Produced by Julia Miller, Barbara Kosker and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
file was produced from images generously made available
by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
By Maturin M. Ballou.
AZTEC LAND. A new Book. Crown 8vo, $1.50.
THE NEW ELDORADO. A Summer Journey to Alaska.
Crown 8vo, $1.50.
DUE WEST; or, ROUND THE WORLD IN TEN MONTHS.
Crown 8vo, $1.50.
DUE SOUTH; or, CUBA PAST AND PRESENT. Crown 8vo,
$1.50.
UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS; or, TRAVELS IN AUSTRALASIA.
Crown 8vo, $1.50.
DUE NORTH; or, GLIMPSES OF SCANDINAVIA AND RUSSIA.
Crown 8vo, $1.50.
GENIUS IN SUNSHINE AND SHADOW. Crown 8vo, $1.50.
EDGE-TOOLS OF SPEECH. Selected and edited by Mr.
BALLOU. 8vo, $3.50.
A TREASURY OF THOUGHT. An Encyclopaedia of Quotations.
8vo, full gilt, $3.50.
PEARLS OF THOUGHT. 16mo, full gilt, $1.25.
NOTABLE THOUGHTS ABOUT WOMEN. Crown 8vo,
$1.50.
HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN & COMPANY,
BOSTON AND NEW YORK.
AZTEC LAND
BY
MATURIN M. BALLOU
The dust is old upon my sandal-shoon,
And still I am a pilgrim.
N. P. WILLIS.
[Illustration]
BOSTON AND NEW YORK
HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY
The Riverside Press, Cambridge
1890
Copyright, 1890,
BY MATURIN M. BALLOU.
_All rights reserved._
_The Riverside Press, Cambridge, Mass., U. S. A._
Electrotyped and Printed by H. O. Houghton & Company
PREFACE.
Having resolved to visit Mexico, the question first to be considered was
how to do so in the most advantageous manner. Repairing to the office of
Messrs. Raymond & Whitcomb, in Boston, after a brief consultation with
those experienced organizers of travel, the author handed the firm a
check for the cost of a round trip to Mexico and back. On the following
day he took his seat in a Pullman parlor car in Boston, to occupy the
same section until his return from an excursion of ten thousand miles. A
select party of ladies and gentlemen came together at the same time in
the Fitchburg railroad station, most of whom were strangers to each
other, but who were united by the same purpose. The traveler lives,
eats, and sleeps in the vestibule train, while _en route_, in which he
first embarks, until his return to the starting-point, a dining-car,
with reading and writing rooms, also forming a part of the train. All
care regarding the routes to be followed, as to hotel accommodations
while stopping in large cities, side excursions, and the providing of
domestic necessities, are dismissed from his mind. He luxuriates in the
pleasure of seeing a strange and beautiful land, without a thought as to
the _modus operandi_, or the means by which detail is conquered. In
short, he dons Fortunatus's cap, and permits events to develop
themselves to his intense delight. Such was the author's experience on
the occasion concerning which these wayside views of Mexico were
written. It was a holiday journey, but it is hoped that a description of
it may impart to the general reader a portion of the pleasure and useful
information which the author realized from an excursion into Aztec Land,
full of novel and uninterrupted enjoyment.
M. M. B.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
Locality and Political Divisions of Aztec Land.--Spanish
Historians.--Boundaries.--Climate.--Egyptian Resemblances.
--Products of the Country.--Antiquities.--Origin of Races.
--Early Civilization.--Pictorial Writings.--Aboriginal Money.
--Aztec Religious Sacrifices.--A Voluptuous Court.--Mexican
Independence.--European Civilization introduced by Cortez.--
Civil Wars.--The Maximilian Fiasco.--Revival of Mexican
Progress.--A Country facing on Two Oceans.--A Native Writer's
Statement.--Divorce of Church and State 1
CHAPTER II.
Remarkably Fertile Soil.--Valuable Native Woods.--Mexican Flora.--
Coffee and Tobacco.--Mineral Products.--Silver Mines.--Sugar
Lands.--Manufactories.--Cortez's Presents to Charles V.--Water
Power.--Coal Measures.--Railroads.--Historic Locality.--Social
Characteristics.--People divided into Castes.--Peonage.--
Radical Progress.--Education and the Priesthood.--A Threshing
Machine.--Social Etiquette.--Political Organization of the
Government.--Mexico the Synonym of Barbarism.--Production and
Business Handicapped by an Excessive Tariff 23
CHAPTER III.
The Route to Mexico.--Via the Mammoth Cave.--Across the Rio
Grande.--A Large River.--Piedras Negras.--Characteristic Scene.
--A Barren Prairie Land.--Castano, a Native Village.--Adobe
Cabins.--Indian Irrigation.--Sparsely Populated Country.--
Interior Haciendas.--Immigration.--City of Saltillo.--Battle
of Buena Vista.--City of Monterey.--The Cacti and Yucca-Palm.
--Capture by General Taylor.--Mexican Central Railroad.--
Jack-Rabbits.--A Dreary Region.--The Mesquite Bushes.--Lonely
Graves 43
CHAPTER IV.
Zacatecas.--Sand-Spouts.--Fertile Lands.--A Silver Mining Region.
--Alpine Scenery.--Table-Land of Mexico.--An Aged Miner.--
Zacatecas Cathedral.--Church and People.--A Mountain Climb.--
Ownership of the Mines.--Want of Drainage.--A Battlefield.--
Civil War.--Local Market.--Peculiar Scenes.--Native Beauties.
--City Tramway Experience.--Town of Guadalupe.--Organized
Beggars.--A Noble and Successful Institution.--Market of
Guadalupe.--Attractive Senoritas.--Private Gardens 62
CHAPTER V.
A Mexican Watering Place.--Delightful Climate.--Aguas Calientes.
--Young Senoritas.--Local City Scenes.--Convicts.--Churches.
--A Mummified Monk.--Punishment is Swift and Sure.--Hot
Springs.--Bathing in Public.--Caged Songsters.--"Antiquities."
--Delicious Fruits.--Market Scenes.--San Luis Potosi.--The
Public Buildings.--City of Leon.--A Beautiful Plaza.--Local
Manufactories.--Home Industries of Leon.--The City of Silao.
--Defective Agriculture.--Objection to Machinery.--Fierce
Sand Storm 76
CHAPTER VI.
Guanajuato.--An Ex-President.--Richest Silver Mine in Mexico.--
Reducing the Ores.--Plenty of Silver.--Open Sewers.--A Venal
Priesthood.--A Big Prison.--The Catholic Church.--Getting Rid
of a Prisoner.--The Frog-Rock.--Idolaters.--A Strawberry
Festival at Irapuato.--Salamanca.--City of Queretaro.--A Fine
Old Capital.--Maximilian and His Fate.--A Charming Plaza.--
Mammoth Cotton Factory.--The Maguey Plant.--Pulque and Other
Stimulants.--Beautiful Opals.--Honey Water.--Ancient Tula.--
A Freak of Tropical Weather 97
CHAPTER VII.
City of Mexico.--Private Dwellings.--Thieves.--Old Mexico.--
Climate.--Tramways.--The Plaza Mayor.--City Streets.--The
Grand Paseo.--Public Statues.--Scenes upon the Paseo.--The
Paseo de la Viga.--Out-of-door Concerts.--A Mexican Caballero.
--Lottery Ticket Venders.--High Noon.--Mexican Soldiers.--
Musicians.--Criminals as Soldiers.--The Grand Cathedral.--The
Ancient Aztec Temple.--Magnificent View from the Towers of
the Cathedral.--Cost of the Edifice.--Valley of Anahuac 126
CHAPTER VIII.
An Extinct Volcano.--Mexican Mountains.--The Public Institutions
of the Capital.--The Government Palace.--The Museum.--
Maximilian's State Carriage.--A Peculiar Plant.--The Academy
of Fine Arts.--Choice Paintings.--Art School.--Picture
Writing.--Native Artists.--Exquisite Pottery.--Cortez's
Presents to Charles V.--A Special Aztec Art.--The Sacrificial
Stone.--Spanish Historical Authorities.--Public Library.--The
Plaza.--Flower Market.--A Morning Visit.--Public Market.--
Concealed Weapons 150
CHAPTER IX.
A City of Vistas.--Want of Proper Drainage.--Unfortunate Site.--
Insecure Foundations.--A Boom in Building Lots.--Pleasant
Suburbs.--Night Watchmen.--The Iturbide Hotel--A Would-be
Emperor.--Domestic Arrangements.--A New Hotel wanted.--
Places of Public Entertainment.--The Bull Ring.--Repulsive
Performance.--Monte de Piedad.--An English Syndicate purchase
it.--The Alameda.--The Inquisition.--Festal Days.--Pulque
Shops.--The Church Party.--Gilded Bar-Rooms.--Mexican
Marriages.--Mothers and Infants.--A Family Group 170
CHAPTER X.
Benito Juarez's Grandest Monument.--Hotel del Jardin.--General
Jose Morelos.--Mexican Ex-Convents.--City Restaurants.--Lady
Smokers.--Domestic Courtyards.--A Beautiful Bird.--The Grand
Cathedral Interior.--A Devout Lottery Ticket Vender.--
Porcelain-Ornamented Houses.--Rogues in Church.--Expensive
Justice.--Cemetery of San Fernando.--Juarez's Monument.--
Coffins to Let.--American and English Cemetery.--A Doleful
Street and Trade 194
CHAPTER XI.
The Shrine of Guadalupe.--Priestly Miracles.--A Remarkable
Spring.--The Chapels about the Hill.--A Singular Votive
Offering.--Church of Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe.--Costly
Decorations.--A Campo Santo.--Tomb of Santa Anna.--Strange
Contrasts.--Guadalupe-Hidalgo.--The Twelve Shrines on the
Causeway.--The Viga Canal.--The Floating Islands.--Indian
Gamblers.--Vegetable Market.--Flower Girls.--The "Noche-
Triste" Tree.--Ridiculous Signs.--Queer Titles.--Floral
Festival 205
CHAPTER XII.
Castle of Chapultepec.--"Hill of the Grasshopper."--Montezuma's
Retreat.--Palace of the Aztec Kings.--West Point of Mexico.
--Battles of Molino del Rey and Churubusco.--The Mexican White
House.--High above Sea Level.--Village of Tacubaya.--Antique
Carvings.--Ancient Toluca.--The Maguey.--Fine Scenery.--Cima.
--Snowy Peaks.--Leon d'Oro.--The Bull-Ring and Cockpit.--A
Literary Institution.--The Coral Tree.--Ancient Pyramids.--
Pachuca.--Silver Product of the Mines.--A Cornish Colony.--
Native Cabins.--Indian Endurance 220
CHAPTER XIII.
Puebla, the Sacred City.--General Forey.--Battle-Ground.--View of
the City.--Priestly Miracles.--The Cathedral.--Snow-Crowned
Mountains.--A Cleanly Capital.--The Plaza Mayor.--A Typical
Picture.--The Old Seller of Rosaries.--Mexican Ladies.--Palm
Sunday.--Church Gala Day.--Education--Confiscation of Church
Property.--A Curious Arch.--A Doll Image.--Use of Glazed
Tiles.--Onyx a Staple Production.--Fine Work of Native Indian
Women.--State of Puebla full of Rich Resources.--A Dynamite
Bomb.--The Key of the Capital 241
CHAPTER XIV.
Ancient Cholula.--A Grand Antiquity.--The Cheops of Mexico.--
Traditions relating to the Pyramid.--The Toltecs.--Cholula of
To-Day.--Comprehensive View.--A Modern Tower of Babel.--
Multiplicity of Ruins.--Cortez's Exaggerations.--Sacrifices of
Human Beings.--The Hateful Inquisition.--A Wholesale Murderous
Scheme.--Unreliable Historians.--Spanish Falsification.--
Interesting Churches.--Off the Track.--Personal Relics of
Cortez.--Torturing a Victim.--Aztec Antiquities.--Tlaxcala.--
Church of San Francisco.--Peon Dwellings.--Cortez and the
Tlaxcalans 258
CHAPTER XV.
Down into the Hot Lands.--Wonderful Mountain Scenery.--Parasitic
Vines.--Luscious Fruits.--Orchids.--Orizaba.--State of Vera
Cruz.--The Kodak.--Churches.--A Native Artist.--Schools.--
Climate.--Crystal Peak of Orizaba.--Grand Waterfall.--The
American Flag.--Disappointed Climbers.--A Night Surprise.--
The French Invasion.--The Plaza.--Indian Characteristics.--
Early Morning Sights.--Maximilian in Council.--Difficult
Engineering.--Wild Flowers.--A Cascade.--Cordova.--The Banana.
--Coffee Plantations.--Fertile Soil.--Market Scenes 282
CHAPTER XVI.
The City of Vera Cruz.--Defective Harbor.--The Dreaded and also
Welcome Norther.--San Juan d'Ulloa.--Landing of Cortez.--His
Expedition Piratical.--View of the City from the Sea.--
Cortez's Destruction of his Ships.--Anecdote of Charles V.--A
Sickly Capital.--Street Scenes.--Trade.--The Mantilla.--Plaza
de la Constitucion.--Typical Characters.--Brilliant Fireflies.
--Well-To-Do Beggars.--Principal Edifices.--The Campo Santo.
--City Dwelling-Houses.--The Dark-Plumed Buzzards.--A City
Fountain.--A Varied History.--Medillin.--State of Vera Cruz 301
CHAPTER XVII.
Jalapa.--A Health Resort.--Birds, Flowers, and Fruits.--Cerro
Gordo.--Cathedral.--Earthquakes.--Local Characteristics.--
Vanilla.--Ancient Ruins.--Tortillas.--Blondes in a City of
Brunettes.--Curiosities of Mexican Courtship.--Caged Singing
Birds.--Banditti Outwitted.--Socialistic Indians.--Traces of
a Lost City.--Guadalajara.--On the Mexican Plateau.--A
Progressive Capital.--Fine Modern Buildings.--The Cathedral.
--Native Artists.--A Noble Institution.--Amusements.--San
Pedro.--Evening in the Plaza.--A Ludicrous Carnival.--Judas
Day 320
CHAPTER XVIII.
Santa Rosalia.--Mineral Springs.--Chihuahua.--A Peculiar City.--
Cathedral.--Expensive Bells.--Aqueduct.--Alameda.--Hidalgo's
Prison and his Fate.--Eulalia.--A Large State.--A Grand Avenue
of Trees.--Local Artists.--Grotesque Signs.--Influence of
Proximity to the United States.--Native Villages.--Dangerous
Sand-Spouts.--Reflections on Approaching the Frontier.--
Pleasant Pictures photographed upon the Memory.--Juarez, the
Border Town of Mexico.--City of El Paso, Texas.--Railroad
Interests.--Crossing the Rio Grande.--Greeted by the Stars
and Stripes 343
AZTEC LAND.
CHAPTER I.
Locality and Political Divisions of Aztec Land.--Spanish Historians.--
Boundaries.--Climate.--Egyptian Resemblances.--Products of the
Country.--Antiquities.--Origin of Races.--Early Civilization.--
Pictorial Writings.--Aboriginal Money.--Aztec Religious Sacrifices.
--A Voluptuous Court.--Mexican Independence.--European Civilization
introduced by Cortez.--Civil Wars.--The Maximilian Fiasco.--Revival
of Mexican Progress.--A Country facing on Two Oceans.--A Native
Writer's Statement.--Divorce of Church and State.
Bordering upon the United States on the extreme southwest, for a
distance of more than two thousand miles, is a republic which represents
a civilization possibly as old as that of Egypt; a land, notwithstanding
its proximity to us, of which the average American knows less than he
does of France or Italy, but which rivals them in natural
picturesqueness, and nearly equals them in historic interest.
It is a country which is much misunderstood and almost wholly
misrepresented. It may be called the land of tradition and romance,
whose true story is most poetic and sanguinary. Such is Mexico, with her
twenty-seven independent states, a federal district in which is situated
the national capital, and the territory of Lower California,--a
widespread country, containing in all a population of between ten and
eleven millions. As in the instance of this Union, each state controls
its internal affairs so far as it can do so without conflicting with the
laws of the national government, which are explicitly defined. The
nature of the constitution, adopted in 1857 by the combined states, is
that of a republic pure and simple, thoroughly democratic in its
provisions. The national power resides in the people, from whom emanates
all public authority. The glowing pen of Prescott has rendered us all
familiar with the romantic side of Mexican history, but legitimate
knowledge of her primitive story is, unfortunately, of the most
fragmentary character. Our information concerning the early inhabitants
comes almost solely through the writings of irresponsible monks and
priests who could neither see nor represent anything relative to an
idolatrous people save in accordance with the special interests of their
own church; or from Spanish historians who had never set foot upon the
territory of which they wrote, and who consequently repeated with
heightened color the legends, traditions, and exaggerations of others.
"The general opinion may be expressed," says Janvier, in his "Mexican
Guide," "in regard to the writings concerning this period that, as a
rule, a most gorgeous superstructure of fancy has been raised upon a
very meagre foundation of fact. As romance, information of this highly
imaginative sort is entertaining, but it is not edifying." One would be
glad to get at the other side of the Aztec story, which, we suspect,
would place the chivalric invaders in a very different light from that
of their own boastful records, and also enable us to form a more just
and truthful opinion of the aborigines themselves. That their numbers,
religious sacrifices, and barbaric excesses are generally overdrawn is
perfectly manifest. Every fair-minded student of history frankly admits
this. It was necessary for Cortez and his followers to paint the
character of the Aztecs in darkest hues to palliate and excuse, in a
measure, their own wholesale rapine and murder. It was the elder Dumas
who said, "Truth is liable to be left-handed in history." As Cortez was
a champion of the Roman Catholic Church, that institution did not
hesitate to represent his achievements so as to redound to its own
glory. "Posterity is too often deceived by the vague hyperboles of poets
and rhetoricians," says Macaulay, "who mistake the splendor of a court
for the happiness of a people." No one can forget the magnificence of
Montezuma's household as represented by the chroniclers, and as
magnified by time and distance.
Let us consider for a moment the geographical situation of this great
southland, which is separated from us only by a comparatively
insignificant stream of water.
The present republic of Mexico is bounded on the north by the United
States, from which it is separated in part by the narrow Rio Grande; on
the south by Guatemala, Balize, and the Pacific Ocean; on the east by
the Gulf of Mexico; and on the west by the Pacific Ocean, extending as
far north as the Bay of San Diego, California. Of its nearly six
thousand miles of coast line, sixteen hundred are on the Gulf of Mexico
and forty-two hundred miles are on the Pacific. The topographical aspect
of the country has been not inappropriately likened to an inverted
cornucopia. Its greatest length from northwest to southeast is almost
exactly two thousand miles, and its greatest width, which is at the
twenty-sixth degree of north latitude, is seven hundred and fifty miles.
The minimum width is at the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, where it contracts
to a hundred and fifty miles. The area of the entire republic is
probably a little less than eight hundred thousand square miles.
Trustworthy statistics relating to Mexico are not attainable. Even
official reports are scarcely better than estimates. Carlos Butterfield,
accredited statistician, makes the area of the republic about
thirty-three thousand square miles less than the figures we have given.
He also calculates that the density of the population is some ten or
eleven to the square mile. Other authorities, however, give the area
much nearer to our own figures. A detailed survey which would enable us
to get at a satisfactory aggregate has never been made, so that a
careful estimate is all we have to depend upon.
The climate of the country is divided by common acceptation into three
zones, each of which is well defined: it being hot in the _tierra
caliente_, or hot lands, of the coast; temperate in the _tierra
templada_, or region between three thousand and six thousand feet above
the level of the sea; and cold in the _tierra fria_, or region at an
elevation exceeding six thousand feet. In the first named the extreme
heat is 100 deg. Fahr.; in the last the extreme of cold is 20 deg. above zero.
In the national capital the mercury ranges between 65 deg. and 75 deg. Fahr.
throughout the year. In fact, every climate known to the traveler may be
met with between Vera Cruz and the capital of the republic. In the
neighborhood of Orizaba one finds sugar-cane and Indian corn, tobacco
and palm-trees, bananas and peaches, growing side by side.
Let us state in brief, for general information, the main products of
these three geographical divisions. In the hot region we find cotton,
vanilla, hemp, pepper, cocoa, oranges, bananas, indigo, rice, and
various other tropical fruits. In the temperate region, tobacco, coffee,
sugar, maize, the brown bean, peas, and most of the favorite northern
fruits. Here extreme heat and frost are alike unknown. In the cold
region, all of the hardy vegetables, such as potatoes, beets, carrots,
and the cereals, wheat growing at as high an elevation as eighty-five
hundred feet, while two crops annually are grown in various sections of
the _tierra templada_. Tobacco is indigenous in Mexico, and derives its
name from Tabaco in Yucatan. Indian corn and brown beans, two of the
principal sources of the food consumed by the natives, are grown in all
the states of the republic.
Mexico is situated in the same degree of latitude in the Western
Hemisphere that Egypt occupies in the Eastern, the Tropic of Cancer
dividing both countries in the centre. There is a striking resemblance
between them, also, in many other respects, such as architecture,
vegetation, domestic utensils, mode of cultivating the land, ancient
pyramids, and idols, while both afford abundant tokens of a history
antedating all accredited record. Toltec and Aztec antiquities bear a
remarkable resemblance to the old Egyptian remains to be found in the
museums of Europe and America. Speaking of these evidences of a former
and unknown race still to be found in southern Mexico, especially in
Yucatan, Wilson the historian says: "In their solidity they strikingly
remind us of the best productions of Egyptian art. Nor are they less
venerable in appearance than those which excite our admiration in the
valley of the Nile. Their points of resemblance, too, are so numerous,
they carry to the beholder a conviction that the architects on this side
of the ocean were familiar with the models on the other." Doubtless the
volcanic soil of Mexico conceals vast remains of the far past, even as
Pompeii was covered and continued unsuspected for centuries, until
accident led to its being gradually exhumed. Whole cities are known to
have disappeared in various parts of Mexico, leaving no more evidence of
their existence than may be found in a few broken columns or some
half-disintegrated stones. Of this mutability we shall have ample
evidence as we progress on our route through the several states. When in
various parts of the country we see the native laborers irrigating the
land in the style which prevailed thousands of years ago on the banks of
the Nile, and behold the dark-hued women slightly clothed in a white
cotton fabric with faces half-concealed, while they bear water jars upon
their heads, we seem to breathe the very atmosphere of Asia. The rapid
introduction of railroads and the modern facilities for travel are fast
rendering us as familiar with the characteristics of this land of the
Montezumas as we have long been with that of the Pharaohs; and though it
has not the halo of Biblical story to recommend it to us, yet Mexico is
not lacking in numberless legends, poetic associations, and the charm of
a tragic history quite as picturesque and absorbing as that of any
portion of the East. Many intelligent students of history believe that
the first inhabitants of this continent probably came from Asia by way
of Behring Strait or the Aleutian Islands, which may at some period in
past ages have extended across the north Pacific Ocean; the outermost
island of this group (Attoo), it will be remembered, is at this time but
four hundred miles from the Asiatic coast, whence it is believed to have
been originally peopled.
Relative to the early peopling of our continent, Bancroft says: "It is
shown pretty conclusively that the American people and the American
civilization, if not indigenous to the New World, were introduced from
the Old at _a period long preceding any to which we are carried, by the
traditional or monumental annals of either continent_. We have found no
evidence of any populating or civilizing migration across the ocean from
east to west, north or south, within historic times. Nothing approaching
identity has been discovered between any two nations separated by the
Atlantic or Pacific. No positive record appears even of communication
between America and the Old World,--intentionally by commercial, exploring,
or warlike expeditions, or accidentally by shipwreck,--previous to the
voyages of the Northmen in the tenth century; yet that such communication
did take place, in many instances and at different periods, is extremely
probable."
The emigrants of whom we have spoken are supposed to have been nomadic,
to have first built cities in the north,--that is, the present United
States; it is not improbable that they were the mound-builders of Ohio
and the Mississippi valleys, and that they afterward migrated southward
into Mexico. These pioneers were called Toltecs, and were settled south
of the Rio Grande a thousand years ago, more or less, their capital
being what is known to-day as the city of Tula, forty miles northwest of
the present capital of Mexico, where many antique and curious remains
still interest the traveler. The names of the nine Toltec kings who
ruled up to A. D. 1097 are well ascertained. It was the fourth
king, if we may believe the chroniclers, who built the city of
Teotihuacan, that is, "the habitation of the gods," the only visible
remains of which are the two earth pyramids of the sun and the moon. Of
these we shall have occasion to treat more at length in a future
chapter. In speaking of the most ancient remains at Tula and elsewhere
in Mexico, Wilson pronounces them to be clearly Egyptian. It is made
plain by authentic writers upon the subject that this people enjoyed a
large degree of civilization; the ruins of temples supposed to have
been built by them in various parts of the country, especially in
Yucatan, also prove this. Humboldt says that in 648 A. D. the
Toltecs had a solar year more perfect than that of the Greeks and
Romans. Other-writers tell us that they were a worthy people, averse to
war, allied to virtue, to cleanliness, and good manners, detesting
falsehood and treachery. They introduced the cultivation of maize and
cotton, constructed extensive irrigating ditches, built roads, and were
a progressive race. "But where is the country," asks Humboldt, "from
which the Toltecs and Mexicans issued?" They were well housed, and even
elegantly clothed, maintained public schools, and commemorated passing
events by elaborate sculpture and by picture-writing. So complete was
their system of hieroglyphics that they wrote upon religion, history,
geography, and the arts. These records were nearly all destroyed by the
malicious and bigoted iniquity of a Spanish priest named Zumarrage, who
made it his business to seek for and burn all tokens, great and small,
which related to the history of this extremely interesting people. A few
of these curious records, in the form of pictorial writing, yet remain
in Mexico, principally in the National Museum at the capital, and some
have found their way across the ocean to adorn the shelves of European
libraries. One of these documents, still extant, represents the country
as having first been settled by a race who came out of a great cave and
traveled over the realm on the backs of turtles, founding cities and
towns wherever they went. This will show that the traditions of the
aborigines are so fabulous as scarcely to deserve mention. Touching the
vandal act of the Catholic priest Zumarrage, Prescott says: "We
contemplate with indignation the cruelties inflicted by the early
conquerors. But indignation is qualified with contempt when we see them
thus ruthlessly trampling out the sparks of knowledge, the common boon
and property of all mankind. We may well doubt which has the strongest
claim to civilization, the victor or the vanquished." We know that the
early inhabitants reared palaces, temples, and pyramids, that they
constructed a grand system of aqueducts for irrigating purposes, and for
the liberal promotion of agriculture, being in many respects in advance
of the Mexicans of to-day in the cultivation of the soil, as well as in
some productions of art.
This people, after several centuries of occupation, seem to have been
driven away, probably to South America, by the arrival of another race
called Aztecs or Mexicans, about the year 1325,--some writers say much
earlier,--who finally, under the emperors known as the Montezumas,
brought the country to a lofty height of barbaric and extravagant
splendor, though they were largely, if not almost entirely, indebted to
the discoveries and genius of their intelligent predecessors. The early
faith of the Toltecs, it is claimed, was the adoration of the sun, moon,
and stars. They offered to their representative gods flowers, fruits,
and the life-blood of small animals. The sacrifice of human beings was
later engrafted on their simple faith by other tribes.
History tells us that these aboriginal races did not possess stamped
coin. They had certain signs of the value of different articles, which
took the place of money. One of these, for example, is said to have been
cacao beans counted into lots of eight thousand, or in sacks of
twenty-four thousand each. To exchange for articles of daily necessity
they used pieces of cotton cloth. Expensive objects were paid for in
grains of gold dust, which were carried in quills. For the cheapest
articles, copper pieces cut like the letter T were used. After the
conquest, the earliest mint was established in Mexico, in 1538, by Don
Antonio de Mendoza, who was the first viceroy.
When Cortez came from--in the light of history we should say, ran away
from--Cuba to conquer and possess Mexico, in 1519, a hundred years
before the Pilgrims lauded on the shore of Massachusetts Bay, he
encountered a people who had reached, comparatively speaking, a high
degree of civilization, though weighted by an idolatrous worship which
was most terrible in its wild and reckless practice of human sacrifice,
as represented by Spanish authorities. Their imposing sculptures,
curious arms, picture records, and rich, fanciful garments, filled the
invaders with surprise and whetted their gross avariciousness. There was
much that was strange and startling in their mythology, and even their
idol worship and sacrificial rites bore evidence of sincerity.
Altogether, this western empire presented a strange and fascinating
spectacle to the eyes of the invaders, who flattered themselves that
they would be doing God service by subjugating these idolaters, and
substituting their own religion for that of the natives. At the time
when the Spaniards arrived in the country, Montezuma II. was on the
throne, one of the most extravagant of voluptuaries. According to the
accounts of the early Spanish chroniclers, the ornaments worn by him
must have been equal in elegance and value to the crown-jewels of any
imperial family of Europe. Asiatic pomp and luxury could not go to
greater extremes than these writers attribute to the Aztec court and its
emperor. Cortez eagerly and unscrupulously possessed himself of these
royal gems, and kept them concealed upon his person until his return to
Spain. They are represented to have been worth "a nation's ransom," but
were lost in the sea, where Cortez had thrown himself in a critical
emergency. The broad amphitheatre, in the midst of which the capital of
Anahuac--"by the waters"--was built, still remains; but the picturesque
lake which beautified it, traversed by causeways and covered with
floating gardens laden with trees and flowers, has disappeared. Though
the conquered natives, roused at last to a spirit of madness by the
unequaled cruelty and extortion of the victors, rose in a body and
expelled them from their capital, still the ruthless valor of Cortez and
his followers, aided by artful alliance with disaffected native tribes,
together with the superiority of the Spanish weapons, finally proved too
much for the reigning power, and, after a brave and protracted struggle,
the star of the Aztec dynasty set in blood.
Montezuma died a miserable death in the hands of Cortez; while
Guatemozin, the last of the Aztec emperors, was ignominiously treated,
tortured, and afterwards hanged by the Spanish conqueror.
Three hundred years of Spanish rule, extortion, rapacity, fraud, and
bitter oppression followed,--a period of struggle for supremacy on the
part of the Roman Catholic Church, during which it relentlessly crushed
every vestige of opposition by means of that hideous monster, the
Inquisition. During these three centuries, the same selfish policy
actuated the home government towards Mexico as was exercised towards
Cuba, namely, to extort from the country and its people the largest
possible revenue for the Spanish treasury. Finally came the successful
revolution which separated the country from continental Spain and
achieved the independence of the nation.
We must not, however, blind ourselves to facts. Hateful as the Spanish
rule in Mexico appears to us, we must admit that Cortez introduced
European civilization, such as it was, into the country, and it has
virtually continued until the present day. We see that under his rule
great cities sprang into life, magnificent buildings were erected,
national roads, viaducts, bridges, and aqueducts were built, on so grand
a scale as to still challenge our admiration. Silver and gold were
extracted from the mines, and together with ornamental woods, precious
stones, dyes and drugs were shipped in unlimited quantities to Spain,
whereby her already richly endowed treasury became full to repletion.
True, it was a period of false gods, of high living, and of vice; might
made right; morality had not the same signification then as it has in
our time. The conventionalities of one century become the vices of the
next. Virtue and vice must, in a certain degree, be construed in
relation to latitude and longitude. That which is sacred in Samoa to-day
may be considered impious in Boston.
Cortez's expedition, which landed at Vera Cruz, April 21, 1519, was not
the first to discover the continent in this neighborhood; he had been
preceded nearly two years by a rich merchant of Cuba, who fitted out a
couple of small vessels on his own account, mainly for the purpose of
trading, and being also in search of that great lure, gold, which it was
supposed existed in large quantities among the native tribes of the
mainland. This adventurer, Francisco Hernandez de Cordova, landed near
the present Cape Catoche, April 8, 1517, having brought with him only
about one hundred men. As to the final result of that enterprise we are
not informed, except that his landing was opposed by the natives, and a
battle was fought in which fifteen or twenty Indians were killed and a
number of Spaniards were wounded.
The fighting instinct of the people of Mexico was never exercised to
better purpose than during the period between 1810 and 1821, in the
gallant and successful war with the home government to establish their
freedom. On the 15th day of September, 1810, a solemn declaration of
independence was made, and for eleven years, under various patriotic
leaders, such as Hidalgo--their Washington--and the truly great Morelos,
the trying fortunes of a relentless war were experienced, until August
24, 1821, when Spain was forced to give up the contest and retire
humiliated from the field. Not, however, until so late as 1838 did she
formally recognize the Mexican republic.
It is natural to pause for a moment in this connection, and contrast the
past with the present status of Spain, a country which conquered,
possessed, and misruled Mexico for so long a period. In the sixteenth
century she threatened to become the mistress of the world. In art she
held the foremost position. Murillo, Velasquez, and Ribiera were her
honored sons; in literature she was represented by Cervantes, Lope de
Vega, and Calderon; while of discoverers and conquerors she sent forth
Columbus, Cortez, and Pizarro. The banners of Castile and Aragon floated
alike on the Pacific and the Indian Oceans. Her warriors were
adventurous and brave; her soldiers inherited the gallantry of the
followers of Charles V. She was the court of Europe, the acknowledged
leader of chivalry. How rapid has been her decadence! As in the
plenitude of her power she was ambitious, cruel, and perfidious, so has
the measure which she meted to others been in turn accorded to herself.
To-day there are none so humble as to do her honor.
As years progressed, interstate struggles impoverished the land and
decimated the number of its ruling spirits. To recall a list of the
names of patriot leaders who laid down their lives during this half
century and more of civil wars makes one shudder for man's inhumanity to
man. Little progress was made. The Romish Church held its parasitic
clutch upon state and people, impoverishing and degrading both, until
the burden became too great to bear; and, in 1857, the Laws of Reform
were enacted and the constitution amended, causing the church to
disgorge its millions of ill-gotten wealth, and also depriving it of its
power for further national injury.
A brief but decisive war with the United States ended in the humble
submission of Mexico, causing her to lose a large portion of her
territory, amounting to more than one half its number of square miles.
Probably very few of the readers of these pages could answer correctly,
if they were asked what was the real cause of this war between the
United States and Mexico. Let us briefly state the facts, since we shall
incidentally refer more than once to the matter. In 1835, Texas, then a
part of Mexico, rebelled against that government, and succeeded not only
in achieving her independence, but also in being recognized as a
distinct power by several of the nations of Europe, including England
and France, as well as this country. After a lapse of nine or ten years,
at the earnest solicitation of the inhabitants, Texas was admitted to
the American Union. The Mexican government expressed great
dissatisfaction at this, and sent troops to camp all along the Rio
Grande, which compelled the President to order a division of our array
there to protect the national interests. The Mexican troops crossed over
their border and attacked our soldiers on Texan soil, killing sixteen
Americans and capturing many prisoners. This was on April 24, 1846, and
precipitated hostilities at once. After the battles of Palo Alto, May
8th, and Resaca de la Palma, May 9th, both fought on Texan soil, and
both defeats for the Mexicans, General Taylor crossed with his forces
into Mexico and occupied Matamoras. The subsequent battles on Taylor's
and Scott's lines resulted in a series of hard-won victories for our
troops in every instance; until, finally, the flag of the United States
floated triumphantly over the city of Mexico. It was not this country,
but Mexico, which was the aggressor, and it was her foolhardiness and
outrageous insult which brought about the war. There is not a power in
Europe which would not have done precisely as this country did when thus
attacked. The author knows very well that it is the fashion to berate
our government for the punishment it inflicted upon the aggressive
Mexicans, but we are not among those who believe that when nations or
individuals are smitten upon one cheek they should turn the other for a
like treatment. Mexico got what she deserved, that is, a thorough
drubbing, and lost one half of her territorial possessions in return for
a long series of aggressions.
Though thus geographically curtailed, she is still of mammoth
proportions, exceeding in size Austria and Germany with Sweden, Norway,
and the Netherlands combined; or, to make a more familiar comparison,
Mexico is sixteen times larger than the State of New York, stretching
through seventeen degrees of latitude and thirty degrees of longitude.
Finally, there came the ridiculous and abortive attempt of Napoleon the
Little to make a foreigner--Archduke Maximilian of Austria--Emperor of
Mexico, in which Quixotic purpose he was at first abetted by England and
Spain. After a bloody and fruitless struggle, backed by all the subtle
influence of the Roman Catholic Church, the French withdrew from the
country in utter disgrace, while the royal interloper, deceived,
deserted, and cheated by the weak, scheming mountebank on the French
throne, was condemned to death by a Mexican court martial, and with two
of his most notable and trusted generals was shot at Queretaro.
Ill-advised as was the attempt to establish an empire on American soil,
and although it resulted in such a bitter failure, involving the death
of its principal actors, and terrible waste of human life, it must be
admitted by every candid observer that Mexico made great material
advance during the brief period of Maximilian's bastard government. The
national capital was especially beautified, and it exhibits to-day the
advantages of many grand improvements instituted and completed by
Maximilian and "poor" Carlotta, his devoted wife, and daughter of
Leopold I., king of the Belgians. The Mexicans will long remember that
they owe their magnificent boulevard, the Paseo de la Reforma, to
Maximilian, and their charmingly arranged Plaza Mayor to the refined and
womanly taste of Carlotta.
At last it would seem as though the energies of this much distracted
country, so long the victim of the priesthood, professional brigandage,
and civil and foreign wars, have become diverted into channels of
productive industry, developing resources of wealth and stability which
have heretofore been unrecognized. A country facing upon two oceans, and
having seven or eight railroad lines intersecting it in various
directions, cannot remain _in statu quo_; it must take its place more or
less promptly in the grand line of nations, all of whom are moving
forward under the influence of the progressive ideas of the nineteenth
century. It is only since 1876 that Mexico has enjoyed anything like a
stable government; and as her constitution is modeled upon our own, let
us sincerely hope for the best results. General Porfirio Diaz, President
of the republic, is a man whose official and private life commands the
respect of the entire people. That his administration has given the
country a grand impetus, has largely restored its credit, and insured a
continuance of peace, seems to be an undisputed fact. His principal
purpose is plainly to modernize Mexico. The twelve years from 1876, when
he became president, until 1889, when his third term commenced, has
proved to be the progressive age of the republic. He is of native birth,
and rose from the ranks of the masses. The only opposition to his
government is that of the church party, led by the Archbishop of Mexico,
and supported by that great army of non-producers, the useless priests,
who fatten upon the poor and superstitious populace. At present this
party has no political power or influence, but is working at all times,
in secret, silently awaiting an opportunity to sacrifice anything or
everything to the sole interests of the Roman Catholic Church. "The
political struggle in Mexico," says United States Commissioner William
Eleroy Curtis, "since the independence of the republic, has been and
will continue to be between antiquated, bigoted, and despotic Romanism,
allied with the ancient aristocracy, under whose encouragement
Maximilian came, on the one hand, and the spirit of intellectual,
industrial, commercial, and social progress on the other."
Here, as in European countries, where this form of faith prevails, it is
the women mostly--we might almost say solely, in Mexico--who give their
attendance upon the ceremonies of the church. The male population are
seldom seen within its walls, though yielding a sort of tacit
acquiescence to the faith. We are speaking of large communities in the
cities and among the more intelligent classes. The peons of the rural
districts, the ignorant masses who do not think for themselves, but who
are yet full of superstitious fears, are easily impressed by church
paraphernalia, gorgeous trappings, and gilded images. This class, men
and women, are completely under the guidance of the priesthood.
"Although the clergy still exercise a powerful influence among the
common people," says Commissioner Curtis, "whose superstitious ignorance
has not yet been reached by the free schools and compulsory education
law, in politics they are powerless." It was in 1857 that Mexico
formally divorced the church and state by an amendment to her
constitution, thereby granting unrestricted freedom of conscience and
religious worship to all persons, sects, and churches. Several
denominations in the United States avail themselves of this privilege,
and in some of the cities Protestant churches have been established
where regular weekly services are held. "With the overthrow of
Montezuma's empire in 1520," says that distinguished native Mexican
writer, Riveray Rio, "began the rule of the Spaniard, which lasted just
three hundred years. During this time, Rome and Spain, priest and king,
held this land and people as a joint possession. The greedy hand was
ever reached out to seize alike the product of the mine and soil. The
people were enslaved for the aggrandizement and power of a foreign
church and state. It was then that the Church of Rome fostered such a
vast army of friars, priests, and nuns, acquired those vast landed
estates, and erected such an incredible number of stone churches, great
convents, inquisitorial buildings, Jesuit colleges, and gathered such
vast stores of gold and silver. All this time the poor people were being
reduced to the utmost poverty, and every right and opportunity for
personal and civil advancement was taken from them. They were left to
grope on in intellectual darkness. They could have no commerce with
foreign nations. If they made any advance in national wealth, it was
drained away for royal and ecclesiastical tribute. Superstition reigned
under the false teachings of a corrupt priesthood, while the frightful
Inquisition, by its cruel machinery, coerced the people to an abjectness
that has scarcely had a parallel in human history. Under such a
dispensation of evil rule, Mexico became of less and less importance
among the family of nations."
This brief summary brings us to the peaceful and comparatively
prosperous condition of the republic to-day, and prepares the canvas
upon which to sketch the proposed pen pictures of this interesting
country, with which we are so intimately connected, both politically and
geographically.