Page:Mexico in 1827 Vol 2.djvu/229

Rh these strike the imagination very forcibly after traversing the plain of Otumba, where the Mexicans made one of their most gallant struggles against the superior skill and weapons of their invaders. I could not help calling to mind the description given by Solis of that plain,—(a description which used to be my delight as a boy, long before I ever dreamed that it would be my fate to visit the spot,)—"with the rays of the sun playing upon the crests of the Mexican warriors, adorned with feathers of a thousand hues," and contrasting the picture which he has traced of that brilliant army, with the state of ignorance, wretchedness, and abject submission, to which their descendants have been reduced since the Conquest. Whatever be the advantages which they may derive from the recent changes, (and the nature of these time alone can determine,) the fruits of the introduction of our boasted civilization into the New World have been hitherto bitter indeed. Throughout America the Indian race has been sacrificed; nor can I discover that in New Spain any one step has been taken for their improvement. In the neighbourhood of the Capital nothing can be more wretched than their appearance; and although, under a Republican form of government, they must enjoy, in theory at least, an equality of rights with every other class of citizens, they seemed, practically, at the period of my first visit, to be under the orders of every one, whether officer, soldier, churchman, or civilian, who chose to honour them with a command.