muceno paid the Spanish government $18,000,000 in taxes; while that of Santa Gertrudis, near Pachuca, yielded in four years, not long ago, about $2,300,000. Improved mining machinery has recently been introduced from the United States and Europe.

The Cerro del Mercado, near Durango, is an enormous mass of magnetic iron, which has given upon analysis 66 per cent of pure metal; it is estimated to contain 60,000,000 cubic yards of iron ore, weighing 500,000,000,000 lbs.

The famous onyx deposits are found in Puebla. Extensive quarries of onyx and marble of the most beautiful colors have recently been discovered in Zacatecas, San Luis Potosi, Coahuila, and Nuevo Leon. Opals are obtained in Queretaro, and Guanajuato. There are also topazes, emeralds, agates, amethysts, and garnets. The ruling of the Treasury Department in regard to silver-lead ores which were formerly treated in this country, and the act of congress levying a heavy duty on them, has led to the establishment in Mexico of large smelting plants, one of which, that of San Luis Potosi, represents a capital of $4,000,000.

Coal deposits of good quality have recently been discovered in Coahuila, one of which exported last year 200,000 tons. In Sonora excellent anthracite coal has been found, one hundred miles from the mouth of the Yaqui River, containing 90 per cent of carbon. In Oaxaca plentiful coal beds have been discovered in Justlahuaca, also in Puebla, Jalisco, Tlaxcala, Vera Cruz, Hidalgo Tamaulipas, and Nuevo Leon.

Petroleum and asphaltum are also found in Mexico, but the scarcity of the population and the difficulty of communication have been a great drawback to the development of this great natural

resource.

Land in Mexico is comparatively cheap. The public lands are mostly in parts of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, Sinaloa, Sonora, etc. The best land is located in the temperate and hot regions. The inhabitants can denounce 6,177 acres; foreigners and naturalized citizens of bordering countries are not allowed to own real estate within twenty leagues of

the boundary line or five leagues of the coast, except by express authority of the executive. They can acquire land in any other part of the country, but they become subject to the laws.

Mexico has recently made great efforts to promote immigration, offering liberal inducements to foreigners, although with very poor success, so far, as shown by the number of colonists introduced in 1890, which amounts to only six thousand five hundred.

The principal buildings in the city of Mexico are the Cathedral, which cost more than $2,000,000, it was built in ninety-four years, and dedicated in December, 1667; the National Palace; the School of Mines; a fine building put up by the Spaniards; and the Municipal Palace, which contains a complete collection of portraits of the viceroys since Hernan Cortes. There are eight hospitals, a poor-house, an orphan industrial school, a reformatory school, a woman's school of arts, a blind and orphan asylum, a deaf and dumb asylum, a preparatory school, law, medical, engineering, commercial, agricultural, and arts colleges, and a conservatory of music. There is, also, an academy of arts, containing a very good collection of valuable paintings, sculptures, and engravings; a national museum interesting for the relics and Mexican antiquities it has ; a national library containing 150,000 volumes, some of them of great historical value; a mint, established since 1535; several markets; 20 hotels; 5 principal theatres; 5 banks; 5 cemeteries; 77 newspapers, 20 of which are daily, 35, weekly, 8, fortnightly, 6, monthly, and 7, the time of issue of which is not stated. In the whole country there are 318 periodical publications, of which 3, are in English, 2, in French, and 1, in German, and 51 public libraries, with about. half a million volumes.

Up to April 1, 1890, the date of the latest data at hand, there were in operation in Mexico 8,850 kilometers of railway, most of which are owned by American companies. Until 1880, the only railroad of any importance was the Vera Cruz line, running to the capital, with a branch to Puebla. It was built by an

English company, under a concession, which, although granted since 1857 and renewed several times, the work thereon did not really begin until November, 1868. It was opened to traffic in January, 1873, it is of standard gauge and measures 263 miles, not including the branch to Puebla. In September, 1880, a concession was made to some Boston gentlemen for the construction of a line from the capital to El Paso del Norte, passing through Leon, Aguscalientes, Zacatecas, and Chihuahua, with a branch. to Guadalajara, to be ultimately extended to some Pacific port. The one to Tamico, on the Gulf of Mexico, was built under a concession from the state of San Luis Potosi. This road, called the Mexican Central (broad gauge), was inaugurated, thanks to Boston pluck and energy, in the summer of 1884, four years before the time fixed upon in the concession; the other two branches to Guadalajara and Tampico were opened some time later, and they have a total extension of 1,832 miles.

A second concession was granted, about the same time, to a Boston corporation for a line from Nogales, Arizona, to Guaymas, Mexico, which was concluded some years ago, and is called the Sonora Railway; it is broad gauge and has 265 miles.

A third concession, was made a few days later to the Mexican National Railroad Company for a line from the capital to Laredo, Texas, by the way of Toluca, San Luis Potosi, Saltillo, and Monterey, with a branch to Manzanillo, and was finished about four or five years ago. It is narrow gauge, and measures 1,069 miles.

The other roads which have also been built within the last few years are: The Mexican International (American, broad gauge, 409 miles), from Eagle Pass, Texas, to Torreon, a station on the Mexican Central, now being extended to Durango, has been constructed without any subsidy; the Monterey and Tampico (American, broad gauge, 400 miles); the Interoceanic (English), from Vera Cruz to Mexico, via Jalapa, to be extended to Acapulco; the Mexican Southern (English), from Puebla to Oaxaca, now finished to Tecomaca, 140 miles; the Tehuante

pec railroad, across the isthmus, where work has recently been resumed under a new contract; the Yucatan lines and the tramways in the principal cities where there are altogether about 235 kilometers.

Almost all these roads were built with government subsidies, which some people did not believe would be paid. They were paid at first with a percentage of the import duties, and last year most of them were paid off by means of a loan contracted by the republic for that purpose.

There were, in 1889, 48,000 kilometers of telegraph lines and about 8,000 kilometers of telephone lines, more than half of which belong to the government.

Education has received great impetus within the last few years, both from the federal and state governments. Primary instruction is obligatory throughout the country. There were in 1888 about 9,ooo primary schools, attended by over half a million pupils, at a cost of $4,000,ooo per annum, and 136 preparatory and professional colleges, giving instruction to about 17,000 students, at an annual expense of $1,500,000.

Trade between Mexico and the United States has been rapidly increasing within the last few years, notwithstanding the ruling of the U. S. Treasury Department in regard to silver-lead ores and the high duties imposed by the McKinley tariff bill. In 1874-75, for instance, the imports into Mexico amounted to $22,493,493 (Mexican money), the share therein of the United States being $5,028,635, while that of England was $8,657,163. In 1889-90, the latest date at hand, the imports went up to $40,024,894, the United States contributing, first on the list, with $22,669,421, and England, second, with $6,337,980. The exports from Mexico for 1874-75 footed up to $27,318,788, of which this country received $10,358,167; while in 1890-91 they increased to $63,276,395, of which $44,983,086 (or 71-09 per cent) were sent to the United States.

The following table shows the enlargement of trade since 1885-86, when the four railway lines, built by American companies, which are really continuations of and feeders of the trunk roads of this country, were opened to traffic:

Exports from Mexico to the United States: In 1885-86, they were $25,429,594.56, or 58.26 per cent; in 1886-87, $21,728,714.79, or 56.37 per cent; in 1887-88, $31,059,626.66, or 63.54 per cent; in 1888-89, $40,853,362.74, or 67.91 per cent; in 1889-90, $43,022,440.67, or 68.84 per cent; and in 189091, $44,983,086.37, or 71.09 per cent; of this latter amount, $23,400,832.94 (or 64.54 per cent), were in precious metals, and $21,582,253.43 (or 79.88 per cent) in other commodities. The total exports from Mexico in 1890-91 are made up as follows: In precious metals, $36,256,372.16; hennequen, $7,048,556.76; coffee, $6,150,358.72; hides and skins, $1,804,828.69; woods, $1,726,527.08; lead, $1,125,468.64; tobacco, $1,105,446.73, and sundries, $8,058,836.56.

There is no reason in the world why the trade between our two countries, which are only separated by a narrow river and an imaginary line, should not attain much larger figures than at present. We need in Mexico your machinery to work our mines, on the most important sources of wealth, your agricultural implements for the development and culti

vation, on a large scale, of our rich and fertile lands, your manufactured goods; while in exchange, you need our mineral ores, our textile fibres, our coffee, hides and skins, tobacco, precious woods, and other raw material, to feed your manufactories.

The Mexican government has shown a willingness to establish closer commercial relations with the United States, acting upon the conviction that such a policy is beneficial to both countries and cannot but strengthen and cement upon firmer basis the good relations which now happily exist between the two republics. In proof of this she concluded, in 1883, the Grant-Romero reciprocity treaty, which, although ratified by the two contracting parties, failed unfortunately, because the U. S. House of Representatives did not act within the time prescribed by the treaty on the bill presented thereto, providing for the necessary legislation to carry it into effect; this bill was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and an adverse majority report was rendered thereon, couched in very uncomplimentary terms to Mexico. It is to be hoped that further efforts in this direction may have better success in the future.

HE term impressionism, used in reference to the art of painting, has acquired a special significance in these days. It defines a new fashion in the art, and may be best understood by a study of the works of those who call themselves impressionists. The thing is as new and pretentious as the word which stands for it. It had its origin in France, but it has gained a certain footing in the United States, and has exercised a positive influence over the minds of many American painters and a few American amateurs.

The first impressionist was Edouard Manet, whose portraits of Henri Rochefort and of Mr. Pertuiset, the lion-hunter, I saw in the Paris Salon of 1881. The portrait of Rochefort was a mediocre work enough, and made no particular impression; but the picture of the lionhunter was interesting by its eccentricity. It not only represented purple shadows everything in it was purple, and not a pretty purple at all. The hunter, on his knee, aiming, the lion's skin, the background, all were of a color suggestive of Concord grapes. It was a singular performance, and, at the time, it was taken for what it was worth; Paris smiled at it. The critics said, in substance, that Mr. Manet's dogma, that shadows were colored, was perfectly true; nobody denied that; but when he insisted that all shadows were purple, he was in error.

I think that it is a fair statement to say that the cornerstone of impressionism is the use of purple tints. There are other characteristics to be noted, but that this is the fundamental point is beyond question. The proof of it is to be seen in the works of all the impressionists, from Manet down.

Manet, a pupil of Couture, was born in 1833, and died in 1883. He was, like many independent spirits, persistently denied admission to the exhibitions of

the Society of French Artists for many years, and became a sort of revolutionary captain of the empurpled host of outsiders. His work was warmly praised and his cause eloquently espoused by Emile Zola, whose "Nana" formed the subject of one of Manet's most celebrated paintings. Manet's pictures were first seen in this country at the Foreign Exhibition, held in Boston in 1883, the year of his death. They were "The Entombment" and the portrait of "Faure as Hamlet" in the opera. The former was a ghastly and revolting vision of death in its most material and brutal aspect, without any hint of its dignity and peace, without a gleam of the beauty which is associated with the promotion of the righteous. It was a picture which could not have been painted by a man of refinement, which is remembered with no pleasure, and yet there was not wanting in it evidences of talent and of force. The portrait of "Faure as Hamlet" was a theatrical work, with a distinct souvenir of Velasquez's full-length figure of a gesticulating actor, but the flesh tones were pasty. Nevertheless, it had a presence and a certain effectiveness.

Three years later (1886), in New York, there was a large exhibition of impressionists' pictures, among which Manet's work was conspicuous. Besides his "Faure as Hamlet" and the portrait of Rochefort, I remember "The Philosopher," "The Beggar," "The Absinthe Drinker," a portrait of Lola de Valence, a piece of still-life, "The Fifer of the Guard," and three vivid sketches of "A Race Course," "A Bull Fight," and the famous "Fight between the Alabama and the Kearsarge." The large, single figures, such as "The Philosopher," "The Beggar," "The Absinthe Drinker," and the "Fifer of the Guard," manifested a remarkable faculty of characterization and of decorative chromatic effect. They were flat, ill-drawn, and extremely modern in point of subject, but

the color gave one a highly favorable idea of the artist's powers. On the whole, Manet, with all his faults, was a painter of considerable power.

It was at the Foreign Exhibition of 1883 in Boston that the American public first had the rare felicity of becoming acquainted with the works of those other shining lights of the new cult, Pissaro, Claude Monet, Renoir, and Sisley. There were

Pissaro's "The Shepherd and the Washerwoman," "Suburbs of Pontoise," "The Goatherd"; Claude Monet's "Custom-house Station, Dieppe," "My Garden," "Tide at Varengerville"; Renoir's "A Box at the Theatre,' ""Boatmen's Breakfast at Bougival," "The Fisherman's Children"; and Sisley's "A Barrier on the Shore," "Autumn Morning at St. Mammes," and "Grand Promenade." It was at once evident, when these productions came before us, that we no longer had to deal with painters. Manet was, if you will, a painter who had really tried to produce, after his own manner, pictures in which there was some semblance of nature and some suggestion of beauty. But these others, whatever else they might be, were no painters. The traditions of an art may not be sacred, but they exist for cause, and it is not the first original comer who is able to replace them with his own little recipe and reverse the established order of things. There are many people who unreasonably despise and reject a new thing simply because it is new, I am aware; but there are also those who have an equally deplorable tendency to take take up with everything new, under the delusion that progress requires it. Hazlitt argues, and with more than his usual cogency, that the arts are not progressive, that those of them which depend on individual genius and incommunicable power "have always leaped at once from infancy to manhood, from the first rude dawn of invention to their meridian height and dazzling lustre, and have in general declined ever after." The common idea in this country is that everything progresses, and consequently that the art of the present and future must excel that of the past. I mention this partly to account for the ready following

which appears to await new 66 movements" in art, literature, society, politics, and religion and particularly in Boston. I presume nobody denies at least I do not wish to that much of this spirit is due to a very laudable hospitality and breadth of mind; but in so far as it bears upon art it has resulted in vagaries and heresies which are ludicrous and discouraging.

Because genius is often eccentric, it does not follow that eccentricity is always accompanied by genius. One of the distinguishing marks of great art is its good sense.

The first impression made by the works of Pissaro, Monet, Renoir, and Sisley was that their mannerisms outweighed whatever merits they might possess; and a further acquaintance with those works leads to no different conclusion. In other words, the worth of what they have to say, be it greater or less, is utterly obscured by their way of saying it. That their methods of execution have any value as such is a claim which has never been established in practice. On the contrary, it is demonstrated that their mannerisms are so pronounced and obtrusive as to preclude style and to offend taste. They try to represent each subject and everything in it by the same impossible and painty texture of an old piece of tapestry. It is hard to take such work seriously, for it looks crude and childish. Does nature look so? Never. If only one man painted after this fashion, it might be said that his peculiar handling was an individual if faulty manner; but since all the true-blue impressionists employ the same method, it must be inferred that they have adopted it as a system. The result of it is the production of a mass of daubs which would not deserve serious consideration, were it not for the pernicious influence exerted upon the susceptible young painters who suppose that they must follow the latest fashion in painting.

One of the prominent advocates of the Impressionists is Théodore Duret, who boldly declares his love and admiration for their works, and attempts to justify the faith that is in him by an essay from which I shall venture to make several quotations.