280 



MEXICAN SUBSCRIPTIONS FOR SPAIN. 



rogative and correlative human duties, was the baleful origin of 

 colonial misrule. The house of Austria did not govern Spain as 

 wisely as its predecessors. The Spain that Philip L received and 

 the Spain of those who followed him, present a sad contrast. As 

 the conquest of America had not been conceived, although it was 

 declared to be, in a beneficent spirit, the sovereigns continued the 

 system of plunder with which it was begun. Its results are 

 known. The Americans were their subjects, bound to them by 

 " unalienable allegiance ; " vassals, serfs creatures, whose hu- 

 man rights, in effect, were nothing when compared to the mon- 

 arch's will. This doctrine at once converted the southern portions 

 of our continent into a soulless machine, which the king had a right 

 to use as he pleased, and especially, as he deemed most beneficial 

 for his domestic realm. The consequence was, that, in concur- 

 rence with the Council of the Indies, he established, as we have 

 seen, an entirely artificial system, which contradicted nature, and 

 utterly thwarted both physical and intellectual development. 



The Indians and Creoles of Mexico and Peru, ignorant and 

 stupid as they were believed to be by Spain, had, nevertheless, 

 sense enough to understand and feel the wretchedness of their 

 condition. They cherished in their hearts an intense hatred for 

 their foreign masters. There was no positive or merely natural 

 enmity of races in this, but rather a suppressed desire to avenge 

 their wrongs. 



When the French seized Spain, the colonies in America were, 

 for a period, forced to rely upon themselves for temporary govern- 

 ment. They did not, at once, desire to adopt republican institu- 

 tions, but rather adhered to monarchy, provided they could free 

 themselves from bad rulers and vicious laws. This especially was 

 the case in Mexico. Her war against the mother country origina- 

 ted in a IovrI desire to be completely independent of France. 

 The news of the departure of Ferdinand VII. for Bayonne, and the 

 alleged perfidy of Napoleon in that city, excited an enthusiasm 

 among the Mexicans for the legitimate king, and created a mortal 

 hatred against the conqueror of Europe. All classes of original 

 Mexican society seem to have been united in these sentiments. 

 Subscriptions were freely opened and in a few months, seven 

 millions were collected to aid their Peninsular friends who were 

 fighting for religion, king, and nationality. The idea did not 

 strike any Mexican that it was a proper time to free his native land 

 entirely from colonial thraldom. 1 But after a short time, the 



1 Zavala, Historia, vol. 1, p. 38. 



