MEXICO. 



189 



v -. i 



(L.41,670 Sterling;) and some of the great miners 



dut source alone an annual revenue of a 



11 and u half of livres, (or L 62,505 Sterling.) 



But the capitals. of these monopoitaer* of money are 



by no mean* great in proportion, partly in consequence 



of the expenii ve mining operation* in which they often 



engage, and the extravagant style in which they 



live. 



There are fewer negroe* in New Spain than in any 

 of the European colonies under the torrid zone ; and 

 the whole kingdom i* not supposed to contain above 

 6000 of that race, nor to receive a'x>ve 100 annually 

 of the 7+.OUO Africans who are exported every year 

 to America and Am. By the law*, there cannot pro- 

 perly be any Indian slaves in the Spanish colonies; 

 but in \ltxvo, or in Peru, the India* bravos taken in 

 the petty warfare, which i* continually carried on along 

 the frontier* of the provincial internaa, are kept in 

 dungeon*, and treated a* the moat degraded bond 

 men. Hut all kinds of Uves are more under the pro- 

 tection of the law. and those laws are interpreted more 

 i-rty, in Mexico, than in any other Eu- 

 ropean colony. A slave may caeaprl hi* master to 

 gvant him liberty upon paying l&OO or tO*X> livree, 

 . or L.83 Sterling,) whatever may have bee* the 



amount of bit original purchase money ; or, if be can 

 prove that be baa been cruelly treated, he acquire* hi* 

 freedom by law, without any compensation to his pro- 



ir 



The casts which sprinz from toe mixture of 

 three race*, amount nearly to 8,400,000. About 

 eighths of theee en Motizo*. the descendant* of a 

 white and an Indian, and ere distinguished by a rmre 

 white colour, a peculiar transparency of skin, mail 

 handa and feet, thin beard, and certain obbowky of 

 the eye.. They ere of e milder character than the Mu- 

 lattos, dssiLaasdisI from wbitra and negreasca, who are 

 airy distinguished by the violence of their rmeioni, 

 and volubility of their speech. A Mestizo marrying a 

 white roan produces an offspring differing very little 

 from the European race ; but the children of a Mulat- 

 to an, I a wake man are celled qusrteroru, anil the 



en of a quartfloo female and Creole or 

 pean father, bear the name of quinterons. But a now 

 alliance of thi* la* mentioned ceat with a w! 

 es ell remain* of colour The descendant* of negroe* 

 end Indian women are called Chinos or Zambos. though 

 the Utter denomination in usually confined to the 

 ren of a negm and mulatto, or a Chin* female. All 

 the caM* of Indian or African blood preserve the odour 

 peculiar to the perspiieble matter of tbeee race*. 1 lie 

 degree of whitanca* of akin decide* the rank which 

 every one occupies in America ; and a white wfi 

 on horseback, though barefooted, account* himself our 

 of the nobility of the country. It thu* becmnee a very 

 4 point among them to estimate exactly the 

 fraction* of European blood which belongs to the <!it- 

 femtt cast* ; and families, suspected of a mixed taint, 

 frequently demand from the high court of justice a de- 

 claration of their whiteness. The*e declaration* are 

 eaid to be sometime* procured in cases not \ 

 to the serses ; but, when the roluur of the skin i* very 

 repugnant to the judgment dem.iiule.l, t!, 

 simply bears, " that auch or such individuals may con- 

 eider tbtmarlves a* whit 



ftcwne**o4 . The inhabitanta of New Spain have more science th.in 

 Mature, akerature. Mathematics are carefully taut.- 



. of Mexico, but Kill more *o in the set- 

 ih*t city ; and New Spain can boast of having 

 given birth to a celebrated self-taught geomrtricJan, 



Don Joacquin Velasquez, who was born in 1732, anil M 

 who rendered the most essential services to his country. "ir"" 1 

 Astronomy has long been a favourite subject of stud" 

 in this country, and was successfully cultivated about 

 the end of the eighteenth century by Velasques above- 

 mentioned, and by Gamaand Alzate. The last of tin--.-. 

 a man of ardent genius, had great merit in exciting his 

 countrymen to the study of the physical sciences ; and, 

 for a long time, encouraged a studious spirit among the 

 Mexican youth, by the publication of his Gazrtta tie Lit- 

 tcralura. Gama, the friend and fellow-labourer of Ve- 

 laaquea, became, under great disadvantages, a well-in. 

 formed astronomer, and published several excellent 

 memoirs on eclipses, on Mexican chronology, anil on 

 the climate of New Spain. The principles of chemis- 

 try, which i* known in the colonif-i by the name of 

 new philosophy, are very generally understood among 

 the Mexicans. In the botanical garden of Mexico, an- 

 nual courses of lectures are delivered on botany ; and. 

 several native* of New Spain, particular! and 



M. Echeveria, have ditinguished themselves by their 

 acquirement-, in this science. In the academy of the 

 fine art* at Mexico, there is a more complete collection 

 of cast* than is to be found in any part of Germany ; 

 and. in this institution, instruction is communicated 

 gratis to the youth of all descriptions, of whom ceveral 

 hasuind* are assembled every evening, in Urge nnd 

 well-lighted apartment*, busily employed in drawing 

 from the mot elegant model-". The pood effects of 

 this establishment are very visible in the arahitr 

 of the country, particularly in the symmetry of the 

 holdings, the hewing of the stone, and the ornaments 

 of the capital* and stucco relievo*. There are edifices, 

 not only in the capital bnt also in the provincial t. 

 whieh would appear to advantage in the finest streets 

 of Europe, and which are constructed at an expence of- 

 i million or a million and a half of francs, or 

 5 Sterling. An equestrian statue 

 of King Charles IV. ceat by M. Tolsa, professor of 

 sculpture at Mexico, is considered as next in merit, 

 of any similar work extant, to that of M. Aurtliu* at 

 Home. 



Mexico amount to the number of Clergy, 

 i ill, of whom one-half are regulars, who 

 wear the cowl ; and, including lay- brothers and Msters, 

 or servant*, may be r.Uetl at IS^OO or I M''- Thi, 

 number ia much inferior to what baa been generally 

 tupposed, ami. in proportion to Hie population, i* not 

 the tenth-part of those in Old Spain, or in France be- 

 fore the Revolution. The ecclesiastical establishment 

 ia Mexico reeembie* that of Spain, with it* full train of 

 dignitaries. The inferior clergy arc divided into three 

 daaees: namely, curas, who are parish-priests in t' 

 parts of the country where tlie Sji.-miardi h.ivc si : 



neros, who have th inhabited 



by the Indians subject to tii , government; 



anil missioneros, who are employed in teaching and 

 converting the fiercer tribes, who resin the Spanish 

 yoke, and live in the more remote regions. A great 

 many of them suffer extreme poverty, while the : 

 nue* of some lurpas* those of many sovereign princes 

 in Germany. The archbishop , s an 



income of fi50,(JOO francs, or 27,085 St 1 se- 



veral of the lii.-h.rp not much le-s ; w aro 



.. :i uf !n>!i in village* whose yearly ini 

 not e>. >ter- 



ling. (->rt </. complained, even in his time, of the ex- 

 travagant luxury, and scandalous lives of the canons ; 

 and requested that rcligieux, or regular monks, might be 

 sent out in preference ; but the advice was not followed. 



