with the English, little could be done to check their unlawful traffic.
On the 15th of August 1716, Linares' term of office expired, and his decease occurred during the following year.[1] He had proved hiraself a humane and benevolent man; but it was not until after his death that the full extent of his charities was known. It then appeared that besides devoting large sums to the relief of the poor, he had established free dispensaries at the different barriers of the city, and in his will he bequeathed a further amount for similar purposes. All his bequests were faithfully carried out by his executors, and among them was one of five thousand pesos in aid of the Jesuit missions in California.[2]
Linares' successor was Baltasar de Zuñiga, marqués de Valero and duque de Arion.[3] The salary of the new viceroy was fixed at twenty-seven thousand pesos a year, a larger stipend than was usually paid, and its amount excited unfavorable comment from his predecessor.[4] The condition of affairs in New Spain was not in keeping with such extravagance. The country had not yet recovered from the disasters of 1714, and two years after Valero had assumed office, tidings arrived of a severe famine in Texas. So great was the scarcity of grain that the troops stationed there threatened to desert. Provisions were at once forwarded to the governor of Coahuila, and in the hope of making that territory self-sustaining persons
- ↑ He died in Mexico on the 3d of June, and his death was much regretted. He was buried in the Cármen convent, which was afterward known as the church of San Sebastian. His portrait was preserved in the nunnery of Santa Teresa la Nueva.
- ↑ Linares was the first secular of the congregation of the Buena Muerte, and the spacious edifice belonging to the society was erected mainly at his expense. It exists at the present day. Alegre, Hist. Compend., iii. 177.
- ↑ He took office August 10, 1716.
- ↑ Linares remarked; 'Habré vivido seis años en opulencia; y aunque ahora no me hallo en abundancia volveré á los piés del Rey, gustoso, á hacerle ver que con veintisiete mil pesos de sueldo, sin abusar de sus caudales, ni vender la justicia, me restituyo satisfecho á ellos.' Zamacois, Hist. Méj., v. 536.
