nists are still obliged to import their wine and oil from Old Spain. Tobacco is cultivated in some districts. One of the most valuable objects of husbandry is the cochineal insect, which is employed for dyeing scarlet, and is produced in considerable quantities.

399. MINES.-More than nine-tenths of all the silver in the known world is derived from the mines of Spanish America. Of this Mexico furnishes 22,000,000 of dollars annually. The mint of Mexico furnished from 1690 to 1803 more than 1,353,000,000 of dollars; and from the first discovery probably 2,028,000,000, or nearly two-fifths of the whole sent from America. Nearly half of this is procured from the three mining districts, Guanaxuato, Zacatecas, and Catorce, which form a central group of mines between 21° and 24° of latitude. The vein of Guanaxuato alone furnishes on an average onesixth of the whole silver of America. The produce of the Mexican mines,' says Humboldt, who is our principal source of information on this subject, has tripled in fifty-two years, and sextupled in a hundred years; and it will admit of greater increase, as the country shall become more populous, and industry and information become more diffused.' The mines have hitherto been wrought in a manner calculated to render them far less productive and more expensive than they might be made. As British capital and British ingenuity are now occupied in endeavouring to improve their condition, we may expect in due season an increase still more important than has yet been known. But, notwithstanding the imperfection of the processes, and the want of steam-engines and suitable machinery, they have produced immense profits to their proprietors. The single mine of Valenciana, in which the expense of working exceeds four millions and a half of francs per annum, has for the last forty years never ceased to yield annually to the proprietors a net profit of more than three millions of francs; the profits sometimes amounted to six millions; and it amounted to twenty millions in the space of a few months, for the family of Fagoaga at Sombrerite'-Humboldt. In 1802 the mine produced 285,000 dollars. In nine years it yielded a net profit of 5,789,317 dollars. The expense of eight millions added to this gives in the gross product of thirteen millions. There were 1800 workmen employed in the interior of the mine, and three hundred men women and children without, making a total of 2100, at one dollar to half a dollar per day. The depth of the mine is 1640 feet, and it extends about eight miles in length.

400. According to Humboldt there are 3000 mines of the precious metals in Mexico at 450 stations. Their wealth consists more in the abundance than the richness of the ore. The consumption of mercury is very great, and the difficulty of procuring it is one obstacle to the progress of the mines. The great depth of many of the mines requires very expensive machinery; and in some places fuel could not be procured to work steamengines. The most productive mines are situated at an elevation of from 5000 to 10,000 feet ove the level of the sea. They are arranged by 12.nboldt in eight groups, which he estimates

do not occupy a surface of more than 12,000 square leagues, or a tenth of the whole kingdom. 401. Gold is not peculiarly abundant in Mexico. While the annual export of silver amounts to twenty-two millions of dollars, that of gold does not exceed one million. The gold is chiefly extracted from alluvial grounds by washing. These grounds are common in Sonora in latitude 31°; lumps of five or six pounds' weight have been found, but the exces sive price of provisions, and want of water, are great obstacles to the extraction of the metal. There are also veins of native gold in Oaxaca, and in Guanaxuato, Durango and Guadalaxara ; it is also found in the silver ores. Platina has never been found north of the Isthmus of Panama.

402. Mercury, which is so essential in the working of the mines of silver, has been discovered in many parts of Mexico, especially in the provinces of Guanaxuato and Mexico. At St. Juan de Chiaa is a vein of cinnabar from six to eighteen feet in width, and its ores are extremely rich. It has only been wrought to the depth of 160 feet. The mine of Durasno produced in a very few months 700 quintals of mercury; but, from the want of intelligence and perseverance in working the mines of this rare and important metal, they were considered not worth attention; and only two were wrought during Humboldt's visit to the mining regions.

403. Copper is abundant in Mexico, and was the material used by the ancient Mexicans for cutting instruments in place of iron. Tin is found in grains in Guanaxuato and Zacatecas. Iron mines are found in considerable abundance in Valladolid, Zacatecas, and Guadalaxara; and are wrought with considerable spirit when the interruption of commerce shuts out foreign supplies. Lead is found in the north-eastern provinces. Zinc and arsenic are also among the minerals of New Spain. Humboldt concludes his account of these minerals by expressing the opinion, that the Mexican Cordilleras will one day supply the mercury, iron, copper, and lead, necessary for internal consumption.'

404. MANUFACTURES.-The whole value of the manufactures of Mexico was estimated by Humboldt at 1,500,000 dollars. They embrace cotton and woollen cloths, but chiefly those of a coarse texture, and conducted in a very imperfect manner. They were carried on usually by Indian workmen in a state closely resembling slavery. Silk is scarcely an article of manufacture; hemp and flax are not wrought at all, and even the manufacture of paper was unknown. Hard soap is a considerable article of domestic manufacture, in consequence of the abundance of soda found upon the table-land, and which will one day become an article of commerce with Europe. In 1802 there were sixteen manufactories of delf ware and two of glass. extent.

Hides are also manufactured to some

105. The manufactures of tobacco and gunpowder are among the most extensive, and were formerly reserved as royal monopolies. The privilege, however, was by no means secure! from violation, for much more of these articles

14,000,000, leaving a balance, remitted to Spain, of 6,000,000 dollars

412. The public debt was stated at 46,110,112 dollars, besides a sum of 26,000,000, due to Spain, which was supposed to be no longer binding upon them, after the opposition of the mother country to their emancipation, and the great revenue it had exacted.

413. RELIGION.-The established religion is the Roman Catholic, and no other is tolerated by law. The clergy are said to amount to 14,000, and form a powerful body. They are not distinguished for piety and morality; and their character has unhappily produced a very general disregard and disbelief of religion, which can scarcely endure the existing state of things. The Indians have no knowledge of religion, except as a collection of forms; and these they have been permitted to mingle with their pagan

rites.

414. EDUCATION.- Education was formerly refused to the Indians and Mestizoes; and there are not now adequate means of improvement for those who desire it in most parts of the country. The university at Mexico was once highly respectable, and produced men of great learning. The people are in general grossly ignorant on all subjects; and no time has yet been afforded for the new government to adopt plans for general improvement. A society has been formed and patronized by the government for the introduction of the system of mutual instruction, and a school for 1600 children has been established in a convent in the capital, on this plan, intended to communicate not only the elementary, but the higher branches of knowledge.

415. HISTORICAL SKETCH.--Fernando Cortez, a native of the town of Medellin in Old Spain, and a descendant of a noble but decayed family, was the discoverer and conqueror of Mexico. This celebrated adventurer was born in the year 1485, had studied at Salamanca, and was intended for the law; but his restless disposition caused him to abandon his profession and search for distinction in the romantic regions of the west. Proceeding to Hispaniola he joined Velasquez in an expedition to Cuba: here he was chosen to undertake a voyage of discovery to the coast of Mexico; and, having spent the greater part of his fortune in equipping his army and fleet, he set sail on the 10th of February, 1519, and steered for the isle of Cozumel, on which he landed, and then proceeded to the river Tabasco, where he forced the natives to acknowledge the Spanish king: from this place he sailed westward, and landed at the place now called St. Juan de Ulloa, where he debarked his men, horses, and guns, and erected a fortification.

416. The emperor of Mexico, hearing of the arrival of the Spanish ships at this place, sent two ambassadors to meet the strangers, to enquire their intentions, and to offer them assistance. Cortez returned a haughty answer, that he would confer with none but the emperor.' The Mexicans endeavoured to conciliate him by every means in their power. Alarmed by the unusual sound of cannon they heaped upon him the most costly presents, with the hope of inducing him not to march into the interior.

The Spanish troops, who entertained fears of being attacked, broke out into mutiny: this was, however, soon quelled by the address of Cortez, who persuaded them besides to choose him commander and president of the new colony they were about forming. The town, thus commenced, received the name of La Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz. Not long afterwards another mutiny took place of a more serious character; but the influence of Cortez again prevailed, and he succeeded in inducing his men to adopt a decisive step which left them no alternative but conquest or utter ruin. This was the destruction of the fleet, a measure which left between five and six hundred persons without hope of escape, in the midst of the hostile inhabitants of a powerful and populous empire.

417. Having effected this important measure, Cortez, who had been joined by the cacique of Zempoalla with 600 men, marched on the 16th of August, having with him 500 of his own soldiers, with fifteen horses, and six cannon. With this force he entered the state of Tlascala, where he met with great opposition for fourteen days; but, after having beaten the Tlascalans at all points, he granted them peace, and they became afterwards his allies. He next advanced against Cholula, where he was treacherously received, and, to avenge himself, massacred 6000 of the natives. Proceeding onwards from this place they came in sight of the capital of the empire. At a short distance from the entrance into the city they were met by Montezuma at the head of his nobles, and surrounded by his guards and courtiers. Cortez dismounted from his horse and saluted the emperor with the utmost humility; and, after much ceremony, the emperor conducted him to a house prepared for his reception. No sooner had Cortez taken possession, than he fortified it in the strongest manner. Here he learned that the cause of their not having been attacked was a traditionary prophecy current among this people, that a powerful nation, children of the sun, would chastise the country for the punishment of their sins. Cortez readily turned the idea to his own advantage, and encouraged the awe which the Mexicans entertained for the Spaniards. Having under cover of the most friendly exterior made observations upon the city, he came to the determination of seizing Montezuma in his palace, and confining him in the Spanish quarters. He entered the palace with ten officers and soldiers, while a large party waited without. He addressed Montezuma; and, complaining of several things which he affected to dread, he requested the emperor would condescend to take up a temporary residence with the Spaniards. Montezuma reluctantly consented. He was at first treated with the attention and respect due to his station; but, after a short interval, Cortez came to his apartment with a soldier bearing fetters, and told him that the garrison at Villa Rica had been attacked; that he was the instigator of the insult; that he (Cortez) had ordered the guilty to be executed; and that the monarch_himself must feel the weight of his anger. Turning fiercely to the soldier he commanded him to fetter the legs of Montezuma. The unfortunate

monarch and his attendants were sunk in grief and affliction, and Cortez left the room to attend at the execution of the sentence on the culprits. After this was ended, he repaired to the emperor's chamber, and with his own hands took off the shackles.

418. Montezuma remained a prisoner for six months, during which period Cortez was employed in reconnoitring the country, in preparing to build vessels on the lakes, and in dividing with his soldiers the spoils of their conquest. Montezuma now acknowledged himself, in form, a vassal of the Spanish king, and sent to Cortez his tokens of homage executed in all the prescribed forms, with a magnificent present accompanied by others from his subjects. In the mean time Velasquez, the commander of the expedition in which Cortez had sailed to Cuba, hearing of his success in Mexico, fitted out a fleet with a considerable force of land soldiers, which he placed under the command of Narvaez, with instructions to seize Cortez and his officers, and to take possession of the empire in the name of Velasquez. Cortez, hearing of the arrival of this armament, quitted Mexico, leaving a small force to guard Montezuma and his capital; and, having sent bribes to many of the officers of Narvaez, attacked the army by surprise, and gained a complete and almost bloodless victory. Hearing that his garrison had been attacked in Mexico, he returned immediately, and entered the city without molestation; but was attacked in his fortress with great vigour. Having been twice wounded, and forced to retreat in the sallies made upon the besiegers, he adopted the resolution of placing the emperor in view of his enraged subjects. Montezuma endeavoured to pacify them, but in vain. The forlorn monarch was wounded by an arrow, and, disdaining the aid of the Spaniards, died broken-hearted and despairing. After his death, Cortez, finding that he could no longer maintain his position, quitted the town secretly, and marched for the Tlascalan territories. Having recruited the spirits of his followers, and received a reinforcement of 10,000 Indian allies, he again marched for Mexico exactly six months after his evacuation of it.

419. Having fixed his head-quarters at Tezcuco, on the banks of the lake, twenty miles from the capital, he built, with the assistance of the Indians of the place, thirteen small ships, which he launched on the lake. At this juncture four vessels, fitted out by his friends in Hispaniola, arrived with 200 infantry, eight horses, and supplies of arms and ammunition. He therefore immediately attacked the city on the east, west, and south. It was defended by Guatimozin, the new emperor, with undaunted courage, and Cortez himself was once taken prisoner; but fortunately rescued, though wounded in the attempt. His soldiers, who fell into the hands of the Mexicans, were sacrificed on the altars of the god of war. His allies, the Indians, now amounted to upwards of 100,000, and his vessels obtained possession of the lakes Tezcuco and Chalco. The siege continued with vigour for seventy-five days, and the town capitulated on the 21st of August, 1521, when Guatimozin was taken prisoner; but Cortez stained the glory of his triumph by cruelly

ordering the emperor to be put to the torture, in order to make him confess where he had hid his treasure; which, in fact, he had caused to be thrown into the lake. The remaining provinces of the Mexican empire yielded without much opposition to the Spanish conquerors.

420. Cortez now gave the country the name of New Spain. His proceedings were regarded with much jealousy at home, and an order was even issued for his arrest; but this was revoked, and he was appointed captain-general of New Spain. After adjusting the government, Cortez returned to Spain. Here he gained the affection of the emperor, who conferred on him the title of Marquisi del Valle de Guaxaca, together with the order of St. Jago, and the grant of a large district in New Spain. His unabated ardour for discovery and conquest, carried him again to America in 1530. His after-life was doomed to be embittered by disappointments. The Spanish government took from him the political government of New Spain, vesting it in an audiencia real, or royal audience, but leaving him the military command. In 1536 he fitted out some vessels, and discovered the Great Californian Gulf and part of its shores; and, after enduring incredible hardships, returned to Mexico. Here he met with a renewal of disappointment and oppression; and, for the purpose of obtaining justice, sailed for his native country, where he arrived in 1540, but obtained no redress. Mortification preyed upon his spirits, and this extraordinary man died in 1547, in the sixty-second year of his age.

421. The first viceroy of New Spain arrived in 1535. From this period to the year 1808, Mexico was governed by a succession of fifty viceroys, of whom only one was an American by birth, the Marquis De Casa Fuerte, a native of Peru. The annals of Mexico, from the conquest to the beginning of the present century, are remarkably devoid of interest. A series of restrictive illiberal measures and oppressive exactions by the viceregal government, and especially the exclusive employment of Europeans in civil offices, excited great discontent among the Creoles. At length the revolutionary spirit of the provinces of South America was in some measure communicated to Mexico.

422. After the occupation of Madrid by the French, and the abdication of the king in 1808, the viceroy of Mexico received such contradictory orders from the several authorities which claimed the control of Spain, that he proposed to call a junta of the country. This excited jealousy among the Europeans, who had hitherto been accustomed to the exclusive possession of power, and they seized the viceroy in his palace, sent him prisoner to Spain, and assumed the government. This act excited equal indignation among the Creoles or native Mexicans, and a conspiracy was formed by them against his successor. It was headed by Hidalgo, a priest of some talent, and enthusiastic in the cause of independence. He collected a considerable force, and was proclaimed generalissimo on the 17th of September, 1810, and was received with shouts of joy by the Indians and Creoles. On the 27th of October he entered Toluca, a town

only twelve leagues west of the capital on his way thither. Some cause not ascertained led him to retire, and gave time for the royal forces to collect and pursue him with such vigour that he was completely defeated. He was ultimately taken and executed on the 20th of June 1811, together with some of his principal officers.

423. A junta had now been assembled as a provisional council for the revolutionists. Morelos, another priest, assumed the command in place of Hidalgo; and several provinces were completely occupied. Morelos next called a congress of forty members, who framed a constitution and proposed terms of peace to the viceroy, which were rejected with contempt. On the 5th of November 1815 Morelos was taken and shot. The congress, after removing from place to place, were dissolved by General Teran, who had succeeded to Morelos. In 1816 Mina, a nephew of the Spanish Guerilla chief, came to aid the revolutionists, and met with some success; but was ultimately defeated and met the fate of Hidalgo and Morelos. The war was maintained in an irregular manner, and with various success, until in February 1818 the congress was surprised, and the president taken prisoner. The form of government, however, was still maintained. In 1819 the war languished every where; the royalists had possession of the strong holds; the armies were at length disbanded; and the chiefs dispersed or retired to the mountains to wait a more favourable period. The termination of this revolution is principally to be attributed to the opposition of the clergy.

424. The revolution in Spain, which introduced the cortes and the decrees for confiscating the church estates and reducing the number of the clergy, excited alarm in the same powerful body in Mexico, and they at once proclaimed from the pulpit that the interests of religion required the independence of Mexico. They united with the Europeans in selecting Don Augustin Iturbide, a Creole, but a zealous royalist and in command of the army, as the instrument for the execution of their plans. He soon formed a junction with the patriots; and after having despatched emissaries to every part of the kingdom to prepare the people, he advanced to Iguala; and on the 24th February 1822 proposed to the chiefs the plan of Iguala, which was immediately adopted, and transmitted to every part of the kingdom. This plan provided,-first, for the preservation of the catholic religion and rights of the clergy; secondly, for the union of Europeans and Creoles; thirdly, for the independence of Mexico; fourthly, for a limited monarchy under Ferdinand, or one of his family. This plan, by no means the choice of any party, was yet received as a compromise by all; and the revolution was effected every where without bloodshed, and almost without a struggle. 425. At this moment General O'Donojou arrived at Vera Cruz, with the appointment of captain general; but finding the country so completely in the possession of the revolutionists, he made a treaty with Iturbide grounded on the plan of Iguala, and withdrew the royal forces from the capitol. A junta of thirty-six members was now appointed, and they chose a regen y of

five persons, with Iturbide as president, to exercise the executive power. From this moment Iturbide, who had hitherto affected great moderation, made every effort to obtain absolute power. On the 24th of February 1822 a cortes elected according to the direction of the junta was assembled; they were soon divided into three parties, the Bourbonists, the republicans, and the partisans of Iturbide, who sought to profit by their dissensions to give him the supreme power. Frequent contests occurred between the parties and the regency, and at length were brought to a crisis by the refusal of the cortes to raise the troops required by Iturbide. On the 18th of May his friends assembled and harangued the soldiers, and distributed money among them; and at ten o'clock at night they proceeded to Iturbide's house, and proclaimed him emperor under the name of Augustine the First. In the morning, on the assembling of the cortes, they found themselves surrounded by an insulting soldiery and an enthuiastic mob, who threatened them with death if they did not immediately ratify their choice. This was accordingly done. Iturbide now made urgent demands for an increase of power, for a control over the judges, and many other arrangements which the cortes absolutely refused. On the 26th of August he arrested fourteen of the most active of his opponents, and kept them in confinement without allowing them to be brought to trial. His views were still thwarted, and at length he sent an officer to dissolve the cortes, and expel them by force from their chamber.

426. The Emperor now called a junta of members appointed by himself, who assembled to the number of forty-five on the 2d of November, obviously as the mere organ for the expression of the imperial will. An insurrection, however, had broken out in the northern provinces in the month of October. Santana, who was in command at Vera Cruz, in consequence of receiving a dismission, induced his troops to revolt and proclaim a republican government. Guadalupe Victoria, an early hero of the revolution, joined him; and the party was soon after strengthened by the addition of other generals of the imperial troops. This was the signal for general revolt The emperor was called upon to abdicate, and at length, on the 8th of March, he called together some members of the old cortes, and tendered his resignation. The members declined receiving any abdication, as this would imply his right to the throne; but advised that he be permitted to leave the country with a pension; and he was accordingly escorted to the coast, and embarked for Leghorn on the 11th of May 1823.

427. On the 27th of March the republican army entered the capital. The old congress was immediately convoked; a provisional government appointed, with an executive of three members; a new congress was called, who framed a constitution since adopted. A federal government was established, and sworn to in the capital on the 24th of February 1824. The provinces next proceeded to organize state governments with every appearance of harmony.

428. Some disturbances arose subsequently,