Mexico of the Mexicans

Mexico of the Mexicans (1918)
by Lewis Spence

Chapter I

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1578537Mexico of the Mexicans1918Lewis Spence

Mexico

OF THE

MEXICANS

THE CASTLE, CHAPULTEPEC

Mexico of the Mexicans

By
Lewis Spence

NEW YORK
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
597-599 FIFTH AVENUE
1918

Printed by
Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons, Ltd., London, England

PREFACE

The thunders of the titanic struggle which at present convulses Europe have drowned the echoes of strife which come from far-away Mexico, and in the eyes of many the warring of the factions in the American Republic will seem very like the battle of the mice and the frogs. Yet we who are sacrificing everything for an ideal should feel a lively sympathy with the Mexican people, for when all is said they, too, are fighting for idealistic-reasons for the possession and free exercise of that liberty towards which the spirit of man in all climes and ages has so painfully yet so persistently aspired.

In these islands the agonies through which Mexico is passing are too frequently regarded as a mere collision of brigands—the scufflings of disputatious robber-factions, who are equally desirous of rule because of the possibilities it holds for exaction and looting. By holding such a view we do the people of Mexico a great wrong, and its expression is unquestionably due to ignorance of the true condition of things in the Republic.

The Author sincerely hopes that this volume will clear away some of the mists which surround Mexico at the present time. But he has experienced the utmost difficulty in obtaining news of recent events from the Republic because of the prohibition placed upon correspondence. He feels, however, that he has in a measure overcome this by the piecing together of matter from sundry reliable sources, and hopes that he has been enabled to present his readers with a truthful account of things as they are at the present day, in a land the mighty destinies of which he devoutly and hopefully believes in.

LEWIS SPENCE.

CONTENTS.

CHAP.		PAGE
	PREFACE	iii
I.	WHO ARE THE MEXICANS?	1
II.	THE MEXICAN CHARACTER AND FAMILY	25
III.	SOCIETY HIGH AND LOW	37
IV.	THE STATE AND STATESMANSHIP	52
V.	LITERATURE AND THE PRESS	64
VI.	ART, MUSIC, AND THE DRAMA	80
VII.	RELIGIOUS LIFE IN MEXICO	99
VIII.	SPORTS AND PASTIMES	108
IX.	THE PROVINCES AND LARGER TOWNS	116
X.	RANCHING MEXICO	133
XI.	MINING AND COMMERCIAL MEXICO	141
XII.	ABORIGINAL AND SAVAGE MEXICO	156
XIII.	THE REVOLUTION	176
XIV.	THE REVOLUTION (CONTINUED)	195
XV.	MEXICO OF TO-MORROW	221
	SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY OF BOOKS ON MEXICO	225
	INDEX	227

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

THE CASTLE, CHAPULTEPEC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		Frontispiece
		facing page
PART OF ANCIENT FAÇADE, MITLA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		10
A HACIENDA HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		116
CATHEDRAL, AGUAS CALIENTES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		122
CATHEDRAL, PUEBLA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		128
GENERAL VIEW OF VERA CRUZ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		130
DRYING COFFEE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		134
PASTORAL SCENE NEAR CHAPULTEPEC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		138
PALM TREES AND OFFICES, TUXPAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		152
TUXPAM: GENERAL VIEW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		154
BURNING ASPHALT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		156
NATIVE INDIAN MARKET . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		158