Gambling--Fête at San Agustin--Breakfast at San Antonio--Report--Cock-
fight--Ladies--Private Gambling--A _Vaca_--The _Calvario_--Bonnets--
Dinner--Evening Ball--Mingling of Classes--Copper Tables--Dresses and
Decorations--Indian Bankers, Male and Female--Decorum-Habit--Holders of
Banks--Female Gambler--Robbery--Anecdote--Bet--_Casa de Moneda_--Leave San
Angel--Celebration--Address--Cross and Diploma--Reply--Presentation of a
Sword--Discourses and Addresses--Reflections.
10th June.
One year since I last wrote of San Agustin! An entire year has fled swiftly
away on rushing pinions, to add its unit to the rolling century. And again,
on a bright morning in June, we set off for the hospitable San Antonio,
where we were invited to breakfast and to pass the night on the second day
of the fête. We found a very brilliant party assembled; the family with all
its branches, the Ex-Minister Cuevas, with his handsome sister-in-law, La
Guera Rodriguez, with one of her beautiful granddaughters (daughter of the
Marquis of G---e), now making her first appearance in Mexico, and various
other agreeable people. The first day of the fête, a rumour was afloat that
an attack was to be made on the banks by the federal party; that they
expected to procure the sinews of war to the extent of a million of
dollars, and then intended to raise a _grito_ in Mexico, taking advantage
of the temporary absence of the president and his officers. The plan seemed
rather feasible, and the report, true or false, was current yesterday; but
if there was any truth in it, the discovery has been made in time, for
nothing has occurred. San Agustin appeared even gayer and more crowded than
it was last year. We spent the day at the E----s, and went with them to a
box in the plaza to see the cock-fight, which I had no particular pleasure,
I must confess, in witnessing again, but went for the sake of those who had
not seen it before. The general _coup d'ceil_ was exceeding gay, and the
improvement in the dress of the ladies since last year very striking. There
were neither diamonds nor pearls among the most fashionable. The bonnets
were chiefly Parisian, as were many of the gowns. One box looked a
veritable parterre of flowers. The ladies of our party wore dresses and
bonnets as simple, fresh, and elegant as could be seen in any part of the
world. A young and titled heiress, newly arrived from her distant estates,
wore pink satin with a white hat and feathers, and we observed, that
according to the ancient San Agustin fashion, she changed her dress four or
five times a day. But the ladies may dress and may smile, and may look
their very best; they are little thought of this day, in comparison with
the one all-powerful, all-pervading object. It is even whispered that one
cause of the more than usual crowd at San Agustin this year, is that many
failures are expected in mercantile houses, and that the heads of these
houses or their agents are here on the desperate hope of retrieving their
falling fortunes.
A good deal of play on a small scale goes on in the private houses, among
those who do not take much part in the regular gambling; but all are
interested more or less; even strangers, even ladies, even ourselves.
Occasional news is brought in, and received with deep interest of the state
of the banks, of the losses or gains of the different individuals, or of
the result of the _vacas_, (a sort of general purse into which each puts in
two or three ounces,) by different stragglers from the gambling-houses, who
have themselves only ventured a few ounces, and who prefer the society of
ladies to that of the Monte players. These are generally foreigners, and
chiefly English.
We found the road to the _Calvario_, where, as usual, there was a ball in
the afternoon, blocked up with carriages, and the hill itself covered with
gay figures; who were dancing as well as the tremendous crowd would permit.
This was really tolerably republican. The women generally were dressed as
the better classes of Mexicans used to be, years ago, and not so many years
neither (and as many in the country, still are) in blonde dresses, with
very short petticoats, open silk stockings and white satin shoes; and such
a collection of queer bonnets has probably never been seen since the days
when _les Anglaises pour rire_ first set foot on Gallic shores. Some were
like small steeples, others resembled helmets, some were like sugar-loaves,
and most seemed to have been set on, for convenience-sake, all the way out.
Amidst these there was a good sprinkling of pretty Herbaults and Paris
dresses, but they belonged to the more fashionable classes. The scene was
amusing from its variety, but we did not remain long, as it threatened
rain. As we looked back, the crowd on the hill presented the appearance of
a bed of butterflies dancing with black ants.
We returned to the -----'s to dinner, which was very handsome, and entirely
French. There were about twenty-eight persons at table, some of them looked
as if they had rather lost than otherwise. After dinner--music and
conversation on the events and probabilities of the day, till it was time
to dress for the ball at the Plaza. We, however, preferred going to a box,
which saves the trouble of dressing, besides being "_de mucho tono_," very
fashionable; but when we arrived, not a box was to be had, the crowd was so
great, and there were so many people of _tono_, besides ourselves, who had
preferred doing the same thing; so we were obliged to content ourselves
with retreating to a third row of benches on the floor, after persuading at
least a dozen of very good-natured women to turn out, in order to let us
in. We were afterwards joined by the ----- Minister and his wife. The ball
looked very gay, and was prodigiously crowded, and exceedingly amusing.
There were people of all classes; _modistes_ and carpenters, shop-boys,
tailors, hatters, and hosiers, mingled with all the _haut ton_ of Mexico.
Every shop-boy considered himself entitled to dance with every lady, and no
lady considered herself as having a right to refuse him, and then to dance
with another person. The Señora de -----, a most high-bred and dignified
person, danced with a stable-boy in a jacket and without gloves, and he
appeared particularly gratified at the extraordinary opportunity thus
afforded him of holding her white gloves in his brown paws. These fellows
naturally select the first ladies as their partners, and, strange as it may
seem, there is nothing in their behaviour that the most fastidious can
complain of. They are perfectly polite, quiet, and well conducted; and what
is more remarkable, go through a quadrille as well as their neighbours. The
ball was quietness itself, until near the end, when the wind-instruments
were suddenly seized with a fit of economy, the time they were paid for
having probably expired, and stopped short in the midst of a waltz; upon
which the gentlemen waltzers shouted "_Viento! Viento!_" at the full extent
of their voices, clapping their hands, refusing to dance, and entirely
drowning the sound of some little jingling guitars, which were patiently
twanging on, until the hired sons of AEolus had to resume their labours.
There were some pretty faces among the secondary class of small
shopkeepers; but their beauty is not striking, and takes a long time to
discover; especially _fagotees_ as they are in their overloaded dresses.
Amongst the handsomest of the higher classes, were the Señora C---s, and a
daughter of the Marquis G---e.
On the third night of the fête, C---n and I having left the ball-room,
about ten o'clock, walked out in the direction of the copper-tables which
filled the middle of the square, and were covered with awnings. It is a
sight that, once seen, can never be forgotten. Nothing but the pencil of
Hogarth, or the pen of Boz, could do justice to the various groups there
assembled. It was a gambling _fête champetre_, conducted on the most
liberal scale.
On each table were great mountains of copper, with an occasional sprinkling
of silver. There was a profusion of evergreens, small tin lamps dripping
with oil, and sloping tallow candles shedding grease upon the board. Little
ragged boys, acting as waiters, were busily engaged in handing round pulque
and chia in cracked tumblers. There was, moreover, an agreeable tinkling
produced from several guitars, and even the bankers condescended to amuse
their guests with soothing strains. The general dress of the company
consisted of a single blanket, gracefully disposed in folds about the
person; so as to show various glimpses of a bronze skin. To this some added
a pair of Mexican pantaloons, and some a shirt of a doubtful colour. There
were many with large hats, most of which had crowns or parts of crowns, but
all affording free entrance to the fresh air. Generally speaking,
how-ever, the head was uncovered, or covered only with its native thatching
of long, bushy, tangled black hair.
This might be out of compliment to the ladies, of whom there were several,
and who ought in politeness to have been mentioned first. Nothing could be
simpler than their costume, consisting of a very dirty and extremely torn
chemise, with short sleeves, a shorter petticoat, and a pair of shoes,
generally of dirty satin: also a reboso, and the long hair hanging down as
Eve's golden locks may have done in Paradise. "They call this place a
Paradise," a Spanish soldier wrote to his father; "and so I think it is, it
is so full of _Adams_."
There was neither fighting, nor swearing, nor high words. I doubt whether
there be as much decorum at Crockford's; indeed, they were scrupulously
polite to each other. At one table, the banker was an enormously fat
gentleman, one half of whose head was bound up with a dirty white
handkerchief, over which a torn piece of hat was stuck, very much to one
side. He had a most roguish eye, and a smile of inviting benignity on his
dirty countenance. In one hand he held and tingled a guitar, while he most
ingeniously swept in the copper with the other. By his side sat two
wretched-looking women, with long matted hair, their elbows on the table,
and their great eyes fixed upon the game with an expression of the most
intense anxiety. At another, the _banker_ was a pretty little Indian woman,
rather clean, comparatively speaking, and who appeared to be doing business
smartly. A man stood near her, leaning against one of the poles that
supported the awning, who attracted all our attention. He was enveloped in
a torn blanket, his head uncovered, and his feet bare, and was glaring upon
the table with his great dark, haggard-looking eyes, his brown face livid,
and his expression bordering on despair. It needed no one to tell us that
on the table was his last stake. What will such a man do but go upon the
road?
I have heard it mentioned as a strong circumstance in favour of the Mexican
character, that there is neither noise nor disturbance in these reunions;
none of that uproar and violence that there would be in an English mob, for
example. The fact is certain, but the inference is doubtful. These people
are degraded, and accustomed to endure. They are gentle and cunning, and
their passions are not easily roused, at least to open display; but once
awakened, it is neither to uproar that these passions will be excited, nor
by fair fight that they will be assuaged. In England, a boxing-match
decides a dispute amongst the lower orders; in Mexico, a knife; and a
broken head is easier mended than a cut throat. Despair must find vent in
some way; and secret murder, or midnight robbery, are the fatal
consequences of this very calmness of countenance, which is but a mask of
Nature's own giving to her Indian offspring.
Another reason for this tranquillity is the _habit_ of gambling, in which
they have indulged from childhood, and which has taught them that neither
high words nor violence will restore a single dollar once fairly lost; and
in point of fairness, everything is carried on with the strictest honour,
as among gamblers of high degree.
While "high life below stairs" is thus enacting, and these people are
courting fortune in the fresh air, the gentlemanly gamblers are seated
before the green cloth-covered tables, with the gravity befitting so many
cabinet councils; but without their mystery, for doors and windows are
thrown open, and both ladies and gentlemen may pass in and out, and look on
at the game, if they please. The heaps of ounces look temptingly, and make
it appear a true El Dorado. Nor is there any lack of creature-comforts to
refresh the flagging spirits. There are supper-spread tables, covered with
savoury meats to appease their hunger, and with generous wines to gladden
their hearts; and the gentlemen who surrounded that board seemed to be
playing, instead of Monte, an excellent knife and fork.
You must not suppose that those who hold gaming-tables are the less
considered on that account; on the contrary, as the banks generally win,
they are amongst the richest, and, consequently, the most respected men in
Mexico. These bankers are frequently Spaniards, who have found gambling the
readiest stepping-stone to fortune. Señor ----- explained to me one plan of
those who hold the banks, a sort of _hedging_, by which it is next to
impossible that they can lose. For example, one of these gentlemen proposes
to his friends to take a share in a _vaca_, each contributing a few ounces.
Having collected several hundred ounces, they go to play at _his bank_. If
they win, he receives his share, of course; and if they lose his bank wins
the whole. It is proceeding upon the principle of "Heads I win, tails you
lose."
At the tables, few words are spoken. The heaps of gold change masters; but
the masters do not change countenance. I saw but one person who looked a
little out of humour, and he was a foreigner. The rich man adds to his
store, and the poor man becomes a beggar. He is ruined, but "_makes no
sign_."
The ladies who have collected ounces and made purses, send their friends
and admirers to the tables to try their luck for them; and in some of the
inferior houses, the Señoras of a lower class occasionally try their
fortune for themselves. I saw one of these, who had probably lost, by no
means "taking it coolly." She looked like an overcharged thunder-cloud; but
whether she broke forth in anger or in tears, thunder or rain, we did not
stay to see.
In short, it is an all-pervading mania, and as man is "a bundle of habits,"
the most moral persons in this country (always excepting one or two ladies
who express their opinions strongly against it) see nothing in it to
condemn, and are surprised at the effect it produces on a stranger; and,
indeed, after a few years' residence here, a foreigner almost becomes
reconciled to these abuses, by the veil of decorum with which they are
covered.
We returned to San Antonio by the brightest possible moonlight, and in
perfect safety, it being on the high-road to Mexico, and therefore guarded
by soldiers. We heard the next morning, that a nephew of General B---s, who
had ventured upon going by a cross-road to his house, at _Mizcuaque_, has
been attacked and robbed of his winnings, besides being severely wounded.
This being the natural consequence, the _morale_ to the story can excite no
surprise. The robbers who, in hopes of plunder, flocked down at the time of
the fête, like sopilotes seeking carrion, hide themselves among the barren
rocks of the _Pedregal_, and render all cross-roads insecure, except with a
very strong escort.
An anecdote was related to us this morning, by a member of the cabinet, a
striking one amongst the innumerable instances of fortune's caprices. A
very rich Spaniard, proprietor of several haciendas, attended the fête at
San Agustin, and having won three thousand ounces, ordered the money to be
carried in sacks to his carriage, and prepared to return to Mexico along
with his wife. His carriage was just setting off, when a friend of his came
out of an adjoining house, and requested him to stay to breakfast, to which
he agreed. After breakfast, there being a monte table in the house, at
which some of his acquaintances were playing, he put down two ounces, and
lost. He continued playing and losing, until he had lost his three thousand
ounces, which were sent for and transferred to the winners. He still
continued playing with a terrible infatuation, till he had lost his whole
fortune. He went on blindly, staking one hacienda after another, and
property of all sorts, until the sun, which had risen upon him a rich and
prosperous man, set, leaving him a beggar! It is said that he bore this
extraordinary and sudden reverse with the utmost equanimity. He left a son,
whom we have seen at San Agustin, where he earns his livelihood as
_croupier_ at the gambling-tables.
29th.--No particular occurrence has taken place since the fête; a visit
from the new Secretary of Legation and the Attache, a diplomatic dinner at
the ----- Minister's, much going and coming and writing on the subject of a
house in Mexico, a correspondence concerning the sale of our furniture,
mules, etc., etc., a good deal of interest excited by a bet between two
English gentlemen, as to whether it were possible for one of them to ride
from Mexico to San Angel in twenty minutes, which feat he performed,
starting from the gate called "_El Niño Perdido_," and reaching the old
church of San Angel within the given time; these I think are the most
remarkable circumstances that have taken place. We are now in treaty for
the furnished apartments of the director of the _Casa de Moneda_ (the
mint), a great building next the palace, from which upwards of one thousand
three hundred millions of coined gold and silver have issued since the
beginning of the sixteenth century. The house is a palace in extent and
solidity; and the residence of the director is very spacious and handsome,
besides having the great advantage of being furnished. We expect to return
to Mexico in a few days.
CASA DE MONEDA, 6th July.
Here we are, re-established in Mexico, for a short time at least, and not
without difficulty has it been accomplished. We left the country with some
regret, as this is the pleasantest time of the year for being there, and
everything was looking green and beautiful. We came in, ourselves, in a
loaded carriage, and in advance, fourteen asses loaded with boxes, four
Indians with ditto, and two enormous loaded carts, one drawn by four, and
another by eight mules. We were a regular _caravan_, as our friend the
alcalde called us. Imagine the days of packing and unpacking consequent
thereupon!
On the 1st of July, the victory gained by the government over the
federalist party was celebrated with great éclat. The president was
presented with a diamond cross, valued at six thousand dollars, and General
Valencia with a splendid jewel-hilted sword of great value. "Yesterday
morning," says the newspaper of the day, "a general pealing of the bells
and the usual salutes announced to the capital that it was a day of rewards
and of universal joy. At twelve o'clock, his Excellency the President of
the Republic went to the palace, to fulfill the formality of closing the
sessions, and to receive from the hands of the President of the Chamber of
Deputies, the diploma and cross of honour mentioned in the decrees of the
second of March and second of May of this year. An immense multitude
occupied the galleries; and the President, Don J. M. María Bravo, addressed
his Excellency General Bustamante, in the following speech:
"Citizen General, and illustrious President:--Nations never forget the
distinguished services that are done to them, nor fail to reward those
heroic actions performed for the common good. Sooner or later they show
themselves grateful, and reward as they ought their good and valiant
servants. The Mexican nation has not forgotten yours, and its congress has
ever borne in mind those which you performed for it at that happy period
when the unfortunate hero of Iguala, causing the voice of freedom to
resound to the remotest lands of the Mexican territory, gave a terrible
lesson to those who wish to subdue weak nations, with no other title than
that of strength. You were one of the first and most valiant chiefs, who,
placed by his side, assisted in this important and happy work; you it was
who showed to the tyrant in the fields of Juchi, Aztcapozalco and others,
that the sword of the Mexicans once unsheathed for liberty and justice,
fights without softening or breaking; and knows how to triumph over its
enemies, even when superior forces oppose it; you it was, in short, who
with intrepid valour co-operated in re-establishing a liberty which, torn
from the ancient children of the soil, was converted by their oppressors
into a hard and shameful tyranny. History has already consecrated her pages
to you: she will record to posterity your heroic deeds, and congress has
already busied itself in rewarding such interesting services.
"If some Mexicans, erring in their opinions, by a fatality in this country,
have disowned them, making an attempt against your personal liberty,
notwithstanding the dignity of the first magistrate; trampling upon laws
and overturning order; they have at length been obliged to respect you; and
your valour, firmness, and decision, have made them preserve the
consideration due to an ancient chief of our independence, and to a first
magistrate who has known how to set an example of subordination to the
laws, and to give with dignity lessons of valour and of honourable conduct.
"A diploma and a cross are the rewards which the sovereign congress has
decreed for these services and merits. Do not regard in the one the
effaceable characters in which it is written, nor be dazzled by the
brilliancy of the other. See in both a proof of your country's gratitude,
and engraving it in your soul, continue to give testimonies to your country
that she is the first object of your care; that your watchings, fatigues,
and labours are dedicated only to procure for her those benefits which may
bring about the durable and solid peace that she so much desires, and for
which you would, if necessary, sacrifice yourself on her altars.
"Do not forget that to-day she shows herself grateful, and that this is the
day decreed by the august national representative body, to put you in
possession of the title and insignia which manifests her gratitude. I, in
the name of the congress, congratulate you on this fortunate event, and
having the honour to fulfil the desire of the sovereign power, place in
your hands this diploma of deserving reward from your country, and give you
possession of this cross."
His Excellency having received the diploma and cross above mentioned, with
his native modesty replied thus:
"In hearing, by the organ of the august national representation, the great
encomiums with which it favours me, putting me at the same time in
possession of these precious gifts, my soul overflows with ineffable
pleasure, and is overwhelmed with the deepest gratitude. My satisfaction
and my glory are immense. What could I have done, that thus the generous
hand of the representatives of the Mexican people should load me with
honours? Have my trifling services been able to fix the attention of the
country, on whose altars have been sacrificed so many and such illustrious
heroes of liberty? My glory would have been yet greater, had I, like them,
descended to the sepulchre, when the sun of victory brightened the
existence of this sovereign and independent nation, to the glory of the
universe.
"The honours which I receive to-day are certainly great; but I should have
preferred them before the never sufficiently mourned catastrophe of the
immortal Yturbide. Let us throw a thick veil over so irreparable a loss. It
is true that, surviving such great misfortunes, I have been enabled to
consecrate my existence and my vigilance to the peace, order, and felicity
of this beloved country. But how difficult is the conduct of those who
govern in the midst of the conflict of civil dissensions! In these, my
conscience has chosen, and my resolution has never vacillated between
ignominy and honour. Do I, on this account, deserve the national gratitude
and munificence manifested by such distinguished rewards? I return for them
to the representatives of the nation my frankest gratitude; fixing my mind
only on the grandeur and benevolence of the sovereign power which rewards
me in the sacred name of the country. I shall preserve till death these
precious objects which render my name illustrious as a soldier and as a
supreme magistrate. They will stimulate me more and more every day to all
kinds of sacrifices, even to the giving up my life should it be necessary;
that I may not be unworthy of the favourable conception and of the
recompence with which the worthy representatives of so magnanimous a nation
have to-day honoured me. Receive, gentlemen, this frank manifestation of my
sentiments, and of my fervent vows for the felicity of the republic, with
the most sincere protestations of my eternal gratitude."
"The liveliest emotions of satisfaction" (I still quote from the _Díario_)
"followed this expressive discourse. Joy was painted on every countenance.
The frank satisfaction which every one felt gave to this act a solemnity
which words are incapable of describing. His Excellency, accompanied by the
corporations and by a brilliant and numerous concourse, then passed to the
hall of the court-martial, to put in possession of his Excellency General
D. Gabriel Valencia the sword of honour which the august national
representation had granted him, for his loyal and valiant conduct in the
affair of July of 1840. His Excellency the President began this ceremony by
expressing his sentiments to his Excellency the _Gefe de la plana mayor_
(head of the staff), in these terms:
"Citizen General:--In this day, the most flattering of my life, in which
the august representatives of the nation have just put me in possession of
the rewards granted to my small services, I fulfil the law which imposes
upon me the grateful task of presenting you with the sword of honour, with
which their munificence has also chosen to remunerate yours.
"Receive it as the distinguished reward of your loyalty, and of the valour
with which you fought at that memorable period, from the 15th to the 26th
of July, defending with bravery the constitution and supreme powers of the
Republic. I congratulate myself with you, not doubting that you will always
employ the edge of this steel in defence of the honour, of the sacred
rights, and of the laws of this country. Yes, general, of this beloved
country, to whom we owe all kinds of sacrifices; yes, of this beloved
mother, who now more than ever reclaims the fraternal union of all her
children, to conquer the internal and external enemies who oppose her
felicity and aggrandizement, let us pledge ourselves to correspond
thankfully to the generosity with which the representatives of the nation
have rewarded us, and let us march united in the same path which honour and
duty traced out for us, in that day of honourable memory for the defenders
of the laws. Eternal praise to the brave soldiers and citizens who co-
operated with us in the establishment of order!"
To which General Valencia replied:--"That a correspondent reward should
follow an heroic action, nothing more natural; but to remunerate a service
which does not go beyond the sphere of ordinary things, such as mine in the
affair of the 15th to the 26th of July of 1840, by such a noble distinction
as the sword of honour with which your Excellency has deigned to gird me,
in the name of the National Congress, of this the magnanimity of the
sovereignty is alone capable; and so it is that I remain annihilated by a
present worthy of the ages of the Roman Senate and Republic. What did I do,
your Excellency, in those days, that any one of my countrymen would not
have done better? Nothing, sir; so that, in receiving this sword of honour,
my confusion equals my doubt as to my place in the gratitude of the
congress which has given it to me, of your Excellency who has deigned to
present it to me, and of my worthy countrymen who bestowed it that I might
wear it.
"In this condition, your Excellency, of content and satisfaction, I can say
no more, but that I hope your Excellency will manifest to congress my
eternal gratitude; that your Excellency will receive my noble
acknowledgments, and my companions the assurance that every time I put it
on I shall remember the names of all and each of them who accompanied me on
the 15th of July of 1840, together with the pleasure that to them I owe so
great a mark of respect."
Amongst the congratulations given to the president, the following
"congratulation from his Excellency General Valencia to his Excellency the
President, on his receiving the decoration of the cross of honour from
congress," is very remarkable. "God said, the first day of the creation of
the world, when it was in a state of chaos, _'Let there be light, and there
was light.' And God saw his work and pronounced it good!_ With how much
more reason ought the garrison of Mexico to do so every day in which, by
any action, the 15th of July 1840 is celebrated--in which, by their
strength and heroic valour, that passage of Genesis was politically
repeated in this capital. Society arose in chaos. Its president is taken.
Authorities no longer exist, and those who ought to save them are converted
into their oppressors. '_God said let there be light, and there was
light_!' The honourable troops, reunited in the citadel, in the midst of
chaos, said 'Let order be re-established--let the supreme magistrate be set
at liberty, and let things resume their proper march.' Order _was_ re-
established, your Excellency was set free, and the political body followed
the regular path, without which no society exists. So it is that those
worthy troops who thus said, thus undertook, and thus accomplished, now
also resemble the Creator of the world (_hoy tambien se asememejan al
Criador del mundo_) in his content, when satisfied with his work.
"The cross which has been worthily placed on your Excellency's breast this
day, reflects in such a singular manner upon the hearts of the valiant men
of that period (_reflecta de un modo tan singular sobre los corazones de
los valientes de aquella época_), that their souls are expanded in
contemplating it, by the honour which results to them from it.
"May your Excellency be happy one and a thousand times, with such a noble
and worthy decoration. Let your Excellency receive in it the sincere
congratulations of the garrison of Mexico, which figures in each stone of
this cross, like the stars in the firmament."
"This ceremony being concluded, the two rewarded generals presented
themselves on the principal balcony of the palace, in front of which passed
the brilliant column of honour; at its head marched the commandant-general,
Don Valentin Canalizo; and the brilliancy, neatness, and elegance, which
all the corps of the garrison displayed, is above all praise. When the
regiment had passed, a sumptuous entertainment was served in one of the
halls of the Minister of War, in which elegance, good taste, and propriety,
rivalled one another; while repeated toasts showed the most sincere joy,
united with the most patriotic and fraternal sentiments. Rain having begun
to fall at about three in the afternoon, the paseo was on this account not
so crowded as might have been expected; nevertheless, the military bands
were present, and at six in the evening their Excellencies Generals
Bustamante and Valencia having presented themselves there, were received
with _vivas_ and universal joy.
"At night the chiefs and officers of the _plana mayor_ gave a ball in the
college of the Mineria; and the theatre of New Mexico dedicated its
entertainment to his Excellency the President. Nothing disturbed the joy of
this day; one sentiment alone of union and cheerfulness overflowed in the
capital, proving to those illustrious generals the unanimous applause with
which Mexicans see their country reward the distinguished services of their
children, who are so deserving of their love and gratitude."
Notwithstanding the ineffable joy which, according to the _Díario_, is
generally felt on this occasion, there are many who doubt the policy of
this celebration, at a time when the troops are unpaid--when the soldiers,
wounded at the last _pronunciamiento_, are refused their pensions, while
the widows and orphans of others are vainly suing for assistance. "At the
best," say those who cavil on the subject, "it was a civil war--a war
between brothers--a subject of regret and not of glory--of sadness and not
of jubilee." As for General Valencia's congratulation to the president, in
which he compares the "honourable troops" to the Supreme Being, the
re-establishment of order in Mexico to the creation of the world from
chaos, it is chiefly incomprehensible. Perhaps he is carried away by his
joy and gratitude, and personal affection for Bustamante--perhaps he has
taken a leaf from a translation of _Bombastes Furioso_.
One thing is certain: the whole affair had a brilliant appearance; and the
handsome carriages, fine horses, gaily-dressed officers and soldiers,
together with the military music and the crowds of people collected,
produced an imposing effect.