CHARLES III CAGIGAL VICEROY. 



239 



of the viceroy, who died of this malady on the 5th of January, 

 1760, in the beautiful city to which he had retreated. He was a 

 remarkable contrast to his predecessor in many respects, and 

 although he had been viceroy for five years, it is stated, as a 

 singular fact in the annals of Mexico, that he left his widow 

 poor and altogether unprovided for. But his virtuous conduct as 

 an efficient minister of the crown had won the confidence and 

 respect of the Mexicans who were anxious to succor those whom 

 he left dependant upon the favor of the crown. The liberality of 

 the archbishop Rubio y Salinas, however supplied all the wants of 

 the gentle Marquesa, who was thus enabled to maintain a suitable 

 state until her return to the court of Spain, where the merits of her 

 husband, as a Spanish soldier in the Italian wars, doubtless procured 

 her a proper pension for life. 



As the death of the Marques de las Amarillas was sudden and 

 unexpected, the king of Spain had not supplied the government 

 with the usual pliego de mortaja, or mortuary despatch, which was 

 generally sent from Madrid whenever the health of a viceroy was 

 feeble, so as to supply his place by an immediate successor in the 

 event of death. The Audiencia, of course, became the depository 

 of executive power during the interregnum, and its dean Don 

 Francisco Echavarri, directed public affairs, under its sanction, 

 until the arrival of the viceroy, ad interim, from Havana. 



Don Francisco de Cagigal, 



XLIII. Viceroy of New Spain. 



1760 — April to October. 



The government of this personage was so brief, and his tenure 

 so completely nominal, that he employed himself merely in the 

 adornment of the capital and the general police of the colony. He 

 was engaged in some improvements in the great square of Mexico, 

 when his successor arrived ; but he left the capital with the hearty 

 regrets of the townsmen, for his intelligence and affability had won 

 their confidence and induced them to expect the best results from 

 his prolonged reign. 



