stances, cannot be objected to as a criterion of what may again be; and, should the country continue in a state of tranquillity, I am inclined to think, that before the year 1835, the agricultural wealth of New Spain will be at least equal to that of 1803.
Without wishing to found any unreasonable hypothesis upon the contents of the preceding pages, it appears to me that they warrant the following conclusions.
That Mexico possesses the means of maintaining, in abundance, a population infinitely superior to the present number of its inhabitants.
That although, from the peculiar structure of the country, the agricultural wealth of the Table-land is not likely to be brought into the European market, it ensures the general prosperity of the interior; while the cotton, coffee, sugar, and indigo, cacao, and other productions of the Coasts, will form, in the course of a few years, a very considerable mass of exportable commodities.
That these, in conjunction with the cochineal, and the precious metals, must render the external trade of New Spain highly interesting to Europe; while the amount of the population, and the absence of manufactures, give to the internal consumption of the country an importance, which none of the other New States of America possess.
Mexico contains nearly one half of the seventeen millions of inhabitants, that are said to compose the population of the former colonies of Spain, and this
