CHAPTER XXVI.
FIFTY-THIRD AND FIFTY-FOURTH VICEROYS.
1794-1803.
Viceroy Branciforte — Prejudice against Him — And Causes thereof — Persecution of French Residents — Organization of the Militia — Shameful Traffic in Honors and Commissions — A Depeleted Treasury — Auto de Fé — Persecution of the English — Preparations FOR War — Recall of Branciforte — Arrival of Viceroy Azanza — Military Changes — Effects of the War with England — Germs of Revolution in Mexico — Guerrero’s Conspiracy — Fate of the Male-contents — The Machete Plot — Indian Aspirations to Royalty — Discomfiture of Native Conspirators — Internal Progress — Storms and Earthquakes — Recall of the Viceroy.
On the 15th of June 1794 the marqués de Branciforte[1] arrived at Vera Cruz and took charge of the government about a month later. He was a native of Sicily, and belonged to the family of the princes of Carini, His rank of captain-general of the Spanish army, his grandeeship of Spain, and appointment as viceroy, he owed to his brother-in-law, Manuel Godoy, duke of Alcudia, and afterward known as the prince of peace. His administration was in strong contrast with that of his predecessor, and even before his arrival he gave proof of qualities which afterward made him one of the most unpopular rulers of New Spain. Although he received, besides his salary as viceroy and captain-general, an additional sum of twenty thousand pesos a year, he contrived that all his baggage and effects should pass through the custom-house at
- ↑ Don Miguel de la Grua Talamanca y Branciforte, marqués de Branciforte, was the fifty-third viceroy of New Spain. Cedulario, MS., iii. 129; Disposiciones Varias, i. 97; Gomez, Diario, 398, 410.
