The Sun.
London, England, 1846-09-01 00:00:00

MAGAVANE DAV.
• 131..4 C WOOD'S MAGAZINE.
11...07.a
:oh
fittinge ob u t n could have been selected as a
and appropriate commencement of
iee wood, just at this particular period, than the
ntical one which opens the number for September
the-s' Mexico and its Territory." We have perused
esuaiele with the closest attention, and have de-
v d from that perusal more than mere satisfaction
aad moresnin than mere entertainment. It is a per-
`At_luas, condensed, and yet detailed narrative of the
,srrY—political, social, and geographical—of that
erre_ndid portion of the Western Hemisphere, which
tends northwards to the river Columbia, and
southwards
its to Yucatan. From the succinctness of
Whillnanner the paper might be termed an epitome,
meree from the copiousness of the matter contained
it must be regarded as something more than a
e it
sloe eeP °me- In consequence of the recent invae
tr_ut the. Mexican territories by the army of the
„cued States, arid particularly in consequence of the
enereditabl
the e and disgraceful character of that invasion,
rte, e 8 of every civilised and thinking being are di-
tt_ Led to that quarter of the globe. A paper descrip-
blevoci therefore, of this country will be welcomed as a
by thousands, especially if it contain in itself
aanevidenee of its authenticity and accuracy. Such
pe'Per is the one which we have mentioned as the
uninary contribution in this month's Blackwood.
like. writer has manifestly taken no superficial view
riot • his subject; he penetrates to the core, and yet does
afro altogether discard the husk as superfluous. He
raetrds us a lively conception of the national cha-
in and political constitution of the Mexicans, and
pi,,,,g so (or we might even say for the express
triert':sc of doing so better), depicts the little eccen-
of \ees ,and Peculiarities visible upon the superficies
-eexican society, just as a botanist illustrates
or properties of vegetation by the delineation
ee' fa leaf, or estimates the fruit by dissecting the
eoeYi s ant petals of the blossom. From the first dis-
lieery of
terra firma by Colombo, and the invasion of
reetlie° bY Hernan Cortez, down to the last procla-
, and 134 issued by Paredes, the history of this beautiful
e °Pulent, but unfortunate and ill-cultivated region
taeur°wded with vicissitudes and coloured with ro-
iiii,Z• On the appearance of Cortez the primitive
thro 'tants were populously and peacefully distributed
emnagh its forests and over its prairies, large d
lai_4Perous cities studded its shores and nestled ins ts
itdv4acti seclusion—proportionally, however, with the
dledneement of the Spaniards the population dwin-
• down to comparative insignificance, the debauch-
eries
inoe,,,eQusequent upon the lawlessness of warfare
.etatee the doomed race with fatal diseases
Pestilence and the sword devastated the soil and deci-
tre, Its inhabitants ; the entire aspect of the coun-
ese'entas far as its indwellers were concerned, under-
form aieomplete and startling transformation. Where
al) the blithesome and active aboriginals
in the woodlands, their Spanish conquerors,
one „11g only for money and ease, plied the mattock
the —eraent, and slumbered in slothful abandonment
se next- Cane wigwams were demolished, and
; MPttleus palaces erected in their stead ; the spot
el h.
Was
serwe 'eb three or four hundred individual temples
clustered together over so many different idols,
of bricks,aduauy beaten down into a shapeless mound
striiand on the summit of that solemn and in-
tit etive ruin a Catholic church erected. Gifted by na-
are with a fruitful soil, a delicious climate,
inProfusion of mines, rich with the purest silver, and
fruit 31e Places mingled with the rarest gold, its
sear ago succulent and flavorous, its spices neither
Ivor ee noprecious, plentiful in cochineal and silk-
tionirla, and bees-wax and the like valuable produc-
est4. Mexico has presented every facility for the
• tshment of a magnificent and prosperous empire.
2etrcertheless, the natural indolence of its European
havlers, and the sluggishness of their descendants,
c nullified all these extraordinary capacities for
national
derive dominion and opulence. The Mexicans
glass sufficient gratification in drinking glass after
ea',`,4 of their favourite pulque ; they find sufficient
potl;Pation in the faro-table and the vicissitudes of
littl elle
; they derive sufficient excitement from a
psoe professional or amateur brigandage. With such
aatieiPle no vast or stable government could ever be
tgated. Turning from the degenerate popula-
eof this remarkable country, let us glance with
writer of the article at the aptitude of that coun-
LrY for higher and nobler things.
ser?bf the geographical position of Mexico we tran-
e the following description :
a Washed on the east by the gulf which bears its
dre. and on the west by the Pacific, it thus possesses
eet izecess to two oceans, and by them to the most
n°llolll.ent regions of the globe. On the sosth it can dread
„ rival in the struggling state of Guatemala. But the
•
tate is the true frontier en which the battle of its ex-
,llto is to be fought, if fought at all, for beyond that
ter`tll.er stretch the United States. The extent of its
nort',."ly startles European conceptions, extending in
wesu latitude from fifteen to forty-two degrees, and in
twentl°figitude from eighty-seven to one hundred and
ore It
3' five dgrees. s ,on a eneral lcula-
"o ntains about a millionsurface g
and a half of squareca miles,
though
, c
about seven times the dimensions of France. Yet,
thus approaching the equator, the climate of
-exico is in general highly favourable to Ulla and to the
Kduets of the temperate zone: the incomparably larger
Portion of its surface being a succession of table-lands or
!legated plains, where, with the sun of the tropics blaz-
:ll,Z almost vertically, the evenings are refreshingly cool,
breeze is felt from the mountains of the ocean, and
-"e days arc scarcely hotter than those of Europe."
,With such a luxurious, opulent, fruitful and
territoryßtgantic within reach of the Republic, the
Government of the United States will scarcely be
altffieiently self-deriving to aggrandize its own terri-
,Ties by the acquisition of so much accessible wealth.
eiNn this particular the writer in Blackwood saga-
s observes, that
e,," Jonathan, who thinks himself born to lay hold of
ietY scrap of the globe by which he can turn one cent
gojrhiro, looks, of course, on the whole shore of the
'tees --t mines, and mountains—as his own. I
ei, himself from all scruples on the subject by the ob-
„48 convenience of the conception.
Lee ?I° spct on the earth,' says one of those noighf
It %Yell:rums, will be more desirable than the soil o
011;11 '°r a residence, whenever it is in possession of
with the government and laws which they carry
tes them wherever they go. The march of time is not
4. re
nt certain than that this will be, and probably at no
4ia d
Ireser`ao, on this showing, the man of ' government. and
4g e ,Procceds to ' sink, burn, and destroy,' in the.
ahort-al. cause of humanity,' edifies the native by grape
Ploialloa 'Polishes him with the cutlass. In thoseseuxr:
Priso-;°' free and enlightened' people, our only
114-.4 that diplomacy itself takes the trouble of offering
Mswt.:l3°l°gY Whatever. The comparative powers ofreu-
w-thie and attack settle the conscience of the affair in
at :N. The seizure is easy, and therefore why shouldi
heater de made? The riflemen of Kentucky an the
plitipli;tzesrsof Virginia, the squatters of Ohio and the proper
of Massachusets, all see the affair in
tlirge ; and why should the philosopher or theepphilapn-
11::::041:tti'ethe man of justice or the man of religion, be
theened to on subjects so much more easily settled.by
of twelve-pounders? The right of making
in Mexico has not yet found a single defender. but
roar a streets; not a single ground of defence but in the
aiehr °f the rabble; not a single plea but in the conve-
tsZe of the possession. Even the American journals
to ,-„girell up their old half•savage rant of universal
41:1eat• Every drop of blood shed in a war of aggres-
ii,lo sure to be avenged."
• "18 is, we fear, too accurate a portraiture of
erieancupidity and republican lawlessness. The
h of the United States has
ti? tened citizen
emulated" himself to be the monarch of all
res
sits trial creation so long and so inces-
leutlY that he appears_ to have almost deluded
e4self into a credence of his own vain-glory. He
le, therefore, like the. bygone..s legitimatists, look
Pon the Mexican soi!c as
arcehily "by Divine right ;"
dread much patriotic
ao‘`,Litassuredly he can
• pnism in a land peopled_ by such indolent bipeds
of '.43se depicted hereafter. The writer is speaking
tho inhabitants of Vera Cruz :
reeeV'era Cruz is as sad as a dungeon, as silent as a
NeuetstorY, and as sickly as a hospital. The senoras, a
tp, of perfectly Spanish-visaged, black-eyed, and very
seirottish beauties, sit all day drooping in their bal-
k-I:se like doves upon the housetops, perhaps longing
14ourrieane, an earthquake, or anything which may
ter.ik 1115 the monotony of their existence. The sound
gar, totter, a passing footstep, nay, the whine of aenerga_
seiit'ietsi a whole street in motion, and there is ag
la,"`ing of mantillas, and a general rush to the windows.he
has men bear their calamity better; the senor, when u
111:(1ce a cigar between his sallow lips,
has
madethe s u nP-
11111T mind for the day. Whether he stands in
thee'. or sits in the shade—whether he. wakesor sleeps,
elgar serves him for all the exercise of his animal
4ftetions."
betwete ecnimenting upon the squabbles
.which arose
Crel" the Spanish settlers in Mexico and the
eies
silt; the writer proceeds as follows ; and in the
Chan d, be it observed, are condensed the various
that ges which have illustrated the political history of
I);Avast empire :
lnether race soon rose, the children of Spaniards
eclatCativbe women the Mestizos. They, too, wereun etexd-
oitetZ 'row all employments. The revolt of the United
mass probably have applied the torch ton
nf thisthe
two °` combustible matter but for tho jealousy
Creoleces' despised the
As the men of Old Spaii
Thus the
retee'net2e Creole despised the Mestizo.
uoth, Spain remained guarded by the jealousies of
izttut a new
period was at hand. The infamous
t° aete ef Spain by Napoleon, in 1808, roused both races
do abhorrence of the French name, and a determina-
tione. separate themselves from a kingdom which could
3ain
::eolin::ered only as a French province.
Drese-sY Prevailed ; the Creoles demanded a nationalAg
, the Spanish troops and employes a royal
teeeitlivraent- In the midst of their disputes a powerful
11,11detcaleared. The Mestizos and Indians united
'this."lnt) priest, Hidalgo, and overran the country.
oerzi —carmen brought the disputants to a sense of their
Priest" ; they collected troops, were beaten by the bold
soberiirallied for another field, beat him, took him
yeen. the battle, and put him to death.
1114wm,:" tile spirit of revolt had now become popular,
Otller priest, Morellos, was found to head another