Page:Vol 3 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/699

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 of Mexico under Spanish rule, as can well be found. The manuscript was not originally intended for publication, but upon its being found in the archives after the declaration of independence, it was printed by permission of the Mexican government. To the financier of the time when it was written it was an invaluable work; to the modern historian it is equally useful, as exposing the incessant drain made by the Spanish government, generation after generation, upon the American colonies. The volumes contain copies of numerous royal cédulas relative to every branch of the revenue, as well as the history of each one's origin and development. Statistical tables abound; and it rarely occurs that a fair estimate of the proceeds of every department cannot be formed from them. Nevertheless the work is not without its faults. The bad chronological arrangement of cédulas is confusing, and typographical errors in dates have been allowed to creep into the text. The oppressive burdens imposed upon the Mexicans were taxing their endurance beyond limit; of this Fonseca and Urrutia, however, saw nothing, and every new exaction imposed upon colonist or Indian was regarded as affectionate zeal on the part of the king to legislate for the welfare and prosperity of his subjects.

With regard to the mint and coinage I find the work of Fausto de Elhuyar, entitled Indagaciones sobre La Amonedacion en Nueva España, Madrid, 1818, to be extremely useful. His researches were conducted with great care, and supply a concise and correct history of the mint from its establishment down to the 10th of August 1814, when he laid before the mining tribunal of Mexico, of which he was director, the result of his labors. In this book, which consists of 142 pages, he gives an account of the different coins struck off and the modifications which they experienced at various periods, also of the new system when the administration was assumed by the government. He moreover considers with attention the causes by which the interests of the mining industry suffered and suggests remedies. Being a highly scientific man he did not fail to gain the appreciation of Humboldt, who describes him as 'le savant d'Elhuyar,' and 'Le savant directeur du tribunal de Mineria de Mexico.' Essai Polit, i. 118, 293.

The authorities consulted for this chapter are: Reales Cédulas, MS., i. 8-9, 92-7; ii. 1-3, 10-11, 43, 70, 104-5, 209-24, 238; Providencias Reales, MS., 13 et seq.; Ordenes de la Corona, MS., i. 133, 211-12; iii. 75-6, 111-12, 140-1; Azama, Ynstruc., MS., passim; Cedulario, MS., i. 99, 135-43; iii. 64, 78-80, 129-32, 230-2, 247-53; iv. 82-99, 202-24; Linares, Instruc., MS., 3-28; Vireyes de Mex., Ynstruc., MS., 1-5; Reales Ordenes, i. 111-231, 314, 340-461; iv. 367-72, 405-6, 436-59; v. 173-8, 291-324; Revilla Gigedo, Instruc., MS., ii. passim; Id., Bandos, 17 et seq.; Villa-Señor, Theatro, i. 33-61: Torquemada, i. 614; iii. 260-1; ''Gogolludo, Hist. Yuc., 101, 541, 617; Vetancurt, Trat. Mex., 30-2; Calle, Mem. y Not., 42-50, 60, 92, 112, 118, 183; Puga, Cedulario, 27 et seq.; Florida, Col. Doc., 126-8; Doc. Ecles. Mex., MS., v. 1-2; Pacheco and Cárdenas, Col. Doc.,'' ii. 191; iii. 534; vi. 166-74; 447-8, 499, 512-13; vii. 208-9; xiii. 193-5, 200, 217-18; Cartas de Indias, 659-60; Certificacion de las Mercedes, MS., 96-209; Nueva España, Acuerdos, MS., 4-6, 12, 73-4; ''Doc. Hist. Mex.,'' série i. tom. i. 4, 121-8, 297, 328, 470-8, 50822, 536-9; tom. ii. 74-8, 207, 217, 294; tom. iv. 62, 91, 168-9, 175, 190-8; ''Col. Doc. Ined.,'' xxi. 523-52; ''Durango, Doc. Hist., MS., 110; Montemayor, Sumarios, 49-50, 112-13, 152-63, 237-76; Disposiciones Varias,'' i. 59 et seq.;