PALAFOX'S CONDUCT TO THE VICEROY.

199

not only of the whole church, in the estimation of these friars, but of the special sect or brotherhood which happened to obtain the first hold on a tribe or nation by its missionary residence among its people. Palafox requested the Duke of Escalona to deprive the monkish orders of this monopoly; a desire to which the viceroy at once acceded, inasmuch as he was anxious to serve the bishop in all matters pertaining to his religious functions.

The kindly feeling of the viceroy does not appear to have been appreciated, or sincerely responded to by Palafox. This personage was removed in 1642, to the archiepiscopal see of Mexico, and under the pretext of installation in his new office and opening his tribunals, he visited the capital with the actual design of occupying the viceroyal throne to which he had been appointed! This was a sudden and altogether unexpected blow to the worthy duke, who was so unceremoniously supplanted. No one seems to have whispered to him even a suspicion of the approaching calamity, until the crafty Palafox assembled the oidores at midnight on the eve of Pentecost, and read to them the royal despatches containing his commission. His conduct to the jovial hearted duke, who was no match, in all probability, for the wily churchman, was not only insincere but unmannerly, for, immediately after the assumption of his power at dead of night, he commanded a strong guard to surround the palace at dawn, and required the Oidor Lugo, to read the royal cedula to the duke even before he left his bed. The deposed viceroy immediately departed for the convent at Churubusco, outside the city walls on the road to San Agustin de las Cuevas. All his property was sequestrated, and his money and jewels were secured within the treasury.

The reader will naturally seek for an explanation of this political enigma, or base intrigue, and its solution is again eminently characteristic of the reign in which it occurred. It will be remembered that the Duke of Braganza had been declared King of Portugal, which kingdom had separated itself from the Spanish domination, causing no small degree of animosity among the Castilians against the Portuguese and all who favored them. The Duke of Escalona, unfortunately, was related to the house of Braganza, and the credulous Philip having heard that his viceroy exhibited some evidences of attachment to the Portuguese, resolved to supercede him by Palafox. Besides this, the Duke committed the impolitic act of appointing a Portuguese, to the post of Castellan of St. Juan de Ulua; and, upon a certain occasion, when two horses had been presented to him by Don Pedro de Castilla, and Don Cristobal de Portugal,

200

PALAFOX VICEROY

HIS GOOD AND EVIL.

he unluckily, remarked that he liked best the horse that was offered by Portugal! It is difficult to believe that such trifles would affect the destiny of empires, when they were discussed by grave statesmen and monarchs. But such was the miserable reign of Philip IV.; the most disastrous indeed, in the annals of Spain, except that of Roderic the Goth. Folly like this may justly be attributed to the imbecile king, who witnessed the Catalan insurection, the loss of Rousillon, Conflans, a part of Cordaña, Jamaica, and, above all, of Portugal; and who, moreover, recognized the independence of the Seven United Provinces.

DON JUAN DE PALAFOX Y MENDOZA,

BISHOP OF PUEBLA - CHOSEN ARCHBISHOP OF MEXICO, VISITADOR OF NEW SPAIN, &c. &c.,

XVIII. VICEROY OF NEW SPAIN.

1642.

The administration of Palafox as viceroy was of but short duration. He occupied the colonial throne but five months, yet, during that brief space, he did something that signalized his name both honorably and disgracefully. He seems to have been ridiculously bent upon the sacrifice of all the interesting monuments which were still preserved from the period of the conquest as memorials of the art and idolatry of the Aztecs. These he collected from all quarters and destroyed. He was evidently no friend of the friars, but sought to build up and strengthen the secular clergy whose free circulation in the world brought them directly under the eyes of society, and whose order made them dependent upon that society, and not upon a corporation, for maintenance. During his short reign he manifested kindness for the Indians; caused justice to be promptly administered, and even suspended certain worthy oidores who did not work as quickly and decide as promptly as he thought they ought to; he regulated the ordinances of the Audiencia; prepared the statutes of the university; raised a large body of militia to be in readiness in case of an attack from the Portuguese; visited the colleges under his secular jurisdiction; and, finally, in proof of his disinterestedness, refused the salary of viceroy and visitador.

CHAPTER IX.

1642-1654.

SOTOMAYOR VICEROY.
PERTY.

ESCALONA VINDICATED.-MONASTIC PROBIGOTRY OF PALAFOX.

GUZMAN VICEROY. -INDIAN

INSURRECTION. REVOLT OF THE TARAHUMARES. SUCCESS OF THE INDIANS INDIAN WARS. — DUKE DE ALBURQUERQUE VICEROY ATTEMPT TO ASSASSINATE HIM. - COUNT DE BANOS VICEROY. -ATTEMPT TO COLONIZE. ESCOBAR Y LLAMAS AND DEPREDATIONS OF BRITISH CRUISERS.

DE TOLEDO VICEROYS.

DON GARCIA SARMIENTO DE SOTOMAYOR,

COUNT DE SALVATIERRA, MARQUES DE SOBROSO,

XIX. VICEROY OF NEW SPAIN.

1642-1648.

PHILIP IV. seems to have been more anxious to use Palafox as an instrument to remove the Duke of Escalona, than to empower him, for any length of time, with viceroyal authority; for, no sooner did he suppose that the duke was displaced quietly without leaving the government in the hands of the Audiencia, than he appointed the Conde de Salvatierra as his representative. This nobleman reached his government on the 23d of November, 1642, and Palafox immediately retired from his office, still preserving, however, the functions of Visitador. At the conclusion of this year the duke departed from Churubusco for San Martin, in order to prepare for his voyage home; and in 1643, this ill used personage left New Spain having previously fortified himself with numerous certificates of his loyalty to the Spanish crown, all of which he used so skilfully in vindication before the vacillating and imbecile king, that he was not only exculpated entirely, but offered once more the viceroyalty from which he had been so rudely thrust. The duke promptly rejected the proposed restoration, but accepted the viceroyalty of Sicily. Before he departed for the seat of government,

202

MONASTIC PROPERTY

BIGOTRY OF PALAFOX.

he gave the king many wise councils as to his American colonies; but, especially advised him to colonize the Californias. Don Pedro Portal de Casañete was commissioned by Philip for this purpose.

In 1644, there were already in Mexico twelve convents of nuns, and nearly an equal number for males, which, either by the unwise but pious zeal of wealthy persons, were becoming rich and aggregating to themselves a large amount of urban and rural property. Besides this the dependants upon these convents, both males and females, were largely increasing; - all of which so greatly prejudiced not only property but population, that the Ayuntamiento or City Council solicited the king not to permit the establishment in future of similar foundations, and to prohibit the acquisition of real estate by monasteries, inasmuch as the time might come when these establishments would be the only proprietors.

Meanwhile Casañete arrived in Mexico on his way to the shores of the Pacific. Salvatierra received him kindly and made proper efforts to equip him for the enterprise. The chiefs and governors of the interior were ordered to aid him in every way; but just as he was about to sail, two of his vessels were burned, whereupon his soldiers dispersed, whilst the families of his colonists withdrew, in hope of being again soon summoned to embark.

The civil government of Salvatierra passed in quietness; but the domineering spirit of Palafox did not allow the church to remain at peace with the state. In 1647, this lordly churchman engaged in warm discussion with the Jesuits and other orders. Most scandalous scenes occurred in the churches of Puebla. Anathemas, excommunications, and all the artillery of the church were used against each other. Palafox persevered in his rancorous controversy as long as he remained in America, and even after his return to Europe, pursued his quarrel at the court of Rome. At the close of this year Salvatierra was removed to the viceroyalty of Peru.

DON MARCOS DE TORRES Y RUEDA,

BISHOP OF YUCATAN GOVERNOR Of New Spain.

XX. VICEROY OF NEW SPAIN.

1648 1649.

The rule of Torres y Rueda was brief and eventless. It extended from the 13th of March, 1648, to the 22d of April, 1649, when the bishop-governor died, and was sumptuously interred in the church of San Agustin in the city of Mexico.

DON LUIS ENRIQUEZ DE GUZMAN, COUNT DE ALVADELISTE.

XXI. VICEROY OF NEW SPAIN.

1649-1654.

The Audiencia ruled in New Spain until the 3d of July, 1650, the period of the Conde de Alvadeliste's arrival in the capital. This nobleman had been, in fact, appointed by the king immediately upon the transfer of the Conde de Salvatierra to Peru; but inasmuch as he could not immediately cross the Atlantic, the bishop of Yucatan had been directed to assume his functions ad interim. Alvadeliste, a man of amiable character and gentle manners, soon won the good opinion of the Spanish colonists and creoles. But if he was to experience but little trouble from his countrymen and their descendants, he was not to escape a vexatious outbreak among the northern Indians, who had remained quiet for so long that it was supposed they were finally and successfully subjected to the Spanish yoke.

The viceroy had not been long installed when he received news of a rebellion against the Spaniards by the Tarahumares, who inhabited portions of Chihuahua and Sinaloa, and who hitherto yielded implicitly to the gentle and persuasive voice of the evangelical teachers dwelling among them. The portion of this tribe inhabiting Sinaloa, commenced the assault, but the immediate cause of the rebellion is not known. We are not aware whether they experienced a severe local government at the hands of the Spaniards, whether they were tired of the presence of the children of the Peninsula, or whether they feared that the priestly rule was only another means of subjecting them more easily to the crown of Castile. Perhaps all these causes influenced the rebellion. Already in 1648, the chief of the nation had compromised three other tribes in the meditated outbreak; but, lacking the concerted action of the Tepehuanes and other bands, upon whose aid they confidently counted, they resolved to attack, alone, the village of San Francisco de Borja, whose garrison and village they slaughtered and burned. San Francisco was the settlement which supplied the local missions with provisions, and its loss was consequently irreparable to that portion of the country.

As soon as the chief judge of Parral heard of this sanguinary onslaught he hastily gathered the neighboring farmers, herdsmen, and merchants, and hastened into the wilderness against the insurgents, who fled when they had destroyed the great depot of