and action, between the so-called Latin races of France, Italy, and Spain,-in which league France will naturally hold the first place, By his intervention in Italy, he has endeavored, and not unsuccessfully, to attract Italy to him as a dependent ally. By his intervention in Mexico, he plays a part which will tend to attract Spain likewise; and he trusts to complete an alliance with that country by, ere-long, supporting the claims of the Spaniards to the possession of Gibraltar; and also, if an opportunity offers, of effecting a "unification" of the Peninsula by obliterating Portugal (the ally of England) as an independent State. Meanwhile, by regenerating Mexico, he adds to his own renown,— shows himself a fitting leader for the future league of the Latin races; and, at the same time, he opens a new field for the commerce and enterprise of France, which may help to save the nation from its social demoralization and concomitant discontent, and impart to it a new and healthy impulse towards increase of population, without which it will be impossible for France to retain her high position among the powers of Europe. time,-and thereby make them fit to profit by the extraordinary matural resources with which they are surrounded. On either side Mexico is bordered by a narrow low-lying coast region, abounding in heat and moisture, where vegetation presents the full luxuriance of the tropics. The interior of the country, on the other hand, consists of a vast table-land, as level as the sea, of an average height of 7,000 feet above the coast; and out of this great plain rise chains of mountains rich in minerals, and lofty isolated peaks, like snow-capped Popocatepetl, the breezes from which cool down the summer heat. Here and there, especially on its outskirts, this great plain is seamed by profound valleys or glens, bounded by precipitous walls of rock; and standing on the temperate table-land, the stranger beholds with amazement the gorgeous scenery of tropical vegetation which opens upon him in glowing colors in the valley beneath. Mexico is rich in indigenous plants and flowers. On the plains, the strange-looking stems of the cactus, like grotesque vegetable pillars, silent and unbending to the wind, rise to the height of twenty feet, gorgeous with scarlet or yellow blossoms. The air is perfumed by the wild and profusely-growing convolvuli, with their graceful bell-flowers. And the vanilla plant, whose pods yield an expensive luxury, grows spontaneously in the coast-region,-ivy-like climbing the loftiest trees, while its large white flowers, striped with red and yellow, fill the forest with their rare and delicious odor. The coffee-tree is indigenous, and can be most successfully cultivated in the region above the Mexico is a country well fitted to engage the attention of a great monarch, to justify his efforts on its behalf, and to more than repay them by the results which will attend its regeneration. The climate of its central and most inhabited region is perfectly suited to the constitution of Europeans, and especially of the so-called Latin races. The country abounds in mines of the precious metals; and so great are the treasures hidden in its mountains that the mineral wealth of the country is still, comparatively speaking, undeveloped. The soil, too, is remarkably fer"On nearing the towns, vast fields are seen tile; and owing to its peculiar geographical covered with clumps of aloes arranged in the formation, the country yields in perfection quincunx form, to which the similar plants most of the productions alike of the temper- the greenhouse, are not to be compared. This found in Europe, whether in the open air or in ate and the torrid zones. Extending for is the maguey, whose juice (pulque) delights 1,200 miles along the seaboard of the Atlan- the Mexican palate and enriches the treasury. tic, and 900 miles along the coast of the Pa-The maguey and the cactus are the two plants characteristic of the Mexican table-land. In cific, Mexico contains an area three times uncultivated districts there are immense tracts larger than France, situated between the two offering nothing to the eye but aloes and cactus, great oceans of the world, and presenting in standing solitary or in scattered groups,-a strange and melancholy vegetation that stands its southern portion a route well fitted to be-insensible to the whistling of the wind instead come a highway between them. Mexico con- of replying to it, as do our waving forests, with tains within herself all the material elements the aloes and cactus might make the traveller a thrill of animation. The silent inflexibility of of a great empire. All that is wanted is to fancy, as he loses sight of the villages, that he regenerato her people,-to revive in them the is traversing one of those countries he has been energies which they, both Indians and Span-has turned all nature to stone."-Chevalier's told of in fairy tales, where an angry genie jards, once exerted gloriously in the olden Mexico (English Edition), vol. i. p. 23. reach of the malaria, on the comparatively To know what a country, may become, we temperate mountain-slopes between four and must know what it has been. When Cortez five thousand feet above the sea. The cocoa-landed on the mainland of America, he heard shrub, also, is indigenous, but requires the from all quarters the fame of a great empire damp and sultry warmth of the coast-region. and a magnificent monarch; and when he In such districts it is amazingly productive. Humboldt, in his "Tropical World," says he never should forget the deep impression made upon him by the luxuriance of tropical vegetation on first seeing a cocoa plantation. "After a damp night, large blossoms of the theobroma issue from the root at a considerable distance from the trunk, emerging from the deep black mould. A more striking example of the productive powers of life could hardly be met with in organic nature." Tobacco, indigo, flax, and hemp grow wild, and amply repay cultivation. began his memorable march inland from Vera Cruz, he soon met abundant proofs of the prosperity of the country and the power of its ruler. Superb presents were brought to him,-cultivation, aided by irrigating canals, overspread the plains and valleys,-populous cities rose in his path. There was a wellordered administrative system and a powerful priesthood. Immense teocallis, or pyramidal temples, rose in stages to the height of one hundred to three hundred feet and more, covering so much ground that the base of one of them, not remarkable for its height, was twice as large as that of the Great Pyramid of Ghizeh: while from their summits perpetual fires blazed, lighting the darkness of night with strange and lurid gleams. Under the emperor were Caciques, or great nobles (like the Daimios of Japan), ruling their provinces in unswerving and devoted loyalty to the emperor. There was a numerous and well-cared-for army, with orders of knighthood resembling those in Europe,— and (remarkable fact) a Chelsea Hospital or Hotel des Invalides, in which the veterans were cared for at the expense of the State. circumspect Cortez to Charles V., " that I have exaggerated facts. I shall do what is possible to relate, as well as I can, a few, of which I have been an eye-witness, so marvellous that they pass all belief, and for which we cannot account to our own selves." The vegetable productions which supply the necessaries of life are numerous and remarkably productive. Maize, which of all the indigenous productions of the New World has been of the greatest value to Europe, yields about two hundred-fold, and on the best cultivated land five hundred-fold; and in the coast-region, sometimes three crops of it are raised within the year. The banana, the most prolific of all vegetables, likewise abounds in Mexico, and might support a population of unusual density. Planted with the banana, a piece of land will yield a weight of fruit a hundred and thirty times" It shall never be said," wrote the grave and greater than if planted with wheat, and fifty times greater than if planted with potatoes. Wheat and barley, introduced from Europe, thrive in the temperate region, and owing to the natural fertility of the soil, yield large returns. The sugar-cane of Mexico, famed for its unrivalled abundance of saccharine matter, is cultivated, not only in the coastregion, but on the adjoining mountain-slopes, above the noxious influence of the terra caliente. The cotton plant, though yielding its finest qualities in the moist coast-region, can be cultivated on the higher grounds, especially as the Mexican plant is capable of resisting the effects of frost. In truth, the vegetable productions, as well as the mineral wealth of Mexico, are almost unrivalled in the world; and in course of time, when foreign capital has been introduced, and when the population has increased alike in energy and in numbers, it will become a great ex-nochtitlan (Mexico)-the Venice of the New porting country, and will rise in prosperity World-with 300,000 inhabitants. while benefiting the world at large. The wonder of the Spaniards was at its height when, after defiling through the mountain-passes, they entered the valley of Mexico, and saw before them a great basin or plain seventy miles in diameter, bounded on all sides by lofty mountains, and studded with great and populous cities, clustering around the series of connected lakes which lay in the centre of the valley. Several of those cities, like Tezcuco and Cholula, had a population of 150,000; and the whole valley was richly cultivated. In the centre of the great lake, approached by three causeways from the mainland, rose the capital, Te There were the royal palaces of Montezuma, one storied, but covering such large areas that one of them sufficed to contain the whole band of Cortez, including his Tlascalan allies. Pyramidal temples, in great numbers and of immense size, towered aloft, with their perpetual fires reflected in the waters; and the houses, coated with solid white stucco, gleamed in the brilliant sunshine as if constructed of the precious metals. Like Venice, the city was intersected with canals from the lake, forming watery highways, by which goods could be transported from the mainland into the heart of the city; and in the centre was the great market-place, surrounded by porticos, twice as large as the city of Salamanca, said Cortez, and in which 60,000 persons could traffic with ease. "It is the most beautiful thing in the world," said Cortez, speaking of the capital, with bitter regret, when the heroic defence of the Aztecs compelled him to demolish it house by house. Around all was the great lake, crossed only by the three causeways, and dotted by artificial floating islets, bearing fruits and flowers for the market of the capital, which struck the Spaniards alike with wonder and admiration.* "I think there is no Soldan nor infidel prince known up to this time, who has himself waited upon with so much display and magnificence," said Cortez, when he reached Mexico and beheld the royalty of Montezuma. In the mouth of Cortez, the phrase "Soldan" is a sort of superlative. Let us remember, too, that this was written to the Emperor Charles V., the greatest European monarch of his time. There were botanical gardens, too,-before anything of the kind had been thought of in Europe,-and menageries and collections of birds. 66 Hanging gardens,' rivalling those of Babylon, adorned the mountain-sides, and the humblest of the Nor was people had a passion for flowers.* intellectual cultivation forgotten, and the monarch mingled with and took part in the assemblies of the men of letters, feeling that by so doing he added lustre to his royalty. Their books were collected in libraries, and were written on leaves like ours, and not on rolls. Horses were unknown, but posts were established throughout the empire, with relays of runners, who, with marvellous speed, transmitted the orders of the emperor. So fleet were these runners, and so admirably organized the system, that the fish which one day were swimming in the waters of the Pacific or Atlantic were next day served up at the royal table in the capital. The beauty of their goldsmiths' work was praised as unrivalled by Cortez, even when sending the very articles to his emperor, who would judge of them for himself. The cotton plant was cultivated, and its snowy pods were woven, and formed the clothing of the people. The vine was unknown; but they found a substitute in the sweet juices of the agave; while its pulp was converted into paper, and its fibres into rope. They had explored the mineral treasures of the mountains, and pos *“ Another curiosity existed in the chinampas, or floating gardens, scattered over the lakes. These artificial islets, of fifty to a hundred yards long, served for the cultivation of vegetables and flowers for the market of the capital. Some of these islets had consistency enough for shrubs of some size to grow on, or to bear even a hut of light material. They were at pleasure moved to the bank by poles, or were made to move over the waters with their floral treasures by the same means. This spectacle impressed the Spaniards greatly, and, according to Bernal Diaz, made them say that they had been transporte into an enchanted region like those they had read of in the romance of Amadis de Gaul.'' Chevalier's Mexico, vol. i. p. 31. *"The Mexicans had a passion for flowers. They collected together in splendid gardens such as were remarkable for perfume or for brilliancy of color. To these they added medicinal plants, methodically arranged; shrubs distinguished by their blossoms or their foliage, by the excellence of their fruit, or their berries; and also trees of elegant or majestic appearance. They delighted in laying out their terraces and bowers on hilly slopes, where they looked as if suspended. Aqueducts brought thither water from a distance, which overflowed in cascades, or filled spacious basins tenanted by the choicest fish. Mysterious pavilions were hidden among the foliage, and statues reared their forms amid the flowers. All the kinds of animals that we assemble in our gardens consecrated to sciencesuch as the Jardin des Plantes at Paris, and the Zoological Gardens of London-contributed to the ornament or curiosity of these resorts of pleasure. Birds were there of beautiful plumage, kept in cages as large as houses; there also were wild beasts, animals of various kinds, and even serpents. Bernal Diaz there first beheld the rattlesnake, which he describes as having castanets in its tail. One of the royal gardens, two leagues from Tezcuco, was formed on the side of a hill, whose summit was reached by an ascent of five hundred steps, and was crowned by a basin, whence, by an effort of hydraulic skill, water flowed in succession into three other reservoirs, adorned with gigantic statues. Cortez also mentions the gardens of a Cacique, which were not less than two leagues in circumference."- See Chevalier's Mexico, vol. i. p. 28-30. sessed gold, silver, copper, tin, and even iron. | the mother-country became oppressive to the In astronomical science, also, they were well Spanish population of Mexico; and when they advanced; and to the astonishment of the threw it off, they only fell into worse evils. Spaniards, they possessed a calendar more per- Revolution after revolution, each accompanied fect than that of Greece and Rome, or even by a civil war, took place; and the country than that which prevailed in Europe under became a prey to military factions. Private Francis I. and Charles V. adventurers set themselves in arms against the government of the hour, and if their insurrection proved successful, their first care was to enrich themselves and their followers at the expense of the rest of the community. Peaceful industry went to the wall; wealthy citizens found themselves singled out for extortion; and commercial enterprise gradually became extinct. The profession of arms—if such a title can be applied to what was simply brigandage was the only one which prospered, and was eagerly followed by the whole scum of the population. Robbery and murder became even more common than This spectacle of grandeur and prosperity, which met the eyes of Cortez, and the other chroniclers of the conquest, disappeared like a dream. The numerous and civilized population dwindled and sank into barbarism. The very face of the country became changed. It was not a government studious to preserve civilization and order that made the Conquest, but a band of bigoted and rapacious adventurers. The administrative system of the Aztec emperors fell into decay; the reign of order was succeeded by chaos and rapacity; cultivation was neglected, the people enslaved, the collections of science scat-revolts. The whole country was a prey to tered, and the libraries of literature destroyed. "To the mines! was the cry of the Spaniards. Their only thought, as Christians, was to obliterate and destroy the pagan past; their only passion, as conquerors, was to possess themselves of the precious ores. The great nobles were killed or despoiled; the priesthood, the depositaries of the national learning and traditions, were persecuted and massacred; and the books were gathered together, and destroyed in the flames. The Indians were hurried off to work in gangs in the mines. The great cities were depopulated, and crumbled into ruins. The forests were felled or burned, partly because they afforded shelter to the natives, partly in imitation of the treeless plains of Castile; and the soil, denuded of its natural covering, became arid and barren, and no longer attracted or retained as before the fertilizing showers. The population is now probably not one-third of what it was in the time of Montezuma. And by partially draining the lakes of the When the Mexicans murdered and despoilvalley, the Spaniards have only uncovered aned one another, they were not likely to be expanse of salt-impregnated soil,—a disfigure- more tender towards foreign settlers. Severment to the eye, and utterly useless for culti-al British and other foreign merchants and vation. licentious marauders, and its whole strength was exhausted in internal commotions. Onehalf of its territory was given up to the encroaching ambition of the United States. Texas, with its prairies of exuberant fertility, and California, with its immense mines of gold, were wrung from Mexico by force of arms; and the vast territory now known as New Mexico was ceded to the overbearing Cabinet of Washington for a trifling sum of money. Mexico was fast disappearing from the map. The still-existing half of the country seemed ready to be absorbed as soon as the people of the United States felt the desire for further annexations. Mexico was perishing by her own sins, when, fortunately for her, some of her own sins gave rise to an intervention on the part of other powers who had no selfish ambition to gratify at her expense, and which was converted by the Emperor Napoleon into a means of rescuing her from impending destruction. traders were murdered or despoiled of their But this did not complete the tale of ruin goods; the debts due to foreign creditors which has befallen Mexico. In course of were repudiated, and the claims of foreign time evil days came for the whites them-governments were contumeliously ignored. selves, and they began to suffer disasters at In these circumstances-apparently at the their own hands, as if in divine vengeance suggestion of the Emperor Napoleon-Engfor those which they had so ruthlessly in- land, France, and Spain agreed to act in conflicted on the natives. The government of cert, with a view to obtain redress for their fence made by the Mexican garrison was unexpectedly obstinate; it seemed as if the spirit of the defenders of Saragossa still existed among their countrymen in the New World. But with the fall of Puebla resistance ceased. The French advanced, unopposed, to the capital. Conciliatory procla wrongs. That the Emperor Napoleon medi- | scales before the walls of Puebla. The detated from the outset an intervention in the internal affairs of Mexico is obvious from the tenor of his instructions to Admiral Gravière. He foresaw that it was hopeless to expect redress from the Mexican Government as long as that government-or rather that rule of anarchy-was permitted to exist. He considered it probable, also, that the better class-mations were addressed to the people, and es in Mexico would avail themselves of the soon every element of organized resistance to presence of the allied expedition to establish the invaders melted away and disappeared. a government in accordance with their own It was a sagacious act on the part of Nawishes and the requirements of civilization. poleon to associate with him, in the outset He did not avow his convictions on these of the enterprise, the only two powers in points, at least, not to England; but he Europe who might have regarded his policy trusted that, once fairly engaged in the en- in Mexico with distrust. He was equally terprise, his allies would see the necessity careful to leave no ground for international of proceeding further than was originally jealousy in the selection which he made of a agreed on. In truth, the convention was a ruler for the regenerated empire. His great blunder if its terms were not to be exceeded. uncle, in the heyday of his success, surroundWhat cared a ruler like Juarez for a seizure ed France with affiliated kingdoms, placing of a seaport or two? And how ignoble members of his own family upon the thrones would be the attitude of the three great which his conquests had rendered vacant. powers if their forces were simply to act as Napoleon III. does not seem disposed to imitax-gatherers at Vera Cruz and Matamoras, tate his example. His cousin Prince Napowhile a full-blood Indian, like Juarez, refused leon, although notoriously "a prince in search all redress, and openly set them at defiance of a crown," was not chosen to fill the throne But when the question of a direct intervention of Mexico; and Prince Murat was left to came to an issue, Spain, seeing that France dream of possibilities which might one day would take the lead, withdrew in pique, and place him on the throne of Southern Italy. England patched up a useless treaty with Jua- The emperor made a good choice in selecting rez, and recalled her squadron. But the em- the Archduke Maximilian of Austria. Mexperor adhered to his purpose. As usual, he ico could furnish no man suitable for the had formed his plans and counted the cost be- throne. The country had been in such a state forehand, and he would not recede. He could of chaos and revolution for forty years that not have reckoned that England would will- the only prominent personages were unscruingly engage in an intervention such as he de- pulous adventurers, dishonored by their presigned, and so opposed to her principles of pol-vious career, and in whom no confidence icy; but doubtless he did not expect to be left could be placed. If any Mexican had been so summarily and entirely to his own resources. raised to the throne, his name would have But the die was cast. The French troops had no power, he would have commanded no could not be allowed to remain at Vera Cruz, respect. Pronunciamentos and insurrections exposed to the deadly malaria of the coast-would have gone on as before. A foreigner region. They must either advance into the was needed for the throne. "Let us wipe interior, or be withdrawn at once. The ad- out the past; let us have a clear stage; let vance was ordered; the troops ascended to us start afresh." Such ought to be, and the edge of the table-land, where the climate such in great part is, the sentiment of all was temperate and healthy; but there the the better classes in Mexico. But the chief march was stayed. The force was found of the new empire must not be a parvenu. quite inadequate to undertake a further ad- All nations prefer to have for ruler a man born vance; for some months the troops had a in the purple, a prince of royal lineage,—a difficulty in maintaining their intrenched po- man accustomed to royalty, and removed sition at Orizaba; and even after reinforce- from the jealousies which attend a commoner ments arrived, and the advance was resumed, who is suddenly raised to be a king. Such the fortunes of the expedition trembled in the a prince is the Archduke Maximilian, a mem |