aqueduct at queretaro.—the result of a banter.—the hill of the bells.—place where maximilian was shot.—revolutions in mexico.—foreign intervention.—maximilian becomes emperor.—the "black decree."—withdrawal of french troops from mexico.—maximilian's defeat, capture, and death.—how a french newspaper circumvented the laws.—pronunciamentos.—juarez as president.—the abraham lincoln of mexico.—a wonderful prophecy.—personal appearance of juarez.—religion in mexico.—former power of the catholic church.—the laws of the reform.—protestant churches and protestant work.—missionary martyrs.—murder of rev. j. l. stephens.—religious affairs at present.
aqueduct of queretaro.
one of the first things to attract the attention of the youths was the aqueduct by which queretaro is supplied with water. they learned on inquiry that it was built by one of the citizens at an expense of half a million dollars; the story goes that it was the result of a banter between him and another wealthy mexican, one offering to supply the city with water if the other would build a shrine and saint of solid silver. the offer was accepted, and the agreement carried out by both parties.
the water comes from a mountain stream five miles from the city, and
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is brought through a tunnel, and afterwards along a series of arches, some of which are ninety feet high. it was finished in 1738, and has ever since supplied queretaro with an abundance of water.
church of the cross. hill of the bells.
queretaro.
the most interesting sight of queretaro is the cerro de las campanas, or hill of the bells, and thither our friends proceeded as soon as they had partaken of the mid-day meal, which was ready on their arrival at the hotel. there is a fine view from the hill, and they greatly enjoyed it; but they were more interested in the spot where the last mexican empire came to an end. three black crosses mark the place where maximilian and his generals, miramon and mejia, were shot on the morning of the 19th of june, 1867. this was the last scene in the drama of the imperial monarchy which louis napoleon sought to found in north america at the time of the american civil-war.
frank and fred had already familiarized themselves with the history of maximilian's career in mexico. frank had committed a portion of the story to paper, and with fred's assistance it was completed during their stay at queretaro, and mailed homeward with their next batch of letters. here it is:
"from the time mexico established her independence of spain down to 1860, there was a bitter hostility between the two parties into which the influential portion of the population was divided—the conservative or church party, and the liberals. the conservatives represented the catholic church, whose religion was brought to mexico by the priests that accompanied cortez and sought to convert the people from paganism. they succeeded in great measure, and as long as the spaniards were in power the church was in full control. it possessed a great part of the wealth of the country; the most moderate estimate is that one-fourth of all the property in the country belonged to the church, and some authorities say that the proportion was far greater.
"when independence was established, the liberals began active opposition to the church party, and the country was hardly ever at peace from one end to the other. revolutions followed each other with great rapidity. several presidents were not allowed to enter upon the duties of their office at all, and the first president to complete the full term for which he was elected was benito juarez. historians are not agreed as to the number of revolutions that have taken place in mexico; but it is safe to say that they were not fewer than thirty-six in the limit of forty years, most of them being accompanied by bloodshed. in that period there were no less than seventy-three rulers, nearly all of them exercising very brief authority, and some none at all.
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"as time went on, the hostility of the church and liberal parties to each other grew more and more bitter, till it culminated in the war of the reform, between 1855 and 1858. in 1859 president juarez proclaimed the famous laws of the reform, which forbade priests to appear in public wearing their robes of office, suppressed the monasteries and convents, and gave the property of the church to the government. the value of this property is said to have been more than $300,000,000. the liberal army captured the capital city six months after the proclamation of these laws, and they were immediately put in operation, and with great severity.
"the country was deeply in debt, and in 1861 the liberal congress passed a law suspending payment of the interest on its foreign debt. this gave england, france, and spain an excuse for sending a naval and military force to mexico; they captured vera cruz, and then an arrangement was made which caused the withdrawal of england and spain; but france remained, and was evidently determined to conquer the country. the french advanced towards the capital, which they captured june 9, 1863. there were 40,000 french troops in mexico, and they were joined by a mexican force which was in the interest of the church party.
"in july a congress of mexican notables proclaimed that the government of mexico should be an hereditary monarchy, under a catholic prince, and offered the crown to maximilian, brother of the emperor of austria. maximilian accepted the offer, and came to mexico with his wife, carlotta; they arrived in july, 1864, and were crowned emperor and empress of mexico, in the great cathedral of the capital city. the emperor selected chapultepec as his imperial residence; a fine avenue was laid out from the castle to the city, trees were planted, streets were improved, and for a short time it seemed as if peace and prosperity were coming to mexico.
"juarez was still president of the republic; he and his army were driven far to the north, but they continued to fight, and in october, 1865, maximilian signed an order which became known as the 'black decree,' condemning all republican officers captured in battle to be shot as brigands. many of them, including several generals and colonels, were shot accordingly, and this act exasperated the people.
a mexican cavalry soldier.
"the american civil war had ended; the united states government put 60,000 troops along the western frontier of texas, and then intimated that the french forces must be withdrawn from mexico. the diplomatic correspondence lasted six months, and our government threatened armed intervention unless the french troops were recalled. they were withdrawn; maximilian had no foreign support, and his own army could not cope successfully with the republican forces. juarez, with his army, advanced
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towards the south, and the imperial army marched to meet him, and was defeated. a republican army, under general diaz, captured puebla, and put the imperialists to flight.
a mexican infantry soldier.
"carlotta went to france, and vainly besought louis napoleon to continue his aid and keep a french army in mexico. then she asked the pope to exercise his influence, and finding that was of no use, she became hopelessly insane. maximilian started for the coast, intending to leave the country; unwisely for himself, he changed his plans, and joined general miramon at queretaro, where there were 5000 imperial troops. queretaro was besieged by 20,000 troops, under general escobedo; the siege
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lasted two months, and ended on the 15th of may, when the key of the position was captured, and the emperor and his army surrendered. the emperor was taken on the hill of the bells, the very spot where he was afterwards shot by order of the court-martial which condemned him to death."
line of defence held by maximilian during the siege.
"a very concise history of the events of that time," said doctor bronson, when frank paused in reading their joint production; "have you anything more to add to it?"
"yes, sir, we have," was the reply. "we have thought that the story of the court-martial, and the last days and hours of maximilian, would be interesting, and ought to form a part of our narrative."
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"that is quite right," the doctor answered, "and if you have not finished it i will hear it some other time."
on a subsequent occasion fred presented the following, which was heartily approved by doctor bronson as deserving a place in the narrative of their journey through mexico:
"maximilian was condemned to death on account of the 'black decree,' and the officers who had carried out his orders were sentenced to the same fate. the wife of general miramon went to san luis potosi to intercede with president juarez for her husband's life. the princess salm-salm went at the same time to do a similar service for maximilian. the princess, in the account of her interview, says: 'i saw the president was moved; he had tears in his eyes, but he assured me in a low, sad voice, "i am grieved, madame, to see you thus on your knees before me, but if all the kings and queens of europe were in your place, i could not spare that life. it is not i who take it, it is the people and the law; and if i should not do its will, the people would take it, and mine also."'
"miramon's wife told a similar story about the wish of the president to be merciful and reprieve her husband. she says he was wavering when his minister of foreign affairs said, 'it is to-day or never that you will consolidate the peace of the republic.' then the president told her as gently as he could that it was impossible to grant her request.
"the government of the united states asked that maximilian's life be spared, and the emperor of austria sent a similar request, but all to no purpose. on the morning of the execution maximilian rode in a coach with his confessor from the prison to the hill of the bells, and miramon and mejia, with their confessors, followed in another coach. an adobe wall had been built up for the occasion, and the three men were placed in front of it, and about ten paces from the firing party. maximilian held a crucifix in his hand, and looked intently upon it as the order to fire was given. the president caused the remains of the ill-fated emperor to be carefully coffined, and they were sent home to austria for interment in the imperial vault of the hapsburgs.
"president juarez entered the city of mexico on the 15th of july, less than a month after maximilian's death, and carried with him a train of provisions for the relief of the suffering inhabitants. great leniency was shown to all who had served under maximilian; nineteen of the officers who had committed crimes or deserted from the republican army were shot, others were imprisoned, and some were ordered to leave the country under pain of imprisonment in case they returned. the rank and file of the soldiery were sent to their homes or incorporated into the national
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army, and the president did everything in his power to bring peace to the country; and since that time mexico has been a peaceful land compared with what it had been for the preceding forty years."
when fred completed the reading of his story doctor bronson said he was reminded of an incident that happened at the time of the execution of maximilian.
"i was in paris," said he, "when the news came that the execution had taken place. the french papers were not allowed to make any comment upon the affair, except to execrate it and denounce the mexicans in the bitterest terms. louis napoleon would have caused the immediate suspension of any paper that uttered a word in sympathy with the acts of juarez.
"one of the liberal papers managed very skilfully to get around the prohibition. it printed the telegram announcing that maximilian had
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been shot by order of a mexican court-martial, and directly beneath the telegram it printed the 'black decree' of october, 1865, to which you have alluded, and with it two letters written by maximilian's victims just before they were led to execution. the decree and the letters were copied from the french official newspapers, and therefore they could be printed without risk of interference. there was not a word of editorial comment, nor was any needed."
"we said there had been peace in mexico since the fall of the empire," continued fred, "but our words deserve to be qualified. there have been disturbances at different times and in various parts of the country. in 1871 there was something that almost threatened civil war in the shape of a pronunciamento by general diaz, and for a while things had a serious aspect. general diaz did not like the election of juarez for a third time; he proposed an assembly of notables to reorganize the government, and that he (diaz) should be commander-in-chief of the army until the assembly had done its work. this would have been practically equivalent to making him president, but the whole scheme was ended by the sudden death of juarez in july, 1872.
"lerdo de tejado then became president, and for three years everything was peaceful. then came another revolution, which drove lerdo from the capital and installed diaz in the presidential chair. at the end of his term diaz was succeeded by general gonzales, who was a poor man when he became president, and a very rich one when he left the office. he left it peaceably, and was succeeded, december 1, 1884, by diaz, who has shown himself a man of ability, and has managed the affairs of the country very creditably.
"there you have mexican history boiled down," said fred. "perhaps it may be tedious to some of the boys at home, and if it is, they know how to skip."
the conversation that followed this reading naturally turned upon mexican affairs. doctor bronson signified his readiness to answer any questions the youths might ask, or, if he did not know the correct answers, he would try to tell them where the desired information could be obtained.
"president juarez was a native of mexico, and not of spanish descent, was he not?" frank asked.
first protestant church in mexico.
"yes," said the doctor; "he was a full-blooded indian, his parents having been people in very humble circumstances. he has been called the washington or the lincoln of mexico; to him mexico owes the laws of the reform and the concessions that have brought railways into the country and opened it up to commercial relations with the rest of the
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world. he was the first protestant president of the country, all his predecessors having been of the catholic faith. he is described by those who knew him as a man rather below the average height, stoutly built without being corpulent, exceedingly plain in dress, but always fastidiously neat. ordinarily he wore a dress-coat of black broadcloth, with other garments to match, and on state occasions he substituted white gloves and cravat for the every-day black ones. he used to ride in a plain coach, with no liveried servants, which was quite a contrast to the grand turnout of maximilian, who had a state carriage like that of louis xiv.
"his complexion was indian, and so were his features; his eyes were small and black, and his face, which was always clean-shaven, bore an expression of great firmness. he was not talkative, and was the same determined, silent man in prosperity as in adversity. his faith in the success of the republic was never shaken, even when he was living in an adobe hut on the banks of the rio grande, with less than 500 followers, and a reward offered by maximilian for his head. when he arrived at el paso del norte he was accompanied by only twenty-two friends, who have since been called 'the immaculate.'
"i have read somewhere,"[4] continued the doctor, "a curious story connected with his history. when mexico was conquered by the spaniards, a priest of the aztec temple at taos, in new mexico, kindled a fire upon its altar, and planted a tree in front of the edifice. he prophesied
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that when the tree died a new white race would come from the east and conquer the land, and when the fire went out a new montezuma would arise and rule mexico. the tree died in 1846, during our war with mexico, and the fire went out when the last of the aztec priests of taos died, in the year that juarez became president."
pueblo at taos, new mexico.
"was he ever imprisoned or banished, like the most of the leading men of mexico?" frank asked.
"yes," was the reply. "he was a native of the state of oajaca, where he was educated in a seminary and studied law; he graduated with high honors at the college, and for some years held the chair of natural philosophy in that institution. in 1836, when he was thirty years old, he was imprisoned by the conservatives on account of his liberal principles. after his release he became chief-judge of the republic, and held several other offices until 1853, when he was imprisoned and banished by general santa anna, and lived two years in the united states, suffering severe privations. events brought him into mexico again, and from that time he did not leave the country until his death. he was imprisoned a third time, in 1857, by comonfort, but only for a short while."
"we have mentioned the laws of the reform, which were proclaimed by president juarez and caused the appropriation of the property of the church by the government. did the church have much property besides the convents, cathedrals, and church buildings generally?"
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garden of a mexican convent.
"a great deal more than those," the doctor answered. "the church owned real estate in vast extent both in the cities and the rural districts, and some people say more than half the dwelling-houses in the city of mexico belonged to it. it had the reputation of being a very generous landlord, as it rented its houses at a lower rate than similar property could be had from private owners. on this subject i will quote from an english writer who spent some time in mexico a few years ago."
thereupon doctor bronson read the following from "mexico to-day," by thomas u. brocklehurst:
"'the church of mexico has been all-powerful since its commencement; it may be said to be the government, the magistracy, the army, and the master of the homes. everything
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in mexico has been subservient to its dictatura. the priesthood has been entirely free from the national courts of law, they have had courts of their own, and the fueros, or privileges of the ecclesiastics, placed them entirely beyond the reach of secular power. they levied taxes and tithes of everybody and everything they had a mind to. the extent to which the clergy accumulated wealth is almost incredible; they are said to have possessed three-fourths of the whole property of the country, consisting of lands and other real estate, rents, mortgages, conventual buildings, and church ornaments. moreover, there were no bankers in mexico except the clergy, so they had complete power over the estates as well as the souls of the people.
"'in 1850 señor lerdo de tejara, minister of public works, published a statistical account of the revenues and endowments of the church, with the numbers of the clergy, monks, nuns, and servants connected with the religious establishments. the details he gives, like the evidence of the existing churches, and the remains of the disused ones all over the country, quite support his statement that the church was possessed of three-fourths of the property of the state.'
"another writer," continued doctor bronson, "says that the property of the church included about 900 rural estates and 25,000 blocks of city
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property. when this property was confiscated and sold, the church authorities warned all good catholics not to invest in it. the result was that it went at very low prices, and fell into the hands of those who cared nothing for the religion of the former owners. the church people probably see by this time that they made a mistake. had they allowed catholics to buy the confiscated property, they could have got it back again into their own hands with very little trouble, and at a small valuation. dwelling-houses, shops, and all sorts of ordinary buildings, along with the rural estates and the convents, have been sold for secular purposes, but the church edifices proper are permitted to remain in the hands of their former authorities, and services go on there without interruption. the laws of the reform allow freedom of religious worship, and a catholic has the same protection as the adherent of any other faith."
"were there any protestant churches in mexico before the laws of the reform were proclaimed?" fred asked.
"no," was the reply; "the catholic church did not permit them to
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exist any more than the puritans allowed a quaker in their midst in the early days of the plymouth colony. human nature is the same all the world over, and any religious body that has supreme control of a country is pretty certain to exercise its power. you know the old explanation of the difference between religion and superstition?"
"what is that?"
"religion is what we believe; superstition is what others believe."
the boys laughed, and said they had heard the definition before. then the doctor continued:
interior of the first methodist episcopal church, city of mexico.
"the laws of the reform tolerated all religions, and guaranteed freedom of public worship. during the mexican war our army was followed by colporteurs, who distributed tracts and did other religious work. they followed the example of the priests who accompanied cortez, but, unlike them, they did not succeed in converting the population. missionary work was begun by the american baptists in 1863, and followed shortly after by the methodists, congregationalists, and presbyterians. there was much opposition on the part of some of the priests, and in several instances their ignorant followers were incited to hostility. you must remember that the mexican priests are not as intelligent, taken as a body, as the catholic priests of the united states; and understanding this, you will not wonder at the open hostility displayed towards all other forms of religion.
rev. john l. stephens, a martyr missionary.
"in the early days of the protestant missions the missionaries in mexico entered upon their duties at the risk of their lives. in 1872 a missionary and his wife settled in guadalajara. during the first few weeks of their residence in the place they were stoned whenever they appeared on the streets. the governor came to their aid, and in time the prejudice against them wore away. in november of the same year another missionary, rev. john l. stephens, settled in ahualuco, a town of five thousand inhabitants, ninety miles from guadalajara, and began his work. on the
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2d of the following march, at two o'clock in the morning, his house was attacked, and he was murdered with a brutality which could not have been excelled by apaches or sioux. one of his converts was killed at the same time, and others barely escaped with their lives.
in the cathedral.
"there have been other martyrs, and many cases of persecution. hostility has not ceased, but it is greatly diminished, and the protestants have obtained a foothold in mexico. there are not far from 300 protestant congregations in the country, with 15,000 communicants and 30,000 adherents. there are about 100 foreign missionaries, many of them accompanied by their wives; as many more ordained native ministers; and twice that number of unordained native helpers. there are many day, sunday, and theological schools, which have been established by the missionaries; and there are printing establishments, which are sending out religious matter for all who are willing to read it. there are more than fifty church edifices, some of them built expressly for the purpose, the others being old structures altered for protestant use."
mexican priests.
in closing this talk on religious matters, doctor bronson remarked that it would take many years for the quarrels between the church party and the liberals to come to an end; but in the mean while mexico would continue on her progressive way, and all her friends, of whatever creed, would be encouraged to hope for the best results.
