Page:Vol 3 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/796

776 settlements. The conqueror disappeared with the fading mirage of newer, richer lands which had urged him onward till repeated disappointment shattered his hopes. He yielded to the change of circumstances calling to settled life and development of resources so far discovered, and to rearing a varied progeny. Military operations against Indians dwindled to a cordon of outposts, assisted by a temporizing and even humiliating policy savoring little of the spirit which impelled a handful to overthrow an empire and disclose a southern sea. But it promoted peaceful enjoyment, with farming and stock-raising in the secure provinces of the south and centre, while in the exposed regions of the north the mines proved the main incentive to face isolation and danger. The latter branch ever received special attention with its prospect of immediate returns, but commerce and other industries as a rule lacked the beneficent impulses springing from improved communication, wider range of markets, and fostering care.

As for the Indians, while ever subjected to the whims of greedy officials who were protected in their disregard for laws by interested colonists, their lot, since the inauguration of viceregal rule, could not at any period have b'een worse than under the exactions of Aztec tyrants and their unscrupulous tax collectors and garrisons; and it certainly became better with the progress of centuries. Add to this the absence of wars which in aboriginal times kept the country in turmoil and under constant drain; add the new beneficent arts and industries bestowed by Caucasian civilization and the products brought by trans-oceanic trade; add the gentle religion which replaced bloody rites, and finally the effort toward a higher and more general education which for a time placed the country on a level with many a European state, and the natives may indeed congratulate themselves on the change. In vain do we look for similar results among Anglo-Saxon colonizers.