Page:Vol 3 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/305

Rh his vast wealth. His rule was long remembered in the capital, for it was said that no monarch could live in more princely style than did this viceroy of New Spain.

On the 15th of January 1711 the successor of Alburquerque, Don Fernando de Alancastre, Norona y Silva, duque de Linares, marqués de Valdefuentes, made his public entry into Mexico. He is described by the chroniclers of his age as a faithful, energetic, and benevolent man. For five years and a half he held the reins of power, and during that time justice was promptly and impartially administered; public officials were not allowed to neglect their duties; education, art, and science found in him a willing patron, and the affairs of the crown a zealous guardian. Nevertheless the new viceroy had fallen upon evil times, and the first portion of his administration is in marked contrast with the prosperity which, with some drawbacks, seems to have prevailed during the rule of his predecessor. The scourges of earthquake, famine, and pestilence, following in close succession, fell on many portions of New Spain, but nowhere more heavily than on the capital.

On the 16th of August in this year a severe earthquake occurred lasting for half an hour. The strongest buildings could not withstand the shocks; and though we have few records of this disaster, except in Mexico and Puebla, it is probable that other cities suffered no less severely. A short time before there had been an almost total eclipse of the sun; and now the panic-stricken inhabitants, thinking that the world was surely at an end, thronged to the churches to confess their sins and receive the sacrament. For a time there was no more religious community on earth than that which was gathered in the valley of Mexico. The thief brought back his stolen goods; the gambler restored his gains; the rich man gave to him that had not; and many a long-standing feud was