their people the same principles of intolerance which everywhere accompany the Romish system. There is consequently, at the present day, no more generous feeling towards Protestants in Mexico than in the most bigoted period of Spanish rule, nor are there any indications that may lead us to anticipate the dawn of a better state of things. Amongst the upper classes ignorance or superstition is only varied by indifference to all religious questions; amongst the lower, fanaticism widely prevails, and the cry of heresy will arouse them to the bitterest hostility towards those against whom it has been raised. We mourn over the sad prospects of a country possessed of every natural advantage, but in the dark horizon of whose religious condition there breaks forth no single ray of light. Yet above the policy of rulers and the ignorance of nations, the Lord God omnipotent reigneth, and in his own time and way He may be pleased to reveal his truth to this now benighted land.

To those who know and love the truth nothing can be more painful than to dwell upon the results of such dense darkness as now covers the whole territory of Mexico. It would be difficult to find any country which is acquainted with any portion of Christianity wherein so few hopeful signs can be discerned. The prospect for the future seems little better than the retrospect of the past, and only one sadder condition can be imagined: it is that of those who in more highly favoured lands neglect the salvation which is freely offered them. More tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for Chorazin and Bethsaida—such were the words of Him whose truth remains unchanged through the course of time. If to possess the light of truth be our blessed privilege, to take heed that we are

walking in the light is no less our bounden duty. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; the love of Christ is its sum and substance. But to possess, and not to have loved, the truth is the saddest condition of all for the heart of sinful man.

CHAPTER VII.

MINES, COMMERCE, AND CIVIL CONDITION.

Importance of the silver mines-Scenery of the mining districts -Romantic history-Production in former years-Mining under the viceroys-Hindrances-Strange discoveries-Fortunes of the Counts of Valenciana and Regla-Career of Laborde-Prospects of the silver mines-Commerce of Mexico-Restrictions under Spanish rule-Absurd legislation and its cost to the Mexicans-Smuggling-Imposts upon internal trade-Upon papal bulls-Changes consequent upon the revolution-Depressed condition of native manufactures-Civil condition-Courts of law-Prisons-Population-Absence of national feeling-Peonage-The peasantry -National character.

THE silver mines of Mexico are proverbial for their richness. Long before the Spanish occupation of the country great quantities of the precious metals had been extracted, and after the conquest the amount obtained was enormously increased. From 1690 to 1803 the value of the produce is estimated at upwards of £284,000,000 sterling. Yet the mines have never yet been worked with such scientific knowledge or mechanical appliances as to test their actual capacity.

The richest lode of silver in the world, that near Guanaxuato, lies within the stony bosom of the Veta Madre, on the ridge of the Cordillera. Fertile plains and well cultivated fields alternate with the rugged porphyritic rocks whence the silver is drawn. In the rainy seasons torrents sweep down the mountains side,

In

bearing a thick detritus to enrich the valleys. dry weather the clear liquid sky stretches like a deep blue ocean over waving crops of corn and trees of varied foliage. "The Peruvian tree, the gum tree, the golden flowered huisache, amidst whose blossoms scarlet-plumed parrots scream, shade and perfume the roads."*

Such is the treasure-house in which lie hid

the wealthiest resources of this wealthy land.

In other mining districts, such as that of Catorce, the veins of ore are found in rugged and barren mountains. Far and near there is no sign of verdure, save a few stunted shrubs; no road, save a badly marked track sprinkled with rocks, over which the horses are constantly stumbling; no variety to the unbroken barrenness, save where a straggling patch of sand is covered with thin brushwood. Once and again the scene is chequered by some ravine of startling beauty where a stream fertilizes the soil: then there spring up pepper trees and roses, and clustering vines. Here, too, cypresses raise their lofty heads with a thousand garlands of parasites waving from their branches.

Many a romantic story might be told of the strange adventures which have befallen those who sought for veins of silver. No fairy tale ever surpassed in its wild extravagance the sudden transitions of fortune in those mountains. Some solitary traveller or a few labouring men would light upon a lode of the precious ore, and then, however remote the spot, large towns would spring up and huge churches rise upon the mountain side. Vast wealth in many instances was rapidly amassed, and then squandered as rapidly in the pursuit of further gain. At one time the generous

"Vagabond Life in Mexico," p. 236.

soil would yield enormous profits, at another would greedily swallow up all without making a return. What a history of wild excitement, broken hearts and fortunes, and brains turned alike by prosperity or adversity too great to bear, the full narrative of the Mexican silver mines would comprise! That narrative will never now be written. The materials of which

it should have been composed have been lost beyond recall.

In an early age it is not easy to gain accurate statistics, and it is not till a comparatively recent period that we are able to compute the enormous amount of silver that was annually obtained from the mines. The most trustworthy authorities assure us that, for fifteen years preceding 1810, the registered coinings averaged nearly 23,000,000 dollars annually, whilst the uncoined produce must have reached at least a million more. From 1810 to 1825, a period of revolution and commercial disturbance, the annual produce of the mines fell to 11,000,000 dollars, but some idea of the immense importance of this source of wealth may be gathered from the statement that this last return of 11,000,000, raised during the worst times, is more than double the highest average produce of any other Spanish colony at the period of its greatest prosperity.

The silver obtained in such vast quantities was the great staple of foreign trade in Mexico, and was exchanged by her with the mother country for European products and manufactures. From 1796 to 1810, about 22,000,000 dollars were exported annually to Spain, and the influence of the mines was hardly less important upon the internal trade. Large towns, as already noted, sprang up in the vicinity of the mines,