The period of French interventionas treated in the Mexican novel

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THE PERIOD OF FRENCH INTERVENTION

AS TREATED TIl THE MEXICAN NOVEL

A THE SIS

Presented to the faculty ofThe University of. Arizonain pa�tial fulfillment of the.requirements for the degree ofMASTER OF ARTS

by

George R. Nichols

Tucson,June ,1922.

E'l.� III.? -.'? 2-//

BIBLIOGRAPHY

I

AgUeros, Victoriano. Articu10s sue1tos. Mexico,1897.(Biblioteca de autores mexicanas )

Altamirano, Ignacio ?,:'Ianuel. Clemencia,Mexico, 1907.- Rimas y Articlos 1iterarios. Mexico,1899.(Bib1ioteca de autores mexicanos)

- E1 Zarco. San Antonio, 1917.

Bancroft, Hubert Howe. History of Mexico,vo1.V and VI.San Francisco, 1888.

coe s+er-, Alfred.America.

The literary history of Spanish­New York, 1916.

Dillon, E.J. Mexico on the verge. New York, 1921.

Douglas, Frances. Mexico seen in her. fiction. Anarticle in the "New York Evening Postff,Sept.16, 1916.

Figueroa, Pedro Pablo. Un poeta ind·:!gena. Santiagode Chile, 1893.

Gonzalez, Obregon Luiz Breve noticia d� los novel­istds mexicanos en e1 siglo XIX.Mexico,1889.

Gutierrez de Lara, L.9and Pinchon ,Edgcumb. TheMexican people: their stru�gle for freedom,New. York, 1914.

Hamilton, Clayton. A manual of the art of fiction.New York, 1919.

Leduc, Alberto. Diccionario de geograf{a,bistoriay biografla de Mexico. M�xico,19l0.

Lutre11, Estelle. Mexican Writers. Tucson,1920.

Maldonado, Alfonso M. Nobles y Plebeyos. Me�ico,19l0.(Biblioteca de autores mexicanos)

Martin, Percy F. �mximilian in Mexico. London,19l3.

Mateos, Juan A. El cerro de las campanas. Mexico,1902.El sol de mayo, M6xico l? )

Paz, Ireneo. Los hombres prominentes de M6'xico. M{xico,1888.- Jutrez, Mixico, 1902.- Maximiliano, Mexico, 1899.

Perry, Bliss. A study of prose fiction. New York,1902.

Riva Palacio, Vicente. Calvario y Tabor,Mexico,1868./ / "/ I

Sanchez Marmo1, Manuel. Anton Perez, Mexico, 1903.- Las 1etras patrias • M�xico, 1902.

,

Santaci1�a, Pedro. Del movimiento literario en Mexico.Mexico, 1868.

Sosa , �lrancisco •.. "Apuntar.rr';_.·at;os biogra"ficos del sr .1ic.D.Manue1 Sanchez N�rmol. MEfxico, 1912.

starr, Frederick. Readings from modern Mexican authors.Chicago, 1904.

Teja y Zabre, A1fonsoi Historia de la civilizacitn delpueblo mextcano . An a rticle in HEI Un!versAl"of Mexico City, Sept.16, 1921.

Winchester, C.T. �ome prinCiples of literary criticism.New York, 1914.

Zayas E�r{quez, Rafael de • El teniente de los gavilanes •

.1.'4ew York, 1919.

THE PERIOD OF FRENCH INTERVENTION

AS T,REATED IN THE MEXICAN NOVEL

The history of Mexico has been as varied, as

romantic, and as picturesque as are the physical

characteristics of that land. Montezuma, Guatemoc,

Cortez, Coronado, Hidalgo, Morelos, Iturbide, Guerrero,

Comonfort, Juarez, D{az, Madero; these names and many

more bring to our minds pictures which ,in their varied

aspect, their romantic charm, and their picturesque set­

ting can hardly be approached even by those given to us

by countries whose recorded stories reach back into<the

antiquity of the race, and whose legions have over-run

the earth. Unfortunate ruler, daring conqueror, gold­

thirsty adelantado, patriot-priest, bold adventurer,

upright champion of the people, defender of Liberty,

greatest of the c��dillos, political prophet ; the

lives and deed of men like these have an interest which

is universal and of all time. And Mexico has given the

world more than her share of such ones.

With, then, such an overflowing source of inspiration

in the history of their counbr-y ready to their hand, it is

not strange that many Mexican writers have drawn from it.

Attracted by the intrinsic charm of the material and im­

pelled moreover by an ardent patriotism which is often not

unmixed with a desire to instill their own particular

political ideals, they have added to the literature of their

coumtry a wealth of material developed in every literary

form. This literary exploitation of the field of Mexican

history began with the conquest. flEI Peregrino Indiano" of

Guzman, ttM�x1eo' "Conquistadofl of Juan de Escorquiz, and

"La Bernandia" of Huiz de Leon stand out preeminently from

the mass of historical epics, stories, and legends which

were produced during the colonial period. The Revolution

of Independence produced much incidental writing, and later

/we find Galvan, Patricio Escosura, Roa Barcena, Peon y

Contreras, Gertrudis Gomez de Avellaneda (Cuban) Luis Tercero,

Manuel Payno, and many others, devoting their genius to the

production of works of historic inspiration. �ith the

triumph of the Liberals in 1867, the historical novel was

given a decided impetus. The greatest writers devoted them­

selves to it. The removal of restraint from the press popu-

larized it and the generally increased literary activity of

the country led to greater production. It continues in great

popularity to the present day, so that one finds the greater

part of the stock of the small·Mexican book stores along the

Sonora-Arizona border to consist of the works of Juan A.Mateos

2

. and novels based on the revolution of Madero.

The period in which the French endeavored by force of

arms to establish a monarchy in Mexico is one of the most

interestigg anq romantic in all her checkered history. It

is the purpose of this study to show how that period has

been treated in the novel of MeXiCO, but before the novels

themselves can be considered it is necessary to establish

a historical background for our work - a sort of frame work

which will aid us in piecing together a conception of the

forces at work at that time.

Any excursion into the field of Mexican history is

beset with great difficulty and danger. A prominent Mexdcan

editor writes , "In Mexico one might almost affirm that no

veritable historical research work has evep been done. The

narrative of past events is always employed by the compilers

of our history to vent their political passions, their

interest-born bias, or their sentimental leanings. We have

succumbed above all else to the infantile v�ity of creating

heroes and inventing epogees. ••• The people continue

to be entertained.with a deceptiV'e picture of our past,

whereby the patriotic conception is falsified,inasmuch,as it

is made to rest upon a fragile web of sparkling gewgaws.

Defeats are denied, downfalls dissimulated, and the seamy

side of life, which is perhaps the largest part of it, kept

from view." One thing, however, is certain, During

her hundred years of independence Mexico has been torn by

3

party strife, which has soaked'her soil �n blood amd kept

her among the backward na.tions of the world. When we

examine into this condition, we find that the essential

cause of it is the desire of the people to wrest complete

political and economic independence from the hands of the

reactionary classes who received the heritage of Spanish

dominion. There has not been an orderly and logical pro­

gression,towards this end, far from it. Unscrupulous and

selfseeking men have taken advantage of the credulity of

the peons and sought their own personal ag�randisement.

Foreign powers, have more than once interfered. Opposition

to the constituted authorities has been stifled for long

periods of time. But despite all thiS, the people have

continued to fight for independence, and if we are to under­

stand the development of 1Iexican history we must accept this

principle. Some think that the agrarian plan of the Obregon

government will bring this movement to its logical conclusion,

but we cannot enter into that matter here.

When in 1810 Hidalgo gave the ttGr�to de Dolores" he

initiated the strug�le which,as is indicated in the preceding

paragraph, still continues. He fought bravely a�ainst the

Spaniards for a time, but was captured and executed. Morelos,

anothe� priest, took up the work and became leader of the

Liberal party. After gaining important victories, he was

overwhelmed by large reinforcements from Spain, and with his

4

execution in 1815 the Revolution seemed crushed. Chan�ing

conditions in Spain, however, made it advisable for the ruling

class i�Mexico to separate from the Mother Country, so the

Church, the landed aristocrats, and the Army joined in declar­

ing her independence. It should be kept in mind that this was

a purely reactionary movement and made absolutely no change in

the domestic conditions of the country. From this time until

Juarez triumphed in .the wars of the Reforma there is continual

strife between the force s of reaction, 'headed by the Church

and containing the elements which had effected the· independence

of the country, and the Liberals who wished to establish a

truly democratic government with a federal rather than a centra­

lized system of control. Iturbide, who engineered the separation

from Spain, with the aid of the Army proclaimed himself Emperor

of Mexico. The Liberals were able to drive him from t he country

because the rich landowners failed to support him, due to the

excressive cost of his gover-nmenb, Fer a time under Victoria

and Guerrero the Liberals enjoyed power but the latter's gov­

ernment was overthrown by a cuartelazo raised by Bustamente,

a fanatical churchman. At the end of his term, the sinister

figue of Santa Ana .becomes the most prominen� in the political

field. Elected to the presidency numr r-ous times through

the patronage of the ChUrch and other reationary elements, be

guided r.1exico' s destiny during the Texan Rebellion and the war

with the United States, emerging from the latter no longer

·President but Dictator.

5

In 1854, a serious rebellion broke out aga Lns t "His

Most Serene Highness, the President-Dictator Santa Ana". The

Liberals under the leadership of Juan Alvarez, �ompanion of

Guerrero, �nd 'Ignacio Comonfort issued a platfor,m known as

the "Plan de Ayutla" which called for the resignation of Santa

Ana and the calling of a constitutional convention. The

people of the southern states flocked to their support, and

Comonfort was made President. A constitutional convention

met" and after mature deliberation adopted the famous plan

of government 'wvhich guaranteed the fundamental rights of man,

separated Church and .state, abolished monastic orders, and

indicated the seizure of church lands. The react1onaries,who

ever since the abolition of the fueros which �ave the Church

special courts had been working vigorously against the govern­

ment, began to break into open rebellion. Comonfort who had

been re-elected took the oath of office on Sept.l, 1857. At

the same time Benito Juarez took office as President of the

Supreme Court, which made him ex-officio Vice-President of

the Republic and 'successor to the President in case of his

disability to serve. The reactionaries began to bring pressure

to bear upon the President and he adopted a compromising attitude.

With the approval of Comonfort whom they promised to retain as

President , they raised a general revol�, and abandoning him

made their leader Zuloaga President. The Constitutional Congress

confirmed Juarez as President and the war known as the Guerra d�laReforma began.

6

The war was pros�cuted r9� three years with varying

success, until fina1ly,&n November 20, 1860, the Constitu­

tionalists commanded by Gonzales Ortega decisively defeated

the Reactionar.ies under Miramon, and put an end to the war.

It was in this bloody internecin strife that Marquez , Mejrea,

and Mir8.mon, later the leading generals of Maximilian's empire,

gained their reputation, Miramon being once elected President

of the Republic •. wbile the stru�gle was in progress, President

Juarez enacted, by virtue of the authority of the Constitution

of 1857, some very· far-reaching decr-ee e known as the Leyes �Eeforma. 'II most important of these 'laws provided . (1) Thathe .

all convents and monasteries be suppressed and all the property

of the church be confiscated to the use of the Nation.(2) That

the jury system be established, and all special privileges of

the clergy be abolished.(3) That education be encouraged.

(4) That friendly relations be established with foreign nations.

(5) That the national guard should be the only military forces

. of the nation, thus abolishing a professional military class.

(6) 'That railroads' and telegraph lines be sub je c+cd to the strict

supervision of the government. (7) That births, deaths,

marriages, and other vital statistics be registered with the

civil authorities rather than with the church as her-etof'or-e,

(8) That the great estates be subdlvided into small farms and

sold to the peons. President Juarez established his government

in Mexico City on January 11, 1861, and extended the force of

7

these laws to the confinez of the Republic as rapidly as

he was abIe, This brings us to the period in which we are

most interested - that of the French intervention.

Elections were held during the spring of 1861, and

Juarez reintrusted with the executive power. On May 9,

Congres s met an d the President made a complete expose of

the political situation. The country, worn out by war,

was almost without financial resources and faced by grave

problems of reconstruction, while France, Spain, and England

were pushing claims with great vigor. There was open talk

of intervention, wmich was made more probable by the out­

break of the Civil War in the United States. rUlitary

operations were prog�essing very favorably, the army being

then engaged in hunting down the remnants of the conservative

forces.

On July 17, Congress passed a bill suspending all pay­

ment on the national debt for two years. ·This included the

foreign debt, and this act was at once protested against by

both France and Spain. On the 31st day of October following,

the Convention of London was signed, whereby the three con­

tracting powers France, Spain, and England agreed to send an

armed expedition into Mexico to force the settlement of their

claims against her. This, of course, brings at once to the

front the whole que stion of inte rvention and the pur-pose of

the allied powers in their action. We should remember that

ever since the establishment of Mexican independence a strong

8

element in the Conservative party had been working for the

establishment of a monar�h7. The abortive attempt of

Iturbide, and the ill-disguised imperial ambitions of Santa

Ana were supported by this party and they had carried on an

extensive propaganda in Europe with the view or interesting

various princes in the possibilities of Mexico as a field

of operations. As soon as the matter of intervention to

secure payment of the debt was sugaested , they at once

threw all their influence in its favor. Such sugfestions

were made by the Spanish governments to the others concerned

as early as 1858, and the intervention had been practically

decided upon before the suspensio��of June,186l, although

the latter event gave a good excuse. The United states was

invited to participate in the expedition but refused, Lincoln

taking the attitude that the differences between the two

countries could be settled by diplomatic means. There is no

doubt that Napoleon III undertook the whole concern planning

to establish in Mexico a government under French tutelage,

thereby opening a. new field for his c ommer-ce ; to re-establish

the power of the ,Roman Church, and even to found a French

colony in 'America. These intentions he denied repeatedly in

his long diplomatic correspondence with the United states upon

the sub ject, in his pub lf c statements in F1rance, and even in

his instructions to. hi s penerals in conrnand of the exped ttinon­

ary forces, but it is only by accepting them as true that

the actions of his representativesin America can be understood.

9

B7 the Convention the contracting powers' agreed to send to

Mexico a force sufficient to exact the pavme rrt s of their

claims and bound themselves not to interfere in the internal

affairs of Mex Lc o •. On December 14, 1861, a Spanish squadron

occupied Vera Cruz, the Fre�ch and English forces arrivinR

January 6 and 7, 1862. The Mexican government adopted a con­

cilia�mry attitude, while it made what preparations it could

to resist an invasion·of the interior. General Frim for

Spain and Commodore Dunlop for England were satisfied by the

guarantees offered them by Ju�rez, but the French were deter­

mined on overthrowing the Republican government. When this

attitude became unmistakable, the Spanish and English commanders

embarked their forces and sailed from Vera Cruz April 22, 1862.

Reinforcements from France were poured into the country,

and General Loreneez arrived to take command. He Ls sue d a

proclamatiori calling upon all Mexicans who desired a stable

government to come to the aid of the forces of intervention

and disclaiming any intent to force abuses upon the people.

At the same time they were warned that the French would never

withdraw and woe to their as�ailants. With this preface, he

began his march into the interior.

On the memorable 5th of May, 1862, the French attacked

Pueb1a but were repulsed, having been misinformed as to its

strength. Large ... reinfo:rcements were sent out and General Forey

placed in command, having at his orders a force of over 30,000

10

men. Puebla was captured after a siege and Mexico City

occupied on June 7, 1863, Juarez having previously transferred

his government to San Luis Potosi.

The French now proceeded to form a government, Baron de

Saligny, _the representative of the French emperor, nominated a

junta superior de gobierno of 35 member-s , The se men eelected

215 others, who with thrmselves formed an' Asamblea de notables.

This Assembly selected an executive of three, namely, General, ,

Juan Nepomuceno Almonte, son of the famous Morelos, General

r·;J:ariano Salas, and Archbishop Labosteda, all of them staunch

monarchists. It then gave its attention to the selection�of a

permanent form of government for the country. On the lOth of

July, the Assembly adopted the' following resolutions:-

(1) The Eexican nation adopts for its form of government a moder-

ate hereditary monarchy,with a Roman Catholic ,prince.

(2) The sovereign will assum the title of bmperor of Mexico.

(3) The imperial crown is tendered to his imperial and royal

highness Prince Ferdinand Maximilian, Archduke of Austria, for

himself and his descendants.

(4) In the event that., owing to circumstances impossible to

foresee, Archduke Ferdinand Haximilian should not take possession

of the throne tendered him, the Mexican nation appeals to the

benevolence of his Majesty, Napoleon III, Emperor of the French,

to nominate another Catholic prince.

This is the first time that Maximilian's n�ne was mentioned

11

publicly in connection with Mexico, but it is certain that

he,as early as the fall of 1861,had agreed to accept the tlJrone

of the monarchy France purposed to establish there, provided

that he should be' given guarantees for the successful achieve­

ment of the project. It is not known what led Napoletbn to

select Maximilian for the position, probably his weak char-

acter, and the fact that a Bourbon prince would be distasteful

to the Mexican people were factors. His reputation for

liberal ideas and the administrative talent he manifested

while governor of Lombardy may also have been taken into

consideration. The formal proffer of the throne was made

to him October 3, 1863, at :Miramar by a commf s s ton headed

by Gutierez de Estrada. He accepted on condition that the

majority of the Mexican people express their adherence to

the imperial government.

The government of the United States , devoting as it

was every effort towards the 'preservation of the Union, adopted

'a policy of strict neutrality in regard to the Mexican situa-I

tion., It recognized the right of France to exact strict ful­

fillment on the part of rfLexico of a.ll the agreements ma.de,

and cons!dered the situation to be that of a war between

France and Mexico. Moreover:,� Napoleon III as sured our

government repeatedly that he 'had no intention of interfer­

ing ,in the internal affairs, of Mexico, or of forcing a

12

distasteful form of gover.r�ent upon that country. There

was much discussion in the American press and even in

Congress, as to the relationship of the Intervention to the

Munroe Doctrine; but, at this time, the President and

Secretary Seward held that it had not been violated, the

latter writing to our Minister in Paris, "The United States

has neither the right nor the disposition to intervene by

force in the il'iternal affairs of Mexico, whether to establish

and maintain a republic, or even a domestic gOJlernment there,

or to overthrow an.imperial or a foreign one, if Mexico

chooses to establish or accept it. The United States has

neither the right nor the disposition to intervene by force

in the lamentable war that is going on between France and

Mexico" it might be added that the United states , had it

had both the right and the disposition to do so, could not

have. intervened because of the war then raging between the

states, a fact well appreciated by the wily Napoleon.

Indeed, as has been indicated before, one of his primary

purposes in the venture was the establishment of a sphere

of French influence in America which would check the growing

industrial and economic pre-eminence of the United states.

Witness his letter of instructions to General Forey, in which

he said that the prosperity of America is necessary to Europe

and France has an interest in seeing the United States power­

ful and prosperous, but that it cannot be permitted to hold

the whole Gulf of Mexico and control from there the Antilles

13

and South America and become the only dispenser of the

products of the New World. The Mexicans themselves believe,

as is pointed put by Justo Sierra in his "Mexic·o y su

evo1ucion socla1fl, that if the French forces had not been

kept fully occupied by the Republican armies they would

have given active assistance to the Confederacy. In spite

of·this avowed policy of neutrality, the United States as a

whole was in sympathy with the Juarez government, and it was

allowed to raise arms and money unmolested and almost at will

in our territory.

During the latter part of 1863, the French, now under

the command of Marshal Bazaine, moved northward as far as

San Luis Potosi, forcing Juarez to retire to Saltillo. Many

towns and di.stricts in the south and central portion of· the

country gave in their submission, impelled thereto either by

the hope tllat the French would establish a lasting peace, or

by the fear that their prop�rt7';wou1d�be':sequestered in case

the army should move their way. Both sides had issued very

severe decrees under the provisions of which the possessions

of any person who aided the enemy were to be confiscated. As

it made no difference whether the aid given was voluntary or

not, the result was that no one was safe in the ownership of

his goods. Many towns occupied by the French early in the

war, while they favored the republican government, feared the

entry of the Juarez troops,for they knew that they would be

14

",

forced· to pay heavy fines for "having sheltered H the

French. Both parties depended largely during the whole

course of the war upon forced loans and confiscations to

fill their military chests. General Bazaine was given effec­

tive aid by .some twelve to fifteen thousand native troops

under the leadership of Gener-aLs Marquez and Me j La ,

By the early part of 1864, the French had overrun

the most important part of the country, and were so able

to represent the majority of the population as being adher­

ents of the imperial regime. Accordingly, Maximilian

formally accepted the throne on April 10, and left almost

at once for Mexico. Before he 'set out, however, he signed·

an agreement with Napoleon which 'provided that the Frenc�

army was to be reduced as soon as possible to 25,000 men,

who were to be withdrawn as soon as other (Mexican) forces

could be organized :bo take their place. Mexico was to pay

the expense incurred by the French army and the transport

service. Secret articles provided that the withdrawal of

the troops was to be gradual in order to insure the object

of the intervention.

Maximilian and his wife landed at Vera Cruz May 29,

1864, and made their triumphal entry into the capital on

June 12. The Imperialists had made great preparations

and the events were entirely successful, the sovereigns

being received with great enthusiasm by the populace.

15

The republic Vias now in terrible circumstances. By the

end of the year the French, aided by their Mexican adherents,

had occupied every city of importance in the country,-with

the exception of Oaxaca where Porfirio Diaz still held out

with a respectable army. President Juarez had faed to

Chihuahua and sent his family to the United states. In

the r�maicder of the ,country, the Republican authority was

uph�ld'only by isolated bands of guerillas. From a military

standpoint, the success of the empire ,seemed assured.

Several clouds began to darken the political horizon even

thus early. Maximilian who, though amiable, was of a weak

and vacillating character, tried to conc tLt.abe the Liberals

by a friendly attitude. This angered the men who believed

that they had placed him on hds throne, but they were disre­

garded and the mos� prominent of them sent on diplomatic

missions. The emperor made many unwise appointments and

alienated�the Mexicans,who said he favored the foreigners

who came with him, and also the French, who thought him

too independent. The old question of the church lands

came up and !:Iaximilian, adopting a middle ground, refused

to accede to the demands of the lloly See, which were to

the effect that the Leyes de Reforma be entirely abolished

and all lands seized returned. In place of sbr-aLnf.ng every

faculty towards a consolidation of these various factions,

he wasted his energies in arranging details of or�anization

and government.

16

This point may be taken as the highest which the

empire reached. With the end of the Civil War, the United

States government was free to turn its attention to affairs

in the neighboring republic, and sustained by public senti­

ment some very haughty notes were dispatched to Paris, de­

manding a definite statement as to the aims and purposes

of the French in Mexico. The French government bep:an to

realize that their undertaking was impossible of achieve-

ment. The attitude of the United states was growing more

threatening day by day. The expedition was being attacKed

strenuously in the Chamber of Deputies. And, most important

of all, the Mexican people rose in revolt wherever they.

were not held in subjection at the point of the bayonet. An

investigator conwissioned by the French Foreign Office re-

, .

ported HJ'ai trouve Ie r·.:exique sur un volcan, l"empereur et

l'empire uses, l'insurrection triomphante, partout ou les

-Francais ne sont pas en grand nombre!!.�

Maximilian issued

a decree on Oct. 3 to the effect that the President having

left the territor�k legal pretext no longer existed for con-I

tinuing to war against the empire,and,henceforth,all captured

in arms against it would be regarded as bandits and summarily

shot. This, in place of havine the hoped-for results, in-

flamed the people agninst domination by foreigners.

In January 1866, the French gover��ent announced in

the Chamber of Deputies that withdrawal of the forces had

17

been determined upon. The next month Secretary Seward

insisted that the withdrawal should be effected without

any conditlons and that the entistment of Austrians for

I/::exican service should cease. Both demands were instantly

met by the respective governments, France indicating that

her forces would b� withdrawn in three detachments, the last

to leave in November 1867. Baron Saillard was sent to Mexico

to inform Maximilian of his master's decision and to try to

induce him to abdicate. At this juncture the Empres8

Charlotte �ent to Europe in an 'effort to secure continued

aid from France. Unsuccessful in her attempts, she became

insane'.

Napoleon now determined that the only hope of F'rance in

securing pa�nent for her vast expenditures lay with the

Liberals. Acco"rdingly, in April, 1866, General Castelnau

was sent to America to secure the Emperor's ,abdication and

aid in placing some Liberal leader in power. The integrity

of Juarez, Diaz, and Lar-do de Fe +ada made them unapproachable,

so the choice fell up�n Jesus ortega who had some claL�s to

consideration as having been elected to serve as President

of the Supreme Court at the srune time that Juarez 'was chosen.

This plan was frustrated when the American authorities

arrested Ortega while he was seeking to cross the border and

turned him over to Juarez. This was the end of French pre­

t�ntions in Mexico.

18

The last of the French soldiers sailed from Vera Cruz

Earch 12, 1867, six months earlier than the �uarantees given

to the United states required. Their concentration around

Vera Cruz had been accompaniej by a corresponding advance

on the part of the Juarists, so that Miramon, Marquez, and

Mejia, �,. recalled for that purpose, found on taking

command of the imperial army that they were confined to the

central portion of the country.

After some successes Miramon was.defeated by the

Republican �enera1 Escobedo and fell back upon �ueretaro.

:,:laximi1ian joined him there on February 19, taking this step

for the purpose of encouraging the army. The Republicans

im�ediately began to concentrate forces around the city

with such energy that by r,:arch 5 it was invested by 25,000

men. The qefenaers had about 10,000 men and were well

supplied with all necessary mUnitions. After some dis­

cussion in the imperial councils, Marquez was given full

power to act-as lieutenant of the Emperor and sent to Mexico

City to raise money and reinforcements for a continuation

of the campaign. He made a successful sortie on March 22

amd penetrated the Republican lines unharmed.

The siege continued as before, but by the end of April

the garrison was reduced to 5,OCO men by desertion and

death, and food supplies were running low. No assistance

or word had been received from Mar-que z and the garris on was

19

growinE dispirited. Several plans for flight were enter­

tained by Maximilian, but he abandoned them for one reason

or another. On the night of r.�ay 14, Colonel Miguel Lopez,a

favorite of the Emperor's, turned traitor and introduced

enemy forces into the line of defences. This ITas the end.

�ll resistance ceased, and the next day the Emperor and his

generals were ta�en prisoner.

The prisoners were ordered tried by court-�artial under

the decree of Jan.25, 1862, and on June 13, the trial com-

menced s

: I,:aximilian was charged with attempting to overthrow

the constitutional gove�nent for base purposes and voluntarily

accepting the liabilities �f a usurper. Conviction was a fore­

gone conclusion, so the defence attempted to secure merciful

treatment on the ground that the accused was leader of a party

in a civil war and that he ��d been always influenced by the

most generous and noblest of m�tives. It was in vain, for the

death sentence was imposed and carrie� out a few days later,

on June 19, :r.Iiramon and Mejia suffering with their chief.

When Marquez reached Mexf.co City in l:arch he had raised

quite a sum of m?ney, and add�d to his forces by drafting num­

bers of peons. In place of �arching to the relief of Queretaro,

he turned his forces against Diaz, who was at that time besieging

Puebla. The latter· when he heard of the approaching relief

pushed the siege with such vigor that he gained control of the

city on April 2. He then marched to meet :r;�rquez and adminis­

tered a severe defeat at San Lorenzo on April 10. The

20

imperialist comma.nder took refuge in the Oapital which was at

once besieged by the victorious Diaz. The defense was continued

until June 20th, on which, date it was entered by the Republican

forces. Only a few scattered bands of imperialists remained in

arms and these were soon broken up, so it may reasonably be said

that the empire ended with the entry of President Juarez into

the Capital July'15, 1867.

Having before us this outline of the events which actually

transpired durin� the period of French intervention, we can turn

to an examination of the novels which treat of it.

Probably the most popular work of fiction ever produced in

Mexico is the novel "El cerro de las campanas!l, written by Juan

Antonio Mateos. The author had an extremely wide and varied

career as a journalist, lawyer, politician, soldier, and

litterateur. Born in Toluca about 1835, he experienced even as

a child the dangers and alarms of civil war, for his father was

a partizan of 'reform , hence, out of sympathy with the established

government. He began his studies in the College of San Gregorio

but was forced to drop them for a while on account of the dis­

turbance occasioned by the war with the United �tates. He

entered, after conditions became more favorable, the Institute

of Toluca and there the liberal and republican ideals which he

inheri ted from his father were s;....trene;thened and 'crystalized

by association with some of the most advanced spirits of the day.

At this time he became filled,also,with enthusia�m for literary

pursuits and produced some poetry of a rather rhetorical sort.

21

He matriculated �t the College of San Juan Letran in 1853,

and devoted himself to the 'study of law. About to proceed

to his degree , his stvdies were interrupted by the war

which Comonfort was waging to consolidate the v�ctorieswon in the revolution of Ayutla. He, with his two brothp.rs,

fought in all the battles of the war, and during a brief

interval of peace completed his �eeal studies and was called

to the bar in 1857. The '['jar of Reform breaking oujr , he a.t

once entered the conflict, acting as secretary to General

Arteaga. During the French intervention, r,�ateos edited

various newspapers in the capital and incurred the displeasure

of the invaders by hi s editorials in suppor-t of Republican

principles. Banished to Yucatan, he was,on his return in

1867, made Secretary of the Supreme Court by President Juarez.

From this time until his death, which occurred in the capital

in the latter part of 1911, he continually occupied positions

of public trust. He wasror many years a memb�r of the National

Chamber of Deputies and, taking advantage of this capacity,

compiled his "historia parllamentaria de los 60ngresos

Mexicanos"" 1877-86", which was publisher! in 11 volumes.

During all this period he wrote profusely and was also con­

nected editorially with sev�ral pebiodicala� among them,

"m I�onitor Repub Id cano" and TIEl Siglo XIX".

At the �ime when the Republican triumph was consolidated,

Mateos and Vicente Riva Palacio determined that the Mexican

theatre was lacking in vitality, and with the view of

22

revivifying it , collaborated in the writing of some fifty

plays which WEre very well received. Mateos also wrote

several volumes of verse, his most admired productions along

this line being "La campana de Do'Ior-e a'", Perfi Le s de Conqu t s t.e.'",

and "Ba tallas de or-tent.e ", Between 1868 and 1911 he wrote a

large number of novels, T,'Tith ei ther the history or the social

life of his native country as a theme.

Gifted by nature with a keen intelligence, ready wit,

and a most pleasing per-s onaLf t.y , he was acquainted wi th all

the important personages of his day, and thus well. fitted to

narrate its events, of which, moreover, he had been an

actual witness. A list of his more important works, other

than those already mentioned, together wi th t heir date of pub­

lication, follows: "or-ac Ion civics. pronunciado el 27 setiembre

de 1856 en la ciudad de '!l},alpam, 1856; !'El cerro de las

campanas, 1868; El sol de mayo, 1868; Los insur�entes, 1869;

Ramances y leyendas,1875; Sacerdote y caudillo, 1875; Sor

An�elica, 1875; Paginas de la juventad ensayos poeticos,1875;

Los dramas de Mexico, 1887; Las o Ls s altas, 1889; La Bupa Mares,

1999; It:l vendedor de periodicos, 1889; Las olas muertas,1889;

:','lemorias de un guerrrllero, 18971 Sange de ninos, 1901; La

majestad caLda , 0 La Eevo IucLon Mexl cana , 1911.

Giving our attention now to "El cerro de las campanas" ,

the following synopsis Lndd ca tes something of its na ture and

treatment.

The novel opens at the time that the forces of the

23

hepublic are evacuating nexf.co City subsequent to their

defeqt at the hands of the French at San Lorenzo �� May

1863. After 'some description of the disorders in the city

which attend the withdrawal of the army, we are introduced

to the most important cha.racters. Pablo Martinez, an ardent

patriot and a captain in the army, is 'in command of a body

of ca.valry which is to escort Col. Eduardo Fernandez from

the cIty. The latter after bidding his mother a touching

farewell goes to take leave of his sweetheart, Luz, daughter

of Don Modesto and Dona Canuta Fajardo. Don Modesto who is

a retired merchant and who at 'one time held a minor appoint­

ment in the foreign bureau, is an interventionist and hopes

to be an office holder under the French. He is very ridicu­

lous with his pretensions to diplomatic skill and his pomp­

osity. Dona Canuta with all her self-esteem is much the keener

of the two. Luz is a favorer of the Republic, a "chinaca",

due to the influence of Fernandez. She bids him God-speed

in a burst of patriotic fervour. On the road from the city,

Martinez tells Fernandez and a brother officer named Quinones

the story of his early life. His father was accused of the

murder of his wife who had mysteriously disappeared. He, him­

self, joined the army, leaving his idolized sister Guadelupe,

and fought in all the battles of the "Reforma". The retreat

of the army to Lerma and on into the interior is pictured. In

the city of lVJ.exico the rea.ctionary party is in control and is

preparing to welcome the French. Some thirty pages are devoted

to a description of the entry of the French army into the city

24

the decorations, the prominent personages, and the course of

events all being minutely described. A comic epi�ode,which is

characteristic of the many with which the novel is interspersed,

follows. The Fajardos welcome the quertering of troops upon

them, expecting to be assigned at least a colonel wbo will help

them in eaining the favor of the French commander. To their

great chagrin they draw a gigantic boor named Paleon, ensign in

the Chasseuers d'Afrique, who demands their drawing room as a

chamber and so forces them to agree to pay his expenses at a hotel

in order to be rid of hi�. He insults Dona Canuta by e�posing

his personal effects (underclothing) to view while searching his

baggage for tobacco, and Don Modesto by accusing him of the theft

of a box of matches. The latter goes to complain at headquarters

and is almost subjected to a f1og�ing through a mistake. His

faith in the French and his self-esteem are restored when he is

designated a member of the KS-s:enU:Il:y of not-abIes which is convened

to decide the fate of the coun+r-y , Two French officers, Maj or

Demuriez and Captain Hl��S call at the house of Fajardo, apolo­

gize for POleon's actions and take over his billet. They had seen

Luz and Clara the day of the entry and are deeply stricken by their

charms. Clara, who is Luz' most intimate friend, and the daughter

of an enormously wealthy Spanish merchant, confesses to the latter

that she has fallen in love with Demuriez. Eduardo visits Luz at

great ris� and tells her he has formed a guerilla band from the

25

few loyal soldiers of his regiment. Pablo Martinez and Quinones

are his aides. The festivities of the French are described.

Don Serafin, an admirer of Luz, kills in a duel Capt.Hugnes who

has been paying her attention. The sessions and the accomplish­

ment of the Assembly of llotables are at this point recounted,e.nd

the story of the conunission which went to Miramar to offer

Maximilian the crown told in some detail. Turning our attention

now to Martinez, we find him camped for the night in his native

town of Arias. He is awakened in the night by a masked man who

tells him of his mother's fate. She had been induced to leave

her home by a deception, and for ten years has been kept a·

p�isoner. Two children - twins- have been born to ber and her

seducer. These he has turned over to has servant, who is in

reality the masked man, to be killed. He has brought them up

carefully .. although he hides i:nilf. from Pablo. The latter

rescues his mother and entombs alive the man who has so ill-

treated her as a just punishment for his crimes. Top.:ether they

seek out Guadelupe and learn from her that their husband and

father had just died in pis:prison. Martinez takes his mother

and sister to Ctiernavaca and leaves them with an aunt. Turning

again to the Fajardos, �hey are looking forward eagerly to the

arrival in Mex Lco of the emperor and empress. Don Mode abo ex­

pects to be an important person. under the empire and hopes �

marry Luz to a Frenchman. She, disgusted with the sycophancy

of her parents definitely decides to give her .love to Fernandez.

The arrival of Charlotte and Maximilian on Mexican soil and their

26

entry into the city is described. Taking up now the military

thread of the story, we find our heroes with their guerilla band

in the mountain f'as tne aae s of Michoacan. Hard peessed by the

French who hold all the cities and important places they, like•

the other Republicans, str�ve to keep the spark of resistance

alive· during what Mateos calls, "the black hour of the Republic".

A typical example of this guerilla warfare is described at this

juncture. Joining their forces with those of another patriot,

Nicolas Romero, Fernandez and his companions attack and capture

Zitacuaro. A large enemy force drives the� from the town, but

they ambush it and thus secure an uninterrupted retreat. We

now are shown something of the life of the Emperor� Tired of

strugfling against conditions which have always been adverse and

are: fast erowing alarming, l.�aximilian goes to Ouer-navaca to take

the baths. There he comes to know and to love Guadelupe, who

ignorant of his rank,°

returns his affection with all the force of

her emotional soul. He tries to persuade her to accompany him

to the capital, urging that an early marriage will soon take

place, but she refuses. He secures an additional claim upon her

love by freeing her brother,who has been captured and sentenced

to death. He explains this by saying he has influence with the

emperor. Quinones goes to deliver dispatches to Juarez at El

Paso del �orte to which place the president has fled. We are

shown the citizen presioent, serene and unmoved by all his

troubles, and with an unshaken faith in the ultimate success of

his cause, secure in the knowledge that he has the goodwill and

27

frienship of the Uni te-d S ta te s • Quinone s on hi s return

journey is killed near Zocate�s by roving Apaches. In Mexico

City Luz and Clara have been made ladies of honor to the

Empress. They use their position to gain passports for Serafin

and Enrique, a friend of his who has also killed an invader in

a duel, thus enabling them to @§e�e and enlist under Martinez.

Two chapters are devoted to the "Black Decree" of Oct.3,l865,

and the execution of Generals Arteaga and Salazar under its

provisions. Remorseful feelings �onnected with it affect

Charlotte's mind and she goes to Yucatan to recuperate. The

difficulties of the impe�ial government are pictured in con­

siderable detail and the mission of Baron Saillard described.

Turning once more to Martinez, we see him led by the masked

man who had aided him in finding his mother to his sister's

home. Finding her in the company of the emperor he faints

from emotion. Maximilian leaves before he recovers. After

Guadelupe has persuaded her brother,with some difficulty,that

her,honor is unstained and that she is as much surprised as he,

he take s her to Mexico City, overcoming many obstac Le s , and

places her under the protection of Clara's father. After

burning down the lodgings of a French colonel whom he specially

detests, he returns to his band signally outwitting the

imperialists on the way. Charlotte determines to go to Europe

in order to secure assistance for the imperilled government

of her husband. uhen the news of her departure reached the

young Republican �€nera� Riva PalaCiO, he celebrated it by

28

w�i ting his -famous letrilla "llama Carmota ft• This song has

enjoyed such a popularity that it is to-day included in an

anthology of the fifty most popular Mexican songs,published

in San Antonio, Texas. Mateos describes the composition in

some detail, and as it is of considerable importance as an

illustration of the popular feeling of the time, I shall

quote it her.

Letrilla de Riva Palacio

Mama Carlota

La niebla de los mares

Radiante sol aclara,Ya cruje la "Novara"A impulsos del vapor.El agua embravecidaLa embarcacion azo�,Adios, Usma -Carlota,.t�dios, mi tierna amor !

EI ancla se desprendeY la argentada ���Revienta entre la brumaCon languido rumor

En 10 alta de Ia nave

EI estandarte flota.Adios, etc.

?Que llevas a tus -lares ?Recuerdos de esta tler-�aDonde extendio la guerraSu aliento destructor�as olas son de sangreQue par doquiera brotaAdios, etc.

-

Mas pronto de los-libresEscucharos el canto

B�1o tu regio monteTernblando de pavorTe seguiran sus ecos

A la region ignotaAdios, etc.

Veras-de tu destierraEn la azulada esfera

Flotar nuestra banderaCon gloria y esplendorY brotara laurelesLa tnmbaa del patrioLa.

Adios, etc.

After picturing Charlotte's visit to France and her resultless

appeal- to the Emperor of the French, Mateos takes us with her

to Rome,where her lack of results produces hopeless insanity, and

finally to Miramar. Though she lives on, she no longer is an

actor in the story. Turning to the husband of the woman so sadly

stricken in the prime of her youth and beauty, we see Maximilian

·at Orizaba seriously considering abdication and urged to it by

napoleon t.hr-ough hi s envoy Cast e Inau , but finally deciding to

stay, persuaded to the decision by his ministers. Fajardo

changes front and becomes a strong Republican, just as most of

the Imperialists are doing. Haximilian by chance meets Guadelupe

and they bid each other a final farewell: she promises,however,to

attend him in his last moments if he should meet defeat and death.

Shortly after the evacuation of Mexico City by the French, which

event is portrayed with the .author's usual wealth of detail, Clara

accompanies Demuriez to the altar. Just as the cer�mony is about

to be completed, Luz bursts in and charges the Frenchman with his

perfidy, presenting proof that he has a wife and children in

France, and has only been endeavoring to secure possession of

Clara's fortune. In his agony, the exposed man shoots himself.

The action now rapidly converges upon Queretaro, the city where

"El cerro de los campana s" is located. The armies of the

30

Republic are everywhere triumphant. Miramon after some initial

successes is defeatedrnd seeks shelter there. Maximilian joins

him and the armies of Juarez establish a close siege. Marquez

goes to Mexico at the head of a force of cavalry to bring back

r-e Inror-cemerrt.s , but once there he disregards his orders and moves

against Fbrfiri§ Diaz who has captured Puebla by assault. He is

defeated very decisively, and throws himself into the city of

r'.'!exico, which is besieged by the Republican general. Before the

siege is established Don Mode s t o expends fourteen dollars for the

purpose of raising a revolt against the authorities. His "plot"

is discovered and he is consigned to prison. Dona Canuta's prayers

to the authorities secure his release, but he is banished from the

city. Going to Chapultepec with the family, Luz there meets

Fernandez, who is now a general. He for some time has been estranged

from her, thinking because she had been in the service of the

express that she is at heart an Imperialist. He finds,however, a

letter which his mother had written him in her last hours'. explain-,

that Luz had sacrificed her true feelings in order to protect her

parents, and praying him to marry her. This brings them together

and their marriage is celebrated. During the whole campaign.

Eduardo has had as aLde s=de-ecamps.t.he two tv7fns, brothers of Martinez,

though their true identity is unknown. In the course of the siege

they are sent with a detachment to open' a trench. In carrying out

this work they find two coffers full of gold and jewels •. These

co�fers have been hidden there by the masked man who has twice aided

Martinez and who is really their' father. The coffers contain a

letter stating that the contents belong to them. Their future is

31

thus provided for and we can turn our undivided attention to

the events culminating in the tragedy of "the Hill of the Bells".

The progress of the siege is described. Enrique, who has been

fighting with Martinez, Ls mortally wounded in one of the engage­

ments and is cared for in his last moments by two Sisters of

Mercy - Ouade Iupe and Clara.- who are "tt.hU.s seeking consolation

for their sorrows. The capture of the city follows. A rather

full picture of the trial of Maximil:i,.an, Mejia, and Miramon is

presented. Shortly:before the date set for the execution, Sisters

Guadelupe and Clara receive a call from the Princess Salm-Salm.

She induces Guadelupe to·deliver a note to the Emperor telling

him that Charlotte has died. The nun complies without revealing

her identity, but gathers the impression that the princess is in

love with the condemned man and becomes very jealous. The

princess·makes an'unsuccessful attempt to secure the connivance

of Pablo Martinez,who com�ands the prison guards, at the escape

of the Emperor, though. she fa11s,she learns by chance during her

visit the pass�ord for the night and makes complete plans for

an escape. She entrusts ouade.Iupe with another note giving

directions for the escape, but the latter is overcome by her

jealousy and destroys it. In her own mind she fulfills every

obligation imposed by love and honor when she stands in the

corridor and allows Maximilian to see her face as he passes on

his way to execution. The final scene of the novel discloses

to us Napoleon III receiving the news of the execution in the

32

midst of the celebrations attendant upop the Paris Exposition.

To the account of the French monarch Mateos places fully and

without reservation the responsibility for the death of

Maximilian.

In considering "El cerro de las campanas" as a work

of art, it is necessary to understand that the author's

first purpose was to produce a popular account of the his­

torical events of the years 1863-67. True, he embellished

it with the story of the loves of Maximilian and Guadelupe,

and of Eduardo �d Luz, but this element is merely a separate

story loosely connected here and there T,\1"i th the· events dis-

turbing the country. There is absolutely no doubt of this,

for in the course of the novel itself r:lateos writes of his

work as history, and speaks of the duty of the historian to

be fair and impartial. Altamirano: in one of his reviews�

said of it; uEI pueblo tenia nece s s i tad de una lectura cual­

quiera en que se hubiesen compaginado los hechos memorables

que acaban de tener lugar; el pueblo deseaba saber 10 que

habia pasado en todos los ambitos de la Republica ; queria

conocer personalmente a sus defensores y a sus amigos,sus

glorias, y sus infortunios. EI senor Mateos resolvio

porveer a esta nece�sitad por medio de una lectura romanesca

en que a la fabula de su invencion estuviesem mezclados los. I

relatos de los principales acontecimientos del �rama

mexicana."

33

The plot of tiEl cerro" lacks absoluteJy in unity.

The account of the historical happenings, the two love stories,

'the story of the twins, are connected in the most flimsy manner.

Anyone might be cut without having the slightest effect ofi the

development of the other elements, and anyone of them might be

made to sta�d alone. This lack of unity is probably due to the

author's method of composition which will be touched on later.

On account of this defect the novel lacks interest to any but

those who are attracted by a desire to become acquainted with

the time of which it treats. Further defects which might be

pointed out are the turning of the plot in several instances

upon very strained coincidences, and the unwarranted inclusion

of several chapters of a purely autobiographical inspiration.

Instances of the latter sort are the chapter which describes

the deportation to Yucatan of a group of young patriots, and

those devoted ,to eulogizing friends who are of no special

interest to the ordinary reader.

After reading the book one has a good idea of the characters

but is struck by the marked resemblance they bear each other.

Martinez, Fernandez, Quinones, and the other Republican officers

are all alike in their motives, actions, and ideals. The three

young ladies who figure in the plot are all typical Mexican

girls; pure, prudish, yet passionate. The comic personages are

all the extreme of stupidity and ridiculousness. We learn of

the characters chiefly through their actions and conversation.

34

The author tell s us almost no'tritrig about them. There is

absolutely no.development of character. With possibly one

exception,. which is vaguely indicated, the various characters

are the same, after spending four years 'amid harrowing scenes of

.rapine and bloodshed, as they were when first introduced to us.

This seems to me to be very untrue to life and to lend a note

of insincerity to the whole work.

Writing for a Mexican public, the author makes no attempt

to sketch in the settin�. Taking his aim into consideration,

he was probably justified in dOing so, but to the reader who is

unacquainted with the scenes where the action takes place this

omission gives a very incomplete and barren impression.

The style which Mateos adopts clearly shows the influence

of his journalistic training. He always plays up the spectac­

ular , and seizes upon the dramatic and sentimental aspects of

any situation. In his purely narrative portions he uses short

sentences 'with the purpose of giving rapidity to the .action,but

only succeeds in achieving a nervous jerkiness. Occasionally,

when he happens upon a topic which has some strongly personal

significance or memory attached to it, he is inspired to several

paragraphs of fine writing. Passages characteristic of this

Gongaristic mood are the description of Toluca, the scene of

his boyhood, and the diatribe on the "Martires de Tachubayo",

one of whom wa2 his brother. A marked stylistic trait is the

excessive use of humorous situations. Passages abo��d in which

35

the characters charged wit� bringing wit and humor into

the narrative make themselves so ridiculousness as to be

almost clowns. Victoriano Agueros, in writing of this

characteristic as illustrated in one his plays (Los dioses

se van) says ttLos chistes abundan con tal profusion a veces

que la obra se convierta en un verdandero sainete, y esta

mezela de sainete r de drama, y de comedia es un defecto

·grave!! •

The method of composition employed by Mateos explains

many things. He dictated all his novels to clerks and never

troubled even to examine the manuscripts, much less revise

them. The inevitable inaccuracies and infelicities of style

were severely criticised by contemporary reviewers, but to

no end, for he never changed this method of procedure.

in spite of its very obvious defects "El cerro de las

campanas" occupies an important pl�ce in Mexican literature

because of its extreme popularity, which has made it the chief

source of historical information, for the p8riod it treats,to

the mass of the Mexican people. Nlrs Frances Dougla.s· gives an

interesting anecdote which well illustrates this condition.

She writes , "At one of the mines a young inecnan�c was absorbed

in a�ook during the intervals when the ore bucket was being

filled by the naked, sweating miners at the bottom of the shaft.

Curiosity prompted a sly peep at the title of the book ,which

proved to be "m cerro de las campanas ", the aor-r-owf'u L tale of

36

Maximilian and Charlotte, those unfortunate pawns in the

political game of the monarchs of France and Austria".

Since Mateos had as his aim the presenting of history in

popular form, it is fair to consider the accuracy of his work

from th� purely historical viewpoint. On the whole, he is

very reliable in his description of events, but he is naturally

very prejudiced in his interpretation of them. To Americans ,

at least, one of the most interesting considerations of this

sort is his treatment of the relationship between the United

states and Mexican affairs. 1Iateos represents the withdrawal

of the French troops as entirely due to the demands and threats

of the United states, and even goes so far as to say that

President Juarez had definite assurances from Lincoln that the

aid of the United States would be accorged_hL� as soon as the

safety of the Union was assured. This on the whole is a true

statement of conditions, but there is no proof of any such

assurances being made and their existence is highly improbable.

It is true, however, that in spite of its avowed policy of

neutrality the United states government did express its

sympathy for the Juarez government. The various officials

along the border rendered very helpful service to it in many

instances, though this was contrary to their orders. Ships

sailed openly fro� American ports laden wit� munitions for its

maintenance. The arrest and delivery of Jesus Ortega was also

a proof of good will.

37

Many questions also arise with reference to the

character and actions.of Maximilian. What were the motives

that impelled him to accept the proferred throne of Mexico?

Mateos has it that he accepted because of difficulty with his

brother Francis Joseph of Austria, wno wished to keep him in

the background,because of financial difficulties, and because

of the urgings of his wife who was inordinately proud and

ambitious. These are all valid reasons but he neglects to

say that Maximilian very probably was influenced by a desire

to make his name known in Austria by liberal administration

in }/Lexico, hoping to be some day called to the throne of his

brother. Of course he signed a renunciation of his rights,

but that could have been arranged, indeed, eminent lawyers

held that it was not binding. It is also probable that he

really thought .that he would be able· to bring about order and

peace in Mexico and thus bestoVl an inestimable gift upon the

country. The personal representations of Napoleon and the

Empress Bugenie , close friends of his, also had great in­

fluence on h�. There is some division of opinion as to

whether or not the Archduke was warned before his departure

from Miramar that the vast majority of the Mexican people

were opposed to a monarchical form of government. Mateos, of

course),� holds that he was so warned. He also believesthat

Maximilian had a full understanding of the precarious footing

upon which his government rested from the very first. This is

hardly borne out by the facts in the case, for, upon his

return from his first extensive trip into the interior, he

wrote letters stating that beyond any doubt the empire was

founded on the free will of a great majority of the people,

and that opposition was fast being crushed out. Bancroft

in explaining his attitude at this time writes, "He returned

from his trip convinced that the empire was a fact, firmly

based on the free-will of an of an immense majority of the

people amd he ,therefore ,ordered that all armed bands over­

running the nation should be treated as bandits and made to

suffer the inexorable penalty of the law".

Mateos pictures the emperor at the time he vias in Orizaba

considering abdication, and being urged thereto very forcibly

by the French, as refusing to even consider such a course,

and haughtily informing General Castelnau that he would

remain in Mexico and accept certain death with welcome

rather than retreat, and that members of his family did not

cringe from the results of defeat. While it is true that

pride did figure to some extent as a deciding factor, he for

a time had decided to leave the country , and the captain of

an Austrian frigate in the Gulf was ordered to be ready to

receive him.. Various of his confidential adv�aers declared

against such a course, saying that it was inconsistent with

his dignity. Father Fischer, his pr Iva+e secretary, and a

man who exercised a very unwholesome influence over him at

this time, produced a letter written by Charlotte before her

39

departure in which she urged him not to take such a step,

having foreseen the contin�ency. Maximilian was also urged

frantically not to abandon the country by sQ.'11e of his ministers

who knew their own im-'1ediate downfall and ruin was inevitable

in the case of his departure. His generous nature was over­

come by their pleadings and he was also deceived by the hope­

ful attitude which they hypocritically assumed. ,It is ridicu­

lous to state that he anticipated even the possibility of

�eath at this time, for his belief in his ultimate safety

was unshaken up to the very moment of his condemnation. It

is interesting to note that Miramon and Mejia entertained

no such delusions but expected only death from the moment of

their capture. Related to this topic is the -relationship

between Maximilian and Marshal Bazaine 'after the recall of ,. the

French troops had been announced. Mateos agrees in this

point with the historians, saying that Bazaine hindered the

organization of the Mexican army and tried in this way to

force 1�ximilian to abandon the throne. The latter recognized

the hostility, but did not know that it was in accordance with

orders from home ,and so sent emissaries to France to secure

the recall of Bazaine in favor of Douay. During the early

period of the empire very cordial relations existed between

them, and on the occasion of the Marshal's marriage the

Emperor presented him with a fine estate, and offered to

e:ive him a large sum' of money, and make him Duke of I/iexico.

40

The latter offers were refused. It is interesting to note here

that Bazaine made large sums of money out of various business

ventures which he used his official position to favor. For

example, he mainatined a store in Mexico City, stocked with the

goods brought from France on goverrr-errt ships and brought in

free of duty.

The departure of MaxiMilian for Queretaro is explained by

Mateos on the grounds "that he was perplexed, frightened, irres­

olute, and did not believe himself to be safe in his capital".

This is far from the truth,as his purpose was to encourage. the

army concentrated there. He probably would have been safer in

the capital.

His description of the bearing of �Taximilian in the face

of death is also rather biased. He would have us believe that

the condemned emperor spent mis time in prison in despairing

agony and that he quailed on reaching the place of execution.

Reliable eye-witnesses tell us, however, that he was quite calm

and philosophic after hearing his death sentence; that he com­

forted the priest who accOl:1panied him to the place of execution,

and that he addressed the crowds assembled there with perfect

composure. Mateos also says that after the firing squad had

poured in its fatal vo l.Ley Max irru Ldan died with a terrible cry

upon his lips. This is not mentioned in any of the detailed

accounts of the execution. He also fails to make any mention

of the coup de__Erace which was administered to I·laximilian and

to Mejia.

41

Did �:Iaximil.ian actually engage in amorous adventures

such as those described in tiEl cerro "? This is a question

which it seems impo�sible to answer 'by any direct testimony,

but it seems to me that a negative answer may be inferred

from the very silence of all accounts upon the subject. If

any such escapades had been known they surely would have been

taken up and magnified by the Republicans. One of the defenses

ur-ged at his trial was the uprightnes sand morality of his

private life, and this W9S allowed to pass unchallenged by the

prosecution. It should also be remembered that his marriage

with Charlotte was a love match and that he held her in the most

tender regard, his last words being,according to some accounts,

"Poor Charlotte".

It might not be amiss to give at this point a brief analysis

of the character of the unfortunate monarch as preserved in fair

and impartial accounts. Though he had received an excellent education

�he was a devoted Catholic,and to some extent a fat�list. These

facts explain many of his deeds which are almost incomprehensible

in their folly. Along with this philosophy of life went a pro-

found belief in the divine right of kings, which ma.de his actions

even less subjecte� to reason than they might otherwise have

been. Naturally of a quiet and retiring disposition, much

given to travel and study, he allowed these beliefs to lead

him to an acceptance of the proferred throl�. Like �ost men'

of weak nature� Maximilian was very pleasant in his manners,

ard'made many friendsi Though he was generally very vacillating

42

and irresolute ,he was loyal to them in the face of great

troubles, and treated them �enerously even when they were

exposed in treachery. He had lit.tle lmowledp;e of human

nature and could-not judge men or t heir motives. Himselfwith

naturally generous and�high-minded ideals, he was unable to

understand duplicity in others, a 'trait wr�ch contributed

to his undoing. �ith these characteristic' qualities,it is

easy to understand his disastrous career in Mexico.

IViateos treats Charlotte very fairly and seems to have

had quite an admiration for the brilliant and charming young

empress. He would have us believe that due to her hif!hly

nervous temperament she was subject to fits of insanity long

before her arrival in Mexico. The fact is,that the first

manifestations of mental aberration were noted when she sailed

from Vera Cruz on her voyage to France. There is an interest-

ing legend in Mexico to the effect that she was drugged with

an herb which affects the brain by her seriants, at the insti­

gation of the Republican leaders.

The picture of the audience which she had wi th Napoleon

is characteristic of the vray in wbich Mateos bends facts to

his own ends. He shows us a very sympathetic interview in

which Napoleon says that he dare not incur the anger of the

United States , and regrets deeply that he is forced to with-

dr9W his'aid from the tottering empire. Charlotte, in the

account which she veve of the v-isit, said t.hat she was

receivea coldly and that the reasons given for the withdrawal

43

were the failure to meet financial obligations and the belief

that prolonged foreign protection was bad for any country. Her

last words to him, far from being friendly, were, "What, after all,

should I, a daughter of the Bourbons, have expected from the vrord

of a Bonaparte "? The details given of her visit to the Pope

are to be di scourrt ed in a similar way.

In addition to these issues revolving around the attitude

of the United states and the persons of Maximilian and Charlotte,

many lesser ones of great interest are raised in the novel. Take,

for instance, the matter of the famous Black Decree of Oct.3,1865.

Mateos, while he does recognize the influence of Bazaine in sec:ur­

ing its promulgation, pours forth all his wrath upon Maximilian

as though such things had been unheard of in Mexican history. He

must surely have known that similar decrees had been common and

that Juarez himself had issued one even more severe in January,

1862, - the one under whose provisions Maximilian was executed.·

In the same way, the death: of General Arteaga and Salazar,who

were executed by Colonel I:iendez on its aut.hor-Lt.y, callff forth his

most violent condemnation, It was ,however, in itself a reparatior

exacted because of executions which they had ordered. In his

description of the siege of (tueretaro Mateos attributes the even­

tual defeat of the Imperialists in their sortie on April 27,which

at first seemed assured of success, to the masterly handling of

the Republican reserves by General Escobedo. It was, however,

due to the slowness of Miramon in following up his advantages.

44

He also adopts the explanation of the traitor,Lopez,as to

the capture of the town, in order to shield General Escobedo

from the stain of having purchased victory and encouraged

treachery. It is well established that he actually did turn

traitor. Hany items , such as the way in which the characters

of the various chieftains are treated, the fairnes s of Jllaxi­

milian's trial, attempts of the latter to escape, the attitude

of Juarez towards pardon for him, etc., might be taken up

but we must now turn to another of the works of Mateos, HEI

sol de mayo" This novel treats of an earlier period, but

was composed later than "EI cerro de las campanas".

The opebing scenes of the novel shows·us its heroes,Felipe

Cuevas and r',�anuel Mondohedo watching the sessions of the

national congress which suspended the pa�aents on the national

debt and convicted Manuel Payno of complicity in COr.1onfort's

co�p-d'etat. They meet Col. Torre-?_ellada a retired army

officer who has a beautiful daught er- ,Isabel. ilondonedo meets

an extremely beautiful girl and follows her to her home. She

receives him and gives him money to waDch Fernando Moncado,a

rich and disSipated young aristocrat. He does this �n the

hope of winning her love. Emissaries of Moncado conduct Isabel

to a hotel but when he learns that sbe is beloved by Cuevas he

refuses to go t-o her :and turns her over to the latter's care.

We know learn that the beloved' of Mondonedo whom he knows only

as Rosa is Dona Blanca de Bourbon, an illegitimate daughter of

Don Carlos ,the Pretender. She is in .Mexico as an emissary

45

of her cousin, Don Juan, whon Spain is su�porting as a

ca.ndidate for the throne of the proposed "\�exican monar-chy;

She is violently in love with Fernando but does not know

he· is engaged to the senorita, Eloisa Mons. He does not

know her identity. Some time is spent in describing the

plots of Sa.ligny, the French minister, who is 'working for

intervention. He induced thr ministr.y to suspend the pay­

ments in order to insure the intervention and has a persona

interest in the collection of the Jecker bonds. Fernnndo is

also an interventionist but wants the Spanish pr-Lnce s-: •

Cuevas places Isaqel under the care �f a sister of his com­

panion, Santiago Gonzales. She lives with them some time,

then abandons the house just in time to escape her father

who is searching for her. Dona Blanca discovers throue:h

Mondonedo that Fernando is about to marry Eloisa. Furious

with jealousy she ha.s him ca.lled from the Mons house an

hour before the ceremony is to be �rformed. She forc�s

him to remain with her by threatening exposure of his inter­

ventionists activities. She desires to marry him,but cannot

do so as she knows Don Juan ,the head of he� family, would

never consent. Fernando escapes from her house ,where she

has kept him virtuall� a prisoner, and goes to Vera Cruz.

Mondonedo learns of the deception which has has been prac­

tised upon him and vows vengeance on his successful rival.

Intervention is by this time an accomplished fact. Mateos

describes the signing of the Convention of London, and t�e

46

arrival of t�e expeditionary forces upon �exican soil

with a good deal of detail. �ondonedo, Cuevas, and

Gonzales,who are all students in the School of Medicine,

join the medical corps of the army which is organized to

oppose the invaders. Foll�wing up the events as they occur,

we see the negotiations of the allie s with the r1exican

government, the withdrawal of the Spanish and English

forces, and the first encounter of the war at Esc��ela.

Dona Blanca continues her activities in the capital under

the name of Amelia Brown. A Long account of the movements

of the French army and a detailed description of the attack

on the city of Puebla are given. Turning to the fortunes

of Isabel, we find her under the protection of a rich

haciendado who has an estate near Puebla. After some dif­

ficulties, she marries his son and is thus happily disposed

of. In the battle of the Cinco de ftiayo. , Itiondonedo is

wounded in a personal encounter with Fernando, who is now

serving in the forces of the intervention. He is taken to

the house of Sr.Mons and cared for by Eloisa. He falls in

107e with her but she discourages his advances. Dona Blanca

comes to Puebla as a Vlest of Sr. Mons. Mondonedo promises

not to expo se her to the �:bns family who know no t.hLng of

her true identity, or of her relations with Fernando, and

she in turn agrees not to injure Eloisa in any way. She

continues her plotting and is able to furnish the French

47

with information which enables them to evade a defeat at

Los Barregos near Orizaba. One of her a�ents, though not

by her orders, pOisons General Zaragoza, who is represented

as being invincible, and "whose S�l de mayo would never set

as Lonrt s s he lived". The funeral services held in his honor

and the grand review of hd s army which took place shortly

after his death are minutely described. Dona 3lanca is able

by her system of spies to aid the French in many ways, and

still has hopes that Don Juan will be made king. The siege

of Puebla is described in ..,ery great detail. Dona Blanca tries

to buy' the adherence of Captain Pablo Martinez ( a character

who also appears in "El ce-rr-o de las campanas" ), but fails.

After the fall of the city, Fernando comes to her with the

news that Don Juan has withdrawn as a candidate for the throne

and that all her scheming has been to no end. In a melo­

dramatic scene she discloses her identity to Eloisa and asks

for and receives her pardon and friendship. Mondonedo kills

Fernando and 'cutting off his head sends it to Dona Blanca.

She recognizes it and becomes practically insane. it is dis­

covered that Mondonedo is the son of Sr. Mons by an affair

previous to his marriage to the mother of Eloisa. Plunged

into despair by this second blastin� of his hopes he disappears.

From the viewpoint of the student of history El sol de

is much less interesting than El cerro de las campanas,

because the period with which it is concerned is of less

48

intrins,ic interest. As is to be expected, it magnifies

inordinately the successes of the Mexican army at Puebla

on the cinco de mayo, and depreciates the victories of the

French as of small importance.

In regard to Dona Blanca de Bourbon, it is only

possible to state that Don Carlos had several illegitimate

Children, and that Don Juan was mentioned as a promising

candidate for the throne. This suggestion came from

England, and far from meetinp with the approval of the

Sranish gover-nment , as ITateos would have us believe, it

vetoed the plan and put for�ard a daughter of �ueen Isabel.

Zaragoza was the victim of typhoid, not of poison.

In treatment and style 'lEI sol de mayo" corresponds

exactly to HEI cerro de las carnpana s"'

,

making any c om-nent s

on this score unnecessary.

About the same time that "EI cerro de las campanas"

appeared a novel by' General Vieente Riva Palacio was pub­

lished, which won almost as great popularity. This novel

is "Calvaria y Tabor"

Vicente Riva Palacio was born in the City of 1'iexico,

October 16, 1832. His father, r.:ariano Riva Palacio, was

one of the most noted lawyers of his day, and one of I\1axi­

milian{s attorneys. His mother was DJna Dolores Guerrero,

a daughter of the famous president. He made a brilliant

name for himself in his youthful studies, and was admitted

49

to the bar in 1854. During this early period, he wrote

some verse .and a few essays on historical subjects,but

devoted most of his energies to politics. He was elected

to the Chamber of Deputies in l86l,but soon gave up his

seat to take an active part in the War of Intervention.

He raised a force of guerrillas. at his own expense and

fought duri ng the whole war with great valor and dis­

tinction. He was military governor of the states of

Mexico and Michoacan for some years and came out of the

war with the rank of General of Brigade.

Shortly after the fall of Queretaro, Riva Palacio

resigned from the army,and gave all his time to literary

pursuits. He wrote some poetry, some plays, and a number

of romances,but was most famous as a satirical writ�r.

He founded a newspaper, E1 Ahuizote, which was an import­

ant factor in the political fieffid. He occupied various

legislative and judicial positions until,in 1876, he was

made Secretary of Fomento. He handled the affairs of

his' office with great energy and wisdom and gained an

enviable reputation by his achievements. In 1886, he was

sent to Spain as Minister. He made many friends in Madrid

and was noted for his learning and his charming manners.

He died in Madrid, Nov. 22, 1896.

The lyric verse written by Riva Palacio is not exte�

sive in amount,but is marked by its delicacy of feeling,

exquisite taste,and spontaneity� �he majority of his

50

poetry is ir:cluded in the vo Lume "Pe g i.na e en verso". In

a ro t.he r book of verse, entitled "Apo logo s y c ont.ar-e s",

published under the pseudon�n of Rosa Espino, he so success­

fully interpreted feminine noods and emotions that it was

accepted as the work of a woman.

Both independently and in collaboration with other men

Riva PaLac i o wrote many plays • T:1ey Ere for the Most part

based on Mexican history or customs, although some are dddactic

in nature. Some of his most famous dramatic Vlorks are includ-

ed in the volume"Las liras hcrmanas", which contains plays

writ.ten in collaboration with Juar.. A.I'Iateos.

It.1ost of t le novels other than "Calvaria y Tabor" have

as their setting the viceregal period of Mexican history.

In preparing them, Riva Palacio did a great deal of research

work, and became an authority on the colonial history of his'

�ountry. In this capacity he contributed to �exico a trAves

de los siglos its second volume. He also collaborated with

Juan de Dios Feza in writing 'tTradiciones y leyendas mexicanas'!

Ali st 0f hi s hi s torical romance s follow s :II C � Ivar i 0 Y tab 0r,

"

It

1868; "Ilar t.Ln Car-at.uza'"; 1868;"Honja, c s s ada , virgen, y mar-t i r-,

1868; "Las dos emparedadas", 1869 ; "Los pirates del

8'olfo", 1869 (considered to be his best wor-k ); "M vue Lt.a de

los muer-to a" , 1870; "lV1emorias de un impostor", 1872;

The plot of "Calvaria v Tabor" is much more unified than

51

are those of the novels of Mateos. The "fabula de la

invenc1on" is very carefully and naturally connected with

the historic events narrated. One never feels that the

story has very slight cor�ect1on with its historic back­

ground, as 1s the case in reading the work of leas careful

novelists. In spite of this careful co-ordination, a grave

detect exists in the fact that the plot develops as the

result of a number of very remarkable coincidences which

would be indeed almost impossible in real life. hiva Palacio

states that he is relating events which have actually happened�

but, in spite of thts assurance, the reader is constantly beset

with doubt. At any rate, the novel is a�cleve�ly worked out

story, as the following synopsis will ehow.

Don PlaCido, a retired army officer, lives in the little

town of San Luis on the coast of Michoacan. He discloses to

Alejandra, a very beautiful girl who believes herself to be

his daughter, that she is in reality the child of poor parents

named Juan and Margarita. Juan fled from his home, terrified

by a trick of Don PlaCido's which made him believe himself a

murderer. YArgarita went in. search of him and entrusted her

daughter to the care of the then r-epentarrt joker. Alejandra

has ��own to be very lovely and is much desired by a priest,

Padre Bernal. With the aid of an armorer,Tio Lalao, he has

her seized while she and Don Placido are on a journey, the

latter being left dead on the road. Luckily, the rector of

the parish is informed by a poor beggar-woman called La Guacha

52

tha.t Padre Bernal is not a pr-Ie st but a very villainous

per�n, Gelso Valdespino by name. In the resulting disorder,

Don Gelso is forced to allow his victim t� escape but Padre

Ruiz learns from the unfortunate woman who warned him the

former's story. She told him that many years before Don

Gelso had entered her father's family as a dependant and

.had seduced her mother, a child being born to the couple.

Tiring of the older woman he had forced her, herself, to

abandon her husband Don Felipe Mondragon, and her two

children, and accompany him. He had soon cast her off and

she had sunk lower and lower until she was forced to beg as

a means of livelihood. The scene now changes and we are made

acquainted with Jorge Ruiz ,adopted son of Padr� Ruiz, and his

friend, Eduardo Murillo. They are officers in the Republi­

can army. Jorge is the accepted lover of Alejandra. They

take part in the battle of Papasindan in which their leader,

Nicolas Romero,the famous guerrilla chief, is captured. They

both escape, though in a wounded condition, and take refuge at

a ranch owned by Margarita, the mother of Alejabdra, though

her identity is , of course, unknown to them. In the meantime,

Alejabdra has been cared for by some wandering tight rope

walkers who make her one of their family. The two men are

seized and pressed into the imperial army and the women

follow them to Zitacuaro. The Liberals attack and capture

the town. Jorge saves Alejandra from a burning house but

53

fails to recognize her. He and Murillo go to Mexico City in

disguise. While there he is much attracted by his friend's

sister, Elena, who is also interested in him. He meets Don

Juan Coralmur." a very rich merchant who is in reali ty the

husband of Margarita and Alejandra's father. He also becomes

acquainted wi tb Don Felipe Mondr-agon , the man whose wife had

been ruined by Don Celso. The latter is a firm friend of both

these men who are unaware of his evil nature. Don Juan employs

Don Celso to search for his daughter and the latter deceives him

into accepting an orphan named Leonor, hoping to profit by this

arrangement. Don Ce Lso , who is insatiable in his pursuit of

gold and women, is pursuing a young actress nam�d "Inez. She

relects him in favor of a young man named Pablo. Jorge and

Eduardo return to the army and we are treated to a most vivid

and interesting picture of the terrible guerrilla warfare which

was waged in the central part of the Republic during the whole

war. Some time passes and Margarita who has been carrying

dispatches for the Republicans discovers that Alejandra is her

duaghter. She learms the whereabouts of her husband f'r-om

Jorge , and the two women set out for Mexico to find him. Their

arrival is witnessed by Don Celso,who is acting as an agent of

the imperial secret police, and he has them thrown into prison

as dangerous characters. He tries to force Alejandra to yield

to him by threatening her with the death of her mother. She has

54

determined to submit to his desires , when they are freed

through: the quick wit of a boy narneC! Cacomixtle. By this

time the Liberal forces have laid siege to the city and

Margarita and Al@jandra discover that Don Juan is being

held in prison in order to force him to 'pay a forced loan.

He discovered, however, before his -imprisonment that Leonor

was not his daughter, and was on the point of marrying her

to his friend Mondragon. Alejandra and her mother leave

the city, and passing through the Republican lines find

Jorge. The :Murillos ala 0 errive, and for a time it seems

as though Elena will win Jorge away from Alejandra. Their

affair subsides ,however, and conditions resolve themselves

upon the capture of the city. Don Juan has his wife and

daughter restored to him. Don Felipe discovers that Leanor

and Jorge are his children who were t.aken away by tbeir

mother in their infancy. The marriage of Jorge and

Alejandra is celebrated, and a matcb arranged between

Leanor and Eduardo Murillo. Elena accepts the inevitable

gracefully and becomes the wife of a promising young lawyer.

The villainous Don Celso yet remains to be placed in his

final niche. When he found that Inez would not yield to

his blandishments, he poisoned her and her fianc�'with

candy containing a drug which produces a very· painful and

terrible death. It was revealed to him then by chance that

she 'was his ovm daughter, the child of Mondragon's rnother-

55

in-law. �Vhen the ci ty fall sf he flee s to the country. While

being entertained at the house of a priest he is stricken

with some sort of an apoplectic fit,and his host, thinking

him dead has him placed in a coffin in the crypt of the,

church. La Guachs has seen the ,happy reunion of her husband

and children,but has determined to continue beg�inf her bread

as a penance for her sins, though she , of course, is really

guiltless. Passing through th� villagert the time Don Celso�s

body is being carried into the church, she recognizes it and

follows. While she is contemplating the features of the man

who had ruined her and done so much wrong to those she loved,

he opened his eyes and asked for help. A terrible scene ensues.

La Guacha barricades the door and makes herself known to Don

Celso. His natural vigor rsturns but he is unable to move a

finger because of the graveclothes which bind him hand and foot.

Leaning over the coffin, the old woman denounces him terribly,

and at last, overcome by her feelings, falls dead upon his body.

his face is covered by her head and he slowly suffocates. A

short epilogue doles out suitable pund shmsnt. or reward to the

minor characters who have not already been disposed of.

The most notarle feature of this novel is the delightful

setting which the author has �iven it. The «harm of Mexico's

southern coast and of the mountains and wooded canadas of

I'ilichoacan is set forth in its pap;es with an almost irresistible

appeal. It is impossible to read of the fascinations of La

C�a and las coastenas without experiencing a lively desire

56

to visit that favored region.

The characters are the usual typical Mexicans. The

women are all beautiful and good, save the old hags who

assist the villain in his evil deeds. The men are all

models of bravery, delicacy, good sense, and patriotism.

The villain has absolutely no good qualities, his depravity

being totally unredeemed by any saving grace. The author

very naively remarks, however, that in Mexico such characters

do not really exist, but are found only in novels and lefends.

in that happy land, he continues, every man is a lion for

bravery, every woman is almost anfelical in her virtue, and

every home is an idyll of love. So when he makes his

characters correspond strictly to a stereotyped model, it

is not a mere caprice, but a deep-founded conviction that

in so doing he is achieving the truth.

"Calvaria y Tabor"is x particularly valua.ble as a source

of information in regard to the guerrilla warfare which

was carried on during the whole of the period , especially

in the central portion of the country. The historian tells

us the bare facts. It fi11s in the tho1)ghts, the feelings,

and the manner of life, of those men who kept the flag of

their country flying in the face of overwhelming oppositmon.

Written as it was by a man who wa s himself a participant

in all the scenes which it describes , its value on this

score can'hardly be overestimated. The tone adopted towards

the imperialists is remarkably fair and unbiased. It admits

57

that many of the conservatives were actuated by the purest

patriotism, and desired only the good of the courtry. This

is to be expected when we recall that Riva Palacio was

noted during the course of the whole war for the kindness

and humanity with which he treated prisoners and enemy

wounded.

This novel, like the author!s. other works, describes

incidentally many customs of the tierra caliente, and is

made very interesting by such details. lristances of this

sort which are particularly attractive are the descriptions

of the dance on the coast,the arrival of the tight-rope

dancers in a little village of the interior, and the

slaughtering of the hogs in another such town.

Riva Palacio's style is clear and forceful, a combina­

tion of elements which is just what we might expect in ±he

wri tings of a man who was a soldier and an emir.ent jurist.

The narrative is lively and entertaining, moving rapidi�y

once it gets under way. The descriptive portions are notable

for thellb clear-cut and lucid qualities; they bring strongly

to mind the descriptions' of the huerta of Valencia. in Blasco

Ibanez'HLa Barraca" . The handling of scenes characterized

by the deep emotions of the personages is often inadequate,

but this, it seems,to me, is due to a lack of , feeling rather

than faulty expression.

58

Alfonso M.Maldonado is best known as a man of

letters as the author of Nobles y Plebevos , a novel

which treats of the period under consideration. Born

Nov.2l, 1849, in Puebla, he received his early train­

ing in that citT, and was admitted to the bar in 1871.

He became noted in his profession for his keenness of

mind and his eloquence and was appointed government

attorney in his own state. He ·subsequently occupied

various positions on the Federal Bench. In 1905, he

was appointed judge of the Lower California district,

which position he occupied until the fall of the Diaz

government, retiring at that time into private life.

Besides the novel we have already mentioned,

Maldonado contributed numerous stories and articles

based on Mexican life and customs to various magazines.

Two volumes of these are collected in the Bib1ioteca

de autores mexicanos under the title Cuentos y

Narraciones • These stories have as their purpose

the preservation of the legends and customs of the

author's native state, which at the time he wrote,

were fast disappearing. V.Salado Alvarez,in the

introduction, after noting the accuracy.with which

the author puts down his impressions, says "este

59

libro sera gustado y aplaudido por cuantosaman las

buenas letras y las coaas del pais". The sa.me critic

comparesthe work of Maldonado to that of Ricardo Palma

'o� Peru.

The plot of Nobles ¥ Plebeyos revolves around the

fortunes of f�ur young men. Two of them, Sebastian

Gutierrez and Gabriel Soles, are officers in the

Republican army; the others, Rafael Ar.mlto and Alberto.

Gara.y , are adherents of the imperial faction. �ome

one of these four men is present at every important

happening of the war, and the reader sees the whole

war tr�ough their eyes. The incidents which make up

the story are interesting, and plausibly enough connect

the characters of the book with the historical events

which are pictured.

Briefly, the story is as follows: Don Pedro

Orozco is the leader of a psrty of monarchists in

Mexico City. He sends Rafael and Albertp to Orizaba

with despatches for General Almonte, who is there with-

the French army. They succeed in their mission after

going through some hair-raising experiences. They

witness the battle of the Cinco de mayo and remain

60

with the French forces. Don Pedro has a daughter,

named Enriqueta, and is the guardian of his orphan

niece, Carmen. Enriqueta has accepted Alberto as

her lover, although no formal promise of marriage

has been made. Gabriel has won the heart of Carmen,

but they are forced to keep their love a secret be­

cause of Don Pedro's political affiliations. Gabriel

and his friend Sebastian take part in the battle of

the Cinco de mayo,and also are among the defenders of

Pueb1a during the siege of 1863. They eacape capture

when the city falls, and Sebastian forms a guerrilla.

.

band in the south; while Gabriel accompanies the

army of the Center in its retreat from Mexico to San

Luis Potosi. During the time that Gabriel was in

Pueb1a �on Pedro discovered �armen's attachment for

him and shut her up in a convent. They corresponded

with great difficulty. Sebastian operates against.

the French with great success, and is made a colonel.

He captures a lady known as the Countess Schwerrer,

who is a favorite of the empress, and allows her to

pass unmolested. When the French enter the City of

Mexico, Rafael and Alberto accompany them. Enriqueta

is dazzled by the attentions of a French officer, the

61

Marques de Forwal, and rejects Alberto in his favor.

Alberto and Rafael join the army which Marquez is

raising to support the empire. They are sent to

Morelia and Alberto ·is wounded in an attack which

General Uraga makes upon the city. He is nursed

back to health by a lady whO rescued him from the

street. This lady, Dona Mercedes Calderon, has a

beautiful daughter, Amparo, with whom Alberto. falls

in love. She, of course, reciprocates and they are

very happy in their companionship. Jose �ndoval,a major in the imperial army, becomes enamoured of

Amparo and attempts to carry her off. He is

thwarted by Alberto and goes over to the Republicans.

Rafael,yho has been forced to leave Morelia before

Albertofs recovery, accompanies Mejias' army on

it.: successful campaign in the north, and greatly

distinguishes himself by carrying despatches through

the enemy's lines. Both he and Alberto are promoted

to be colonels �d the latter decorated with the

cross of the Legion of Honor. When Oaxaca Is cap­

tured by Bazaine, Sebastian, who has been assisting

in its defence, is able to escape and makes his wa�

62

to Mexico City, in disguise. �here �e saves the

Countess from the bands ot Julio, Enriqueta's brother,

and a dandy ot .the Court, who is abducting her. Gabriel

in the meantime. has not been idle but bas saved President

Juarez from being kidnapped by partizans or Gonsalez

Ortega, and gains his colonel's commission as a reward.

When t�e imperial troops are concentrated at Queretaro,Alberto· takes Amparo and her mother there under his

protection. They remain there all through the siege and

when the city is captured Alberto escapes being taken by

hiding in their house. After a few days they start out

with·a mule team for San Luis. All goes well tor a time,

but the train is overtaken by a party of troops under the

command of Sandoval, who recognizes �lberto and sentences

him to be shot. Amparo by her cleverness and quick wit

saves her lover's life, and as Sandoval is killed in the

affair their troubles are ended. They marry when they

reach San Luis and live happily ever after. Sebastian

is present at Queretaro's fall and is made the emperor's

jailer. The countess attempts to bribe him and thus

secure her master's liberty • !!e- rema ins true to his

principles and declares his love to her. She tells him

that she has a most lively regard for him but that their

love can never be consummated. Rafael makes a desperate

63

effort to save the life of Mej!a, his old commander,

and would have succeeded had not the latter refused�'

,

to be rescued unless laximilian and Miramon ' could

accompany him. After Mexico City is captured by the

Liberal troops, Gabriel succeeds ,in finding Carmen

and their marriage is celebrated after a five years'

separation. As the �epubli-cans had advanced,all of

Don iedro's estates had been confiscated ,and when

the Marques de Forwal became aware of this shortly

before the departure of the French forces he re­

fused to marry Enriqueta. Although Don Pedro got

most of his land back through the influence _ ot;,

Gabriel, she became an old maid. Sebastian also

remained Single, true to the memory of the Countess

till death.

In this novel Maldonado attempted to give an

exact account of the French intervention and of the

state of the country at that time. In the prologue

addressed to "mis hijos", he says "Yo quiero que

ustedes tengan una idea exacta de 10 que fueron la

,

Intervencion Francesa y el Imperio de Maxamiliano,'"

y para eso he escrito esta novela. Su parte historica

es enteramente exacto, he procurado pintar los

csracteres de las personas que en ella intervienen

64

con e1 colorado propio de 1a gente de entonces,y

las apreciaclones que hago son hijos de un detenido

examen y un estudio concienzado de 18 epoca y de los

acontecimientos que ·re1ato, de los que rue testigo

presencial •••• He procurado prescendir por completo

de mis ideas sobre los partidos que t omar-on ·'.parte en

1a lucha par-a presentu como en rea1idad.: fueron,

con sus naturales defectos' y exager-acLone s, con

,au parte nobles, y con sus hechos heroicos, que los

·hubo por una y otra parte". To a very large degree

he succeeded in realizing his aim, for beyond a

doubt he presents an accurate and 8 fair picture of

the Intervention and to some extent presents to our

view the life and social conditions of the time.

The impartiality of his treatment is truly surpris­

ing. He praises bo�h parties where praise is due,

and aoes not hesitate to show his own party in an

unfavorable light. This freedom from partizanship

is refreshing after a. reading of the novels which

have been considered previously.J.I

Despite an attempt at realistic presentation,�

the novel is one of action. �a�acter and setting

are minimized and action made the important feature.

65 •

I the!he story told is a good one which holdsAinterest,and does not annoy or amuse because of its im­

possibility. It is, moreover, told in a clear and

straightforward manner, which makes us remember at

once the author's training and profession. He

tells his story in the way in which he might have

summed up the facts in a criminal case tried before

h�. He does· not fall into that involved and obscure

style which marks the work of many lawyers, but, as

has been already indicated, is simple and direct.

Nobles y Plebeyos cannot be called a great

novel for it lacks many of the elements of greatness.

It is to be remembered, however, for its unity of

plot, and its clarity and preCision of style-.

IgnaciO M.Altamirano was born at Tixtla in the

state of Guerrero on December 12, 1834. His parents,

like those of Juarez, were pure blooded Indlans,poor

but honorable and industrious. Until he was fourteen

he lived the life of the ordinary Indian lad, but when

he readhed tha t ag e he was 'sent to the village school

and made his first steps ·in the study of Spanish. One

66

year later, in 1849, he was sent by the authorities

of the district to the Institute of Toluca under the

provisions ot a state law which provided for the

education ot promising Indian boys at the public ex­

pense. In the Institute Altamirano had a most

brilliant career, winning many medals and prizes tor

scholarship. He was particularly successful in the

field of philosophy and history and was made 1ibrar!an

of the school. Atter some work in a private college

and some teaching he was enabled to attend the College

of San Juan Letran and take up the study of law. He

was admitted to the bar in spite of the many interrupt

ions whi9h his military service made in his studies.

Altamirano fought in all of the wars from the Revolu­

tion of Ayutla to that of the French intervention.

During an interval in the fighting in 1861 he was

elected delegate to Congress and won for himself the

title "Danton of America" with his impassioned oratpry

He came out of the war of 1863-67 with the rank of

colonel, and as the government reimbursed him tor

losses he had sustained atthe enemy's hands, he was

able to found a newspaper, E1 Correo de Mexico, which

was noted for the brilliancy of its editing. Altamirano

67

was very active in the publishing field, and this was

by no means his only venture, for he was connected in,

various editorial capacities with tiEl Federalieta",

"EI Renacimiento","Bl Siglo XIX!f, "El Monitor Repub­

licano", "La Libertad", HEI Semanario I11ustrado",

"El ra�, tt8xtcano", "La Iberia", and contributed to

many others in Mexico and abroad. ue was also active

in politics, occupying the positions of Attorney -

General, Judge of the bupreme Court, and. sub-secretary

of Fomento under Riva Palacio.

During the eighties, Altamirano turned his attention

to education and was professor in various goverr�ent

schools which were afterwards consolidated in the National

Universityj the ��eparatory schoo1j and the Normal Scboml.

The versatility of his �enius is shown by the fact that he

gave courses in Literature, History, Philosophy, Law, and

Languages with great success. He is most to be remembered'

as the leader of the group of young writers which sprang

into prominence after 1868. His influence as the acknowledged

master of the literary workers of the period is very great.

As a discerninp critic and the leading' figure in the 1iter-the

ary associations such asALiceo Hidalgo, he exerted an in-

fluence which is still felt to-day. In 1889 he was named

68

consu1-�neral to Spain, and shortly afterwards sent to

France in the same capacity. He' sickened. there and went

to San Remo in Italy to regain his health. He rapidly

failed ,however, and died there. Feb.13, 1893.

Altamirano essayed almost every literary genre

with uniform success. His verses are collected in a

volume entitled "Rimas". They are noted for tbeir-

sincere and passionate tone, andtheir purely national

quality. In the field of fiction he has left the

following novels:" Las tres flores", Julia':, La navidad

en las montanas, Clemenci"Anton*t Beatrl;,!l Zarco,

and the following which have never been published:

Marcos Perez, Las �aleanas, ·La·Condesa de Calderon,

and Atenea. H� also wrote a great many prologues ,

reviews, arid articles of a critical nature. His

prologues to Jorge Isaac's Maria, and Manuel Flores'

Pasionarios are often indicated as models in this

field. His writin�which might be classified as

"folk-lore" have been collected in two volumes known

as Paisajes y leyendas, of which only the first has

been published.

Clemencia, if Altamirano had left no other work,

would entitle him to a place among Mexico's greatest

69

writers. Its perfection of structure, its vividness

of characterization, and its felicity of style proclaim

the finished literary artist.

�he,plot is simple, yet has a powerful interest.

Every event, every description, every bit of oharacter

exposition, has a bearing.upon the outcome of the novel.

The attention of the reader is f'ocussed upon the

denoument of the plot with such skill that an effect

ot absolute and logical unity is produced.

It eeems to me that a slight detect 'in a novel

which is otherwise almost flawless struc�urally, is

the point of view from which it is told. A doctor

who was acquainted with the characters of the novel

tells the story to a group of friends. No valid aim

is achieved by this device , and the novelist might

better have availed himself of the ,omniscience which

we so readily accord to storytellers. The story is

much too long to be told in the way it is, as it

would take at least four or five hours to complete

the narration. After one has read a hundred pages

one cannot help wondering how the doctor's audience

is standing the strain, supported though they be by

his famous punch. Again, the point of view is not

sustained consistently. The doctor tells of events at

which be was not present without explaining how he came

to be aware of them, and often analyzes the mental state

of the characters with so much precision that we wonder

how he does it without some very close and intimate con­

nection with the subject of his explanations.

The motive of the novel is the irony of Fate, which

makes Fortune smile on some and frown on others. Two young

majors in the Repu?lican army go to Guadaljara with their

regiment. One of them, Enrique Flores, is handsome, popular

with his comrades, and a lady-killer. The other, Fernando

Valles, is small and sickly, unpopular in the regiment,and

has never had a love affair. He attends to his duties with

the utmost care but this makes him even more disliked as it

tends to show up the other officers who are inclined to be

careless in the discharge of theirs. Fernando has a cousin

in Guadalajara and he takes Enrique to call upon her.

Besides the cousin, Isabel, they meet a bewitchingly beauti­

ful friend of hers, Clemencia. Ferr�ndo is greatly attracted

by his cousin and he and Enrique agree that he is to pay her

court while the latter devotes his attention to Clemencia.

This plan is abandoned. because of the easily discerned love

for Enrique which springs up in Isabel's heart. Clemencia

after a short while seems to be won by the sterling

�alities of intellect and character which mark Fernando,

and pretends::- t� give him her love. He is profoundly

affected by this, his first love affair, and becomes

wildly enamoured of her. Shortly before the forces

of the Republic abandon the city to the victorious

French Isabel and Enrique break off their relations.

He attempts to, persuad.e her to give herself to him

before he is forced to leave the city as a proof of

her love. Horrified at this revelation of ,his char­

acter, she sends him away and orders him never to

return, although she still loves him. Clemencia jilts

Fernando and accepts Enrique as her lover, having loved

him from the first. Fernando discovers the advantage

which his friend has taken of him, and challenges him

to a duel. Enrique reports thr affair to their command­

ing officer and it is stopped. Their regiment just at

this point retreats to Colima. Clemencia's father de­

cides to accompany the Liberal forces in their retreat

rather than undergo the dangers of French occupation,

and sets out for Colima taking with him Isabel and her

mother. Their carriage breaks down on the road. Fernando

is sent back towards Guadalajara to reconnoitre and learns

of the accident. He leaves his squadron, and, going back

72

to a neighboring town secures a carriage·and sends

it out a bring in the stranded party. They be­

lieve that they owe this assistance to Enrique.

The latter is .promoted and put in command of the

regiment. He accuses Fernando of correspondence with

the .t'·rench offering as proof hi s actions on the

night he secured the carriage. Fernando is arrested

and taken to headquarters. He is able to prove his

innocence and also to show that Lieut.Colonel Flores

is about to turn traitor and join the French. Enrique

is arrested and, after a court-martial, condemned to

be shot. Clemencia is beside herself with anguish and

rage. She be�ives Enrique to be innocent and thinks

that Fernando has brought about his downfall in order

to secure revenge. In an interview with the latter

she accuses him of this and he determines to sacrifice

himself. He is put in charge of the prison and, the

night before the executlon,takes the place· of the con­

demned man who is able to escape to Clemenc1a's home.

She learns that he is guilty and in a revulsion of

feeling gives her love to Fernando, but too late, for

he 1s executed a few days later for having assisted

in Enrique's escape. Clemencia becomes anum.

While Clemencia does not tell us much about the

war- or the political events which were taking place

73

during theJtime it was laid (1863-64), it is valuable

as a source of information concerning Mexican society

at that time. It presents many charming and intimate

pictures of Mexican life during the period and shows

us something ot the attitude ot the non-combattants.

Another novel of Altamirano's treating of this

period is E1 Zarco E1 Zarco 1s a picture of the

plague of bandits which infested Mexico during the

period of intervention. These bandits,known as

"p1ateados" because of the way in which they decorated

their clothes and accoutrements with silver, were a

scourge to the whole country, but especially to the

south, where they were most n��erous and strongest.

Sometimes joining one party in the civil war,sometimes

the other, they used this connection as a shelter under

which they could pillage and murder with impunity.

When they grew strong enough, they would throw off

all allegiance amd appear in their t��e character,

committing their depredations openly� Their common

method of procedure once they gained control of a

district was to levy tribute on the various towns

and haciendas in it. Persons whom they could not

reach 1n this way they kidnapped and held for ransome.

The scene of EI Zarco is nhla in the little town of

74

Yautepec in the very center of the bandit zone.

��nuela, the heroine of the story, livES with

her mother,Dona Antonia, who is a widow. They live

very quietly in order not to attract the attention

of the bandits, who are capable of carrying off a

girl who is so beautiful as Manuela. Nicolas, a

blacksmith of a neighboring hacienda, is passionately

in 'love with Manuela and wishes to marry her. He is

industrious, good, and �rave and Dona Antonia favors

the match. Manuela looks down upon him because he is

an Indian and of low social position., Pilar, Dona

Antonia's godchild, loves Nicolas but he is so en­

grossed with his courtship of the unyielding

Manuela that he fails to recognize ,this state of

affairs.W�nuela has for a long time been carrying

on a love affair with El Zareo, leader of the

plateados, and has had �ny clandestine meetings

with him. Her mother decides to go to Mexico City

to escape the dangers of life in a community exposed

to the ravages of the bandits, and this causes

Manuela to determine to acceed to her lover's im­

portunities and accompany him to the band's head­

quarters. She reaches this decision not without

misgivings and some self-condemnation, but her

75

vanity and greed overcome her, and she steals away to

her lo�r in the night. Dona Antonia is almost dis­

tracted with grief and shame when she learns what has

become of her daughter, and is supported only by the

loving care of Nicolas and Pilar. �he former urges

the leader of a force of state troops,which was

supposed to be operating against the bandits,to move

against them; and when the soldier refuses speaks

so plainly to him that he is arrested and taken away

with the soldiers. As soon as Pilar hears of his

misfortune, she organizes an active intervention

in his favor and he is so impressed that he forgets

Manuela and falls in love with her. Through the

forces pat in motion by her prompt and energe�ic

action, he is set free and so escapes probable ex­

ecution at the hands of the enraged ar.my officer.

:tr1colas returns to Yautepec just in time to be

present at the deathbed of Dona Antonia. Manuela,

when she arrives at the outlaws' camp, undergoes

a sad disillusionment. Far from being a romantic

Maid Marion, as she had expected, she finds herself

treated no better than the women of the other lead­

ers and is filled with despair. She would like to

return to her home, but conditions combine to prevent

76

this. She accompanies El Zarco an his expeditions

and is present when he is captured by Don Martin

Sanchez' Chogallon, a sort of Mexican Judge Lynch,

commander of the Public Security Police. The final

scene is very dramatic. Nicolas is taking Pilar

home as his bride and they come upon Don Martin in

the very act of hanging El Zarco. The newly married

couple beg for his life at the instance of Manuela,

but in vain. As her lover is killed, the unfortunate

girl falls lifeles s , and lIicolas and Pilar dri ve on

to the happiness which their worth and virtue have

won for them.

El Zarco is much more interesting as historical--

material than is Clemencia', for it gives a most vivid

and living picture of the bandits who were an important

factor in Mexican life at that, and indeed at almost

any time. ]:i\rancisco Sosa recognizes this quality

in the introduction with a �ood deal of force, saying

that historians may well take El Zarco as source

material upon 'which to base their treatment of the

plateado of the south. These two novels 'prove him

to be a master of romance and a master with a fine

comprehension of historical characters, and a

77

thorough appreciation of the value which setting

and surroundings have.

As a literary workman Altamirano stands pre­

eminently above the writers of his day. His works

are well planned and finely written. His style

resembles to a marked degree that of Robert Louis

stevenson in its polish, charm, and appreciation

of the value of individual words. All his writings

are redolent of a strongly national atmosphere.

Dimself an ardent lover of his native land i� all

its aspects, Altamirano succeeded in reproducing

in his novels, and especially in EI Zarco, its

atmosphere. This quality is also seen strongly

in some of his poems, Los Naranjos being consid­

ered one of the most thproughly Mexican poems

ever written. Atmosphere growing out of a skill­

fully drawn setting gives a semblance of almost

absolute reality to the stories he tells us. We

are not told what h,ppened, but see it happen

before us.

78

Manuel Sanchez Marmol was born in Cunduacan,

in the state of Tabasco, on May 25, 1839. After

completing his elementary education in his native

s ta te he went to Merida , the capital of Yucatan,

and entered the �eminary -there. After some pre­

l�inary work he dedicated himself to the study

of law ,with the most brilliant success. He also

at this time began the literary work whfch he con­

tinued to the time of his death. With various

other young men, he conducted or contributed to

� guirnalda, .!!! burla, El album fucateco, and

� repertorio pintoresc9 all of which periodicals

were influential in disseminating ideas of cul­

ture'and liberalism in Yucatan. During this

period, he produced his first novels, El

misionero de ..!.!�, and La venganza(�,.\�!!!

injuri� and an anthology of verse by poets

from the states of Yucatan and Tabasco, known

as Poetas Yucatecos Z Tabasquenos In 1864,

he returned to his native state and was ad­

mitted to the practice of law. As the force

of the French invasion began to be felt in

that southern extremity of the republic, he

79

allied himself with the Republican element, and-found­

;.· ... do, ... !! aguila azt·eca, a newspaper which exert-

ed a great influence tor the preservation of th'RepubliC.Not only did he this support the liberal cause by

his writings, but he also joined the force led by

the patriot Gregorio ·Mendez, and served throughout

the campaign which ended in the defeat of the

imperialists. The constitutional authority once

re-established, Marmol entered upon a successful

political career. He occupied various govern­

mental positions in his own st�te , and was sent

to the National Congress as Deputy in 1869. He

was re-e1ected at various time, and in the inter­

vals between his terms of service was member of

many important commissions and held various

appointive offices. He was elected to the Senate

in 1906, which position he continued to fill

until the time of his death, March 6, 1912.

During the time which he spent in the

capitsl, Marmol was a regular contributor to the

various liberal newspapers such as El S1g10 �V,

!! Federalista, and El Radical. As a newspape r

80

writer he was noted for his clear and forceful

style, and his faithfulness to oonstitutiofial

principles. He was also interested in education

and in the course of his busy career found time

to direct for several years the Instituto Juarez,

in' the capital of his state, and to give classes

in history and literature in the National Prepara­

tory School •.

Sanchez Marmol's literary fame rests upon

his novels rather than upon his political or criti­

cal writings. In addition to the short stories

al ready named, he wrote El brindis � navidad,

Pocahontas, Juanita Souza, Anton Perez, and

Previvida These novels are all noted for their

true pictures of �exican life, and their correct­

ness of style. His most important contribution

to the field of literary criticism is "Las letras

patrias, , a study of Mexican literature, which

he contributed to Mexico, � evo1ucion social,

which was published in 1902. This work is chief­

ly devoted to an attempt to prove the existence

of a national literature in Mexico, the existence

of which had been denied by the Spanish critiC,

Menendez y Pelayo. He also left a considerable

81

amount of verse published in newspapers, but it

shows little inspiration. A member of numerous

literary societies, his lectures given under

their auspices are considered to be quite good,

but are of an entirely occasional interest.

� Perez is generally conceded to be

the best of his novelS, illustrating and emb�dyingas it does all at his strong qualities of both

structure and style. An�0E: p��,�.�, the hero of the

story, is a poor Indian boy, native of the author's

own town in Tabasco. He is exceptionally bright

and attracts the attention of the priests who are

in charge of bhe parish. They accept him in a

school which they conduct ,and he is so obedient

and so clever that he becomes a favorite of

theirs and almost a member of their family. They.

try to secure a scholarship in the Seminary of

Merida for him, but fail, and he resigns himself

to village life and to the support of two maiden

aunts who have cared. for him in his youth. He

keeps books for a number of tradespeople and lives

contentedly until 'Rosalba del Riego return to the

town. During his school days Rosalba had been

82

attracted towards him and had even made open ad­

vances, but he had repulsed-her. Now he finds

himself overcome by her beauty and strongly de­

siring what he had once refused. Rosalba refUses

his love and when he follows her with his per­

sistent attentions she insults him publicly at

a dance� telling him that no one of his low

social position can aspire to her love. The

government of the state begins to make prepara­

tions to resist the advance of the Imperialist­

forces, and Anton is elected lieutenant of the

company raised in Cunduacan. Rosalba has an

aunt, Dona Socarro, who has become infatuated

with her niece's lover. She establishes

friendly relations with Anton and gains his

confidence, but not, as yet, his love. An

Imperialist army invades the state and the

governor retreats before it, abandoning the

capital. Dona Socarro takes advantage of this

condition of affairs to persuade Anton that

his future lies with the Imperialists. He,

hoping to better his condition and so win the

B3

love and respect of the proud Rosalba, allows him­

self to be talked over, and pronounces for the

Emplre,with his troops. It seems for a while

as though he will indeed secure his desired end,

for he is treated with great friendliness by the

Imperial general and becomes his most trusted

adviser. He gains important successes and. is rra de

a major and appointed prefect of a large part of

the state. After a time, Anton's old commanders,

1 \ L: �1,I I

.. 'Iwhom he left,escape when he made his pronuncla--

miento, succeed in raising a force sufficiently

large to make a stand' ag ainst the Imperialists.

Anton is wounded in the battle and his death is

described in a scene which is famous for its vivid

realism. As Francisco Sosa says of it, no one who

has read it can forget the manner in which Anton

Perez paid the price for his offence against honor

and patriotism.

The striking quality of � p� is the

realism with 'which it is written. The author set

himsel� the task of showing life as it really is,

and he was able to do so most successfully. Not

only would he meet Bliss Perry's test of a realist,

in that he does not shrink from picturing the

54

unpleasant side of life, but he has the true realistic

method, building up his effects by introduc'ing many

incidents, and not determining upon them beforehand

and then simply illustrating them. As might be

expect8d from his method, Sanchez Marmol is very

successful in characterization. One is able to

follow Anton Perez from his childhood and note the

steady development of his ambition and the passion -

ate feelings which finally led to his treason" a.zid

death. The reader aee s fully the' difficulties with

which his race and position surround him, and

sympathizes with him and understands him in his

efforts to surmount them even at the expense of

honor. lt is a question here as to whether or

not Marmol has not drawn his character with too

much charm , for it is evidently his intention ,to

have us believe that Anton's death comes as the

inevitable result of his abandoning his principles.

The plot is a simple one - there being but

two complicating elements which enter into the life

of Anton - namely, his relations with Rosalba and

Dona Socorro's love for him. This economy certain-

1y lends unity, but as the incidents are not very

lively there might well have been more threads in

the story.

Anton �z gives a very reliable account of

the Intervention in Tabasco, as the 'author was am

actor in all the scenes he described. Of course,the

operations in that state were entirely unimportant

and without result when we consider the movement as

a whole, but the book gives us some notion of how the

war went in isolated and thinly settled portions of

the country.

Federico Gamboa, the great Mexican realist,

classed by some as the greatest novelist Mexico has

produced, has a novel dealing with this period.

This novel, Apariencias , is out of print and almost

impossible to secure. I have been unable to gain

access to a copy and, consequently, do not know it

at first hand. Coester, in his Literary History

of Spanish Americ$ says of it, "It may be described

as a Mexican narration of the universal theme of

adultery. The scene of this novel is laid in a

small village during the French occupation under·:

Maximilian. A realistic pict"re of the farcica.l

court proceedings in which judges and defenders

speak diffeeent languages without interpreters,

opens the atory. A. youth, Pedro, 1s successfully

86

defended upon the charge of being a spy, although

his father is condemned and executed. The reader's

sympathy is thus thoroughly aroused and made ready

to share the intense patriotism of the pages des­

criptive of the retreat of the French army fDom a

town occupied only by women, children, and old men.

Pedro's defender, the lawyer,Don Luis, a man of

some f�ty years of ape, is'so greatly Douched by

the lad's orphan helplessness that he takes him

t9 his home in the City of Mexico and adopts him.

The lawyer's sister, Magdalena, falls in love with

the boy. In the meantime, the susceptible lawyer

falls in love with the young daughter of a client

and marries her. The wife, Elena, and Pedro thus

brought into intimacy, succumb to a guilty attrac­

tion to each 'other. The lad is thus false to his

benefactor and adoptive father and to his first

love, Magdalena. The amour progresses rather

openly until the couple are surprised by the out­

raged husband, �ho, instead of following the time­

honored custom of killing ,the guilty ones, con­

demns them to live. The course of this affa�r

is related with psychological 'minuteness in the

manner of Bauret, just as the military scenes

87

imitate 'the intensity of ZoLa , Realistic, al sa ,

are certain pictures of Mexican life, such as the

wedding bre�kfast in a public cafe, and the des­

cription of Mexico City at night when the publicII

places are full of jOyous revellers.

Ireneo Paz, lawyer, journalist, and man of

letters, was born in Guadalajara , July 3, 1836.

After securing an education by his own efforts,

he went to the National School of Jurisprudence

in Mexico and became a lawyer in 1861. Like

amny other young men of his time, he fought in

the wars of Reform and in the war of the French

intervention. After the wars, he devoted himself

to politics and journalism, being especially

prominent in the latter field. He was for som�

time Secretary of State of the State of Sinaloa,

and occupied various other political offices. He

founded and published a newspaper,La Patria ,

for many years in Mexico City. He contributed

to other periodicals, notably to El Padre Cobos,

a comic review. He wa.s noted for his sur-port of

literature and for the encouragement he ga.ve young

writers. He was a member of almost every literary

S8

society which existed in the country and maintained

a vivid interest in everything pertaining to belles­

lettres throughout his whole career.

The most important works of Ireneo Paz are :

Alganas Campanas, a tree-volume account of his exper­

iences in the war with the French; L£!_hombres prom­

inentes � Mexico, a biographical dictionary written

in Spanish, �'rench, and English, and giving a short

account of t he lives of the most important men of

the last generation; several novels descriptive of

Mexican life and customs, including 1! piedra del

sacrificio,Guadalupe, ��el viejo, and � dos

Antonioe; and two hi'storical novels which have been

highly praised by Mexican critics, �y_suplicioand Dona Marina. In addition to these works, Paz

wrote a series of popular histories which he calls

"Leyendae historicastt• The first series of these. --...... .. _ .. - ....

deals with the War of Independence and comprises

the following titles: El lic.Verdad, La Cor�eg1dora,

Hidalgo, Morelos, Mina, and Guer-r-er-o , A second

series takes up the war of the French intervention,

and includes Antonio Rojas, Juarez, and M�-iliano. These latter leyenda.s like the first

89

series, cannot be classed as novels, although they

contain portions which are pure fiction. They are,

as has been stated before, history written for the

masses, and are centered around some row�ntic

f�gure in or�er to give them interest. They are

all very prejudiced and written entirely from the

Republican point of view, the convention�l liberal

interpretation being put upon all events. The �tyle

is that of the skilled newspaper man, vivid and

fast-moving but inclined to be sketchy. Paz, like

:Ma.teos, seems instinctively to seize upon the sensa­

tional and play it up strongly. The result is that,

at least, the aeyendas often resemble the Sunday

supplement of a Hearst paper in both treatment and

style.

E1 teniente de los gavilanes, by Rafael de

Zayas Enriquez" is, similar to El Zarco in that it

sives some idea of the activity and life of the

bandits during the period which we are studying.

Moreover it exposes the motives which led many to

undertake the life of a plateado, such as political

defeat, personal misfortune, etc.

£0

The story opens with an account of the early

life and adventures of Col.Martin Varela, an officer

in the Liberal ·army. An interesting idea of the

power which the church exercised over some minds is

given in the person of his mother, Dona Guadelupe�

who disinherits h�m and treats him as dead, having

masses said for the repose of his soul, because he

is a soldier in· the "heretics' army". Martin is a

prominent man in the Liberal party and is elected to

a seat in Congress. He wins the lpve of his cousin,

Luisa, and they are married,despit.e·, the opposition

of the clergy and the curses of his mother. Martin

takes up an insult to his friend, General Guelmes, and

he and the latter fight the men who are responsible.

Martin and the General are unharmed, but a young

lawyer, Julian·Rod.riguez, who was Guelroes' opponent,

is seriously wounded. This Julian is probably the

most important figure of the book. He is a very mean,

base, and hypocritical youth who has been brought up

and educated by his cousin, Cenobio. Cenobio is the

soul of honor and upr�ghtness, and has succeeded in

making himself a rich landowner though he started

life as a common laborer and burdened with his cousin.

91

Julian feigns a great affection for his cousin, but,

in reality, cares only for his money. JUlian is en­

gaged to marry Carmen, the sister of Paula, Canobiots

wife , but would rather marry some society girl if he

could find one wfth as much property. After the duel,

Martin takes Julian home and care� for him with great

kindness. Cenobio and Carmen rush to nurse him and

remain with him until he is well. They then take him

to &he hacienda, near Puebla, and Cenobio arranges

for the wedding although Julian is not very enthusi­

astic over it. All the preparations are made, however,

and a large ass�mblage of guests gathers to witness it.

On the wedding day Cenobio is stricken with a cataleptic

fit and everyone thinks him dead. In an accession of

remorse Paula conre s ae e to the supposed corpse that she

and JUlian have been carrying on a secret love affair

and begs for torgiveness. The funeral solemnities are

celebrated and all the arrangements for the inter� .­

ment made. Cenobio is saved from a horrible death

only by the cupidity of the men who have charge of the

burial. In trying to secure a valuable diamond ring

from his finger they cut into the flesh and this brings

him to himself. During the whole time since his stroke

he has been perfectly conscious of all going on about

., )

., {oJ

him, but unable to move,and apparently without life.

The confession of his loved and trusted wife has

brought about a great change in his chara ct.er- and

he determines to secure vengeance. He goes to the

hacienda and, finding his wife and cousin making love!'

in the garden, he kills them both with his bare hands.

He then fiees to the mountains and joins the plateados,

the chief making him his lieutenant and giving him

the niclmame,"EI Muerto". The outlaws hold a meeting

on the site of his once prosperous home,now b�rned

as unfit for human residence because of the crime

committed there, and determine to join the French,

who have just landed at Vera Cruz. "EI Muerto" is

entirely and irredeemably an outlaw - a g�vilan.

The book gives little information concerning

the events of the intervention, but, like the two

novels of Altamirano which have been considered,it

forms an admirable background against which to see

them.

The,melodramatic,dime-like quality of the plot

is to be regretted, for the author shows considerable

ability and skill in other respects. In addition

to the general tone of the plot, a serious ob­

jection from a structural view-point is that the

events centered around Martin Varela have no

connection with those in which Cenobio and Julian

figure. The characterization is skillful and

complete. The setting is very sketchy, but,as the

attention is directed chiefly towards the action

and character development, this is not very apparent.

The style is livelt and is marked by a quiet humor.

10 information is available in regard to the

author.

A consideration of the novels taken up leads

to the formulation of certain general conclusions

which may be summarized as follows:

F1!!t, the authors were all prominent Liberals,

almost all served in the Republican army, and all

were lawyers.

Se�, These facts inevitably lead to a very

prejudiced. treatment of historica.l facts.

Third, For the most part the authors paid

little attention to structure and technique, and,

consequently, as works of art their novels are of

a very inferior type, some of them hardly deserving

to be called novels at all.

Fourth, In spite of this fact, the novels-

have a value and an importance in that they describe

the events of a little known period of history,and

furnish the Mexican people with their only knowledge

of it.94

Two phases of the Intervention which have been

touched but lightly in passing,are the political ideas

which were dominant at the time, and the social con­

ditions. All of. the novels devote at least some

attention to the former, and give instances and des­

criptions from which some idea of the latter phase

may be deduced. In the following' pages an attempt

will be made to summarize and correlate the material

which the various novels give upon the topics. Some

reconciliation of opposing ideas has been made, but

for the most part the explanations of one novelist

simply served to amplify and make clear the ideas of

the others.

At the time of Maximilian's attempts to estab­

lish a government in Mexico, there was a wide'diver­

sity in the current political ideas of the Mexican

people. The strongest influence was t�at eEerted

by.the ideas behind the Constitution of the United.

States and the French Revolution. The work, of

.

the German socialists also influenced some of the

extreme Liberals, for the moset part educated

radicals, who were in turn able to spread their

95

ideasl�m:mg some of the common people. The Conserva-I

tives supported a strongly centralized government

with recognition of all vested interests and compli­

ance with the wishes of the Catholic church. When-

ever the Conservatives gained control of the govern­

ment, there was a strong tendency to make it a mon-

archy. Many of the party always favored this attitude,

so the idea of a monarchy was not new in 1861.

It was Maximilian's intention to establish a

constitutional monarchy, and he gained considerable

support towards that end, although he was always

opposed by a strong majority of the people •. His

strongest sup�orters were �onservatives,who felt

that the only way they could retain their rich hold­

ings and at the same time end the constant civil ware ,

was through a strong monarchical rule. They may be

classed as honest patriots and they supported the,

Empire to the(end. He also received support from

the political enemies of President Juarez who wished

to secure revenge and at the same time gain some

remunerative position for themselves. The military

caste for the most part gave him their allegiance.

The Liberals were determined to reduce and thoroughly

96

reform the army, and the professional sold.iers

welcomed any means of overthrowing the Juarez

regime. At first, the clergy warmly supported

Maximilian, but he soon lost their support. by

refusing to accede to the demands of the Holy See

in regard to the return of confiscated church lands.

After this they did many things to hamper him, but

did not actively aid the Liberals. Another class of

supporters attracted by Maximilian,were n��erous

office-seekers and social aspirants. They lived

on his favors while he was in power-, but deserted

him as soon a s it became apparent that he was

about to be overthrown.

President Juarez represented the liberal

thought of the time. One of the main tenets of his

party's belief was ·to break up the large holdings

of land and to distribute them among the agricul­

tural population - an idea which has long been

close to the hearts of the people. This attitude

brought them - the Liberal party - into conflict

with the Church ,which was the largest single land­

holder in the country. The liberal policy was

also to establish state control of education, taking

97

it out of the hands of the clergy. A separation

of state a nd Church wa s declared and freedom of

religious worship guaranteed. The policy of direct

state control of the church was established in

defiance of the Pope. The Liberals warranted the

Federal system of government with state sovereignty,

feeling it to be' the strongest check upon a tyrannical. executive, and it proved to be a source of strength

for the people agqinst the Conservative element. One

objection was that it allowed free play for'the

sectional ideas which were fostered by the isolation

of districts and the diversity of races.

These general ideas of the liberal government

were worked out in the Constitution of l85l,the one

under which Juarez was attempting to govern the

nation at the time of the Intervention. The Con-

stltutlon is a remarkable document and recognizes

many very advanced principles of government. It opens

with a declaration of the rights of man. Equality'

before the law is guaranteed, and, therefore, all()u.t'...'....a9specific privileges and prerogatives rejected. A

declaration is made against slavery and any slave

entering Mexico automatically becomes a free man.

98

Many other measures are included to guarantee

justice and freedom to all men. It is a spl�ndidplan of government, the only trouble was that

the privileged classes were strong enough to delay

f'1t"S.

ad�ption, by force of arm,�. - The Constitution,_ -

.....---- ........ --

was bitterly opposed by the clergy. It failed to

assign them their special privileges so they re­

fused to re£ognize it. Later, they went so far

as to refuse the-. sacraments to all public officials

who took the oath to support it. In 1859, Juarez

promulgated a decree which confiscated the Church

lands. This decree,while it is not mentioned

specifically in any of the novels under considera­

tion,is of such interest that it seems worth while

to describe it. In the preamble, the clergy were

.

accused of being the promoters of war and rebels

against the legitimate authority. It was stated

that they diverted the funds .entrusted to them for

pious purposes to the supporting of civil war,with

the aim of making themselves independent of the

civil authority. �e law confiscated all of their

property except the churches and their contents.

All religious- orders were suppressed and no new

ones were to be established. An exception was

99

made in favor of cert�in nunneries, but they were

to be regulated by the state.

The foregoing indicates briefly the political

ideas prevalent in the country at the time of

Maximilian's advent. He at�empted to adopt a middle

course wherever possible, but this served only to

estrange support, as in the case of the Church. He

occasionally took more decisive steps, but ,he did

so in such a vacillating and undecided manner that

it caused only further irritation. His famous

"Black Decree" is an instance of this sort. Under

these circumstances, it is not strange that the

liberal policies came out in the ascendant.

The same liberal ideas which inspired the

Constitution of 1851 work through the Constitution

of 1917, Mexico's latest formal expression of

political philosophy. The specific means of accomp­

lishing practical results are different, and a few

of the problems are new, but the underlying principle

of the two constitutions is the same. The legislators

of Mexico have shown good judgment in establishing a

new constitution to meet new 8Onditions.

Most of the:.new measures are in the nature of

gua�antees to laborers. Strict rules aFe established

100

and allot the relationships between employers and

employed are strictly defined. The Federal system

established in 1857 is continued in effect. This

is still as much a guarantee of liberty to the

people as it was at the earlier date. It allows

the State to work out reforms which would be delayed

for years if,they had to be adoptea by the whole

country. It is also a healthy and a wise restraint

upon all branches of the National government.

Provision is made for agrarian reform, and the

obreg6n government is working this matter out at

the present time. A declaration to the effect that

the subsoil of the country belongs to the State is

included, and this is causing great concern to the

foreign oil and mining companies which fear that

their properties will be confiscated. Obregon's

policy seems to be to make such despdning industries

as mining and oil production pay a portion of their

profits into the National Treasury, without actually

proceeding to confiscation.

In regard to society during the period 1861-67,

it only seems necessary in closing to state that,due

to the war actually going on and the long succession

101

of wars through which the country had passed,

there was absolutely nothing stable existing.

Education was at a standstill; the Church was

sunk in a mire of corruption and 'greed; industrywas dead. The only saving featUre which a

sociological survey reveals is the preservation

of the home as an institut�on, a basis for the

future development of the Nation.

102