But they had not been able to shut out from the democracy of the towns, or from the Indians in their country villages, the political ideas to which the French Revolution of 1848 gave so large prevalence in Europe. The influence of the United States, which the ruling party strove to exclude, continued to gain in power. A radical party arose which assailed the privileges of the clergy. In course of years the growing demand for reform overcame the stubborn priestly defence of abuses, and the Mexicans took a large step towards the vindication of their liberties.
The leader in this revolution was Benito Juarez, a Toltec Indian; one of that despised race which the Aztecs subdued centuries before the Spanish invasion. This man had imbibed the liberal and progressive ideas which now prevailed in all civilized countries; and his personal ability and skill in the management of affairs gained for him the opportunity of conferring upon Mexico the fullest measure of political blessing which she had ever received. 1855 A.D. The Liberals were now a majority in Congress, and the gigantic work of reformation began. The first step was to declare the subjection of the clergy to civil law. Two years later came the abolition of clerical privileges, liberty of religion, a free press, a reduced tariff, the opening of the country to immigration, the beginning of commercial relations with the United States. The Pope, with hearty good-will, cursed all who favoured such legislation; the Archbishop of Mexico added his excommunication of all who rendered obedience to it. What was still more to the purpose, the clerical party rose in civil war to crush this aggressive liberalism, or, in their own language, to “regenerate” Mexico. Juarez and his Government were driven for a time from the capital, and withdrew to Vera Cruz. But this retreat did not arrest the flow of Liberal measures. 1859 A.D. From Vera Cruz, Juarez was able to promulgate his Laws of Reform, suppressing monastic orders, establishing civil marriage, claiming for the nation the monstrously overgrown possessions of the Church,[45] giving fuller scope to many of the reforming laws enacted two years before. Next year the Liberals triumphed over their enemies, and the Government returned to its proper home, in the city of Mexico.
But the resources of the defeated Clericals were not yet exhausted. Their aims concurred with an ambition which at that time animated the restless mind of the Emperor Napoleon III. The Emperor claimed to be the head of the Latin races, whose position on the American Continent seemed to be endangered by their own dissensions, as well as by the rapid expansion of the Anglo-Saxons. The Mexican clergy, supported by the Court of Rome, gave encouragement to his idle dream. An expedition was prepared, in which England and Spain took reluctant and hesitating part, and from which they quickly withdrew.
1863 A.D. A French army entered the capital of Mexico. Juarez and his Government withdrew to maintain a patriot war, in which the mass of the people zealously upheld them. An Austrian prince sat upon the throne of Mexico without support, excepting that which the clerical party of Mexico and the bayonets of France supplied. A few years earlier or later these things dared not have been done; but when the French troops entered Mexican territory, the United States waged, not yet with clear prospect of success, a struggle on the results of which depended their own existence as a nation. They had no thought to give to the concerns of other American States, and they wisely suffered the Empire of Mexico to run its sad and foolish course. 1865 A.D. But now the Southern revolt was quelled, and the Government of Washington, having at its call a million of veteran soldiers, intimated to Napoleon that the further stay of his troops on the American Continent had become impossible. The Emperor waited no second summons. 1866 A.D. When the French were gone, the patriot armies swept over the country, and this deplorable attempt to set up imperialism came to an ignominious close. 1867 A.D. The Emperor Maximilian fell into the hands of his enemies, and was put to death according to the terms of a decree which his own Government had framed.
Juarez was again elected President, and returned with his Congress to the city of Mexico. During his whole term of office he had to maintain the Liberal cause in arms against the tenacious priesthood and its followers. 1872 A.D. When he died, a Liberal President was chosen to succeed him. The war has never ceased, and the clerical party has occasionally gained important advantages. It is evident, however, that its power is being gradually exhausted, and that the final triumph of Liberalism is not now remote. For sixty years Mexico has been the opprobrium of Christendom. It is possible now to entertain the hope that ere many years pass, this unhappy country, purged of those clerical and military elements which have been her curse, will begin to take her fitting place among peaceable, industrious, and prosperous States.
The area of Mexico is six times larger than that of Great Britain and Ireland. Her population is between nine and ten million. Two-thirds of these are pure Indians, the descendants of the men on whom the thunderbolt of Spanish invasion fell nearly four hundred years ago. Two and a half million are of mixed origin; five hundred thousand are pure European. At the time of the conquest there were among the Mexicans thirty different races and languages, and these distinctions still survive. The Indians have regained the cheerfulness which was crushed out of their dispositions by Spanish cruelty, and under due superintendence they make excellent artisans and servants. The work of the country is performed by them; and as their ambition has not been awakened and their wants are few, labour is cheap. It is only recently that anything at all has been done for their education, and they are still profoundly ignorant.[46] But they furnish abundant evidence of high capability. The race from which President Juarez sprang may reasonably hope that, after all its miseries, a creditable future is in store.
The whites are the aristocracy of the country; the mixed breeds are its turbulent element. They are ordinarily quiet and indolent, but they are easily inflamed to revolt. To a large extent the constant revolutionary movements which waste the country have been sustained by them.
The reforming laws of Juarez have been well enforced in the great centres of population. No monk or nun, nor any Jesuit is tolerated; no priest is to be seen in the streets in the garb of his office; reformatories and schools are being established; the youth of Mexico are being rescued from the priest, and made over to the schoolmaster. In the remote provinces the execution of the law is extremely imperfect. There the clerical party is still powerful, and forbidden taxes are still levied in defiance of law. The subordinate officers of Government are inordinately corrupt. Import duties are excessive, and the temptations to evasion are irresistible. The officers of the custom-house habitually conspire with merchants to defraud the revenue, and share with them the unlawful gain. The financial condition of the country is lamentable. Only a small portion of the public debt is recognized by the Government, and upon that portion no interest is paid. Expenditure constantly exceeds revenue. Ordinarily the cost of civil war absorbs more than one-half the national income; frequently it absorbs the whole.
The country is surpassingly rich, but its progress is hindered by insufficient means of communication. The most urgent requirement of this inland region was that it should be brought within easy reach of the sea-coast. The pressure of this necessity led, so long ago as in 1852, to the attempted construction of a railway from the city of Mexico to Vera Cruz. But the works were stopped by the habitual national convulsions; and when Maximilian ascended the throne, he found nothing accomplished excepting a few miles at either end of the projected line. While he reigned, the works were carried on, and they were stopped when his fall drew near. They were resumed by the Liberal Government, but the progress of any useful work is slow in a country tormented by incessant revolution. It was seven years more till the railway was completed for the whole distance of two hundred and sixty-three miles. Besides this line, there are no more than three or four hundred miles of railway yet opened in Mexico.
The silver-mines of Mexico, which ceased to produce during the war of independence, have resumed their former importance. They now yield silver to the annual value of three million sterling. Besides the export of this commodity, Mexico exports two million annually of cochineal, indigo, hides, and mahogany. Her entire imports do not amount to more than five and a half million. Her foreign commerce, to the extent of two-thirds its value, is transacted with her once hated neighbour the United States.