Fête-day--Friendly Hint--Precautions--General Tranquillity--President in
San Agustin--Revisit Museum--Ancient Manuscripts--Sculpture--Bronze Bust,
etc.--Freshness after Rain--Ball at the French Minister's--Pamphlet--
Gutierrez Estrada--His Character--Concealment--_Mexicalsingo_--Minister of
the Treasury--Archbishop's Permission--Paintings--Mexican Painters--Santa
Teresa--Description of the Interior--The Penitences--Tortures--
Disciplines, etc.--Supper--Profane Ballads--Monasteries--San Francisco--
_Padre Prior_--Soldiers and Friars.
October 3rd.
Yesterday being C---n's fête-day, we had a dinner and small _soirée_, and
according to custom, visits the whole day. A very agreeable guest from
Havana, Don J---- A----, arrived to spend a few weeks with us. We had
rather a pleasant party, and some good singing; but just as dancing had
begun, C----n took me aside, and showed me a little friendly note which he
had received while at dinner, from General -----, in which he informs him
that the robbers would in all probability attack our respective houses that
night; that he had taken his precautions, and advises C---n to do the same,
in the understanding that, if necessary, they should mutually assist each
other. A pleasant piece of intelligence! The thing got whispered about, and
some of the ladies looked a little blank at the information; but there
could be no risk while so many persons were collected. About one they went
away, and C---n sent for some soldiers to keep watch all night. Nothing
happened, as no doubt the robbers found out what precautions had been
taken. The intended attack had been discovered by a servant of the
general's, who heard them discussing the matter in the back-room of a
pulque-shop.
We have been obliged to procure two old soldiers as porters, in lieu of the
two who were shot in the revolution; for though not killed, they are
entirely disabled for the present.
Mexico appears particularly quiet just now; and whatever storms may be
preparing, no symptoms are visible to the uninitiated eye. The palace has
got in its glass eyes again, and externally is almost entirely repaired;
but it is not yet fit for the residence of the president, who still _holds
his court_ in the convent of San Agustin. I have been driving about with
our Havana friend, like an old resident, showing the beauties of Mexico to
a stranger. We have been in the Mineria, Museum, Botanical Garden, Biscay
College, etc., all of which can bear revision.
The Museum especially, which, owing to the want of arrangement and
classification in the antiquities, and the manner in which they are crowded
together in the different rooms of the university, appears at first
undeserving of much attention, improves upon acquaintance. It is only since
the year '25 that it was established by the government, and various plans
have been since made for enriching and arranging it, and also for
transporting it to the old building of the Inquisition. But as yet nothing
essential has been carried into effect.
It contains upwards of two hundred historical manuscripts, some in
hieroglyphical characters anterior to the conquest, and many in the
different ancient languages of the country. Of the ancient sculpture, it
possesses two colossal statues and many smaller ones, besides a variety of
busts, heads, figures of animals, masks, and instruments of music or of
war, curiously engraved, and indicating the different degrees of
civilization of the different nations to whom they belonged. A great many
of the vases of _tecal_, and of the candlesticks in clay, curiously worked,
were drawn from excavations in the Isle of Sacrifices, near Vera Cruz, from
Oajaca, etc., and from the suburbs of Mexico. There is also a collection of
very ancient medals to the number of six hundred, a bronze bust of Philip
V, and about two hundred Mexican paintings, comprehending two collections
of the portraits of the Spanish viceroys, many of the celebrated Cabrera's,
and various dresses, arms, and utensils, from both the Californias. In the
cabinet of natural history there is a good collection of minerals, and some
very fine specimens of gold and silver. But in the animal or vegetable
branch of natural history there is a great deficiency, and altogether the
museum is not worthy of a country which seems destined by nature to be the
great emporium of all natural science.
Of course we have revisited old Chapultepec and Our Lady of Guadalupe, with
her Legend and Holy Well. In the morning we have rode to Tacubaya and the
environs, and the weather at that early hour has the most indescribable
freshness, caused by the evening rains. Everything looks bright and
sparkling. The Peruvian trees, with their bending green branches and
bunches of scarlet berries, glitter with the heavy rain-drops, and even the
hoary cypresses of Chapultepec sparkle with water in all their gigantic
branches. Little pools have become ponds, and ditches rivulets, and
frequently it is rather wading than riding, which is not so pleasant.
24th.--Last evening we had a very pretty ball in the house of the French
Minister, where all the Paris furniture was very effective. There were as
usual plenty of diamonds, and some handsome dresses--mine white satin, with
flowers.
25th.-The whole world is talking of a pamphlet written by Señor Gutierrez
Estrada, which has just appeared, and seems likely to cause a greater
sensation in Mexico than the discovery of the gunpowder plot in England.
Its sum and substance is the proposal of a constitutional Monarchy in
Mexico, with a foreign prince (not named) at its head, as the only remedy
for the evils by which it is afflicted. The pamphlet is written merely in a
speculative form, inculcating no sanguinary measures, or sudden revolution;
but the consequences are likely to be most disastrous to the fearless and
public-spirited author. Even those who most question his prudence in taking
this step, agree that in this, as well as in every other political action
of his life, he has acted from thorough conviction and from motives of the
purest patriotism, unalloyed by one personal feeling; indeed, entirely
throwing behind him every consideration of personal or family interest,
which even the best men allow to have some weight with them on such
occasions.
In a political review of Mexico, written some years ago by a Mexican who
deals fearlessly, and it would seem impartially, with the characters of all
the leading men of that period, I find some remarks on Señor Gutierrez
Estrada, which you will place more faith in, as coming from a less partial
source than from persons so attached as we are to him and his family. In
speaking of the conduct of the administration, he says--"Señor Gutierrez
Estrada was one of the few who remained firm in his ideas, and above all,
true to his political engagements. This citizen is a native of the State of
Yucatan, where his family, who are distinguished in every point of view,
reside. It is unnecessary to say that Gutierrez received a thorough and
brilliant education, as it is sufficient to have conversed with him to
discover this fact; nor that he knew how to turn it to account in the
career of public service to which he devoted himself, and in which he has
remained pure and unblemished in the midst of a corrupt class. From the
first he was destined to the European legations, on account of his fluency
in speaking and writing both English and French; and he is one of the few
who have employed their time usefully in the capitals of the Old World.
Flexible by nature, honourable by education, and expeditious in business,
his services have been perfect, and above all, loyal and conscientious." He
goes on to say that, "notwithstanding the gentleness of his temper, his
political conscience is so firm and pure, that he will never yield in what
he considers his obligation, _even when it interferes with the most
intimate friendships,_ or most weighty considerations." One would think
that the writer had foreseen the present emergency. I have not yet read the
pamphlet which the friends of the author consider an equal proof of his
noble independence, bold patriotism, and vast information; being, to say
the truth, much more interested in its domestic effects than in its public
results, or even its intrinsic merits.
26th.--Soldiers were sent to the house of the Countess de la C---a, to
arrest her son-in-law, but in compliance with the entreaties of his family,
he had gone into concealment. I found them in great affliction, but they
are so accustomed to political persecution from one party or another,
particularly the countess, that her courage has never deserted her for a
moment. He is accused in Congress--in the senate-house--a proclamation is
made by the president, anathematizing his principles--even the printer of
the pamphlet is thrown into prison. Nothing else is spoken of, and the
general irritation is so terrible, that it is to be hoped his place of
concealment is secure; otherwise the consequences may be fatal.
_On pretend_ that many distinguished men here hold the same opinions, but
their voices, even were they to venture to raise them, could not stem the
tide of public indignation. The most offended are naturally the military
men.... In short, Señor Gutierrez, who has been passing four years abroad,
in countries where hundreds of obscure scribblers daily advocate
republicanism or any wild theory that strikes their fancy, with the most
perfect security, was probably hardly aware of the extraordinary ferment
which such a pamphlet was likely to produce at the present juncture.
27th.--A few days before Señor A---- left us, we went up the canal in a
canoe, as far as Santa Anita, to show him all that remains of the
Chinampas. It is as pleasant a way of passing an evening as any that I know
of here.
We drove lately to Mexicalsingo, where there is a cave in which there is a
figure of our Saviour, which they pretend has lately appeared there.
The excitement concerning the pamphlet seems rather to increase than
diminish, but Señor Gutierrez has many devoted friends, and the place of
his retreat is secure. There is little doubt that he will be forced to fly
the country.
29th. Señor Don Xavier Hechavarria, Minister of the Treasury, has sent in
his resignation. Being a man of large private fortune, extremely simple in
his habits, and the most amiable of men in domestic life, I believe that no
Minister has ever thrown off with more unaffected satisfaction the burden
of state affairs, or will enjoy his retreat from public life with more true
philosophy.
I have been so much interested in the affairs of the C---a family, that I
have forgotten to tell you of my having obtained permission from the
archbishop to visit the Santa Teresa, accompanied by one young married
lady, who has a sister there. The archbishop desired that our visit should
be kept a secret; but it has _oozed_ out by some means or other, probably
through the nuns themselves, and exposed him to so much inconvenience and
such a torrent of solicitations from those ladies who, having daughters or
sisters amongst the nuns, are naturally most desirous to see them, that I
fear, notwithstanding his good nature, he will put a veto on all my future
applications. You will think I pass my time in convents, but I find no
other places half so interesting, and you know I always had a fancy that
way.
In some of these convents there still exist, buried alive like the inmates,
various fine old paintings; amongst others, some of the Flemish school,
brought to Mexico by the monks, at the time when the Low Countries were
under Spanish dominion. Many masters also of the Mexican school, such as
Enriquez, Cabrera, etc., have enriched the cloisters with their
productions, and employed their talent on holy subjects, such as the lives
of the saints, the martyrs, and other Christian subjects. Everywhere,
especially, there are _Cabreras_, an artist somewhat in the Luca Giordano
style; the same monotony, facility, and "_fa presto Luca!_" All his
pictures are agreeable, and some strikingly beautiful. Occasionally he
copies from the old masters, but rarely. Ximenes and Enriquez are not so
common, and some of their productions are very good, and deserve to be
better known than I imagine they are in Europe. They are a branch of the
Spanish school, and afford striking proofs of the extraordinary talent of
the Mexicans for the fine arts, as well as of the facilities which the
mother-country afforded them.
But it is in the convent of the Profesa that the finest paintings are, and
there I cannot enter! The galleries are full of paintings, the most part by
Cabrera; and C---n speaks with enthusiasm of one exceedingly beautiful
painting, in the sacristy of the chapel, said to be an original Guido,
being a representation of Christ tied to the pillar and scourged; in which
the expression of pure divinity and suffering humanity is finely blended,
and well contrasted with savage cruelty in the countenances of his
executioners. But most of these paintings are neglected, and so falling to
decay that it is pitiable to look at them.
The Santa Teresa, however, has few ornaments. It is not nearly so large as
the _Encarnación_, and admits but twenty-one nuns. At present there are,
besides these, but three novices. Its very atmosphere seems holy, and its
scrupulous and excessive cleanness makes all profane dwellings appear dirty
by comparison. We were accompanied by a bishop, Señor Madrid, the same who
assisted at the archbishop's consecration--a good-looking man, young and
tall, and very splendidly dressed. His robes were of purple satin, covered
with fine point-lace, with a large cross of diamonds and amethysts. He also
wore a cloak of very fine purple cloth, lined with crimson velvet, crimson
stockings, and an immense amethyst ring.
When he came in we found that the nuns had permission to put up their
veils, rarely allowed in this order in the presence of strangers. They have
a small garden and fountain, plenty of flowers, and some fruit, but all is
on a smaller scale, and sadder than in the convent of the Incarnation. The
refectory is a large room, with a long narrow table running all round it--a
plain deal table, with wooden benches; before the place of each nun, an
earthen bowl, an earthen cup with an apple in it, a wooden plate and a
wooden spoon; at the top of the table a grinning skull, to remind them that
even these indulgences they shall not long enjoy.
In one corner of the room is a reading-desk, a sort of elevated pulpit,
where one reads aloud from some holy book, whilst the others discuss their
simple fare. They showed us a crown of thorns, which, on certain days, is
worn by one of their number, by way of penance. It is made of iron, so that
the nails entering inwards, run into the head, and make it bleed. While she
wears this on her head, a sort of wooden bit is put into her mouth, and she
lies prostrate on her face till dinner is ended; and while in this
condition her food is given her, of which she eats as much as she can,
which probably is none.
We visited the different cells, and were horror-struck at the
self-inflicted tortures. Each bed consists of a wooden plank raised in the
middle, and on days of penitence crossed by wooden bars. The pillow is
wooden, with a cross lying on it, which they hold in their hands when they
lie down. The nun lies on this penitential couch, embracing the cross, and
her feet hanging out, as the bed is made too short for her upon principle.
Round her waist she occasionally wears a band with iron points turning
inwards; on her breast a cross with nails, of which the points enter the
flesh, of the truth of which I had melancholy ocular demonstration. Then,
after having scourged herself with a whip covered with iron nails, she lies
down for a few hours on the wooden bars, and rises at four o'clock. All
these instruments of discipline, which each nun keeps in a little box
beside her bed, look as if their fitting place would be in the dungeons of
the Inquisition. They made me try their _bed and board_, which I told them
would give me a very decided taste for early rising.
Yet they all seem as cheerful as possible, though it must be confessed that
many of them look pale and unhealthy. It is said, that when they are strong
enough to stand this mode of life, they live very long; but it frequently
happens that girls who come into this convent, are obliged to leave it from
sickness, long before the expiration of their novitiate. I met with the
girl whom I had seen take the veil, and cannot say that she looked either
well or cheerful, though she assured me, that "of course, in doing the will
of God," she was both. There was not much beauty amongst them generally,
though one or two had remains of great loveliness. My friend, the Madre
A----, is handsomer on a closer view than I had supposed her, and seems an
especial favourite with old and young. But there was one whose face must
have been strikingly beautiful. She was as pale as marble, and though still
young, seemed in very delicate health; but her eyes and eyebrows as black
as jet, the eyes so large and soft, the eyebrows two pencilled arches; and
her smiles so resigned and sweet, would have made her the loveliest model
imaginable for a Madonna.
Again, as in the Incarnation, they had taken the trouble to prepare an
elegant supper for us. The bishop took his place in an antique velvet
chair, the Señora ----- and I were placed on each side of him. The room was
very well lighted, and there was as great a profusion of custards, jellies,
and ices, as if we had been supping at the most profane _cafe_. The nuns
did not sit down, but walked about, pressing us to eat, the bishop now and
then giving them cakes, with permission to eat them, which they received
laughing. They have the most humble and caressing manners, and really
appear to be the most amiable and excellent women in the world. They seem
to make no ostentation of virtue, but to be seriously impressed with the
conviction that they have chosen the true road to salvation; nor are there
in them any visible symptoms of that spiritual pride from which few
devotees are exempt.
After supper a small harp was brought in, which had been sent for by the
bishop's permission. It was terribly out of tune, with half the strings
broke; but we were determined to grudge no trouble in putting it in order,
and giving these poor recluses what they considered so great a
gratification. We got it into some sort of condition at last, and when they
heard it played, they were vehement in their expressions of delight. The
Señora -----, who has a charming voice, afterwards sang to them, the bishop
being very indulgent, and permitting us to select whatever songs we chose,
so that when rather a profane canticle, "The Virgin of the Pillar" (La
Virgen del Pilar), was sung, he very kindly turned a deaf ear to it, and
seemed busily engaged in conversation with an old madre, till it was all
over.
We were really sorry to leave them; particularly as it is next to
impossible that we shall ever see them again; and it seemed as if in a few
hours a friendship had been formed between us and these recluses, whose
sensations are so few, they must be the more lasting. The thoughts of these
poor women cost me a sad and sleepless night. They have sent me some wax
figures, dressed in the costumes of the different orders, beginning with
their own. They wear the coarsest and hardest stuff next their skin, in
itself a perpetual penance.
In these robes they are buried; and one would think that if any human being
can ever leave this world without a feeling of regret, it must be a nun of
the Santa Teresa, when, her privations in this world ended, she lays down
her blameless life, and joins the pious sisterhood who have gone before
her; dying where she has lived, surrounded by her companions, her last
hours soothed by their prayers and tears, sure of their vigils for the
repose of her soul, and above all, sure that neither pleasure nor vanity
will ever obliterate her remembrance from their hearts.
At matins, at vespers, at the simple board, at the nightly hymn, she will
be missed from their train. Her empty cell will recall her to their eyes;
her dust will be profaned by no stranger's footstep, and though taken away
she still seems to remain amongst them....
As for the monasteries, not only no woman can enter, but it is said, with
what truth I know not, that a vice-queen having insisted on the privilege
of her vice-royalty to enter, the gallery and every place which her
footsteps desecrated were unpaved. This was very Saint Senanus like, and
_peu galant_, to say the least.
The finest convent of monks in Mexico is that of San Francisco, which from
alms alone has an immense annual rent. According to Humboldt, it was to
have been built upon the ruins of the temple of Huitzilopoclitli, the god
of war; but these ruins having been destined for the foundation of the
cathedral, this immense convent was erected where it now stands, in 1531.
The founder was an extraordinary man, a great benefactor of the Indians,
and to whom they owed many useful mechanical arts which he brought them
from Europe. His name was Fray Pedro de Gante--his calling that of a
lay-friar--and his father was the Emperor Charles V!
Of the interior of this convent I am enabled to give you a partial
description, but whether from hearsay, in a vision, or by the use of my
natural eyes, I shall not disclose. It is built in the form of a square,
and has five churches attached to it. You enter a gate, pass through the
great, silent, and grass-grown court--up the broad staircase, and enter the
long, arched cloisters, lighted by one dim lamp, where everything seems to
breathe a religious repose....
The padre prior, seated alone in his cell, with a thick and richly-clasped
volume before him, a single lamp on his table, on the wall a crucifix,
plain but decent furniture, with his bald head, and pale, impressive face,
would have made a fine study for a painter. By such men, the embers of
learning and of science were nursed into a faint but steady flame, burning
through the long, gloomy night of the dark ages, unseen by profane eyes,
like the vestal fire in pagan temples....
A small room, opening into his little parlour, contains his bed, on which
is a mattress; for the padres do not perform such acts of self-denial and
penitence as the cloistered nuns--and I am assured that his cigars are
genuine Havana....
Beggars lounging in the courtyard--a group of monks talking together within
the walled enclosure....
Change the scene to the monastery of San Agustin, and you might fancy
yourself in the days of one of Walter Scott's romances, in the _melange_ of
soldiers and friars; for here his Excellency the President has his
temporary abode; and the torch-light gleams brightly on the swarthy faces
of the soldiers, some lying on the ground enveloped in their cloaks; others
keeping guard before the convent gate. This convent is also very large, but
not so immense as that of San Francisco. The padre prior is a good little
old man, but has not the impressive, ascetic visage of the guardian of the
other convent. His room is as simple, though not in such perfect order; and
his bed is also furnished with a comfortable mattress. An air half
military, half monkish, pervades the convent--aides-de-camp of the
president passing along the galleries, their uniforms contrasting with the
dark robe of a passing monk, returning at nightfall to his cell.
The president had an alarm the night preceding, the prisoners in the jail
having broken out. A serious affray had been expected, and everything was
prepared for putting the person of the president in safety. The back stairs
and secret passages in these old convents lead to excellent hiding-places,
and have been put to frequent use during the revolutions. In the old Monte
Pio there is a communication with a convent of nuns, and in cases of
pillage, the jewels used to be carried by a private staircase out of Monte
Pio, and placed under the care of the nuns of Santa Brigida.
The convent of La Profesa is also a fine and spacious building, but
excepting that it has a greater number of good paintings than the others,
when you have seen one, you have seen all, and I believe none are as large
as that founded by the illegitimate scion of the Imperial Charles, who
himself ended his days in a similar retreat.