in.[17]

Macaulay, in his essay on the life of Lord Bacon describes the condition
of England when she was governed by warriors whose rude courage was
neither guided by science nor softened by humanity, and by priests whose
learning and abilities were habitually devoted to the defence of power.
The description of that age in England is by no means inapplicable to
Mexico in the nineteenth century. "On the one side," says he, "the
Hotspurs, the Nevilles, the Cliffords, rough illiterate and
unreflecting, brought to the council-board the fierce and impetuous
despotism which they had acquired amid the tumult of predatory war or in
the gloomy repose of the garrisoned and moated castle. On the other side
was the calm and placid prelate, versed in all that was considered as
learning; trained in the schools to manage words, and, in the
Confessional, to manage hearts;--seldom superstitious, but skilful in
practising on the superstitions of others; false as it was natural for a
man to be whose profession imposed on all who were not saints the
necessity of being hypocrites;--selfish as it was natural that a man
should be who could form no domestic ties and cherish no hope of
legitimate posterity;--more attached to his order than to his country,
and guiding the politics of England with a constant side glance to
Rome."[18]

And so it was in Mexico. The sojourner in her capital is continually
warned of this double dominion over the soul and body of the people. The
drum and the bell resound in his ears from morning to night fall.
Priests and soldiers throng the streets; and, whilst the former enjoy
the comfortable revenues which are derived from the one hundred millions
of property owned by the church, the latter live upon the labor of the
people, whom they are paid to control and transfer from one military
despot to another.

The Mexican revolution,--like the revolutions of England, but unlike
that of France,--was political rather than social. The great foundations
of society were therefore undisturbed, and the priest and soldier took
the ranks of the ancient privileged classes, whilst the mixed people and
the native Indians remained what they had ever been--the subjects of
government.

Of all the officers who have commanded the army and enjoyed the
presidency, Santa Anna has occupied the most distinguished position
since the death of Iturbide, and it is with him and the nation thus
described, that we shall deal in the following p