The Sun.
London, England, 1846-09-23 00:00:00

MEXICAN HIGHWAYMEN.

Robbers in Mexico are what pedlars used to be in
England; they keep up the life in the villages, plunder
wherever they can, cheat where they cannot plunder, ride
stout horses, and lead, on the whole, a varied, and some-
times, a very gay life. One of the American travellers
saw, at one of the villages where the stage changed
horses, a dashing and picturesque figure, gaudily dressed,
who rode by on a handsome horse richly caprisoned. On
inquiring if the coachman knew him, the answer was that
he knew him perfectly well, and that he was the captain
of a band of robbers who had plundered the stage several
times since the whip and reins had been in his hands.
On the American urging the question why he had not
brought the robber to punishment, the answer was,
" that he would be sure to be shot by some of the band
the next time he passed the road ;" the honour of
Mexican thieves being peculiarly nice upon this point.
It appeared that the dashing horseman had gone through
the village on a reconnoissance, but probably not liking
the obvious preparations of the travellers, had postponed
the capture.
The mode of managing things in this somnolent country
is remarkable for its tranquillity. The American who
narrates the circumstance had taken with him from Vera
Cruz four dragoonsi but on accidentally inquiring on
the road into the state of their arms, he found that but
one carabine had a lock in fighting order, and even that
one was not loaded; on which he dismissed the guard,
and trusted to his companions, who were all well
armed. The Mexican travellers, taking the matter in
another way, never carry arms, but prepare a small
purse "to be robbed of," of which they are robbed
accordingly. A few miles from Perote the road winds
round a high hill, and the passengers generally get
out and walk. The Americans on this occasion had
left their arms in the carriage, but their more prudent
chief immedietely ordered them to carry them in
their hands, and in the course of the ascent they
pounced upon a group of ruffians whom the driver pro-
nounced to be robbers; and who, but for their arms,
would probably have attacked them. In less than a
month after this, five or six Americans having left their
arms in the stage at this spot, wereattacked, and stripped
of every cent. belonging to them.
It must be owned that this country has fine advan-
tages for the gentlemen of the road. The highway be-
tween Vera Cruz and Mexico is the great conduit of
life in this country. Nearly all the commerce goes by
that way, and ninety out of every hundred travellers
pass by the same route. The chief portion of the road
is through an absolute desert. It frequently winds up
the sides of mountains, and then is bordered by
forests of evergreens, forming a capital shelter for the
land pirate, the whole being a combination of Hounslow-
heath and Shooter's-hill on a grand scale, and making
,highway robbery not merely a showy but a safe specu
Jation, the gaming table being the chief recruiting office
of the whole battalion of Mercury.
The statistics of gaming might borrow a chapter from
Mexico. The passion for play is public, universal, and
unbounded. It is probably even superior to the passion
for pulque. Every one plays, and plays for all that he
'is worth in the world, and often for more. But he has
his resource—the road. A man who has lost his last
dollar, but who is determined to play on till he dies, lays
himself under strong temptations of coveting his neigh-
bour's goods. The hour when the stages pass is known
to every one ; the points of the road where they must
go slowly up the hill, are familiar to all highway recol-
lections. Associates are expeditiously found among the
loiterers, who, after their own ruin, sit round the room
watching the luck of others. The band is formed in a
moment ; they take the road without delay, post them-
selves in the evergreens, enjoy the finest imaginable
prospect, and breathe the most refreshing air, until the
creaking of the coach wheels puts them on the alert.
They then exhibit their weapons, the passengers produce
their little purses, the stage is robbed of everything
portable or convertible into cash, the band return to the
gaming table, fling out their coin, and play till they are
either rich or ruined once more.

Some time after an adventure, such as we have de-
scribed, the stage was robbed near Puebla by a gang, all
of whom had the appearance of gentlemen. When the
operation of rifling everybody and everything was com-
pleted, one of the robbers observed, " that they must
not be looked on as professional thieves, for they were
gentlemen; but having been unfortunate at play, they
were forced to put the company to this inconvenience,
for which they requested their particular pardon."
An incidact of this order occurring in the instance of
a public personage some years before, long excited
remarkable interest. The Swiss consul had been assas-
sinated at noonday. A carriage had driven up to his
door, out of which three men came, one in the dress of
a priest. On the doors being opened they seized and
gagged the porter, rushed into the apartment where the
consul was sitting, murdered and robbed him, and then
retreated. None knew whence they came or whither
they went; but the murdered man in his dying struggle
had torn a button off the coat of one of the robbers,
which they fonnd still clenched in his hand. A soldier
was shortly after seen with more money than he could
account for. Suspicion naturally fell upon him; his
quarters were searched, and one of his coats was found
wth the button torn off. He was convicted, but relied
on ti pardon through the Colonel Yanez, chief aide-de-
camp A f the President Santa Anna, who was his accom-
plice in the transaction. On being brought out for exe-
cution, and placed on the fatal bench where criminals
are strangled, he cried out, " Stop, I will acknowledge
my accomplices;" and he pronounced the name of the
colonel. Search was immediately made in the house of
Yanez, and a letter in cipher was found connecting
him with this and other robberies. This letter was left
in the hands of ono of the judges. He was offered a
large sum to destroy it, and refused. In a few days
after he was found dead, as was supposed, by poison.
The paper was then transferred to another judge, who
was offered the same bribe, and who promised to destroy
it; but on conferring with his priest, though he took the
money, he shrank from the actual destruction of the
document, and kept it in silence. Yanez was brought to
trial, and, believing that the paper was no longer in ex-
istence, treated the charge with contempt. The paper
was produced, and the aide-de-camp was condentneti and
executed.--Blackwood.

FREE TRADE.
(From the Journal des Debats.)
The question of free trade is now fairly placed before
all the states of Europe, by virtue of the example very
recently given by a great nation, where, however, the
protective system had the support, generally all powerful,
of the aristocracy. An association whose importance
none can dissimulate, is taking steps to reproduce
amongst us, as well as it can, the efforts of the English
League. What is the course necessary to adopt? Is
the principle which triumphed in England equally true
on this side the straits. Do reason, propriety, and the
decided determination on the part of the Government not
to give a shock to the country (by innovations) permit
us to hope for the immediate application of this princi-
ple to a certain extent in France? This is a question
which it is desirable to examine with calmness, and we
purpose to do so at .some length. Free trade presents
itself; it is admitted even by its adversaries, under a bril-
liant aspect. It wouid heve the inappreciable advantage
of assuring the peace of the world, which is the greatest
blessing of civilisation, the surest guarantee that can
be given for liberty ; it would furnish every one
with the means of exercising his industrial faculties,
entirely according to his will and to their full extent of
procuring every object at the lowest possible rate, and
of selling the fruits of his labour in the market which
offers the best price for them. From liberality and hu-
manity one is disposed to love free-trade. On the other