# Mexico in 1827/Volume 2/Chapter 16

SECTION VI.
I passed three months in the Capital, after my return from the North; at the expiration of which time, my successor, Mr. Pakenham, having arrived, I set out for Veracruz, in company with Mr. Rocafuerte, and Captain Vernon, of His Majesty's sloop Primrose, who was commissioned to convey us to England, with the ratified copy of the Treaty, which had just been approved of by the Chambers.
We quitted Mexico on the 23d of April, and proceeded by Otūmbă, Āpăn, Piedras Negras, and Vĭrēyĕs, to Pĕrōtĕ, Mrs. Ward being no longer in a state either to travel on horseback, or to support the violent motion of a coach, in crossing the mountains between Mexico and La Puebla. At Jalapa, ​where we were detained several days in order to allow time for the money sent by the April "Conducta to be shipped, we found most comfortable lodgings in a house which Colonel Dashwood had the goodness to engage for us, while his hospitality supplied all our other wants. We dined with him every day during our stay; and, under Mrs. Dashwood's direction, we made several delightful excursions in the environs of the town, the beauties of which seemed to grow upon us, as we explored them more narrowly.
On the 6th of May, having received intelligence that the Primrose was ready for sea, we slept at Plan del Rio, which we quitted at three o'clock on the morning of the 7th, in order to avoid the heat as much as possible. We breakfasted about seven at Puente del Rey, and reached the Boca del Potrero at two, where we passed the night. On the morning of the 8th we arrived at a very early hour at Veracruz, and embarked almost immediately, after taking some refreshment at Mr. Welsh's house, while our luggage was sending on board.
I rode almost all the way from Jalapa, notwithstanding the heat, which I did not find nearly so oppressive as I had expected. The rest of the party performed the journey in litters. Hilario and one other servant from the Table-land, accompanied us, ​having volunteered a service, for which their countrymen in general feel the greatest repugnance, at a season when the Tierra Caliente is certainly not traversed without danger.
Veracruz was exceedingly unhealthy at the time of our departure. Several persons had been already attacked by the vomito, and Mr. Rocafuerte's servant, a Spaniard, shared the same fate: he was taken ill on board the Primrose, and died the fifth or sixth day. A young midshipman (Mr. Anson), who contracted the disorder while on shore for an hour in the morning with the boat that brought us off, was more fortunate. Youth and a vigorous constitution carried him through it; but he was very much reduced for a long time, and did not entirely get over the attack for some weeks.
The Primrose was under weigh when we embarked, and, the wind being fair, in a very few hours we lost sight of the Mexican coast. On the following evening, however, we again anchored off Tampico, to ship some more dollars, which were not put on board till the 12th, in the afternoon, when we sailed definitively for the Havanna. From thence we proceeded to New York, where the Primrose remained a week, both Mrs. Ward and the children being so much reduced by the rough weather which we had experienced, that it would have been absolutely dangerous for them to have crossed the Atlantic without some rest and relaxation on shore. Captain Vernon and I took advantage of this delay ​to visit Washington, where we met with a most kind reception from my old friend Mr. Vaughan, under whom I had passed a year of my life, when attached to the Embassy of Sir Henry Wellesley at Madrid.
Washington is but little worthy of the reputation which it enjoys. It is the mere skeleton of a great town; and the houses being mostly built in the style of the architecture by which our own country is so much disfigured, with high gable ends, small doors, and cross lights in every direction, there is little to see, and less to admire. The real capitals of the United States are the great commercial cities, and of these the Americans may justly be proud. We passed through Philadelphia and Baltimore on our way, and in both these places, as well as in New York, we found ample proofs of an active, thriving, and powerful country, abounding in energy and wealth, and only requiring to be known in order to be duly appreciated. I will not fall into the error, so common amongst travellers, of passing judgment upon an empire, after a week's examination of its resources; but I will say, that those writers who have fostered the prejudices generally entertained in England with regard to American manners, and in particular as to their individual feeling towards ourselves, have rendered both countries a very great disservice. Captain Vernon and I found our character as Englishmen, sufficient to ensure us both civility, and attention, from our very numerous fellow-passengers on board the steam-boats, in which a great part of ​the journey to Washington is performed; and both in the capital and at Philadelphia, we required no other passport to open the doors of several highly respectable houses.
Without participating in all Mr. Waterton's enthusiasm with regard to the American women, it is difficult for the most casual observer not to be struck with their appearance; nor do I know any part of the world (not even excepting England) where the display of female beauty is more striking than at New York, and Philadelphia, where, from the warmth of the climate, the light dress of the South of Europe is seen in conjunction with the freshness, and bright colouring of a Northern complexion.
We found our invalids entirely restored to health by their stay at Staaten Island, from whence they removed, after performing a quarantine of four days, to the hospitable house of Mr. and Mrs. Buchanon, to whose attentions we were all much indebted. On the 21st of June we embarked again, and on the l6th of July, we anchored at Spithead, after a quiet and prosperous voyage, during the whole of which we had daily and hourly reason to be grateful for Captain Vernon's unremitting kindness. The Primrose was much too small for the accommodation of so large a party as ours; and as, after a thousand ingenious contrivances, there was only room for one female servant, a Mexican woman, who was almost constantly unwell, the children, the eldest of whom was just two years ​old, could not be properly attended to, and were a frequent source of discomfort and trouble. They were nursed, in turn, I believe, by all the ship's company, and formed a particular alliance not only with the officers, who were very kind to them, but with the boatswain and many of the men, who used to carry them about to every part of the ship, and introduce them to places which young ladies are not much in the habit of frequenting. To add to our embarrassments, Mrs. Ward was confined on board, ten days before we reached Portsmouth, when the maid's whole attention was of course devoted to her. The little girls were transferred to my cabin below at night, and during the day were kept either upon deck, or in the only part of the ship which Captain Vernon could call his own, (half the poop-cabin,) where he slept, and we all dined, separated from Mrs. Ward by nothing but a light partition, with an opening below to allow the tiller to traverse.
I am happy in having an opportunity publicly to express our acknowledgments to Captain Vernon, for the good-humour with which he endured the breaking up of all the comfort of his pretty establishment on board. Few men would have supported so long, and so severe a trial, with such patience as himself; and fewer still would have exerted themselves, in the midst of it, as he did, to promote, by every attention in his power, the comforts of his passengers.
Mrs. Ward, notwithstanding the want of a ​thousand things which her situation required, but which could not, of course, be procured on board, recovered wonderfully, and on the 17th we were enabled to transport her in a cot to the Isle of Wight, where she gradually regained her strength, although much shaken by the fatigues which she had undergone.
Having thus brought my own story to a conclusion, it only remains for me to add a few observations upon points, which have either not been included in the preceding Sections, or, with regard to which, my opinions have undergone some modifications, in consequence of subsequent events; premising, as an apology for this irregularity, that, in order to prevent loss of time, my manuscript has been put into the hands of my publisher as written, and that, consequently, I am concluding, in 1828, a work, the first volume of which was in the press in December 1827.
Our information with regard to Mexico has hitherto been so extremely circumscribed, that the details into which I have entered in the three last books, will, I hope, be excused, in consideration of the novelty of the subject.
To those who have studied the Essai Politique, the use which I have made of this admirable work in many parts of my own, will be sufficiently apparent. Indeed, to write a book upon Mexico, without referring to Baron Humboldt at almost every page, is nearly impossible. He first applied the lights of science to the New World. He discovered, and ​explained the peculiarities of climate and structure by which Mexico is so much favoured; and traced, with the hand of a master, the outline of that vast picture, which present and future travellers can only assist in filling up. I have endeavoured, however, in availing myself of the sanction of this great authority, not merely to transfer to my own pages information better communicated in his, but to carry on the view which he has taken of each subject up to the present day, and to institute as exact a comparison as possible between the state of things as represented by him in 1802, and as seen in 1827 by myself.
Before the appearance of the Essai Politique, the works of Robertson comprised all that was known in England, or, indeed, in Europe, with regard to the Transatlantic possessions of Spain, and from these but little information is to be derived that will apply to the present condition or prospects of the New States.
Wherever diligent research could supply the place of personal observation, Robertson's views are just, and his reasoning excellent. His errors arose from the impossibility of obtaining information with regard to many points, upon which the labours of Humboldt first threw a light. I have had occasion to point out some curious mistakes with respect to climate, and mines; and Humboldt has demonstrated the erroneousness of his calculations respecting the amount of silver raised, as well as his ​misconception of the value of the revenue derived from Mexico by Spain. But many parts of his Eighth Book (on the Colonial Policy of the Peninsula) are wonderfully correct; and in particular his observations both upon the mild spirit of the first Leyes de Indias, and the impossibility of enforcing them. His eulogy of the Council of the Indies, though sound in theory, was not equally so in practice. It produced latterly none of those good effects, which were contemplated upon its first institution. The responsibility of the higher officers before it, as a tribunal, was merely nominal. Not one Viceroy suffered by the sentence of Residencia, with the exception of Iturrigaray, who did not deserve the severity with which he was treated. The schemes of improvement submitted to it were buried in the Archivo-general de Indias at Siguenza, where they still remain unnoticed and unknown. The most unjust decrees were obtained by bribery; and, latterly, the influence of the members of the Council was employed principally in stifling complaints, and supporting their respective proteges in the Colonial Audiencias against charges, which ought to have led to their immediate dismissal. In lieu, therefore, "of attributing to the wise regulations and vigilant inspection of this respectable tribunal, whatever degree of public order and virtue still remained in the Spanish Colonies," I should say that nothing had ​tended so directly to destroy both as the conduct of the Council of the Indies; which, by poisoning the very fountain of justice, convinced the Creoles that in the Old, as in the New World, it was equally unavailing for them to seek redress.
Robertson is likewise incorrect in what he states respecting Castes, and the natural antipathy between the Indians and the Negroes. Wherever there have been African slaves in America, it will be found that they have not only intermarried with the Aborigines, but are positively blended into a new race; and it was the extent to which this connexion had been carried, and the impossibility, (from its numerous ramifications) of proving themselves free from a taint of Negro blood, that occasioned such universal dissatisfaction amongst the Creoles, when the Cortes (in 1811) deprived of the rights of citizenship all those who were in any way contaminated by African descent.
Nor is Robertson's view of the character of the Creoles (Book viii. p. 32) at all to be relied upon. It is drawn not from nature, but from a bad likeness, sketched by no friendly hand. In considering what they were, we must bear in mind the prohibitions under which they laboured, and the very narrow circle to which their natural activity was confined. What inducement was there to acquire information, or to cultivate science, in a country where the labour of early years could be turned to no account in the career of maturer life? From the bar and the ​church the young Creole was excluded; or, at least, if he entered either profession, he knew that to rise in it beyond a certain point could never be his lot. He could not hope to be rewarded for his exertions by the approbation of his countrymen, for the press was closed upon genius; and even in private society, from the jealous watchfulness of the Inquisition, freedom of discussion was unknown. There was nothing, therefore, but an absolute thirst for knowledge, unusual even in the most polished countries, to animate him in the pursuit of acquirements, of which he was forbidden to avail himself when attained: and none can wonder if, with so few incitements to exertion, vicious indulgence occupied but too large a portion of his time. But the Revolution has proved that the Creoles are capable of better things. The estimable parts of their character are rapidly developing themselves; and the field now open for the display of that energy, of which, during the Civil War, they have given such fearful proofs, seems to have called into life the qualities requisite in order to turn it to account. From what I have seen of the Mexicans, I should say that they possess great natural shrewdness and ability: they are brave, hospitable, warm-hearted where met with kindness, and only too magnificent in their ideas of what the intercourse of society requires. From a fear of not doing enough, they often do too little; but whatever they attempt is executed with a splendour, which is at times almost embarrassing. ​In 1826, being anxious to have our eldest little girl baptized, we solicited the Count and Countess Regla, with whom we were upon very intimate terms, to be her sponsors. They consented with great readiness and satisfaction, on condition that the whole management of the ceremony should be left to them; and on receiving a promise to this effect, (given without any idea on our part of the consequences to which it was to lead,) a splendid church ceremony was prepared, with hundreds of wax-lights, and music, and crowds of attendants; and this again was succeeded on the following day by a dinner of twenty people, and by presents of diamonds, for which it was impossible for us to make any adequate return, while to reject them would have been regarded as a mortal offence.
From Don Pablo de la Llave, (at that time Minister of Ecclesiastical Affairs,) by whom the service was performed, we likewise received a certificate of baptism, printed on silk and inclosed in a gold frame, with all the names of the child duly inscribed upon it. Frances was the only one selected by ourselves, but to this were added Guadalupe, (in honour both of the Virgin of that name, and of the President,) and Felipa de Jesus, in commemoration of the only Mexican Saint acknowledged by the Church of Rome.
It is needless to add that we felt most grateful to the Regla family for their kindness upon this occasion. It had the effect, however, of preventing ​me from having another child baptized in Mexico, for I was determined not to lay myself a second time under similar obligations, and felt sure that had I applied to any other friends, nothing would have induced them to do less than had been done by Count Regla before them.
The extension of one of the sacraments of the Catholic church to the child of a notorious heretic, may be regarded as no mean proof of the diminution of those intolerant feelings with regard to foreigners, which, at the commencement of our communications with Mexico, were so universal throughout the country. As late as May 1825, the Capital itself was not exempt from them; for, in the discussion respecting the religious article of our first treaty, some of the more devout amongst the members of the Senate objected to the concession of the right of sepulture to His Majesty's subjects, as a privilege to which heretics were not in any way entitled. Nor would the point have been carried without some difficulty, had not Mr. Cañedo, (a very distinguished Senator,) placed the arguments of these most conscientious persons in a proper light, by saying that, "Although he perfectly agreed with his worthy colleagues in principle, he foresaw some practical difficulties in the accomplishment of their wishes, which would compel him, though most reluctantly, to vote against them. The melancholy influx of foreigners could not be denied, nor was it to be expected that, amongst so many, some should not be summoned, during their ​residence in the Republic, to receive, in another world, the penalty of their unbelief in this. What, then, was to be done with the bodies? He saw but four modes of disposing of them; namely, to bury, burn, eat, or export them. To the first, his Reverend colleagues seemed to object: the second, might prove inconvenient from the scarcity of fuel: in the third, he, for one, must decline any participation; and as to the fourth, dead heretics not being included amongst the exportable commodities mentioned in the Tariff, he feared that such an innovation might seriously embarrass the custom-house officers upon the coast. He should, therefore, upon the whole, incline for burial, as amongst four serious evils it appeared to him to be the least."
The speech, of which the above is a literal translation, put an end to any farther discussion, and the article was carried by a large majority. But the fact of such a question having been mooted at all in one of the chambers of the Supreme Congress, sufficiently indicates how little was to be expected from the lower orders, when even the more enlightened were not ashamed to acknowledge opinions so much at variance with the liberal institutions of the State, and the freedom of intercourse which they professed to court.
The beauty of the climate of Mexico has, I think, been a good deal overrated. It is true that the Tableland is exempt from those diseases which prove so fatal to foreigners upon the Eastern and Western ​coasts, (the Vomito, and the Cholera Morbus,) and that, from the greatness of the elevation, the action of the sun upon the marshes in the vicinity of the Capital does not produce agues, or other fevers, to which the Tierras Calientes are subject. But, on the other hand, the rarefaction of the atmosphere is fatal to all who have any tendency to pulmonary complaints; while, from the extreme difficulty of inducing perspiration, rheumatism, to which foreigners are peculiarly subject, often takes such a hold upon the constitution, as to set all ordinary remedies at defiance. Inflammatory fevers are likewise very common; and, during the months when the sun is vertical, exposure to its rays is not unattended with danger. I lost a servant, upon my first arrival in the country, by a coup de soleil; my little girl was nearly killed by a similar attack; and I conceive the madness of a groom, who accompanied me on several of my journeys, to have proceeded, in some measure, from the same cause. Amongst the natives, scarlet fever, and measles, often become epidemic disorders, and occasion an extraordinary mortality. In 1825 fifteen thousand persons were carried off by them in the Capital alone, and their ravages extended from North to South throughout the Table-land. The number of deaths was, however, attributed by medical men more to the want of proper food and care, than to the virulence of the disease itself, which was seldom attended with fatal effects in families where proper precautions could be taken. ​I have said nothing of the organization of society in Mexico, because, in fact, there is none. In the Capital, evening-parties and dinners, except upon some great occasion, are equally unknown. After the Paseo, or evening promenade, which takes place between five and seven, every body goes to the theatre, and after the theatre to bed. The Mexicans have not yet acquired the European habit of meeting frequently in small parties for the promotion of social intercourse. They accept invitations with pleasure from foreigners, but cannot divest themselves of the idea that where any thing is to be given on their side, a degree of superfluous display is requisite, which renders the frequent repetition of such entertainments impracticable. It is only in their Haciendas that they indulge without restraint in the hospitality to which they are naturally inclined. Of the women, in general, it is unnecessary for me to speak in much detail. Their manners and education are just what a person acquainted with Spain would expect to find in a Spanish colony. So little is required of women in the Mother-country, that it would be hardly fair to expect any very great intellectual superiority amongst their descendants. The Mexican ladies, (with some brilliant exceptions, whom it would perhaps be invidious to name,) read and write in about the same proportion as those of Madrid; they speak, in general, no language but their own, and have not much taste for music, or knowledge of it as an ​art. They are not, certainly, amongst the exceptions to Madame de Stael's celebrated axiom, that hors de Paris, tout le monde parle de son voisin, on de sa voisine," for in this respect Mexico is most thoroughly a "Petite ville." But in return, they have no affectation or hauteur, they are kind and unpretending in the highest degree, and do the honours of their houses with perfect ease and propriety. They possess considerable natural talents; and although in 1824 they undoubtedly were a little fonder of smoking, and a little less attentive to personal appearance at home, than would be thought engaging in London or Paris,—before I left the country in 1827, a wonderful change had taken place. Cigars were banished from all places of public resort, and, even in private, were falling gradually into disuse; while, with regard to dress, European fashions had entirely taken the place of those glaring colours, by which but too many of the prettiest women were disfigured on the first opening of our intercourse with New Spain. Nor can I omit stating, that, from the first, they showed a delicacy of feeling, and tact, with regard to Mrs. Ward, for which she has always felt grateful, by abstaining from smoking whenever she was present, (and that not only in her house, but in their own,) lest it should prove in any way offensive to her English ideas of politeness, or decorum.—In good society the most marked respect is always shown to the female sex, and all the obsequiousness of old ​Spanish gallantry kept up, although intermingled, at times, with a good deal of that freedom of speech, which, under the name of "franqueza," has so much changed the tone of society in the Peninsula. It must be recollected, however, that this licence, however repugnant to the feelings of Northern nations, prevails more or less throughout the whole of the South of Europe; and that in Italy, as well as in Spain and Portugal, allusions are constantly made to subjects, which would be proscribed amongst ourselves, without any idea of their inspiring that disgust, with which they must always be listened to by a really delicate mind. It is not just, therefore, to blame the Mexicans for doing that of which they had no reason until lately to suspect the impropriety. We ought rather to hope that they may find amongst their new friends better models to follow; in which case, I have little doubt, from the improvements which I have myself witnessed, that in a very few years, a complete reform will be effected.
As to morality, it is a subject upon which it is no business of mine to touch. There is, perhaps, not less vice in Mexico, but there is certainly not more than in many other countries which bear a fair character in the world; and there are many points upon which, as wives and mothers, the ladies of New Spain give an excellent example. I know few countries where, in as far as the means are within their reach, greater pains are taken with the rising ​generation. The children of almost every respectable family are learning music, French, and drawing; and although there is a sad want of masters, such good desires cannot fail, in a little time, to be productive of a happy effect.
This anxiety on the part of the parents to secure to their offspring advantages, which have, in many instances, been denied to themselves, is a part of that revolution which the last few years have wrought in the feelings and wishes of the Creole race.
After three centuries of implicit obedience, and uninterrupted mortifications, they have sought, in an entire change of system, that relief, which might have been afforded by a simple modification of the old institutions, had such a concession been compatible with the principles upon which the Colonial policy of Spain was founded during the days of her power.
It is difficult to conceive any country less prepared than Mexico was in 1824 for the transition from despotism to democracy. The principles upon which the present Government is formed, were at first neither duly appreciated, nor generally understood; yet from the mere force of circumstances they have taken root, and have already struck too deeply into the soil to be easily shaken.
Their hold upon the country is founded neither in a general diffusion of knowledge, nor in what might be termed theoretical patriotism; it rests ​upon a still surer basis, the passions and interests of the most influential classes of the inhabitants.
To the mass of the people all forms of government are indifferent, and many do not yet know under which they live; but amongst those who alone possess a political character, the resident landholders, the merchants, the military, the lawyers, and the parochial clergy, considerations of local and personal advantage have created a decided feeling in favour of the Federal system.
In each State, a field is opened by it to every citizen, upon which few think themselves too obscure to venture, although they might not have aspired to political honours beyond the limits of their own provinces. In a small circle every thing is a source of distinction; and thus the multiplicity of petty offices created by the State Legislatures, though disadvantageous in one sense, by increasing the expences of the country, is of use in another, by bringing home to all classes the advantages of a change, which places employment, and a sort of rank in the world, within the reach of the humblest individual.
It was natural that, in a country where the natives had been excluded for three centuries from any share in the management of their own affairs, these considerations should have great weight; but I confess that I was not prepared to see State interests, and State feelings become so universally predominant as they have done during the last two years.
Another advantage with which the subdivision of ​authority has been attended, is the neutralization of rival interests. The Revolution left behind a number of turbulent yet influential officers, who, under any central form of government, must have proved dangerous candidates for power, but who have now found in their respective States that employment which the Supreme Government could not have given to all. Many have become, under these circumstances, useful and efficient servants to the public, whose restless spirits, if not provided with a proper vent, would have involved them in enterprises fatal to the tranquillity of their fellow-citizens.
No inference can be drawn as to the feelings of the country in general, with regard to the present institutions, by those displayed in the Capital, or its vicinity; where a party spirit of the most violent kind has been gradually engendered, which, in a very recent instance, has led to disturbances of a most alarming nature.
With regard to the origin of these disturbances, it is difficult for me to enter into any details without overstepping those limits, within which it is my duty to confine myself. As it is, however, upon their tendency to affect the tranquillity of the country that its prospects in every way depend, I may, I hope, venture to lay before my readers a few remarks, without being thought to trespass upon forbidden ground.
The two parties which, under the denomination of Escoceses and Yorkinos, have been recently arrayed ​against each other, are both Mexican in their origin, and entirely unconnected with Spain. The first is said to be composed of many of the largest proprietors of the country, (particularly those who possessed titles of nobility before the Revolution,) with a number of officers of distinction, and individuals of different professions, connected together by the bonds of a masonic society, supposed to be of Scotch origin, from whence their name of "Escoceses" is derived.
The reputed members of this association, (which is very ancient,) are mostly men of moderate principles, and sincere advocates of the cause of Independence. Many of them, however, belonged to the Creole army, and consequently opposed the leaders of the first insurrection, while others held situations under the Spanish Government upon the reestablishment of the Constitution in 1820, and were sent as Deputies to the Cortes of Spain before the declaration of Independence by Iturbide in 1821. It is upon these grounds that they are accused by their adversaries, the Yorkinos, of "Bourbonism," that is, of an attachment to the Mother-country sufficiently strong to induce them to wish for a Prince of the Royal blood of Spain as Constitutional king of Mexico. In this project there would have been no impropriety before the adoption of the present Constitution. I do not myself believe, however, that it extended, even then, beyond a very limited number of individuals; and I am convinced that it does not ​exist as the object of a party in Mexico at the present day.
The Escoceses may more properly be assimilated to the "Federalists" of the United States, who, on the establishment of the Constitution in 1787, thought the Government founded upon it too weak, and were consequently reproached by their opponents, the "Democrats," with aristocratical notions, and a desire to convert the Republic into a monarchy. Yet General Washington was a Federalist, as was his successor, Mr. Adams, the father of the present President. In like manner, in Mexico, many of the most moderate and best-intentioned men in the country may be found amongst the Escoceses, upon whose interest General Bravo, (whose mild yet unvarying patriotism I have had occasion to dwell upon in the history of the Revolution,) came forward as a candidate for the Presidency in 1824. He was defeated by the superior influence of General Victoria; but next to Victoria's name, none stood so high as that of Bravo, and none had deserved more of his countrymen.
Up to 1825, the Yorkinos did not exist as a party. In the summer of that year, a number of individuals, not connected with the Escoceses, but not violently opposed to them before, were united as a rival sect, denominated "Yorkinos," because they derive their origin from the Masonic Lodge of New York, which transmitted, through Mr. Poinsett, the American Minister, the diplomas and insignia requisite for ​the establishment of a branch lodge in the capital of New Spain. Without any disparagement to its members, of whom many are both useful and distinguished men, I may say that the largest proportion of the Affiliés of this society consisted of the novi homines of the Revolution. They are the ultra Federalists, or democrats of Mexico, and possess the most violent hostility to Spain, and the Spanish residents; whom the Escoceces have uniformly protected, both as conceiving them to have lost the power of injuring the country, and because, from the large amount of the capital still remaining in their hands, they think that their banishment must diminish the resources, and retard the progress of the Republic.
Having pointed out the characteristics of the two parties, it is neither my wish, nor my intention, to animadvert upon the manner in which the contest between them has been carried on. In a country just emerging from a great political crisis, there must ever be a bitterness of feeling on political questions, which older nations can hardly comprehend; although, a century ago, our own annals might have furnished a counterpart to its violence. In Mexico this feeling has been carried very far indeed. The Yorkinos, as new men, struggling to dispossess their adversaries of that power, which is the real object of both, were undoubtedly the assailants; but acrimony has not been wanting on the other side, and the personalities in which, for two years, the newspapers of the two parties have ​indulged, prove but too clearly, that, under similar circumstances, nature is always the same; while liberty, in her infancy, only tends to develope more rapidly those passions, which appear, in every part of the world, to be most deeply implanted in the human breast.
The Yorkinos have made up by numbers for what they wanted originally in individual influence. Their plans have been prosecuted with great activity, and as the desperate appeal to the country, to which their opponents have just been driven, appears to have failed entirely, if they use their victory with forbearance, the success of their candidate, (General Guerrero,) at the approaching election for the Presidency, seems to be certain. But, upon forbearance, at the present crisis, every thing depends; for of General Bravo's devotion to the cause of his country but one opinion is entertained throughout New Spain. Should there be any attempt, therefore, to punish too severely a step, which all must deplore, although none can judge of its causes without a knowledge of the circumstances by which the passions, on both sides, have been excited, and the transition from political to personal hostility effected,—blood will be found to lead to blood, and a long series of calamities may still cloud the prospects of the Republic.
I trust, however, that these calamities will be averted. There are in Mexico a number of excellent men unconnected with either of the parties. ​whose animosity has threatened the country with a civil war. At the head of these is General Victoria, in whose moderation, and thoroughly honourable intentions, the most implicit confidence may be placed. To him, and to his friends, I look for the preservation of tranquillity. Of its necessity he is thoroughly convinced; and his influence, if properly exerted, will, I think, be found sufficient to ensure it.
Short as the recent struggle has been, it has already done incalculable mischief, and destroyed the fair reputation which Mexico was beginning to acquire in Europe, by the fidelity with which her engagements with foreign capitalists were at first met. Dissensions, bordering upon civil war, in whatever causes they may originate, must tend to diminish the commercial demand, and with it the general resources of the country. The customs may be regarded as the basis of the whole revenue of Mexico; not only as forming in themselves its most important branch, but as facilitating the collection of all the other branches, by giving to the Executive that command of money, without which, in a new country, no system of administration can be organized, and no subordination enforced.
What my expectations with regard to them were six months ago, I have stated in the Fourth Section of the Third Book, in which I estimated their probable produce during the present year at eight millions of dollars. There is now not the least prospect that those calculations will be found correct. I am ​informed that one-third of the orders given by our merchants for the present season have been counter-manded, in consequence of the unsettled aspect of affairs, and of the embarrassment which the expulsion of the Old Spaniards has occasioned in the commercial world; and although the storm appears to have blown over, it is very questionable whether confidence will be entirely restored until the election for the ensuing Presidency, which takes place in October, be decided.
I shall now take leave of the only unpleasant part of my present subject. I have not traced the preceding pages without many painful feelings, for I am connected personally with most of the individuals of whom I have been compelled to speak. During three whole years. General Victoria honoured me with a most unreserved and confidential intercourse, while both with General Bravo, and with many of the leaders of the rival parties, I was on terms of frequent and friendly communication. I shall not, therefore, attempt to deny that I write under the influence of these recollections, and that feelings of a private, as well as a public nature induce me to hope that what has passed may be buried in oblivion; for the only mode of averting the evils, which must otherwise be brought upon the country, is for the victorious party to show itself worthy, by its moderation, of the ascendency which it has acquired.
I have already trespassed upon the patience of my readers to a much greater extent than I at first ​contemplated when I undertook the task of preparing my notes upon Mexico for publication. I trust, however, that I shall not solicit their indulgence in vain for a few concluding reflections.
The want of distinguished men, or rather, of some one man so distinguished as to exercise, like Bolivar, an universal influence, has been much commented upon in Europe as disadvantageous to New Spain.
In one sense, it may, perhaps, be so, for it undoubtedly retards the progress of those parts of the country, which might be pushed forward in the career of civilization by that impulse, which power, concentrated in the hands of an individual, can alone give; but it secures, in return, the stability of the present institutions, by rendering innovations difficult; and whether those institutions be good or bad, it is not by any sudden or violent change that they, can be amended.
It is likewise favourable to the gradual developement of the resources of the country, by removing those checks upon the activity of individuals, which the preponderance of any one man is generally found to create. In a territory so vast, and, as yet, so little explored, no central government, whatever its energy, or however beneficent its intentions, could possess sufficient local knowledge to do the good which it might desire to effect. Under the present system the whole internal arrangements of the States are left to their own care; and with some few restrictions with regard to foreign trade, they are ​at liberty to adopt, without restraint, any plans of improvement that may suit the peculiarities of their respective territories.
Their ability to support this system I have had frequent occasion to investigate. To a certain extent it has been already demonstrated; and the journal of my visits to the Interior will prove that, wherever a man of activity has been placed at the head of affairs, a good use has been made by the Provinces of the free agency with which they are entrusted. In Guanajuato, San Luis, Durango, Jalisco, La Puebla, and Veracruz, as well as in some others of the Central and Northern States, important changes have taken place, and much has been done towards that gradual introduction of a better order of things, from which alone permanent improvement can be expected.
I am aware, that in giving this opinion, I expose myself to the attacks of two distinct classes of adversaries; first, those who refuse to admit the fact of any progress at all having been made; and secondly, those, who, from too enthusiastic an admiration of the new institutions, are unwilling to await the mild influence of time, and maintain that, by a proper exercise of Republican energy, roads might have been made, canals traced, rivers rendered navigable, the whole jurisprudence of the country reformed, a system of education generalized, and the work of a century compressed into a twelve-month! ​To the first, I should object that they have not, perhaps, taken a very deliberate view of the actual situation of New Spain, or that, at all events, in reflecting upon things as they are, they do not sufficiently consider the point from which the Mexicans commenced their new career. To the second, I can only say that I am not one of those who believe in the practicability of hot-bed reforms. It appears to me to be as impossible to force the human mind to advance too rapidly, as it would be to compel the present generation to revert to the superstitious credulity of the thirteenth century. Nor can a change of government be productive of a simultaneous change in the habits and opinions of the people governed. It may,—indeed it must, ultimately affect them. It may exalt or debase the national character, strengthen or enervate it, according as it affords more or less scope for the developement of individual talent, and more or less encouragement for its application to the public service: but no constitution, even if it came down from Heaven with the stamp of perfection upon it, could eradicate at once the vices engendered by three centuries of bondage, or give the independent feelings of free men to a people, to whom, until lately, the very name of freedom was unknown.
It will be sufficient for me, if I am thought to have shown in the work, which I have now the honour of submitting to the public, that in three years a great deal has really been effected; that the ​resources of the country are unquestionable; and that the seeds of future greatness not only exist, but have begun to develope themselves to a very considerable extent. Internal tranquillity is alone requisite to bring them to maturity; and feeling, as I do, a lively interest in the welfare of Mexico, both from my long residence in the country, and my conviction that the commercial interests of Great Britain are most intimately connected with the prosperity of the New World, it is my fervent hope that this blessing may not be denied to her. Whatever else is wanting, nature and time will supply.
THE END.
* ↑ "Conducta" implies the mules laden with silver, which leave the Capital once every two or three months for the coast, with a strong escort.
* ↑ Robertson, Book viii. p. 20.