Albert S. Evans

“ The long Laguna de Seyula stretched through the valley on its north-eastward side, and villages could be seen all along its banks. The bright sun shone down on all this peaceful scene, as it does in June in the United States, and the dark shadows of the flying clouds drifted like the moving figures of a panorama over valley, village, and mountain. But for brigands, and revolutions, and foreign invasions, this would be an earthly paradise—
"A right good land to live in,
And a pleasant land to see." ”

“ Ten miles ride in the valley took us out from among the broken hills, and the view became magnificent. The mountains along the eastern horizon, beyond the lakes of Mexico, lay like great purple clouds against the deep blue sky. Popocatapetl, monarch of them all, lifted his head, white with the snows of ages, majestic and awful in its grand proportions, far into the unclouded heavens in the distance. Truly, the beauty of the Valley of Mexico has not been overrated. ”

“ Seward, the party went directly to the palace of the Bishop of Puebla, a structure almost as solid and massive as the pyramids, covering an entire block or square, and superbly furnished and decorated with gems of art. Each room is a house in itself, so grand are its proportions, and the palace is, altogether, equal to a small town. It faces the great cathedral of Puebla, the largest and richest religious edifice on the American continent, infinitely superior to even the great cathedral of Mexico, and, in fact, one of the wonders of the world. ”

“ But mightier far than the power of the press, grander than the courage of the soldier, nobler than the devotion of the patriot, more beautiful than all the flowers of the valley, are the memories, sweet and tender, and holy, which cluster around the sacred name of 'Mother.'
Gentlemen: the good son honors his mother; he who
honors his mother, will honor his country. For the honor of your country and of mine, let me ask you to drink with me to the health of 'the Mothers of Mexico,' so nobly represented in the person of the ever respected wife of your Citizen President Benito Juarez. ”

“ The thunderbolt fell, the heavens became serene, the dead were taken up from the battle-fields, the blood was washed away, and under the splendor of the rainbow appeared the slaves, with their chains broken asunder, and their foreheads illuminated with the sun of equality. The American flag now flies before the whole world free of stain, saying to the nations of the world, "The Liberty of America raises itself devoid of reproach." ”

“ It has been the commonly accepted theory of the origin of the Pyramid of Cholula, that it was built as a temple and place for human sacrifice, altogether by the hand of man; but while standing on its summit, and looking on the grand landscape which surrounds it, a new theory suggested itself to me. The pyramids in the Valley of the Nile stand out bold and grand, the great central figures in the scene,—undwarfed by comparison with any great mountains in the vicinity. We can understand how men could seek to erect in such a locality, an enduring monument to their power and greatness. ”

“ The rushing waters come down to the edge of the precipice through a rank growth of great canes, which swing and sway with the pressure of the current, like willows by our northern rivers when swept by the winds of summer. Clinging to the jagged lava rocks which divide the stream above the falls, wherever there is a handful of earth to nourish them, are great banana trees, with broad leaves like the banners of an army of giants, waving in the soft breeze of the South. ”

“ When evening set in, the crowd which surged around the plaza became so dense that it was almost impossible to pass through it, and when the lamps were lighted, and the military band' played its most inspiring airs, the scene, as we looked down upon it from the balcony of our house, was the most animated and brilliant we had ever seen in Mexico. At about 91⁄2 p. m. the common and partly-dressed people began to thin out, and the richer and more pretentious came in to make their purchases, sit on the benches, or promenade up and down. ”

“ Every foot of the ground within the limit of our vision is historic, and around it clings nearly the entire romance of the New World.
Inexpressibly lovely, is the prospect from the verandahs of Chapultepec, turn which way you will, and I do not wonder, that Maximilian, lavished such sums upon the spot which he fondly anticipated was to be the home of himself and his descendants, and the seat of power of a mighty empire, which he imagined he had founded on the ruins of liberty in America. ”

“ I ought to say on behalf of the women of Mexico, that all foreigners, even those who denounce the men in the most unjust and unmeasured terms, unite in praising their constancy, faithfulness and devotion. They are not only as wives and mothers devoted to their husbands and children, but they are ever ready to assist in every possible manner, the afflicted. The suffering of every nationality, even those who have come among them as enemies, always find them ready to sympathize, aid, and comfort to the utmost of their ability. ”

“ A two mile ride through the narrow, straight streets of Colima, and out along the woods overhung with the garden verdure of this land of fruit and flowers, along the banks of the Rio de Colima, brought us to the San Cuyatano mill. This establishment, like everything here, surrounds a wide court-yard, each building being but one story in height, of brick, and tile-roofed. The motive power is furnished by a huge overshot wheel, forty-two feet in diameter, which runs two thousand spindles, and the mill employs two hundred and fifty men and women when in operation. ”

“ The ruinous old cathedral, dating far back into the 1600 and something, adjoins the prison, and all around the Plaza runs a row of shops, for the most part but one story high. All the buildings are of brick, with immensely thick walls, iron-latticed windows, and heavy wooden doors with curious antique iron locks, and flat, red-tiled roofs. Beyond the buildings, in all directions, towered the feathery cocoa palms and giant-leaved banana trees—or plants—of the rich gardens of Colima. ”

“ Shall not a nation which has fought so long and well for its independence, and accomplished so much in the face of such obstacles, have a helping hand from its more favored and prosperous neighbor if it needs it? Shall Mexico not be allowed the fullest grace, and most ample opportunity to conquer the elements of discord yet remaining within her borders, and advance to the place God intended her to occupy in the family of nations? ”

“ The descent into this Barranca on horseback is no trifling feat, and the beauty of the views at every turn is really wonderful.
At places, the whole road is over-arched with trees and climbing vines, and on every hill-side the wealth of flowers is beyond imagination. Parrots in great flocks yelled at us from the trees, and little parroquets and other brilliant-hued birds, swarmed in the thickets all around. Mules, loaded with the produce of the country, met us at every angle of the road. ”

“ From the hill above Santa Anna Acatlan, we had a fine view of the immense Hacienda del Plan, the largest and finest sugar estate in the State of Jalisco. The house stands upon a hill overlooking the Laguna de Zacoalco, and is surrounded by the sugar-works and other buildings, with vast fields of sugar-cane, now twothirds grown—it requires from one year to fourteen months to come to full maturity—in all directions. The house is like a great square castle in appearance, with columns and verandah all around, and looks like a fit place for the residence of a prince. ”

“ A holy maxim, that has been stamped forever in the conscience of the people, the observance of which has raised them to the highest pinnacle of power, and the forgetfulness of which has dragged to degradation the most famous and powerful empires. The republics of this new Continent should always keep in their minds this maxim, that we may never forget it, if we wish to see America occupy that position that has been assigned to it by the laws of civilization, that is to say, the first in the world. ”

“ The great volcano of Popocatepetl is the grandest and most striking feature of the glorious panorama of Mexico. As seen from the Castle of Chapultepec, or the residences of the Barons or Escandons, at Tacubuya, it is so far beyond the power of language to describe, that only the veriest tyro would make the attempt. Only those who have sat for hours on hours, absorbed, in the surpassing beauty and grandeur of the scene, can approach towards an appreciation of it. ”

“ The great mountain chain, which forms a semi-circle around the inland side of the Laguna de Cayutlan, is clothed in magnificent vegetation, from the waters edge to its summit; all the wealth of the tropics is lavished on the picture. The long lines of palm trees on the heights, cutting sharply against the blue sky, seem to have been set there by some cunning hand, to make it perfect in all its artistic details. ”

“ He who has given his blood, and after forty years continued effort succeeded in abolishing Slavery in his country, deserves well of humanity. He who aided Mexico to conquer her independence a second time, deserves our most cordial thanks! He, who, full of a spirit of conciliation, after a Titanic war, contributed to his utmost ability to the recommendation of the humbled South, deserves well of his country! The people of Jalisco, filled with the love of liberty, salute with the greatest respect and honor, the distinguished American citizen, William H. Seward! ”

“ I do not believe that the establishment of a permanent Empire in Mexico was ever practicable, but Maximilian might have won to himself a large and influential party, which would have sustained him for a long time, and in the end might have retired from the country without dishonor to himself, and with the respect, if not the sympathy of mankind, had he but possessed the smallest amount of practical common sense, and been less easily tickled with empty compliments, paid applause, and the gaudy feathers and tinsel with which he covered himself, and strutted his little hour upon the stage. ”

“ That night we all went to the Sisal theatre. It is a funny affair. The stage was under a palm leaf-thatched shed, open on one side, and the scenery was permanently fixed, admitting of no changing. The audience sat in a large open yard, with the starry Heavens above them for a roof, and a grove of cocoa palm trees in full verdure for a back ground. It is doubtless the tallest theatre in the world at this time, the best ventilated, and the safest in case of a fire or an earthquake. ”

“ Mexico! The sun of your tropic clime is only less warm than the hearts of your children, and the flowers of your fields only less beautiful than the daughters of your land, whom I have known and loved and honored long and well. ”

“ Even the donkeys and dogs belonging to the family accompanying them, and it is no uncommon thing to see a comely young Indian girl, with a sufficient dash of Spanish blood in her veins to cause her cheek to bloom like the sunny side of a yellow apricot, trudging along with a pet puppy in her arms, carrying him to taste the holy waters of the miraculous spring of Guadaloupe. ”

“ Standing here, four hundred feet below the surface of the earth, and six hundred feet above the bottom of the shaft, with a patch of pale blue sky far above us, and inky darkness almost palpable to the touch around us and filling all the depths below, we witnessed the most wonderful scene on which we gazed in Mexico, Men were sent up to the top of the tiro at the surface of the ground, and told to discharge rockets down it. ”

“ Universally imbued with this lofty and magnanimous sentiment, the people of the United States have opened their broad territories from ocean to ocean, and from the lakes to the gulf, freely to the downtrodden and oppressed of all nations, as a republican asylum. In their Constitution they have written with equal unanimity and zeal, the declaration that to all who shall come within that asylum they guarantee that they shall be forever governed only by republican institutions. ”