ing some of the Aztec treasures while expressing a desire for their sources. And now France held possession, as agent for restoring them to a descendant of the original and envied holder, but in another garb; a new-born race had sprung up beneath a transoceainc culture, and unfolded fresh resources and vaster industries and intercourse.
The type of progress lay presented in Vera Cruz
itself, risen out of the sandy plain where the conquerors first encamped in tents, and grown into a fine cosmopolitan city, with a port visited by vessels from every quarter of the world, and protected by a formidable sea-girth castle. The first impression on the sovereigns could hardly have been displeasing, as they drove through the streets decorated with flowers and bunting, and pompous with arches and festoons,
