Page:Mexico (1829) Volumes 1 and 2.djvu/488

448 MEXICO. pulse given to the mines continue, opportunities will be found for disposing of the remainder to Adventurers in other Dis- tricts, where the use of it would not be restricted by that scarcity of fuel, which, in Guanajuato, would render the ge- neral application of the larger engines sent out in 1825 utterly impossible. With regard to the political apprehensions to which I have alluded, I do not feel myself at liberty to speak. The seeds of disorder certainly still exist in Mexico ; and it is, unfortu- nately, not less certain that, were they to lead to civil dis- sensions of a serious nature, the mines must suffer from the effects of the struggle. But although I will not predict those halcyon days of peace and concord, which some of the admirers of Republican principles seem to regard as the ne- cessary consequence of the system that has been adopted, I have no hesitation in repeating here, what I have stated in the preceding parts of my work, namely, that great progress has been made towards a better order of things, and that the more I saw of the country, the more I became convinced that the people were wearied out with Civil war, and desired nothing but independence and tranquillity. The race of the old Insurgents has died off ; the population of the Provinces has reverted to its original pursuits ; and although a struggle for place and power may be carried on with great personal animosity in the Capital, the States are indifferent as to the result, and are occupied only with their own affairs. I am not aware of the existence of any cause, (with the exception always of a hostile movement on the part of Spain,) that could again disorganise the great mass of the popula- tion ; and it is this alone that the Companies in general have to apprehend. Partial disturbances indeed may, and pro- bably will occur ; but these are of little moment, and could hardly exercise any very prejudicial effect upon the Mining interests of the country, from which so large a portion of the Mexican community derives its subsistence at present, and to