Page:Young Folks History Of Mexico.pdf/396

390

[A. D. 1621-1810.] and Audiencia continued to rule the people of Mexico in the interests of the Kings of Spain. The almost imbecile Philip III. having been succeeded by the equally incapable Philip IV., affairs in Mexico did not prosper much.

Between the viceroys and the arch-prelates there was a continual struggle for the ascendency. In 1624 occurred a great riot caused by a scarcity of corn. It was charged upon the viceroy that an agent of his had bought up all the maize at low rates, and was holding it for famine prices. The Archbishop of Mexico, a man of upright character, took sides with the people as against the viceroy, and the latter expelled him from the city. The archbishop promptly excommunicated the viceroy, and ordered all the churches to be closed until the people should have their demands satisfied. The matter ended with an attack upon the palace by a mob, the burning of the viceroyal residence and the departure of both bishop and viceroy from Spain.

Philip IV. promptly dispatched an inquisitor to Mexico to bring the rioters to justice, and a new viceroy to fill the vacant seat of government.

[A. D. 1624.] A new enemy to Spanish commerce now appeared in Mexican waters, the Dutch, who this year captured Acapulco, on the Pacific coast, and in 1628 intercepted a large fleet of treasure-vessels on their way from Vera Cruz to Spain. In 1629 the city was