The Sun.
London, England, 1867-07-09 00:00:00

when dry, stoney and dusty to excess ; when wet, talent, intelligent, and firm, or, rather, obstinate,
the leperos earned a livelihood by carrying the pas- but having neither political nor administrative
sengers across on their backs, sealing their bargains abilities. His courage is as little to be depended
sometimes half-way. The municipality voted a upon as his capacities as a statesman. Juarez is
now a myth, a flag of opposition. Individually he
sum equal to £B,OOO a year for the repair of has no influence. Ile is scarcely even consulted,
the streets, which money, as is usual, went, with nor has he any partisans. He is a mere tool in
the exception of a few piastres, to the strong boxes the bands of Escobedo, Diaz, Corona, Alonrez,
of the officials. Since Tregueros was placed at and others who find their profit in anarchy and dis-
the head of the administration of the town this order. Ortega, the last legal President of the
Republic, before he became General and Governor
was no longer the case. Under the immediate of Tyucatas, was an obscure " chevalier dindustrie."
superintendence of the Emperor, not only were there lie made his debut by exhibiting learned monkeys
streets being repaired, but the whole city was on the highway. But even at that time he gave him-
undergoing embellishment with surprising rapidity. self up to such flagrant highway robberies that it was
Since the beginning of 1866, Mexico, according to found necessary to put him into prison. The future
general made the acquaiatance, when in gaol, of a
an eye-witness Monsieur Domenech, chaplain to the
number of bad characters, who afterwards helped
French expeditionary corps, has undergone ii sur- him to make his fortune. Thanks to forced loans,
prising transformation. The Emperor, indeed, it is contributions, exactions, and robberies of churches,
stated, had done more in six months for the welfare Ortega has the reputation of still being very
and convenience of the inhabitants than the wealthy.
Republic did in half a century. The difficult Mexico is very rich, yet the people are very poor.
For half a century the country has been torn by
thing here, as in all other matters, was to find men
revolutions, and the antagonist bands have alike
of integrity to carry out the Emperor's designs. ravaged the land. Had it not been rich there would
This difficulty was all the greater, as there were not now have been an inhabitant or a piastre left.
customs to uproot and privileges to break down. In But while the mineral wealth is unbounded, and the
Mexico the officials, being inadequately remunerated, soil of inexhaustible fertility, there is little or no
rice.., and hence the people are excessively
had been long in the habit of turning their position commerce,
poor. ane Emperor devoted his attention to
to profitable advantage. Thus the Municipal ameliorating and cheapening the means of trans-
Council adjudicated the paving, lighting, and all port. Great efforts have been made to restore the
other public works, either to the councillors them- old Spanish roads and to keep them in repair. But
selves or their friends, or to those who bribed them in a tropical country, where it pours for six months
in the year, this.
_is often found to be beyond the
most largely. The contractor on his side took care
actual means of Government. Railways offer the
to repay himself for what he had to disburse with-
best guarantee of success, but for a time they will
out at all prejudicing the benefits realised by the not be remunerative ; for even the chief line—that
contract. The lamps were not lit when the moon from Vera Cruz to Mexico—the transport does not
shone, they were consequently often not lit when exceed 20,000 tons in the year. For some time the
the moon did not shine. American system of railways, with light teams
The Plaza Mayor, one of the finest squares in drawn by horses, would have been best adapted to
the world, was also being embellished by the Em-
the difficulties of the country and its financial re-
peror. The National Palace, which constitutes, sources. The Emperor had organised an Imperial
Mexican company to carry out railways in the
after the Cathedral, one of the most striking edi- provinces of Queretaro, Guanoxuato, Aguas Cali-
flees, has also been repaired, and Maximilian dwelt entes, San Luis Potosi, Zacateras, Nayarit, Jalisco,
there when not at the Alcazar of Chapultepec. So Michoacan, and Matehuala. The capital was fixed
also of the Alemeda. The Empress took the latter at 20,000,000 of piastres, which, though divided
into shares, was in reality sought to be raised by a
under her personal charge, and converted it, at her tax peculiar to the country.
private expense, iuto a delightful promenade. It What Mexico wanted were colonists, to cultivate
was, indeed, high time that an energetic and intel- land, develope the mines, and build houses. But
ligent hand should come to Mexico to assume the while Brazil was encouraging emigration, Mexico
reins of Government. The country was indebted was unfortunately setting its face against it. Under
to the Spaniards for all that it possesses in the the Spaniards California was as unproductive as the
northern province of Mexico remains in the present
shape of monuments and public edifices, and since day. Under the Americans it has become in ten
they have been in the hands of the Mexicans they years one of the most prosperous and commercial
have been allowed to fall into decay and go to countries in the world. So would it be with the
ruin. Ancient customs and ancient monuments northern provinces of Mexico colonised by the Ame-
ricans. A territory which produces nothing isof no
alike have gradually disappeared before modern
civilisation, as it is called, but in Mexico nothing use to its proprietor, to the commonwealth, or to the
State. The sooner, then, according to our author,
takes the place of what is destroyed; for in that the Americans take the country the better ; for if
unfortunate country there is no time to rebuild. the benefit would be so great from their colonising
Men have done nothing but bleed and ruin the it, it follows that it would be greater when the Go-
country under the name of civilisation and liberty. vernment and country alike fell into their hands.
The accounts given by Monsieur Domenech of the
population would be amusing, were they not pain-
ful to read. The lower classes, leperos or peones,
are, he says, brutalised, ignorant, superstitious, and
idle, indifferent to everything save luxury and
gambling. Of the citizens he says little, except that
they live in a certain degree of comfort by industry,
or by other means more or less honest. As to the
colonels, generals, official prefects, governors, and
ministers, they profit by revolutions, and speculate
upon their position to acquire wealth. The aris-
tocracy is solely composed of Creoles, that is to say
of half-caste European and Indian blood. The
men who are marked by talent, patriotism, or high
social qualifications, belong to this class. The
Metes, or descendants of Mexicans and Indians,
have all the vices of both races, without having any
of their good qualities. The same thing is indeed
said of them throughout South America. In
Mexico they are, according to M. Danielle* " en-
vious, greedy, proud, vulgar, and cowardly." The
Indians have many faults, but whatever energy or
good is to be found in the lower classes it is met
with among them. They are kind, polite, laborious,
and less vicious than the Mexicans. When they
have arms they
defend their villages against the
bandits called Liberals in Mexico, but for the most
part they are enrolled and forced to fight under the
flag of some successful insurgent. Hence they were
naturally to a man, in favour of the Imperial Go-
vernment, which held out promises of stability and
protection. The Emperor on his side interested
himself very much in ameliorating the social condi-
tiou of this badly-used class. They are sometimes
ill treated by Europeans as well as by Mexicans. A
savant who went to collect skulls met an Indian
with a remarkable head, and shot him to add his
skull to his collection. This story is probably bor-
rowed from the Maori legend, when that race ta-
tooed themselves, and a trade was driven in pre.
served heads. One, remarkably well tatooed, was
sold by a chief to a collector, though on the
shoulders of its owner, who was despatched at
once to deliver the article purchased. The
Mexicans are said to dislike Europeans because
they feel morally inferior in their presence ; but
the ladies prefer Europeans for this reason, and
because they are better informed, less demoralised,
more courageous, and less envious. Mexico is
a land of robbers. Santa Anna had his ink-
stand purloined at ft Council of Ministers,
and the room was darkened to enable the
thief to return it undetected. The chapels and
altars are all protected by iron railings. A French
marshal was robbed of the decorations on his breast
at a military mess. At court balls there was a
general scrimmage for gloves—shoes, fans, brace-
lets, brooches, and other trifles, and anything that
is laid by or that falls is at once pounced upon. At
a ball given by the French officers, the guests cut
the gold embroidery from off the curtains of the
room. If a Mexican has no pockets, he finds it
natural to put his hands in his neighbour's ; if he
has pockets, he likes to fill them with other peoples'
property, simply from the horror of a vacuum. A
priest, mounting the scaffold with a malefactor,
left his hat in the hands of a spectator, who at
once went off with it to a pawnbroker's, leaving
his reverence to go home bareheaded.
Mexico is overrun with swarms of priestly drones.
The property of the Church was estimated at
179,163,000 piastres, of which 149,132,000 piastres
were productive capital; that is to say, invested in land
and houses, farmed or rented, and 30,038,000 piastres
were unproductive, comprising churches, convents,
plates, &c.
Between the rival factions this wealth has been
dissipated. The clerical-conservative element in
Mexico is, according to M. Domenech, nineteen-
twentieths of the population. Mexico is essentially
a clerico-monastic country. The clergy held, under
the Spanish Government, about three-fourths of the
territory. The population, poor and idle, sought
admission into the convents or the priesthood. The
Indians were at once their scholars and their chil-
dren, and they, as well as all the women, belong to
the same party. The majority of the conser-
vative party ought, hence, to have been over-
whelming in Mexico. These Roman Catholic
priests marry ! and many have large families, who
receive from the bishops, on their pastoral rounds,
blessings, much to the disgust of M. Domenech,
who says that the clergy are ignorant and cor-
rupt ; adding that religion in Mexico is a singular
mixture of powerless devotions, shameful igno-
rance, unwholesome superstitions, and hideous
views. The Indians go to mass with their dogs and
poultry ; the glu.glu of turkeys, the ki-ki of cocks,
the barking of dogs, the mewing of cats, the shrieks
of birds which nestle in the roofs, and the biting of
fleas, put all attempts to pray out of the question.
In Southern Mexico to receive the last sacrament is
equivalent to a condemnation to death ; for if the
patient shows signs of recovery, he or she is put out
of the way, so that they can no longer offend the
Creator.
Grown-up people are buried in Mexico like dogs,
but children are dressed up with wings of geese to re-
present " angelitos," and their bodies are let out to
dealers in pulque —the intoxicating drink of the coun -
try—to attract customers. As to church decorations,
the less said of them the better. The Saviour is
in Mexico mostly adorned with a crinoline. Saint
Gabriel and Saint Michael are dressed in white satin
bodies and short petticoats.
The late Emperor is described as being lofty in
stature, well-made, and with features expressive of
mildness. His manners were exceedingly winning
and conciliatory. He is said to have wanted
energy at first, but this has not extended to late
events. The Empress Charlotte was formerly the
soul of the Court and the prop of the Throne.
Dignified, yet kind and generous, she used on an
average to spend ten thousand francs a week on
charities. She founded no end of public charities_
things
which were before her time unknown in
Mexico. The difficulties she met in Mexico over-
taxed her brain, and the malady inflicted a fatal
blow on the Empire.
Juarez is au Indian. He had been servant at a
lawyer's, who gave him some education. Hence it
was that ho became a judge, then vice-president of
the Republic after the flight of Commonfort in 1858,
and finally President, Ile is said to be a man o'

COUNTRY MARKETS.

COLCIIESTER-JULY G.

The supply of wheat was again barely sufficient for con-
sumptive demand. Prices were firm, and in some cases
is per qr advance was obtained. In spring corn nothing
doing.
Wheat, white 65s 74s Beans, Mazagan......338 3 8
red 043 68s Middle and 5ma11._443 483
barley.... l2B 48s Peas, white. 383 423
Oatl ... 8 grey ...30s 428