intention of crossing to Spain. On this first visit he was, as we have
seen, received with acclamations, and loaded with praise and honors.
When he again entered Mexico, with the title of Marquess of the Valley
of Oaxaca, he brought with him a Spanish bride, Doña Juana de Zuñiga,
daughter of the second Count of Aguilar, and niece of the Duke de Bejar.
So Malintzi, if her shade returns to wander under the _ahuehuetes_ of
Chapultepec, has her own grief to mourn, in addition to the ruin she
helped to bring upon her people.
XIX.
INDIANS.
The Conquest was complete. Tenochtitlan was no more, and the Aztec kings
with their dynasty were blotted out. So were all the other independent
states of Anahuac, for if here and there a petty chieftain were allowed
still to call himself lord of his domains, it was a mere form, to keep
him and his people contented, while in reality the Spaniard controlled
every thing throughout the conquered land. The terrible war gods were
overthrown, their temples and images thrown down and hidden under
ground. Even the annals of the country, the picture-writings, which the
Spaniards imagined to be impious scrolls connected with the heathen
belief of the savages, were destroyed. Before long distinctive names of
the separate tribes were wiped out, as details of no importance, and all
the native races of the country went by the common title of Indios.
This of course is the Spanish word for Indians, with the same source.
Columbus in seeking a new world believed that when found it would be
India, little thinking that the earth he had rightly guessed to be
round, was big enough to contain a whole continent between the western
shore of Europe and the Indies, a remote land almost fabulous for its
riches and precious stones.
The first natives Columbus encountered in the Western World, he
therefore naturally called Indios, and this name attaches to all the
indigenous tribes of America. So the first settlers farther north, on
the shores of the Atlantic, called the red men who came to meet them
Indians. But the Red Men of the north are a distinctive race from the
Indios of Anahuac. If allied at all, they are but distant relatives.
Their color, their skulls, their brains, their manners and customs are
all different. As we have seen, the Nahuatl tribes that migrated from
Aztlan belonged, with scarce a doubt, to a people antecedent to the Red
Indians of North America.
Nevertheless, the word Indian is so fixed in the minds of most of the
people of the United States, as belonging to the savage of the tomahawk
and war-whoop, that it is rather common to fancy the Mexican Indios to
be of the same stock. Many a reader of Prescott's "Conquest" has been
surprised to find that the natives who were terrified at the approach of
Cortés on his war-horse, were not first cousins to the Mohawks and
Algonquins whom Parkman has described.
It is necessary to dwell on this, in order that any fair opinion should
be formed of the native races of Anahuac, belonging to the different
tribes of Indios, descendants of Tarascans, Otomies, Zapotecs, Mextecs,
Mazahuans, Popolocs, Zotzils, Mayas, etc., which now form a large part
of the population of Mexico.
Whatever are or have been their virtues, they are wholly different from
those of the North American Red Man. Whatever their vices, they are
equally so, or if similar, similar on account of like conditions of
life. Climate, inheritance, and the vicissitudes of their fortunes,
would have caused them to be somewhat different by this time, even if
they had come from a common stock, but this is absolutely not the case,
and long before the time of the Conquest, the characteristics of the
Nahuatl race, which still cling to their present descendants, were as
strongly marked as those of the Red Man, while they were widely remote
from them.
The indigenous inhabitants of Mexico, however, have as good a right to
the name, wholly unappropriate in either case, of _Indian_, as the
"North American Savage" has. This latter title would be totally
misapplied in connection with the native Mexicans, because for long
generations, these have been above the level of wild men. After the
Conquest, for years the Spaniards were disturbed by remaining savage
tribes who, resisting civilization, had retreated to the woods and
mountains; but these tribes have been long exterminated. Their
successor, the highway robber of roads and mountain passes, was of
another breed, imported, with other products of civilization, from old
Spain.
The Aztec dynasty, then, was extinct, but the Aztec nation, a large
population, even after the great diminution in the wars of the Conquest,
remained on the plateau to begin a new life under the influences of
Christian rulers. The horrid rites of their old religion were utterly
done away with, relinquished, it would seem, with no great regret, by
the common people. To them there had been no glory, no gratification, in
the wholesale slaughter of the sacrifices to Huitzilopochtli. The part
of their ceremonies which appealed to their source of enjoyment was the
feasting and dancing, and general rejoicing on such occasions.
[Illustration: EARLY POTTERY.]
The first government of the Spaniards was a military one, whose chief
was Fernando Cortés. He had wisely surrounded himself by a body of
advisers or approvers, in the early time of founding Vera Cruz when he
established the _Ayuntamiento_, composed of his companions of the
voyage. This organization was maintained during the time of Cortés'
administration. Its duties were to found new cities, parcel out lands
and farms among the colonists, establish markets, regulate sanitary
conditions, and enforce the laws; thus standing between the natives and
new settlers, who began to enter the country. Many of the rules and
ordinances of the early Ayuntamientos are still in force.
On account of complaints which reached the court of Spain, against the
rule thus established by Cortés, the king resolved to put the new
country in the hands of a body of magistrates who should be obeyed by
all the governors of provinces, representing the person of the monarch
and enforcing his authority. The members of the first _Audiencia_
arrived in Vera Cruz on the 6th of December, 1528. There were five of
them; their president was Nuño de Guzman, a cruel and sanguinary man,
whose despotism left the most bitter recollections throughout the
country. With his _oidores_, as the other members were called, he
displayed the greatest cruelty toward the Indians, in direct
disobedience to his instructions, which were to treat them with the
greatest gentleness; he continued the traffic in slaves, by which he and
his Audiencia expected to enrich themselves. They quarrelled with the
ecclesiastics and religious orders, so that they were excommunicated by
the bishop, in return for which they broke up by force a religious
procession in the streets of the capital. In short, they made themselves
intolerable alike to natives and colonists. Nuño de Guzman, finding
himself thus unpopular, went away from Mexico in 1529, and paid a visit
to Michoacan, where he strove to extort quantities of gold from
Calzonzi, who, as we know, had hitherto escaped the violence of the
invaders, and was living happily in his palaces of Tzintzuntzan and
Patzcuaro, nominal sovereign of his Tarascans.
Calzonzi could not or would not satisfy the greed of the cruel Guzman,
whereupon he was burned alive, as is shown in the same picture where he
embraces the cross, in the town-hall of Tzintzuntzan. Nuño went away
without any treasures or precious stones, and made war upon the natives
of Jalisco, founding in that country a town which he called the Holy
Ghost. This afterwards became Guadalajara, now one of the finest cities
in the whole of Mexico.
This career of destruction and tyranny came to an end by the arrival of
the second Audiencia, sent in response to the volume of complaints which
reached the court of Spain. This second body had for its task to undo
all that the first had done.
It published a royal decree which declared all the Indians free, and
condemned to death all those who had made slaves of them. It had the
care of diffusing instruction among the natives, and establishing the
teaching of Latin in a college founded for the education of the natives.
Its authority was used only for beneficial ends, and was of good effect
in calming the agitation caused by its predecessors. The archbishops and
bishops, by their religious character, also exercised a great influence
over both colonists and Indians, with whom they were objects of
veneration and respect.
Complaints, however, still reached the court of Spain, which, weary of
so much dissension, resolved to send a viceroy as the supreme head of
the colony, to represent in every thing the person of the king, subject
only to the orders received from home, and controlling all affairs,
civil and military, connected with the government. Difficulties often
arose from quarrels between the viceroy and the Audiencia, and in
extreme cases the will of the latter prevailed, while advices from the
parent government were on their way from Spain; but in general the
functions of the Audiencias were from this time limited to the simple
administration of justice.
The country of New Spain, at the time of the the arrival of the first
viceroy, had a wide extent; large tracts at that time unknown, were
afterwards explored and included in its territory, through colonization
by settlers. These lands extended over the immense prairies of the
north, and included Texas, Alta California, Louisiana, and New Mexico,
which now belong to the United States.
XX.
THE FIRST OF THE VICEROYS.
Antonio de Mendoza, Conde de Tendilla, was the first viceroy sent by
Charles V. to New Spain. He arrived in the autumn of 1535.
He belonged to the great Spanish family of Mendoza, which counted
twenty-three generations, and claimed descent from the Cid himself.
Better than this, he had a well-balanced and moderate character, and
governed the country with justice and generosity combined. He had no
intention of enriching himself by his position, but at heart put the
interests of the Spanish colonists before every other consideration,
except those of the Indians, for whose welfare he had from the first a
genuine regard. It would seem that Charles V., harassed as he was with
the intrigues and difficulties of his own empire, already revolving the
design which he put in practice later, of retiring from the world, had
himself selected for his first representative in the new country a man
whom he knew personally to be equal to the task, one not only of noble
blood, but honorable character.
Mendoza set himself to reform the abuses which had already appeared,
protected the Indians from the humiliations which the newly arrived
Spaniards were disposed to put upon them; he stimulated all branches of
agriculture, and finding the natives were already well informed in the
cultivation of land, he encouraged them in this pursuit by all possible
efforts.
In order to develop the growth and manufacture of wool he caused sheep
of fine breed to be brought from Spain; he encouraged the silk industry,
and all employments coming from the productions of the earth, which the
climate of Mexico greatly favors.
Before his arrival the Franciscan brotherhood had founded several
convents. As early as 1521 Cortés, after the conquest of Tenochtitlan,
had sent home an urgent request that priests should be sent from Spain
to convert the heathen in the new province. For Cortés, through all his
undertaking, earnestly regarded his mission as a crusade against the
unbeliever; he never hesitated to destroy the temples and gods of the
Aztecs, and his first step after victory was to forcibly baptize all his
prisoners and the inhabitants of conquered cities into the Christian
religion.
As soon as the knowledge of so wide a field was noised abroad, five
missionaries of the Franciscan order started for New Spain. One of them
was Fray Pedro, of Ghent, a nation of Flanders, who of all the early
missionaries in Mexico was the most able and zealous. He was especially
endeared to the Emperor Charles V. on account of the holiness and
usefulness of his life, and from him he was greatly aided in his work by
grants of land and sums of money. Later twelve missionaries were sent
out by order of the Emperor, and protected by a Bull from the Pope.
These "twelve apostles of Mexico," as they are usually called, arrived
in 1524. Their leader was Fray Martin de Valencia, who bore the title of
Vicar of New Spain.
To the religious orders in Mexico is due in great measure the firm base
upon which the government of Spain was established there. The new
viceroy fully recognized this, and encouraged the foundations of
colleges and schools already undertaken by them.
In every way he promoted the prosperity and growth of the country, and
had the satisfaction in the course of his government, which lasted
fifteen years, to see every thing bear the marks of his judgment and
enterprise.
It was he who founded two cities which have reached great importance.
The first was Guadalajara, near the site where Nuño de Guzman had
established a town under the name Espiritu Santo, in the state of
Jalisco. Mendoza removed it from its first situation to the one it now
occupies. It has become one of the largest and most flourishing cities
in Mexico, and at the present time it is one of the most interesting,
because, as it has been until very lately remote from railroad
communication, it has preserved all the early characteristics of
Spanish-Mexican civilization which attended its foundation and first
growth. There may still be seen many customs and peculiarities of old
Spanish life, which are fast disappearing from the Peninsula. The
citizens are well educated, highly cultivated, with the manners of the
pure hidalgo, and the houses contain relics and mementos of the past of
Mexico, such as are nowhere else to be found.
Mendoza also founded the city of Valladolid, in the late kingdom of
Michoacan, of which the poor King Calzonzi had lately been sacrificed to
the greed of Nuño de Guzman. This latter received the just punishment
for his cruelty. He was imprisoned in 1537, and shortly after died, "in
misery and oblivion," says the chronicle.
The large province of Michoacan, now one of the states of Mexico, called
by the same name, stretches from the state of Mexico to the Pacific
ocean. It contains some of the most beautiful scenery to be found in the
whole country, now revealed by the National Railway, which runs from the
city of Mexico to Morelia, the capital of Michoacan, and farther on to
Patzcuaro. The ultimate destination of the road is Colima, near the
Pacific coast. The country of Michoacan was peopled by Tarascans, who,
as we have seen, preserved their kingdom until after the Conquest. They
have always been known for their sturdy independence, like other
mountaineers, for their state is traversed by ridges of lofty hills,
making picturesque effects of scenery. It was in suppressing the Indians
of Michoacan and the neighboring Jalisco that the ferocious Pedro de
Alvarado received a blow, from which he died in 1541.
Mendoza the better to civilize these turbulent tribes, chose a site for
a city in the midst of their population. The royal parchment exists,
sent from Spain by Queen Juana, under the date of October 27, 1537, in
which permission is given to the viceroy--"Insomuch as I am informed by
the relation you have made to me, that in these lands you have found or
discovered a most beautiful site towards the part of the Chichimecas, in
the Province of Michoacan, in which, as it is a place both attractive
and convenient, you wish to establish and found a city with more than
sixty Spanish families and nine religious advisers, for this purpose
acknowledging the service of God and of the Royal Crown, we give and
concede faculty and license to the viceroy, Don Antonio de Mendoza, to
establish and people the said city."
The day being fixed for the ceremonial of founding the city, all the
pueblos in the neighborhood were summoned, and a great conference of
people, both Indians and Spaniards, assembled to listen to the royal
mandate, which was read aloud. Then the commissioners and the governors
of the Indios kissed the parchment in sign of obedience; a mass was
celebrated upon an altar, which had been improvised for the occasion
under a canopy made of the branches of trees, for the ceremony took
place in the open air. Thereupon followed festivities, which lasted
several days; the plan of the city was laid out, and lots assigned to
the "more than sixty families," who took possession at once.
Among the lists of these families, of which the names remain, is Don
Diego Hurtado de Mendoza, a connection, we may assume, of the viceroy.
Other noble families were later sent to occupy the new city, so that
Valladolid had every reason to hold itself high as a town of
distinction.
It was named Valladolid after the birthplace of Mendoza in Spain, and
called always Valladolid de Michoacan, in distinction from the town in
the old country, until the name was changed, in this century, to
Morelia, for reasons we shall understand better further on in the story.
It is hard to account for the presence in Mexico of the "more than sixty
families," and many, many more which served as nucleus for all the
cities founded by the Spaniards. In the prosperous condition of Spain at
that time, when the empire of Charles V. was at the greatest period of
glory, it is a question to solve why any noble families took the trouble
to risk a perilous voyage, in those days long and, to say the least,
uncomfortable, in order to make a new life in the recently conquered
colony. Doubtless the reports given by the Conquistadores of the great
wealth of the new land attracted many adventurers, who left their
country for their country's good, thus seizing a short cut to wealth;
but this does not account for whole families, in numbers sufficient to
settle city after city over the newly grasped possessions in the hands
of the viceroy. Religious liberty was not the motive, for here the
strong arm of the Church was stretched as firmly as at home. As early as
1527 a royal order was issued, by which all Jews and Moors were banished
from New Spain. The Inquisition was established in 1570, but although
the _auto da fé_ was of frequent occurrence during two centuries, the
institution never flourished with the vigor it acquired in the old
country.
The city of Valladolid flourished exceedingly. Its native population to
this day has the reputation of being industrious, docile, and
self-restrained. While moderate, at the same time true to heroism,
jealous of independence and liberty, restless under oppression, but
easily led by gentleness and reason. The character of the Spanish
families is hospitable, their manners open and attractive, while at the
same time they are exclusive and tenacious of their birth, position, and
religious belief.
The church of Michoacan was created by a bull of the Pope Paul III. in
1536. The queen of Spain decreed that a cathedral should be constructed
in a suitable place, to be selected by the viceroy and the good Bishop
Vasco de Quiroga, who was known as a friend of the Tarascans.
Among the members of the second Audiencia, which retrieved by its wisdom
the evil deeds of Nuño and his assistants, was an eminent lawyer, the
Licenciado Vasco de Quiroga. As the proceedings of Guzman were fresh in
everybody's mind, he heard of them, and at once went into the
neighborhood of Tzintzuntzan to relieve, if possible, the condition of
the people of Calzonzi. They had fled in terror from their homes,
deserting the towns and hiding in the mountains. Quiroga, with great
perseverance and gentleness, found them out, and prevailed at last upon
the poor Tarascans, who came to love him with passionate devotion. He
lived among them until 1536, when he was made their bishop, having been
quickly passed through the successive grades of promotion necessary for
that purpose, for he was, to begin with, a layman and not under orders.
While still _oidor_ of the Audiencia he assumed the cares of his office;
by the end of the same year he had received all the necessary orders,
from the tonsure to the priesthood.
The city of Tzintzuntzan was first selected for the foundation of the
cathedral, as the pueblo of the largest population thereabout. It is now
a forlorn Indian village, with straggling rows of adobe huts running
down a slope towards the lonely Lake Patzcuaro. Pottery is made there by
the simplest methods from clay which abounds in the neighborhood; the
people are ignorant, gentle Indians, pursuing their humble lives with
the content which characterizes the native Mexican. But behind an
orchard of large old olive-trees neglected and decaying, is the parish
church, which contains a wonderful picture, so wonderful as to be
startling among such incongruous surroundings. In the sacristy, and
lighted by one little window with small panes of glass, is a large and
impressive canvas, representing the entombment of our Saviour.
Surrounding the dead Christ are the Virgin, the Magdalen, St. John, and
other figures, all life size. One of the figures in the background is
said to be the bishop of Philip II., and tradition asserts positively
that the picture is by Titian. The composition, grouping, and treatment
are certainly like Titian, especially the introduction of a bit of
landscape in the upper left-hand corner. It is possible that the picture
is by the great master; even if not, the interest attaching to it is
great, for it is beautiful, whoever painted it, and far beyond, as well
as utterly different from, many of the altar pieces and "old masters"
which abound in Mexico without any value whatever. It is possible that
Philip II. sent the picture, or more likely that before his time Charles
V., who personally knew Quiroga, and possibly loved him, caused the
picture to be sent him for his Indians by reason of his devotion to
them, and the eloquence with which he reported their cause to his royal
master. This would account for its being in the little church at
Tzintzuntzan, where the documents say Quiroga was bishop only for one
year. If Charles sent the picture, the likeness of Philip was taken
before he had come to the throne, and was only Prince Imperial. As for
its remaining at Tzintzuntzan, instead of finding a fit place in the
cathedral of Morelia, the Indians have in every generation absolutely
refused to have it removed. It would be a brave archbishop, or secular
authority who should endeavor now to take it away from them. Unguarded,
it hangs in the bare little sacristy, safe and uninjured by irreverent
touch.
The cathedral was begun at Patzcuaro, and was to be, says the account,
"so magnificent that it has entirely filled the imagination of all those
who can remember it." But it was decided that the ground it was on was
too near the lake to support so great a structure. In 1550 the king of
Spain sent to command a suspension of the works, and it was finally
built at Valladolid, where it now stands, a beautiful building, superior
to the cathedral in the city of Mexico. It was only completed in 1744.
It stands in an open space between two plazas, where the effect of the
two lofty well-proportioned towers is uninterrupted by other buildings.
The Mexicans delight in church bells, and the towers of the Morelia
cathedral are well provided with them, great and small, for all
occasions. On a feast-day of the Church these bells are ringing
continuously, filling the air of the town with their joyous clangor.