M E X 
reached Europe. It appears, however, from a Ihort ac¬ 
count of the commencement of thele troubles, publiflied 
in that excellent periodical work, the Ej'panol, that the 
arreft and depol'al of the viceroy Harrigaray, in 1808, had 
divided the Mexicans into two parties, exceedingly in¬ 
flamed againft each other; and that the favour fhown by 
the centra! junta to thofe who arrefted him, had con¬ 
verted the oppofite party into determined enemies of the 
mother-country. Nor were other caufes of difeontent 
wanting. The fame faults were committed in New Spain 
as in other parts of America. The creoles were firft 
buoyed up with extravagant expectations, and then dif- 
appointed and difgufted. Every new viceroy and le'rvant 
of government that arrived from Europe, brought with 
him a frefh importation of jobs. The meafures taken for 
the benefit of the country were dictated by ignorance, or 
luggcfted by prejudice and malevolence. The reveries 
in Spain lcfiened the relpeCt for the mother-country, and 
ijifpireci diftruft of the wifdom or the honefty that direfted 
her councils. 
An extenfive confpiracy had been formed, which was 
an the eve of breaking out, when a violent and miftaken 
exercile of authority at Queretano occafioned it fuddeniy 
to explode. In an inftan-fc, more than half the kingdom 
of New Spain was in arms. The infurre&ion began at 
Dolores, in the province of Guanaxuato, in the centre of 
the mining-country, (Sept. 15, 1810.) and f'pread with 
incredible velocity in every direction. The ringleaders 
were chiefly priefts ; but many lawyers and military offi¬ 
cers joined with them ; and, what was molt alarming of 
all, fome regiments of militia. Their forces rapidly in- 
creafed ; and fo popular was the caul’e, that, after the fe- 
vereft defeats, they re-aflembled in a Ihort tim* with un- 
diminifhed numbers. At this critical moment, the vice¬ 
roy Venegas arrived from Spain ; and to the activity, firnj- 
nefs, and energy, which he dii'played on this occailon, 
his country is indebted for the prefervation of Mexico 
at that time. 
The infurgents, having taken by a (fault the populous 
town of Guanaxuato, in which they found immenfe booty, 
advanced to Valladolid, where they were received with 
demonftrations of joy; and, gathering ftrength as they 
proceeded, they palled through Toluca, and entered the 
plain of Mexico with an army of more than 40,000 men. 
Hidalgo, Allende, and their other chiefs, had great ex¬ 
peditions from the fpirit of difaffeClion in the capital; 
but the prudence of Venegas difconcertedall their fchemes. 
Their friends within the city were deterred from fhowing 
themfelves, by the difpofition which he made of his forces ; 
and many were detached from their caufe, by the' fen- 
tcnce of excommunication which the archbifhop, at his 
inftigation, fulminated againft them. After waiting fome 
hours, without daring to attack the troops, who remained 
in their entrenchments, they retired without attempting 
anything; fhowing, upon this as upon other occafions, 
a miferable want of enterprile, and deficiency of military 
fkill. After their failure in this attempt, they were pur- 
fued by a fucceffion of difafters. The judicious move¬ 
ments and well-concerted attacks of Venegas baffled all 
their plans, and drove them from one end of the king¬ 
dom to the other. After innumerable defeats, the chief's 
of the infurredion were at length furprifed at Saltillo, 
(Mar. 21, 1811.) in endeavouring to make their elcape 
into the internal provinces. Still, however, the country 
was not pacified, A month after the affair of Saltillo, a 
body of 12,000 infurgents were in arms in the neighbour¬ 
hood of Queretaro, and were then defeated. Such, in¬ 
deed, is the fcantinefs of our information with regard to 
this war, that it is only from the official accounts of vic¬ 
tories, that we know of the progreis or continuance of 
the infurredion. •* 
The praife which Venegas had juftly merited for his 
prudence and fteadinefs, in circumftances of great diffi¬ 
culty and alarm, we are concerned to add that he for¬ 
feited by the cruelty and leverity of his puniflimeuts 
Voi. XV. No. 1044. 
ICO. 309 1 
againft the infurgent9. In fome places, we are tpld, he 
decimated the inhabitants; and, where he (pared the 
lives of his Indian priion’ers, we have heard, that he im- 
preffed upon them what they confider an indelible mark 
of ignominy, by depriving them of their ears. It is al¬ 
leged, on the other fide, that the infurgents had been 
equally cruel; and that, in many places, they had (pared 
no European who fell into their hands. The charge of 
inhumanity is probably true on both lides. Civil wars 
are proverbially favage; and we have only to look back 
to the iituation of St. Domingo, fome few years ago, to 
be convinced how much they are aggravated, where the • 
queftion lies between the native-born inhabitants of a 
country, and thofe who claim a right, ffom conqueft, to. 
hold them in fubjedtion. The mutual hatred of Creole 
and European has been no-where fo ftrongly exemplified 
as in the infurredtion of Mexico ; and the confequence of 
their fury has been, the ruin and uefolation of the coun¬ 
try. Plantations have been wantonly laid wafte, houies 
plundered and burned, and the works of the mines ruined 
and destroyed. No clafs, indeed, of the community has 
fuft'ered lb l’everely from the war, as the proprietors of 
the mines. The infurredlion broke out in tile mining 
diftridfs ; and the two principal cities of the miners, Gua¬ 
naxuato and Zacatecas, were for a long time in the hands 
of the patriots. But, whether they have been greatelt 
fufferers from the blind and inconliderate fury of the in¬ 
furgents, or from the fierce and unrelenting vengeance 
of the conqueror, it would be difficult to determine. We 
underftand, that the mines are not only abandoned for 
the prefent, but, from the deftruftion of the miners, and 
ruin of the works, that it will be no ealy matter to reftore 
them to their former aftivity. 
The Cortes alfembled at Cadiz under the proteflion of 
the Englifh, in their fitting of Oftober 1812, palled fome 
judicious regulations in favour of the American colonies. 
This was the alfembly which had formed a Conftitution 
for the government of Spain ; and the acceptance of this 
Conftitution was to be made the condition of Ferdinand’s-, 
reftoration. See vol. xiii. p. 305 and 377. But it is now 
•well known, that the beloved Ferdinand, upon his return 
to his kingdom in April 1814, immediately dii'perfed the. 
Cortes and abolifhed the Conftitution. The colonies 
therefore are dill deterfnined to afl'ert their independence; 
and it h,as been laid that communications have taken 
place between the leading patriots of Mexico and th» 
military adherents .at prelent vtith Jofeph Bonaparte in 
the United States ; which had given rile to a report of Jo¬ 
feph being called to the throne of Mexico. That per- 
fonage, it is to be recollected, was regularly crowned, at 
Madrid, King of Spain and of the Indies. But the 
American accounts dii'countenance any idea of ambition 
on the part of jol'eph Bonaparte: they fay, “that' this 
gentleman is feeking happinefs where it is molt likely to, 
be found, in private life; and that Mexico, if it iecures 
its independence, will be a republic.” The lalt accounts 
from that country are of as late a date as the 30th of Au- 
guft, (i8r6.) and by them it appears that, the caufe of the. 
patriots has every prol'pedt of meeting with entire fuccefs. 
The following are extracts of private letters from New - 
Orleans. 
“ Aug. 4. Civil war in its moft terrific form rages in 
Mexico. The-royalifts inftantly put to death ail the pri- 
foners taken from the patriots ; and the patriots fend ail 
their royalift priloners into the interior, whence they ne¬ 
ver return, as the principle of retaliation is rigidly ob- 
ferved. A Spanilh lliip, with 80,000 dollars and a valu¬ 
able cargo of goods, was lately wrecked near Bouquiile 
the principal port belonging to the patriots, and proved a 
feafonable fupply to them. The patriots are rapidly ad¬ 
vancing towards independence. A congrefs is about to 
be alfembled. The army is well fupplied, and command¬ 
ed by the French general Humbert; and they have 
thirteen armed vefiels afloat; in confequence of which, 
the expedition that failed fome time iincefrom Havannah 
4 - K with 
