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rule oi [turbide soon became unpopular and in 1823 he 

 abdicated his throne. The Mexican republic that was 

 then Instituted continued until the French intervention 

 in 1861. During this time the most noteworthy events 

 were the war with the United States in 1846-47 and the 

 passing of the reform laws under Benito Juarez that 

 freed Mexico from the oppressions of the church. 



As a result of the French intervention Maximilian of 

 Austria was made emperor. This unfortunate ruler, 

 who did much to beautify Mexico City, was dethroned 

 and shot in 1867. The republic was then re-established. 



The other republics of Central America formed a 

 federal union at the time the first Mexican empire came 

 to an end in 1823. This union was preserved till 1839 

 and several later attempts were, made to restore it. The 

 five republics have had such tempestuous careers as a 

 result of warfare, usurpation, and political brigandage 

 that their material and social development has been 

 stunted. Costa Rica is, however, on the high road to 

 stability. 



Panama was until 1903 a part of Colombia. British 

 Honduras had its origin in the concessions given to 

 English logwood gatherers and to the fact that pirates 

 found refuge behind the coral reefs that line the shores. 

 The English claim to the Mosquito Coast rested upon a 

 similar flimsy basis, and was finally abandoned. 



Languages. About twenty distinct groups of re- 

 lated languages, technically known as linguistic stocks, 

 were found in Mexico and Central America. Some of 

 these stocks occupied small areas and showed little in 

 the way of dialectic variation. A few stocks stretched 

 over wide territories and were divided into many mutu- 

 ally unintelligible tongues, which in turn were sub- 

 divided into well-defined dialect-. Several entire stocks 



