trees, with a large stone fountain, whose sparkling waters were cool and
pleasant, ornamented by a gilt statue of Victory. Here, every evening,
but more especially Sundays and fête days, were to be seen two long rows
of carriages filled with ladies, crowds of gentlemen on horseback riding
down the middle between them, soldiers at intervals keeping order, and
multitudes of common people and beggars on foot. The carriages were for
the most part extremely handsome--European coaches with fine horses and
odd liveries, others in the old Mexican fashion, heavy and covered with
gilding. Hackney-coaches drawn by mules were seen among the finer
equipages. Most families had both horses and mules in their stables, the
latter animal requiring less care than a horse, and capable of enduring
more fatigue. _Carratelas_, open at the sides, with glass windows, were
filled with ladies in full toilet, without mantillas, their heads
uncovered and generally _coiffées_ with flowers as jewels. Equestrians,
on fine horses and handsome Mexican asses, passed and repassed the
carriages without stopping for conversation. Her favorite promenade was
the Viga, where, as in Montezuma's time and long before, in Humboldt's,
in our own, the Indians, early in the morning, brought flowers and
vegetables to market by the canal. There was profusion of sweet peas,
double poppies, blue-bottles, stock gilly-flowers and roses. Each Indian
woman in her _canoa_ looked as if seated in a floating flower-garden,
crowned with garlands of roses or poppies. "Those who sit in the
market," she says, "selling their fruit or vegetables, appear as if in
bowers formed of fresh green branches and many-colored flowers. In the
poorest village church the floor is strewed with flowers, and with
flowers are adorned the baby at its christening, the bride at the altar,
the dead body upon the bier."
In answer to questions about the society women of Mexico, Madame
Calderon writes: "I must put aside exceptions, which are always rising
up before me, and write _en masse_. Generally speaking, the Mexican
señoras and señoritas write, read, and play a little; sew, and take care
of their houses and children. When I say they read, I mean they know how
to read; when I say they write, I do not mean that they can always
spell, and when I say they play, I do not assert that they have a
general knowledge of music. The climate inclines every one to indolence,
both physical and moral. One cannot pore over a book when the blue sky
is constantly smiling in at the open windows." She says that there are
no women in the world more affectionate in their manners than the
Mexicans, and that they invariably make excellent wives, if they are
settled at home with their husbands.
[Illustration: THE VIGA.]
Madame Calderon describes the appearance of the Plaza on Good-Friday:
"The most beautiful and original scene was presented towards sunset in
the great square, and it is doubtful whether any other city in the world
could present a _coup d'oeil_ of equal brilliancy. The Plaza itself,
even on ordinary days, is a noble square, and but for its one fault, a
row of shops called the Parian, which breaks its uniformity, would be
nearly unrivalled. Every object is interesting. The eye wanders from the
Cathedral to the house of Cortés (the Monte de Piedad), and from thence
to a range of fine buildings, with lofty arcades to the west. From a
balcony we could see all the different streets that branch out from the
square covered with gay crowds pouring in that direction to see a great
procession which was expected to pass in front of the palace. Booths,
filled with refreshments and covered with green branches and garlands of
flowers, were to be seen in all directions, surrounded by a crowd
quenching their thirst with orgeat, lemonade, or pulque. The whole
square, from the Cathedral to the _portales_, was covered with thousands
and tens of thousands of figures, all in their gayest dresses, and as
the sun poured his rays down upon their gaudy colors, they looked like
armies of living tulips. Here was to be seen a group of ladies, some
with black gowns and mantillas, others, now that their church-going duty
was over, equipped in velvet or satin, with their hair dressed--and
beautiful hair they have; some leading their children by the hand,
dressed--alas, how they were dressed! Long, velvet gowns trimmed with
blonde, diamond ear-rings, high French caps befurbelowed with lace and
flowers, or turbans with plumes of feathers. Now and then, the head of a
little thing that could hardly waddle alone, might have belonged to an
English dowager-duchess in her opera-box. Some had extraordinary
bonnets, and as they toddled along, top-heavy, one would have thought
they were little old women, without a glimpse caught of their lovely
little brown faces and blue eyes. The children here are very beautiful;
they have little color, with swimming black or hazel eyes, and long
lashes resting on the clear pale cheek, and a mass of fine dark hair
plaited down behind.
"As a contrast to the señoras, with their over-dressed beauties, were
the poor Indian women, trotting across the square, their black hair
plaited with dirty red ribbon, a piece of woollen cloth wrapped round
them, and a little mahogany baby hanging behind, its face upturned to
the sky, and its head jerking along, somehow, without its neck being
dislocated. The most resigned expression on earth is that of an Indian
baby. All these groups are collected by hundreds, the women of the
shop-keeper class in their small white embroidered gowns, with white
satin shoes and neat feet and ankles, _rebozos_, or bright shawls,
thrown over their heads; the peasants and countrywomen, with short
petticoats of two colors, generally scarlet and yellow, thin satin shoes
and lace-trimmed chemises, or bronze-colored damsels, all crowned with
flowers, strolling along, tingling light guitars.
"Add to this motley crowd, men dressed _à la Mexicaine_, with large
ornamented hats and _serapes_, or embroidered jackets, sauntering along,
smoking their cigars; _léperos_, in rags, Indians in blankets, officers
in uniform, priests in their shovel hats, monks of every order;
Frenchmen exercising their wit upon the passers-by; Englishmen looking
on, cold and philosophical; Germans gazing through their spectacles,
mild and mystical; Spaniards, seeming pretty much at home, abstaining
from remarks; and it may be conceived that the scene, at least, presents
variety.
"Suddenly the tinkling of a bell announces the approach of _Nuestro Amo_
(the Host). Instantly the whole crowd are on their knees, crossing
themselves devoutly. Disputes are hushed, flirtations arrested, and to
the busy hum of voices succeeds a profound silence, filled only by the
rolling of coach-wheels and the sound of the little bell."
This scene is almost the same to-day in the public square on
Good-Friday. The costumes of the higher class have now surrendered to
conventional Paris models, but there is a tendency to gaudiness and
display, defying fashion, which makes a Mexican crowd bright with
variegated color.
Madame Calderon's accounts of the unsettled state of the country are
comforting, as showing the immense advance in this respect, in the forty
years since she was in Mexico.
Describing an hacienda not far from the capital, she says: "It is under
the charge of an _administrador_, who receives from its owner a large
annual sum, and whose place is by no means a sinecure, as he lives in
perpetual danger from robbers. He is captain of a troop of soldiers, and
as his life has been spent in persecuting robbers, he is an object of
intense hatred to that free and independent body. He gave us a terrible
account of night attacks from these men and of his ineffectual attempts
to bring them to justice. He lately told the President that he thought
of joining the robbers himself, as they were the only persons in the
Republic protected by government."
"This pestilence of robbers," she says, "which infests the Republic, has
never been eradicated. They are, in fact, the outgrowth of the civil
war. Sometimes, in the guise of insurgents, taking an active part in the
independence, they have independently laid waste the country, robbing
all they met. As expellers of the Spaniards, these armed bands infested
the roads between Vera Cruz and the capital, ruined all commerce, and
without any particular inquiry into political opinions, robbed and
murdered in all directions. Whatever measures have been from time to
time taken to eradicate this evil, its causes remain, and the idle and
unprincipled will always take advantage of the disorganized state of
the country to obtain by force what they might gain by honest labor."
Frequent crosses by the roadside were marks of murders committed by
these highwaymen, yet the Mexican robbers had the reputation of being
kind and considerate bandits. She relates, as a proof of their
occasional moderation, that some ladies "were travelling from Mexico
with a _padre_, when they were met by a party of robbers, who stopped
the coach, and seized every thing, amongst other articles of value, a
number of silver dishes. The _padre_ observed to them that as the plate
did not belong to the ladies, but was lent them by a friend, they would
be obliged to replace it, and requested that one might be left as a
pattern. The reasonable creatures instantly returned one dish and a
cover.
"Another time, having completely stripped an English gentleman and his
servant, and tied them both to a tree, observing that the man appeared
distressed at the loss of his master's shoes, they politely returned and
laid the shoes beside the gentleman."
This drawback to Mexican travel, the terrible bug-bear which still
deters many timid people from venturing themselves in the country, has
ceased to exist since the establishment of real law and order in the
Republic, and especially since railroads have penetrated all the
important parts of the country. The _Guardias Rurales_, a mounted troop
of patrols, is now one of the finest military organizations in the
world. It is said that General Diaz sent for the chiefs of brigandage,
notorious leaders of pillaging bands, and after inquiring how much they
earned on an average by their profession, asked them if they had any
objection to receiving that sum honestly, in a settled income. The
result was the organization, out of this material, of a body of guards
to protect the rural districts. They are stalwart men, with splendid
leather suits and gray sombreros, all ornamented with silver. Their
horses are beautiful animals, all of the same color in one band,
handsomely caparisoned. The men ride well, and the effect of this strong
body, united in the defence of order, instead of lurking apart in
defiance of it, is in the highest degree reassuring. The result is
satisfactory. Tales of highway robbery are relegated to the same shadowy
region as the legends of Aztec atrocities. In the northern, desolate
regions of Mexico, murders and robberies are still perpetrated. It is
often the case that these are committed by other races than Mexicans,
and very seldom, in proportion, can they be charged upon Indians.
Elsewhere is quoted Madame Calderon's observation of a pronunciamento.
The following note has an importance further on in our story, of which
she was at the time unconscious:
"The whole world is talking of a pamphlet written by Señor Gutierrez
Estrada, which has just appeared, and seems likely to create 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."
XXXI.
RUMORS OF WAR.
We now come to the disastrous period of the war with the United States.
Nothing more unfortunate could have befallen the struggling Republic of
Mexico than to become involved in a foreign quarrel.
For three centuries the country had been under the hands of the Spanish
government which though arbitrary, oppressive, and sometimes tyrannical,
was in general firm and equable, and above all, safe. Laws, such as they
were, were enforced. Personal property, perhaps ill-gotten, was
respected. In spite of plenty of abuses and defects, the daily life of
the inhabitants of Anahuac under the viceroys was comfortable and
secure.
Suddenly, imbued with the ideas of the centuries, the Mexicans began to
play at independence, like children lighting matches. At the instigation
of a few leaders, some of them it is true with high aims, actuated by
the desire of doing good for their country, they drove away their
viceroys, rejected the strong arm of the Spanish authority, and
undertook the difficult task of governing themselves. The trouble was,
not one of them understood the rudiments of the art. There were plenty
of applicants for the highest post of office. Many were tried, but all
were found wanting. Some gave it up themselves; others returned again
and again to the futile task of making stable the shifting sands of
popular opinion.
The only appeal was to arms. Blood was shed, powder and ball were spent,
and a crop of military heroes sprung up, full of ardor, ready to
_pronounce_ at the slightest occasion, and bring an army to the field at
a moment's notice. The sound of rolling cannon was familiar to every ear
in Mexico. The smell of powder had nothing alarming about it. The very
children were satiated with the sight of soldiery, and scarcely troubled
themselves to run to the door to see a regiment go by.
But this was not warfare, real and serious. These armies were not
thoroughly trained to the discipline of battle, and the generals were
not educated in the science of war. Brave they undoubtedly were, and
familiar with scenes of danger and bloodshed; too familiar, it may be,
to value at its proper cost the waste of life and property caused by so
much fighting. Exaggerated ideas of honor and glory, inherent to the
Latin race, pervaded society, and the impression prevailed throughout
the country that the Mexican arms were invincible, because every
regiment and every general had, in turn, put to rout every other in the
country.
[Illustration: VALLEY OF MEXICO]
In this game of independence, the Mexican peoples had exhausted their
resources, destroyed in a great measure the industries of the country,
spent their money, and wasted rivers of blood. Many of their best
generals were either driven from the country, or dead upon the field.
They might have gone on, it is true, _pronouncing_ and killing each
other indefinitely, but for the sharp lesson that was taught them by the
cruel exigencies of a foreign war.
That some lesson should come was perhaps inevitable, like a quick, sharp
box on the ears, to bring such naughty children to their senses, and
stop their foolish trifling with life and reputation. But it was hard
that the blow should come from the hand of a nation which ought to have
taken the place of an elder brother to these foolish and heedless
children,--a hand which should have gently led them to peace and
reconciliation instead of promoting discord.
The Mexicans, undoubtedly, helped to bring upon themselves the
misfortunes that came swiftly upon them. Like all people whose own folly
has put them on the wrong track, they were sure to do the wrong thing.
They were heavily punished accordingly.
The United States had in a hundred years spread over the great western
lands of North America with surprising rapidity, and now approached the
regions which Cortés had laid claim to three centuries before. This
claim was but vague, for the deserts and plains of the north were not
accessible or inviting; still some posts were established, while the
boundary line which should put a stop to the encroachments of either
country was still unsettled. The territory west of the Sabine River and
east of the Rio Grande came under discussion.
Moses Austin, born in Durham, Connecticut, a southwestern pioneer,
applied to the Mexican Commandant-General in Monterey in 1820 for
permission to colonize three hundred families in Texas. Without waiting
for his answer, he set out towards the Sabine River, was robbed and
abandoned in that deserted waste, and died of the disease he caught by
exposure soon after finding his way back to Louisiana. The grant was
made, and given to his son, who had it confirmed in the city of Mexico,
and it was he who founded the colony which has since become the capital
of Texas, named Austin after him. More grants of land were willingly
made by the Mexican government, who thought well of encouraging settlers
as protectors against the savage hordes that infested the northern part
of their country; and colonization went on, chiefly by people of the
United States, until these emigrants to Texas far outnumbered the
Mexicans. The difference of race and education was strongly marked
between these sturdy settlers of Anglo-Saxon origin, and the chance
stragglers from Mexico, not the best specimens of the Latin race. This
population had no sympathy with the pronunciamentos and jealousies of
the capital, and the result, as we have seen, was a revolt against
Mexican rule in 1835, in consequence of the acts of the Federal
government.
Santa Anna hastened to the scene with his army, but the rebellious
forces, under the brilliant command of "Sam" Houston, General, Governor,
and afterward President, were everywhere triumphant, and Texas declared
herself an independent Republic, which maintained its separate existence
between the two great powers on each side of it till 1844, recognized
not only by these, but by the European states.
The subject of the annexation of Texas to the United States began to be
spoken of and strongly urged by the Texans themselves, but the movement
was wholly disapproved by the party in that country opposed to the
extension of slavery, since by the agreement then existing, all new
territory south of a certain line permitted slavery, while the States
north of it abjured it. In spite of the opposition of the North,
however, Texas was admitted into the American Union by an act ratified
in Congress in March 1845.
This act was regarded by the Mexicans as an act of aggression. As Texas
was at the time wholly independent of Mexico, its right was undoubted to
annex itself to another country; but on the part of the United States
the act is scarcely to be justified according to the laws of honor and
international good faith. It was at any rate approved only by one
section of the country, the other regarding every additional step
leading to a foreign war with a neighboring government hitherto
friendly, with regret and displeasure.
The party which favored the measure began to make preparations for
hostile demonstrations with alacrity. The American Republic had now long
been at peace. Prosperous, safe from enemies abroad, peaceful at home,
with plenty of money in her treasury, her military schools training a
small body of officers in the latest science of the art of war, she was
in perfectly good condition to resist an attack, and had the cause been
a popular one, every State in the Union would have offered with alacrity
volunteer troops for the field.
The correspondence between the two countries grew embittered, and as
time went on more and more unfriendly. During the negotiation of the
treaty for annexation, war was permitted to go on in Texas; the
government of the United States protested. In the war of words which
followed, the Mexicans made and unfortunately reiterated the declaration
that they should consider the ratification of the treaty as equivalent
to a declaration of war.
During this period of agitation and irritation, the Mexicans went on
with "Plans" and pronunciamentos. Herrera was President during 1844,
during which short period Congress decreed the destruction of Santa
Anna. Farías returned to the Republic from a voluntary exile abroad.
General Paredes on his way to the north with an army to check the
approach of United States forces _pronounced_ a revolution and "Plan" at
San Luis, and returned to Mexico to enforce it. He was made President,
and remained in office six months, giving way then to a pronunciamento
against him which resulted in putting General Don Nicholas Bravo at the
head of government.
In all this confusion, hurrying to and fro to find a government, there
was no true leader of affairs to dictate wise and moderate steps in such
an emergency. Santa Anna, the military genius of the country, was ready
to serve it in his own way, by placing himself at the head of an army.
Troops were not wanting, for popular indignation was roused, and popular
vanity stimulated by the idea of a war with the powerful neighboring
Republic. It was pretty generally thought in the cities and towns that
the result of the combat would be an easy victory. The one thing
Mexicans were sure of about themselves was that they could fight, and
the popular impression about the United States on the other hand, was
that they could not. They had long been at peace, and without practice
in arms, while it was well known that the war was unpopular in the
Northern States.
The Mexicans therefore rushed to arms with their usual alacrity, little
fearing the result. The Indians, all unconscious of the horrors of an
invading army swarming over their villages and devastating the country,
saw armies marching towards the north through their pueblos with
indifference. Their eyes and ears were but too familiar with the sound
of drum and the flying colors of the national flag. Their interests,
their liberty, had little to do with the tempests that raged over them.
The Mexican army was characterized by many of the necessary qualities of
good soldiery. Patient and suffering, requiring but little subsistence,
with great capacity for enduring fatigue, and with enough physical
courage to enable them to encounter danger without fear, the Mexican
soldiers when properly led compared well with the troops of other
nations. But corruption existed among their officers from the highest to
the lowest grade; commissions were sometimes given by the functionaries
of government as rewards for private services, discreditable to the
giver and recipient. The army included, besides the troops of the line,
the active battalions of the different states and the local national
guards of the cities.
The cavalry had a high reputation, both at home and abroad. Many other
corps were well disciplined, and the men were expert in all feats of
horsemanship, since riding is now a universal accomplishment in the
country where, three hundred years ago, the horses of the Conquistadores
were regarded as supernatural creatures. Those of Mexico are considered
inferior in speed and power, though possessing endurance in a remarkable
degree. The carbines with which the cavalry were armed were, for the
most part, of a model behind the times, and useless when accuracy of aim
was necessary.
The Mexican artillery contained many foreigners among its officers; its
juniors were the pupils of the Military College at Chapultepec, where
they were well taught the theory of arms. Mexican revolutions had given
them plenty of practice, and in gunnery they were exceedingly
proficient. Their guns were fine, but clumsily mounted, and therefore
hard to move. Light artillery, as practised by modern troops, was but
little known or used among the Mexicans until it was taught them by the
enemy.
The infantry was in many respects tolerably well drilled, and severe
discipline was enforced with the privates. Ceremonious etiquette and
detail duties were punctiliously observed. The muskets of the infantry
were inferior, and the men were by no means proficient in their accurate
use.
The organization of the staff depended much on the general who happened
to be in command. There existed an enormous disproportion of generals,
and their number was so great that it was said at the time they had
rather a brigade of generals than generals of brigade. The country was
full of arms and munitions of war, such as they were, of ancient
manufacture; but for replenishing the supply, Mexico had no resources,
beyond the repair of partial damages. Such an establishment as a
national armory was unknown in the country.