The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1846-10-13 00:00:00

MEXICAN HIGHWAYMEN,

Robbers in Mexico are what pedlars used to be in Eng-
land ; they keep up the life in the villages, plunder wher-
ever they can, cheat where they cannot plunder, ride stout
horses, and lead, on the whole, a varied, and sometimes a
very gay life. One of the American travellers saw, at one
of the villages where the staee changed horses, a dashing
and picturesque figure gaudily dressed, who rode by on a
handsome horse, richly caparisoned. On inquiring if the
coachman knew him, the answer was that he knew him
perfectly well, and that he was captain of a band of rob-
bers 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 hand the next time he passed the
road ;" the honour of Mexican thieves being peculiarly
nice upon this point. It appeared that the dashing horse-
man had gone through the village on a reconnaissance,
but probably not liking the obvious preparations of the
travellers, had postponed his 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 dragoons; 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 well armed. The
Mexican travellers, taking the matter in another way,
never carry arms, but prepare a small purse " to be rob-
bed of," of which they arc 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 immediately ordered them to
carry them in their hands, and in the course of their ascent
they pounced upon a group of ruffians whom the driver
pronounced to be robbers i • and who, but for their arms,
would probably have attacked them. In less than a month
aft, r this, five or six Americans having left their arms in
the stage at this spot, were attacked, and stripped of every
cent. belonging to them.
It must be owned that this country has fine advantages
for the gentlemen of the road. The highway between Vera
Cruz and Mexico is the great conduit of life in this coun-
try. Nearly all the commerce goes by that way, and 99
out of every 100 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 shel-
ter for the land pirate, the whole being a combination of
tiounslow-heath and Shooter's-hill on a grand scale, and
making highway robbery not merely a showy but a safe
speculation, the gaming table being the chief recruiting
office for 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 lie dies, lays himself
under strong temptations of coveting his neighbour'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 recollections. Asso-
ciates 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 themselves in the ever-
greens, 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 descri-
bed, the stage was robbed near Puebla by a gang, all of
whom bad the appearance of gentlemen. When the ope-
ration of rifling every body and everything was completed,
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 re-
quested their particular pardon."
An incident of this order occurring in the instance of a
public personage, some years before, long excited remark.
able interest. The Swiss Consul had been assassinated at
noon-day. 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 of
the coat of one of the robbers, which they found 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 torn off. He was convicted, but re-
lied on a pardon through the Colonel Yanez, chief aide-
de-camp of the President Santa Anna, who was his accom-
plice in the transaction. On being brought out for execu-
tion, and placed on the fatal bench where criminals are
strangled, he cried out " Stop, I will acknowledge my ac-
complices ;" and he pronounced the name of the colonel.
Seam!, 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 one
of the judges. Ile 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
,ahn promised to destroy it; but, on conferring with his
crest, though he took the money, lie shrank from the ac-
tual destruction of the document, and kept it in silence.
Yanez was brought to trial, and believing that the paper
was no longer in existence, treated the charge with con-
tempt. The paper was produced, and the aide-de camp
was condemned and executed.—Blackwood.

FRENEY'S RIDE.
(From The Knight of Gwynne.)

" Have you heard the news of the notorious robber be-
ing taken ?" said Lionel.
" Who do you mean? Barrington, is it?"
" No; Freney."
" Freney ! taken—when—how—where?"
" It's curious enough," said Lionel, coolly, seating him-
self to read the paragraph without noticing the eagerness
of Daly's manner ; " the fellow seems to have a taste for
snorting matters, which no personal fear could eradicate.
His capture took place this wise. He went over to Don-
caster, to be present at the Spring Meeting, where he
betted freely, and won largely. There happened, how-
ever, to come a reverse to his fortune, and on the last day
of the running he lost every thing, and was obliged to ap-
ply for assistance to a former come anion, who, it would
seem, was some hundred pounds in his debt; this worthy
having no desire to refund, threatened the police. Freney
became exasperated, knocked him down on the spot, and
then turning smartly round, chucked one of the jockeys
from his saddle, sprang on the horse's back, and made off
like lightning : the other, only stunned for a moment, was
soon on his legs again, and the cry of Freney !it was
Freney, the robber !' resounded throughout the race-
course. The scene must then have been a most exciting
one, for the whole mounted population, with one accord,
gave chase. Noblemen and country gentlemen, fox-hun-
ters, farmers, and black-legs, away they went, Freney
about a quarter of a mile in front, and riding splendidly.
" That I'm sure of," said Daly, earnestly ; " go on."
" Mellington took the lead of every one, mounted on
that great steeple-chase horse he is so proud of—no fences
too large for him, they say—but the robber—and what a
good judge of country the fellow must be—left the heavy
ground, and preferred even breasting a long hill of grass-
land with several high rails, to the open country below,
where the clay soil distressed his horse. By this manoeu-
vre, says the newspaper, he was obliged to make a circuit
which again brought the main body of his pursuers close
up with him, and now his dexterity as a horseman became
apparent, for while riding at top speed, and handling his
horse with the most perfectjudgment, he actually contrived
to divest himself of his heavy great coat. He had but just
accomplished this very difficult task, when Lord Melling-
ton once more came up : there was a heavy dyke in front,
with a double post and rail, and at this they rushed des-
perately, each, apparently, calculating on the other being
thrown, or at least checked.
" Freney, now only a dozen strides in advance, turned
in his saddle, and drawing a pistol from his breast, took
an aim—as steadily, too, as if firing at a mark. Lord
Mellington saw the dreadful purpose of the robber, he
shouted aloud, and pulling up with all his might, he bent
down to the very mane of his horse. Freney pulled the
trigger, and with one mad plunge Lord Mellington's horse
came head foremost to the ground with his rider under
him. Freney was not long the victor, the racer he be-
strode breasted the high' rail, and unable to clear it, fell
heavily forward, smashing the frail timbers before him,
and pitching the rider on his head. He was up in a se-
cond and away ; for about twenty yards his speed was im-
mense, then reeling, be staggered forwards and fell sense-
less : before he rallied he was taken, and in handcuffs.—
There, is a description of the fellow," said Lionel, " and
by Jove, one would think that they were describing some
wild denizen of the woods, or some strange animal of sa-
vage life, so eloquent is the paragraph about his appear-
ance and personal strength."

STATISTICS OF WESLEYANISM.—The Wesleyan Con-
ference territorially covers every parish in England, with
1,685 ministers under its orders, 15,000 local preachers,
and 30,000 leaders, stewards, and trustees, with 468,313
members of society acknowledging its sway, and perhaps
2,000,000 hearers affording their countenance. The im-
mense amount of their chapel and other real property has
been estimated at more than three millions sterling ;
while the annual revenue of the body, from every source,
is probably not much less than a million. The income
of their missionary society for the year 1845.6 was more
than £112,000 ; in 1840, by a mighty effort, £171,687 of
chapel debts were extinguished, and the Centenary Fund
fell little short of a quarter of a million. The product of
the weekly pence and quarterly shillings [these are mi-
nima] contributed in the classes—of the yearly and July
collections—suffices for the maintenance (in far greater
average comfort than any other body of Christian minis-
ters) of more than fifteen hundred ministers, with their
wives and families : for perhaps no married minister re-
ceives less than an equivalent of £175 per annum, and
perhaps none more than £350. The Theological Insti-
tutions at Richmond and Didsbury contain seventy-four
students ; the Kingswood and Woodhouse-grove schools
provide for the education of two hundred pupils; Propri-
etary Schools have been established at Sheffield and
Taunton; the last return shows that their Sunday• schools
are attended by XOO,OOO scholars ; and of the 700 day.
schools which it was determined to form at the close of
1843, more than one-half have been already called into
existence.—Church of England Quarterly Review.