TEMPLE OF XOCHICALCO.
Humboldt and his friend, Bonpland, a botanist, left Europe in the early summer of 1799, armed with all sorts of scientific instruments, with letters and passports to admit them everywhere, for an extended journey of scientific exploration in America. After nearly three years in South America, they left it for Mexico, arriving by water at Acapulco at the beginning of 1803. Acapulco is on the Pacific Coast in the state of Guerrero. Humboldt had letters from the court of Spain, which gave him every facility then accessible for travelling in Mexico. They passed through Cuernavaca, stopping to see the monument of Xochicalco in its vicinity. Humboldt notes the heads of crocodiles spouting water carved among the ornaments of this temple, with the comment that it was strange to find such figures employed on a plain four thousand feetabove the sea and away from the haunts of these creatures, instead of the plants and animals belonging to the neighborhood.
Without delay Humboldt and his companion reached the capital, where they were delighted with all they saw. The Academy of Fine Arts was then in a flourishing condition. Government had assigned it a spacious building, and it had a collection of casts, finer, Humboldt says, than was at that time to be found in Germany.
A small school of engraving was opened in the Mint, as early as 1779, by royal order. General interest in this school became so great as to lead the Viceroy Mayorga to project an academy of the three fine arts, painting, sculpture, and architecture. In 1783, under the rule of the good Galvez, royal approval was granted, and license was given for the existing institution under the name of: "Academia de las Nobles Artes de San Carlos de la Nueva España."
The academy was formally opened with suitable ceremony in 1785, removed a few years later to the building it still occupies. Charles III. himself sent the collection of casts admired by Humboldt. For twenty years it flourished in the hands of competent artists sent from the mother country. Then the end of that protection, and the turbulent days of civil war, disturbed its even tenor.
Humboldt says that every night in its spacious halls, well illumined by Argand lamps, hundreds of young men were assembled, some sketching from plaster-casts or from life, others copying designs offurniture, candelabra, and bronze ornaments; admission was free to all; class, colors, and races were mingled together; the Indian beside the white boy, the son of the poorest mechanic beside that of the richest lord. In 1839 all this was changed. Madame Calderon described the casts as mutilated, the engravings injured, and the building in disorder and abandoned. In this state it remained until the return to power of Juarez, since when, with an annual allowance of $35,000, the institution is doing fairly well. The name is changed to the "National School of Fine Arts"; prizes are given for good work; all teaching is free.
The equestrian statue of Charles IV. was completed just at the time of Humboldt's visit. He was present when it was cast, and saw it on its way to the plaza.
The Cathedral was then new, and its massive towers, with the fine plaza in front of it, excited the admiration of the enthusiastic traveller. A few years only before his visit, the great idol, Teoyamiqui, had been discovered, in the time of the eccentric Viceroy Revillagigedo; he would have placed it in the University, but the professors there were unwilling to have it seen by Mexican youths, and they buried it again in one of the corridors of the Colegio. They were persuaded to dig it up in order that Humboldt should see and make a sketch of it.
The Aztec calendar, the stone of sacrifice, and the manuscripts in hieroglyph much interested the great man, but more the natural attractions of the city.One of his favorite haunts was Chapultepec, then in good order, as it was left by the Viceroy Galvez, who first made a pleasure-house there, where Humboldt delighted in the broad view of plain and volcano. He loved to go, as every one does now, to the market-place, to see the stalls of the Indians all hung with verdure. No matter what they sell—fruit, roots, pulque—their booths are ornamented with flowers. He describes the hedge a yard high of fresh herbs and delicate leaves built around the fruit-stalls, and the garlands of flowers, which divided the alleys of the market, spread upon the ground with little nosegays stuck at intervals, making a sort of carpet of flowers. The fruit, in small cages of wood, was ornamented on top with flowers. He describes the pretty sight, at sunrise, of the Indians coming along the Viga Canal in boats loaded with fruits and flowers, from Istacalco and Chalco; and gives an account of thechinampas, or floating gardens, on the marshy banks of these lakes. This invention is attributed to the early Aztecs, who cultivated the ground on loose tracts of earth, bound together by roots which were either driven about by the winds or moored to the shore. Similar ones, he says, are to be met with in all the zones. In our day thechinampasdo not float, but have the appearance of low, wet gardens, intersected by many channels of water; they are, however, pretty patches of gay flowers cultivated, with vegetables, for the city market, and a trip to Santa Anita, over the still waters of the Viga, must not be omitted from the excursions around Mexico; the scene is charming in itself, and haunted moreoverby the long succession of gentle Indians, who for centuries have heaped their boats with flowers, and floated over the dark water chanting low songs.
Humboldt went to inspect the pyramids of the sun and moon at Teotihuacan, and afterwards gave a prolonged study to mines, visiting first Moran and Real del Monte, northeast of the capital, and afterwards Guanajuato. Long before the arrival of the Spaniards, the natives of Mexico were acquainted with the working of subterranean veins to find metal. Cortés says that gold, silver, copper, lead, and tin were all sold in the markets of Tenochtitlan. They either collected grains of native gold in small baskets of slender rushes, or melted the metal into bars, like those now used in trade, represented in Mexican paintings. Humboldt found the methods of mining not advanced from the sixteenth century, without any of the improvements known in his time. The hard work was performed by Indians, the beasts of burden of the mines. They carried out the metal in bags on their backs, going up and down thousands of steps, in long files of fifty or sixty, men of seventy years old, and children of ten or twelve.
The mine of Valenciana, in Humboldt's time the most celebrated of Guanajuato, and the richest then known in Mexico, was not much wrought until the end of the eighteenth century, although it had been somewhat worked by the early Indians and the first Spanish settlers. In 1760, a poor man named Obregon, a Spaniard, began to explore a new vein. As he was a worthy man, he found friends willing to advance small sums from time to time to carry on hiswork. For several years the cost was much greater than the produce, but the pit grew rich as it became deep, and at last yielded quantities of sulphuretted silver. When Obregon, or, as he came to be called, the Count of Valenciana, began to work the vein, goats were browsing over the hill-tops all about the ravine of San Xavier. Ten years after, on the same spot, the climbing streets of Guanajuato sheltered a large population; and at present it is a flourishing city, surrounded by a region all rich in minerals. The produce from the mine at Valenciana has fallen behind that of other later veins, and scarcely covers the outlay.
Humboldt went from Guanajuato to Valladolid, which had not yet changed its name in honor of the mule-driver, Morelos, who had, however, already begun to study in the Colegio of San Nicholas. Valladolid was a small city of eighteen thousand inhabitants. Humboldt says it contained nothing worthy of notice, but an aqueduct and a bishop's palace. He could not fail to admire the lofty picturesque arches of that aqueduct of warm yellow stone, whose long lines vanish in perspective, shaded by great ash trees. He does full justice to the beauty of Patzcuaro, which he declares would alone have repaid him for his voyage across the ocean. Humboldt spent some time there, and his memory of his visit is still preserved in the name of a lofty hill overlooking the lake, named Humboldt's mountain. The hospitable, courteous citizens of Patzcuaro still point out with pride his favorite points of view. They fully appreciate, as he did, the attractions of their lovely lakes.
The volcano Jorullo, twenty leagues south of Patzcuaro, was first made known to men of science in Europe by Humboldt's account of it.
In the middle of the eighteenth century the site of this volcano was covered with peaceful fields of sugar-cane, cotton, and indigo, watered by artificial means, belonging to the plantation of San Pedro de Jorullo. In June, 1759, for the first time, hollow noises from under the ground began to make themselves heard, and in September a tract of ground three or four square miles in extent humped up like a bubble. Thick vapors, smoke, and flames were seen to issue from this area, which rose and fell like the ocean. Large masses of rock and earth sprung up as if from a chasm, and the highest of these developed into a volcano, which burned steadily, throwing up lava and hot ashes for several months.
The Indians were greatly terrified by such a spectacle, as well they might be. Flames were seen at Patzcuaro, and even at Querétaro, many miles away. The roofs of houses were covered with ashes, and the rich plantations of San Pedro reduced to a barren plain. They believed that some missionary monks who were ill received at the plantation poured out horrid imprecations upon the fertile spot, and prophesied that it should be swallowed up by flames rising out of the earth. Whether these vindictive monks had anything to do with it or no, the hacienda of Jorullo was destroyed, all the trees thrown down and buried in sand and ashes from the volcano. The field and roads were covered with sand, crops destroyed, and flocks perished, unable to drink the infected water.
The eruptions grew gradually less and ceased during the following year, but the mountain, with its extinct crater, remains in the place of the once fertile hacienda.
Humboldt and his companion inspected also the great volcano, the pyramid of Cholula, and the picturesque town of Jalapa. They left Mexico by the port of Vera Cruz, and went to Havana, spending nearly a year in the United States.
Mexico could not always remain indifferent to the current of events in Spain. Changes which shook Europe to its uttermost limit raised a tempest whose waves broke with violence even on the remote shores of the province.
Spain, after Philip V., was governed by three of his sons in succession, the last of whom, Charles III., held the throne until 1788. He was a prince of excellent intentions and blameless morals, and through his ministers he brought the country to a degree of prosperity to which it was little accustomed since the days of Philip II.
His good works extended as far as Mexico, where he caused to be founded, in the capital, the Academy of Fine Arts, still in existence. His memory in the days of the viceroys was preserved in New Spain as that of the greatest and wisest of monarchs. His son, Charles IV., succeeded him. It must not be forgotten that the Emperor Charles V. was Charles I. of Spain—fifth Charles only of those of Austria.
Charles IV., in no sense a relative of Charles V., being a Bourbon with instincts and traditions whollydifferent, was a weak and pitiful sovereign. During his reign came the French Revolution, following close upon the Declaration of Independence of the United States of North America, events which gave cause for reflection to all vassals of crowned heads, and especially to all colonized provinces remote from their heads. Yet Mexico remained loyal in spite of the petty tyranny of the viceroy sent from the court of Charles, Branciforte, an Italian adventurer of low bearing and reputation, who obtained his appointment through the interest of the royal favorite Godoy, "Prince of Peace." This viceroy requested permission to erect a statue of his royal master in the Plaza Mayor of the Mexican capital, nominally himself assuming the charges of the work, though nearly the whole expense finally came upon the city and private individuals. It is an equestrian statue cast in bronze. The king is dressed in classic style, wearing a laurel wreath, and in his hand he holds a raised sceptre. Thus a pretentious statue of a sovereign for whom they cared nothing was forced upon the Mexicans, while his predecessor, Charles III., was left without such honor.
In 1822 the statue was inclosed in a great wooden globe painted blue, so that the sight of a tyrant in his robes need not offend the new-born patriotism of the city. But such feelings have now passed away, and it stands in theplazuelafor the observation of loyalist or rebel.
Charles had a son, Ferdinand, with whom, as is frequent in the history of crown princes, he could not agree. Thus when Napoleon Bonaparte, who, passingfrom conquest to conquest, turned his attention to Spain, both father and son sought the aid, or at least sympathy, of the great conqueror in their family quarrel. Accepting this pretext for intervention, Napoleon carried his armies into the peninsula in 1808. The king and court fled from Madrid, with the intention, very decided for a short time, of seeking refuge in Mexico. This project fell through. Charles abdicated in favor of his son, Prince Ferdinand, who became Ferdinand VII. But Napoleon wanted no Ferdinand VII., and made him renounce the crown. French troops took possession of the capital, and Joseph Bonaparte governed Spain under the title of king until 1813. But the Spanish people resisted the French invasion. Councils were assembled, assuming royal authority, to govern in the name of Ferdinand. This was the beginning of theJuntaswhich have since played so important a part in Spanish affairs at home and in her colonies.
We will not follow the matter in Spain further than to add that she was freed from the burden of the Bonapartes by the aid of the English in 1814. A year after, the power of Napoleon was at an end.
The Bourbon dynasty was restored in Spain, as well as in France, and Ferdinand VII. was reinstated, with limited powers, however, for in the course of this period of agitation the Spanish people had tasted the cup of independence, and the ancient arbitrary rule of monarch and favorite was no longer tolerated by them. The Marquis of Branciforte, no longer viceroy, declared himself in favor of Joseph Bonaparte, and emigrated to France. His Mexicanproperty was confiscated later and handed over to the authorities.
Here we must leave Spain to fight her own battles.
In the beginning of the new century, Don José de Iturrigaray took possession of the viceregal seat. He was a man of public spirit, and an excellent ruler. He greatly improved the highroad from Vera Cruz to the capital, built the Puente del Rey, since called the National Bridge, protected commerce, and encouraged home industry. He organized a militia, greatly developed the army, and showed himself devoted to the interests of his charge.
But the audiencia then existing, and many Spaniards, as soon as the news of Napoleon's invasion of Spain reached them, imagined that Iturrigaray, who had thus brought the army to an available condition, had conceived the idea of seizing Mexico, and assuming an independent crown for himself. Acting upon this idea, they rose in revolt, took possession of the palace and seized Iturrigaray and all his family, shutting him up in the fortress of San Juan de Ulóa, until opportunity offered to send him back to Spain. An old marshal of the army, Garibay, was made viceroy in his place, but he ruled but a few months, when the central Junta of Spain ordered him superseded by the Archbishop of Mexico. Whatever were the rights of this question, the act of revolt set an example persistently followed in Mexico through the first half of this century. In this experience it was discovered how easy it was to overturn a government; the Mexicans, delighted with their success, wondered why they had never done it before. Inthis first case, it was the Spaniards, of pure blood, who took the matter into their own hands.
Revolt, independence, were in the air. The policy of Spain had been rigorous in the extreme. Enormous taxes oppressed the people, the colonists had no voice in the making of the laws, which were arbitrary; and their exaction depended on the cruelty or generosity of the reigning viceroy. These rulers, constantly changing, had no opportunity to incorporate themselves with the people. At the best, it was a rule of strangers, in which the individuality of the colony had no chance. Pure Spaniards alone constituted society in Mexico; those of mixed blood were regarded with contempt; while the Indians, native to the soil, counted for nothing.
It was inevitable, then, that revolutions in Mexico should follow those in the rest of the civilized world, but it was hard upon the public-spirited Iturrigaray that its first outburst should fall upon his head. Great agitation followed, and the Archbishop of Mexico had hard work to make good his title received from the Junta Central. He was superseded by the Regency established at home, and Don Francisco Venegas entered the capital as viceroy in 1810.
Miguel Hidalgo was born in the rancho of San Vicente, between the eastern shore of the river Turbio and the hacienda of Cuitzeo de los Naranjos, in the jurisdiction of Penjamo in Guanajuato, on the 8th of May, 1753, the day of the archangel Miguel, whom we call Saint Michael. His father was a well-to-do farmer, Christobal Hidalgo y Costilla, and his mother, Ana Maria Gallega. Miguel was baptized on the 16th of the same month of the year, in the chapel of Cuitzeo de los Naranjos, and passed his childhood at home with his parents. At a proper age he was sent to school in Valladolid, at the Colegio de San Nicholas, where he pursued his studies until he came to be head of the institution. This school was founded by the good Bishop Quiroga, at the time the Cathedral was transferred from Tzintzuntzan, and was therefore one of the first in the country. This fact, and the greater one, that the Benemérito cura Hidalgo not only taught but lived within the walls, where no doubt he first formed his ideas of independence, makes Morelia very proud of its seminary.
CACTUS HEDGE.
Miguel went to Mexico in 1779 to take sacerdotal orders and the degree of bachelor in theology. This was but three years after the declaration of independence in the United States. He served as curate in several places, and on the death of his brother Joaquin received the curacy of the little pueblo of Dolores.
He was a man of intellectual gifts, and good instruction. He knew French, which was uncommon at that time in his class, and his opinions on all subjects were advanced beyond the average of the period.
His predilection was the pursuit of agriculture, and at Dolores it was his pleasure to cultivate the vine and the mulberry. He established a manufacture of bricks and earthenware in the place, and made himself generally beloved by his gentle and affable deportment, notwithstanding his radical ideas, which were regarded as extreme by his people. In the year 1800, he was denounced before the Committee of the Inquisition for maintaining dangerous opinions, without, however, any serious result. Bold schemes he formed for the rescue of his country from the bondage in which she was held by Spain. In the solitude of his pueblo his strong, well-trained glance fixed itself upon the light which was flooding the world from the rising republic on his own continent. This man, sprung from the people, dared to think of a government by the people. He longed to throw off the yoke, not only of an alien government, but of a haughty class. He wanted Mexico to be Mexico, and not a helpless dependency of a rapidly deteriorating Spain.
Such dreams and ideas Hidalgo imparted to a few other persons, and they became plans. Those who talked these things fell under suspicion, and in Querétaro, an attempt was made to seize a small knot of such men. They were warned, and fled or concealed themselves. Hidalgo, hearing of this, instead of following their example, determined to delay no longer, but to declare independence at once. In this resolve he was supported by another patriotic spirit.
Ignacio Allende was born in San Miguel el Grande the 20th of January, 1779. His father was a Spaniard, Narciso Allende, his mother, Mariana Uraga. Of a noble family, with wealth and good position, he was destined for a soldier, and reached the grade of captain of dragoons.
Fired by the ideas of independence which were smouldering everywhere, Allende made frequent visits to Hidalgo, and with him planned the details for the important step they were meditating. Two officers in the regiment of Allende were of his opinion, and became confidants of the plan.
On the night of the 15th of September, 1810, roused by Allende or Aldama, another of the plotters, Hidalgo rose from his bed, dressed himself quietly, and calling his brother to his aid, with ten armed men, besides their few friends, went straight to the prison and liberated certain men, arming them with swords. This was Saturday night, or rather the dawn of Sunday. At early mass, all the parish were informed of what had happened, and every countryman in the neighborhood took theside of Hidalgo, who thus became the leader, if not of an army, at least of a respectable force of Mexicans. The little band hastened to San Miguel el Grande, which they reached before nightfall the same day.
This movement, started by Hidalgo, is called theGrito de Dolores. The little body of eighty men, which soon increased to three hundred, bore for a banner a picture of the Holy Virgin of Guadalupe, belonging to a little village church. Their cry, theGrito, was "Up with True Religion, and Down with False Government."
Nothing like this had happened ever before in Mexico. That common men, not appointed by the court of Spain, should dare to have an opinion about letters, religion, or government was a thing unheard of. For a while amazement prevented any vigorous steps against them. At San Miguel, the regiment of Allende joined the little band, and a crowd of laborers from the field, armed with slings, sticks, and spades. Out of this raw material Hidalgo organized an army, with himself at its head under the title of general, and Allende as his lieutenant.
At Celaya, their numbers had increased to fifty thousand men—some say more. With such a force and supported by the enthusiasm which prevailed, Hidalgo resolved to march upon Guanajuato, an already rich and flourishing city, the capital of the second largest mining state in Mexico. It is built in a deep, narrow ravine, the houses crowded in steep streets like stairways.
Its inhabitants saw with terror and astonishmenta mass of men advancing towards it, armed with strange weapons, but holding the order and discipline of an organized army. The Spaniards, that is the representatives of government, resolved to defend the town, and prepared for the attack.
The Independents were driven back several times. The besieged had entrenched themselves in the strong place, Alhóndiga de Grenaditas, used for storing grain, with the governor of the town at their head; and there defended themselves so well that things were going badly for their opponents, until a little boy, called Pipita, on all fours, with a lighted brand in his hand, shielding himself with a flat tile torn up from the pavement, succeeded in reaching the great gate and setting fire to it, in spite of the bullets which fell about him. Amidst the blaze, the insurgents seized the stronghold by force of arms, and killed or made prisoners all within it. The populace of Guanajuato rose, rushing about the streets and sacking houses and shops. Hidalgo, however, succeeded in restoring order by severe edicts. He established himself in this his first stronghold, to collect supplies of arms and money for his volunteer host. The whole province of Guanajuato declared in his favor, and three squadrons of the regiment del Principe swelled the numbers of his troops.
Just before, on the 13th of September, a new viceroy had arrived in the city of Mexico, little thinking what the nature of his new duties were to be, or that he should be so soon called upon to execute them. Don Francisco Javier Venegas, lieutenant-general ofthe Spanish forces, had distinguished himself in the war between the armies of Spain and Napoleon. He sailed away from confusion at home, and imagined, very likely, that he was going to settle down to the peaceable monotony of a life in the provinces. He began by calling a Junta of prominent persons in the capital, and among other things proclaimed to them that the Regency of Spain begged the aid of money from their loyal Americans to sustain the war against Napoleon.
Three days afterwards independence was declared in the Grito de Dolores. The viceroy learned that Mexico was not behind the age in revolutions, and that he must call upon his military skill to suppress a formidable rising in its cradle. He ordered all the troops then in garrison at Mexico to Querétaro, increased these forces with rural troops, and sent for marines to Vera Cruz, while he summoned forces from San Luis Potosi, at the north, and even those of Guadalajara, in the west, to hold themselves in readiness.
He further published a decree of the Regency, liberating all Indians from taxation, and put a price upon the heads of Hidalgo, Allende, and Aldama of ten thousand dollars, promising also indulgence to such Independents as should at once lay down arms.
The Mexican clergy allied themselves with the civil authorities on this issue; the bishops excommunicated Hidalgo and his companions, and furious sermons were preached against them in the churches. The Inquisition renewed all the charges againstHidalgo which they had found in 1800, and cited him to appear before them. Yet his cry was not against religion, but bad government. The Bishop of Michoacan also excommunicated him, and set at once upon preparing the defence of Valladolid as soon as he heard the echo of the Grito de Dolores.
In fact, excomunication from various dioceses rattled round the heads of the insurgents, who kept on their way little heeding so much mighty sound.
On the 17th of October the Independent troops entered Valladolid without resistance, the valiant bishop having fled to Mexico at the first sign of his approach, together with the civil and military authorities, and many Europeans settled in that hitherto peaceful town. Hidalgo compelled the canons in the absence of the bishop to remove the excommunication fulminated against him and his companions. He established his authority in the place, and in ten days, with his ever-swelling army, took the bold step of advancing upon the capital.
As this terrible band approached, the inhabitants of Mexico, remembering Guanajuato, were filled with fear. Some hid their plate in the convents; others hid themselves; many fled the city. The brave and military viceroy sent his army forward, commanded by Trujillo. Upon the Monte de la Cruces, outside of the city, the forces met, and a terrible battle ensued. The insurgents were swept by the fire of their opponents' artillery; but their immense numbers bore up against all resistance, inspired by enthusiasm in the cause, and triumphed completely, the soldiers of the viceroy abandoning the field with many losses.The commanding general, Trujillo, owed his life to his excellent horse, which bore him swiftly back to Mexico. Had Hidalgo marched immediately upon Mexico, then in a state of panic and confusion most advantageous to his cause, it might have been for him the victorious end of the struggle. Unfortunately, he decided to withdraw towards Querétaro, fearing the approach of reinforcements from the capital.
In fact, at Aculco he was vigorously attacked by the division of Calleja arriving from the north, and, after a hot combat, the insurgents were overcome, losing all their artillery and many men. The huge army melted, and Hidalgo went back to Valladolid with but a handful of men.
Calleja followed Allende to Guanajuato, where he attacked him with the same vigor, so that he was obliged to abandon the city and retreat to Zacatecas, which had already proclaimed independence. A cruel retaliation was taken by Calleja upon the inhabitants of Guanajuato.
Hidalgo again assembled an army, and went to Guadalajara, where the Independents had already declared themselves. No sooner had he left Valladolid than it was again occupied by royalist troops.
In Guadalajara Hidalgo organized a government, taking for himself the title of Generalissimo, and appointing ministers. He sent immediately a commissioner to the United States Government; but this emissary had not gone far before he was seized and made prisoner by the Spaniards. Hidalgo exerted himself vigorously to collect arms andmeans for reorganizing his army. But the royalists, with equal energy and resources far better, had their forces ready to advance under the orders of Calleja, while Hidalgo's army were still in the rough. Nevertheless he resolved to attack without waiting for the royalists, against the opinion of Allende and others, who thought the risk too great. He sallied from Guadalajara with his large but undisciplined force on the 16th of January, to the Puente de Calderon, whence at the fall of evening could be discerned the regular troops of Calleja, to the number of ten thousand men, in the best discipline, and perfectly armed and equipped. The next day was fought the battle of Calderon.
The result was a foregone conclusion. The insurgents fought bravely; the battle was undecided for some hours, but the rout was complete, the vanquished Independents retreating in all directions.
Calleja entered Guadalajara. The insurgents were put down in various places, and the revolution for the time was suppressed.
Hidalgo set forward towards Zacatecas. On the way, he encountered Allende, Jimenez, and other chiefs of the insurrection, who had escaped with many perils from the fatal Puente de Calderon. It is said that their differences of opinion concerning the plan of campaign caused dissatisfaction among them. They agreed, however, to hasten towards the United States with such troops and money as they had left, there to recruit and discipline an army with which to return and conquer.
With a large convoy of mules and baggage, somepieces of artillery, and a considerable escort, they were overtaken and surprised by the Spanish troops not far from the frontier they longed to cross, and were made prisoners in a dismal desert spot called Las Norias de Bajan, in the state of Coahuila which borders upon the Rio Grande. The chiefs of conspiracy were secured and conducted under a strong escort to Chihuahua, where they were tried and condemned to death.
On the 26th day of June, 1811, Allende, Aldama, and Jimenez were shot in Chihuahua, and upon the 31st of July perished Hidalgo, showing in his last moments great bravery and self-possession.
The heads of these four illustrious chiefs were carried to Guanajuato, and nailed upon the four corners of the Alhóndiga de Grenaditas, where they remained for ten years. Later the remains, as those of martyrs, received solemn burial beneath the altar of the sovereigns in the grand cathedral of Mexico.
The execution of these men closed the first period of the struggle for independence in Mexico. The royalist troops had everywhere triumphed; the voices which had uttered the Grito de Dolores were silent. Order might now resume its course, and Venegas, the viceroy, settle into that quiet living he had proposed for himself in the provinces.
It is interesting to wonder what would have happened if the insurgent chief had succeeded in crossing the frontier into the vague regions of the West, under the protection of the American flag. The Government of the United States in 1811 was scarcely in a condition to render efficient aid tostraggling patriots from other countries. Moreover, the lands between the Rio Grande and the new republic were but a wilderness, in which a little handful of men, however brave, however independent, might easily have perished by starvation or cold. The death that came upon them was martyrdom to their cause, more efficient as an incentive to future patriotism than lives of prolonged incomplete effort.
The Alhóndiga de Grenaditas is now used for a prison. In its walls is still to be seen the spike from which for ten years hung the head of Hidalgo. Before the entrance stands a bronze statue of the first liberator of his country.
The Independents were not all destroyed. Before the end of the year which witnessed the execution of the three chiefs, the name of Morelos began to be noised abroad.
The father of Morelos was a carpenter living in Valladolid with his wife Juana Pavon. They were of low birth and poor. On the 30th of September Juana Pavon, on her way to the market-place, was obliged to enter a house on the corner of the street where she chanced to be, in order that her son should be born immediately. This house now has a stone inserted over the doorway thus inscribed:
The immortalJosé M. Morelos was born in this houseon the 30th of September 1765.16th of September 1881.
In 1801, this son, then a curate in the neighborhood, bought another house in the town, which he rebuilt and made comfortable. This house remains in the hands of the relatives of the hero, who also possess his portrait and a piece of the cloth withwhich his eyes were bandaged on the 22d of December, 1815. Over the door is inscribed:
Morelos the illustrious!Immortal Hero.In this house, honored by thy presence,Salute you the grateful people of Morelia.
For the grateful people of his birthplace changed the time-honored name of their city to Morelia in honor of their patriotic citizen, thus paying a worthy tribute to his memory, although slighting that of the good viceroy who established its foundations.
The parents of Morelos dedicated him to the career of a muleteer, as the local history expresses it, and a muleteer he remained until he was thirty years old. At that advanced age he had the courage to enter the Colegio de San Nicholas, where Hidalgo was then superintendent. It is easy to see that other lessons were taught there besides those of the school curriculum; Morelos made rapid progress in all branches of education, was ordained to the church, and obtained several successive curacies. Thus employed, when the Grito de Dolores sounded over Anahuac, he offered his services to the Generalissimo Hidalgo on the side of independence. He was sent to raise the standard of liberty on the Pacific coast, and starting from his village with twenty-five men, arrived at Acapulco with a thousand.
In various encounters with the royalists, Morelos and his men were successful. He showed great perception in the management of troops, and marchedfrom one triumph to another as far as Cuautla, a picturesque town eighty-five miles southeast of the city of Mexico. Its lower level makes it tropical and picturesque, with lanes winding about among the adobe huts of the Indians, hedged with banana and orange trees, and hung with all manner of wandering vines and brilliant blossoms. Water trickles everywhere, and across the broad valley rises toward the north the peak of Popocatepetl.
Here Morelos sustained a siege against the well trained army of Calleja, still in the field, and ripe with the honors of victory in the campaigns at Hidalgo. The Independents held out from the 19th of February to the 2d of May, with great valor and endurance, repulsing three assaults, and sustaining daily attacks, while their sufferings were great from lack of food and water. The fame of Morelos, heroic defender of Cuautla, spread far and wide. After sixty-two days of steady resistance, Morelos, recognizing that he must abandon the place, succeeded in coming out at night without molestation, retiring in order towards the north.
Until the end of the year 1812, Morelos was engaged in leading his army from one victory to another, and gathering everywhere additions to his forces. The next year he ventured as far as Acapulco, scene of his first expedition. The garrison there capitulated, and he took possession of the fortress of San Diego in August, 1813.
On the 14th of September, Morelos called together the first Mexican Congress, at Chilpantzingo, not very far from the Pacific coast. Among its memberswere many whose names have since been repeatedly before the Mexicans as liberals. The first act of this Congress was to nominate Morelos Captain-General of the Independent forces. It was thought significant that on the same date, September 15th, three years before, Hidalgo had placed himself in the same post of honor and difficulty.
The declaration of independence issued by this Congress was as follows:
"The Congress of Anahuac, lawfully installed in the city of Chilpantzingo, of North America, solemnly declares, in the presence of God, arbitrator of kingdoms and author of society, who gives and takes away according to the inscrutable designs of his providence, that, through the present circumstances of Europe, it has recovered the exercise of its sovereignty, hitherto usurped, its dependence upon the throne of Spain being thus forever disrupted and dissolved."
During this year the viceroy, Venegas, was recalled by the regency, and the office conferred upon Calleja, who had so valiantly defended the royalist cause.
The plan of Morelos was to take Valladolid, and establish there the seat of Congress. Bringing together all his forces, he approached the capital of Michoacan on the 23d December, and demanded its surrender. But the city was now occupied by the royalist forces of two commanders, one of whom was Agustin de Yturbide, already renowned for his repeated victories over the insurgents and the unrelenting vigor with which he pursued them. These forcesattacked the army of Morelos, and completely routed it on Christmas eve.
Morelos escaped, and with a few soldiers returned to Acapulco. The prestige of his army was lost; apparently his star was declining. One mishap after another followed, and the royal forces pursued him with unrelenting vigilance, which he evaded several times with very narrow escapes. The campaign of Yturbide was vigorous; several of the best captains of the Independents were captured, and paid with their lives for their devotion to the cause of liberty. Among them was Matamoras. Meanwhile the first Mexican Congress, like many another, was not harmonious; divisions arose between its deputies and its general. The patriot was learning that it is harder to keep a government well in hand than it is to seize it by force.
In 1815 this Congress decided it would like to move to Tehuacan, and assigned to Morelos the task of escorting it thither with all the troops he held at his disposition. This strange march set forth in mystery and concealment on the 29th of September; but in spite of the stratagems of Morelos, the royalist forces discovered its route, and intercepted it. Morelos gave front to the enemy, that the honorable deputies and members of his Congress might have a chance to escape. His force was routed, he himself betrayed by a deserter.
Morelos was taken to Mexico; the ecclesiastical tribunes covered him with ignominy, and he was handed over to the military authorities. By them he was at once sentenced to death, and on the 22dof December, 1815, he was shot in the small town San Cristóbal Ecatepec, dying with the bravery of a hero.
This was the end of the dark period, called the second, of Mexican independence. Its life was in its chief, the daring, patriotic Morelos.
There is no doubt that Morelos had many of the great qualities for a successful leader of men. He was born in poverty, with no antecedents of greatness; untaught, even in the rudiments of learning, until he was thirty; up to that time patiently driving mules along the steep paths of his native state. Whoever has watched the slow, though sure, progress of these animals, and the enforced loitering in the pace of him who accompanies them, must be impressed with the idea that patience is a virtue likely to be developed in such training.
Great ideas then pervaded society. It is probable that Morelos was more than dazzled by the brilliancy of Napoleon's career. Military success inflamed many hearts and turned many heads in those days. There was the making of a military commander in the stuff of which Morelos was compounded. With the opportunities of Napoleon for creating large armies, well equipped with all the appurtenances of warfare developed by the skill and science of the time, Morelos might have arrived at his object, the liberty of his country.
There is no reason to suppose that a personal ambition animated him. He made himself general-in-chief of his army, but that was a necessary step for the furtherance of his designs. His fixed ideawas that of an independent Mexico. So little was he tempted by the trials of prosperity, it is impossible to say whether success, the sparkling foam of flattery, would have turned his head, as they did so many others, in the supreme hours of attainment.
As it was, he died the death of a hero, leaving behind him a reputation pure and unsullied by the taint of personal ambition.
His career was in no sense a failure. The object of his sacrifice was achieved in effect; the independence of Mexico, although not within his own grasp, was sure. Another idea of great importance was impressed upon the Spanish in Mexico, the Spaniards in the mother country and the world looking on: that the blood of the native Mexican was capable of great deeds, that the descendants of the Aztecs were something better thanpeones, slaves without the name. The lower class of the population of Anahuac raised their heads and listened. Low murmurs, as of a distant ocean, told them that the tide of their destiny was turned, that the day was coming when it would break with force against the bulwarks built up against it.
Morelos could die content. He had achieved for himself no proud seat on the throne of the Montezumas; he asked no such reward.
He had forcibly impressed upon his country the ideas first given to him and them by the Curate Hidalgo. The impression was not washed out, but made fast by the blood he caused to be shed, and his own.
If glory was his aim, that he has attained. TheMexicans adore Morelos. His native town is baptized anew with his name, and the state bears the name of Morelos, which contains Cuautla, the town he defended for sixty-two days with the patience of the muleteer and the obstinacy of his animals.
If the subsequent leaders of Mexican independence have not been always true to the example he gave them, of unselfish devotion to his cause, the great population has never wavered in its devotion to his memory.
In the public square of Morelos, capital of the state which also bears his name, is a marble statue of the hero, set up during the French occupation, on September 30, 1865, the one hundredth anniversary of the birth of Morelos. The Emperor Maximilian presided on the occasion.
Calleja remained several months at the head of government and then returned to Spain, having taken vigorous measures to extinguish forever, as he thought, the flames of insurrection. In the last days of his administration he arrested and sent to a convent two women distinguished for their devotion to the cause of independence; one of them, Doña Josefa Dominguez, the wife of the man who began with Hidalgo the agitation of the subject.
Calleja returned to Spain, where he was made Conde de Calderon. He was cruel and despotic, and has left in Mexico a name much detested.
The struggle for independence continued in several parts of the country, but the Spanish government, with good troops and ample resources, either dispersed or routed the rebellious forces. Some of the chiefs of the insurrection abandoned the cause, accepting the indulgence offered them by the viceroy, while others retired to the mountains, like Pelayo in the early days of Spain, when the Moors swept over the Peninsula, to keep active for happier days the sacred fire of liberty.
The successor of Calleja, Apodaca, by his conciliatoryand humane conduct, did much to tranquillize society near the capital, but ideas of independence were still working all over the country. Guerrero, who must be counted among the heroes of the movement, showed an unwearying activity in the campaign. Many times his forces were routed; many times they triumphed; neither success nor defeat made him waver. He was covered with wounds, but heeded them not; he was deaf to proposals of clemency from the royalists. In the mountains of the south, to which he retired, he kept up constant warfare upon the Spanish troops, and even set up a new national government. This he continued without falling into the hands of the royalists until 1820, when the course of Yturbide put a stop to a warfare which had lasted ten years and soaked in blood the soil of Anahuac.
The French had been driven from Spain in 1814, and Ferdinand VII. was again upon the throne, but there was a revolution in 1820, by which he was compelled to surrender much of the authority which he had taken upon himself in spite of his oaths and promises. He was obliged to convoke the Cortés, to change his ministers for liberals, to abolish the Inquisition, free the press, and re-establish the national militia.
Such events awoke again the demand for a liberal government in Mexico. It was then that an officer in the royalist army, a native Mexican, who had hitherto distinguished himself on that side, now changed his allegiance, and took up the cause of independence.
The concessions forced on King Ferdinand were celebrated in Mexico on the 31st of May, 1820, the suppression of the Inquisition and the liberty of the press being subjects of great rejoicings. The independent party saw in these reforms an opportunity to avail themselves of the new element to realize their most ardent visions. A great division was produced among the resident Spaniards of the country, for while some of these declared in favor of the constitution, the greater part showed themselves hostile to it, still clinging to ideas of absolute power, and foreseeing that so great a political change would hasten the independence of Mexico.
Agustin de Yturbide was born in the city of Valladolid, not then re-named Morelia, on the 27th of September, 1783. His parents were of native Mexican blood, Joaquin de Yturbide, born in Pamplona, and Ana Arámburu.
He had entered a royalist regiment before he was sixteen years old, and until 1808 he showed himself a vigorous opponent of the liberal party, serving with his troops in different parts of the country, always signalizing himself by his valor, his activity, and his adroit combinations to bring about the defeat of the cause opposed to his own. Through the intervening grades he passed to be colonel, and held commands of importance at Guanajuato and Valladolid.
In the diversity of opinions of 1820, Yturbide was among those who accepted the idea of a complete separation for Mexico from the Peninsula. Just at that time the viceroy conferred upon him the grade of brigadier, and gave him command of a body oftroops destined to operate against the insurgents of Guerrero in the south.
Yturbide left the capital in November, and a month later found himself confronted by an enemy of something like three thousand men. After several encounters unfavorable to his command, Yturbide entered into an active correspondence with the opposing chief, the result of which was an interview for friendly conference. Both generals found themselves in accord, for, to the surprise of Guerrero, his opponent revealed an ardent desire to proclaim independence. Guerrero, without personal ambition, willingly handed over the command to the renegade, who announced, on February 24th, the so-called "Plan of Iguala."
Three essential articles made up this proposal: (1) the preservation of the Roman Catholic Church, with the exclusion of other forms of religion; (2) the absolute independence of Mexico under the government of a moderate monarchy with some member of the reigning house of Spain upon the throne; and (3) the amicable union of Spaniards and Mexicans. These three clauses were called the "three guaranties." When the national Mexican flag was devised later, its colors represented these three articles of the national faith—white for religious purity, green for union, and red for independence. The army of Yturbide was known as the army of the three guaranties.
Upon this basis the contest was resumed. It found favor in many parts of Mexico, and the independent troops, with their chiefs, very generally gave in their adherence at once to the Plan of Iguala.
As soon as the viceroy could recover from his surprise on waking up one day to find a brigadier of his own troops concerting a revolution, he issued manifestoes against the undertaking, and at once set about raising an army of six thousand men, which advanced but slowly to the field of action in the south, where the troops of the late brigadier had joined the insurgent forces. This gave time for the Independents to collect together the various forces of Bustamente and other chiefs of their way of thinking. Valladolid was compelled to capitulate for the third or fourth time in twenty years; afterwards Querétaro, and, finally, Puebla, which, besieged by the troops of Bravo and Herrera, surrendered to Yturbide, who made a triumphal entry into the city on the 2d of August, 1821. This was the first of the sieges which the City of the Angels has sustained, its position with regard to the capital exposing it to every ill wind that blows in that direction.
The viceroy, Apodaca, hearing of the rapid triumphs of the insurgents, adopted defensive measures. He established a permanent Junta of war, stopped the liberty of the press, and decreed the enforced enlistment of all men between sixteen and sixty. But desertions were constant, the public spirit was aroused against government, and except that the pure Spaniards were in favor of it, all social classes were decided to overthrow the old regime. Even the garrison of Mexico, losing faith in the viceroy, conspired against him. A meeting inspired by these discontented troops invaded the viceregal palace, and informed Apodaca that hischarge was at an end. Francisco Novella, sub-inspector of artillery, was hastily set up into his place; the deposed viceroy left the capital next day with his family, and returned, with such haste as they could bring to pass, to Spain.
The sub-inspector of artillery went to bed in the palace of the royal viceroy; when he rose the next morning he found little or nothing to do. Like his deposed predecessor, he went on dictating measures, which nobody noticed, to check the revolution; but this had advanced too far for sub-inspectors to lay hands upon.
Not only the old insurgents came to the front, but the greater part of the chiefs of the royalists, Spanish as well as Mexican, declared for independence, Santa Anna, at Vera Cruz, among others. Yturbide placed himself at the head of all, and with such resources the campaign was swift and successful. Thus passed the month of July. On the 30th arrived at Vera Cruz a new viceroy, sent in advance, before insurrection was dreamed of at home, to replace Apodaca, the last governor ever sent from Spain, Juan O'Donojú, sixty-fourth viceroy since the coming of Mendoza.
He disembarked, took the oath of office before the governor of Vera Cruz, and assumed the position of governor and captain-general.
Yturbide hastened to meet him at Cordova on his way to the capital, and convinced him by the eloquence of his arguments and the proof of his power, visible in the ample number of troops within his control, that discretion was the better part of valor.The Treaty of Cordova, then and there settled between these two men, declared the independence of Mexico, with Ferdinand VII. or some other for its independent sovereign, establishing a Junta of government, to which O'Donojú stipulated to belong, provisional until a king should be found.
These things settled, Yturbide and O'Donojú, hand in hand, as Yturbide and Guerrero had come before, approached the capital. Sub-inspector Novella was summoned outside the city to a conference, and not unwillingly surrendered his brief authority to the two harmonious chieftains.
Yturbide paused at Toluca to collect all his forces and to draw in such Spanish troops as were now ready to accept him. On the 27th of September, his birthday, he made a triumphal entry into the capital with the army of the Independents, consisting of some sixteen thousand men, with sixty-eight pieces of artillery. They were received with immense enthusiasm, and great demonstrations of rejoicing signalized the end of Spanish domination, which had lasted three hundred years.
On the next day, the 28th of September, the provisional Junta met, and declared itself installed under the presidency of Yturbide. Its thirty-eight members accepted by oath the Plan of Iguala and the Treaty of Cordova, and further issued an Act of Independence of the Mexican Empire, subscribed to by all the Junta. A government was formed, called the Regency, composed of Don Agustin de Yturbide, president, and five other members, among them Don Juan O'Donojú. The latter died the nextmonth, and thus ended his very brief career in Mexico; his place was taken by the Bishop of Puebla.
Thus was formed, at a stroke, the Mexican Empire, whose wide territory extended from Guatemala on the south, over lands now included in Texas, the two Californias, and New Mexico at the north.
Many Spaniards, disgusted with this turn of affairs, returned to Europe with their families. Others concluded to accept the situation, and remained to watch the course of events.
The new government set to work in good earnest to strengthen its foundations and extend its influence. The province of Chiapas, on the Pacific coast, declared its emancipation from Spain, and of its own accord withdrew from Guatemala and incorporated itself with Mexico. It still remains a Mexican state. Guatemala also declared its wish to join the Mexican Empire, and the Guatemalian representatives accordingly took their seats in the first Mexican Congress; but the next year this province concluded to become an independent nation on its own account, and took itself away from the empire.
The solemn installation of this second Mexican Congress took place in February, 1822. Its first act was to interfere with the proceedings of the Regency. Ill-feeling, produced by want of harmony, increased daily, forming parties which strongly adhered either to one side or the other. Of these, the original Independents, and such Spaniards as sincerely desired the fulfilment of the Plan of Iguala, by which aSpanish prince was to be chosen their ruler, manifested more and more their disapproval of the President of the Regency; while the other party, composed of the army, the clergy, and some Spaniards, had already accepted the idea of elevating Yturbide to a throne.
A ferment of discordant opinions, conflicting interests, and personal ambitions arose, in the midst of which came the news, naturally to be expected, that the Cortés of Spain declared null and void the Treaty of Cordova, concerted by Yturbide and O'Donojú.
This gave Yturbide his opportunity. On the night of the 18th of May, a movement was begun by a sergeant of one of the regiments, echoed immediately by various garrison corps, proclaiming Yturbide Emperor. The leader modestly referred these applicants to the decision of Congress, and this body, the next day, with soldiers all around, in the highest state of impatient excitement, declared, by a vote of sixty-seven against a minority of fifteen, the Emperor, under the title of Agustin I.
Thus by rapid steps had Yturbide climbed from the position of a simple soldier without rank to the throne of the Montezumas. Wholly different from Morelos, he cannot be called a patriot in the highest sense. Probably his motive from the very beginning was personal ambition, in which loyalty to a king or to a cause had no part. He too, doubtless, had watched the career of Napoleon Bonaparte, at that time a dangerous light shining in the eyes of all men. Yet it must not be forgotten that if Yturbide worked for himself, he yet achieved, at the sametime, the independence of his country. His throne was an unsteady one, but the dais erected for it to rest upon became the solid platform of liberty.
Agustin I. took the oath of office before the Mexican Congress, which proceeded to pass decrees establishing the succession to the throne, the titles and forms of address to be held toward the members of the imperial family, as well as their endowments, corresponding to their rank, details which turned out to be of no permanent value.
On the 21st of July, Yturbide and his wife were anointed and crowned in the Cathedral, with all the solemnities and forms which have been observed in Europe on such occasions for centuries.
But the Emperor was not firmly established upon his throne. As soon as they had recovered from their fright and surprise, many of the deputies, who had voted unwillingly with the majority, began to impede the course of Yturbide. All parties who had any reason for discontent made common cause against the Emperor. Signs of dissatisfaction reached Yturbide, who invited the struggle by dissolving Congress. In place of this assembly he established a Junta more under his own control; and, rid of the troublesome Congress, proceeded to issue edicts, and make forced loans to carry on his empire.
Suddenly, on the 6th of December, the Republic was proclaimed at Vera Cruz. Yturbide happened to be in Puebla at the time. He hastened to Mexico, and sent a division of troops to Vera Cruz to defend his title and put down the insurrection.
Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna was at the head ofthis movement, a general in the Spanish army, who had lately come into the views of the revolutionists. At Vera Cruz a plan was formed called the Casa-Mata, approved of by Bravo, Guerrero, and other generals, which, in substance, proclaimed the deposition of Yturbide; everywhere it was accepted by the generals of armies throughout the country, so that, by the end of a month, Yturbide found himself alone in the city of Mexico. Unwilling to light the fires of civil war, he acknowledged himself vanquished, and abdicated, retiring from the capital with his family. Congress closed in behind him, pronounced the whole episode of the Empire a work of violence and force, so that the hereditary succession was null. Yturbide was declared banished from the country, while, at the same time, a life annuity was voted to him of $25,000 in recognition of his services to the nation.
Thus disappeared, as suddenly as it had risen, the phantom of a second Empire in the realm of the Aztecs.
Yturbide left the country with his family upon an English vessel bound for Leghorn. A few months later he wrote from London to the home government, warning them of European schemes to restore Spanish rule in Mexico, and offering his services to his country should such an attempt be made.
The ruling powers were afraid of a popular revulsion in his favor, and regarded it as altogether safest to keep him at a distance. The reply of Congress to this letter was to pass a decree declaring Yturbide a traitor to his country, as such to be put to death whenever he should return to Mexico.