Chapter II: Viceroyalty

The old order had passed. On the ruins of the Aztec dominion was established a military government, a sort of proprietary dominion; to this succeeded a short-lived civil government by commissioners; then came the final stage of Mexico’s dependency and provincial government under a viceroy. These successive governments saw in the great dominion only a field for the exploitation of riches for their sovereign’s use and their own. The natives of the country had been ruthlessly despoiled of their possessions and to a large degree enslaved by the Spaniards; they had no rights save such as their masters might arbitrarily grant. Except for the noble protection and kindness of Las Casas and the missionaries, their lot had been hopeless indeed. The first viceroy, Don Antonio de Mendoza, Conde de Tendilla, arrived in Mexico on October 15, 1535. As before said, his authority soon clashed with that of Cortés. He was a man of superior parts and great probity and earnestly strove to direct the province of New Spain in the path of progress and stability. Among the enlightened measures of his administration was the introduction of the printing press, and in 1537 appeared _La Escala de San Juan Climaco_, a Latin work translated by Fra Juan de Madalena. The establishment of a mint for the coinage of silver money was another important work, inasmuch as the natives had become opposed to the copper coin, of which they had cast some two hundred thousand pesos in value into the lake. The viceroy also founded a college for Indian nobles at Tlatelolco and with a spirit of consideration for the natives he caused the hated Nuñez de Guzman, who as president of the first _audiencia_ had been guilty of great cruelty and greed, to be cast into the common jail. Under his direction, Coronado led the expedition to the fabled Quivira in the northeast, the Eldorado of the north, the “Seven Cities of Cibola,” so wonderfully described to De Vaca by the Indians. The town of Guadalajara was founded in New Galicia; and Valladolid in 1541; this latter, in 1828, was named Morelia in honor of the patriot Morelos. During his rule, the famous Mixton War occurred in the new province of New Galicia and was finally suppressed by Oñate aided by the viceroy.

The period was marked by the introduction of the benign measures known as the “New Laws,” promulgated by Charles V. in 1542, chiefly at the instance and through the exertion of the Indian-loving Bartolomé de las Casas. The intent of these laws was to prohibit absolutely further enslavement of the natives and, as far as practicable, to give freedom to those already slaves, but their enforcement was found to be impracticable.

In 1545, an appalling epidemic spread among the natives, of whom eight hundred thousand were said to have perished. During this period the viceroy Mendoza unremittingly cared for the sick and earned the proud and affectionate title of “Father of the poor.” The justice of his rule won the loyalty of the natives to the crown, and during the insurrection of Pizarro the emperor conferred on the former Tenochtitlan the title of _muy noble insigne y leal_. In 1551, Mendoza was rewarded for his excellent administration by transfer to the government of turbulent Peru.

Don Luis de Velasco succeeded in November, 1551, as the second viceroy of New Spain. He directed assiduously the enforcement of the “New Laws” and in this succeeded measurably, earning for himself the title of “the Emancipator,” as he liberated from the mines one hundred and sixty thousand Mexicans, whose freedom he said, “was more important than all the mines in the world, and that the revenues derived therefrom by the crown were not of such a nature as to defy the laws of God and man.” In 1551, the University of Mexico was created and in 1553, was founded. Velasco died in Mexico in 1564, and was interred there with great pomp and honor in appreciation of his able administration.

Martin Cortés, the second Marqués del Valle, who had left New Spain with his father when eight years old, now returned to Mexico, enriched by profit in the service of the king, and sought to enjoy his hereditary possessions and honors. His arrival, in 1563, was attended with great splendor, and his state and pretensions gave offence to the viceroy, although no serious trouble had occurred during his lifetime.

The third viceroy, Gaston de Peralta, Marqués de Falces, arrived during the investigation of the charges against Martin Cortés and his friends. He found no proof of conspiracy, stopped the proceedings and released most of the prisoners and commuted the death sentence passed on Luis Cortés to ten years’ service in Africa and loss of property; he sent the Marqués to Spain. This procedure enraged the members of the _audiencia_ and they accused the viceroy of favoring the conspiracy and sought his recall. A commission sent by the king to investigate determined on the prosecution of all traitors and four were executed, while Martin Cortés, son of Marina, was tortured and then exiled. The ordinary jails were insufficient to hold the victims of the persecution; the viceroy was deposed. But so exceedingly cruel and arbitrary was the action of the persecutor that he was himself deposed in 1568, and the viceroy was exonerated of all blame. This extraordinary and romantic affair ended, after a protracted trial, in the restoration to the Marqués of his confiscated property in 1574.

During the term of the fourth viceroy, Martin Enriquez de Almanza, the scourge of the Spanish Inquisition was established in Mexico under the direction of Pedro Moya de Contreras, later Archbishop of Mexico and viceroy of New Spain. Nominally, this institution was introduced in 1529, by a council consisting of the _audiencia_ and the heads of the Franciscan and Dominican orders, but its official establishment was not made until later. In 1572, the Jesuits settled in the province and founded their first college in the City of Mexico, which was devoted to the education of the Spanish Americans and to the conversion of the natives. _La Caridad de San Hipolito_ was another institution founded under this administration; its purposes were wholly charitable.

Little worthy of note occurred, for strife between the _audiencia_ and the viceroys had become chronic, and government was paralyzed, until the administration of the eighth viceroy, Luis de Velasco, son of the second viceroy, in 1590. Having resided for some time in New Spain he was familiar with conditions and as he was very popular the progress of the province was marked, particularly in the direction of manufactures and the embellishment of the capital. His successor, Gaspar de Zuñiga y Acevedo, Conde de Monterey, appointed in 1595, continued the territorial extension in New Mexico and accomplished the conquest of that territory by the expedition under Oñate in 1599. The domain was further extended into California as the result of explorations of Sebastian Vizcaino, who discovered the Bay of Monterey and founded the town of that name. A town of the same name was also founded in Nuevo León. The old city of Vera Cruz was removed to its present site, that first chosen by Cortés for Villa Rica. This viceroy did much to allay the discontent of the natives owing to their having been gathered in the towns, the better to secure the exaction of tribute from them.

Already, ere the close of the century of conquest, had been sown the seeds of discord between the Creoles and the Spaniards. The latter enjoyed the chief profits and honors of public office and life. The result of this policy was a growing antagonism which, in a little more than two centuries was to wrest the country from the foreigner and give its benefits to the native born.

In 1604, during the rule of Juan Manuel Hurtado de Mendoza y Luna, Marqués de Montesclaros, the capital suffered from a terrible inundation.

The second term of Luis de Velasco the eleventh viceroy is noteworthy for the construction of the great Huehuetoca Tunnel to protect the capital from inundation by drawing the water from Lake Zumpango. This formidable engineering work was planned by Enrico Martinez, an engineer of Dutch birth but educated in Spain, with the coöperation of Juan Sanchez, a Jesuit mathematician. The work, however, was soon superseded in favor of the ancient dike system, on the advice of Adrian Boot, the famous Dutch engineer. During this administration the Alameda was established, so called because first planted with _álamos_. A revolt of the negroes in the district of Vera Cruz occurred in 1609, and only after severe fighting in the mountains was it overcome. The defeated blacks then formed a settlement in San Lorenzo.

The twelfth viceroy was Fray Garcia Guerra, Archbishop of Mexico. His administration was cut short by his death through a fall from his carriage. Noteworthy is a mission to Japan undertaken by Sebastian Vizcaino, accompanied by Fray Pedro Bautista, but the ambassadors received scant courtesy, in spite of the many perils they suffered.

The founding of the important towns of Lerma and Cordova in 1613 and 1618 and the extension of the aqueduct to Santa Isabella were accomplished during the term of Diego Fernandez de Cordova, Marqués de Guadalcazar. He was succeeded by Diego Carrillo de Mendoza y Pimental, Marqués de Galves and Conde de Priego, as fourteenth viceroy. His administration was marked by sincere effort to prevent and correct abuses and dishonesty among public officials. A struggle began between church and state. He was soon at odds with Archbishop Juan Perez de la Serna, who excommunicated the viceroy. The papal delegate, however, ordered this ban removed, but the Archbishop refused; in consequence a decree of fine and banishment was issued against him. Still resisting, the Archbishop was forcibly taken to the coast for banishment, but on his way having learned that the _audiencia_ had repented and ordered his return to the capital on the ground of irregularity in the proceedings, he took refuge in a church and defied his guards to lay hands on him. Finally, the people of San Juan Teotihuacan liberated him. A riot of perilous portent broke out in the capital and notwithstanding that the viceroy consented to recall Serna, the viceregal palace was besieged and set on fire, the viceroy escaping to a convent. The triumph of this headstrong churchman was complete. On the arrival of the fifteenth viceroy, Rodrigo Pacheco y Osorio, Marqués de Cerralvo, the inquisitor formally reinstated Galves and removed his name from the excommunication tablet and he entered Mexico in triumph. His enemy the Archbishop went to Spain whither, after the investigation of his government had resulted in honorable credit to him, Galves followed. In 1628, the Dutch admiral, Pieter Heyne captured a treasure fleet bearing bullion and other valuables from New Spain to the mother country, of a value of twelve million pesos. As a result of this, a squadron called the _Barlovento_ (Windward) was formed to protect the Gulf of Mexico and the West Indies.

A noteworthy feature of the administration of the seventeenth viceroy, the Marqués de Villena and Duque de Escalona, who was of an illustrious Portuguese family, was his removal from office on a charge of plotting against his king in favor of the Portuguese, who had revolted against Spain. The viceroy was later exonerated from this charge. Escalona was succeeded as eighteenth viceroy, by Palafox, Bishop of Puebla. Though an able administrator, his zeal in the conversion of the Indians to Christianity led him to destroy many priceless statues and idols of the Aztec period, the loss of which has proved of serious consequence to succeeding generations. During the administration of the Bishop of Yucatán, Marcos de Torres y Rueda, the twentieth viceroy, a dreadful _auto de fé_ was ordered, of which there were one hundred and seven victims.

New Mexico was colonized and the town of Albuquerque founded during the term of the twenty-second viceroy, Francisco Fernandez de la Cueva, Duque de Albuquerque. In 1665, during the rule of Antonio Sebastian de Toledo, Marqués de Mancera, the great Popocatepetl erupted during four days, and two years later a severe earthquake occurred. In 1668, the cathedral of the City of Mexico was dedicated the second time in celebration of the completion of the interior; its earlier dedication having taken place in 1657. Under the wise and beneficent progressive rule of Fray Payo Enriquez de Rivera, Archbishop of Mexico, the twenty-seventh viceroy, the causeway and aqueduct of Guadalupe were constructed and the coinage of gold was first undertaken in New Spain.

During the administration of the Marqués de la Laguna, the twenty-eighth viceroy, from 1680 to 1686, Vera Cruz was taken by surprise by a band of six hundred pirates under Nicolás Agramonte who committed great ravages, over three hundred persons losing their lives and six thousand being imprisoned in the church for five days without food. The twenty-ninth viceroy, Melchor Portocarrero Lazo de la Vega, Conde de Monclova made his administration memorable by the construction, at his own cost, of the aqueduct of Chapultepec. He also colonized Coahuila and founded the town of Monclova. He is called “the man with the silver arm,” because of a silver substitute for an arm he lost in battle.

The chief event during the reign of the next viceroy, Gaspar de la Cerda Sandoval Silva y Mendoza, Conde de Galve, the thirtieth viceroy, who ruled from 1688 to 1696, was the extension of the domain of New Spain to the east, including Texas. He sent an expedition in 1689, under Alonso de León, governor of Coahuila to dislodge the French, who were supposed to have founded a settlement under La Salle, and in 1690 a mission was established near the Neches River, in Texas. In addition, in 1691, explorations in the interior and on the coast were made and in 1693, a town and fort were established at Pensacola, the former being called Santa Maria and the bay was named Santa Maria de Galves, after Bernardo de Galves.

In 1696, the thirty-second viceroy, José Sarmiento Valladares, Conde de Montezuma y Tula, whose wife, Geronima Maria, was a lineal descendant of the last Aztec ruler, succeeded to the government of New Spain. Toward the close of his rule the conflict over the Spanish succession arising out of the death of Charles II., in 1700, seriously involved the affairs of Mexico. The treasure ships from New Spain were prizes eagerly sought by the league of powers seeking the overthrow of the Bourbons, and in 1702, the fleet of such ships that had sailed from Vera Cruz with treasure valued at fifty million pesos was attacked and destroyed in the Port of Vigo, in Spain, and to avoid the capture of the treasure it was cast into the sea. This viceroy was removed because of his suspected disloyalty to the Bourbons. During the administration of the thirty-fourth viceroy, Francisco Fernandez de la Cueva, Duque de Albuquerque and Marqués de Cuellar, who assumed a magnificence of pomp and ceremony that even surpassed the custom of kings and emperors, a special tribunal was created, the _acordada_, for the punishment of robbers and brigands and its severe decrees accomplished much good.

During the rule of the Marqués de Valero, Duque de Arion, viceroy from 1716 to 1722, an aqueduct was constructed to supply Querétaro with water. His successor, Juan de Acuña, Marqués de Casafuerte, effected important reforms and works of great public utility. Such was the esteem in which he was held that he is called the “great governor.” During his rule the _Gaceta de Mexico_ was published. Under Pedro Cebrian y Augustin, Conde de Fuenclara, 1742 to 1746, the colonization of the State of Tamaulipas was effected. A noteworthy incident was the arrest of the Italian, Lorenzo Boturini, who had contributed valuable data to the history of Mexico, for not obtaining the sanction of the Council of the Indies preparatory to making a collection for providing a costly crown for the Lady of Guadalupe. His manuscript was taken from him and he was sent to Spain. In 1743, the British fleet, under Admiral Anson, captured a Spanish galleon bound from the Philippines.

During the rule of Joaquin de Montserrat, Marqués de Cruillas, the first regular army in Mexico was established. He also instituted the numbering of all the houses in the capital. During the term of this viceroy, Spain acquired (1762) from France, by the secret treaty of Fontainebleau, the Province of Louisiana on the right bank of the Mississippi and the City of New Orleans on the left bank. The possession of this province was regarded as of great importance to Mexico as a barrier between her and the British possessions. In 1763, Spain ceded to Great Britain the territory known as West Florida.

The noteworthy events of the government of Carlos Francisco de Croix, Marqués de Croix, whose rule extended from 1766 to 1771, were the expulsion of the Jesuits, among whom was the historian Clavigero, and the confiscation of their property, and the extension of the Alameda to its present area.

In 1771, Antonio Bucareli y Urzua succeeded as the forty-sixth viceroy and ruled till 1779. Under his able care the industry and commerce of New Spain greatly developed, and new and important works were established. At his personal cost, he completed the aqueduct of Chapultepec which had been commenced by the Conde de Monclova; the Monte Pio was founded, under the charge of Romero Terreros, Conde de Regla, who endowed it with three hundred thousand pesos and stipulated that loans to the poor should bear no interest. Many hospitals and asylums for the poor were also established and a foundling asylum at La Cuna through the benevolence of Archbishop Lorenzana. No wise work for the good of Mexico was ignored by him. He edited the letters of Hernán Cortés. He encouraged mining and extended the operations of the mint. In the great church at Guadalupe a bronze tablet in the floor marks the resting place of the good viceroy Bucareli. So highly was he esteemed also by the king that his salary was largely increased and, still more noteworthy, no _residencia_, or investigation, of his administration was held at his death.

Martin de Mayorga, the forty-seventh viceroy, entered on office in 1779. Of his civil services it is to be noted that he founded the San Carlos Academy of Fine Arts.

The aspirations of Matias de Galvez were realized in 1783, when he succeeded as the forty-eighth viceroy; but he lived only a few months. His son Bernardo was next appointed; his popularity in Louisiana was fully equaled in Mexico. Amongst his popular measures was the building of the palace of Chapultepec at a cost of three hundred thousand pesos; and his aid during a famine, when he labored personally to ascertain the actual wants of the sufferers and supplied them largely out of his private means. So great was his popularity that some suspected him of aiming at an independent sovereignty, but this suspicion was not entertained by his king or the _audiencia_. His death in 1786, at thirty-eight, called forth general manifestation of the affection in which he was held and great honors were paid to his memory, his posthumous daughter being christened with great pomp and having as sponsors the “most noble” City of Mexico.

In 1789, Juan Vicente de Güemes Pacheco de Padilla, Conde de Revillagigedo, succeeded as fifty-second viceroy; he was the second Conde de Revillagigedo and the son of the forty-first viceroy. His rule was one of active reforms in administration. The City of Mexico was paved and lighted, a sewerage system and fire brigades and a police force were established. Free public schools were provided for children of both sexes and the famous College of Mining was opened. He relentlessly pursued and executed bandits; cleansed the city thoroughly; and caused a census to be taken of the _intendencia_ of Mexico in 1790, when the population was shown to be over one million five hundred thousand, and of the capital nearly one hundred and thirteen thousand. He sent out several exploring expeditions, one of which reached within the confines of Alaska. So thorough was his government that he sought to inform himself of every detail and in order to learn of any abuses, he provided a letter box in one of the halls of the palace, in which the public might deposit written statements of complaint or suggestion. So active had been this viceroy’s administration that the ancient city of the Aztecs had become by the close of the eighteenth century a beautiful modern city. Yet in spite of all his labors, he was removed from office in 1794 and died under the cloud of royal displeasure. Only after his death was his true merit recognized and honors were showered on his descendants.

Miguel de la Grua Talamanca, Marqués de Branciforte, succeeded in 1794 as the fifty-third viceroy. He was a brother-in-law of Manuel Godoy, Prince of Peace, the favorite of Charles IV., and was, consequently, in much favor with the king, who heaped honors upon him. He reciprocated the royal favor to the utmost of his power. He caused to be erected the splendid bronze equestrian statue of Charles IV. in the Paseo, the work of the celebrated Mexican sculptor, Manuel Tolsa, of which Humboldt said that, “except the statue of Marcus Aurelius, at Rome, there was nothing of the kind in Europe to equal it in beauty and purity of design.” Viceroy Branciforte was too much of a courtier to administer his government in the interest of the people of Mexico, but he actively sought to aggrandize his own possessions. He confiscated the property of Frenchmen residing in Mexico and in Louisiana, and when he left his government in 1798 he took with him an immense treasure. During his administration that part of Florida west of the Perdido River was ceded to France.

The fifty-fourth viceroy, Miguel José de Azanza, ruled New Spain from 1798 to 1800 with ability and justice, but the spirit of the revolution was hovering over Mexico and he had to put down a conspiracy to expel the Spaniards or _gachupines_ from the province, which broke out in 1799. This conspiracy is known as the “_machete_,” from the name given to the sabres used by the conspirators, who, though insignificant in number, represented a rapidly extending antagonism of long standing, between the Creoles and the Spaniards, which was soon to burst forth in an inconquerable flame. The noteworthy act of Felix Berenguer de Marquina the fifty-fifth viceroy, from 1800 to 1803, was his effort to put an end to the bull-fight. On his forbidding this pastime, and being informed that the municipal government could not meet the deficiency caused by the cost of the viceroy’s reception unless the profits of a bull-fight were forthcoming, the viceroy covered the amount, seven thousand pesos, out of his private purse.

José de Iturrigaray succeeded in 1803. In 1802, Spain and France signed the definitive treaty by which the former ceded Louisiana to France, and in 1803, Napoleon sold the Province to the United States, notwithstanding the stipulations of the treaty with Spain. Spain allied with France against England and at the battle of Trafalgar her fleet and that of her ally were almost totally destroyed and fears were entertained that an attack on Vera Cruz by the English would follow. In 1808, owing to the weak conduct of Charles IV. in respect of the designs of Napoleon he was compelled to abdicate in favor of his son Ferdinand. Quarrels and misunderstandings finally resulted in Napoleon’s putting his brother, Joseph Bonaparte, on the Spanish throne, but not without intense and heroic resistance from the Spaniards, and only to be expelled in 1814. The news of the surrender of the Spanish crown to Napoleon bitterly incensed the people of New Spain, and on July 19, 1808, the municipal authorities of Mexico City petitioned Viceroy Iturrigaray not to recognize any foreign authority or Spanish authorities if controlled by foreigners, and asserted that, in the absence of a legitimate sovereign, the power resided in the people. This latter claim was espoused by the Creoles and the viceroy, but was as strongly opposed by the official Spanish party and the heads of the Church and the Inquisition as seditious and heretical. For this leaning toward the native claim, the viceroy became suspected by the Spanish party and on September 15, 1808, he was clandestinely seized, sent a prisoner to the Island of San Juan de Ulua and thence to Cadiz.

Pedro de Garibay was the next viceroy. He was elected mainly by the _Chaquetas_, who were the volunteers of Fernando Séptimo, and who had captured Iturrigaray at the viceregal palace. The viceroy was merely the tool of the Spanish party in ordering the secret execution of the Licenciado Verdad, who, as head of the municipality of Mexico City had proposed a provisional government for New Spain at a _junta_ held on August 9th. Verdad is regarded as the first martyr for Mexican independence.

The Spanish _junta_ at Aranjuez, which was then recognized in Mexico, appointed the Archbishop of Mexico, Francisco Xavier Lizana y Beaumont viceroy. He was succeeded by Francisco Xavier Venégas, the fifty-ninth viceroy, who was appointed by the Spanish regency. His rule was not effective; the spirit of independence was strengthening; nor did the decree issued in Spain in 1809, recognizing the West Indian possessions as an integral part of the monarchy, avail to check the nascent national movement, particularly as the Creoles were discriminated against in the matter of representation in the _cortes_.