Mexico, Aztec, Spanish and Republican Part 16

DON DIEGO LOPEZ PACHECO CABRERA Y BOBADILLA, DUKE OF ESCALONA, MARQUES OF VILBUA AND GRANDEE OF SPAIN OF THE FIRST CLa.s.s. XVII. VICEROY OF NEW SPAIN. 1640-1642.

The Duke of Escalona succeeded the Marques of Cadereita, and arrived in Mexico on the 28th of June, 1640, together with the venerable Palafox, who came, in the character of Visitador, to inquire into the administration of the last viceroy whose reputation, like that of other chief magistrates in New Spain, had suffered considerably in the hands of his enemies. Whilst this functionary proceeded with his disagreeable task against a man who was no longer in power, the duke, in compliance with the king's command ordered the governor of Sinaloa, Don Luis Cestinos, accompanied by two Jesuits, to visit the Californias and examine their coasts and the neighboring isles in search of the wealth in pearls and precious metals with which they were reputed to be filled. The reports of the explorers were altogether satisfactory both as to the character of the natives and of the riches of the waters as well as of the mines, though they represented the soil as extremely sterile. The gold of California was reserved for another age.

Ever since the conquest the instruction of Indians in christian doctrine had been confided exclusively to the _regular_ clergy of the Roman Catholic church. The _secular_ priests were, thus, entirely deprived of the privilege of mingling their cares with their monastic brethren, who, in the course of time, began to regard this as an absolute, indefeasible right, whose enjoyment they were unwilling to forego, especially as the _obvenciones_ or tributes of the Indian converts, formed no small item of corporate wealth in their respective orders. The Indians were, in fact, lawful tributaries, not only of the whole church, in the estimation of these friars, but of the special sect or brotherhood which happened to obtain the first hold on a tribe or nation by its missionary residence among its people.

Palafox requested the Duke of Escalona to deprive the monkish orders of this monopoly; a desire to which the viceroy at once acceded, inasmuch as he was anxious to serve the bishop in all matters pertaining to his religious functions.

The kindly feeling of the viceroy does not appear to have been appreciated, or sincerely responded to by Palafox. This personage was removed in 1642, to the archiepiscopal see of Mexico, and under the pretext of installation in his new office and opening his tribunals, he visited the capital with the actual design of occupying the viceroyal throne to which he had been appointed! This was a sudden and altogether unexpected blow to the worthy duke, who was so unceremoniously supplanted. No one seems to have whispered to him even a suspicion of the approaching calamity, until the crafty Palafox a.s.sembled the oidores at midnight on the eve of Pentecost, and read to them the royal despatches containing his commission. His conduct to the jovial hearted duke, who was no match, in all probability, for the wily churchman, was not only insincere but unmannerly, for, immediately after the a.s.sumption of his power at dead of night, he commanded a strong guard to surround the palace at dawn, and required the Oidor Lugo, to read the royal cedula to the duke even before he left his bed. The deposed viceroy immediately departed for the convent at Churubusco, outside the city walls on the road to San Agustin de las Cuevas. All his property was sequestrated, and his money and jewels were secured within the treasury.

The reader will naturally seek for an explanation of this political enigma, or base intrigue, and its solution is again eminently characteristic of the reign in which it occurred. It will be remembered that the Duke of Braganza had been declared King of Portugal, which kingdom had separated itself from the Spanish domination, causing no small degree of animosity among the Castilians against the Portuguese and all who favored them. The Duke of Escalona, unfortunately, was related to the house of Braganza, and the credulous Philip having heard that his viceroy exhibited some evidences of attachment to the Portuguese, resolved to supercede him by Palafox.

Besides this, the Duke committed the impolitic act of appointing a Portuguese, to the post of Castellan of St. Juan de Ulua; and, upon a certain occasion, when two horses had been presented to him by Don Pedro de Castilla, and Don Cristobal de _Portugal_, he unluckily, remarked that he liked best the horse that was offered by _Portugal_!

It is difficult to believe that such trifles would affect the destiny of empires, when they were discussed by grave statesmen and monarchs.

But such was the miserable reign of Philip IV.;--the most disastrous indeed, in the annals of Spain, except that of Roderic the Goth. Folly like this may justly be attributed to the imbecile king, who witnessed the Catalan insurection, the loss of Rousillon, Conflans, a part of Cordana, Jamaica, and, above all, of Portugal; and who, moreover, recognized the independence of the Seven United Provinces.

DON JUAN DE PALAFOX Y MENDOZA, BISHOP OF PUEBLA--CHOSEN ARCHBISHOP OF MEXICO, VISITADOR OF NEW SPAIN, &C. &C., XVIII. VICEROY OF NEW SPAIN.

1642.

The administration of Palafox as viceroy was of but short duration. He occupied the colonial throne but five months, yet, during that brief s.p.a.ce, he did something that signalized his name both honorably and disgracefully. He seems to have been ridiculously bent upon the sacrifice of all the interesting monuments which were still preserved from the period of the conquest as memorials of the art and idolatry of the Aztecs. These he collected from all quarters and destroyed. He was evidently no friend of the friars, but sought to build up and strengthen the secular clergy whose free circulation in the world brought them directly under the eyes of society, and whose order made them dependent upon that society, and not upon a corporation, for maintenance. During his short reign he manifested kindness for the Indians; caused justice to be promptly administered, and even suspended certain worthy oidores who did not work as quickly and decide as promptly as he thought they ought to; he regulated the ordinances of the Audiencia; prepared the statutes of the university; raised a large body of militia to be in readiness in case of an attack from the Portuguese; visited the colleges under his secular jurisdiction; and, finally, in proof of his disinterestedness, refused the salary of viceroy and visitador.

CHAPTER IX.

1642-1654.

SOTOMAYOR VICEROY.--ESCALONA VINDICATED.--MONASTIC PROPERTY.--BIGOTRY OF PALAFOX.--GUZMAN VICEROY.--INDIAN INSURRECTION.--REVOLT OF THE TARAHUMARES.--SUCCESS OF THE INDIANS--INDIAN WARS.--DUKE DE ALBURQUERQUE VICEROY--ATTEMPT TO a.s.sa.s.sINATE HIM.--COUNT DE BANOS VICEROY.--ATTEMPT TO COLONIZE.--ESCOBAR Y LLAMAS AND DE TOLEDO VICEROYS.--DEPREDATIONS OF BRITISH CRUISERS.--NUNO DE PORTUGAL VICEROY.

DON GARCIA SARMIENTO DE SOTOMAYOR, COUNT DE SALVATIERRA, MARQUES DE SOBROSO, XIX. VICEROY OF NEW SPAIN. 1642-1648.

Philip IV. seems to have been more anxious to use Palafox as an instrument to remove the Duke of Escalona, than to empower him, for any length of time, with viceroyal authority; for, no sooner did he suppose that the duke was displaced quietly without leaving the government in the hands of the Audiencia, than he appointed the Conde de Salvatierra as his representative. This n.o.bleman reached his government on the 23d of November, 1642, and Palafox immediately retired from his office, still preserving, however, the functions of Visitador. At the conclusion of this year the duke departed from Churubusco for San Martin, in order to prepare for his voyage home; and in 1643, this ill used personage left New Spain having previously fortified himself with numerous certificates of his loyalty to the Spanish crown, all of which he used so skilfully in vindication before the vacillating and imbecile king, that he was not only exculpated entirely, but offered once more the viceroyalty from which he had been so rudely thrust. The duke promptly rejected the proposed restoration, but accepted the viceroyalty of Sicily. Before he departed for the seat of government, he gave the king many wise councils as to his American colonies, but, especially advised him to colonize the Californias. Don Pedro Portal de Casanete was commissioned by Philip for this purpose.

In 1644, there were already in Mexico twelve convents of nuns, and nearly an equal number for males, which, either by the unwise but pious zeal of wealthy persons, were becoming rich and aggregating to themselves a large amount of urban and rural property. Besides this the dependants upon these convents, both males and females, were largely increasing;--all of which so greatly prejudiced not only property but population, that the Ayuntamiento or City Council solicited the king not to permit the establishment in future of similar foundations, and to prohibit the acquisition of real estate by monasteries, inasmuch as the time might come when these establishments would be the only proprietors.

Meanwhile Casanete arrived in Mexico on his way to the sh.o.r.es of the Pacific. Salvatierra received him kindly and made proper efforts to equip him for the enterprise. The chiefs and governors of the interior were ordered to aid him in every way; but just as he was about to sail, two of his vessels were burned, whereupon his soldiers dispersed, whilst the families of his colonists withdrew, in hope of being again soon summoned to embark.

The civil government of Salvatierra pa.s.sed in quietness; but the domineering spirit of Palafox did not allow the church to remain at peace with the state. In 1647, this lordly churchman engaged in warm discussion with the Jesuits and other orders. Most scandalous scenes occurred in the churches of Puebla. Anathemas, excommunications, and all the artillery of the church were used against each other. Palafox persevered in his rancorous controversy as long as he remained in America, and even after his return to Europe, pursued his quarrel at the court of Rome. At the close of this year Salvatierra was removed to the viceroyalty of Peru.

DON MARCOS DE TORRES Y RUEDA, BISHOP OF YUCATAN--GOVERNOR OF NEW SPAIN. XX. VICEROY OF NEW SPAIN. 1648-1649.

The rule of Torres y Rueda was brief and eventless. It extended from the 13th of March, 1648, to the 22d of April, 1649, when the bishop-governor died, and was sumptuously interred in the church of San Agustin in the city of Mexico.

DON LUIS ENRIQUEZ DE GUZMAN, COUNT DE ALVADELISTE. XXI. VICEROY OF NEW SPAIN. 1649-1654.

The Audiencia ruled in New Spain until the 3d of July, 1650, the period of the Conde de Alvadeliste's arrival in the capital. This n.o.bleman had been, in fact, appointed by the king immediately upon the transfer of the Conde de Salvatierra to Peru; but inasmuch as he could not immediately cross the Atlantic, the bishop of Yucatan had been directed to a.s.sume his functions _ad interim_. Alvadeliste, a man of amiable character and gentle manners, soon won the good opinion of the Spanish colonists and creoles. But if he was to experience but little trouble from his countrymen and their descendants, he was not to escape a vexatious outbreak among the northern Indians, who had remained quiet for so long that it was supposed they were finally and successfully subjected to the Spanish yoke.

The viceroy had not been long installed when he received news of a rebellion against the Spaniards by the Tarahumares, who inhabited portions of Chihuahua and Sinaloa, and who hitherto yielded implicitly to the gentle and persuasive voice of the evangelical teachers dwelling among them. The portion of this tribe inhabiting Sinaloa, commenced the a.s.sault, but the immediate cause of the rebellion is not known. We are not aware whether they experienced a severe local government at the hands of the Spaniards, whether they were tired of the presence of the children of the Peninsula, or whether they feared that the priestly rule was only another means of subjecting them more easily to the crown of Castile. Perhaps all these causes influenced the rebellion. Already in 1648, the chief of the nation had compromised three other tribes in the meditated outbreak; but, lacking the concerted action of the Tepehuanes and other bands, upon whose aid they confidently counted, they resolved to attack, alone, the village of San Francisco de Borja, whose garrison and village they slaughtered and burned. San Francisco was the settlement which supplied the local missions with provisions, and its loss was consequently irreparable to that portion of the country.

As soon as the chief judge of Parral heard of this sanguinary onslaught he hastily gathered the neighboring farmers, herdsmen, and merchants, and hastened into the wilderness against the insurgents, who fled when they had destroyed the great depot of the Spaniards.

The troops, hardy as they were on these distant frontiers, were not calculated for the rough warfare of woodsmen, and after some insignificant and unsuccessful skirmishes with the marauders, the new levies retired hastily to their homes.

Fajardo, governor of Nueva Biscaya, soon heard of the rebellion and of the ineffectual efforts to suppress it. He was satisfied that no time was to be lost in crushing the rebellion, and, accordingly marched with Juan Barraza, to the seat of war with an adequate force. The Indians had meanwhile left their villages and betaken themselves to the mountains, woods and fastnesses. Fajardo immediately burned their abandoned habitations and desolated their cultivated fields; and when the Indians, who were now satisfied of their impotence, demanded peace, he granted it on condition that the four insurgent chiefs of the rebellion should be surrendered for punishment. The natives, in reply, brought him the head of one of their leaders, together with his wife and child; soon after another head was delivered to him, and, in a few days, the other two leaders surrendered.

This, for a while, calmed the country; but in order to confirm the peace and friendship which seemed to be now tolerably well established, a mission was founded in the valley of Papigochi, in which the chief population of the Tarahumares resided. The reverend Jesuit, Father Bendin, was charged with the duty of establishing this benignant government of the church, and in a short time it appeared that he had succeeded in civilizing the Indians and in converting them to the Christian faith. There were, nevertheless, discontented men among the tribes, whose incautious acts occasionally gave warning of the animosity which still lingered in the b.r.e.a.s.t.s of the Indians. The most prudent of the Spaniards warned the governor of Nueva Biscaya to beware a sudden or personal attack. But this personage treated the advice with contempt, and felt certain that the country was substantially pacified. Nevertheless, whilst things wore this aspect of seeming calm, three chiefs or caciques, who had embraced the Catholic faith, prepared the elements for a new rebellion, and, on the 5th of June, 1649, at daybreak, they attacked the dwelling of the missionaries, set fire to its combustible materials, and surrounding the blazing house in numbers, awaited the moment when the unsuspecting inmates attempted to escape. The venerable Bendin and his companions were quickly aroused, but no sooner did they rush from the flames than they were cruelly slain by the Indians. The church was then sacked.

The valuables were secured and carried off by the murderous robbers, but all the images and religious emblems were sacrilegiously destroyed before the Indians fled to the country.

Fajardo once more despatched Juan Barraza, with three hundred Spanish soldiers and some Indians against the rebel Tarahumares. But the tribe had, in its intercourse with the foreigners, acquired some little knowledge of the art of war and consequently did not await the expected attack in the open or level fields, where the Spanish cavalry could act powerfully against them. They retired, accordingly, to a rocky pa.s.s, flanked by two streams, which they fortified, at all points, with stone walls and other formidable impediments. Here they rested in security until the Spanish forces approached them; nor did they, even then abandon their defensive warfare. Barraza, finding the Indians thus skilfully entrenched behind barriers and ready to repel his attack, was unable, after numerous efforts, to dislodge them from their position. Indeed, he appears to have suffered serious losses in his vain a.s.saults; so that, instead of routing the natives entirely, he found it necessary to withdraw his troops who were greatly weakened by losses, whilst the daring insurgents continually received auxiliary reinforcements. In this untoward state of affairs, Barraza resolved to make his escape, during the night, from such dangerous quarters, and, ordering his Indian allies to light the usual watch-fires, and keep up the ordinary bustle of a camp, he silently but gradually withdrew all his Spanish and native forces, so that at daybreak the Tarahumares found the country cleared of their foes.

As soon as Fajardo heard of the forced retreat of Barraza he determined to take the management of the campaign in his own hands.

But his military efforts were as unsuccessful as those of his unfortunate captain. The rainy season came on before he could make a successful lodgement in the heart of the enemy's country, and his march was impeded by floods which destroyed the roads and rendered the streams impa.s.sable. Accordingly he retired to Parral, where he received orders from the viceroy to establish a garrison in Papigochi.

The Spaniards found that their cruelty in the first campaign against these untamed savages had inflamed their minds against the viceroyal troops. They attempted, therefore, to use, once more, the language of persuasion, and, offering the insurgents a perfect amnesty for the past, prevailed upon the old inhabitants of the vale of Papigochi to return to their former residences, where, however, they did not long remain faithful to their promised allegiance. The new garrison was established, as had been commanded by the viceroy; but, in 1652, the relentless tribes, again seizing an unguarded moment, burned the barracks, and destroyed in the flames a number of Spaniards, two Franciscan monks, and a Jesuit priest. The soldiery of Barraza and the governor retired from the doomed spot, amid showers of Indian arrows.

In 1653, the war was resumed. The whole country was aroused and armed against these hitherto invincible bands. Other Indian tribes were subdued by the Spanish forces, and their arms were then, once more, turned upon the Tarahumares, at a moment when the Indian chiefs were distant from the field. But the absence of the leaders neither dismayed nor disconcerted these relentless warriors. The Spaniards were again forced to retire; and the viceroy caused an extensive enlistment to be undertaken, and large sums appropriated to crush or pacify the audacious bands. Before the final issue and subjugation, however, the Conde de Alvadeliste, received the king's command to pa.s.s from Mexico to the government of Peru, and, awaiting only the arrival of his successor, he sailed from Acapulco for his new viceroyalty.

DON FRANCISCO FERNANDEZ DE LA CUEVA, DUKE DE ALBURQUERQUE, XXII.

VICEROY OF NEW SPAIN. 1654-1660.

The Duke of Alburquerque, who had married the Dona Juana, daughter of the former viceroy, Don Lope Diaz de Armendariz, arrived in Mexico on the 16th of August, 1654, as successor of Alvadeliste. His accession was signalized by unusually splendid ceremonies in the capital, and the new viceroy immediately devoted himself to the improvement of Mexico, as well as to the internal administration of affairs. He zealously promoted the public works of the country; labored diligently to finish the cathedral; devoted himself, in hours of leisure, to the promotion of literature and the fine arts; regulated the studies in the university; and caused the country to be scoured for the apprehension of robbers and vagabonds who infested and rendered insecure all the highways of the colony. Great numbers of these wretches were soon seized and hanged after summary trials.

In 1656, the British forces having been successful against Jamaica, the Mexicans were apprehensive that their arms would next be turned against New Spain; and accordingly Alburquerque fitted out an armada to operate against the enemy among the islands before they could reach the coast of his viceroyalty. This well designed expedition failed, and most of the soldiers who engaged in it, perished. The duke, unsuccessful in war, next turned his attention to the gradual and peaceful extension, northward, of the colonial emigration; and, distributing a large portion of the territory of New Mexico among a hundred families, he founded the city of Alburquerque, and established in it several Franciscan missions as the nucleus of future population.

The year 1659 was signalized in Mexico by one of those horrid dramas which occasionally took place in all countries into which the monstrous inst.i.tution of the Inquisition was unfortunately naturalized, and fifty human victims were burned alive by order of the _Audiencia_. For the credit of the country it must be remembered that this was the first occurrence of the kind, but, either from curiosity or from a superior sense of duty, the dreadful pageant was not only witnessed by an immense crowd of eager spectators, but was even presided over by the viceroy himself. In 1660 the duke narrowly escaped death by the hands of an a.s.sa.s.sin. Whilst on his knees at prayer in a chapel of the cathedral, the murderer,--a youthful soldier seventeen years old,--stole behind him, and was in the act of striking the fatal blow when he was arrested. In less than twelve hours he had gone to account for the meditated crime.

Alburquerque appears to have been popular, useful and intelligent, though, from his portrait which is preserved in the gallery of the viceroys in Mexico, we would have imagined him to be a gross sensualist, resembling more the usual pictorial representations of Sancho Panza than one who was calculated to wield the destinies of an empire. Nevertheless the expression of public sorrow was unfeigned and loud among all cla.s.ses when he departed for Spain in the year 1660.

DON JUAN DE LEYVA Y DE LA CERDA, MARQUES DE LEYVA Y DE LA CERDA, COUNT DE BAnOS XXIII. VICEROY OF NEW SPAIN. 1660-1664.

The successor of the Duke of Alburquerque entered Mexico on the 16th of September, 1660. Don Juan de Leyva y de la Cerda approached the colony with the best wishes and resolutions to advance its prosperity and glory. His earliest efforts were directed to the pacification of the Tarahumares, whose insurrection was still entirely unquelled, and whose successes were alarmingly disastrous in New Mexico, whither they advanced in the course of their savage warfare. With the same liberal spirit that characterized his predecessor, he continued to be the zealous friend of those remote, frontier colonists, and, in a short time, formed twenty-four villages. It was, doubtless, his plan to subdue and pacify the north by an armed occupation.

In 1661 and 1662, the despotic conduct of the Spaniards to the Indians stirred up sedition in the south as well as at the north. The natives of Tehuantepec were, at this period, moved to rebellion, with the hope of securing their personal liberty, even if they could not reconquer their national independence. Spanish forces were immediately marched to crush the insurrection; but the soft children of the south were not as firmly pertinacious in resistance as their st.u.r.dier brothers of the northern frontier. More accessible to the gentle voices of an insinuating clergy, they yielded to the persuasive eloquence of the bishop Ildefonzo Davalos, who, animated by honest and humane zeal for the children of the forest, went among the incensed tribes, and, by kindness, secured the submission which arms could not compel at the north. For this voluntary and valuable service the sovereign conferred on him the mitre of Mexico, which, in the year 1664, was renounced by Osorio Escobar.

The only other event of note, during this viceroyalty, was an attempt at colonization and pearl fishing on the coasts of California by Bernal Pinaredo, who seems rather to have disturbed than to have benefitted the spa.r.s.e settlers on those distant sh.o.r.es. He was coldly received on his return by the viceroy, who formally accused him to the court for misconduct during the expedition.

Don Juan de Leyva sailed for Spain in 1664, and soon after died, afflicted by severe family distresses, and, especially by the misconduct of his son and heir.

DON DIEGO OSORIO ESCOBAR Y LLAMAS, BISHOP OF PUEBLA. XXIV. VICEROY OF NEW SPAIN. 1664.