appreciated. Not only was it natural in Humboldt to speak as he has done, but it would have been unreasonable to expect any thing from him that could admit of an unfavourable construction. He was the favoured individual, in whose behalf an exception, without parallel, has been made. He had received benefits from the hands of a monarch, which, to a mind like his, imbued with a full portion of the enthusiasm of science, no exertions would seem more than sufficient to repay: he carried with him to the Spanish colonies, letters patent to every viceroy, which ensured him not only protection, but assistance and regard: he landed amid a community unused to the sight of strangers, with privileges from the throne itself, securing to him every attention which loyal devotion could afford; and in requital of these obligations, to pronounce an opinion only moderately favourable, or, in other words, to speak the truth, would have been a poor return. "I fulfil (to use his own words, in his dedication to Charles IV.) a sacred duty, in laying at the foot of your throne, the homage of my profound and respectful gratitude." "It breathes the sentiments of gratitude which I owe to the government that protected me, and to the noble and loyal nation that received me, not as a traveller, out as a fellow-citizen." The experience of every succeeding day confirms the opinion, that the grateful sense of favours here expressed, was cordial and honourable, and operated either to blind the eyes of the inquirer to the perception of evils and abuses, or to restrain him from proclaiming them-a course, which, as dictated by pure and elevated motives, we cannot but respect.

*

We have placed at the head of this article, the titles of the documents submitted by two of the ministers of the Mexican Republic, at the opening of the last session of the Federal Congress, as presenting an official exposition of the internal condition of that country, and the most authentic development of its resources and prospects. We wish to adopt them as our text, reserving the privilege to deviate from the limits of a strict review, and to state freely our views and opinions in relation to the new community, whose condition they profess to illustrate. We shall not hesitate to avail ourselves of such other sources of information as may be open to us, with the single purpose of endeavouring

It has been said, and we are inclined to think on good authority, that this distinguished traveller has, within a few years, gone so far as to admit that many of his statements are incorrect, and that the influence of the peculiar circumstances which affected him was quite as great as we have supposed. Previously to the purchase of the Conde de Regla's mines, by the Real del Monte Company in London, a letter was addressed to Humboldt, requesting his candid opinion in relation to the proposed negotiation. In reply, he very freely stated that a reasonable allowance must be made for the bias which influenced his judgment at the time he published his "Essay;" and whilst he recommended the speculation as a judicious one, he admitted that many of his calculations and statements were not to be relied on.

to place in a proper light a subject which has been equivocally treated by others,-of depicting a state of society of which our fellowcitizens have but an inadequate idea,-of removing prejudice wherever it appears to exist, and above all, of vindicating the principles of the great systems which America supports, from the imputations to which the inexperience and ignorance of our fellowrepublicans may have exposed them. It is believed that a period of enthusiasm has been succeeded by one of reason, and that the new republics, placed by the hand of Providence above our sympathy and our pity, may be considered fit objects of rigid and impartial scrutiny; that, having assumed a station among the independent nations of the world, they can claim no exemption from that deliberate examination, to which, in the political as in the moral world, the actions of free agents are subjected.

It is extremely difficult, with our colonial and revolutionary history before us, to form a correct idea of the relative condition of the former dependencies of Spain. Deriving no assistance from analogy, our estimates of the influence of the mother country's control, with all its peculiarities of privileged ports and unrelenting monopolies, the delegated tyranny of viceroys, and the vexatious oppression of subordinate officers, and of the difficulties that have retarded the intellectual and political advance of the colonies, operating even since their enfranchisement, are necessarily liable to error. The community that was formed in the English settlements, was perfect in all its parts, and offered to view, even in its infancy, an organized society, competent, on emergency, to supply its own wants, and turn to account the internal resources that it possessed. Our shores were settled by enterprising emigrants, with limited pecuniary means, who bequeathed to their children no inheritance but their own laborious, persevering habits, no patrimony but a few acres of virgin soil, acquired by patience and long-suffering, to be maintained by the fortitude and endurance which the exposure of childhood had taught them, and which continued perils rendered habitual, Their humble condition in the mother country prevented their spurning at the unambitious labour of the mechanic, and neeessity, that leveller of artificial distinctions, soon induced uniform toil. The settlement of the Spanish colonies was widely different; as distinct perhaps as were the character and pursuits of the settlers. The early conquerors transmitted the most brilliant representations of the wealth of the regions they had explored, and held out high, but not altogether delusive, expectations of sudden emolument, the influence of which it requires no very profound acquaintance with the human heart fully to appreciate. Riches were to come unsought; the earth was strewed with jewels; everiver flowed over precious sands; and what was most in unison

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with man's unaccountable propensities, no labour was required in the acquisition, but, even more favoured than the Phrygian king, the colonists were to find the gold ready at their hand. It naturally resulted, that in a short time crowds of wealthy speculators, who desired to add more to acquired millions, and of needy adventurers, who could lose nothing by the risk, moved across the Atlantic, and settled in the new provinces. The community thus established evinced no symptoms of moral health: it was composed entirely of aspiring proprietors, and wanted the most valuable portion of any society, a labouring class of farmers and artisaus, men aware of the results of steady, unremitting industry, and untainted by the debasing characteristics incident to the spirit of pecuniary speculation and adventure. The peculiarity of the Spanish colonial policy precluded any material alteration, and we find, at the period when they were absolutely compelled by the example of their neighbours, dragged forward, as it were, by the advance of their contemporaries, to act for themselves, and maintain their independence, that the influence of the anomalous characters of their progenitors, and the institutions they had formed, was still felt for it is a fact not to be disguised, whatever faith we may have in the magic of republican systems, that the evils which have resulted from protracted submission are not easily eradicated, nor defects of education charmed away, "quasi virgulâ divinâ," but that the Mexican of the nineteenth century, in the full enjoyment of political privilege, has many, far too many, points of character, in common with his ancestors of past ages.

The number of emigrants to the colonies was, besides, very limited. Whilst colonizing is confined to the classes which we have mentioned, its extent must be inconsiderable. The original proprietors had an uncontrolled license to extend their possessions as they pleased, secure from the collision of titles or estates, and unrestrained by any regard for the rights of the innocent race they displaced. The regulated intercourse ever after allowed with Europe, prevented any influx of strangers; and the numbers even of Spaniards must at all times have borne a very small proportion to the Indians and mixed races with which they were surrounded. In a narrow channel, the great current of wealth was therefore confined; and in the hands of this privileged order was the substantial property of the country deposited in proportion to the small number of which it was composed, the estates of individuals were enormous; and notwithstanding the equalizing tendency of the Spanish law of descent, such was their extent, that time produced no sensible diminution. The consequences are now plainly discernible. The divisions of property are still on the large scale: estates, measured, not by acres, but by leagues, are still preserved in many instances untouched; and, whilst the unhappy

case, the lines are too strongly marked to be mistaken; they are still in existence, and instead of being obliterated even partially by the hand of time, they seem to have been carefully retouched and preserved-ferocity without chivalry, nursed to this hour, in spite of the improvement of the age, with brutal and bloody amusements-prodigality, but no generosity-ostentation, without hospitality-bigotry, but little religion-helplessness, but no humility-form a dark catalogue of what they possess, and what they want: without an adequate sense of moral or religious obligation, public opinion, controlling delinquency and relieving virtue, is now, as formerly, a thing nearly unknown; vice is tolerated, and virtue receives but faint praise. The influence of individual character, thus uniform in its existence, extends to the operation of government, and the motion of the political machine; we do not

say,

"Nulla sancta societas, nec fides regni est,"

but we fear no contradiction, in saying, that private virtue, and the disinterested performance of public duty, are almost equally rare. We see bribery, from high to low, from the alcalde that issues the most trifling process, to the minister who, at his sovereign will, enacts a tariff, and by a word arrests the course of trade, to the ruin of thousands-we appeal to our merchants, in Mexico, if this be untrue or exaggerated. We appeal to the record of cases of outrageous wrongs to our commerce, to this hour unredressed, in the full confidence that we will be borne out in all we say; and whilst we hope that the time will come, when this constitution of character will assume a better form, we fear that it is yet distant, unless, as is little probable, the change should be sudden; and by some violent process, the morbid humours be forced from the system. It has resulted from a series of causes, operating from a remote period of time; and years of untrammelled intellect, and free intercourse with the rest of mankind, will be required, before a material change can be effected.

The great peculiarity of Mexican society, is the distinction of castes, and the strongly marked lines which separate the different orders that exist in the Republic. We do not wish to be understood, as alluding to the dilapidated structure of colonial nobility, a subject too insignificant to merit a remark; but to well defined distinctions, still exercising an active influence on the prospects of the community to which they belong. If the great criterion of colour be adopted as our guide, the classes are two : the Whites and Indians; but if diversity of feelings and views be the standard, one more may be added, and they may be ranked under the heads of Gachupines, or Spaniards, Creoles, or native Americans, of Spanish descent, and the Indians; the former constituting distinct orders. separated by strong and irre