned to this council, nor was his opinion asked. But when he was
informed of it, he said that if his Majesty were pleased to entrust the
matter to him, that — with the aid of God — the good fortune of our Caesar,

APPENDIX. 253
and the soldiers which they then had — he would take Algiers. He then
uttered many praises of his captains and soldiers who had been with him
in the conquest of Mexico — " that we were the men to endure hunger and
fatigues ; and, although wounded and toil-worn, to march wherever we
were ordered, perform heroic achievements, and storm every city and
fortress, although at the imminent peril of our lives." When many of the
gentlemen of the expedition heard this, they said to his Majesty that it
would have been better to have invited Cortes to the council, and that it
was a great mistake not to have done so — others said that the reason that
the Marquis was not invited to the council was, that they knew that his
opinion would be opposed to raising the siege ; and that, at such a moment
of imminent peril, there was no time for councils, except as to the means
of placing in safety his Majesty and the gentlemen of his retinue, who
were in the greatest danger ; and that they might afterwards return and
renew the siege of Algiers : — and so they departed for Buxia.
Let us now leave this subject, and speak of the return to Castile from
this toilsome expedition.
The Marquis was weary of remaining in Castile and attending upon the
court : and on his return from Buxia being very much broken down by the
toils of the expedition — was greatly desirous of returning to New Spain,
if he could obtain permission to do so. He had sent to Mexico for his
oldest daughter, Donna Maria Cortes, whom he had contracted in marriage
to Don Alvaro Perez Osorio, the heir of the marquis of Astorga, and had
promised her as a marriage portion more than a hundred thousand ducats
in gold, besides a large amount in jewels and other articles ; and he went
to Seville to receive her.
The marriage was broken off, as many gentlemen said, from the fault of
Don Alvaro Perez Osorio — which so much enraged the Marquis as to
bring on a fever, accompanied with dysentery — and, as he daily grew
worse, he determined to leave Seville, to relieve himself from the impor
tunities of those who had business with him, and he retired to the town
of Castilleja de la Cuesta, for the purpose of attending to his soul, and
making his will : which, when he had done, and received the holy sacra
ment, our Lord Jesus Christ was pleased to remove him from this trouble
some world. He died on the 2d of December, in the year 1547. His body
was carried with great pomp and a large procession of the clergy, and gen
tlemen in mourning, and buried in the chapel of the Dukes of Medina Si-
donia. His bones were afterwards carried to New Spain, and were, ac
cording to the directions of his will, deposited in a sepulchre in Cuyoacan
or Tezcuco, I am not certain which. I will now state what I think his age
was, from facts which I will state. The year in which we sailed from Cuba

254 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO.
for New Spain was that of 1519. He then frequently said in conversation
with us, his companions of the expedition, that he was thirty-four years
old ; to which add twenty-eight more, until he died, and it makes sixty-
two. The legitimate children which he left were — Don Martin Cortes, the
present Marquis ; Donna Maria Cortes, who, I have before said, was con
tracted in marriage to Don Alvaro Perez Osorio, the heir of the Mar
quisate of Astorga, and who afterwards married the Count Luna de Leon ;
Donna Juanna, who married Don Hernando Henriques, the heir of the
Marquisate of Tariffa ; Donna Catalina Arillano, who died in Seville. These
all came to Castile with their mother, the Marchioness Donna JoanaZu-
niga, accompanied by her brother, the friar Don Antonio de Zuniga.
There was another daughter, who was in Mexico — Donna Leonor Cortes,
— who married one Juanes de Tolosa, a Biscaiynian, who was worth more
than a hundred thousand dollars, besides rich silver mines. The young
marquis was much enraged at this marriage when he arrived in New
Spain. He had also two illegitimate sons. Don Martin Cortes, whose
mother was Donna Marina, and who was a knight of the Order of Santiago,
and Luis Cortes, also a knight of Santiago, and whose mother was Dona
Hermosilla. He left also three illegitimate daughters ; one by an Indian
woman of Cuba, and the others by Mexican women. He gave to these
illegitimate daughters handsome dowries ; for in their infancy he gave
them some valuable Indian villages called Chinanta.
As to the provisions of his will I cannot speak positively, but I am sure
that they were wise and proper, for he had ample time for that purpose, and
as he was then an old man I do not doubt that it was done wisely. To relieve
his conscience he ordered a hospital to be built in Mexico, and a monastery
in his Town of Cuyoacan, which is two leagues from Mexico, and that his
bones should be carried to New Spain. He left ample funds to carry into
execution all the provisions of his will which were many and good, and
such as became a good Christian, all of which I do not enumerate, both to
avoid prolixity and because I do not remember them all. The motto and
blazon on his arms were those of a very valiant gentleman and expressive
of his heroic actions, but as they were in Latin, and I do not understand
the Latin language, I shall not attempt to give them. The heads of seven
captive kings were engraved on his escutcheon, and as I understand it,
these seven captive Kings were Montezuma the great lord of Mexico,
Cacamatqui, the nephew of Montezuma, and the great lord of Tezcuco,
Coadlavaca the lord of Iztapalapa and other villages, the lord of Tacuba,
the lord of Cuyoacan, and another great Cacique of two provinces called
Tulapa which were adjoining Matalcuigo. This last, it was said, was the

APPENDIX. 255
son of a sister of Montezuma, and a very near heir to the throne of Mexico.
The last of these kings was Guatemuz, who defended his provinces and
city when we conquered them. These were the seven Caciques which
were engraved upon his arms and escutcheon,*for I do not remember
any other kings who were at any time prisoners, as I have stated in former
chapters. I will now pass on and describe the person and disposition of
Cortes. He was of good person and stature, well proportioned and muscu
lar ; the color of his face was somewhat of an ashy paleness, and not very
pleasant to look upon. If his face had been somewhat longer it would
have been better ; the expression of his eyes was at times amorous, at other
times grave-; his beard thin, brown and stiff; his hair the same ; his breast
full, and his shoulders well formed ; he was thin and had a small stomach ;
a little bow-legged, with well shaped legs and thighs. He was a fine
horseman, and was dexterous in the use of all kinds of arms, both on foot
and on horseback, but above all he had the heart and spirit which is of most
importance. I have heard it said, that when a young man in the island
of Hispaniola, he was somewhat irregular in his amours, and that he was
sometimes engaged in duels with dexterous swordsmen, in all of which he
was victorious ; he had the scar of a swordcut on his under lip, which
he had received in some of these rencontres, which upon close examina
tion could be seen, but he kept it covered with his beard. In his pre
sence, movements, conversation, eating, dress, in everything he showed
the great lord.
His clothes' were of the fashion of the time, he cared nothing for silks
nor damasks nor satins, but always dressed neatly and plainly ; neither did
he wear large chains of gold, but a small one of gold of the finest work
manship with a small medallion attached to it, on one side of which was
an image of our lady the holy Virgin Mary with her precious Son in her
arms, and an inscription in Latin, — on the other side an image of Saint
John the Baptist, with another Latin inscription under it ; he also wore on
his finger a costly diamond ring. On his cap, which according to the
fashion of the time was of velvet, he wore another medallion, I do not
remember what face was engraved upon it, nor the inscription. Later in
life he wore a plain cap without the medallion.
The furniture of his house, his retinue and servants, were those of a great
lord ; with major-domos, pages, &c, and many large vessels of silver and
of gold. He ate heartily at the middle of the day, and drank a half-pint glass
of wine and water ; the only other meal which he took was supper. He
cared nothing for delicate or costly dishes, except on occasions when such
things were necessary, and then he did not regard the cost of them.
He was always very affable with all the captains and soldiers, especially

256 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO.
with those of us who first sailed with him from Cuba. He was a good
Latin scholar, and I have heard it said that he was a Bachelor of Laws,
and whenever he conversed with learned men and Latin scholars the con
versation was always in Ifatln. He was something of a poet, and sometimes
wrote couplets ; his conversation was agreeable and very polished ; he
prayed every morning and heard mass with devotion, he had for his advo
cate and intercessor our lady the Virgin Mary, as every good Christian
should have ; he also had for his saints, St. Peter, St. James, and St. John
the Baptist. He was very charitable ; whenever he swore he would say, " on
my conscience ;" when he was angry with any of our soldiers he would say,
" oh ! may you repent of this ;" when very much excited, the veins of his
neck and forehead would swell, and he would, sometimes, when greatly
enraged, throw off his mantle, but he was never known to utter an injuri
ous or offensive word to any captain or soldier. He was extremely patient
and forbearing, which he had great occasion to be, for the soldiers would
often say inconsiderately most offensive things, but he never replied with
harshness or unkindness ; the most that he would say, was, " Be silent, or
go in God's name, but for the future have a care what you say or it will
cost you dear, for I will punish you."
He was very obstinate, especially in all military matters ; for he persist
ed in all the ill-advised combats into which he led us, when we made the
excursion in the lake to reconnoitre Mexico ; and in the battles of
Pinoles, which are to this day called the pinoles of the Marquis, notwith
standing all the counsel and advice which we gave him to the contrary.
We all advised him against attempting to ascend to the fortress on the top
of those Pinoles (craggy mountains), but that we should surround them,
and not expose us to the large rocks which they would hurl over the sides
of the mountain upon us, and against which we could not defend ourselves,
and that to attempt it would expose us all to almost certain destruction ;
but he persisted in his own course against the opinions of us all. We had
to commence the ascent, and great was the danger to which we were ex
posed. Ten or twelve of our soldiers were killed, and all of us more or
less bruised and wounded, without accomplishing anything until other
counsels were adopted. And then again : in the expedition to Honduras,
when Christoval de AH revolted with the armada under his command, I
more than once advised that we should take the route through the moun
tains, but he persisted in taking that along the coast. In this he was again
mistaken ; for that which I recommended passed the whole way through
an inhabited country. This will be understood by every one who has
passed through that country. From Guagacualco the road is plain and
direct to Chiapas, thence to Guatemala, and from Guatemala to Naco,

APPENDIX. 257
where Christoval de Aii then was. But I will say no more on that sub
ject. When we first arrived at Villa Rica, and commenced building the-
fortress, the first man who struck a spade in the ground to lay the founda
tion was Cortes, and in all our battles he was in the midst of us. The
first which I will here mention were the battles in Tabasco, where he
commanded the cavalry and fought bravely. I have already stated how he
labored in constructing the fortress in Villa Rica. And then his sinking
the thirteen vessels — which was done by the advice of our valiant captains
and brave soldiers, and not as Gomara relates it. In the three battles with
the Tlascalans he showed himself an able and valiant captain. And again :
our entry into the city of Mexico with only four hundred soldiers, is.
worthy of admiration ; and the audacity of seizing Montezuma in his palace,.
surrounded as he was by so many of his guards, which was also done by
the advice of all our captains and soldiers. Another thing which should
not be forgotten was the burning before the palace of Montezuma some of
his captains who were concerned in the killing of our captain, Juan Esca-
lande, and seven soldiers. I do not remember the names of these Mexican
captains, but it is a matter of no consequence. And what an act of daring
courage was it to march against Pamphilo Narvaez, the captain sent by
Diego Velasquez, with thirteen hundred men, ninety of them cavalry, and
as many more armed with muskets, when we had only two hundred and
sixty-six men without horses, muskets, or cross-bows, and no other wea
pons than pikes, swords, and daggers, and by all the arts and stratagems of
war we defeated Narvaez and made him prisoner. I will pass on to our
second entry into the city of Mexico, when we went to the relief of Pedro
Alvarado, when we ascended into the lofty temple of their idol, Huichilo-
bos. There again Cortes showed himself a most valiant man ; but neither
his prowess nor our own availed us anything. Then again : in the very
celebrated battle of Atumba, where all the flower of the bravest Mexican
warriors were awaiting us with the hope of destroying us all, when Cortes
attacked the standard-bearer of Guatemuz and forced him to lower his ban
ner, and thereby struck down the spirit of the Mexican squadrons which
had been fighting most valiantly. In this, next to God, he received the
most important aid from our brave captains Pedro Alvarado, Gonzalas de
Sandoval, Christoval de Aii, Diego de Ardas,and Andres de Tapia. There
were other brave soldiers, but as they had no horses, I do not name them.
Some of the soldiers of Narvaez also did us good service. He who killed
the Mexican standard-bearer was Juan de Salamanca, a native of Ontive-
ros, and he took from him a rich plume, which he gave to Cortes. I will
pass on to the battle of Iztapalapa, in which Cortes was engaged with us,
and where also he bore himself like an able captain. And then again at

258 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO.
Suchimelico, where the Mexican squadrons pulled him from his horse, and
he was rescued by some of our Tlascalan friends, but more than all by our
brave soldier, Christoval de Olea, a native of old Castile. Let the reader
take notice there was one named Christoval de Aii, but this was Christoval
de Olea. I mention this that it may not be said by any one that I have
made a mistake. Cortes also showed himself » very brave man in our
second siege of Mexico when the Mexicans defeated him on the narrow
causeway, and carried off and sacrificed sixty-two of our soldiers, and had
wounded Cortes in the leg, and had him in their clutches, and were car
rying him also to the sacrifice, when it pleased God that by his own strength
: and good fighting, and the timely aid of this same Christoval de Olea, who
ihad before rescued him at Suchimelico, Cortes was enabled to mount his
'horse, and his life was again saved.* But the brave Olea was himself left
¦ dead on the causeway ; and even now while I am writing, my heart melts
at the- remembrance of him, and it seems to me that I see him with his no-
'ble presence and great soul, just as when he so often aided us in battle, and
it makes me sad, for he was a native of my own country, and the kinsman
'of my kinsmen.
I shall mention no more of the heroic actions of. our MaTquis Del Valle,
ifor they were so numerous that I should not soon come to an end in relat
ing them. I will now speak of his temper and disposition. He was very
'fond of games at cards and dice, and when he was engaged in such games
he was very affable and pleasant, and would indulge in jests and pleasanti
ries, as is usual with those who game. He was extremely vigilant in
all our campaigns during the conquest, and would often go the rounds at
night and challenge the sentinels, and would go into the quarters of the
soldiers, and if he found any of them sleeping with their armor or sandals
off, he would reprimand them, saying " that it was a mean sheep that felt
tthe weight of its own wool."
When we went to Honduras I observed one thing which I had never
noticed before, which was, that after he had eaten, if he did not sleep a
tshort time he became sick at the stomach. To avoid this we placed an
awning under a tree or some other shade, and however hot the sun might
!be shining, or hard it might be raining, he would take a short sleep and
ithen resume the march. During the wars of the conquest he was very thin
and had a small stomach, but after his return from Honduras he became
quite fat. I noticed also that his beard was again brown, although before
it had been somewhat grey. I would notice also that he was extremely
* The only liberty which I have taken with the original, is to transfer to this paragraph
one line which occurs a few pages afterwards. In all other respects the translation is
literal and exact.

APPENDIX. 259
liberal in the expenditure of money until his second return from Castile,
in the year 1540, but that after that he was considered parsimonious. He
had a law-suit with one of his servants whose name was Ulloa, because he
refused to pay him his wages. And we may observe that after he had
completed the conquest of New Spain he had many troubles and difficul
ties, and expended much money in the expeditions which he undertook
He did not succeed either in his expedition to California, nor in that to
Hiqueras.nor in anything else after he finished the conquest of the country,
perhaps because his rewards were reserved for him in heaven, and such I
believe was the case, for he was a worthy gentleman, and very much de
voted to the Virgin and to St. Peter and all the other saints. May God
pardon him his sins and me mine, and grant me a happy end, which is of
more importance than all our conquests and victories over the Indians.
How they had concerted a plan in this city of Cholula to destroy us all by the orders of
Montezuma ; and what was done in the matter.
Although we had been received with all the solemnity and good-will which
I have described, it afterwards appeared that Montezuma had sent orders to
his ambassadors who were there with us, to make arrangements with the
Cholulans, that in conjunction with a squadron of twenty thousand men
which he had sent, that they should make war upon us, and that they should
attack us by day and by night, and that they should send as many of us as
they could tied to Mexico. He also sent them many presents of clothes and
jewels, and a drum of gold. He also promised the Papas (priests) of that
city, that they should have twenty of us to sacrifice to their idols. Every
thing was thus arranged, and the warriors whom Montezuma sent had ar
rived, and were quartered in some small houses about half a league from the
city of Cholula ; others were concealed in the houses in the city, all prepared
with arms in their hands. They had also erected breastworks on the azoteas
(roofs of the houses), and had dug ditches across the streets to obstruct the
passage of our horses. Some of the houses were even filled with large
rods, to scourge us with, and collars and cords made of dressed skins With
which to tie us, and take us to Mexico ; but our Lord God was pleased to
order things better, and all their calculations were reversed.
We were all in our quarters, as I have before stated ; and, although they
furnished us with abundance of excellent provisions, and seemed to be
altogether friendly, we did not omit any of those precautions which it had
always been our good custom to observe. The third day they brought us
nothing to eat, nor did any of the caciques or papas make their appear
ance ; and if any of the Indians came to see us, they kept at a distance, and
would not approach near to us, and were laughing as at some jest. When

260 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO.
our captain saw this, he directed our interpreters, Donna Marina and
Aguilar, to tell the ambassadors of Montezuma to order the caciques to
bring us something to eat. All that they brought us was wood and water,
and the old men who brought them said that they had no maize. They
also stated that other ambassadors from Montezuma had that day arrived,
and joined those who were already there ; and they said, without any con
cealment or respect for us whatever, that Montezuma had ordered that we
should not go to his city, for he had nothing for us to eat, and that they
desired to return immediately to Mexico with our answer.
Although this conversation was not agreeable to Cortes, he replied in
bland words to the ambassadors, and said, that he wondered greatly that so
great a lord as Montezuma should adopt so many different resolutions,
and begged that they would not return until the next day, for that he then
intended to go and see him, and would do whatever he ordered. And it
seems to me that he also gave them some strands of beads. The ambassa
dors said that they would wait. Our captain then ordered us to assemble,
and said to us — " These people seem to be very much excited, and it
behooves us to be very much on the alert, or some evil will befall us." He
then sent for the principal cacique, whose name I do not remember, or that
he should send him some of the head men of the city. He replied, that he
was sick, and could not come, and that he would not send the others.
Our captain seeing this, ordered that we should induce, by kind words,
two of the papas to come to him, many of whom were then assembled in
an idol temple near to our quarters; we brought two of them without
offering them any disrespect whatever. Cortes ordered that a chalchihui
stone, very much like emeralds, and held in great estimation amongst
them, should be given to each of them, and asked them, in the kindest
manner — " Why it was that the caciques and papas were frightened at his
sending . for them, and had refused to come to him." As it appeared, one
of these papas was a very distinguished person amongst them, and had
power and authority in nearly all the idol temples of that city — something
like a bishop amongst them — and was held in great reverence by them.
He replied that the papas had no fears of us, and that he would go and see
the caciques and head men, and that, after he had talked to them, he did
not doubt that they would come. Cortes told him to go at once, and that
his companion should remain until he returned. The papa went and
summoned the cacique and head men, and they immediately came with him
to the quarters of Cortes.
He then asked them, through our interpreters, Donna Marina and
Aguilar, what had caused their fears, and why they had not brought
us the usual supplies of provisions; and told them that if they were

APPENDIX. 261
displeased with our remaining in their city, that we would depart the
next morning for Mexico, to see and converse with their Lord Montezuma,
and that they must have temames (porters) ready to carry our baggage and
cannon, but that they must immediately bring us something to eat. The
cacique was so confused that he did not know what to say. He said, that
as to food, they would seek for it, but that their Lord Montezuma had
ordered them not to supply us with any, nor to allow us to advance any
farther. Whilst engaged in this conversation, three friendly Indians of
Cempoal said privately to Cortes, that they had discovered near our quar
ters some ditches cut across the street, and so covered over with wood and
earth, that they could not be seen but upon close examination ; that they
had removed the earth from the top of one of these ditches, and found it
full of stakes with very sharp points, for the purpose of killing our horses
as they attempted to cross them ; and that on the azoteas they had con
structed a kind of breastwork of clay, and had large supplies of stones also
All of which was certainly well arranged.
At this moment eight of our Tlascalan friends, who had not been allow
ed to enter the city of Cholula, came to Cortes and said, " Look you,
Malinche, there is something wrong going on in this city, for we know
that they have this night sacrificed, to the God of war, seven persons,
five of them children, that he may give them the victory over you, — we
have also noticed that they have removed all their property, and their
women and children out of the city." As soon as Cortes heard this, he
ordered them to go forthwith to their Tlascalan captains and tell them to
be prepared and ready at a moment's warning, whenever he should send
for them. He then turned to the Caciques, and Papas and told them to
have no fears, nor be in any degree disturbed ; that they should obey and
not break their faith with him, and that if they did he would chastise
them ; that he had already told them that we desired to depart in the
morning, and that he required that they should supply him with two
thousand warriors as the Tlascalans had done. They replied that they
would supply him both with the warriors which he required, and the
Tamemes to carry his baggage and cannon ; and asked permission to go
and make the necessary preparations ; and were very happy when they
left us, for they calculated that with the warriors whom they were to sup
ply us, and the squadrons which Montezuma had sent, and which were
(hen waiting outside of the city, that not one of us could escape alive, by
reason of the ditches across the streets over which the horses could not
pass, and the breastworks and other defences which they had erected.
They directed their Mexican allies to be well prepared, for that we were
to depart the next day with two thousand warriors which they were to

262 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO.
supply us, and that as we carelessly pursued our march that they could
seize upon their prey and tie us ; that of this they were certain, for that
they had sacrificed to their idols who had promised them the victory over
us. Let us leave them in this security and return to our Captain, who
was anxious to ascertain all the particulars of the plot and what was going
on. He told Donna Marina to take two more Chalchihuis to the two
Papas with whom he had before conversed, and in kind words to say to
them that Malinche desired to converse with them, again, and that she
should bring them with her. Donna Marina went and spoke to them in that
manner which she so well knew how to do, and gave them the presents ;
they returned with her immediately. Cortes told them to tell him truly
everything that they knew, that they were priests of idols and chiefs in
the city, and that it did not become them to lie, and that whatever they
might communicate to him, should on no account be disclosed, that we
should leave their city the next day, — he also promised to give them a
large quantity of clothes. They then told Cortes that the truth was, that
their Lord Montezuma knew that we were going to his city ; that he every
day formed different resolutions, and that his mind was still in doubt what
to do; that sometimes he would order them, that if we came there to re
ceive and treat us with great honor, and that we should proceed to his
city. At other times he would send to say to them that it was not his will
that we should go to his city, and that now the last advice which he had re
ceived from his idols, Tezcatepuca and Huichilobos, which he regards
with great devotion, was to kill us all there in Cholula, or carry us tied
to Mexico ; that he had the day before sent twenty thousand warriors, one
half of whom were already in the city, and the other half near there sta
tioned in some ravines ; that they were already advised of our departure
the next day, and the defences which had been constructed in the city,
and the two thousand Cholulan warriors that were to accompany us, and
of the agreement which had been entered into ; that twenty of us were to
be left to be sacrificed to the idols of Cholula. Upon hearing all this,
Cortes gave them mantas finely worked, and besought them to speak of
what had passed to no one, and that if they did, on our return from Mexi
co we would kill them ; that he desired to leave Cholula very early in the
morning, and requested that they would bring all the chiefs to talk with
him. That night Cortes called a council to determine on the course to be pur
sued, for he had many wise men and prudent councillors ; and, as in like
cases it often happens, some advised that we should change our route and
go by Guaxacingo ; others said that we should endeavor to preserve peace

APPENDIX. 263
by all possible means, and that we should return to Tlascala ; others of us
gave as our opinions that if We allowed such treacheries as this to pass
without punishment, that wherever we went we might expect the same,
or even worse ; and that as we were then quartered in that large city with
an abundant supply of provisions, that we should make the war there, as
they would feel it more severely in their houses than in the country ad
joining, and that we should immediately summon the Tlascalans to enter
the city. All at length came into this last opinion, and it was arranged in
this manner : Cortes had already told them that we were to depart the next
morning, and we pretended to be packing up our baggage, which was little
enough, and that we should fall upon the Indian warriors in some large
patios (coUrt-yards) surrounded by high walls which were in our quarters,
which they well deserved, and that we should dissemble with the am
bassadors of Montezuma and tell them that those wicked Cholulans had
endeavored to make us believe that the treachery which they were about
to practise upon us Was by the orders of Montezuma and themselves, his .
ambassadors, which we did not believe, and we besought them to remain
in the quarters of our Captain, and that they should hold no farther con
versation with the people of that city, and thus give us no reason to sus
pect that they were acting in concert With the Cholulans in their treach
erous scheme, apd that they might go with us as guides.
They said that neither they nor their Lord Montezuma knew anything
of the matters which we had stated; and, although they objected to it, we
placed guards over them, so that they should not go out without permission.
We did not desire that Montezuma should know that we were aware that he
had himself ordered these things. That night we were all armed and pre
pared at all points — the horses saddled and bridled, with large guards posted,
and the officers frequently going the rounds. This was always our custom,
but we felt certain that that night the Cholulans, as well as the Mexican
squadrons, would be upon us. An old Indian woman, who was the wife of a
cacique, and who was informed of the plot which had been laid for our
destruction, came privately to Donna Marina, and seeing that she was
young, handsome, and rich, she advised her to go with her to her house, if
she would escape with her life, for that most certainly we Would all be
killed that night, or the next day, for so it had been ordered and arranged
by the great Montezuma ; that the Mexicans and the people of that city had
united for that purpose, and all of us who were not killed were to be tied
and taken to Mexico; and that, knowing this, and from the commiseration
which she felt for Donna Marina, she had come to give her the informa
tion, and that she must get whatever she had and go with her to her
house, and that she would then marry her to her son, the brother of an-

264 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO.
other boy which the old woman brought, with her. Donna Marina, who
was wary and sagacious in everything, said to her — " Oh, my mother !
how much I thank you for what you have told me. I would go this
moment, but I have no one whom I can trust to carry my mantas and jewels
of gold, which are of great value. Wait a short time, you and your son,
and this very night we will go ; for you see that these Teules are now
watching us."
The old woman believed what she said, and remained conversing with
her. Donna Marina asked in what manner we were all to be killed, and
how and when the plot was formed. The old woman told her, and it was
neither more nor less than what the two Papas had said before. Donna
Marina asked the old woman how it was that she had obtained her infor
mation, as the plot had been so secretly arranged. The old woman said
that her husband, who was one of the captains in the city, had told her,
and that he was now engaged in rallying his men to join the Mexicans in
the ravines outside the city ; and that she believed that they were then
assembled, awaiting our approach. She said that she had been informed
of the plot three days before, when they had sent to her husband a gilded
drum, and to the commanders of three other companies rich mantas and
jewels of gold, to induce them to deliver us all to their lord, the great
Montezuma. When Donna Marina heard all this, she dissembled with the old woman
and said, " Oh, how I am rejoiced to hear that your son, to whom I am to be
married, is one of the head men of the city. We have been talking to
gether a long time and I do not wish that they should suspect us, and
therefore, mother, wait here a little while and I will begin to bring my
baggage, for I cannot bring it all at once, and you and your son and my
brother can guard it, and then we will go." The old woman believed all
this, and she and her son seated themselves quietly. Donna Marina went
in all haste to Cortes, and told him all that had passed between herself and
the old Indian woman. Cortes immediately ordered that she should be
brought to him, and interrogated her as to all the particulars of the plot,
when she told him the same story, neither more nor less than what the
Papas had told him. He ordered a guard to be placed over her. When
morning came it was a sight worth seeing, the haste and bustle of the
Caciques and Papas in collecting their warriors, their smiles and happi
ness, as if they already had us in the net and snare, which they had pre
pared for us. They brought more Indian Warriors than we had asked for,
so many that the large patios in our quarters could not contain them all,
very large as they were ; and they have been preserved to this day in

APPENDIX. 265
memory of the past. Although it was very early in the morning when these
Cholulan warriors arrived at our quarters, we Were prepared at all points
for the work we had to do. The soldiers who were armed with sword and
shield, were placed at the entrance of the patio, so that not a single In
dian, who was armed, should be allowed to escape. Our Captain was
mounted on his horse, as were several of our soldiers who acted as his
guard. When he saw that th'e Caciques and Papas had come so early in
the morning with their warriors, he said, " how impatient these traitors
are to see us in the ravines and to feed upon our flesh, but our Lord will
order things better !" He then inquired for the two Papas who had dis
closed the plot, and they told him they were at the door of the patio with
some other Caciques, who desired to enter. He then ordered Aguilar, our
interpreter, to tell them to return to their houses as he had no use for them
at that time. This he did because they had done a good work for us, and
he did not desire that they should suffer for it, but that their lives might
be saved. Cortes was mounted on his horse and Donna Marina by his side.
He then addressed the Caciques and Papas, asked them why it was that
having given them no offence, they had meditated to have killed us all the
night before ? What had we done or said to them to induce them to com
mit this treachery ? We had only admonished them as we had done the
people of all the towns through which we had passed, not to be wicked,
nor sacrifice men, nor adore idols, nor eat human flesh, nor commit unna
tural crimes, but to live virtuously, and had explained to them the things
touching our holy faith ; and all this without, in anything, having oppressed
them. He asked them why they had prepared so many scourges and col
lars and cords, which were deposited in a house near one of their idol
temples ; and why, within the last three days, they had constructed so
many defences upon their azoteas, and dug so many pits and ditches in the
streets ; and why they had sent their women and children and property,
out of the city; what good had they promised themselves from this
treachery, all of which they had not been able to conceal from him.
That they had not even supplied him with provisions, but had brought
him water and wood in mockery, saying that they had no maize ; that he
very well knew that they had their warriors concealed in some ravines near
by, expecting that we would pass that way on our route to Mexico, and
that they were there awaiting us to execute the treachery which they had
planned ; that in recompense for our having come amongst them as brothers,
and told them what our Lord God and our king had commanded us, that
they desired to kill us and eat our flesh, and had already prepared their
pots and salt, pepper and tomatoes ; that if they had 'desired this, that it
would have been better to have made war upon us like good and brave
13

266 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO.
Warriors in the field, as their neighbors the Tlascalans had done ; that he
knew very well all that had been done in their city, and that they had even
promised to their idol, the God of war, that twenty of us should be sacri
ficed to him ; and that three nights before that time they had sacrificed
seven Indians to this idol, that he might give them the victory over us ;
that he was a wicked and false idol, and had no power against us ; and that
all their wickedness and treacheries would in the end fall upon their own
heads. All this he said to Donna Marina, who made them understand it
perfectly. When they heard all this the Caciques and Papas and captains
said, that it was all true, but that the fault was not theirs, for they had
been ordered to do what they had done by the ambassadors of Montezuma,
who had been so commanded by their master. Cortes told them the royal
laws required that such treasons should be punished, and that for this,
their crime, they had to die, and he immediately ordered a musket to be
fired, which was the signal which we had agreed upon for that purpose,
and we gave them a lesson which they will remember for ever, for we
killed* many of them, others were burnt alive, to show them that their false
idols could do nothing for them.
It was not two hours before our Tlascalan friends arrived whom we had
left in the fields outside of the city ; they fought very bravely in the streets
where others of the Cholulans attempted to prevent their entrance, whom
they very soon defeated, and went through the city robbing and making pri
soners of all whom they met. The next day other companies of the Tlas
calans arrived, and did them much injury, for they were very hostile to the
Cholulans. When Cortes and the rest of the captains and soldiers saw
this, out of commiseration for them he restrained the Tlascalans from
committing any other outrages upon them ; Cortes ordered Pedro Alvarado
and Christoval de Oli to bring all the Tlascalans to him — and they made
no delay in coming — when he ordered the captains to get all their men
together and to return to their quarters outside of the city and to remain
there, which they did, leaving none with us but our friends of Cempoal.
At this moment there came to us certain Caciques and Papas of Cholula,
who belonged to different departments of the city, and who said that they
had not been concerned in the plot — and it may have been so, as it was a
very large city — and they besought Cortes that he would pardon them as
the traitors had paid for their crime with their lives ; then came the two
Papas our friends, who had discovered the secret to us, and the old woman
the wife of the captain, and who desired to be the step-mother of Donna
Marina (which I have before related), and besought Cortes that he would
pardon them. Cortes seemed very much enraged, and ordered that the
ambassadors of Montezuma should be sent for, he who had been detained

APPENDIX. 267
in our quarters, and said that although the whole city deserved to be des
troyed, and that all of them should forfeit their lives, yet out of respect for
their lord, Montezuma, whose vassals they were, he pardoned them, but
that for the future their conduct must be good, and that if another thing
like the past happened they should all die for it. He then sent for the
Tlascalans, and ordered them to release all their prisoners, for that the
Cholulans had already been sufficiently punished. The Tlascalans were
very unwilling to do so, for they said that the Cholulans deserved much
more at their hands for the many injuries and treacheries which they had
committed against them, but they obeyed the order. The Tlascalans
were now rich in the booty which they had acquired in gold and mantas,
cotton, salt, and slaves.
Besides this, Cortes brought about a peace and friendship between the
Tlascalans and Cholulans, which, as I have heard, has never since been
broken. He also commanded the Caciques and Papas that their people
should return to their city, and again open their shops and markets, and
that they need have no fears, as he then had no resentments against them.
They replied, that in five days their people should return to their houses.
They were at that time in great terror, and said that they were afraid that
Cortes would nominate another Cacique, as he who had formerly been Ca
cique was engaged in the treacherous plot, and was killed in the patio.
He asked them to whom the office descended, and they answered, to one
of the brothers of the former Cacique ; and he immediately appointed him
until he should order otherwise.
Besides this, after they had returned to the city andfelt secure, he sum
moned the Caciques, Papas, captains, and head men, and explained to them
the things touching our holy faith, and told them that they must cease to
worship idols ; that they must no more sacrifice human beings, nor eat their
flesh, nor rob one another, nor commit any other of the wickednesses which
they were accustomed to do ; and that they should consider that their idols
had deceived them ; that they were wicked and false, and did not speak the
truth ; and to remember the lies which they had told them only five days
before, when they had sacrificed to them five human victims, and they had
promised them the victory over us ; and that everything which they said,
either to their Papas or to themselves, was wicked and false ; and he be
sought them to pull them down and break them to pieces, and that if they
did not wish to do it, that we would ; and that they must make something
like an altar, and we would place a cross upon it. They made the place
for the cross, and said that they would remove their idols, but delayed doing
it, although frequently ordered to do so. The Father Olmedo, of tho
Order of Mercy, said that it was of little consequence to pull down their idols

268 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO.
until they were better instructed, and until we saw what would be the
result of our entry into Mexico, and that time would tell us what we
ought to do ; but that for the present, the admonitions which he had given
them, and putting up the cross, were sufficient.
I will now state that this city is situated in a plain, and is surrounded by
other large populations — Tepeaca, Tlascala, Chalco, Tecamachalco, and
Guaxacingo, and so many other large villages that I shall not attempt to
name them here.
The country produces maize, red pepper, and very many other things.
There are a great many fields of corn ; it is this of which they make their
wine. They also make there very handsome crockery ware, red, brown
and white, and variously painted. They supply Mexico with it, as well
as all the neighboring provinces, like the cities of Talavera and Palencia
in Castile. They have in that city more than a hundred towers, which
are cues or idol temples, — the largest of these is higher than that in Mexi
co ; although that in Mexico is very lofty and sumptuous. Each of these
idol temples has a spacious court. We were informed that they have a
very large idol there, the name of which I do not now remember, but it is
held by them in great reverence, and they come from many and distant
places to sacrifice to it and give to it a portion of what they possess. I re
member that when we first entered that city and saw these lofty white
towers it looked like Valladolid itself.
Let us say no more of this city nor what happened in it, and we will
speak of the squadrons which the great Montezuma had sent, and which
were stationed in the ravines near the city of Cholula, where they had
made their breastworks and dug ditches to prevent the passage of our
horses, as I have before stated. When they learned what had happened
they returned to Mexico with all speed, and gave Montezuma an account
of everything that had taken place. But rapidly as they went, two of the
ambassadors who had been with us, arrived in Mexico before them. We
were informed that when Montezuma received the information he felt very
great rage and grief, and immediately sacrificed certain Indians to his idol
Huichilobos, which was his God of war, to the end that he would inform
him what was to be the result of our going to Mexico, and whether he
should allow us to enter into his city. We learned also that he was shut
up in his devotions and sacrifices for two whole days, together with ten of
the principal Papas, and that the advice which he received from his idols
was, to send messengers to us to exculpate himself for the affair at Cholula,
and that with all the signs of peace he should allow us to enter into the
city of Mexico, and that whilst there by withholding food or water, or
raising any of the bridges, he might destroy us ; and that in a single day if

APPENDIX. 269
he attacked us, not one of us would be left alive, and that he might then
offer his sacrifices not only to Huichilobos, who gave this answer, but also
to Tezcatepuca, the God of hell, and fill themselves with our legs, thighs
and arms, and give the other parts of our bodies to the snakes and tigers
which were kept in wooden cages, which I will hereafter relate in the pro
per time and place.
We will say no more now of Montezuma, and the mortification which
he felt. This castigation of Cholula was soon known in all the provinces
of New Spain, and if before we had gained the reputation of being power
ful and brave in the wars of Potonchan, Tobasco, Cinga pacinga, and
Tlascala, and they had called us Teules, which is the name by which they
call their gods or evil beings, from this time forward they regarded us as
prophets. They said that no evil design could in any way be concealed
from us, and for this reason they all exhibited friendship towards us.
I suppose that the curious reader is already weary of this narrative of
Cholula and wishes that I had finished it, but I cannot omit to notice here
the wooden cages we found there, which were full of Indian, men and
boys which they were fattening to sacrifice to their idols, and to eat their
flesh. We broke the cages and Cortes ordered the Indians who were
imprisoned in them to return to the countries of which they were natives,
and ordered the captains and Papas that no such thing should be repeated,
and that they must not again eat human flesh, and they promised that they
would not ; but what availed these promises when they were not complied
with? I will now pass on, and remark that these are the cruelties which the
Bishop of Chiapa, Don Bartolemi de Las Casas, describes at so much
length, and affirms that without any cause whatever, but only for our pas
time and because we had a fancy to it, we inflicted this punishment ; and I
would remark that some good religious Franciscans who were the first
friars his majesty sent to New Spain after the conquest, went to Cholula
to examine and inquire how and in what manner the thing took place, and
the cause of the punishment inflicted. Their inquiries were made of the
Papas themselves and the old men of the city, and after the fullest examin
ation they found the facts to be neither more nor less than those stated
in this my relation of them ; and if this chastisement had not been inflicted
our lives would have been in the greatest danger from the numerous
squadrons of Mexican and Cholulan warriors which were there assembled,
and if it had been our misfortune to have been killed there, this New
Spain would not have been so soon conquered, — and even if another expe
dition had been ventured upon, it would have been encountered with
great toils and difficulties, for the Mexicans would have defended all the

270 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO.
entrances into their country and they might have been left for ever in their
idolatries. I have heard a Franciscan friar of most virtuous life say,
that if this chastisement could have been avoided, and cause had not been
given for it, it would have been better ; but, that it was well that it was
done, that the Indians in all the provinces of New Spain might see and
know that these idols and all others are wicked and lying things, and that
seeing that everything which they promised had turned out the reverse
they lost the devotion with which they had before regarded them, and from
that time forward they never again offered sacrifices to them or came on
pilgrimages to them from other parts as they had been accustomed to doj
cared nothing for them, took them down from the high temple where they
were kept, and concealed or broke them to pieces and they were never
seen afterwards.
I have translated these chapters, partly for the purpose of giving the
reader " a taste of the quality" of the veracious old chronicler, and of the
epic character of his whole narrative, — but still more to vindicate my
favorite hero Cortes against the imputation of unnecessary cruelty ; I
know no hero, ancient or modern, for whom I have more admiration than
for Cortes, — and with some knowledge of the stirring scenes in which
he was the principal actor, which an acquaintance with the language in
which an account of them was originally written has enabled me to
appreciate more justly, I am free to say that considering all the circum
stances with which he was surrounded, that the charge of cruelty so
generally made against him is in my judgment without just foundation.
I have no hesitation in saying that the punishment which he inflicted
upon the Cholulans, more than anything else, insured his success ; he
was about to enter the city of Mexico with less than five hundred men,
where Montezuma was surrounded by countless warriors, — " When," as
one of the Mexicans afterwards said, " that they had made the calcula
tion, and that they could lose twenty thousand of their men for every
Spaniard that was killed, and in the end be victorious." The slaughter of
the Cholulans struck terror not only into the heart of Montezuma, but of all
his vassals. They had before regarded the Spaniards as- invincible in
battle ; the discovery of this plot by Cortes, notwithstanding the secresy
with which it had been kept, added to this feeling a superstitious awe
of the Spaniards, to whom they attributed something of omniscience
also. It was absolutely necessary, too, that Cortes should guard against
the repetition of such treachery, to which his situation exposed him ; it

APPENDIX. 271
may well be doubted whether he did not owe the final success which
crowned his enterprise to this wise and just act of apparent severity.
If the Spaniards had not succeeded, more human victims would have
been sacrificed to the Mexican idols in one year than perished at Cho
lula. The only other act of cruelty which has been charged upon him was
the torture and subsequent execution of Guatemozin ; Cortes remon
strated against and resisted the former until there was danger of a revolt
and mutiny in the Spanish army, the consequences of which would have
been most disastrous, — he was at last forced to yield to the clamors of
his soldiers, but very soon interposed at great peril to himself, and res
cued Guatemozin. He was executed on the march to Honduras when
Cortes went there to suppress the revolt of Christoval de Olid ; Cortes
was afraid to leave Guatemozin in Mexico, and took him and many
others of the most refractory amongst the Mexicans along with him.
Cortes had satisfactory evidence, that on the march, Guatemozin had
formed a plan which was ripe for execution, for the Mexicans to rise
upon and massacre the Spaniards ; he owed it then to his own as well as
the safety of his companions, that the leading conspirators should be
punished. It is absurd to impute to Cortes any other motive for the act ;
it could not have been to extort confessions as to concealed treasure, for
he was then in a wilderness several hundred miles from Mexico, and if
euch had been the motive it would have been perpetrated in Mexico. It
could not have been from any resentment which he had felt for the
heroic defence which Guatemozin had made of his country and people ;
Cortes was at all points a hero himself, and could have no other feeling
on this occasion than that of sympathy and admiration, which he not
only expressed but proved that he entertained by his generous kind
ness to the Mexican prince, and anxious solicitude to spare his life
and those of his people during the last days of that memorable siege ;
there can be no doubt, therefore, that the execution was ordered from a
deep conviction that the safety of the Spaniards demanded it. It is pos
sible that in this opinion he may have been mistaken, but if he really
thought so, the act was justifiable, and at this distance of time it is
assuming a great deal to say that Cortes did not judge rightly with no
other lights than we have, and the distorted facts which were collected
by his enemies, and the honorable sympathies which all must feel for that
greatest of all Indian heroes, a being of romance rather than history, Gua-

272 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO.
temozin. And, besides, Cortes, in addition to all his other great qualities, was
a Christian, and a most sincere and devout one. One cannot read the his
tory of the conquest, without being impressed with the conviction that, if
not the primary object, his predominant idea was that he was spread
ing " nuestra santa fe" — our holy faith. In this particular he stands at
an immeasurable height above all other conquerors ; he would have
suffered death before he would have said as did Bonaparte in Egypt,
" There is no God but God, and Mahomet is his prophet." On the con
trary, wherever he passed he erected a cross, and tore down the Mexican
idols, often at imminent peril to himself and his army.
If the reader has been sufficiently interested in the character of Donna
Marina to desire to know more of her history, he will find it in the
following short chapter from the history of the conquest of New Spain,
by Bernal Diaz : —
How Donna Marina was a Caciquess, and the daughter of a great lord, and was a Princess
of many villages and vassals.
Before I say anything more of the great Montezuma and his city of
Mexico and the Mexicans, I desire to say that Donna Marina, in her child
hood, was a princess of many villages and vassals. It was in this way ; —
Her father and mother were the Cacique and Cacica of a village called
Painala, and had other villages subject to them about eight leagues from the
town of Guaxacualco. Her father died when she was an infant, and her
mother married another young cacique, by whom she had one son. And
as they loved this son very much, they determined that he should inherit
their title and estate ; and that there might be no difficulty in the way, they
delivered the child, Donna Marina, in the night time, to some Indians of
Xicalango, and spread the report that she had died. It happened at the
same time that the child of one' of their Indian slaves died, and they gave
out that it was the heiress Donna Marina. The Indians of Xecalango gave
her to the Tobascans, and the Tobascans gave her to Cortes. I knew her
mother and her half brother after he was grown, when they jointly had
command of their village, the last husband of the old woman then being
dead. After they became Christians they were baptized, the mother by the
name of Martha, and the son by that of Lazarus.
All this I know perfectly well, for in the year fifteen hundred and twen
ty-three, after the conquest of Mexico and the other provinces, when
Christoval de Olid revolted, with the army under his command, in Higueras,
and Cortes went there, we passed by Guaxacualco. Nearly all the inhabit-

APPENDIX. 273;
ants of that town went with us, as I will relate in the proper time andl
place. As Donna Marina, in all the wars of New Spain, Tlascala, and Mexico, ,
had shown herself so excellent a woman and so good an interpreter, Cor
tes always took her with him. It was on that expedition that he married
her to a Hidalgo, whose name was Juan Xamarillo, in the village of Ori
zaba, before certain witnesses, one of whom was Aranda, an inhabitant of
Tobasco ; and he told me about the marriage, which was not all as Gomara.
relates it. Donna Marina had great influence and authority with all the
Indians of New Spain. Whilst Cortes was at Guaxacualco he sent to sum
mon all the caciques of that province, to speak to them, and explain our-
holy doctrines, and to urge them to conduct themselves properly ; and the-
mother of Donna Marina, and her half brother Lazarus, came with the other
caciques. Donna Marina had long before this told me that she was a native
of that province, and was a princess of many vassals — and Cortes and
Aguilar, the interpreter, also knew it very well . The mother and daugh
ter thus met, and knew each other ; and they knew very well that she was
her daughter, for she resembled her very much.
The mother and son were greatly alarmed, supposing that Cortes hadi
sent for them to kill them, and they wept. When Donna Marina saw them
weeping, she consoled them, and told them to have no fear, for that when^
they had delivered her to the Indians of Xicalango they knew no better,.
and that she pardoned them. She gave them some clothes, and many jewels.
of gold, and told them to return to their village. She said that God had.
shown her great mercy in making her a Christian, and no longer a wor
shipper of idols, and in giving her a son by her lord and master, Cortes,,
and marrying her to such a gentleman as Juan Xamarillo ; and that if they
would make her princess of all the provinces in New Spain, she would not
accept it ; and that she took more pleasure in serving Cortes and her hus
band than in everything in the world besides.
All this I heard myself, and moreover, I swear to it. It seems to me
that it very much resembles the case of the brothers of Joseph, when they
went into Egypt for corn. But now let us return to our subject. Donna
Marina understood the language of Tobasco and of Guaxacualco, which is
also the language of Mexico ; and Geronimo de Aguilar understood the
language of Tobasco and Yucatan, which is the same ; and Aguilar so un
derstanding, Donna Marina would explain it to Cortes in the Castilian,
and this was a great beginning in the conquest. And thus things went on
most prosperously, praised be God. — Without Donna Marina we could not
have understood the language of Mexico.
13*

274 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO.
II.
PASSAGE RELATING TO GENERAL VICTORIA.
(From Ward's Mexico.)
•" Two thousand European troops landed witb Myares, and two thousand
(more with Apodoaca, in 1816 ; and notwithstanding the desperate efforts of
'Victoria's men, their courage was of no avail against the superior disci-
•pline and arms of their adversaries. In the course of the year 1816, most
Of his old soldiers fell ; those by whom he replaced them had neither the
enthusiasm nor the same attachment to his person. The zeal with which'
the inhabitants had engaged in the cause of the revolution was worn out,
with each reverse their discouragement increased, and as the disastrous ac
counts from the interior left them but little hope of bringing the contest to
-a favorable issue, — the villages refused to furnish any further supplies.
The last remnant of Victoria's followers deserted him, and he was left ab
solutely alone, — still his courage was unsubdued, and his determination not
to yield to the Spaniards under any circumstances, was unshaken. He re
fused the rank and rewards which Apodoaca offered him as the price of his
submission, and determined to seek an asylum in the solitude of the forests,
rather than accept the pardon on the faith of which so many of the insur
gents yielded up their arms. This extraordinary project was carried into
execution with a decision characteristic of the man.
Unaccompanied by a single attendant, and provided only with a little
linen and a sword, Victoria threw himself into the mountainous district
which occupies so large a portion of the province of Vera Cruz, and disap
peared from the eyes of his countrymen. His after history is so extremely
wild that I should hardly venture to relate it here, did not the unanimous
evidence of his countrymen confirm the story of his sufferings as I have
often heard it from his own mouth.
During the first few weeks, Victoria was supplied with provisions by the
Indians, who all knew and respected his name. But Apodoaca was so ap
prehensive that he would again emerge from his retreat, that a thousand
men were ordered out in small detachments, literally to hunt him down.
Wherever it was discovered that a village had either received him or re
lieved his wants, it was burnt without mercy ; and this rigor struck the
Indians with such terror that they either fled at the sight of Victoria, or
were the first to announce the approach of a man whose presence might
prove so fatal to them. For upwards of six months he was followed like
.a wild beast by his pursuers, who were often so near him that he could

APPENDIX. 275
hear their imprecations against himself and Apodoaca too, for having con
demned them to so fruitless a search. On one occasion he escaped a de
tachment, which he fell in with unexpectedly, by swimming a river which
they were unable to cross. And on several others he concealed himself,
when in the immediate vicinity of the royal troops, beneath the thick
shrubs and creepers with which the woods of Vera Cruz abound.
At last a story was made up to satisfy the Viceroy of a body having
been found which was recognized as that of Victoria, a minute description
was given of his person, which was published officially in the Gazette
of Mexico, and the troops were recalled to more pressing labors in the
interior. But Victoria's trials did not cease with the pursuit ; harassed
and worn out with the fatigues which he had undergone, his clothes torn to
pieces and his body lacerated by the thorny underwood of the tropic, he
was indeed allowed a little tranquillity, but his sufferings were still almost
incredible. During the summer he managed to subsist on the fruits of
which nature is so lavish in those climates, but in winter he was attenu
ated by hunger, and I have heard him repeatedly affirm that no repast had
furnished him so much pleasure since as he experienced after being long
deprived of food, in gnawing the bones of horses or other animals which he
found dead in the woods. By degrees he accustomed himself to such absti
nence that he could remain four and even five days without taking any
thing but water without experiencing any serious inconvenience, but
whenever he was deprived of sustenance for a longer period, his sufferings
were very acute.* For thirty months he never tasted bread, nor saw a
human being, nor thought at times ever to see one again ; his clothes were
reduced to a single wrapper of cotton which he found one day when driven
by hunger he approached nearer than usual to some Indian huts, and this
he regarded as an inestimable treasure. The mode in which Victoria, cut
off as he was from the world, received intelligence of the revolution of
1821, is hardly less extraordinary than the fact of his having been able
to support existence amidst so many hardships during the intervening
period. When, in 1818, he was abandoned by all the rest of his men, he was
asked by two Indians who lingered with him to the last, and on whose
fidelity he knew that he could rely, if any change took place, where he
wished them to look for him, he pointed in reply to a mountain at some
* When first I knew General Victoria in Vera Cruz, in 1823, he was unable to eat above
once in twenty-four hours, or even in thirty-six hours ; and now, though he conforms
with the usual hours of his countrymen with regard to meals, he is one of the most
abstemious of men.

276 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO.
distance, and told them that on that mountain perhaps they might find his
bones. His only reason for selecting it was its being particularly rugged
and inaccessible, and surrounded by forests of vast extent ; the Indians
treasured up this hint, and as soon as the first news of Iturbide's declaration
reached them they set out in quest of Victoria. They separated on arriv
ing at the foot of the mountain, and spent six whole weeks in examining
the woods with which it was covered. During this time they lived prin
cipally by the chase, but finding their stock of maize exhausted and all
their efforts unavailing, they were about to give up the attempt when one
of them discovered, in crossing a ravine which Victoria occasionally fre
quented, the print of a foot which he immediately recognized to be that
of a European ; by European, I mean of European descent, and, conse
quently accustomed to wear shoes, which always gives a different shape to
the foot very perceptible to the eye of a native. The Indian waited two
days upon the spot, but seeing nothing of Victoria and finding his supply
of provisions quite at an end, he suspended upon a tree near the place four
tortillas (little maize cakes) which were all he had left, and set out for his
village in order to replenish his wallets, hoping that if Victoria should pass
in the meantime the tortillas would attract his attention, and convince him
that some friend was in search of him.
His little plan succeeded completely ; Victoria, on crossing the ravine
two days afterwards, perceived the maize cakes, which the birds had for
tunately not devoured ; he had then been four whole days without eating,
and upwards of two years without eating bread, — and he says himself that
he devoured the tortillas before the cravings of his appetite would allow
him to reflect upon the singularity of finding them on this solitary spot,
where he had never before seen any trace of a human being. He was at
a loss to determine whether they had been left there by friend or foe, but
feeling sure that whoever had left them intended to return, he concealed
himself near the place in order to observe his motions and to take his own
measures accordingly.
Within a short time, the Indian returned, and Victoria, who recognized
him, started abruptly from his concealment to welcome his trusty follower ;
but the man, terrified at seeing a phantom covered with hair, emaciated,
and clothed only with an old cotton wrapper, advancing upon him with a
sword in his hand from amidst the bushes, took to flight, and it was only
on hearing himself called repeatedly by his name that he recovered his
composure sufficiently to recognize his old general. He was affected
beyond measure at the state in which he found him, and conducted him
instantly to his village, where Victoria was received with the greatest
enthusiasm.

APPENDIX. 277
The report of his re-appearance spread like lightning through the pro
vince, where it was not credited at first, so firmly was every one convinced
of his death ; but as soon as it was known that Gaudaloupe Victoria was
indeed alive, all the old insurgents rallied round him. In an incredibly
short time, he induced the whole province, with the exception ol* the forti
fied towns, to declare for independence, and then set out to join Iturbide
who was at the time preparing for the siege of Mexico. He was received
with great apparent cordiality, but his independent spirit was too little in
unison with Iturbide's projects for his good understanding to continue
long. Victoria had fought for a liberal form of government, and not merely
for a change of masters, and Iturbide, unable to gain him over, drove him
again into the woods during his short-lived reign, from whence he only
returned to give the signal for a general rising against the ambitious
emperor.

III.

THE EXECUTION OF MORELOS.
[The following account of the closing scene of the life of Morelos is taken from Ward's
Mexico.]
Here the congress was very nearly surprised by Iturbide (in 1815), who,
by a rapid and masterly march across the mountains of Michoacan, came
upon the deputies almost before they were apprised of his approach. It
was in consequence of this attempt, and with the view of placing the con
gress in safety, that Morelos determined to undertake his expedition to
Tehuacan, in the province of La Puebla, where Teran had already assem
bled a considerable force. With only five hundred men he attempted a
march of sixty leagues, across a part of the country occupied by several
divisions of the royalists. He hoped, indeed, to be joined by Teran and
Guerero, but his couriers were intercepted, and neither of these generals
was aware of his situation.
The Spaniards, conceiving the forces of Morelos to be much greater than
they really were, did not venture to attack him until he had penetrated as
far as Tesmaluca, where the Indians, though they received him with great
apparent hospitality, conveyed intelligence both of the real number of his
followers and of their wretched state to Don Manuel Concha, the nearest
Spanish commandant, who determined to attack the convoy the next day.
Morelos, fancying himself in security, as he was now beyond the enemy's

278 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO.
line, was surprised on the following morning (5th Nov., 1815), by two par
ties of royalists, who came upon him unperceived in a mountainous part of
the road. He immediately ordered Don Nicholas Bravo to continue his
march with the main body, as an escort to the congress, while he himself,
with a few men, endeavored to check the advance of the Spaniards.
" My life," he said, " is of little consequence, provided the congress be
saved. My race was run from the moment I saw an independent govern
ment established." His orders were obeyed, and Morelos remained with
about fifty men, most of whom abandoned him when the firing became hot.
He succeeded, however, in gaining time, which was his great object. Nor
did the royalists venture to advance upon him until only one man was left
by his side. He was then taken prisoner, for he had sought death in vain
during the action. There can be little doubt that his late reverses had in
spired him with a disgust for life, and that he wished to end his days by a
proof of devotion to his country worthy of the most brilliant part of his
former career.
Morelos was treated with the greatest brutality by the Spanish soldiers
into whose hands he first fell. They stripped him, and conducted him,
loaded with chains, to Tesmaluca. But Concha (to his honor be it said),
on his prisoner being presented to him, received him with the respect due
to a fallen enemy, and treated him with unwonted humanity and attention.
He was transferred with as little delay as possible to the capital, and the
whole population of Mexico flocked out to San Augustin de las Cuevas to
see (and some to insult) the man whose name had so long been their terror.
But Morelos, both on his way to prison and while in confinement, is said
to have shown a coolness which he preserved to the last. Indeed, the only
thing which seemed to affect him at all was his degradation ; a ceremony
humiliating in itself, but rendered doubly so in his case, by the publicity
which was given to it. His examination was conducted by the Oidor Ba-
taller (whose insolent assertions of the natural superiority of the Spaniards
to the Creoles, is said first to have roused Morelos into action), and was not
of long duration. On the 22d of December, ]815, Concha was charged to
remove him from the prison of the inquisition to the hospital of San Chris
toval, behind which the sentence pronounced against him was to be carried
into execution. On arriving there he dined in company with Concha,
whom he afterwards embraced and thanked for his kindness. He then con
fessed himself, and walked with the most perfect serenity to the place of
execution. The short prayer which he pronounced there deserves to be
recorded for its affecting simplicity : " Lord, if I have done well thou
knowest it ; if ill, to thine infinite mercy I commend my soul."
After this appeal to the Supreme Judge, he fastened, with his own hands,

APPENDIX. 279
a handkerchief above his eyes, gave the signal to the soldiers to fire, and
met death with as much composure as he had ever shown when facing it
on the field of battle.

IV.
LETTER OF GENERAL JACKSON IN REFERENCE TO A TEXIAN PRISONER.
Amongst the prisoners taken at San Antonio by General Wall, in the
fall of 1842, was Mr. John Bradly. I had made very great efforts to ob
tain his release, but all in vain, until I received a letter from General
Jackson in his behalf, which I sent to General Santa Anna, and imme
diately received an order for the release of Mr. Bradly. This I commu
nicated to General Jackson in a letter, which he published very unex
pectedly to me, as he was pleased afterward to say, in writing to me, be
cause " it was a transaction so honorable to me." With much greater
reason, I take the liberty of publishing his letter to me in behalf of Mr.
Bradly. The copy is verbatim, literatim et punctuatim, exact. The
original is written in a bold and vigorous hand, without any of that
tremulousness which is common in the writing of old men.
If I am not mistaken, a gentleman, who was once the secretary of
General Jackson, has published a statement that the original papers from
his pen, were marked by some amusing mistakes of grammar, style and
orthography — all of which he corrected. It is a little curious, if this be
true, that this gentleman has never written anything before or since
half as well. I am very much disposed to regard one who would
make such a statement, even if true, as self-discredited, — there can be
no confidence between men if such things are tolerated.
Having long been the political opponent of General Jackson, it is due
to myself to say, that I was the first man in South Carolina who advo
cated his pretensions to the Presidency in 1823, when a distinguished
citizen of our own was one of the candidates ; and that I commenced
my opposition to him whilst he was President, and at the period of his
greatest popularity, when he had it in his power to have benefited me, —
and that he had the disposition to have done so, I have the evidence.
My opinions remain unchanged on all the questions of public policy,
upon which I differed with him. But I have at all times entertained a

280 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO.
proper respect for his many high qualities, and a grateful admiration for
the blaze of glory in which he closed our last war.
" Hermitage, July 12th, 1843.
" The Honorable W. Thomson, Minister at Mexico :
" Sir — I beg leave to call your attention to the enclosed letters in be
half of Mr. John Bradly, who is a prisoner in the castle of Perote within
the jurisdiction of Mexico, having been captured whilst in the service of
Texas, and held since as a prisoner.
" You will perceive from the letters of ex-governor David Campbell, of
Va., and the Honorable Mr. Hopkins, member of Congress, that Mr. Brad
ly was one of our most respectable citizens, and makes an appeal to our
sympathies, on account of his dependent family, almost irresistible. I
would write directly to President Santa Anna on the subject, but having
done so on two occasions before, am apprehensive that my application on
personal grounds might be deemed indelicate. President Santa Anna has
informed me that my interposition has already effected the discharge of
other citizens emigrating to Texas from the United States, and that in some
instances, those discharged have again taken up arms against Mexico. I
think it therefore, prudent to abstain from any further personal appeal, lest
the kind feelings heretofore manifested by president Santa Anna might be
changed, and given a direction which would prejudice the efforts of Mr.
Bradly, and others situated like him, to obtain their freedom.
" Should you, however, be of the opinion that the case of Mr. Bradly
might be brought to the notice of president Santa Anna, as one in which I
feel a deep interest, on account of his worthy and venerable father, with
out subjecting me to the imputation of presuming too far on the personal
relations subsisting between myself and the President, I leave it to your
discretion to make the communication to him.
" I avail myself of this occasion to thank you for your kindness in vindi
cating my character, when my views and conduct respecting the separation
of Texas from Mexico, were misrepresented and unjustly assailed.* On
* Alluding to what had occurred between General Tornel, the Secretary of War, and
myself, upon the occasion of my remonstrating against the Texian prisoners
being made to work on the streets, and other improper treatment which they received.
General Tornel spoke in offensive terms of the conduct of my government in connection
with the -revolution in Texas. I repelled his charges with a good deal of warmth. He
then said that he liked Mr. Tyler and Mr. Webster, and the whig parry, but that it
was to General Jackson and the democratic party that he. had alluded, and that General
Jackson was the originator of the revolution in Texas. He no doubt knew that I was a

APPENDIX. 28 1
the receipt of your letter, being confined with sickness, I was unable to
respond to it and tender you my thanks for the justice you rendered me on
that occasion, and I am now laboring under great debility, and write with
great difficulty. Permit me to assure you that I subscribe myself with great
cordiality and respect, your well wisher and obedient servant,
" Andrew Jackson."
This allusion to General Jackson recalls to my memory one of the most
agreeable acquaintances which I formed whilst I was in Mexico, and
one of the most striking men whom I have known anywhere — General
Miller, the present British Consul General at the Sandwich Islands. He
served in the British army as a subaltern officer in our late war with
England, and was at the battles of Baltimore, Bladensburg, and the eighth
of January. At the close of the war he went to South America and en
tered the Patriot army. He was a long time aide-de-camp to Bolivar, and
afterwards a major-general in the army. He commanded a division of
the Patriot army at the great and decisive battle of Ayacucho, and bore a
conspicuous part in all tlie wars of South America, as must be known to
every one at all familiar with the history of those wars. He is in all
respects an accomplished officer, and most fascinating gentleman.
I was first introduced to him at a dinner party at the house of the Prus
sian minister, Mr. Von Gerolt ; the conversation turned upon the sub
ject of military peace establishments. General Miller said to me that he
was surprised that any standing army should be kept up in the United
States ; that certainly no nation would ever be so infatuated as to think
of invading our country ; and that even if such a thing should occur,
that our militia constituted an all-sufficient defence. I told him that I
thought so, and that it was somewhat remarkable that the most credita
ble achievements of American arms had been in battles where the larger
proportion of the troops engaged were militia. He asked me which of
our victories I regarded as the most remarkable ? I was disinclined to
enter upon that subject, as the only wars in which we had been engaged
had been with his own country, and so said to him. He pressed the sub
ject, however, but in the most kind and gentlemanlike manner ; I had
Whig. But he was greatly mistaken, as he soon discovered, if he supposed that any dis
paragement of the political party to which I was opposed, would be agreeable to me. I
have no words to express the scorn which I feel for one who in a foreign country, or in
his intercourse with one, could for a moment remember our own party divisions.

282 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO.
occasionally had discussions of the most good-humored character with
some of the English gentlemen in Mexico upon the subject of the differ
ent battles between the troops of our respective countries, — this had
been communicated to General Miller, and I saw that he was disposed to
draw me into a discussion. He asked me if I regarded the battle of
New Orleans as one of our greatest victories ? I replied that I certainly
considered the battle of the 8th of January as somewhat of a victory.
He admitted that it was, but said, that the American troops were protected
by a breastwork. I replied, that they had no breastworks on the night
of the 23d of December, that this battle was fought in a clear field,
and that the number of the British forces was twice that of the
American. He said that I was mistaken, that he was there himself,
and that the American army numbered nearly two thousand men, and
that not more than fifteen hundred of the British army had then landed
or took any part in the engagement ; he admitted, however, that he was
not one of those who had landed, and that he could not speak as of
his own personal knowledge. He added, that there was nothing more
natural than that the victorious party should exaggerate the number of the
enemy ; I thought, and so said to him that there was at least one thing more
natural which was that the vanquished army should state their numbers at
less than they really were. I remembered that a few days after this
battle, General Jackson had issued a general order in which he stated
the force of the enemy as more than double his own ; I happened to
have in the legation a copy of Niles' Register which contained this gene
ral order. — General Miller called the next day to read it, and i» the end
admitted that he might have been mistaken. He frequently visited me,
and I parted with him with sincere regret, and shall always remember
him with a respect not unmixed with admiration ; he was kind enough to
give me an extract of a letter which he had written to Colonel O'Leary,
who also had been one of the aides-de-camp of Bolivar. The reader will
be, in some degree, able from this extract to judge whether 1 have over
rated the character of General Miller.
Extract from a letter written by General Miller, dated 18th March, 1833, to Colonel O'Leary,
respecting a parallel by the latter, between Washington and Bolivar, published in a Chi
lian newspaper.
" Do not, my dear O'Leary, run away like our fiery friend, with the
wrong notion, that I am inimical to the Liberator, because I happen to dif
fer widely from you in the general view I take of that celebrated man.

APPENDIX. 283
Let us rather discuss the matter fairly and coolly, for by so doing we may
be of mutual assistance to each other. My prejudices, if prejudices they
be, may be made to vanish, and your excessive enthusiasm on some points,
by being moderated, may be displayed with better effect.
" In this spirit I will frankly confess that I do not think the parallel you
have so eloquently drawn between Washington and Bolivar, quite accurate,
much less that it would be advisable to give a similar one to the public ;
at all events, there would be no harm in your consulting persons capable
of judging of the merits of the case, who, unentangled with South Ameri
can affairs, may lay claim to impartiality.
" Washington's pure patriotism, his steadiness of purpose, his admirable
consistency of character and conduct, his stern undeviating principles, his
aversion to everything flimsy and bombastic, in short, his elevated, noble
ambition of meriting the approbation of a good, as well as a great, man,
place him higher in the admiration and respect of the moral world, than
any other hero, ancient or modern ; at least so I have always understood it
to be. It is true that Washington had not large patrimonial domains to offer
in support of the cause he espoused, but he was frugal, and did not squan
der any public money on himself or others ; and his being born in the mid
dle class of life, and in ' humble circumstances, whilst Bolivar was by birth
the noblest of his native country,' was an accident that a republican would
hardly advance to prove superiority in any way.
" There is, indeed, little similarity of character between Washington and
Bolivar. The first stands so high amongst all civilized people, that it is
necessary to guard against saying anything bordering on disparagement of
him, in order, by comparison, to raise the fame of another, whose charac
ter and reputation have not yet been so satisfactorily established. Wash
ington not only aspired at achieving the independence of his country, but
he labored incessantly, and he was gifted with the right sort of sterling
genius to establish the finest frame-work of a government that ever existed ;
at all events, one generally acknowledged to be the best adapted to a peo
ple, capable of being, and deserving to be free. He was not a violent re
publican one day, a Vitalicio the next, and alternately both, as suited his
caprice or his opinion of circumstances. His merit did not consist in high-
flown, flowery writings, but in productions abounding in plain good sense,
and of practical utility. He never broke a solemn pledge ; had he done so,
whatever and how sincere soever might have been his motives, he never
would have obtained the high character awarded him. Washington, rather
than break his word, would have lost his life. Neither Napoleon nor Bo
livar seemed to have understood — certainly did not always act upon — this
grand moral principle, without which society must be very imperfect.

284 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO.
" Warriors and heroes, I believe, are going out of fashion, and I am glad
of it. Franklin, Bentham, and great men of their stamp will, as the march
of intellect advances, possess more the admiration of future generations.
This, however, is getting out of my depth ; I will, therefore, drop a sub
ject Ifeel incapable of handling — and recollect, what I have said is merely
as a hint in the rough, for your perusal."

V.
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE.
Shortly after my arrival in Mexico, Mr. Bocanegra, the Minister of
Foreign Affairs, addressed a circular to the Members of the Diplomatic
Corps, in relation to the conduct of our government in the war between
Mexico and Texas. An object very near my heart was the release of
the Texian prisoners, and as that matter was in a favorable train I was
unwilling if I could have avoided it to have done anything to defeat it, but
the circular to the diplomatic corps was of a character so offensive that
I felt it to be my duty to reply to it. My reply bears date the 6th June,
1842, and Mr. Webster's reply to the same in a despatch to me is dated
on the 8th July, 1842.
At the time that the reply of Mr. Webster was written, he had not
received mine, but he received it five days afterwards, when his second
communication to me bears date. My reply to Mr. Bocanegra has not
been published in the newspapers of this country ; I hope, therefore, that
I may be pardoned for inserting it in this volume. It will be seen that
Mr. Webster pursues the same train of argument which I had before
done, and instructs me to say almost exactly what I had already said in
reply to Mr. Bocanegra, but of which it seems Mr. Webster was igno
rant at the time ; my arguments are all found in Mr. Webster's reply,
with an additional argument on the right of expatriation, a right which
Mexico has never denied, and a review of the Texian revolution. The
reply of Mr. Webster, is doubtless better written, for the reason that he
wrote the one and I the other. But the coincidence is certainly a
striking one.

APPENDIX. 285
" [Translation.] " National Palace, Mexico,
" May 12, 1842.
" The undersigned, Secretary of State and Foreign Relations, enjoys the
satisfaction of addressing the honorable Secretary of State of the United
States of America, in the name and by the express order of his excellency
the President of the Mexican Republic. The relations of amity and good
harmony which have happily subsisted between this and your great nation
might have been disturbed, in a lamentable manner, since the year 1835,
when the revolution of Texas broke out, if the Mexican government had
not given so many evidences of its forbearance, and had not made so many
and so great sacrifices for the sake of peace, in order that the world might
not, with pain and amazement, see the two nations which appear to be
destined to establish the policy and the interests of the American continent
divided and ravaged by the evils of war.
" But, from that truly unfortunate period, the Mexican Republic has
received nothing but severe injuries and inflictions from the citizens of the
United States. The Mexican government sj>eaks only of the citizens of
the United States, as it still flatters itself with the belief that it is not the
government of that country which has promoted the insurrection in Texas,
which has favored the usurpation of its territory, and has supplied the
rebels with ammunition, arms, vessels, money and recruits — but that these
aggressions have proceeded from private individuals, who have not respected
the solemn engagements which bind together the two nations, nor the
treaties concluded between them, nor the conduct, ostensibly frank, of the
Cabinet of Washington .
" It is, however, notorious, that the insurgent colonists of that integral
part of the territory of the Mexican Republic would have been unable to
maintain their prolonged rebellion, without the aid and efficient sympa
thies of citizens of the United States, who have publicly raised forces in
their cities and towns ; have fitted out vessels in their ports, and laden them
with munitions of war ; and have marched to commit hostilities against a
friendly nation, under the eyes and with the knowledge of the authorities
to whom are intrusted the fulfilment of the law.
" The Mexican government entertains so high an opinion of the force of
the government of the United States, and of its power to restrain those its
subjects from violating the religious faith of treaties, solemnly concluded
between it and other nations, and from committing hostilities against such
nations in time of peace, that it cannot easily comprehend how those per
sons have been able to evade the punishment decreed against them by the

286 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO.
•laws of the United States themselves, and to obtain that quiet impunity
which incessantly encourages them to continue their attacks. It is well
worthy of remark, that, no sooner does the Mexican government, in the
exercise of its rights, which it cannot and does not desire to renounce, pre
pare means to recover a possession usurped from it, than the whole popu
lation of the United States, especially in the southern States, is in commo
tion ; and, in the most public manner, a large portion of them is turned
upon Texas, in order to prevent the rebels from being subjected by the
Mexican arms, and brought back to proper obedience.
" Could proceedings more hostile, on the part of the United State3, have
taken place, had that country been at war with the Mexican Republic ?
Could the insurgents of Texas have obtained a co-operation more effective
or more favorable to their interests ? Certainly not. The civilized world
looks on with amazement, and the Mexican government is filled with
unspeakable regret, as it did hope, and had a right to hope, that, living in
peace with the United States, your government would preserve our territory
from the invasions of your own subjects. The vicinity of a friend is an
advantage rather than an inconvenience ; but if one neighbor oversteps the
sacred limits imposed by treaties, and disturbs and harasses another, it can
not oe maintained that the friendship of the former is real, and that much
confidence should be placed in it
" The government of the Mexican Republic, therefore, which regards
the faithful fulfilment of treaties as its highest obligation, which anxiously
desires to preserve and increase its friendly relations with the people and
the government of the United States, finds itself under the necessity of
protesting solemnly against the aggressions which the citizens of those
States are constantly repeating upon the Mexican territory, and of declar
ing, in a positive manner, that it considers as a violation of the treaty of
amity the toleration of a course of conduct which produces an incomprehen
sible state of things — a state neither of peace nor war — but inflicting
upon the Mexican Republic the same injuries and inconveniences as if war
had been declared between the two nations, which are called by Provi
dence to form with each other relations and bonds of extreme and cordial
friendship. And the undersigned, in complying with this order from the most excel
lent Provisional President of the Republic of Mexico, assures you, sir, of
the high consideration with which he remains your obedient servant,
" J. M. De Bocanegra.
" Hon. Daniel Webster,
" Secretary of State
" of the United States of America."

APPENDIX. 287
" [Translation.]
" Circular to the Diplomatic Corps residing in Mexico.
" National Palace, Mexico,
"May 31, 1842.
" The undersigned, Minister of Foreign Relations and Government, has
the honor to address  , in order to inform him of the situation in which
the affairs of Texas stand between Mexico and the United States of Ameri
ca, making known to him the honesty and good faith with which the gov
ernment of the Mexican Republic has acted in this important matter, and
thus to avoid any interpretation [misinterpretation ?] of its conduct.
" As soon as his excellency, the Provisional President, had taken charge
of the government, he endeavored to settle all the difficulties which had
previously existed against the reconquest of Texas, being, as he still is,
persuaded that every sacrifice ought to be made on that point, with the
utmost pleasure, in order to vindicate satisfactorily, and firmly to sustain,
the dignity and the honor of the nation. The first measures taken with
this object awakened the ambition of some persons in the United States of
North America, and their citizens hastened to assist the adventurers of
Texas in au explicit and ample manner, forgetting their duties towards
Mexico, arising from the relations between this republic and that of the
United States of America. In presence of their authorities, meetings have
been formed with that express object. Volunteers have been enlisted and
armed, who marched to that usurped territory, and with them have been sent
munitions of war, provisions, and everything else necessary for hostilities
against the Mexicans ; no other cry being heard than that of war against
Mexico, and assistance to Texas. The supreme government has remonstrated
against such conduct frankly, being persuaded that the government of the
United States would cause its citizens to return to their duty ; but it sees, with
regret, that, far from giving this evidence on its own part, and on the part
of its subaltern and local authorities, the aggressions made upon the terri
tory of this republic are tolerated, notwithstanding the Mexican govern
ment has protested, formally and repeatedly, against them, making known
to the United States the violation committed and the wrong done by thus
acting in opposition to the most sacred principles of national law, and the
treaties of amity by which both nations are strongly bound.
" His excellency, the Provisional President, desires, in consequence of
what has been here set forth, and with regard to the future, that the na
tions with which the Mexican Republic happily maintains the strongest
friendship should be made well aware of these facts, and should know that

288 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO.
Mexico, though not wishing to disturb the relations which she still pre
serves with the said United States, will assert and maintain the justice of
her cause, which she considers to be based on the law of nations, by doing
all that is imperiously required for her honor and dignity.
" The undersigned, who well knows the uprightness and the sound judg
ment of his excellency  , doubts not that he will submit all that is
here set forth to his enlightened government ; and, while requesting that
gentleman to do so, by express order of his excellency the Provisional
President, he repeats the assurances of his most distinguished considera
tion. " J. M. De Bocanegra."
"(A true copy.)
"Mexico, June 1, 1842.
" Mr. Thompson to the Diplomatic Corps in Mexico.
" Legation of the United States of America,
" Mexico, June 6, 1842.
" Sir : I have received from the Minister of Foreign Relations and Go
vernment a copy of the circular which he has been pleased to address to
yourself and to each of the diplomatic representatives of other coun
tries resident here, and also a copy of a communication addressed to Mr.
Webster, the Secretary of State of the United States. At first I thought
that I would reply to neither, but leave them to be answered by Mr. Web
ster, well satisfied that the reply of that distinguished citizen would carry
with it much higher authority, both from his official position and the greater
ability with which the topics involved would be treated by him ; but, upon
further reflection, I have felt it to be my duty to address you upon the sub
ject. " I cannot express to you my astonishment and regret at this procedure
on the part of the Mexican Government. The appeal is in itself an ex
traordinary proceeding, and still more extraordinary in the positions which
are assumed, and in the tone of menace and ill feeling which pervade both
documents. Whilst I am very sure that the Government of the United
States recognizes no tribunal to which it holds itself responsible but the
enlightened public opinion of its own people, yet a just regard for the
opinions of the world may require a reply to, and refutation of, the very
harsh charges, which are equally harshly made by the Mexican Govern
ment. I deny, then, broadly, that the Government of the United States
has in any one of the cases stated, or in any other particular, openly or
secretly ' violated the most sacred of the principles and the rights of na-

APPENDIX. 289'
tions ' towards the Government of Mexico ; on the contrary, I affirm, that
to no Government in Christendom has the conduct of the United States
been so uniformly kind and forbearing. So remarkably has this been
the case, that, since the existence of Mexico as a republic, I am not aware
that there has been a single complaint, or cause of complaint, against the
Government of the United States, with the exception of the difficulties
growing out of the Texian war ; and I trust that I shall be able fully and
entirely to vindicate the conduct of my Government in relation to that.
Not only have we never done an act of an unfriendly character towards
Mexico, but, I confidently assert, that from the very first moment of the
existence of the republic, we have allowed to pass unimproved no oppor
tunity of doing Mexico an act of kindness. I will not now enumerate
the acts of that character both to the Government of Mexico and its citi
zens, public and private. If this Government chooses to forget them, I
will not recall them. Whilst such has been our course to Mexico, it is
with pain that I am forced to say that the open violation of- the rights of
American citizens, by the authorities of Mexico, has been greater, for the-
last fifteen years, than those of all the Governments of Christendom
united ; and yet we have left the redress of all these multiplied and accu
mulated wrongs to friendly negotiation, without having even intimated a
disposition to resort to force.
" I have deemed it necessary to make these preliminary remarks before
proceeding to consider the charges, as I now do, so solemnly preferred1
against my Government, in the circular addressed to you. These charges,.
as I understand them, are the following :
" 1st. Public meetings in the United States in favor of Texas.
" 2. The aid furnished the Texians by volunteers from the United1
States. " 3. The sending of arms and munitions of war to the Texians.
" As to the matter of public meetings of the people, I have yet to learn
that such meetings have ever been considered, by any writer on public
law, as a violation of neutrality, or that, up to this time, any complaint
has been made on that point. The right of our people thus to assemble,
for any purpose, is not only secured by an express provision of our Consti
tution, but has a much older and equally honorable origin ; it was one of
the great securities of English liberty, extorted from an unwilling and ar
bitrary sovereign ; it is, perhaps, the very last which our people will ever
permit to be violated or curtailed.
" The Government is not obliged to act upon the remonstrances and pe
titions of these meetings, and it is the action of the Government alone which
is to be complained of. Such meetings, upon all subjects, are of daily oc-
14

290 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO.
currence. In the very same week, for example, in which the meeting in
New Orleans in favor of Texas was held, there was another meeting in
favor of the repeal of the Irish union, and with the view to contribute
funds and other aid to that end. During the late Canadian insurrection,
such meetings of our citizens were of frequent occurrence on the Canadian
lfrontier, yet it never has occurred to the British Cabinet to make any com-
ipSlaint on the subject. Again : Public meetings are constantly held in Eng
land, for the purpose of aiding in the abolition of a great and vital institu
tion of the United States, and agents are sent to our country to disseminate
their dangerous principles. Nay, more ; they come to our country, and ad
dress public assemblies, denouncing a large portion of our people and our
¦institutions, in language, in comparison with which that used in the public
: meetings towards Mexico is the language of compliment. Such meetings
are daily held, in which, in the violence of party excitement, language the
most harsh and unmeasured is applied to the policy of our Government and
the conduct of its officers. I should, therefore, regret to believe that the
peace of the United States and Mexico depends upon the former being re
quired to interfere, in any way, to prevent these public meetings, well
knowing that this is impossible. I come now to the second ground — the aid
famished by volunteers from the United States.
" It is not to be wondered at that this has caused some ill feelings on the
part of the Mexicans towards us. But I had hoped that the intelligent
men who are at the head of the Mexican Government would have been
satisfied that my Government had used all the means in its power to pre
vent this ; and I think I may say, with confidence, that it has done all that
was required by the obligations of the laws of nations, and of that good
faith which should be observed between friendly Governments. Our own
laws upon this subject, which embody to the fullest extent the principles
¦ of the law of nations, only authorize the prevention of armed and orga
nized expeditions. It is not permitted, nor is it to be expected, that we
should forbid emigration ; nor is it a violation of the obligations of neutral
ity that the country to which our people choose to emigrate happens to be
at war with another with which we are friendly. The citizens and sub
jects of all countries have gone to Texas and joined its armies The only
•difference is, that a larger number of the people of the United States has
gone to that country. Does the number alter the principle ? If one may
go, may not ten ? If ten, why not a hundred, or a thousand ? The prin
ciple is the same. An American citizen, for example, is about to embark
from New Orleans, and he has his rifle, Bowie knife, and pistols. Have
our authorities any power to stop him ? If there are ten, or a hundred,
the case is the same. I go further ; If they admit they are going to Texas,

APPENDIX. 291
and intend to become citizens, and to join the armies of that country, it
cannot be prevented. All that could be said to them would be, ' If you
go to Texas and become citizens, you have a right to do so — to change
your allegiance, and to discharge all the new duties which such a change
of allegiance may exact ; but you are no longer a citizen of the United
States.' " If a regular military expedition is fitted out, then it is not only our
right, but our high duty, to prevent it. In all the revolutionary move
ments of the South American Republics, including Mexico, large numbers
of our people joined the insurgents. It has always been so, and always
will be. Such is the innate and enthusiastic love of liberty of our people,
that, wherever on this continent the banner may float with that sacred
word inscribed upon it, our ardent, impetuous, and often inconsiderate
young men will be found rallying to it, doubtless without properly judging
of the principles involved, or of the benefits to the great cause of human
rights from the result. Such was eminently' the case when Mexico revolt
ed from Spain, but with this remarkable difference — that the American
citizens taken prisoners by Spain whilst fighting for Mexico, were prompt
ly released, upon the application of our Government.
The third and last ground is, the furnishing the Texians with arms
and munitions of war, not by our Government, but by private individuals,
on their own account, and at their own risk. I confess that I was surprised
to see this made a matter of complaint by so eminent a jurist as Mr. De
Bocanegra. I assert that such trade is no violation of neutrality ; that it
has never been so regarded by any respectable writer on public law ; and
that it is a well-settled principle, that, to send articles contraband of war
to a belligerent is no violation of neutrality, the only penalty being the for
feiture of the articles themselves.
" The old rule, indeed, was, that the articles, if seized by the belligerent,
should be paid for ; but the very farthest that :he principle upon this sub
ject has been carried is, that the articles should be forfeited. Vattel says .
' Recourse is had to the expedient of confiscating all contraband goods that
we can seize on, in order that the fear of loss may operate as a check on
the avidity of gain, and deter the merchants of neutral countries from sup
plying the enemy with such commodities.
" ' In order, therefore, to avoid perpetual subjects of complaint and rup
ture, it has, in perfect conformity to sound principles, been agreed that the
belligerent powers may seize and confiscate all contraband goods which
neutral persons attempt to carry to their enemy, without any complaint of
the sovereign of those merchants ; as, on the other hand, the Power at war
does not impute to the neutral sovereigns those practices of their subjects.

292 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO.
Care is taken to settle every particular of this kind in treaties of commerce
and navigation.' — (Book iii., chap. 7, § 112).
I will not extend this article further, by quoting more from authors on
public law to prove the position which I have above asserted. You will
perhaps be surprised to learn that this principle of the law of nations is
embodied in and made a separate and express article of the treaty between
Mexico and the United States (viz., Article 20).
' The articles of contraband before enumerated and classified, which
may be found in a vessel bound for the enemy's port, shall be subject to de
tention and confiscation, leaving free the rest of the cargo and vessel, that
the owners may dispose of them as they see proper. No vessel of either
of the two nations shall be detained on the high seas, on account of having
on board articles of contraband, whenever the master, captain, or super
cargo of said vessel will deliver up the articles of contraband to the captor,
unless the quantity of such article be so great, and of so large a bulk, that
they cannot be received on board the capturing vessel without great incon
venience ; but in this, and all other cases of just detention, the vessel de
tained shall be sent to the nearest convenient and safe port, for trial and
judgment according to law.'
Here you will see that the sole penalty, and so expressly stated, is the
forfeiture of the articles of contraband ; and, as if to put it in the strongest
possible light that this is to be the sole penalty, it is stipulated that, if the
vessel is found carrying contraband of war, the articles of contraband shall
be taken out, and the vessel allowed to proceed.
If anything more could be required on this subject, it is found in the
fact that munitions of war are now constantly shipped from New Orleans
to Mexico, with the knowledge of our authorities, and without any right
or disposition to prevent it. Within the last six months, two armed schoon
ers, built in the United States, and known to be intended expressly for the
Texian war, were permitted to leave our ports, not to cruise against Texas,
but as the property of the builders, to be transferred to Mexico when they
should be beyond the jurisdiction of the United States — these contractors
taking the risk, that, being contraband of war, they might be seized by the
Texians, and would be liable to forfeiture. Nay, more : when one of these
vessels was wrecked, a Government vessel of the United States was sent
expressly to rescue the passengers and as much of the wreck as was valu
able. After all these things, sir, am I not justified in expressing the astonish
ment which I have felt in reading the communication addressed to you
in which, among other things, is charged, and in terms not the most cour
teous, as one of our offences against the law of nations, this very act of

APPENDIX. 293
sending munitions of war, the right to do which is expressly secured by
our treaty with Mexico, and of the practice of which Mexico has largely
availed herself.
I hope that the Mexican Government will review its opinions upon
these subjects, and I am not restrained from the expression of this hope by
the language of apparent menace which has been used in the communica
tions to which I have alluded. I am very sure that no one who is familiar
with the past history of my country will attribute these feelings to fear on
her part. They proceed from a very different source. Whilst we are, at
all times, prepared to meet, as becomes us, collisions with other countries,
we do not deem it discreditable to say, that we hold war, in all its forms, as
one of the greatest of human calamities, and a causeless war as the very
greatest of public crimes.
I have the honor to be, with the greatest respect, your obedient servant,
" Waddy Thompson."
"Mr. Webster to Mr. Thompson. — (copy.)
" Department of State,
" Washington, July 8, 1842.
" Sir : On the 29th of last month, a communication was received at this
Department, from Mr. de Bocanegra, Secretary of State and Foreign Rela
tions of the Government of Mexico, having been forwarded through the
agency of Mr. Velazquez de Leon, at New York, who informed the De
partment, by a letter accompanying that of Mr. de Bocanegra, that he had
been appointed Charge d' Affaires of the Mexican Republic to this Govern
ment, although he had not yet presented his credentials. Mr. de Bocane-
gra's letter is addressed to the Secretary of State of the United States, and
bears date the 12th of May. A copy, together with copy of the commu
nication from Mr. Velazquez de Leon, transmitting it, and of the answer
to Mr. Velazquez de Leon, from this Department, you will receive here
with. Upon the receipt of this despatch, you will immediately address a
note to Mr. de Bocanegra, in which you will say, that —
" The Secretary of State of the United States has received a letter ad
dressed to him by Mr. de Bocanegra, under date of the 12th of May, and
transmitted to the Department of State at Washington, through the agency
of Mr. Velazquez de Leon, at New York, who informs the Government
of the United States that he has been appointed Charge d' Affaires of the
Mexican Republic, although he has not presented his letter of credence.
" The Government of the United States sees with regret the adoption, on
this occasion, of a form of communication quite unusual in diplomatic in-

294 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO.
tercourse, and for which no necessity is known. An envoy extraordinary
and minister plenipotentiary of the United States, fully accredited to the
Government of Mexico, was at that moment in its capital, in the actual
discharge of his functions, and ready to receive, on behalf of his Govern
ment, any communication which it might be the pleasure of the President
of the Mexican Republic to make to it. And it is not improper to here add,
that it has been matter of regret with the Government of the United States,
that while, being animated with a sincere desire at all times to cultivate
the most amicable relations with Mexico, it has not failed to maintain,
near that Government, a mission of the highest rank known to its usages,
Mexico, for a long time, has had no representative near the Government of
the United States.
" But the manner of the communication from Mr. de Bocanegra, however
novel and extraordinary, is less important than its contents and character,
which surprises the Government of the United States, by a loud complaint
of the violation of its neutral duties. Mr. de Bocanegra, speaking, as he
says, by the express order of the President of the Mexican Republic, de
clares that the amicable relations between the two countries might have
been lamentably disturbed, since the year 1835, when the revolution of
Texas broke out, had not Mexico given so many evidences of its forbear
ance, and made so many and so great sacrifices for the sake of peace, in
order that the world might not see, with pain and amazement, two nations
which appear destined to establish the policy and interests of the Ameri
can continent divided and ravaged by the evils of war.
" This language implies, that such has been the conduct of the United
States towards Mexico, that war must have ensued before the present
time, had not Mexico made great sacrifices to avoid such a result — a
charge which the Government of the United States utterly denies and re
pels. It is wholly ignorant of any sacrifices made by Mexico, in order to
preserve peace, or of any occasion calling on its Government to manifest
uncommon forbearance. On the contrary, the Government of the United
States cannot but be of opinion that, if the history of the occurrences be
tween the two Governments, the state of things at this moment existing
between them, be regarded, both the one and the other will demonstrate
that it is the conduct of the Government of the United States which has
been marked, in an especial manner, by moderation and forbearance. In
juries and wrongs have been sustained by citizens of the United States,
not inflicted by individual Mexicans, but by the authorities of the Govern
ment ; for which injuries and wrongs, numerous as they are, and outrage
ous as is the character of some of them, and acknowledged as they are by
Mexico herself, redress has been sought only by mild and peaceable

APPENDIX. 295
means, and no indemnity asked but such as the strictest justice impera
tively demanded. A desire not to disturb the peace and harmony of the
two countries has led the Government of the United States to be content
with the lowest measure of remuneration. Mexico herself must admit
that, in all these transactions, the conduct of the United States towards her
has been signalized, not by the infliction of injuries, but by the manifesta
tion of a friendly feeling and a conciliatory spirit.
" The Government of the United States will not be unjust in its senti
ments towards Mexico ; it will not impute to its Government any desire to
disturb the peace ; it acquits it of any design to spread the ravages and hor
rors of war over the two countries ; and it leaves it to Mexico herself to
avow her own motives for her pacific policy, if she have any other motive
than those of expediency and justice ; provided, however, that such avowal
of her motives carry with it no imputation or reflection upon the good faith
and honor of the United States.
" The revolution in Texas, and the events connected with it and springing
out of it, are Mr. de Bocanegra's principal topic ; and it is in relation to
these that his complaint is founded. His Government, he says, flatters it
self that the Government of the United States has not promoted the insur
rection in Texas, favored the usurpation of its territory, or supplied the
rebels with vessels, ammunition, and money. If Mr. de Bocanegra in
tends this as a frank admission of the honest and cautious neutrality of the
Government of the United States in the contest between Mexico and Texas,
he does that Government justice, and no more than justice ; but if the lan
guage be intended to intimate an opposite and a reproachful meaning, that
meaning is only the more offensive for being insinuated rather than dis
tinctly avowed. Mr. de Bocanegra would seem to represent that, from
1835 to the present time, citizens of the United States, if not their Gov
ernment, have been aiding rebels in Texas in arms against the lawful au
thority of Mexico. This is not a little extraordinary. Mexico may have
chosen to consider, and may still choose to consider, Texas as having been
at all times, since 1835, and as still continuing, a rebellious province ; but
the world has been obliged to take a very different view of the matter.
From the time of the battle of San Jacinto, in April, 1836, to the present
moment, Texas has exhibited the same external signs of national independ
ence as Mexico herself, and with quite as much stability of Government.
Practically free and independent, acknowledged as a political sovereignty
by the principal Powers of the world, no hostile foot finding rest within
her territory for six or seven years, and Mexico herself refraining for all
that period from any further attempt to re-establish her own authority over
that territory, it cannot but be surprising to find Mr. de Bocanegra com-

296 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO.
plaining that, for that whole period, citizens of the United States, or its
Government, have been favoring the rebels of Texas, and supplying them
with vessels, ammunition, and money, as if the war for the reduction of
the province of Texas had been constantly prosecuted by Mexico, and her
success prevented by these influences from abroad !
" The general facts appertaining to the settlement of Texas, and the
revolution in its Government, cannot but be well known to Mr. de Boca
negra. By the treaty of the 22d of February, 1819, between the United
States and Spain, the Sabine was adopted as the line of boundary between
the two Powers. Up to that period, no considerable colonization had been
effected in Texas ; but the territory between the Sabine and the Rio Grande
being confirmed to Spain by the treaty, applications were made to that
Power for grants of land ; and such grants, or permissions of settlement
were, in fact, made by the Spanish authorities, in favor of citizens of the
United States, proposing to emigrate to Texas, in numerous families, before
the declaration of independence by Mexico. And these early grants were
confirmed, as is well known, by successive acts of the Mexican Govern
ment, after its separation from Spain. In January, 1823, a national coloni
zation law was passed, holding out strong inducements to all persons who
should incline to undertake the settlement of uncultivated lands; and
although the Mexican law prohibited for a time citizens of foreign coun
tries from settling, as colonists, in territories immediately adjoining such
foreign countries, yet even this restriction was afterwards repealed or sus
pended ; so that, in fact, Mexico, from the commencement of her political
existence, held out the most liberal inducements to emigrants into her
territories, with full knowledge that these inducements were likely to act,
and expecting they would act, with the greatest effect upon citizens of the
United States, especially of the Southern States, whose agricultural pur
suits naturally rendered the rich lands of Texas, so well suited to their
accustomed occupation, objects of desire to them. The early colonists of
the United States, introduced by Moses and Stephen Austin under these
inducements and invitations, were persons of most respectable character,
and their undertaking was attended with very severe hardships, occasioned
in no small degree by the successive changes in the Government of Mexi
co. They nevertheless persevered, and accomplished a settlement. And,
under the encouragements and allurements thus held out by Mexico, other
emigrants followed, and many thousand colonists from the United States
and elsewhere had settled in Texas within ten years from the date of Mexi
can independence. Having some reason to complain, as they thought, of
the Government over them, and especially of the aggressions of the Mexi
can military stationed in Texas, they sought relief by applying to the

APPENDIX. 297
Supreme Government for the separation of Texas from Coahuila, and for a
local Government for Texas itself. Not having succeeded in this object,
in the process of time, in the progress of events, they saw fit to attempt an
entire separation from Mexico, to set up a Government of their own, and
to establish a political sovereignty. War ensued ; and the battle of San
Jacinto, fought on the 21st of April, 1836, achieved their independence
The war was from that time at an end, and in March following the inde
pendence of Texas was formally acknowledged by the Government of the
United States.
" In the events leading to the actual result of these hostilities, the United
States had no agency, and took no part. Its Government had, from the first,
abstained from giving aid or succor to either party. It knew its neutral
obligations, and fairly endeavored to fulfil them all. It acknowledged the
independence of Texas only when that independence was an apparent and
an ascertained fact ; and its example in this particular has been followed
by several of the most considerable Powers of Europe.
" It has been sometimes stated, as if for the purpose of giving more reason
to the complaints of Mexico, that, of the military force which acted against
Mexico with efficiency and success in 1836, a large portion consisted of
volunteers then fresh from the United States. But this is a great error. It
is well ascertained, that of those who bore arms in the Texian ranks in the
battle of San Jacinto, three-fourths at least were colonists, invited into
Texas by the grants and the colonization laws of Mexico, and called to the
field by the exigencies of the times in 1836, from their farms and other
objects of private pursuit.
"Mr. de Bocanegra's complaint is two-fold: first, that citizens of the
United States have supplied the rebels in Texas with ammunition, arms,
vessels, money and recruits ; have publicly raised forces in their cities and
fitted out vessels in their ports, loaded them with munitions of war, and
marched to commit hostilities against a friendly nation, under the eye and
with the knowledge of the public authorities. In all this, Mr. de Bocanegra
appears to forget that, while the United States are at peace with Mexico,
they are also at peace with Texas ; that both stand on the same footing of
friendly nations ; that, since 1837, the United States have regarded Texas
as an independent sovereignty , as much as Mexico ; and that trade and com
merce with citizens of a Government at war with Mexico cannot, on that
account, be regarded as an intercourse by which assistance and succor are
given to Mexican rebels. The whole current of Mr. de Bocanegra's re
marks runs in the same direction, as if the independence of Texas had not
been acknowledged. It has been acknowledged-it was acknowledged in
1837, against the remonstrance and protest of Mexico; and most of the
14*

298 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO.
acts of any importance, of which Mr. de Bocanegra complains, flow neces
sarily from that recognition. He speaks of Texas as still being ' an integral
part of the territory of the Mexican Republic ;' but he cannot but under
stand that the United States do not so regard it. The real complaint of
Mexico, therefore, is, in substance, neither more nor less than a complaint
against the recognition of Texan independence. It may be thought rather
late to repeat that complaint, and not quite just to confine it to the United
States, to the exemption of England, France, and Belgium, unless the Unit
ed States, having been the first to acknowledge the independence of Mexi
co herself, are to be blamed for setting an example for the recognition of
that of Texas. But it is still true that Mr. de Bocanegra's specification of
his grounds of complaint and remonstrance is mainly confined to such
transactions and occurrences as are the natural consequence of the political
relations existing between Texas and the United States. Acknowledging
Texas to be an independent nation, the Government of the United States,
of course, allows and encourages lawful trade and commerce between the
two countries. If articles contraband of war be found mingled with this
commerce, while Mexico and Texas are belligerent States, Mexico has the
right to intercept the transit of such articles to her enemy. This is the
common right of all belligerents, and belongs to Mexico in the same extent
as to other nations. But Mr. de Bocanegra is quite well aware that it is
not the practice of nations to undertake to prohibit their own subjects, by
previous laws, from trafficking in articles contraband of war. Such trade
is carried on at the risk of those engaged in it, under the liabilities and
penalties prescribed by the law of nations or by particular treaties. If it
be true, therefore, that citizens of the United States have been engaged in
a commerce by which Texas, an enemy of Mexico, has been supplied with
arms and munitions of war, the Government of the United States never
theless was not bound to prevent it, could not have prevented it without
a manifest departure from the principles of neutrality, and is in no way
answerable for the consequences. The treaty of the 5th of April, 1S31,
between the United States and Mexico itself, shows most clearly how little
foundation there is for the complaint of trading with Texas, if Texas is
to be regarded as a public enemy of Mexico. The 16th article declares,
' It shall likewise be lawful for the aforesaid citizens, respectively, to sail
with their vessels and merchandise before mentioned, and to trade, with the
same liberty and security, from the places, ports, and havens of those who
are enemies of both or either party, without any opposition or disturbance
whatsoever, not only directly from the places of the enemy before men
tioned to neutral places, but also from one place belonging to an enemy to

APPENDIX. 299
another place belonging to an enemy, whether they be under the jurisdic
tion of the same Government, or under several.'
" The 18th article enumerates those commodities which shall be regarded
as contraband of war ; but neither that article, nor any other, imposes on
either nation any duty of preventing, by previous regulation, commerce in
such articles. Such commerce is left to its ordinary fate, according to the
law of nations. It is only, therefore, by insisting, as Mr. de Bocanegra
does insist, that Texas is still a part of Mexico, that he can maintain any
complaint. Let it be repeated, therefore, that if the things against which
he remonstrates be wrong, they have their source in the original wrong of
the acknowledgment of Texian independence. But that acknowledgment
is not likely to be retracted.
" There can be no doubt at all that, for the last six years, the trade in
articles contraband of war between the United States and Mexico has been
greater than between the United States and Texas. It is probably greater
at the present moment. Why has not Texas a right to complain of this ?
For no reason, certainly, but because the permission to trade, or the actual
trading, by the citizens of a Government, in articles contraband of war, is
not a breach of neutrality.
" Mr. de Bocanegra professes himself unable to comprehend how those
persons of whom he complains have been able to evade the punishment
decreed against them by the laws of the United States ; but he does not
appear to have a clear idea of the principles or provisions of those laws.
The duties of neutral nations in time of war are prescribed by the law of
nations, which is imperative and binding upon all Governments ; and
nations not unfrequently establish municipal regulations for the better
government of the conduct of their subjects or citizens.
" This has been done by the United States, in order to maintain, with
greater certainty, a strict and impartial neutrality, pending war between
other countries. And wherever a violation of neutral duties, as they
exist by the law of nations, or any breach of its own laws, has been brought
to the notice of the Government, attention has always been paid to it.
" At an early period of the Texian revolution, strict orders were given by
the President of the United States, to all officers on the South and South
western frontier, to take care that those laws should be observed ; and the
attention of the Government of the United States has not been called to
any specific violation of them, since the manifestation on the part of
Mexico of an intention to renew hostilities with Texas ; and all officers of
the Government remain charged with the strict and faithful execution of
these laws. On a recent occasion, complaint was made, by the represen-

300 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO.
tatives of Texas, that an armament was fitted out in the United States for
the service of Mexico against Texas.
" Two vessels of war, it was alleged, built or purchased in the United
States, for the use of the Government of Mexico, and well understood as
intended to be employed against Texas, were equipped and ready to sail
from the waters of New York. The case was carefully inquired into,
official examination was made, and legal counsel invoked. It appeared to
be a case of great doubt ; but Mexico was allowed the benefit of that doubt,
and the vessels left the United States, with the whole or a part of their
armament actually on board. The same administration of even-handed
justice, the same impartial execution of the laws, towards all parties, will
continue to be observed.
" If forces have been raised in the United States, or vessels fitted out in
their ports for Texian service, contrary to law, no instance of which has as
yet come to the knowledge of the Government, prompt attention will be
paid to the first case, and to all cases which may be made known to it.
As to advances, loans, or donations of money or goods, made by individuals
to the Government of Texas or its citizens, Mr. de Bocanegra hardly needs
to be informed that there is nothing unlawful in this, so long as Texas is at
peace with the United States, and that these are things which no Govern
ment undertakes to restrain. Other citizens are equally at liberty, should
they be so inclined, to show their good will towards Mexico by the same
means. Still less can the Government of the United States be called upon
to interfere with opinions uttered in the public assemblages of a free peo
ple, accustomed to the independent expression of their sentiments, result
ing in no violation of the laws of their country, or of its duties as a neutral
State. Towards the United States, Mexico and Texas stand in the same
relation — as independent States at war. Of the character of that war man
kind will form their own opinions : and in the United States, at least, the
utterance of those opinions cannot be suppressed.
" The second part of Mr. de Bocanegra's complaint is thus stated : ' No
sooner does the Mexican Government, in the exercise of its rights, which
it cannot and does not desire to renounce, prepare means to recover a pos
session usurped from it, than the whole population of the United States,
especially in the Southern States, is in commotion ; and in the most public
manner, a large portion of them is directed upon Texas.'
¦ " And how does Mr. de Bocanegra suppose that the Government of the
United States can prevent, or is bound to undertake to prevent, the peo
ple from thus going to Texas ? This is emigration — the same emigration,
though not under the same circumstances, which Mexico invited to Texas
before the revolution. These persons, so far as is known to the Govern-

APPENDIX. 301
ment of the United States, repair to Texas, not as citizens of the United
States, but as ceasing to be such citizens, and as changing at the same time
their allegiance and their domicil. Should they return, after having entered
into the service of a foreign State, still claiming to be citizens of the United
States, it will be for the authorities of the United States Government to
determine how far they have violated the municipal laws of the country,
and what penalties they have incurred. The Government of the United
States does not maintain, and never has maintained, the doctrine of the
perpetuity of natural allegiance. And surely Mexico maintains no such
doctrine ; because her actually existing Government, like that of the United
States, is founded in the principle that men may throw off the obligation
of that allegiance to which they are born. The Government of the United
States, from its origin, has maintained legal provisions for the naturaliza
tion of such subjects of foreign States as may choose to come hither, make
their home in the country, and renouncing their former allegiance, and com
plying with certain stated requisitions, to take upon themselves the char
acter of citizens of this Government. Mexico herself has laws granting
equal facilities to the naturalization of foreigners. On the other hand, the
United States have not passed any law restraining their own citizens, native
or naturalized, from leaving the country and forming political relations
elsewhere. Nor do other Governments, in modern times, attempt any such
thing. It is true that there are Governments which assert the principle of
perpetual allegiance ; yet, even in cases where this is not rather a matter
of theory than practice, the duties of this supposed continuing allegiance
are left to be demanded of the subject himself, when within the reach of
the power of his former Government, and as exigencies may arise, and are
not attempted to be enforced by the imposition of previous restraint, pre
venting men from leaving their country.
" Upon this subject of the emigration of individuals from neutral to belli
gerent States, in regard to which Mr. de Bocanegra appears so indignant,
we must be allowed to bring Mexico into her own presence, to compare
her with herself, and respectfully invite her to judge the matter by her own
principles and her own conduct. In her great struggle against Spain, for
her own independence, did she not open her arms wide to receive all who
would come to her from any part of the world ? And did not multitudes
flock to her new-raised standard of liberty, from the United States, from
England, Ireland, France, and Italy, many of whom distinguished them
selves in her service, both by sea and land ? She does not appear to have
supposed that the Governments of these persons, thus coming to unite
their fate with hers, were, by allowing the emigration, even pending a
civil war, furnishing just cause of offence to Spain. Even in her military

302 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO.
operations against Texas, Mexico employed many foreign emigrants ; and
it may be thought remarkable that, in those very operations, not long be
fore the battle of San Jacinto, a native citizen of the United States held
high command in her service, and performed feats of no mean significance
in Texas. Of that toleration, therefore, as she calls it, and which she now
so warmly denounces, Mexico in that hour of her emergency embraced
the benefits, eagerly, and to the full extent of her power. May we not
ask, then, how she can reconcile her present complaints with her own
practice, as well as how she accounts for so long and unbroken a silence
upon a subject on which her remonstrance is now so loud ?
" Spain chose to regard Mexico only in the light of a rebellious province
for near twenty years after she had asserted her own independence. Does
Mexico now admit that, for all that period, notwithstanding her practical
emancipation from Spanish power, it was unlawful for the subjects and
citizens of other Governments to carry on with her the ordinary business of
commerce, or to accept her tempting offers to emigrants .'
" Certainly such is not her opinion.
" Might it not be asked, then, even if the United States had uot already
and long ago acknowledged the independence of Texas, how long they
should be expected to wait for the accomplishment of the object now, exist
ing only in purpose and intention, of the resubjugation of that territory by
Mexico ?
" How long, let it be asked, in the judgment of Mexico herself, is the fact
of actual independence to be held of no avail against an avowed purpose
of future reconquest ?
" Mr. de Bocanegra is pleased to say that, if war actually existed between
the two countries, proceedings more hostile, on the part of the United States,
could not have taken place than have taken place, nor the insurgents of
Texas obtained more effectual co-operation than they have obtained.
"This opinion, however hazardous to the discernment and just estimate
of things of those who avow it, is yet abstract and theoretical, and, so far,
harmless. " The efficiency of American hostility to Mexico has never been tried ;
the Government has no desire to try it. It would not disturb the peace for
the sake of showing how erroneously Mr. de Bocanegra has reasoned, while,
on the other hand, it trusts that a just hope maybe entertained that Mexico
will not inconsiderately and needlessly hasten into an experiment by
which the truth or fallacy of his sentiments may be brought to an actual
ascertainment. " Mr. de Bocanegra declares, in conclusion, that his Government finds
itself under the necessity of protesting solemnly against the aggressions

APPENDIX. 303
which the citizens of the United States are reiterating upon the Mexican
territory, and of declaring, in a positive manner, that it will consider as a
violation of the treaty of amity the toleration of that course of conduct
which he alleges inflicts on the Mexican Republic the injuries and incon
veniences of war. The President exceedingly regrets both the sentiment
and the manner of this declaration. But it can admit but of one answer.
The Mexican Government appears to require that which could not be
granted, in whatever language or whatever tone requested. The Govern
ment of the United States is a government of law. The' Chief Execu
tive Magistrate, as well as functionaries in every other Department,
is restrained and guided by the Constitution and the laws of the
land. Neither the Constitution, nor the law of the land, nor principles
known to the usages of modern States, authorizes him to interdict lawful
trade between the United States and Texas, or to prevent, or attempt to
prevent, individuals from leaving the United States for Texas or any other
foreign country.
" If such individuals enter into the service of Texas, or any other foreign
State, the Government of the United States no longer holds over them the
shield of its protection. They must stand or fall in their newly assumed
character, and according to the fortunes which may betide it. But the Gov
ernment of the United States cannot be called upon to prevent their emi
gration ; and it must be added, that the Constitution, public treaties, and
the laws, oblige the President to regard Texas as an independent State, and
its territory as no part of the territory of Mexico. Every provision of law,
every principle of neutral obligation, will be sedulously enforced in relation
to Mexico, as in relation to other Powers, and to the same extent, and with
the same integrity of purpose. All this belongs to the constitutional power
and duty of the Government, and it will all be fulfilled. But the continu
ance of amity with Mexico cannot be purchased at any higher rate. If the
peace of the two countries is to be disturbed, the responsibility will de
volve on Mexico. She must be answerable for consequences. The United
States, let it be again repeated, desire peace. It would be with infinite
pain that they should find themselves in. hostile relations with any of the
new Governments on this continent. But their Government is regulated,
limited, full of the spirit of liberty, but surrounded, nevertheless, with just
restraints ; and greatly and fervently as it desires peace with all States, and
especially with its more immediate neighbors, yet no fear of a different
state of things can be allowed to interrupt its course of equal and exact
justice to all nations, nor to jostle it out of the constitutional orbit in
which it revolves. " I am, sir, your obedient servant,
" Waoty Thompson, Jr., Esq., &c. " DANIEL WEBSTER.

304 RECOLLECTIONS OF MEXICO.
['* Mr. Webster to Mr. Thompson.}
" Department of State,
" Washington, July 13, 1842.
" Sir : After writing to you on the 8th instant, I received, through the
same channel as the former, Mr. de Bocanegra's second letter, and at the
same time your despatch of the 6th of June, and your private letter of the
21st. This last letter of Mr. de Bocanegra was written, as you will see,
before it was possible for him to expect an answer to his first, which an
swer is now forwarded, and shows the groundless nature of the complaints
of Mexico. The letter itself is highly exceptionable and offensive. It
imputes violations of honor and good faith to the Government of the
United States, not only in the most unjust but in the most indecorous man
ner. You have not spoken of it in terms too strong in your circular to the
members of the diplomatic corps.
" On the receipt of this, you will write a note to Mr. de Bocanegra, in
which you will say that the Secretary of State of the United States, on the
9th of July, received his letter of the 31st of May. That the President of
the United States considers the language and tone of that letter derogatory
to the character of the United States, and highly offensive, as it imputes to
their Government * direct breach of faith ; and that he directs that no
other answer be given to it, than the declaration that the conduct of the
Government of the United States, in regard to the war between Mexico and
Texas, having been always hitherto governed by a strict and impartial
regard to its neutral obligations, will not be changed or altered in any
respect or in any degree. If for this the Government of Mexico shall see
fit to change the relations at present existing between the two countries,
the responsibility remains with herself. " I am, sir, your obedient servant,
" DANIEL WEBSTER.
" Waddy Thompson, Esq. , Envoy Extraordinary and
Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States, Mexico."

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