this availed little, however, for he secured the election.[1]
So ended the rule of Herrera. He was eminently a man of peace, with aims suited for the period of reaction following the excitement and calamities of 1846 -7, during which the people at large, sadder and for a time wiser, became intent mainly on rest and recuperation. The result was a gratifying revival of prosperity. Abundant harvests were reported from every quarter; the yield of the mines increased rapidly, and also the export lists, giving impulse to manufactures and traffic. A step was taken toward railway[2] and telegraph construction, the first wires under such auspices making connection between Mexico and Puebla in 1851.[3] Buildings rose, home comforts spread, and art, science, and literature began to flourish in a degree hitherto unparalleled, under the leadership of poets, dramatists, and thinkers like Carpio, Pesado, Galvan, the Lacunzas, Prieto, and Payno. This evidence of growing prosperity received an appropriate display in the first industrial exhibition held in the country, in imitation of European efforts. It was opened November 1, 1849, under the auspices of the municipal authorities at Mexico; and although limited for this occasion to horticultural products, including flowers, fruit, and vegetables, sweetmeats, and certain classes of plastic art, it proved highly successful, and beneficial in its effect. Unfortunately civil war and other troubles
- ↑ Out of 19 legislative votes Arista obtained 13, Almonte 3, Rosa 2, and Pedraza 1. The announcement took place in the lower house on Jan. 8. The votes of Jalisco, Querétaro, and Coahuila were challenged; those of the latter state were alone rejected. See Universal, Jan. 10, 1831, and other journals, as above. Arrangoiz, Méj., ii. 316, writes as if Almonte had a good prospect of gaining the seat by congressional election.
- ↑ By decree of May 8, 1849, the government was authorized to contract for a railway from Vera Čruz to the Pacific by way of Mexico. Arrillaga, Recop., 1849-50, 39-42.
- ↑ At the close of October the first message was sent. The credit of this work is due to a Spaniard, Juan de la Granja, who obtained the privilege to construct lines. Several laws were issued to protect them. Derecho Intern. Mex., iii. 969-70; Méx., Mem. Fomento, 1866, 92-3, doc. 47, etc.
