Page:Vol 5 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/572

552 pp. 536. Auburn, 1852. This work naturally includes Scott's campaign in Mexico, but this part is only an abbreviation of the previous production.

George C. Furber, The Twelve Months' Volunteer; or Journal of a Private in the Tennessee Regiment of Cavalry, etc. Large 8vo, pp. 640. Cincinnati, 1850. Though 'a complete history of the war with Mexico' is included in this production, it adds little regarding main events. Nevertheless, it has the merit of being original in the greater part, and is interesting to the general reader as containing accounts of the amusements, duties, and hardships of a soldier's life in camp. The author has not confined himself to incidents of the war, a large portion of the volume being descriptive of the Mexican manners, customs, and religious ceremonies. Furber continued Philip Young's History of Mexico, her Civil Wars and Colonial and Revolutionary Annals, large 8vo, pp. 656, Cincinnati, 1830 — which terminates with the capture of Vera Cruz — and carried it down to the treaty of peace. In this production he has confined himself strictly to historical events, and has produced a large amount of documentary evidence.

Brantz Mayer, Mexico as It Was and as It Is. 8vo, pp. 390. New York, 1844. The author of this interesting book on Mexico was secretary to the U. S. legation to that country in 1841-2, and possessed all the qualities necessary for the production of good work. To a power of close observation he united a fine imagination, and with his mind alive to all interesting matters, he was indefatigable in his researches and examination of the peculiarities of the country. So versatile were his talents that he was at home on any subject, and in the volume under discussion he occupies himself with equal zeal and ability on affairs of the church and political matters; on the antiquities of the country and the general government; on commerce, agriculture, and manufactures; on coinage and mines; and on the habits, customs, and social condition of the natives. Moreover, having travelled extensively in Mexico, he gives pleasing descriptions of the physical features of the country. Nevertheless, owing to Brantz Mayer's views regarding the working of the Roman catholic religion in Mexico, he has not escaped severe criticism. In March 1844, shortly after the publication of his work, a long article devoted to its dissection appeared in The United States Catholic Magazine and Monthly Review. In this review it is declared that the production can confer no real benefit on society; Mayer is charged with prejudice, and with having distorted facts both past and present; and with injustice to the Mexicans. The reviewer considered it his duty to vindicate the people of Mexico from the unfounded imputations of a writer whose pen got the better of his judgment. Mayer may have been too unsparing in his descriptions of the more disagreeable aspects and propensities of the Mexicans, and in his condemnation of useless institutions, to suit their pride, or the taste of such advocates of conservatism as the reviewer; but his production doubtless represents a truthful picture of Mexico at the time. His work is profusely illustrated. A third edition was published in Philadelphia in 1847. In 1848 Brantz Mayer published simultaneously in New York and London his History of the War between Mexico and the United States. This smaller production properly commences with a preliminary view of the origin of the war, in which the author devotes some pages to a rapid glance at the laws and system introduced by the Spaniards into Mexico, and then considers the effect upon the population by bad administration, as bearing upon modifications of national character. In his narrative of events after hostilities had broken out, Mayer, though following principally the American official reports, does full justice to the heroism of the Mexican armies on the field of battle. But by far the most important of Brantz Mayer's productions is: Mexico, Aztec, Spanish, and Republican. 8vo, 2 vol., pp. 433 and 399. Hartford, 1853. For the preparation of this work he consulted a large number of excellent authorities, and subjoins a list of the principal ones — more than 80 in number — to his preface. The first volume contains the history of Mexico from the conquest down to the termination of the war with the U. S., including a sketch of the Aztec empire and civilization. In this history, the first complete account of the viceregal