Mexico, Aztec, Spanish and Republican Part 18

1696-1734.

MONTAnEZ VICEROY.--SPIRITUAL CONQUEST OF CALIFORNIA.--VALLADARES VICEROY.--FAIR AT ACAPULCO.--SPANISH MONARCHY--AUSTRIA--BOURBON.-- MONTAnEZ VICEROY.--JESUITS IN CALIFORNIA.--LA CUEVA VICEROY.--DUKE DE LINARES VICEROY.--BRITISH SLAVERY TREATY.--COLONIZATION. NUEVO LEON.--TEXAS.--OPERATIONS IN TEXAS--ALARCON--AGUAYO.--CASA-FUERTE'S VIRTUOUS ADMINISTRATION--LOUIS I.--ORIENTAL TRADE--SPANISH JEALOUSY.--THE KING'S OPINION OF CASA-FUERTE--HIS ACTS.

DON JUAN DE ORTEGA MONTAnEZ, BISHOP OF MICHOACAN, x.x.xI. VICEROY OF NEW SPAIN. 1696-1702.

Scarcely had Galve departed, and the new episcopal viceroy Montanez a.s.sumed the reins of government, on the 27th of February, 1696, when news reached Mexico that a French squadron was laying in wait near Havana, to seize the galeons which were to leave Vera Cruz in the spring for Spain. The fleet was accordingly ordered to delay its departure until the summer, whilst ma.s.ses were said and prayers addressed to the miraculous image of the Virgin of Remedios to protect the vessels and their treasure from disaster. The failure of the fleet to sail at the appointed day seems to have caused the French squadron to depart for Europe, after waiting a considerable time to effect their piratical enterprise; and, in the end, all the galeons, save one, reached the harbor of Cadiz, where the duties alone on their precious freights amounted to four hundred and twelve thousand dollars!

At this period the settlement of the Californias, which was always a favorite project among the Mexicans, began again to be agitated. The coasts had been constantly visited by adventurers engaged in the pearl fishery; but these persons, whose manners were not conciliatory, and whose purposes were altogether selfish, did not contribute to strengthen the ties between the Spaniards and the natives. Indeed, the Indians continually complained of the fishermen's ill usage, and were unwilling to enter either into trade or friendship with so wild a cla.s.s of unsettled visitors. The colonial efforts, previously made, had failed in consequence of the scarcity of supplies, nor could sufficient forces be spared to compel the submission of the large and savage tribes that dwelt in those remote regions. Accordingly, when the worthy Father Salvatierra, moved by the descriptions of Father Kino, prayed the Audiencia to intrust the reduction of the Californias to the care of the Jesuits, who would undertake it without supplies from the royal treasury, that body and the episcopal viceroy, consented to the proposed spiritual conquest, and imposed on the holy father no other conditions except that the effort should be made without cost to Spain, and that the territory subdued should be taken possession of in the name of Charles II. Besides this concession to the Jesuits, the viceroy and Audiencia granted to Salvatierra and Kino the right to levy troops and name commanders for their protection in the wilderness. A few days after the conclusion of this contract with the zealous missionaries, the government of Montanez was terminated by the arrival of his successor, the Conde de Montezuma.

DON JOSe SARMIENTO VALLADARES, COUNT DE MONTEZUMA Y TULA x.x.xII.

VICEROY OF MEXICO. 1696-1702.

The Conde de Montezuma arrived in Mexico on the 18th of December, 1696. Early in the ensuing January the annual galeon from the Philipine islands reached the port of Acapulco, and this year the advent of the vessel, laden with oriental products seems to have been the motive for the a.s.semblage of people not only from all parts of Mexico, but even from Peru, at a fair, at which nearly two millions of dollars were spent by inhabitants of the latter viceroyalty in merchandise from China. Hardly had the festivities of this universal concourse ended when a violent earthquake shook the soil of New Spain, and extended from the west coast to the interior beyond the capital, in which the inhabitants were suffering from scarcity, and beginning already to exhibit symptoms of discontent, as they had done five years before, against the supreme authorities, who they always accused of criminally withholding grain or maintaining its exorbitant price whenever the seasons were inauspicious. But the Conde de Montezuma was on his guard, and immediately took means to control the Indians and lower cla.s.ses who inhabited the suburbs of the capital. In the meanwhile he caused large quant.i.ties of corn to be sent to Mexico from the provinces, and, as long as the scarcity continued and until it was ascertained that the new crop would be abundant, he ordered grain to be served out carefully to those who were really in want or unable to supply themselves at the prices of the day.[44]

In 1698 the joyful news of the peace concluded in the preceding year between France, Spain, Holland and England, reached Mexico, and gave rise to unusual rejoicings among the people. Commerce, which had suffered greatly from the war, recovered its wonted activity. The two following years pa.s.sed over New Spain uneventfully; but the beginning of the eighteenth century was signalized by a matter which not only affected the politics of Europe, but might have interfered essentially with the loyalty and prosperity of the New World.

In 1701, the monarchy of Spain pa.s.sed from the house of Austria to that of Bourbon. The history of this transition of the crown, and of the conflicts to which it gave rise not only in Spain but throughout Europe, is well known at the present day. Yet America does not appear to have been shaken in its fidelity, amid all the convulsions of the parent state. Patient, submissive and obedient to the authorities sent them from across the sea, the people of Mexico were as willing to receive a sovereign of a new race, as to hail the advent in their capital of a new viceroy. Accordingly the inhabitants immediately manifested their fealty to the successor named by Charles II., a fact which afforded no small degree of consolation to Philip V. during all the vicissitudes of his fortune. It is even related that this monarch thought at one period of taking refuge among his American subjects, and thus relieving himself of the quarrels and conflicts by which he was surrounded and a.s.sailed in Europe.

The public mourning and funeral obsequies for the late sovereign were celebrated in Mexico with great pomp according to a precise ritual which was sent from the Spanish court, and, whilst the people were thinking of the festivities which were to signalize Philip's accession to the throne, the Conde de Montezuma returned to Spain after four years of uneventful rule.

DON JUAN DE ORTEGA MONTAnEZ, ARCHBISHOP OF MEXICO, HIS SECOND VICEROYALTY. x.x.xIII. VICEROY OF MEXICO. 1701-1702.

The brief period during which the archiepiscopal viceroy exercised his functions in Mexico for the second time, is chiefly, and perhaps, only, memorable, for the additional efforts made by the worthy Jesuits in California to subdue and settle that distant province. The colonists and clergymen who had already gone thither complained incessantly of their sufferings in consequence of the sterility of the coasts. But Salvatierra remained firm in his resolution to spread the power of Spain and of his church among the wild tribes at the feet of the western sierra along the Pacific coast. His labors and those of his diligent coadjutors were slow but incessant. Trusting confidently in Providence, they maintained their post at the Presidio of Loreto, and gathered around them, by their persuasive eloquence and gentle demeanor, large numbers of natives, until the success of their teachings threatened them with starvation in consequence of the abundance of their converts, all of whom relied upon the fathers for maintenance as soon as they abandoned their savage life. Yet there was no other means of attaching the Indians to the Spanish government. The authorities in Mexico had refused and continued obstinate in their denial of men or money to conquer or hold the country; so that, after various efforts to obtain the aid of the government, the pious mendicants resolved to return again to their remote missions with no other reliance than honest zeal and the support of G.o.d. At this juncture Philip V., and a number of influential people in the capital, volunteered to aid the cause of christianity _and_ Spain, by supplies which would ensure the final success of the Jesuits.

DON FRANCISCO FERNANDEZ DE LA CUEVA, DUQUE DE ALBURQUERQUE. x.x.xIV.

VICEROY OF NEW SPAIN. 1702-1709.

As soon as the Duke of Alburquerque a.s.sumed the government of Mexico, he perceived that more than ordinary care was necessary to consolidate a loyal alliance between the throne and its American possessions, during the dangerous period in which portions of Spain, in the old world, were armed and aroused against the lawful authorities of the land. Accordingly the new viceroy immediately strengthened the military arm of the colony, and extended the government of provinces and the custody of his strongholds and fastnesses to Spaniards upon whose fidelity he could implicitly rely. Without these precautions, he, perhaps, justly feared that notwithstanding the loyalty manifested in New Spain upon the accession of Philip, the insubordination of certain parts of the Spanish monarchy, at home, might serve as a bad example to the American colonists, and, finally, result in a civil war that would drench the land with blood. Besides this, the foreign fleets and pirates were again beginning to swarm along the coasts, lying in wait for the treasure which was annually despatched to Spain; but to meet and control these adventurers, the careful duke increased the squadron of Barlovento, who was instructed to watch the coast incessantly, and to lose no opportunity to make prizes of the enemy's vessels.

Peace was thus preserved in New Spain both on land and water, whilst the Jesuits of California still continued their efforts, unaided by the government, whose resources were drained for the wars of the old world. Thus, after eight years of a strong but pacific reign, during which he saved New Spain from imitating the disgraceful dissensions of the parent state, the Duke of Alburquerque resigned his government into the hands of the Duke of Linares.

DON FERNANDO ALCENCASTRE NOROnA Y SILVA, DUKE DE LINARES, x.x.xV.

VICEROY OF NEW SPAIN. 1710-1716.

The Duke of Linares entered Mexico in 1710. The first years of his administration were uneventful, nor was his whole government distinguished, in fact, by any matter which will make it particularly memorable in the history of New Spain.

In 1712, Philip V. found himself master of nearly the whole of Spain, and being naturally anxious to end the war with honor, his emmissaries improved every opportunity to withdraw members of the combined powers from a contest which threatened to be interminable. Accordingly, he approached the English with the temptations of trade, and through his amba.s.sadors who were a.s.sisting at the congress of Utrecht, he proposed that the British Queen Anne should withdraw from the contest, if he granted her subjects the right to establish trading houses in his ports on the main and in the islands, for the purpose of supplying the colonies with African slaves. A similar contract had been made ten years before with the French, and was about to expire on the 1st of May.

Anne, who was wearied of the war and was glad to escape from its expense and danger, was not loath to accept the proffered terms; and the treaty, known by the name of _El Asiento_, which was put in force in Vera Cruz and other Spanish ports, resulted most beneficially to the English. They filled the markets with negroes, and, at the same time, continued to reap profit from the goods they smuggled into the colonies, notwithstanding the treaty forbade the introduction of British merchandise to the detriment of Spanish manufactures. This combined inhumane and illicit trade continued for a considerable time, until the authorities were obliged to menace the officers of customs with death if they connived any longer at the secret and scandalous introduction of British wares.

In 1714, a brief famine and severe epidemic again ravaged the colony.

In this year, too, the Indians of Texas once more manifested a desire to submit themselves to Spain and to embrace the christian faith.

Orders were, therefore, given to garrison that northern province, and the Franciscan monks were again commanded to return to their missions among the Ansinais. At the same time, a new colony was founded in Nuevo Leon, forty leagues south-east from Monterey, which, in honor of the viceroy received the name of San Felipe de Linares. At the close of this year, 1715, the garrisons of Texas were already completed, and the Franciscan friars busy in their mission of inducing the savages to abandon their nomadic habits for the quieter life of villagers. This was always the most successful effort of the Spaniards in controlling the restless wanderers and hunters of the wilderness. It was the first step in the modified civilization that usually ended in a mere knowledge of the formula of prayers which was called christianity, and in the more substantial labor of the Indians which was in reality nothing but slavery.

NOTE.--The year 1711, is remarkable in the annals of the valley of Mexico for a _snow storm_, which is only known to have occurred again on the Feast of the Purification of the Virgin in 1767. In August of 1711, there was an awful earthquake, which shattered the city and destroyed many of its strongest houses.

The year 1716 was the last of the reign of the Duke of Linares, who in the month of August resigned his post to the Duke of Arion.

DON BALTAZAR DE ZUnIGA GUZMAN, SOTOMAYOR Y MENDOZA, DUKE DE ARION AND MARQUES DE VALERO. x.x.xVI. VICEROY OF NEW SPAIN. 1716-1722.

Scarcely had the Duke de Arion taken charge of the viceroyal government, when he received an express from Texas, despatched by Domingo Ramon, who was captain of the Spaniards in the province, informing the authorities of the famine which prevailed throughout his command, and demanding supplies, without which, he would be obliged to abandon his post and take refuge with his soldiers in Coahuila. The new viceroy saw at once the importance of preserving this province as an outpost and frontier against the French who had already begun their settlements in Louisiana, and accordingly he commanded the governor of Coahuila to send provisions and troops to Texas, together with mechanics who should teach the useful arts to the Indians.

While these occurrences took place in the north of Mexico, war was once more declared between Spain and France without any apparent motive save the hatred which the Duke of Orleans, the regent during the minority of Louis XV., entertained for the Cardinal Alberoni who was prime minister of Spain and had intrigued to dispossess him of his regency. The news of this war reached New Spain, and on the 19th of May, 1719, the French attacked Pensacola and received the capitulation of the governor, who was unprepared, either with men or provisions to resist the invaders. In the following month the garrison and missionaries of Texas returned hastily to Coahuila, and apprised the viceroy of their flight for safety. But that functionary saw at once the necessity of strengthening the frontier. Levies were, therefore, immediately made. Munitions were despatched to the north. And five hundred men, divided into eight companies, marched forthwith to re-establish the garrisons and missions under the command of the Marques San Miguel de Aguayo, the new governor of Florida and Texas.[45]

Notwithstanding the hostilities between France and Spain, and the eager watchfulness of the fleets and privateers of the former nations, the galeons of New Spain, reached Cadiz in 1721, with a freight of eleven millions of dollars! The years 1722 and 1723 were signalized by some outbreaks among the Indians which were successfully quelled by the colonial troops; and, in October, the Duke of Arion, who had controlled New Spain for six years, was succeeded by the Marques of Casa-Fuerte, a general of artillery. He entered Mexico amid the applauses of the people not only because he was a _creole_ or native of America, but for the love that was borne him by Philip the Fifth, who well knew the services for which the crown was indebted to so brave a warrior.

DON JUAN DE ACUnA, MARQUES DE CASA-FUERTE, x.x.xVII. VICEROY OF NEW SPAIN. 1722-1734.

In recording these brief memorials of the viceroys of Mexico it has been our purpose rather to mention the princ.i.p.al public events that signalized their reigns, and developed or protected the nation committed to their charge, than to trace the intrigues or exhibit the misconduct of those functionaries and their courtiers. We have abstained, therefore, from noticing many of the corrupt practices which crept into the administration of Mexico, leaving such matters to be studied in the summary view we have presented of the colonial government of Spain. But, in sketching the viceroyalty of the Marques de Casa-Fuerte, we cannot justly avoid observing the marked and moral change he wrought in the government of the country, and the diligence with which this brave and trusty soldier labored to purify the corrupt court of New Spain. Other viceroys had endeavored zealously to aid the progress of the colony. They had planted towns, villages, and garrisons throughout the interior. They had sought to develope the mining districts and to foster agricultural interests. But almost all of them were more or less tainted with avarice, and willingly fell into the habits of the age, which countenanced the traffic in office, or permitted the reception of liberal "gratifications" whenever an advantage was to be derived by an individual from his transactions with the government.

In the time of Casa-Fuerte, there was no path to the palace but that which was open to all. Merit was the test of employment and reward. He forbade the members of his family to receive gifts or to become intercessors for office seekers; and, in all branches of public affairs, he introduced wholesome reforms which were carefully maintained during the whole of his long and virtuous administration.

In 1724, Philip V. suddenly and unexpectedly for his American subjects, resolved to abdicate the crown of Spain and raise his son Louis I. to the throne. Scarcely had the news reached Mexico, and while the inhabitants were about to celebrate the accession of the prince, when they learned that he was already dead, and that his father, fearing to seat the minor Ferdinand in the place of his lost son, had again resumed the sceptre. The Marques de Casa-Fuerte, instantly proclaimed the fact to the people, whose loyalty to the old sovereign continued unabated; and during the unusually long and successful government of this viceroy, the greatest cordiality and confidence was maintained between himself and his royal master.

Casa-Fuerte despatched a colony of emigrants from the Canary Isles to Texas, and establishing a town for their occupation, he modestly refused the proffered honor of bestowing upon it his name, but caused it to be called San Fernando, in honor of the heir of the Spanish crown. Nor did he neglect commerce whilst he attended to a discreet colonization in the north which might encounter and stay the southern progress of the English and the French. In 1731, the oriental trade of New Spain had become exceedingly important. The galeons that regularly pa.s.sed across the Pacific, from the East Indies, and arrived every year in America about Christmas, had enjoyed almost a monopoly of the Indian trade in consequence of the wars which continually existed during that century and filled the northern and southern Atlantic with pirates and vessels of war. The Pacific, however, was comparatively free from these dangers, and the galeons were allowed to go and come with but little interruption. The American creoles, in reality, preferred the manufactures of China to those of Europe; for the fabrics of silk and cotton, especially, which were sent to Mexico from Asia, had been sold at half the price demanded for similar articles produced in Spain. The galeon of 1731, which discharged its cargo in Acapulco, bore a freight of unusual value, whence we may estimate the Mexican commerce of that age. The duties collected upon this oriental merchandise exceeded one hundred and seventy thousand dollars, exhibiting an extraordinary increase of eastern trade with Mexico, compared with thirty-five years before, when the impost collected on similar commerce in 1697, amounted to but eighty thousand dollars. The anxiety to preserve the mercantile importance of Cadiz and to prevent the ruin of the old world's commerce, interposed many difficulties in the trade between the East Indies and New Spain; but the influence of Spanish houses in Manilla still secured the annual galeon, and the thrifty merchants stowed the vessels with nearly double the freight that was carried by similar ships on ordinary voyages. Acapulco thus became the emporium of an important trade, and its streets were crowded with merchants and strangers from all parts of Mexico in spite of the dangerous diseases with which they were almost sure to be attacked whilst visiting the western coast.

The year 1734 was a sad one for New Spain. The Marques de Casa-Fuerte, who governed the country for twelve years most successfully, and had served the crown for fifty-nine, departed this life, at the age of seventy-seven. He was a native of Lima, and like a true creole seems to have had the good of America constantly at heart. Philip V. fully appreciated his meritorious services, and, had the viceroy lived, would doubtless have continued him longer in the government of Mexico.

The counsellors of the king often hinted to their sovereign that it was time to remove the Mexican viceroy; but the only reply they received from Philip was "_Long live Casa-Fuerte!_" The courtiers answered that they hoped he might, indeed, live long, but, that oppressed with years and toils, he was no longer able to endure the burdens of so arduous a government. "As long as Casa-Fuerte lives,"

answered the king, "his talents and virtues, will give him all the vigor required for a good minister."

Impartial posterity has confirmed the sensibility and judgment of the king. During the reign of Casa-Fuerte the capital of New Spain was adorned with many of its most sumptuous and elegant edifices. The royal mint and custom house were built under his orders. All the garrisons throughout the viceroyalty were visited, examined, and reported. He was liberal with alms for the poor, and even left a sum to be distributed twice a year for food among the prisoners. He endowed an asylum for orphans; expended a large part of his fortune in charitable works, and is still known in the traditionary history of the country as the "Great Governor of New Spain." His cherished remains were interred with great pomp, and are still preserved in the church of the Franciscans of San Cosme and Damian.

[Footnote 44: In 1697 there was an eruption of the volcano of Popocatepetl, on the 29th of October.]

[Footnote 45: It may not be uninteresting or unprofitable to state in this place some of the efforts at positive settlement in Texas which were made by the Spaniards during the first quarter of the eighteenth century. Alarcon, the governor, early in 1718, crossed the Medina, with a large number of soldiers, settlers and mechanics, and founded the town of Bejar, with the fortress of San Antonio, and the mission of San Antonio Valero. Thence he pushed on to the country of the Cenis Indians, where, having strengthened the missionary force, he crossed the river Adayes, which he called the Rio de San Francisco de Sabinas, or the Sabine, and began the foundation of a fortress, within a short distance of the French fort, at Natchitoches, named by him the Presido de San Miguel Arcangel de Linares de Adayes. These establishments were reinforced during the next year, and another stronghold was erected on the Oreoquisas, probably the San Jacinto, emptying into Galveston bay, west of the mouth of the Trinity.

The French, who were not un.o.bservant of these Spanish acts of occupation in a country they claimed by virtue of La Salle's discovery and possession in 1684, immediately began to establish counter-settlements, on the Mississippi, and in the valley of the Red river. When Alarcon was removed from the government of Texas he was succeeded by the Marques de Aguayo, who made expeditions through the country in 1721 and 1722, during which he considerably increased the Spanish establishments, and, after this period, no attempt was ever made by the French to occupy any spot south-west of Natchitoches. See History of Florida, Louisiana and Texas, by Robert Greenhow.]

CHAPTER XII.

1734-1760.

VIZARRON AND EGUIARRETA VICEROY--EVENTLESS GOVERNMENT.--SALAZAR VICEROY--COLONIAL FEARS.--FUEN-CLARA VICEROY--GALEON LOST.--MEXICO UNDER REVILLA-GIGEDO I.--FERDINAND VI.--INDIANS--TAXES--COLONIES IN THE NORTH.--FAMINE--MINES AT BOLAnOS--HORCASITAS.--CHARACTER OF REVILLA-GIGEDO.--VILLALON VICEROY.--CHARLES III.--CAGIGAL VICEROY.