CHAPTER XIII. 

 REFLECTIONS UPON THE REPUBLIC. 



WHAT MEXICO HAS DONE REVIEW OF HER CONDUCT AND CHAR- 

 ACTER. MEXICAN OPINIONS CLASSES INDIANS MESTI- 

 ZOS WHITES — ARMY CHURCH. DIVISIONS OF WHITES 



WANT OF HOMOGENEOUSNESS. WANT OF NATIONALITY AND OF 



A PEOPLE REMEDIES EMIGRATION RELIGIOUS LIBERTY 



POLITICAL ORDER LABOR. 



Every reader who has accompanied us thus far in studying the 

 history, geography, resources, and character of Mexico, will scarcely 

 require to be told why it is that the nation has continued disor- 

 ganized and become impoverished in the midst of such abundance 

 as has been lavished upon it by the beneficence of God. At the 

 conclusion of our chapter upon the commerce of Mexico we de- 

 scribed the remarkable geographical position of the territory, and 

 have shown that, by the laws of nature, it ought to enjoy a con- 

 trolling influence in the affairs of the world. And yet almost three 

 centuries and a half have rolled over since Cortez planted the 

 Spanish banner on the palaces of Tenochtitlan, and still the ques- 

 tion may be asked whether the region is more progressive under 

 republican and royal rule than under Aztec sway? The world has 

 advanced in commerce, manufactures, science, literature and arts, 

 but Mexico has remained comparatively fixed in the midst of a stag- 

 nant semi-civilization. She has not exhibited a true warlike char- 

 acter either in her domestic broils or in her opposition to a foreign 

 invader, though her soil has been converted into a camp for nearly 

 forty years. She has confessed her manifold errors by her indem- 

 nities and her diplomacy, though she has contrived to invite quar- 

 rels, discussions and affronts by an aggressive demeanor towards 

 sojourners in her territory. A religious country by the protective 

 sanction of all her constitutions, still she denies the right of consci- 

 entious worship to all who come within her borders. With a 

 military police, and an immense array of judicial officers, her cities 

 and highways are- thronged with felons while the disputes of her 

 citizens linger undecided for years in her courts. Her domestic 

 markets are dear, and she has but little to spare for foreign com- 

 merce, though her soil is extraordinarily fertile and her climate yields 



