His funeral ceremonies were conducted by the archbishop, and his honored remains interred in the church of San Fernando. At the period of the viceroy"s decease his wife was pregnant; and it is stated, in the chronicles of the day,--and we mention it as a singular ill.u.s.tration of Spanish habits,--that the daughter, of which she was delivered in the following month of December, received the names of, _Maria de Guadalupe Bernarda Isabel Felipa de Jesus Juana Nepomucena Felicitas_, to which was joined at the period of the lady"s confirmation, the additional one of _Fernanda_! The Ayuntamiento of Mexico, in order to show its appreciation of the viceroy"s memory, offered to become _G.o.d-father_ of the infant, and the ceremony of its baptism was performed with all the splendor of the Catholic church, in the presence of the court and of a portion of the army. The defunct viceroy had become popular with the ma.s.ses, and the people strove to manifest their love for the dead by their affectionate courtesy to his orphan, daughter and desolate widow.
The AUDIENCIA REAL a.s.sumed the government of Mexico, inasmuch as the Spanish ministry had provided no successor in the event of the count"s death. Its power continued until the following February, during which period no event of note occurred in New Spain, save the destruction by fire of valuable mining property at Bolanos, and a violent hurricane at Acapulco, accompanied by earthquakes, which swept the sea over the coast, and caused great losses to the farmers and herdsmen who dwelt on the neighboring lowlands.
NUnEZ DE HARO, ARCHBISHOP OF MEXICO, L. VICEROY, AD INTERIM, OF NEW SPAIN. 1787.
The appointment of this eminent prelate to the viceroyalty _ad interim_ by a royal order of 25th February, 1787, was perhaps one of those strokes of policy by which the Spanish ministry strove to reconcile and connect the ecclesiastical and civil unity of the American empire. The sway of the archbishop, complimentary as it was to himself and to the church, was exceedingly brief, for he entered upon the government on the 8th of May and was superceded by Flores on the 17th of August of the same year. New Spain was undisturbed during his government; and no event is worthy of historical record in these brief annals of the country, save the effort that was made to prohibit the _repartimiento_ or subdivision of the Indians among the agriculturists and miners by the _sub-delegados_, who had succeeded the _alcaldes mayores_, in the performance of this odious task. The conduct of the latter personages had been extremely cruel to the natives. They either used their power to oppress the Indians, or had trafficked in the dispensation of justice by allowing the sufferers to purchase exemption from punishment; and it is related that in certain _alcaldias mayores_ in Oaxaca, the _alcaldes_ had enriched themselves to the extent of more than two hundred thousand dollars by these brutal exactions. Inhumanity like this, was severely denounced to the king by the bishop Ortigoza,--who merited, according to Revilla-Gigedo, the t.i.tle of the Saint Paul of his day,--and the eloquent prelate complained in behalf of his beloved Indians as vehemently as Las Casas at an earlier period of this loathsome oppression. But interest overcome the appeals of mercy in almost all instances since the foundation of the American empire. The Spaniards required laborers. The ignorant and unarmed Indians of the south and of the table lands, were docile or unorganized, and, although the Spanish court and Council of the Indies seconded the viceroy"s zeal in attempting to suppress the cruelty of the planters and miners, the unfortunate aborigines only experienced occasional brief intervals of respite in the system of forced labor to which they were devoted by their legal task-masters.
DON MANUEL FLORES, LI. VICEROY OF NEW SPAIN. 1787-1789.
Don Manuel Flores a.s.sumed the government of New Spain on the 16th of May, 1787, but his power over the finances of the nation was taken from him and given to Fernando Mangino, with the t.i.tle of _Superintendente sub-delegado de Hacienda_. Flores was thus left in possession solely of the civil administration generally, and of the military organization of the viceroyalty. Being satisfied that the ordinary _militia_ system of New Spain was inadequate for national protection during war, he immediately devoted himself to the forced levy and equipment of three regiments of infantry, named "Puebla,"
"Mexico" and "New Spain." The command of these forces was given to the most distinguished and n.o.ble young men of Mexico;--and as the minister Galvez died, and Mangino was, about this period, transferred to the Council of the Indies, the superintendence of the finances of Mexico, was appropriately restored again to the viceroyal government.
The northern part of Mexico, in 1788 and for many previous years had been constantly ravaged by the wild Indian tribes that ranged across the whole frontier from the western limits of Sonora to the Gulf of Mexico.
Immense sums were squandered in the support of garrisons or the maintenance of numerous officers, whose duty it was to hold these barbarians in check. But their efforts had been vain. The fine agricultural districts of Chihuahua, New Leon, New Mexico and even in parts of Texas, had attracted large numbers of adventurous pioneers into that remote region; yet no sooner did their fields begin to flourish and their flocks or herds to increase, than these savages descended upon the scattered settlers and carried off their produce and their families.
Whenever the arms of New Spain obtained a signal victory over one of these marauding bands, the Indians would talk of peace and even consent to bind themselves by treaties. But these compacts were immediately broken, as soon as they found the country beginning to flourish again, or the military power in the least degree relaxed.
Flores appears to have understood the condition of the northern frontier and the temper of the Indians. He did not believe that treaties, concessions or kindness would suffice to protect the Spanish pioneers, and yet he was satisfied that it was necessary to sustain the settlements, in that quarter, in order to prevent the southern progress of European adventurers who were eager to seize the wild and debatable lands lying on both sides of the Rio Grande. Accordingly he proposed to the Spanish court to carry on a war of most inexorable character against the Apaches, Lipans and Mesclaros. He characterized, in his despatches, all the Indian tribes dwelling or wandering between the Presidio of the Bay of Espiritu Santo, in the province of Texas, to beyond Santa Gertrudis del Altar, in Sonora,--the two opposite points of the dangerous frontier line,--as Apaches or their hostile colleagues; and he resolved to fight them, without quarter, truce, or mercy, until they surrendered unconditionally to the power of Spain.
The subsequent history of these provinces, and the experience of our own government, have shown the wisdom of this advice in regard to a band of savages whose habits are peculiarly warlike and whose robber traits have made them equally dangerous to all cla.s.ses of settlers in the lonely districts of the Rio Grande or of the Gila and Colorado of the west. His secretary, Bonilla,--who had fought bravely in the northern provinces, and was practically acquainted with warfare among these barbarians,--seconded the mature opinion of the viceroy. The plan was successful for the time, and the frontier enjoyed a degree of peace, whilst the military power was sustained throughout the line of Presidios, which it has not known since the revolution in Mexico attracted the attention of all towards the central parts of the nation and left the north comparatively exposed. Flores enforced his system rigidly, during his viceroyalty. He equipped the expeditions liberally; promoted the officers who distinguished themselves; rewarded the bravest soldiers; and despatched a choice regiment of dragoons to Durango, whose officers, formed, in that city, the nucleus of its future civilization.
Nor was this viceroy stinted in his efforts to improve the capital and protect the growing arts and sciences of the colony. He labored to establish a botanical garden, under the auspices of Don Martin Sese; but the perfect realization of this beneficial and useful project was reserved for his successor the Count Revilla-Gigedo.
The mining interests, too, were prospering, and improvements on the ancient Spanish system were sought to be introduced, through the instrumentality of eleven German miners whose services had been engaged by the home government in Dresden, through its envoy Don Luis Orcis. These personages presented themselves in New Spain with the pompous t.i.tle of practical professors of mineralogy, but they were altogether unskilled in the actual working of mines, and unable to render those of Mexico more productive. The only benefit derived from this mineralogical mission was the establishment of a course of chemical lectures in the seminary of mines, under the direction of Lewis Leinder, who set up the first laboratory in Mexico.
On the 23d of December, 1788, the minister of the Indies apprised the viceroy of the death of Charles III., which had occurred in the middle of that month. Funeral ceremonies were celebrated, with great pomp, in Mexico, in honor of the defunct monarch; and, on the 22d of February, 1789, the resignation of the viceroyalty by Flores,--who desired heartily to retire from public life--was graciously accepted by the Spanish court, and his successor named, in the person of the second Count Revilla-Gigedo.
THE COUNT DE REVILLA-GIGEDO--THE SECOND, LII. VICEROY OF NEW SPAIN.
1789-1794.
This distinguished n.o.bleman, whose name figures so favorably in the annals of Mexico, reached Guadalupe on the 16th of October 1789, and on the following day entered the capital with all the pompous ceremonies usual in New Spain upon the advent of a new ruler. In the following month--the new sovereign Charles IV. was proclaimed; and the viceroy, at once set about the regulation of the munic.i.p.al police of his capital which seems to have been somewhat relaxed since the days of his dreaded and avaricious father. a.s.sa.s.sinations of the most scandalous and daring character, had recently warned the viceroy of the insecurity of life and property even in the midst of his guards.
But Revilla-Gigedo possessed some of the sterner qualities that distinguished his parent, and never rested until the guilty parties were discovered and brought to prompt and signal justice. The capital soon exhibited a different aspect under his just and rigorous government. He did not trust alone to the reports of his agents in order to satisfy his mind in regard to the wants of Mexico; for he visited every quarter of the city personally, and often descended unexpectedly upon his officers when they least expected a visit from such a personage. The poor as well as the rich received his paternal notice. He enquired into their wants and studied their interests. One of his most beneficent schemes was the erection of a Monte Pio, for their relief, yet the sum he destined for this object was withheld by the court and used for the payment of royal debts. Agriculture, horticulture and botany were especially fostered by this enlightened n.o.bleman. He carried out the project of his predecessor by founding the botanical garden, and liberally rewarded and encouraged the pupils of this establishment, for he deemed the rich vegetable resources of Mexico quite as worthy of national attention as the mines which had hitherto absorbed the public interest. Literature, too, did not escape his fostering care, as far as the jealous rules of the Inquisition and of royal policy permitted its liberal encouragement by a viceroy. He found the streets of the capital and its suburbs badly paved and kept, and he rigidly enforced all the police regulations which were necessary for their purity and safety. As he knew that one of the best means of developing and binding together the provinces of the empire, was the construction of substantial and secure roads,--he proposed that the highways to Vera Cruz, Acapulco, Mezt.i.tlan de la Sierra, and Toluca, should be reconstructed in the most enduring manner. But the Junta Superior de Hacienda opposed the measure, and the count was obliged to expend, from his own purse, the requisite sums for the most important repairs. He established weekly posts between the capitals of the Intendencies;--regulated and restricted the cutting of timber in the adjacent mountains;--established a professorship of anatomy in the Hospital de Naturales; destroyed the provincial militia system and formed regular _corps_ out of the best veterans found in the ranks.
Knowing the difficulty with which the poor or uninfluential reached the ear of their Mexican governors, he placed a locked case in one of the halls of his palace into which all persons were at liberty to throw their memorials designed for the viceroy"s scrutiny. It was, in reality, a secret mode of _espionage_, but it brought to the count"s knowledge many an important fact which he would never have learned through the ordinary channels of the court. Without this secret chest, whose key was never out of his possession, Revilla-Gigedo, with all his personal industry, might never have comprehended the actual condition of Mexico, or, have adopted the numerous measures for its improvement which distinguished his reign.
Besides this provident measure for the internal safety and progressive comfort of New Spain, the count directed his attention to the western coast of America, upon which, he believed, the future interests of Spain would materially rely. The settlement of the Californias had engaged the attention of many preceding viceroys, as we have already related, and their coasts had been explored and missionary settlements made wherever the indentures of the sea sh.o.r.e indicated the utility of such enterprises. But the count foresaw that the day would come when the commercial enterprises of European nations, and, especially of the English, would render this portion of the Mexican realm an invaluable acquisition. Accordingly he despatched an expedition to the Californias to secure the possessions of Spain in that quarter; and has left, for posterity, an invaluable summary or _recopilacion_ of all the enterprises of discovery made by the Spaniards in that portion of the west coast of America. This doc.u.ment,--more useful to the antiquarian than the politician, now that the boundaries between the possessions of Mexico, England and the United States have been definitely settled by treaties,--may be found in the third volume of "Los Tres Siglos de Mejico," a work which was commenced by the Jesuit Father Cavo, and continued to the year 1821, by Don Carlos Maria Bustamante. Revilla-Gigedo recommended the Spanish court to avoid all useless parade or expense, but resolutely to prevent the approach of the English or of any other foreign power to their possessions in California, and to occupy, promptly, the port of Bodega, and even the sh.o.r.es of the Columbia river, if it was deemed necessary. He advised the minister, moreover, to fortify these two points; to garrison strongly San Francisco, Monterey, San Diego and Loreto; to change the department of San Blas to Acapulco; and to guard the _fondos piadosos_ of the missions, as well as the salt works of Zapotillo, by which the treasury would be partly relieved of the ecclesiastical expenses of California, while the needful marine force was suitably supported.
These safeguards were believed by the viceroy sufficient to confine the enterprising English to the regions in which they might traffic for peltries without being tempted into the dominions of Spain, at the same time that they served as safeguards against all illicit or contraband commerce.[48]
We have, thus endeavored to describe rather than to narrate historically, the princ.i.p.al events that occurred in the reign of the second Count Revilla-Gigedo, all of which have characterized him as a just, liberal and far-seeing ruler. In the account of his father"s reign, we have already noticed some of this viceroy"s meritorious qualities; but we shall now break the ordinary tenor of these brief annals by inserting a few anecdotes which are still traditionally current in the country whose administration he so honestly conducted.
The Conde was accustomed to make nightly rounds in the city, in order to a.s.sure himself that its regulations for quiet and security were carried into effect. On one occasion, it is related, that in pa.s.sing through a street which he had ordered to be paved, he suddenly stopped and despatched a messenger to the director of the work, requiring his instant presence. The usual phrase with which he wound up such commands was "lo espero aqui,"--"I await him here,"--which had the effect of producing an extraordinary degree of celerity in those who received the command. On this occasion the officer, who was enjoying his midnight repose, sprang from his bed on receiving the startling summons, and rushed, half dressed, to learn the purport of what he presumed to be an important business. He found the viceroy standing stiff and composed on the side walk. When the panting officer had paid his obeisance to his master:--"I regret to have disturbed you, Senor,"
said the latter, "in order to call your attention to the state of your pavement. You will observe that this flag stone is not perfectly even," touching with his toe one which rose about half an inch above the rest of the side walk, "I had the misfortune to strike my foot against it this evening, and I fear that some others may be as unlucky as myself, unless the fault be immediately remedied. You will attend to it, sir, and report to me to-morrow morning!" With these words he continued his round, leaving the officer in a state of stupefaction; but it is a.s.serted that the pavements of Mexico for the rest of his excellency"s government were unexceptionable.
Another anecdote, of this kind, places his peculiarity of temper in a still stronger light. In perambulating the city one pleasant evening about sunset, he found that the street in which he was walking terminated abruptly against a ma.s.s of wretched tenements, apparently the lurking places of vice and beggary. He inquired how it happened that the highway was carried no farther, or why these hovels were allowed to exist; but the only information he could gain was that such had always been the case, and that none of the authorities considered themselves bound to remedy the evil. Revilla-Gigedo sent immediately to the _corregidor_:--"tell him that I await him here," he concluded, in a tone that had the effect of bringing that functionary at once to the spot, and he received orders to open, without delay, a broad and straight avenue through the quarter as far as the barrier of the city.
It must be finished,--was the imperious command,--that very night, so as to allow the viceroy to drive through it on his way to ma.s.s the next morning. With this the count turned on his heel, and the corregidor was left to reflect upon his disagreeable predicament.
The fear of losing his office, or perhaps worse consequences, stimulated his energy. No time was to be wasted. All his subordinate officers were instantly summoned, and laborers were collected from all parts of the city. The very buildings that were to be removed sent forth crowds of _leperos_ willing for a few _reales_ to aid in destroying the walls which had once harbored them. A hundred torches shed their radiance over the scene. All night long the shouts of the workmen, the noise of pick-axe and crowbar, the crash of falling roofs, and the rumbling of carts, kept the city in a fever of excitement. Precisely at sunrise the state carriage, with the viceroy, his family and suite, left the palace, and rattled over the pavements in the direction from which the noise had proceeded. At length the new street opened before them, a thousand workmen, in double file, fell back on either side and made the air resound with _vivas_, as they pa.s.sed. Through clouds of dust and dirt,--over the unpaved earth, strewn with fragments of stone and plaster,--the coach and train swept onward, till at the junction of the new street with the road leading to the suburbs, the _corregidor_, hat in hand, with a smile of conscious desert, stepped forward to receive his excellency, and to listen to the commendation bestowed on the prompt and skilful execution of his commands!
Should any one doubt the truth of this story, let him be aware that the Calle de Revilla-Gigedo still remains in Mexico to attest its verity.
These anecdotes impart some idea of the authority exercised by the viceroys, which was certainly far more arbitrary and personal than that of their sovereign in his Spanish dominions.
There is another adventure told to display the excellence of Revilla-Gigedo"s police, in which the count figures rather melodramatically. It seems that among the _creole_ n.o.bles, who, with the high officers of government, made up the viceroy"s court, there was a certain marques, whom fortune had endowed with great estates and two remarkably pretty daughters, and it was doubted by some whether the care of his cash or his heiresses gave him most anxiety. The eldest, who bore her father"s t.i.tle, was celebrated for beauty of an uncommon kind in those regions. She had blue eyes, brilliant complexion, and golden hair, and was every where known as the fair haired marquesa. Her sister who, on the contrary, was very dark, with eyes like the gazelle and raven hair, was called the pretty brunette.
But, different as they were in looks and perhaps in character, there was one trait in which they perfectly agreed, for they were remarkable coquettes! It is unknown how many offers of the wealthiest grandees and most gallant cavaliers about court they had refused; and the poor marques, who was by no means a domestic tyrant and desired to govern his family only by kindness, was quite worn out in persuading them to know there own minds. One night he was roused from his sleep by a message from the viceroy, who awaited him in the palace. Not for his best estate would the loyal marques have kept the representative of his sovereign waiting a moment longer than necessary. Wondering what reason of state could require his presence at that unusual hour, he dressed himself hastily, and hurried to the palace. The viceroy was in his cabinet, surrounded by several of his household, and all in a state of painful curiosity. "Marques," said the viceroy, as soon as the n.o.bleman entered, "my lieutenant of police here, complains that you did not take proper care to secure the doors of your mansion last evening." "I a.s.sure your highness," replied the marques in great surprise, "that my steward locked both the great gate and the outer door, according to the invariable custom of my mansion, before retiring for the night." "But have you not a postern opening into the next street?" returned the count, "and are you equally heedful in regard to it? But, in short," he continued, "you must know, that this watchful lieutenant of mine has saved you to-night from robbery."
"Robbery! your excellency, is it possible?" e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed the marques, startled for a moment out of his habitual composure. "Yes,--and of the worst kind" replied the viceroy, "the felons were in the act of carrying off your most exquisite treasures which are now restored to you." At these words, a door at the side of the cabinet flew open, and the astonished marques beheld his two daughters, dressed for travelling, and locked in each other"s arms. They seemed overwhelmed with confusion; the fair hair all dishevelled and the black eyes drowned in tears. "And these are the robbers," added the viceroy pointing to a door on the opposite side, which also flew open. The marques turned mechanically, and saw two of the gayest, handsomest, and most dissipated youths of the court, whom he recollected as occasional visitors at his house. They appeared no less confused, and, with their embarra.s.sment, there was an evident mixture of alarm. The truth now began to break on the mind of the n.o.bleman. "You see, marques," said the count, "that but for the vigilance of my police, you would have had the honor of being father-in-law to two of the greatest scamps in my viceroyalty. See what a dilemma your carelessness has brought me into, my dear sir! I am obliged to wound the feelings of two of the most lovely ladies in my court, to save them from the machinations of scoundrels unworthy of their charms, and I fear they will never forgive me! Farewell, senor marques; take my advice, and brick up your postern. Calderon[49] was a wise man, and he tells us that a house with two doors is hard to keep. As for these young scape-graces, they sail in the next galeon, for Manilla, where they can exercise their fascinating powers on the _chinas_ and _mulatas_ of the Philipines!"
[Footnote 48: During the administration of the second Count Revilla-Gigedo the sum of one hundred and nine millions, seven hundred and four thousand, four hundred and seventeen dollars, was coined in gold and silver in Mexico.]
[Footnote 49: One of Calderon"s comedies is named "_Casa con dos puertas mala es de guardar_." See Lady"s Magazine for 1844.]
CHAPTER XVI.
1794-1808.
BRANCIFORTE VICEROY--HIS GRASPING AND AVARICIOUS CHARACTER--CORRUPTION TOLERATED.--PERSECUTION OF FRENCHMEN--ENCAMPMENTS.--BRANCIFORTE"S CHARACTER.--AZANZA VICEROY.--EFFECT OF EUROPEAN WARS ON COLONIAL TRADE AND MANUFACTURES.--THREATENED REVOLT.--MARQUINA VICEROY--REVOLT IN JALISCO.--ITURRIGARAY VICEROY.--G.o.dOY"S CORRUPTION--WAR.--DEFENCES AGAINST THE UNITED STATES--MIRANDA--HUMBOLDT.--MEXICO TAXED FOR EUROPEAN WARS--FERDINAND VII.--NAPOLEON IN SPAIN--KING JOSEPH BONAPARTE.--ITURRIGARAY ARRESTED.--GARIBAY VICEROY.
THE MARQUES DE BRANCIFORTE, LIII. VICEROY OF NEW SPAIN. 1794-1798.
The Marques Branciforte, who reached Mexico on the 11th of July, 1794, contrasts unfavorably, in history, with his ill.u.s.trious predecessor Revilla-Gigedo. Partaking of the avaricious qualities of this personage"s father, he seems to have possessed but few of his virtues, and probably accepted the viceroyalty of New Spain with no purpose but that of plunder.
Scarcely had he begun to reign, when his rapacity was signally exhibited. It is said that his first essay in extortion, was the sale of the _sub-delegation_ of Villa-Alta to a certain Don Francisco Ruiz de Conejares, for the sum of forty thousand dollars, and the bestowal of the office of _apoderado_ on the Count de Contramina, the offices of whose subordinates were bought and sold in the political market like ordinary merchandise.
At this epoch the warlike hostility to France was excessive, and orders had been received to exercise the strictest vigilance over the subjects of that nation who resided in Mexico. Their number, however, was small, for Spanish America was almost as closely sealed as China against the entrance of strangers. Nevertheless Branciforte encouraged a most disgraceful persecution against these unfortunate persons, by arresting them on the slightest pretexts, throwing them into prison, and seizing their possessions. He found, in his _a.s.sessor general_, Don Pedro Jacinto Valenzuela, and in his criminal prosecutor, Francisco Xavier de Borbon, fitting instruments to carry out his inexorable determinations. Upon one occasion he even demanded of the Sala de Audiencia that certain Frenchmen, after execution, should have their tongues impaled upon iron spikes at the city gates, because they had spoken slightingly of the virtue of the queen Maria Louisa!
Fortunately, however, for the wretched culprits, the _Sala_ was composed of virtuous magistrates who refused to sanction the cruel demand, and the victims were alone despoiled of their valuable property. These acts, it may well be supposed, covered the name of Branciforte with infamy even in Mexico.
In 1796, on the 7th of October, war was declared by Spain against England, in consequence of which the viceroy immediately distributed the colonial army, consisting of not less than eight thousand men, in Orizaba, Cordova, Jalapa, and Perote; and, in the beginning of the following year, he left the capital to command the forces from his headquarters near the eastern coast. This circ.u.mstance enabled him to leave, with an air of triumph, a city in which he was profoundly hated. The people manifested their contempt of so despicable an extortioner and flatterer of royalty, not only by words, but by caricatures. When the sovereign sent him the order of the golden fleece, they depicted Branciforte with a collar of the n.o.ble order, but in lieu of the lamb, which terminates the insignia, they placed the figure of a cat! At his departure, the civil and financial government of the capital was entrusted to the regency of the _audiencia_, while its military affairs were conducted by the Brigadier Davalos. In Orizaba the conduct of Branciforte was that of an absolute monarch. All his troops were placed under the best discipline, but none of them were permitted to descend to Vera Cruz; yet, scarcely had he been established in this new military command, when it was known that Don Miguel Jose de Azanza was named as his viceroyal successor. Nevertheless Branciforte continued in control, with the same domineering demeanor, as in the first days of his government, relying for justification and defence in Spain upon the support of his relative, the Prince of Peace. In Orizaba he was surrounded by flatterers and his court was a scene of disgraceful orgies; yet the day of his fall was at hand. The ship Monarch anch.o.r.ed at Vera Cruz, on the 17th of May, 1798, and, on the 31st of the same month, Azanza, the new viceroy who reached America in her, received the viceroyal baton from Branciforte. This supercilious peculator departed from New Spain with five millions of dollars, a large portion of which was his private property, in the vessel that had brought his successor, and arrived at Ferol, after a narrow escape from the English in the waters of Cadiz. But he returned to Spain loaded with wealth and curses, for never had the Mexicans complained so bitterly against any Spaniard who was commissioned to rule them.
The respectable and wealthy inhabitants of the colony were loudest in their denunciations of an "Italian adventurer," who enriched himself at the expense of their unfortunate country, nor was his conduct less hateful because he had been the immediate successor of so just and upright a viceroy as Revilla-Gigedo.
The character of Branciforte was keen and hypocritical. He tried, at times, but vainly, to conceal his avarice, while his pretended love for the "Virgin of Guadalupe" and for the royal family, was incessantly reiterated in familiar conversation. Every Sat.u.r.day during his government, and on the twelfth of every month, he made pious pilgrimages to the sanctuary of the Mexican protectress. He placed a large image of the virgin on the balcony of the palace, and ordered a salute to be fired at daybreak in honor of the saint on the twelfth of every December. With these cheap ceremonials, however, he satisfied his hypocritical piety and absorbing avarice, but he never bestowed a farthing upon the collegiate church of the Virgin. Whenever he spoke in his court of the sovereign of Spain it was with an humble mien, a reverential voice, and all the external manifestations of subserviency for the royal personages who conferred such unmerited honors upon him.
Such is the picture which has been left by Mexican annalists of one of their worst rulers.
DON MIGUEL JOSe DE AZANZA, LIV. VICEROY OF NEW SPAIN.--1798-1800.
Azanza, who, as we have related, a.s.sumed the viceroyalty in May, 1798, was exceedingly well received in Mexico. His worthy character was already known to the people, and almost any new viceroy would have been hailed as a deliverer from the odious administration of Branciforte.
Azanza was urbane towards all cla.s.ses, and his discreet conversation, at once, secured the respect and confidence of the colonists. Besides this, the early measures of his administration were exceedingly wise. He dissolved the various military encampments, established and maintained at enormous cost, by his predecessor in the neighborhood of the eastern coasts. This heavy charge on the treasury was distasteful to the people, while so large an a.s.semblage of colonial troops necessarily withdrew mult.i.tudes from agricultural and commercial pursuits, and greatly interfered with the business of New Spain. Anxious, however, to protect the important post of Vera Cruz, the viceroy formed a less numerous encampment in its neighborhood; but the greater portion of its officers and men perished in that unhealthy climate.
The war with England was not altogether disadvantageous to Mexico, for although the royal order of the 18th of November, 1797, was repeated on the 20th of April, 1799, by which a commerce in neutral vessels had been permitted with the colony"s ports, yet, as the seas were filled with enemy"s cruisers, the Spanish trade in national vessels was narrowed chiefly to exports from the mother country. This course of commerce resulted in retaining the specie of Mexico within her territory, for the precious metals had hitherto been the princ.i.p.al article of export to Spain in return for merchandise despatched from Cadiz. The _internal_ trade of Mexico was, accordingly, fostered and beneficially sustained by the continuance of its large annual metallic products within the viceroyalty until peace permitted their safe transmission abroad. The beneficial retention of silver and gold in the country was not only manifested in the activity of domestic trade, but in the improvement of its towns and cities, and in the encouragement of manufactures of silk, cotton and wool. In Oaxaca, Guadalaxara, Valladolid, Puebla, Cuaut.i.tlan, San Juan Teotihuacan, Zempoala, Metepec, Ixtlahuaca, Tulancingo, the number of looms increased rapidly between 1796 and 1800. In Oaxaca thirty were added; in San Juan Teotihuacan thirty-three; in Queretaro, three thousand four hundred persons were employed; while, in the town of Cadereita, there existed more than two hundred looms, giving employment to more than five hundred individuals.
In attending wisely and justly to the civil administration of New Spain, and in fostering the internal trade and industry, Azanza bestirred himself whilst the war continued. There were but few actions between the combatants, but as the contest between the nations sealed the ports in a great degree, Mexico was made chiefly dependent on herself for the first time since her national existence. The politics and intrigues of the old world thus acquainted the colony with her resources and taught her the value of independence.