confidence in their generosity, to doubt that the power when acquired would be exercised. No one felt himself secure. Some left the country, whilst the great majority remained, in the hope, no doubt, that by some vigorous exertion or providential interference, they might be enabled to check the torrent. Events seemed however to be most unpropitious; the discovery of the plot of the mad priest Arenas, who is said to have been the instrument of an agent of the King of Spain, afforded a new pretext for a general denunciation, and a new cause of alarm to the excited Spaniards. We may easily suppose that the councils of individuals in so high a state of alarm, were not the most dispassionate, and that the measures which they proposed for their own security, were not always within the limits of allegiance. By those oppressed and indignant men, whose very excesses were not without apology, General Bravo was unfortunately surrounded. Admitting to the full extent the justice of their complaints, and recognising the illegality of the policy adopted towards them, it was natural to sympathize in their fears as well as their indignation, and not easy to confine that indignation within proper bounds. The succession of events in the recesses of these councils is hidden from us, and it is almost forbidden to conjecture what immediately led to the adoption of the violent measures which have resulted so calamitously as regards the individuals concerned, and so far as the suppression of disorder goes, so happily for the country. We confess, rejecting as we do emphatically the idea of a treasonable connexion with Spain, we incline to the side of charity, and while we condemn most explicitly the mode adopted of obtaining redress, are willing to believe that the actuating motive in the minds of the rebels was a settled sense of deep injustice, and the reasonable fear of further wrong. They professed to support the cause of the constitution, which they alleged to have been violated. They asserted their intention to maintain in the enjoyment of their rights a class of citizens who had been wantonly oppressed and insulted. Whether their professions were insincere, and whether beneath this mask, more sinister designs were projected, it is not for us to say.

We will conclude these observations on the internal political condition of the republic, with the following remarks of Mr. Ward, contained in his closing chapter, and which appear to have been added after the news of the recent movements had reached England:

"In a country just emerging from a great political crisis, there must ever be a bitterness of feeling on political questions, which older nations can hardly comprehend; although, a century ago, our own annals might have furnished a counterpart to its violence. In Mexico this feeling has been carried very far indeed. The Yorkinos as new men, struggling to dispossess their adversaries of that power which is the real object of both, were undoubtedly the assailants; but acrimony has not been wanting on the other side; and the personalities in which, for two years, the newspapers of the two parties have indulged, prove

but too clearly, that, under similar circumstances, nature is always the same; while liberty, in her infancy, only tends to develop more rapidly those pas sions, which appear, in every part of the world, to be most deeply implanted in

the human breast.

"The Yorkinos have made up by numbers, for what they wanted originally in individual influence. Their plans have been prosecuted with great activity, and as the desperate appeal to the country, to which their opponents have just been driven, appears to have failed entirely, if they use their victory with forbearance, the success of their candidate (general Guerrero,) at the approaching election for the presidency, seems to be certain. But upon forbearance at the present crisis, every thing depends; for of general Bravo's devotion to the cause of his country, but one opinion is entertained throughout New Spain. Should there be any attempt, therefore, to punish too severely a step, which all must deplore, although none can judge of its cause without a knowledge of the circumstances by which the passions on both sides have been excited, and the transition from political to personal hostility effected,―blood will be found to lead to blood, and a long series of calamities may still cloud the prospects of the republic.

"I trust, however, that these calamities will be averted. There are in Mexico a number of excellent men, unconnected with either of the parties, whose animosity has threatened the country with a civil war. At the head of these is general Victoria, in whose moderation and thoroughly honourable intentions, the most implicit confidence may be placed. To him, and to his friends, I look for the preservation of tranquillity. Of its necessity he is thoroughly convinced; and his influence, if properly exerted, will, I think, be found sufficient to insure it. Short as the recent struggle has been, it has already done incalculable mischief, and destroyed the fair reputation which Mexico was beginning to acquire in Europe, by the fidelity with which her engagements with foreign capitalists were at first met. Dissentions, bordering upon civil war, in whatever causes they may originate, must tend to diminish the commercial demand, and with it the general resources of the country. The customs may be regarded as the basis of the whole revenue of Mexico; not only as forming in themselves its most important branch, but as facilitating the collection of all the other branches, by giving to the executive that command of money, without which, in a new country, no system of administration can be organized, and no subordination enforced.

"What my expectations with regard to them were six months ago, I have stated in the Fourth Section of the Third Book, in which I estimated their probable produce during the present year at eight millions of dollars. There is now not the least prospect that those calculations will be found correct. I am informed that one third of the orders given by our merchants for the present season have been countermanded, in consequence of the unsettled aspect of affairs, and of the embarrassment which the expulsion of the old Spaniards has occasioned in the commercial world; and although the storm appears to have blown over, it is very questionable whether confidence will be entirely restored, until the election for the ensuing presidency, which takes place in October, be decided."

Did our limits allow, we would be glad to present to our readers a view of the character and extent of the commercial intercourse of the United States and Mexico, and of the disastrous influence of the recent commotions and alarms on the interests of our own citizens. The subject is curious and interesting in every aspect. It would illustrate the vast stake we have in the welfare and advancement of our sister republic, and at the same time show of how little worth are national sympathies, when put in competition even with national vanity. The series of flagrant injuries to our merchants, and of shameful preferences to British interests, would startle any one who is not aware of the

slight influence which our government, from its peculiarity of structure, has been able to exercise. At present we will only remark, that the trade between Mexico and this country is at the lowest ebb, and the probability is strong, that it will soon, if not cease to exist, at least be reduced to the accidental commercial intercourse, depending on occasional alterations of the market, of which, in consequence of our vicinity, we only can avail ourselves. In the year 1826, (which includes one period of active trade,) of six hundred and thirty-nine vessels which entered the ports of Mexico, three hundred and ninety-nine were American, and the great body of the cargoes consisted of cotton goods of our manufacture. We were at that time enabled, not only successfully to contend with the British manufacturers, with whose fabrics the market was glutted, but to do so under such disadvantages from the oppressive duties and difficulties of transportation, that an advance of two hundred per cent. on invoice prices was requisite to give the merchant a profit. Our traders had an inestima ble advantage over the European merchants, in the proximity of our ports which enabled them to make at least two voyages to one. If Mr. Ward be correct in regarding the Mexican trade as important to urope and particularly to Great Britain, we do not err in attaching the greatest importance to our commercial relations. he present prospect is most discouraging. By the new tariff eacted at the commencement of the current year, so great anncease of duty is imposed, that our cotton goods are now absoluely prohibited, and no one article of American produce or nanufacture can be imported at this time into Mexico. I consequence of this exclusion, our shipments are limited to mixed cargoes of foreign goods, a profit on which in the present state of the market is matter of mere accident. At a time when much of the shipping of the United States is thrown out of employment by the operation of our own laws, so far as it depends on European trade, such a suspension of our intercourse with Mexico is peculiarly to be regretted. The tariff, as far as we have had an opportunity of examining it, seems to be founded on principles of the narrowest and most illiberal poliey. It involves prohibition, and that of the worst kind and for the worst end; not to protect domestic industry, but to force a temporary increase of revenue. Nor is the practice under it less obnoxious. Instances are daily occurring of rapacity and extortion, too often countenanced by the government, which are scarcely credible. Cargoes shipped from this country immediately on the receipt of the news of the adoption of the new duties, with a view to anticipate them, and to arrive before the law went into effect, and which have accidentally been detained, have been seized and discharged by force. Large quantities of goods were lately lying in the custom houses of Vera Cruz and

Tampico, which no supercargo would have been so wild as to land, under such liabilities. There they will probably remain, until they be released by the payment of the duties, or by the seizure of the government. Such a state of things must be the subject of deep regret, not only to the general well-wishers of the new community, but to the less abstracted and more selfish observer, who regards the republics of the South as affording markets for our produce and manufactures, and an unexplored field for commercial adventure. All must join heartily in the wish expressed by Mr. Ward, that the course of improvident legislation will before long be arrested, and that the rulers of Mexico, shaking off the prejudices and errors which appear now to influence their conduct, will pursue a line of policy more conducive to the interests and creditable to the i telligence of their country.

We have endeavoured to present a correct view the domestic politics of Mexico, as modified by the peculir haracter of the revolution, and of the party contests that hve recently occurred with their unhappy consequences. Thereare of ther topics connected with their political condition and mteriall y affecting it, to which we would willingly refer, were it a this time in our power. The ecclesiastical establishment, the dministration of justice, and the state of the public revenue-repecting the first and last of which Mr. Ward has collected many valuable materials are all subjects replete with interest. In relation to religion, we are glad to have the support of an individual so well informed in the opinions expressed in a former volume. We believed then, and the belief is strengthened by every day's observation, that the influence of the clergy is rapidly declining; and that although, as is natural, the cords which bound down the thoroughly subdued frame of the human mind are not all broken, the few that remain are too weak long to control the energies which seem now for the first time to be inspired.

Mr. Ward cites many facts to confirm his views upon this point. Among others, he gives the following brief notice of the success of a request made by himself, as British Minister to the government, for permission to bury English citizens according to the rites of the Protestant church :

"As late as May, 1825, the capital itself was not exempt from them; for, in the discussion respecting the religious article of our first treaty, some of the more devout amongst the members of the senate objected to the concession of the right of sepulture to His Majesty's subjects, as a privilege to which heretics were not in any way entitled. Nor would the point have been carried without some difficulty, had not Mr. Cañedo, (a very distinguished senator,) placed the arguments of these most conscientious persons in a proper light, by saying, that Although he perfectly agreed with his worthy colleagues in principle, he foresaw some practical difficulties in the accomplishment of their wishes, which would compel him, though most reluctantly, to vote against them. The melancholy influx of foreigners could not be denied, nor was it to be expected that,

amongst so many, some should not be summoned, during their residence in the republic, to receive, in another world, the penalty of their unbelief in this. What, then, was to be done with the bodies? He saw but four modes of dispos ing of them; namely, to bury, burn, eat, or export them. To the first, his reverend colleagues seemed to object: the second might prove inconvenient from the scarcity of fuel in the third, he, for one, must decline any participation; and as to the fourth, dead heretics not being included amongst the exportable commo. dities mentioned in the tariff, he feared that such an innovation might seriously embarrass the custom-house officers upon the coast. He should, therefore, upon the whole, incline for burial, as amongst four serious evils, it appeared to him to be the least.' The speech, of which the above is a literal translation, put an end to any farther discussion, and the article was carried by a large majority."

Speaking of the clergy at Guadalajara, he says:

"Of the canons (mostly old Spaniards,) we saw nothing. Their influence is thought to be on the wane, and the liberals of the capital declare, that had they not been fettered by the decrees of the Supreme Congress, Jalisco (the state of which Guadalajara is the chief town,) would have given a memorable example to the rest of the federation, and humbled the pride of the clergy at once. Upon this subject I have already expressed my doubts. It must be admitted, however, that their authority is by no means what it was. Iturbide threw himself into the arms of the high church party, which could not prevent him from being driven from the throne; and amongst the middling classes of society, a disposition to question the authority of the church, even in spiritual matters, is daily gaining ground. In temporal affairs, we have seen, that it is rejected altogether. If you ask any young man of the present day, in Guadalajara, what his religious principles are, he will tell you that he is a naturalista,' that is to say, of no religion at all. Nor is it surprising that such tenets should spread, when the disgraceful mummeries are taken into consideration, by which the friars, in particular, endeavour to maintain their influence over the minds of the lower orders. At Zacatecas, we saw, on Christmas eve, a figure of our Saviour paraded through the streets, dressed in a green silk robe, with a white handkerchief fastened across the shoulders; while the Virgin followed, adorned with a fashionable French hat, put on a little on one side. These images the poor are taught to worship; the rich, or rather the wellinformed, may bow the knee, but they deride in private the superstition with which they are compelled to conform; and religion itself shares in the feelings which such disgusting exhibitions are calculated to excite."

Of the revenues and financial resources of the country, we particularly regret being obliged to take but a hasty notice. Abstractedly considered, they derive a peculiar interest from the circumstances of the enjoyment of great mineral wealth by Mexico and of her total dependence on foreign commerce for the supplies by means of which that wealth is to be extracted. The mutual dependence of commerce and mining, and the complicated advantages resulting to government from their respective activity, present a curious spectacle. The extensive connexions formed between the Mexican republic and the European moneyed community, by the foreign loans, have given to the financial operations of the government no slight degree of direct interest. From an attentive examination of the materials collected by Mr. Ward, who treats the subject with considerable ability though occasionally with too great timidity and diffidence, and of the manifestos which during late years have been published with the presidential messages, we are led irresistibly to the conclusion,