VICEROYALTY
The old order had passed. On the ruins of the Aztec dominion was
established a military government, a sort of proprietary dominion; to
this succeeded a short-lived civil government by commissioners; then
came the final stage of Mexico’s dependency and provincial government
under a viceroy. These successive governments saw in the great dominion
only a field for the exploitation of riches for their sovereign’s use
and their own. The natives of the country had been ruthlessly despoiled
of their possessions and to a large degree enslaved by the Spaniards;
they had no rights save such as their masters might arbitrarily grant.
Except for the noble protection and kindness of Las Casas and the
missionaries, their lot had been hopeless indeed. The first viceroy,
Don Antonio de Mendoza, Conde de Tendilla, arrived in Mexico on October
15, 1535. As before said, his authority soon clashed with that of
Cortés. He was a man of superior parts and great probity and earnestly
strove to direct the province of New Spain in the path of progress and
stability. Among the enlightened measures of his administration was
the introduction of the printing press, and in 1537 appeared _La
Escala de San Juan Climaco_, a Latin work translated by Fra Juan de
Madalena. The establishment of a mint for the coinage of silver money
was another important work, inasmuch as the natives had become opposed
to the copper coin, of which they had cast some two hundred thousand
pesos in value into the lake. The viceroy also founded a college for
Indian nobles at Tlatelolco and with a spirit of consideration for the
natives he caused the hated Nuñez de Guzman, who as president of the
first _audiencia_ had been guilty of great cruelty and greed,
to be cast into the common jail. Under his direction, Coronado led
the expedition to the fabled Quivira in the northeast, the Eldorado
of the north, the “Seven Cities of Cibola,” so wonderfully described
to De Vaca by the Indians. The town of Guadalajara was founded in
New Galicia; and Valladolid in 1541; this latter, in 1828, was named
Morelia in honor of the patriot Morelos. During his rule, the famous
Mixton War occurred in the new province of New Galicia and was finally
suppressed by Oñate aided by the viceroy.
The period was marked by the introduction of the benign measures known
as the “New Laws,” promulgated by Charles V. in 1542, chiefly at the
instance and through the exertion of the Indian-loving Bartolomé
de las Casas. The intent of these laws was to prohibit absolutely
further enslavement of the natives and, as far as practicable, to give
freedom to those already slaves, but their enforcement was found to be
impracticable.
In 1545, an appalling epidemic spread among the natives, of whom
eight hundred thousand were said to have perished. During this period
the viceroy Mendoza unremittingly cared for the sick and earned the
proud and affectionate title of “Father of the poor.” The justice
of his rule won the loyalty of the natives to the crown, and during
the insurrection of Pizarro the emperor conferred on the former
Tenochtitlan the title of _muy noble insigne y leal_. In 1551,
Mendoza was rewarded for his excellent administration by transfer to
the government of turbulent Peru.
Don Luis de Velasco succeeded in November, 1551, as the second viceroy
of New Spain. He directed assiduously the enforcement of the “New Laws”
and in this succeeded measurably, earning for himself the title of “the
Emancipator,” as he liberated from the mines one hundred and sixty
thousand Mexicans, whose freedom he said, “was more important than all
the mines in the world, and that the revenues derived therefrom by the
crown were not of such a nature as to defy the laws of God and man.” In
1551, the University of Mexico was created and in 1553, was founded.
Velasco died in Mexico in 1564, and was interred there with great pomp
and honor in appreciation of his able administration.
Martin Cortés, the second Marqués del Valle, who had left New Spain
with his father when eight years old, now returned to Mexico, enriched
by profit in the service of the king, and sought to enjoy his
hereditary possessions and honors. His arrival, in 1563, was attended
with great splendor, and his state and pretensions gave offence to the
viceroy, although no serious trouble had occurred during his lifetime.
[Illustration: DOOR OF THE HOUSE OF CONDE DE SANTIAGO.]
The third viceroy, Gaston de Peralta, Marqués de Falces, arrived
during the investigation of the charges against Martin Cortés and his
friends. He found no proof of conspiracy, stopped the proceedings and
released most of the prisoners and commuted the death sentence passed
on Luis Cortés to ten years’ service in Africa and loss of property;
he sent the Marqués to Spain. This procedure enraged the members of
the _audiencia_ and they accused the viceroy of favoring the
conspiracy and sought his recall. A commission sent by the king to
investigate determined on the prosecution of all traitors and four
were executed, while Martin Cortés, son of Marina, was tortured and
then exiled. The ordinary jails were insufficient to hold the victims
of the persecution; the viceroy was deposed. But so exceedingly cruel
and arbitrary was the action of the persecutor that he was himself
deposed in 1568, and the viceroy was exonerated of all blame. This
extraordinary and romantic affair ended, after a protracted trial, in
the restoration to the Marqués of his confiscated property in 1574.
During the term of the fourth viceroy, Martin Enriquez de Almanza, the
scourge of the Spanish Inquisition was established in Mexico under the
direction of Pedro Moya de Contreras, later Archbishop of Mexico and
viceroy of New Spain. Nominally, this institution was introduced in
1529, by a council consisting of the _audiencia_ and the heads of the
Franciscan and Dominican orders, but its official establishment was
not made until later. In 1572, the Jesuits settled in the province and
founded their first college in the City of Mexico, which was devoted
to the education of the Spanish Americans and to the conversion of the
natives. _La Caridad de San Hipolito_ was another institution founded
under this administration; its purposes were wholly charitable.
Little worthy of note occurred, for strife between the _audiencia_
and the viceroys had become chronic, and government was paralyzed,
until the administration of the eighth viceroy, Luis de Velasco, son
of the second viceroy, in 1590. Having resided for some time in New
Spain he was familiar with conditions and as he was very popular the
progress of the province was marked, particularly in the direction
of manufactures and the embellishment of the capital. His successor,
Gaspar de Zuñiga y Acevedo, Conde de Monterey, appointed in 1595,
continued the territorial extension in New Mexico and accomplished
the conquest of that territory by the expedition under Oñate in 1599.
The domain was further extended into California as the result of
explorations of Sebastian Vizcaino, who discovered the Bay of Monterey
and founded the town of that name. A town of the same name was also
founded in Nuevo León. The old city of Vera Cruz was removed to its
present site, that first chosen by Cortés for Villa Rica. This viceroy
did much to allay the discontent of the natives owing to their having
been gathered in the towns, the better to secure the exaction of
tribute from them.
Already, ere the close of the century of conquest, had been sown the
seeds of discord between the Creoles and the Spaniards. The latter
enjoyed the chief profits and honors of public office and life. The
result of this policy was a growing antagonism which, in a little more
than two centuries was to wrest the country from the foreigner and give
its benefits to the native born.
In 1604, during the rule of Juan Manuel Hurtado de Mendoza y Luna,
Marqués de Montesclaros, the capital suffered from a terrible
inundation.
The second term of Luis de Velasco the eleventh viceroy is noteworthy
for the construction of the great Huehuetoca Tunnel to protect the
capital from inundation by drawing the water from Lake Zumpango. This
formidable engineering work was planned by Enrico Martinez, an engineer
of Dutch birth but educated in Spain, with the coöperation of Juan
Sanchez, a Jesuit mathematician. The work, however, was soon superseded
in favor of the ancient dike system, on the advice of Adrian Boot,
the famous Dutch engineer. During this administration the Alameda was
established, so called because first planted with _álamos_. A revolt
of the negroes in the district of Vera Cruz occurred in 1609, and only
after severe fighting in the mountains was it overcome. The defeated
blacks then formed a settlement in San Lorenzo.
[Illustration: SACRIFICIAL STONE.]
The twelfth viceroy was Fray Garcia Guerra, Archbishop of Mexico. His
administration was cut short by his death through a fall from his
carriage. Noteworthy is a mission to Japan undertaken by Sebastian
Vizcaino, accompanied by Fray Pedro Bautista, but the ambassadors
received scant courtesy, in spite of the many perils they suffered.
The founding of the important towns of Lerma and Cordova in 1613
and 1618 and the extension of the aqueduct to Santa Isabella were
accomplished during the term of Diego Fernandez de Cordova, Marqués de
Guadalcazar. He was succeeded by Diego Carrillo de Mendoza y Pimental,
Marqués de Galves and Conde de Priego, as fourteenth viceroy. His
administration was marked by sincere effort to prevent and correct
abuses and dishonesty among public officials. A struggle began between
church and state. He was soon at odds with Archbishop Juan Perez de la
Serna, who excommunicated the viceroy. The papal delegate, however,
ordered this ban removed, but the Archbishop refused; in consequence a
decree of fine and banishment was issued against him. Still resisting,
the Archbishop was forcibly taken to the coast for banishment, but
on his way having learned that the _audiencia_ had repented and
ordered his return to the capital on the ground of irregularity in
the proceedings, he took refuge in a church and defied his guards
to lay hands on him. Finally, the people of San Juan Teotihuacan
liberated him. A riot of perilous portent broke out in the capital
and notwithstanding that the viceroy consented to recall Serna, the
viceregal palace was besieged and set on fire, the viceroy escaping to
a convent. The triumph of this headstrong churchman was complete. On
the arrival of the fifteenth viceroy, Rodrigo Pacheco y Osorio, Marqués
de Cerralvo, the inquisitor formally reinstated Galves and removed his
name from the excommunication tablet and he entered Mexico in triumph.
His enemy the Archbishop went to Spain whither, after the investigation
of his government had resulted in honorable credit to him, Galves
followed. In 1628, the Dutch admiral, Pieter Heyne captured a treasure
fleet bearing bullion and other valuables from New Spain to the mother
country, of a value of twelve million pesos. As a result of this, a
squadron called the _Barlovento_ (Windward) was formed to protect
the Gulf of Mexico and the West Indies.
[Illustration: PALACE OF ITURBIDE, NOW A FAMOUS OLD HOTEL.]
A noteworthy feature of the administration of the seventeenth viceroy,
the Marqués de Villena and Duque de Escalona, who was of an illustrious
Portuguese family, was his removal from office on a charge of plotting
against his king in favor of the Portuguese, who had revolted against
Spain. The viceroy was later exonerated from this charge. Escalona was
succeeded as eighteenth viceroy, by Palafox, Bishop of Puebla. Though
an able administrator, his zeal in the conversion of the Indians to
Christianity led him to destroy many priceless statues and idols of
the Aztec period, the loss of which has proved of serious consequence
to succeeding generations. During the administration of the Bishop of
Yucatán, Marcos de Torres y Rueda, the twentieth viceroy, a dreadful
_auto de fé_ was ordered, of which there were one hundred and
seven victims.
[Illustration: STATUE OF CHARLES IV.]
New Mexico was colonized and the town of Albuquerque founded during the
term of the twenty-second viceroy, Francisco Fernandez de la Cueva,
Duque de Albuquerque. In 1665, during the rule of Antonio Sebastian
de Toledo, Marqués de Mancera, the great Popocatepetl erupted during
four days, and two years later a severe earthquake occurred. In 1668,
the cathedral of the City of Mexico was dedicated the second time in
celebration of the completion of the interior; its earlier dedication
having taken place in 1657. Under the wise and beneficent progressive
rule of Fray Payo Enriquez de Rivera, Archbishop of Mexico, the
twenty-seventh viceroy, the causeway and aqueduct of Guadalupe were
constructed and the coinage of gold was first undertaken in New Spain.
[Illustration: CARVINGS ON THE CHURCH OF LA SANTISIMA.]
During the administration of the Marqués de la Laguna, the
twenty-eighth viceroy, from 1680 to 1686, Vera Cruz was taken by
surprise by a band of six hundred pirates under Nicolás Agramonte
who committed great ravages, over three hundred persons losing their
lives and six thousand being imprisoned in the church for five days
without food. The twenty-ninth viceroy, Melchor Portocarrero Lazo de
la Vega, Conde de Monclova made his administration memorable by the
construction, at his own cost, of the aqueduct of Chapultepec. He also
colonized Coahuila and founded the town of Monclova. He is called “the
man with the silver arm,” because of a silver substitute for an arm he
lost in battle.
The chief event during the reign of the next viceroy, Gaspar de la
Cerda Sandoval Silva y Mendoza, Conde de Galve, the thirtieth viceroy,
who ruled from 1688 to 1696, was the extension of the domain of New
Spain to the east, including Texas. He sent an expedition in 1689,
under Alonso de León, governor of Coahuila to dislodge the French, who
were supposed to have founded a settlement under La Salle, and in 1690
a mission was established near the Neches River, in Texas. In addition,
in 1691, explorations in the interior and on the coast were made and in
1693, a town and fort were established at Pensacola, the former being
called Santa Maria and the bay was named Santa Maria de Galves, after
Bernardo de Galves.
In 1696, the thirty-second viceroy, José Sarmiento Valladares, Conde de
Montezuma y Tula, whose wife, Geronima Maria, was a lineal descendant
of the last Aztec ruler, succeeded to the government of New Spain.
Toward the close of his rule the conflict over the Spanish succession
arising out of the death of Charles II., in 1700, seriously involved
the affairs of Mexico. The treasure ships from New Spain were prizes
eagerly sought by the league of powers seeking the overthrow of the
Bourbons, and in 1702, the fleet of such ships that had sailed from
Vera Cruz with treasure valued at fifty million pesos was attacked and
destroyed in the Port of Vigo, in Spain, and to avoid the capture of
the treasure it was cast into the sea. This viceroy was removed because
of his suspected disloyalty to the Bourbons. During the administration
of the thirty-fourth viceroy, Francisco Fernandez de la Cueva, Duque de
Albuquerque and Marqués de Cuellar, who assumed a magnificence of pomp
and ceremony that even surpassed the custom of kings and emperors, a
special tribunal was created, the _acordada_, for the punishment
of robbers and brigands and its severe decrees accomplished much good.
[Illustration: IDOLS IN THE NATIONAL MUSEUM.]
During the rule of the Marqués de Valero, Duque de Arion, viceroy from
1716 to 1722, an aqueduct was constructed to supply Querétaro with
water. His successor, Juan de Acuña, Marqués de Casafuerte, effected
important reforms and works of great public utility. Such was the
esteem in which he was held that he is called the “great governor.”
During his rule the _Gaceta de Mexico_ was published. Under Pedro
Cebrian y Augustin, Conde de Fuenclara, 1742 to 1746, the colonization
of the State of Tamaulipas was effected. A noteworthy incident was the
arrest of the Italian, Lorenzo Boturini, who had contributed valuable
data to the history of Mexico, for not obtaining the sanction of the
Council of the Indies preparatory to making a collection for providing
a costly crown for the Lady of Guadalupe. His manuscript was taken from
him and he was sent to Spain. In 1743, the British fleet, under Admiral
Anson, captured a Spanish galleon bound from the Philippines.
[Illustration: FOUNTAIN IN MEXICO CITY.]
During the rule of Joaquin de Montserrat, Marqués de Cruillas, the
first regular army in Mexico was established. He also instituted the
numbering of all the houses in the capital. During the term of this
viceroy, Spain acquired (1762) from France, by the secret treaty
of Fontainebleau, the Province of Louisiana on the right bank of
the Mississippi and the City of New Orleans on the left bank. The
possession of this province was regarded as of great importance to
Mexico as a barrier between her and the British possessions. In 1763,
Spain ceded to Great Britain the territory known as West Florida.
The noteworthy events of the government of Carlos Francisco de Croix,
Marqués de Croix, whose rule extended from 1766 to 1771, were the
expulsion of the Jesuits, among whom was the historian Clavigero, and
the confiscation of their property, and the extension of the Alameda to
its present area.
In 1771, Antonio Bucareli y Urzua succeeded as the forty-sixth
viceroy and ruled till 1779. Under his able care the industry and
commerce of New Spain greatly developed, and new and important works
were established. At his personal cost, he completed the aqueduct of
Chapultepec which had been commenced by the Conde de Monclova; the
Monte Pio was founded, under the charge of Romero Terreros, Conde de
Regla, who endowed it with three hundred thousand pesos and stipulated
that loans to the poor should bear no interest. Many hospitals and
asylums for the poor were also established and a foundling asylum at
La Cuna through the benevolence of Archbishop Lorenzana. No wise work
for the good of Mexico was ignored by him. He edited the letters of
Hernán Cortés. He encouraged mining and extended the operations of the
mint. In the great church at Guadalupe a bronze tablet in the floor
marks the resting place of the good viceroy Bucareli. So highly was he
esteemed also by the king that his salary was largely increased and,
still more noteworthy, no _residencia_, or investigation, of his
administration was held at his death.
Martin de Mayorga, the forty-seventh viceroy, entered on office in
1779. Of his civil services it is to be noted that he founded the San
Carlos Academy of Fine Arts.
The aspirations of Matias de Galvez were realized in 1783, when he
succeeded as the forty-eighth viceroy; but he lived only a few months.
His son Bernardo was next appointed; his popularity in Louisiana was
fully equaled in Mexico. Amongst his popular measures was the building
of the palace of Chapultepec at a cost of three hundred thousand pesos;
and his aid during a famine, when he labored personally to ascertain
the actual wants of the sufferers and supplied them largely out of
his private means. So great was his popularity that some suspected
him of aiming at an independent sovereignty, but this suspicion was
not entertained by his king or the _audiencia_. His death in 1786,
at thirty-eight, called forth general manifestation of the affection
in which he was held and great honors were paid to his memory, his
posthumous daughter being christened with great pomp and having as
sponsors the “most noble” City of Mexico.
In 1789, Juan Vicente de Güemes Pacheco de Padilla, Conde de
Revillagigedo, succeeded as fifty-second viceroy; he was the second
Conde de Revillagigedo and the son of the forty-first viceroy. His
rule was one of active reforms in administration. The City of Mexico
was paved and lighted, a sewerage system and fire brigades and a
police force were established. Free public schools were provided for
children of both sexes and the famous College of Mining was opened.
He relentlessly pursued and executed bandits; cleansed the city
thoroughly; and caused a census to be taken of the _intendencia_
of Mexico in 1790, when the population was shown to be over one
million five hundred thousand, and of the capital nearly one hundred
and thirteen thousand. He sent out several exploring expeditions,
one of which reached within the confines of Alaska. So thorough was
his government that he sought to inform himself of every detail and
in order to learn of any abuses, he provided a letter box in one of
the halls of the palace, in which the public might deposit written
statements of complaint or suggestion. So active had been this
viceroy’s administration that the ancient city of the Aztecs had become
by the close of the eighteenth century a beautiful modern city. Yet in
spite of all his labors, he was removed from office in 1794 and died
under the cloud of royal displeasure. Only after his death was his true
merit recognized and honors were showered on his descendants.
[Illustration: STATUE OF CUAUHTEMOC.]
Miguel de la Grua Talamanca, Marqués de Branciforte, succeeded in 1794
as the fifty-third viceroy. He was a brother-in-law of Manuel Godoy,
Prince of Peace, the favorite of Charles IV., and was, consequently, in
much favor with the king, who heaped honors upon him. He reciprocated
the royal favor to the utmost of his power. He caused to be erected the
splendid bronze equestrian statue of Charles IV. in the Paseo, the work
of the celebrated Mexican sculptor, Manuel Tolsa, of which Humboldt
said that, “except the statue of Marcus Aurelius, at Rome, there was
nothing of the kind in Europe to equal it in beauty and purity of
design.” Viceroy Branciforte was too much of a courtier to administer
his government in the interest of the people of Mexico, but he actively
sought to aggrandize his own possessions. He confiscated the property
of Frenchmen residing in Mexico and in Louisiana, and when he left his
government in 1798 he took with him an immense treasure. During his
administration that part of Florida west of the Perdido River was ceded
to France.
The fifty-fourth viceroy, Miguel José de Azanza, ruled New Spain from
1798 to 1800 with ability and justice, but the spirit of the revolution
was hovering over Mexico and he had to put down a conspiracy to expel
the Spaniards or _gachupines_ from the province, which broke out in
1799. This conspiracy is known as the “_machete_,” from the name given
to the sabres used by the conspirators, who, though insignificant in
number, represented a rapidly extending antagonism of long standing,
between the Creoles and the Spaniards, which was soon to burst forth
in an inconquerable flame. The noteworthy act of Felix Berenguer de
Marquina the fifty-fifth viceroy, from 1800 to 1803, was his effort to
put an end to the bull-fight. On his forbidding this pastime, and being
informed that the municipal government could not meet the deficiency
caused by the cost of the viceroy’s reception unless the profits of
a bull-fight were forthcoming, the viceroy covered the amount, seven
thousand pesos, out of his private purse.
José de Iturrigaray succeeded in 1803. In 1802, Spain and France
signed the definitive treaty by which the former ceded Louisiana to
France, and in 1803, Napoleon sold the Province to the United States,
notwithstanding the stipulations of the treaty with Spain. Spain
allied with France against England and at the battle of Trafalgar
her fleet and that of her ally were almost totally destroyed and
fears were entertained that an attack on Vera Cruz by the English
would follow. In 1808, owing to the weak conduct of Charles IV. in
respect of the designs of Napoleon he was compelled to abdicate in
favor of his son Ferdinand. Quarrels and misunderstandings finally
resulted in Napoleon’s putting his brother, Joseph Bonaparte, on the
Spanish throne, but not without intense and heroic resistance from the
Spaniards, and only to be expelled in 1814. The news of the surrender
of the Spanish crown to Napoleon bitterly incensed the people of New
Spain, and on July 19, 1808, the municipal authorities of Mexico City
petitioned Viceroy Iturrigaray not to recognize any foreign authority
or Spanish authorities if controlled by foreigners, and asserted that,
in the absence of a legitimate sovereign, the power resided in the
people. This latter claim was espoused by the Creoles and the viceroy,
but was as strongly opposed by the official Spanish party and the heads
of the Church and the Inquisition as seditious and heretical. For this
leaning toward the native claim, the viceroy became suspected by the
Spanish party and on September 15, 1808, he was clandestinely seized,
sent a prisoner to the Island of San Juan de Ulua and thence to Cadiz.
Pedro de Garibay was the next viceroy. He was elected mainly by the
_Chaquetas_, who were the volunteers of Fernando Séptimo, and who had
captured Iturrigaray at the viceregal palace. The viceroy was merely
the tool of the Spanish party in ordering the secret execution of the
Licenciado Verdad, who, as head of the municipality of Mexico City
had proposed a provisional government for New Spain at a _junta_ held
on August 9th. Verdad is regarded as the first martyr for Mexican
independence.
The Spanish _junta_ at Aranjuez, which was then recognized in Mexico,
appointed the Archbishop of Mexico, Francisco Xavier Lizana y Beaumont
viceroy. He was succeeded by Francisco Xavier Venégas, the fifty-ninth
viceroy, who was appointed by the Spanish regency. His rule was not
effective; the spirit of independence was strengthening; nor did the
decree issued in Spain in 1809, recognizing the West Indian possessions
as an integral part of the monarchy, avail to check the nascent
national movement, particularly as the Creoles were discriminated
against in the matter of representation in the _cortes_.
[Illustration: OLD CARVING OF THE TIME OF CORTÉS.]
[Illustration: THE MILITARY SCHOOL AT CHAPULTEPEC.]
[Illustration: GATEWAY AT THE MILITARY SCHOOL AT CHAPULTEPEC.]