Page:Vol 4 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/838

822  volume is a valuable appendix containing corrective, supplementary, and statistical information, and supplying copies of a large number of most important official and other documents. A copious index of contents is also given, while plans of routes, towns, and forts, and portraits and autographs of noted men, add to the value of the text. Alaman had watched the progress of the revolution, had personally known Hidalgo and other later leaders, and was therefore able to judge of the value of the histories presented. The blind hero-worship of the Mexican accounts, and the bitter tirades of the Spanish versions, had equally disgusted him. His aim was to write an impartial history, but perceiving how strongly partisanship prevailed, particularly among Mexicans, he dreaded the denunciation which he feared his statements would draw upon him, and proposed to defer the publication of his version till after his death; finding, however, that public sentiments were changing somewhat, he yielded to the solicitations of friends, and ventured to begin issuing the work in 1849. His main authority for the period from 1814 to 1820, when he was travelling in Europe, is Dr Arechederreta's minute diary of events with comments. He moreover claims to have made the general archives his chief source, and to have kept before him all extant books, newspapers, and manuscripts obtainable. The very careful and not scanty notes bear him out herein, and his exactness and conscientiousness are shown by the notes in the appendices, wherein he is constantly correcting statements not in accord with later researches or with reliable information from friends, critics, and even opponents. Alaman's long public career, after 1821, when he figured as deputy to the córtes, has afforded him ample opportunity to gather material and knowledge for his work, and has developed the ability so evident in its pages. The work does not appear to have met with the wide reception abroad, at least that it deserves, nor with the severe attacks that might have been expected from its independent tone. Alaman claims above all to have been impartial and exact, and declares in his 4th volume that his invitation to critics has not brought forward any refutations of facts stated, beyond the trifling corrections added in the appendices. He also claims that he does not intrude his observations on current events—preface, i. p. v—in order to leave the reader's judgment free; but this rule he fails to observe. Often he who fancies himself the most free from prejudice is the most prejudiced. Alaman has a contempt for the Indian and mixed races by whom and for whom the rebellion was chiefly carried out, and he consequently shows his objection also to many of those among the 'pure Spaniards' of Spain or America—whom he otherwise upholds as of his own prouder race—who aided the rebellion. He even goes so far as to misconstrue the motives of Hidalgo and other leaders, even when facts presented by himself tend to purify them. He takes every opportunity, while accrediting the royalists with every virtue, to exhibit the rebels as inhuman robbers, and to deprive the early insurgent leaders of any credit in the revolution. All the merit of it he gives to Iturbide, to the regular army, and to Spaniards born in Spain. For the latter he strains his points of argument into divers contradictions of himself. Yet he does not favor Spain or subjection to Spain; nor does he altogether exempt royalists or pure Spaniards from blame. In short, he struggles to appear impartial, despite his failings. Though Alaman's meaning is occasionally obscure, this is of rare occurrence, and his style is clear and unaffected, free from flowery fancies, poetical ecstasy, and sentimental gush. It is well adapted to his subject, and his descriptions of events are often graphic, as for instance the capture of Guanajuato by Hidalgo. Occasionally he indulges in strokes of fine-pointed satire. He owns to the use of Americanisms, but claims that Mexico has a right to introduce now words, iv. p. viii. The promised bibliography of his authorities is not given. Indeed, Alaman appears to have tired of his labors—to judge partly from the disproportion in the narrative—and hurried the work, by contracting it toward the end. The title-page, which calls it a history 'to our present day,' is therefore wrong. It is a pity that he found no time or inclination to continue the