content to supply the royal coffers with the necessary treasure, so long as they were comparatively free from the attacks of foreign powers. England considered it a much easier task to capture Spanish treasure ships on the ocean than to send expeditions to the mainland, where the deadly climate carried off her soldiers by hundreds. Nothing, therefore, impeded the progress of the provinces; agriculture and mining were developed; the population increased; new lands were occupied, so that in every direction the country became sprinkled with industrious settlers. New Spain had now arrived at the stage when the spirit of conquest disappears; and having outlived the period of early settlement, the people quietly and steadily pursued their course.
Ill-health finally induced Fuenclara to resign, though his salary had been raised to forty thousand pesos. The resignation was accepted by the king in 1745, and in the following year he was relieved[1] by Juan Francisco de Güemes y Horcasitas, conde de Revilla Gigedo, who assumed the reins of government as forty-first viceroy of New Spain. He was appointed while captain-general of Cuba, and assumed office July 9, 1746. The peaceable condition of the country favored the propensities of the new ruler, who had acquired a vast fortune by trading ventures, and throughout Europe was regarded as the richest vassal of his sovereign. His fortune increased enormously during his administration, and in the history of the viceroys he is noted mainly as a shrewd and successful speculator. He would pass by no commercial enterprise or profitable traffic, generally devoting thereto his personal attention, so that the viceregal palace was transformed into an exchange. Nevertheless he had some qualities which gained for him the
- ↑ He returned to Spain, and was appointed ambassador to Vienna, where he arranged the marriage of one of the sons of Philip V. Rivera, Gobernantes, i. 363. See also, for other particulars, Ordenes de la Corona, MS., i. 38-9, 166; Reales Cédulas, MS., 210; Panes, Vireyes, in Mon. Dom. Esp., MS., 45; Lorenzana, Hist. N. Esp., 33; Villa-Señor, Teatro, i. 7.
