Mexico, Aztec, Spanish and Republican Part 13

It was at this period, also, that Don Martin established the _alcabala_; and, although the merchants opposed the measure, which was entirely new to them, and alleged that it was a mortal blow to their business, they were unable to force the viceroy to retract his measure. His determination was founded on the fact that trade had now become established on a firm and robust basis, and that it could well bear without injury an impost of this character.

In the years 1574 and 1575 there were serious discussions between the temporal and spiritual powers of Mexico, growing out of a royal order that no prelate should be admitted in the country unless he bore a suitable license from the Council of the Indies. In 1576, Mexico was again visited by a frightful pestilence, which spread rapidly, and carried off large numbers of victims. The whole of New Spain was ravaged by it, and neither care, nor medical science, seems to have had the least effect either in curing or in alleviating the sufferers.

The symptoms of this malady were a violent pain in the head which was succeeded by a burning fever, under which the patient sank. None survived the seventh day, and it is reported that near two millions perished under the dreadful scourge. The malady abated at the close of the rainy season, and disappeared entirely at the beginning of 1577.

In the two succeeding years, Don Martin commanded that the usual annual tribute should not be collected from the Indians. This measure was designed to alleviate the lot of these suffering subjects of the king and to testify the paternal regard which he cherished for a race that served him and his subjects so beneficially in the mines. It was in the mineral districts that the Indians were in reality the greatest sufferers and laborers in New Spain. Their toil was incessant. Their task masters gave them no respite in the bowels of the earth, for they wrought as if they designed to sc.r.a.pe every vein and artery of the colony's soil. Silver and labor were calculated with exactness, and no limit to the Indian's industry was prescribed save that which was imposed by his capacity for work and his power of endurance. The viceroy, seeking to alleviate this, introduced a milder system, as far as he was able, among the leading miners of the colony. He insisted upon permitting the Indians regular repose, and he forbade their entire confinement within the mines, but commanded that they should be allowed time to breathe the fresh air on the surface of the earth, and suffered to attend to their own domestic labors, or to toil on public works for a competent recompense.

The government of Don Martin had thus far been unusually calm, but his last moments in Mexico were to be disturbed by a quarrel with a Franciscan monk, named Rivera, who had called at the palace to see the viceroy on a matter of business for his convent, and had been forced to wait a considerable time without being finally honored with an audience. The petulant friar regarded this as a slight upon the brotherhood, and, shortly afterwards, whilst preaching in the cathedral, declared, with a sneering and offensive purpose against the viceroy, that "in the palace all became equal, and that no difference was made between ecclesiastics and secular folks!"

The viceroy could not permit so flagrant a breach of decorum and so dangerous a taunt in a popular appeal, to rest unrebuked. He therefore demanded the punishment of the pulpit critic, and the Audiencia ordered Rivera to depart forthwith for Spain. But the haughty monk in order to avoid the disgrace of expulsion, united the whole body of his fraternity in the quarrel, and singing the psalm "In exitu Israel de aegipto," they departed from the city by the road leading to Vera Cruz.

The viceroy seems to have been moved by this act of the brotherhood, and immediately wrote to Rivera in soothing terms requesting him to return to Mexico where justice should be done him. The Franciscan returned, but soon after received a royal order to depart for Spain.

In 1580, the abundant rain caused again an inundation of the capital, and Don Martin Enriquez was about to engage in the construction of the celebrated ca.n.a.l of Huehuetoca, when he was removed to the viceroyalty of Peru.

DON LORENZO XUARES, CONDE DE LA CORUnA, V. VICEROY OF MEXICO.

1580-1583.

Don Lorenzo Xuares, Conde de la Coruna, was appointed by the king, successor of Almanza, and made his triumphal entry into the city of Mexico on the evening of the 4th of October, 1580. The gay and affable character of this personage at once attracted the people and the colonial court; and in consequence of the rapidly increasing population, wealth, and luxury of New Spain, as well as from the unreserved demeanor of the viceroy, it was supposed that a golden age had arrived in the history of Mexico, which would forever signalize the administration of Xuares.

Perhaps the viceroy was too lenient and amiable for the task that had been imposed on him in America. The epoch of speculation and adventure had not yet pa.s.sed by, and of course, the corruption which ever follows in their train required still to be closely watched and quickly checked. To this duty Xuares did not immediately address himself, and the result was that the oidores, the alcaldes, and all who administered justice, at once put themselves up to auction and sold their services, their favors, or their decisions to the highest bidder. Disorder reigned in every department, in the year following the arrival of Xuares; and even the royal revenues, which hitherto had generally remained sacred, were squandered or secreted by the persons to whose care and fidelity their collection was intrusted. The limitations which we have already seen were placed upon a viceroy's power in the time of Velasco, now tied the hands of Xuares. He could not dismiss or even suspend the defrauders of the revenue or the public wretches who prost.i.tuted their official power for gold. Nor was he, probably, unwilling to be deprived of a dangerous right which would have placed him in direct hostility to the army of speculators and jobbers. And yet it was necessary for the preservation of the colony that these evils should be quickly abated. In this political strait, concealing his intentions from the viceroyal court, he applied to Philip to send a Visitador with ample powers to readjust the disorganized realm.

The commerce of New Spain had augmented astonishingly within a few years. Vera Cruz and Acapulco had become splendid emporiums of wealth and trade. The east and the west poured their people into Mexico through these cities; and, in the capital, some of the most distinguished merchants of Europe, Asia, and Africa met every year, midway between Spain and China, to transact business and exchange opinions upon the growing facilities of an extended commerce. Peru and Mexico furnished the precious metals which were always so greedily demanded by the east. In 1581, Philip II., in view of this state of things in his colony, issued a royal order for the establishment in Mexico for a Tribunal de Consulado,[33] though, it was not, in fact, actually put in effective operation until the year 1593, under the administration of Velasco the Second. In the midsummer of 1582, the viceroy expired, probably of mingled anxiety and old age; and it was well for Mexico that he pa.s.sed so rapidly from a stage in whose delicate drama, his years and his abilities altogether unfitted him to play so conspicuous a part.

DON PEDRO MOYA DE CONTRERAS, ARCHBISHOP OF MEXICO, FIRST INQUISITOR AND VISITADOR, AND VI. VICEROY OF NEW SPAIN. 1583-1585.

Upon the death of Xuares, the Audiencia immediately a.s.sumed the direction of the state; but the members of this august tribunal were altogether ignorant of the demand made by the late viceroy for a Visitador, until Don Pedro de Contreras, placed in their hands the despatch from Philip, naming him for this important service.

The archbishop was a man well known in Mexico. Cold, austere, rigid in his demeanor and principles, he was the very man to be chosen for the dangerous duty of contending with a band of rich, proud and unscrupulous officials. His sacred character as arch-prelate of Mexico, was of no little use in such an exigency, for it gave him spiritual as well as temporal power over ma.s.ses which might sometimes be swayed by their conscientious dread of the church, even when they could not be controlled by the arm of law. Besides this, he was the first _Inquisitor_ of Mexico, and in the dreaded mysteries of the holy office, there was an overwhelming power before which the most daring offenders would not venture to rebel or intrigue.

It may be well imagined that the unexpected appearance of so formidable an ecclesiastic upon the state, armed with the sword as well as the cross, was well calculated to awe the profligate officials. The members of the Audiencia trembled when they read the royal order, for the archbishop knew them well, and had been long cognizant, not only of their own maladministration but of the irregularities they countenanced in others.

Don Pedro immediately undertook the discharge of his office, and in a few days, heard a great number of complaints against various individuals, but as he did not design proceeding with revengeful severity against even the most culpable, he resolved to report his proceedings to the king, and, in the meanwhile, to retain in office all persons who performed their duties faithfully whilst he put an end to the most flagrant abuses.

As soon as Philip II. heard, in 1584, of the death of Mendoza, he added the t.i.tle and powers of viceroy to those already possessed by the archbishop, and, with his commission as royal representative, he sent him additional authority which had never been enjoyed by any of his predecessors. He was, thus, empowered to remove, at will, all persons from public employment, and even to expel ministers and oidores, as well as to visit with severe punishments all who deserved them. Under this ample discretion the viceroy removed some of the oidores, suspended others, hanged certain royal officers who had disgraced their trusts, and brought the tribunals of justice into perfect order. The king had proposed to bring the _dispersed Indians_ into towns and villages so as to control them more effectually, but the viceroy, after consulting the priests who were best acquainted with that population, deemed it best to defer the execution of the royal order until he laid the objections to it before Philip.[34] In 1585, a seminary for the Indians was established, in which they were taught to read, write and comprehend the rudiments of the Catholic faith. This inst.i.tution was under the charge of the Jesuits, whose zeal for education has been celebrated in the history of all countries into which this powerful and enlightened order of the priesthood has penetrated. A provincial council of American bishops, was, moreover, convened this year in Mexico under the auspices of Contreras.

Nor was the viceroy eager only to correct the civil and religious abuses of the country without attending to the fiscal advantages which he knew the king was always eager to secure from his colonies. In testimony of his zeal he despatched, at this period, a rich fleet for Spain. It bore three millions three hundred thousand ducats in coined silver, and one thousand one hundred marks in gold, together with a variety of other valuable products, all of which arrived safely in port.

The power of this vigorous ruler, as viceroy, continued, however, but for a single year. He was the scourge of officials in all cla.s.ses, while the good men of the colony prayed heartily for the continuance of his authority; but it is probable that his rigor had excited against him the talents for intrigue which we have heretofore seen were sometimes so actively and successfully employed both in Mexico and Spain. In October of 1585, his successor arrived in the capital.

DON ALVARO ENRIQUE DE ZUnIGA, MARQUES DE VILLA MANRIQUE, VII. VICEROY OF MEXICO. 1585-1589.

The arrival of the Marques de Villa Manrique was not designed to interfere with the functions of the archbishop and former viceroy Contreras, as _Visitador_. He was solicited to continue his plenary examination into the abuses of government in New Spain, and to clear the country of all malefactors before he retired once more to the cloisters. Accordingly, Don Pedro remained in Mexico some time discharging his duties, and it is probably owing to his presence that the first year of the new viceroy pa.s.sed off in perfect peace. But in the succeeding year, in which the archbishop departed for Spain, his troubles began by a serious discussion with the Franciscans, Agustins and Dominicans, in which the monks at last appealed from the viceroy to the king. Before Contreras, the visitador, left Mexico he had managed to change all the judges composing the tribunals of the colony. The men he selected in their stead were all personally known to him or were appointed upon the recommendation of persons whose integrity and capacity for judgment were unquestionable.

This remarkable man died soon after his arrival in Madrid, where he had been appointed president of the Council of the Indies. Like all reformers he went to his grave poor; but when the king learned his indigence he took upon himself the costs of sepulture, and laid his colonial representative and bishop to the tomb in a manner befitting one who had exercised so great and beneficial an influence in the temporary reform of the New World. The sole stain upon the memory of Contreras is perhaps the fact that he was an inquisitor.

In 1587, the viceroy Zuniga despatched a large amount of treasure to Spain. Enormous sums were drained annually from the colonies for the royal metropolis; but, in this year the fleet from Vera Cruz sailed with eleven hundred and fifty-six marks of gold, in addition to an immense amount of coined silver and merchandise of great value. These sums pa.s.sed safely to the hands of the court; but such was not the case with all the precious freights that left the American coasts, for, at this period, the sh.o.r.es of our continent, on both oceans, began to swarm with pirates. The subjects of various European nations, but especially the English, were most active in enterprises which, in those days, were probably regarded more as privateering than as the bandit expeditions they have since been considered not only in morals but in law. In the year before, Cavendish had taken in the Pacific, a Spanish ship, which was bound from Manilla to Acapulco, with a rich cargo of wares from China; and, in this year, it was known that Drake, another noted adventurer, after making himself celebrated by the capture of San Agustin, in Florida, had sailed for the Pacific ocean, whose rich coasts, as well as the oriental traders, formed a tempting booty for the bucanier.

As soon as the viceroy heard of this piratical sailor's approach to the western boundary of his colony, he commanded the troops in Guadalajara to embark at Acapulco, under the orders of Doctor Palacios, in all the vessels which were then in port, and to scour the sh.o.r.es of America until the British marauder was captured. But, upon the commander's arrival at Acapulco, he was informed that the freebooter had already abandoned the west coast after sacking several towns, and that he had not been seen or heard of any where for a long period. Drake, meanwhile, was in concealment among the distant and unfrequented coves of California, in such a situation, however, that he could easily intercept the galeon, which pa.s.sed every year from the Philipines to Mexico, laden with goods and metals of considerable value. In due time he pounced upon his unsuspecting prey; and, carrying her into a bay near the Cape of San Lucas, plundered her valuable cargo, and set fire to the deserted hull. The news of this mishap soon reached the ears of Palacios, who, of course, immediately set sail after the corsair. But Drake was already far on his way to a spot of safety in which he and his companions might enjoy the fruits of their piratical adventure.

This successful attack upon a vessel of so much importance to the colony,--for only _one_ was annually permitted to cross the Pacific,--greatly troubled the people who depended upon its arrival for their yearly supply of oriental wares. But as soon as the general calm was gradually restored, an internal trouble arose which was well nigh proving of serious import to the viceroyalty. Zuniga does not seem to have been contented with the jurisdiction which had hitherto been conceded to the viceroy, but, being anxious to extend his authority over certain towns and villages, under the control of the Audiencia of Guadalajara, he demanded of that body the surrender of their dominion. The Audiencia, however, was jealous of its rights, and would not yield to the viceroy who was equally pertinacious. The dispute ran high between the parties. Threats were used when diplomacy failed, and at length, the disputants reached, but did not pa.s.s, the verge of civil war, for, on both sides they seem to have ordered out troops, who, fortunately never actually engaged in combat.

This ill judged act of the viceroy was fatal to his power. Letters and pet.i.tions were forthwith despatched to Madrid requiring and begging the removal of a man whose rashness was near producing a civil war.

This was a charge not to be disregarded by the king, and, accordingly, we find that a successor to Zuniga was immediately named, and that the bishop of Tlascala was appointed visitador to examine the conduct of the deposed viceroy.

On the 17th of January, 1590, this prelate, who seems to have been originally inimical to Zuniga, and who should therefore have disdained the office of his judge, ordered him to depart from Mexico. All the property of the late viceroy,--even the linen of his wife,--was sequestrated; the most hara.s.sing annoyances were constantly inflicted upon him; and, after six years, poor and worn down by unceasing trials, he returned to Spain, where the influence of his friends at court procured the restoration of his property.

[Footnote 33: This was a mercantile tribunal.]

[Footnote 34: The Indians alluded to in this pa.s.sage were vaguely designated as Chichimecas, Otomics, and Mexican. They probably inhabited a tract of country lying north west of the kingdom of Michoacan.--See 1st. vol. Trans. Amn. Ethnl. Soc. p. 2.]

CHAPTER V.

1589-1607.

LUIS DE VELASCO--THE SECOND--BECOMES VICEROY.--DELIGHT OF THE MEXICANS.--FACTORIES REOPENED--CHICHIMECAS--COLONIZATION.-- ALAMEDA--INDIANS TAXED FOR EUROPEAN WARS.--COMPOSITION--FOWLS-- ACEBEDO VICEROY.--EXPEDITION TO NEW MEXICO.--INDIAN AMELIORATIONS.--DEATH OF PHILIP II.--NEW SCHEME OF HIREING INDIANS.--CALIFORNIA.--MONTESCLAROS VICEROY.--INUNDATION.--ALBARRADA.

DON LUIS DE VELASCO,--THE SECOND,--CONDE DE SANTIAGO, VIII. VICEROY OF NEW SPAIN. 1589-1595.

Luis de Velasco, Count de Santiago, was the son of the second viceroy of New Spain, and during the administration of his father, as well as for some years afterwards, had resided in Mexico where he filled several offices, and especially that of corregidor of Zempoala. He was not on friendly terms with the last viceroy, Zuniga, for he had suddenly quitted New Spain in the same vessel that brought his predecessor to America. Upon his arrival at the Spanish court he was sent as amba.s.sador to Florence; and the exaggerated news of the supposed civil war in Mexico having been received just as he returned from his mission, Philip determined to send him back to New Spain. This decision was, no doubt, founded upon Velasco's intimate acquaintance with Mexico and its people, with whom his interests had been so long bound up that he might almost be regarded as a native of the country.

On the 25th of January, 1590, Velasco entered the capital with more pomp and rejoicing than had ever attended the advent of previous viceroys, for the Mexicans looked upon him as a countryman. As soon as he was seated in power his first acts demonstrated his good sense and mature judgment. His wish was to develope the country; to make not only its mineral and agricultural resources available to Spain, but to open the channels through which _labor_ could obtain its best rewards.

He therefore ordered the manufactories of coa.r.s.e stuffs and cloths which had been established by Mendoza to be once more opened, after the long period in which the Spanish mercantile influence had kept them shut. This naturally produced an excitement among the interested foreign traders, but the viceroy firmly maintained his determination to punish severely any one who should oppose his decree.

In 1591, the troublesome Chichimecas, of whose disturbances we have already spoken in other chapters, again manifested a desire to attack the Spaniards. They were congregated in strongly armed bands in the neighborhood of Zacatecas, and menaced the Spanish population living in the neighborhood of the rich mines. Travellers could not pa.s.s through the country without a military escort. Strong garrisons had been placed by the government on the frontiers, and merciless war declared against them, but all was unavailing to stop their marauding expeditions among the whites. In this year, however, they sent commissioners to treat with the Spaniards in Mexico, and after confessing that they were tired of a war which they found useless, they consented to abstain from further molestation of the district, provided the viceroy would agree to furnish them with a sufficiency of meat for their support. Velasco of course consented to this demand of the cattle stealers, and, moreover, obtained their consent to the admission among them of a body of Tlascalans who would instruct them in a civil and christian mode of life. Four hundred families of these faithful friends of the Mexicans were selected for this colony; and, together with some Franciscan friars, they settled in four bodies so as to form an equal number of colonies. One of these settlements was made on the side of a rich mineral hill and took the name of San Luis Potosi,--the second formed San Miguel Mesqitic,--the third San Andres,--and the fourth Colotlan. Such was the origin of these towns, in which the two tribes lived for many years in perfect harmony, but without intermingling or losing their individuality.

Another attempt was also made, as had been done previously, to gather the dispersed bands of Mexican and Otomi Indians into villages and settlements, where they would gradually become accustomed to civilized life. Velasco, like his predecessor Moya, consulted with the _curas_ and the people who were best acquainted with the temper of these races, and learned that they still opposed humane efforts for civilization, preferring the vagabond life they had so long led and which had now become necessary and natural. Nevertheless he thought it his duty to try the experiment. But the first Otomi who was reduced to the necessity of abandoning his nomadic habits and building for himself a regular habitation, not only destroyed his wife and children, but terminated his own existence by hanging. The viceroy then suspended his operations and reported the untoward result, together with the opinion of his advisers, to the court of Spain.

Velasco, ever anxious not only for the amelioration of the condition of the Indians, but for the embellishment of the capital which was now growing into considerable importance, caused the ALAMEDA OF MEXICO to be laid out and planted in 1593, for the recreation of the citizens.

This magnificent grove, with its beautifully shaded avenues and walks,--embellished by fountains and filled with every thing that can give repose or comfort to the fatigued people who are anxious to steal off awhile from the toil and bustle of a large city,--still exists in Mexico as an evidence of the taste and liberality of the viceroy, and will be more particularly described, hereafter, in that portion of this work which treats of the city of Mexico, and of the manners and customs of its inhabitants.

In 1594, Philip the Second finding himself straitened for means to carry on the European wars in which he was engaged, recurred to the unfortunate and unjust system of forced loans to increase his revenue.

He did not confine himself in this odious compulsory tax to the old world which was most concerned in the result of his wars, but instructed Velasco to impose a tribute of _four reales_ or fifty cents upon Indians, in addition to the sum they already paid his majesty.

Velasco reluctantly undertook the unwelcome task; but anxious to lighten the burden upon the natives as much as possible, and, at the same time, to foster the raising of poultry and cattle among these people, he compounded the whole tax of a dollar which they were obliged to pay, for seven _reales_, or eighty-seven and a half cents _and one fowl_, which, at that time, was valued at a single real, or twelve and a half cents. This, it will be perceived, was amiably designed by the viceroy, but became immediately the subject of gross abuse. The Indians are slowly moved either to new modes of cultivation or to new objects of care, even of the most domestic and useful character. Instead of devoting themselves to the raising of poultry with the industrious thrift that would have saved one-eighth of their taxation or twelve and a half per cent, they allowed the time to pa.s.s without providing the required bird in their homesteads, so that when the tax gatherer arrived they were forced to buy the fowl instead of selling it. This of course raised the price, and the consequence was that the Indian was obliged often to pay two or three _reales_ more than the original amount of the whole taxation of one dollar! It is related that one of the oidores who had taken eight hundred fowls, reserved two hundred for the consumption of his house, and through an agent sold the rest at three _reales_, or thirty-seven and a half cents each, by which he contrived to make a profit of two hundred per cent. Various efforts were made to remedy this shameful abuse or to revoke the decree, but the system was found to be too profitable among the officials, to be abandoned without a severe struggle. We are unable to discover that the viceroy, in this instance, used his authority to restore the Indians to their original rights.

In 1595, it was determined to colonize the supposed kingdom of Quivara, which now received the name of New Mexico, but, before the expedition could set forth under the command of Juan de Onate, Velasco received a despatch informing him that he had been named viceroy of Peru, and that his successor Don Gaspar de Zuniga Acebedo, Conde de Monterey, would soon appear in the colonial metropolis.

DON GASPAR DE ZUnIGA ACEBEDO, CONDE DE MONTEREY, IX. VICEROY OF NEW SPAIN. 1595-1603.