L BRARY OF CONGRESS. Shelf.Ml. UNITED STATES OF A3iERICA. 1 o o CO SketchesofMexico IN PREHISTORIC, PRIMITIVE, COLONIAL, AND MODERN TIMES. LECTURES AT THE OHIO WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY ON THE Merrick Foundation BY TH Rev. John W.^utler, D.D Twenty years resident in Mexico FIFTH SERIES NEW YORK: HUNT & EATON 7ff/ CINCINNATI : CRANSTON & CURTS 1894 Copyright, 1894, by HUNT & EATON New York. Mfo/ Composition, electrotypinp, printing, .ind binding; hy HUNT & EATO>f, ISO Fifth Avenue, New York. TO MY VENERABLE FATHER, THE REV. WILLIAM BUTLER, D.D., WHOSE VOICE AND PEN, FOR MORE THAN HALF A CENTURY, IN IRELAND AND IN INDIA, IN THE UNITED STATES AND IN MEXICO, HAVE PLEADED ELOQUENTLY FOR THE WORLD'S REDEMPTION, THESE MEXICAN SKETCHES ARE AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED BY HIS SON. SYLLABUS. LECTURE I. SOURCES OF INFORMATION. Spanish cruelty. The heroic Cuautemoc. Hieroglyphics and pic- ture paintings. Sacrilegious vandalism page i LECTURE IL ORIGIN OF THE MEXICANS. With a review of the autochthonic and migratory theories concerning the first inhabitants of tlie western continent. Noah's grandson. Did Solomon draw material for the building of the temple from Mexico ? 33 LECTURE III. PREHISTORIC MEXICANS. Mexico the cradle of American civilization. St. Thomas and the cross in Mexico 8i LECTURE IV. EARLY MEXICANS AND THEIR HISTORY. The Toltecs. Nahuas, Chichimccs, Aztecs, etc. Their migrations. Their civilizations. The Fair God, " The Chair of God," or the Ark of the Covenant. The Mexican ensign and Bishop Simpson 121 LECTURE V. THE MOCTEZUMAS AND THE KING DAVID OF MEXICO. Tenochtitlan. Origin of the word Mexico. Huitzilopochtli. The Athens of Ajiahuac. The King David of Mexico. Mocte- vi Syllabus. zuma I. " Fight till death." Spread of his empire. Mocte- zuma IL Mexico's great population. Court life and palaces of pleasure. Teocalli. Human sacrifices. The exaggerations of Prescott and others. Moctezuma and evil auguries. The European on the coast. Spaniards and greed of gold. Europe in the sixteenth centuiy. Original copy of the Bull of Alexan- der VI 163 LECTURE VL THE ARRIVAL OF THE SPANIARDS. Hernan Cortez and Luther, " the infernal beast." The cruel con- queror. Unique missionary methods. " Apostolic blows and knocks." "Without a parallel in history." The Tlaxcalan republic. Why Cortez succeeded against such odds. Fall of Moctezuma. Indian eloquence. " Tax collectors, priests, and miners " igg LECTURE VII. '' INDEPENDENCE AND THE CONSTITUTION OF 1857. Colonial times. The King of Spain and the holy father. Priest and soldier despoiling homes. The oppressive legislation of Spain. The Inquisition. Hidalgo and his cry of independence. Death of the hero and triumph of his cause. Santa Ana. Constitution of 1857. Separation of Church and State 239 LECTURE VIIL NEW LIFE IN MEXICO. The Mexican War. General Grant's condemnation of the same. Extension of slaveiy. Ten millions for Texas. Reform and Benito Juarez. Expulsion of the Jesuits, nuns, and sisters of charity. A contrast—the promoters of the French interven- tion and the present condition of Mexico. Protestant missions. Latest statistics. Incidents. Methodism and her mission in our sister republic 277 INTRODUCTION. THE Rev. Frederick Merrick, after a long life spent in the service of the Ohio Wesleyan University, crowned his benefactions by providing for a course of lectures to be delivered annually in the University upon Experimental and Practical Religion. Dr. Merrick wished the terms of his gift to be interpreted in the most comprehensive sense. He illustrated his understanding of what the lec- tureship included by inviting Rev. Daniel Curry^ D.D., to deliver a course of lectures on *' Christian Education;" ex-President McCosh to deliver a course of lectures on " Tests of Various Kinds of " Truth ; Bishop R. S. Foster to deliver a course of lectures on " The Philosophy of Christian Expe- rience," and Rev. James Stalker, D.D., to deliver a course of lectures on '* Preaching." A narrow mind might have regarded only one of these four courses as conforming to the terms of the gift. But Dr. Merrick not only believed that courses of lec- tures on Christian Education, Christian Philosophy, and Preaching rested properly upon the Foundation viii Introduction. established by himself, but he urged the administra- tors of his gift to interpret the terms Experimental and Practical Religion in the broadest sense. He most heartily adopted as his own and published in the Introduction to the First Series of Lectures de- livered upon this Foundation the following words '* from the pen of Professor W. G. Williams : All questions involving the evangelical work of the Church, all social movements of modern civilization, all questions of the rights and obligations of prop- erty and of labor, all questions of government, citi- zenship, and education, all questions of freedom of thought and utterance, in short, all questions touch- ing the welfare of men, so far as these matters stand related to the Gospel of Christ, come within the proper scope of these discussions." Our venerable ex-president was called to his reward March 5, 1894. Soon after his death we learned that it was possible to secure a course of lectures on Mexico, with final reference to our missions in that land, by the Rev. John W. Butler, D.D., son of the founder of our Mexican missions, and himself a la- borer for twenty years in that field. We felt at once that such a course of lectures would meet the hearty approval of Dr. Merrick, who maintained a life- long interest in missions, and manifested it by daily prayers for our missionaries, by constant contribu- Introduction. ix tions to their work, and by an annual letter sent to each representative of this University in the foreign field so long as his strength enabled him to perform this labor of love. As Dr. Butler opened his course of lectures we felt that Dr. Merrick not only would have been pleased with the subject chosen, but delighted with the breadth and scholarship displayed in the treatment of the theme by the talented lecturer. It is only the author's modesty which leads him to call the volume sketches. The research and the meditation displayed entitle the volume, condensed as it is, to the title of studies rather than to the more modest name selected. The lectures were listened to with the greatest interest by the audi- ences which crowded the hall in which they were delivered. We feel sure that their publication will awaken a deeper interest in Mexico and create a larger hope for our sister Republic on the South. J. W. Bashford. Delaware, O., May i8, 1894. LECTURE I. SOURCES OF INFORMATION. SKETCHES OF MEXICO. LECTURE I. SOURCES OF INFORMATION. ABOUT midway between the National Palace and the historic Castle of Chapultepec (the "West Point** of Mexico) on the beautiful Paseo, or drive, laid out by the unfortunate Carlotta, Arch- duchess of Austria, stands an imposing monument which excites the admiration of the multitudes and awakens the spirit of inquiry in many a thoughtful mind. We do not refer to the great equestrian statue of Charles IV, cast by Tolsa in 1803, which Baron Humboldt declares to be the finest of its kind in all the world, next to the famous Marcus Aure- lius in the city of Rome, as it is the most elegant and possibly the largest bronze statue ever made in America ; nor do we refer to the Columbus monu- ment donated to the city in 1877 by Senor Antonio Escandon, with its solid base of basalt, octagonal in form, its square pedestal of Russian jasper bearing four basso-relievos, and four life-size figures of as : 4 Sketches of Mexico. many Spanish friars who came with the conquerors, and on the top a graceful statue of Christopher Columbus, with the left hand drawing the veil from the western world and the right raised as if invok- ing the benediction of Heaven upon his hazardous enterprise; but we refer to the most significant and finest of them all, the one which stands in the second glorieta (circle) of the Paseo. Here the Mexican architect Jimenez has erected a mag- nificent memorial. It stands on a slight elevation above the drive with four short stairways leading up, the entrance to which, in each case, is guarded by a bronze leopard. Just above the basaltic pedestal on two sides are found inscriptions, and on the other two reliefs. As you approach from the east the in- scription which first meets the sight, translated, reads as follows " To the memory of Cuautemoc and the warriors who fought heroically in defense of their country, in 1521." The inscription on the west side tells us that the monument was ordered by General Porfirio Diaz, in 1876, and finished during the presidency of General Manuel Gonzalez, in 1883. On the north side you may see the well-executed relief which represents Captain Diego de Olguin delivering his royal pris- oner to the Spanish conqueror. On the south side Sources of Information. 5 is represented a scene which might well cause every son of Spain to blush with shame. Cuautemoc and his cousin, Tlacopan, Prince of Tezcoco, having both fallen into the hands of their heartless conquerors, have been bound hand and foot, laid upon stone slabs while their fettered feet hang over flames of fire. In this way the voracious Cortez hoped to compel his victims to reveal the place of their hidden treasures. More than three hundred years have passed since this most atrocious deed took place, and the world to-day, more than ever, realizes the real motive animating the hearts of Cortez and his followers, notwithstanding their constant profession of a desire to propagate " the Christian faith." Surely " the love of gold " was the root of this evil.