CHAPTER VII

NEW SPAIN At the end of the eighTEENTH

CENTURY

IN 1766 the Marquis de Croix became viceroy, and in 1767, under a decree of the Spanish Córtes, the Jesuits were expelled from New Spain, and their property was confiscated. Among them was the historian Clavigero. The successor of the Marquis de Croix was Antonio Bucareli y Urzua, who ruled from 1771 to his death in 1779. He attended to his office with zeal and wisdom and was as good a ruler as Casafuerte. During his administration the Monte pio was founded by Romero Terreros, Count de Regla, an institution which is still in existence and has accomplished great good. The founder endowed it with three hundred thousand pesos, and stipulated that money should be lent to the poor without interest. Later a low rate of interest was charged. Hospitals and asylums for the poor were established at that time, and Archbishop Lorenzana founded a foundling asylum called La Cuna. It was he who presided in 1771 over the fourth Mexican provincial council whose deliberations were very important, and who edited the letters of Hernán Cortés. In order to avoid an interregnum in the viceregal office the Spanish government generally chose some one to succeed the incumbent, in case a vacancy occurred suddenly, and the name was placed in a sealed envelope known as the pliego de mortaja. When there was no such document the president of the Audience ruled in the interim. At the death of Bucareli it was found, on opening the pliego de mortaja, that

the President of Guatemala had been named his successor. It is said that the powerful President of the Council of the Indies, José de Galvez, had intended that his brother, Matias, should become viceroy after Bucareli, in his capacity as President of Guatemala, but before he took possession of the latter office Bucareli died, and Martin de Mayorga, who was ruling in Guatemala, was transferred to New Spain. He acquired the enmity of José de Galvez, who frustrated many of his plans of government. His predecessor, Bucareli, had been so highly esteemed by the King that his salary had been raised from sixty thousand to eighty thousand pesos a year, and that no residencia, or investigation of his administration, was held at his death.

Spain joined France in 1779, and declared war against England. She gave, in that way, considerable help to the patriots who had established the young republic of the United States and were fighting valiantly, under the leadership of Washington, against the great power of the British Empire. In Louisiana the heroic governor, Bernardo de Galvez, determined to expel the British from their possessions in West Florida, and in 1779, with an army composed principally of Creoles, or Louisianians of French origin, he made the conquest of Baton Rouge. In 1780 he attacked Fort Charlotte, at Mobile, and captured that town, and in 1781 he commanded an expedition directed against Pensacola. A Spanish fleet accompanied Galvez's army, but as the admiral hesitated to risk his ships across the bar at the entrance of the bay, Galvez sailed boldly on the Galveztown which had come from New Orleans, and entered the harbor. The fleet followed him, with the exception of the flagship, which was too heavy, and after a protracted siege, Pensacola was conquered. The British lost all of West Florida, and Galvez and his Louisianians rendered to the American patriots a service which should have been more appreciated in the history of the United States. Bernardo de Galvez was highly rewarded by Charles III, who made him a lieutenant-general and Captain-General of Cuba, and allowed him to place

as a crest on his coat-of-arms the brig Galveztown, with the proud motto: Yo Solo, and one of the fleurs-de-lis of Louisiana.

The British were attacked also at Belize by Roberto Rivas Betancourt, and dislodged from that place in 1779. Viceroy Mayorga sent six hundred thousand pesos to Louisiana for the campaigns of Galvez, and aided Rivas Betancourt with money and gunpowder in his expedition against Belize. Nevertheless he was unpopular at court and was recalled in 1783, and died on shipboard. He had founded in 1781 the San Carlos Academy of Fine Arts. His successor was Matias de Galvez, a brother of José, Minister of State of Charles III. He ruled for a few months only, and died in November, 1783. That year was marked by the treaty of Paris which put an end to the War of the American Revolution, during which the United States was greatly aided by France and somewhat by Spain. The part taken by the latter country in the war for American independence was deemed injudicious by the principal secretary of state of the King, Pedro Abarca de Bolea, Count de Aranda, who had signed the treaty of peace with Great Britain. In a paper addressed to Charles III he said that the example of the British colony might be imitated by the Spanish-American colonies, and he added words which were so sensible and prophetic that we shall translate them in full, as quoted in Señor Verdía's History: "This federated republic was born, we may say, a pigmy, because two powerful countries, Spain and France, have formed it and given birth to it by aiding it with their forces to become independent: to-morrow it will be a giant, and afterwards an irresistible colossus in those regions; in that condition it will forget the benefits it has received from both powers, and will think of nothing but its aggrandizement. The freedom of religion, the facility to settle immense lands, and the advantages which this new government offers, will attract farmers and artisans of all nations, because man goes where he may better his condition, and within a few years we shall see with the greatest regret the rise of the

colossus which I have indicated. This Anglo-American country having grown powerful, we must believe that its first looks will be directed toward the entire possession. of the Floridas, in order to dominate the Mexican Gulf. This accomplished it will not only interrupt as it pleases the commerce with Mexico, but it will aspire to the conquest of that vast empire, which we shall not be able to defend from Europe against a great and powerful country, established on that continent and a neighbor to New Spain." Aranda then recommended the establishment of three independent monarchies: Mexico, Peru, and Costa Firme. Cuba, Puerto Rico and some other islands would be retained to serve as entrepôts, and the King of Spain would be emperor and the head of the whole system, as the sovereigns of the new independent countries would be chosen from the House of Bourbon, and their marriages would be with the royal family of Spain. There would be treaties of reciprocity, and France, according to the Family Compact, would be specially favored. No country in America would be allowed to become very powerful.

The anticipation by Aranda of the reverse of the Monroe Doctrine is very curious, and it is unfortunate for Spain that his suggestion was not adopted. It is difficult, however, to say how long monarchies might have existed on the American continent, where was growing, as the count well expressed it, the "giant Republic." We have seen, in our own day, the Empire of Brazil become a republic, although it was well governed by the sage Dom Pedro. Nevertheless, the following words of Aranda's are very interesting: "These are not vain fears, but a true prognostic of what must infallibly happen within a few years if there is not a change in America. The human condition is the same in all parts and in all climes. He who has power and faculty to acquire, does not despise it; and this being granted, how is it possible that the American colonies, when they will see themselves in a condition to conquer the Kingdom of Mexico, will restrain themselves and leave us in peaceful possession of that rich country?

That is not credible; and thus sane policy dictates that in time we should anticipate the evils which may happen.' Aranda was certainly accurate in his prevision of the independence of the Spanish colonies and in predicting the Mexican war and the conquest by the United States.

The heroic governor of Louisiana, Bernardo, Count de Galvez, succeeded his father, in 1785, as viceroy of New Spain. He was permitted to retain the offices of inspector general of all troops in America and of captain-general of Louisiana and the Floridas, with pay. He was a man of admirable character and disposition, and became immediately immensely popular in Mexico, as he had been in Louisiana. His wife, Félicité de Saint Maxent, was a native of Louisiana and a member of a distinguished French family. She was a charming woman and added greatly to her husband's popularity. Galvez built, at a cost of three hundred thousand pesos, the palace of Chapultepec, which is a veritable fortress, and attended diligently to the needs of the people. During a famine he heard that the public granary was empty and that the poor people were suffering. He came out without an escort and without his hat, to remedy the evil. He gave twelve thousand pesos from his father's estate to relieve the distress caused by the famine, and discarding the usual etiquette of the viceroys he allowed all persons to approach him who wished. His popularity became so great that it was thought by some that he wished to establish himself as an independent sovereign in New Spain, but neither the Audience nor the King ever suspected him of treasonable designs. When he died at Tacubaya, on November 30, 1786, aged thirty-eight, extraordinary honors were paid to his memory. and to his family. His posthumous daughter was christened with great solemnity, and the sponsors were "the most noble city of Mexico", represented by Corregidor Crespo, and the wife of the senior oidor. The King provided liberally for the maintenance of the family of Bernardo de Galvez, who was one of the noblest rulers of Spanish Louisiana and of New Spain.