Benito Juárez

“ We listened to the old man's reminiscences as we passed the tombs of Zaragoza, Miramon, Mejia, and others; but welcomed the timely silence which fell on the party as we reached the tomb of Mexico's greatest statesman, patriot, and soldier, her Indian president, Benito Juarez. Here he lies, stretched out in majestic, marble dignity; so life-like, so realistic, as to cause a sudden thrill of awe in the beholder. ”

“ The tomb of Benito Juarez, the Indian President, is the finest in the place. It is a long marble tomb. On it lies the life-size body of Juarez, partly covered with a mantle. Sitting at his head, with her hands on his heart, is a beautiful woman, representative of the nation mourning for its much beloved President. The whole is a perfect study, and was designed and executed by a Mexican.
The life of Juarez is a very romantic one. He is familiarly known as the "Lincoln of Mexico." ”

“ They live by tilling the soil in the old-time honest way. The parents of Benito Juarez cultivated their few acres and tended their cattle with the rest, in happy equality. Amid these primitive surroundings the champion of Mexican independence and reform, on March 21, 1806, first saw the light. He never knew a mother's love, she having died at his birth, leaving him to the care of his grandmother and uncle. Here he lived until he was twelve years of age, and was so thoroughly an Indian that not one word of Spanish had ever passed his lips. ”

“ Benito Juarez has now been ten years in power in Mexico, and with such a premier as Lerdo de Tejada, he could hold his own for life, and reduce all the factious elements in the Republic to order, if he had a treasury even moderately well supplied, so as to enable him to pay the army regularly, and keep the civil employes of the government beyond the reach of want and constant temptation. ”

“ Under the influence of political hatred, whatever any one wishes to say may still be said; but every body knows now the historical truth relative to these acts of the immortal Benitó Juarez. [2]
Let us now look at the official documents relating to the delivery of the body of Maximilian, which, as we have said in another place, could have been consulted by the Italian historian, if he had desired to know the truth, and which were published here in 1867. ”

“ It must not be inferred that the party opposed to the clerigos has been opposed to religion. The liberals have been as good Christians, and not only this, as devout Catholics, as the so-called Church party. The question has not turned upon matters of doctrine, but upon those pertaining to the goods of the Church.
Benito Juarez was of pure Aztec birth. It has even been said that the blood of the Montezumas was in his veins. Be that as it may, his family was of the lowest order of the Indians, living in a village of the state of Oaxaca. ”

“ MAXIMILIAN OF AUSTRIA AND HIS EMPIRE IN MEXICO. It is interesting, in view of the total conquest and submission of the Indians in Mexico, that the final blow for freedom in that country should have been made by an Indian of pure native blood. His name was Benito Juarez, and his struggle for liberty was against the French invaders and Maximilian, the puppet emperor, put by Louis Napoleon on the Mexican throne. ”

“ To the honor of Spain be it said, her rule in Mexico was firm and kind. The Indians became thoroughly incorporated into the national life, enjoying the opportunities of advancement as Spaniards. In the present Republic of Mexico the greatest name has been that of Benito Juarez, the president who upheld the national cause during the French-Austrian usurpation. ”

“ All the world then knew the attempts that were being made to secure aftewards a direct protectorate by France; and there were not lacking those who desired to carry the stain, to use the words of General O'Donnell, o£ ceding a Mexican province, as a gratuitous guarantee in financial combinations of a certain class. But amongst those men who thus lost all shame, and who thus stained their reputations, Benito Juarez is not to be included, if history is to form the impartial narration of events, and is to be the reflection of the truth. ”

“ The newspapers [5] advocated the merits of their favorite candidates for the executive chair, the most prominent being Gonzalez Ortega, Juan Antonio de la Fuente, and Miguel Lerdo de Tejada. Degollado and Uraga also had friends working for their candidacy. But Benito Juarez, the patriot, full of courage and faith in the regeneration of his country under free institutions, was evidently the favorite of the great majority. [6] The political situation was not by any means a promising one. The man who was to hold the reins of government must look well before him. ”

“ We, as Mexicans, respect and admire two symbols. They might be different; however, they call to the plurality of our country. One is the Virgin of Guadalupe, as you said, and the other one is Benito Juárez, a liberal president, the best one we have ever had — a Zapotec indigenous that we are very proud of. ”

“ In 1859 the great Benito Juarez proclaimed his highly desirable Reform Laws, and in so doing simply{160} wiped from the slate the various complications that had kept the clerical party and the liberal party, from one end of the country to the other, in a state of bloody war for fifty years. At one time every public institution in Mexico was owned and managed by the Church. Every hospital, every school, every asylum was church property. ”

“ There were still other reasons that must have swayed the officers of the Mexican Republic. The journals of that country seemed to dwell with great pleasure upon any incident or circumstance that could be perverted into a proof that the government of the United States sought an undue influence over their administration. In this the papers but represented the feelings of a large class of Mexicans, and it may readily be apprehended that the danger of flying in the face of such apparently deep-rooted convictions was enough to turn the scale in the mind of even such a strong man as Benito Juarez. ”

“ Juarez maintained an obstinate resistance, which resulted in final success. In 1867 Maximilian was taken at Querétaro, and shot; and in August Juarez was once more elected president. His term of office was far from tranquil; discontented generals stirred up ceaseless revolts and insurrections; and, though he was re-elected in 1871, his popularity seemed to be on the wane. He died of apoplexy in the city of Mexico on the 18th of July 1872. ”

“ He was a non-Christian theist. "The creeds have no permanence in human history," he says in his Stability of Truth , (p. 44) , See also his Religion of a Sensible American (1909) .
Juarez, Benito Pablo (1806-1872) , President of the Republic of Mexico.
He was a full-blooded Indian who was admitted to the Mexican bar and became a judge. As governor of Oaxaca, then Minister of Justice, he "oppressed" the clergy-that is to say, curtailed their privileges and checked their corruptions-and rendered fine service to the people. ”

“ Ho, a merry fellow, full of song and wit. He makes gringos laugh when they fear death and give up their gold. It is better than a fandango to watch him rob them!"
"Name of the devil!" cried Don José. "What have you to do with robbers?"
"God punish the wicked!" said Benito in pious alarm, cringing before José's glance. ”

“ Then, across his shoulder, toward the jury: "Ain't that right, boys?"
The jury gave off straggling answers, low-voiced, with emphasis:
"Sure are."
"You bet."
"That's right."
Benito shrugged his shoulder.
"Tell him," said Freeman, "we're goin' to send him straight to hell, so he'd better confess."
Benito replied:
"No, señor. They can kill me. They can not send me as they say. The good God, He will do with me as He thinks best. The gringos, do they not rob us? Do they not kill us? No, señor. A man dies because he can not live always. Today—it is as well as tomorrow when you are dead." ”

“ Benito was quite overwhelmed, and accused himself of having destroyed his father, and had it not been for the entreaties of Yaquita, of his sister, of Padre Passanha, and of Manoel, the distracted youth would in the first moments of despair have probably made away with himself. But he was never allowed to get out of sight; he was never left alone. And besides, how could he have acted otherwise? Ah! why had not Joam Dacosta told him all before he left the jangada? Why had he refrained from speaking, except before a judge, of this material proof of his innocence? ”

“ There was nothing which the rich fazender refused his son. Benito was possessed of a cheerful disposition, an active mind, a lively intelligence, and qualities of heart equal to those of his head. At the age of twelve he was sent into Para, to Belem, and there, under the direction of excellent professors, he acquired the elements of an education which could not but eventually make him a distinguished man. Nothing in literature, in the sciences, in the arts, was a stranger to him. ”

“ There were Pedro and Benigno, and Fernandez and Francisco, and Benito. Benito was a tall, swarthy man, with immense gray moustachios, and hair as harsh as tropical grass and gray as ashes. When he could spare his cigarette from his lips, he would tell you in a cavernous voice, and with a wrinkled smile that he was "a-t-thorty-seveng."
There was Martinez of San Domingo, yellow as a canary, always sitting with one leg curled under him and holding the back of his head in his knitted fingers against the back of his rocking-chair. ”

“ His agitation increased, his looks grew livid. At length he was obliged to stoop beneath the arm which threatened him.
"Die, then!" exclaimed Benito.
The blow was struck full on its chest, but the point of the manchetta was stopped by a hard substance hidden beneath the poncho of the adventurer.
Benito renewed his attack, and Torres, whose return thrust did not touch his adversary, felt himself lost. He was again obliged to retreat. Then he would have shouted--shouted that the life of Joam Dacosta depended on his own! He had not time! ”

“ The red light had not even begun to burn yet; the cruiser's watchful men had seen the spark burning at the end of the fuse.
"All right, Spaniard!" Benito exclaimed. He had never been under fire before, and his lips were set firm, and his free hand involuntarily closed into a tight fist. "All right, Spaniard! I've got you waked up, anyhow. You're chasing a party of insurgents, ain't you! I wish I dared tell you that you're chasing a boy, while the insurgents are getting ready to land ten miles up the coast!" ”

“ In all the town, the only one not engaged in some form of physical or mental activity was Pablo Benito, whose work and worry were forever past.
Beside his lifeless form Veinte Cuatro straightened up, wiped his hands, and swept a smoldering gaze along the faces of several of his men. All others had been banished from the room.
“The bullets struck in the back,” he declared. “The man was running away. He made no fight.” ”

“ Thousands of our hardy frontiersmen were ready at the word to fling themselves across the Spanish borders, and with such men as the fiery General Jackson to lead them, they would have soon crushed all the forces which General Herrera could have brought against them. Their march across Texas and to the City of Mexico would have been marked by an unbroken succession of victories, while I, fighting side by side with Don Pedro in the revolutionary army of Mexico, with Alisanda to win!—
But enough of idle dreams! ”

“ As he shuddered at the horrible sounds—which must be heard to be appreciated—he cast upon Benito a glance in order to catch from him a little of his philosophy. For the first time a cloud of sadness appeared on the ex-herdsman’s brow, and his eyes looked as though tears stood in them. Baraja was struck by the change, and laid his head upon the old man’s arm. Benito raised his head.
“I understand you,” said he, “but man has his moments of weakness. I am like him who is called from his hearth by the sound of the trumpet at a time he least thought to quit it. ”

“ The first who interrogated Cuchillo were the shepherd and Baraja.
“Unless you drew the Indians on to our track, how could they have discovered us?” said the former, with a suspicious look.
“Certainly it was I,” replied Cuchillo, impudently. “I should have liked to have seen you pursued by a hundred, of these demons, and whether you would not, like me, have galloped to the camp to seek an asylum!”
“In such a case,” replied Benito, severely, “a man to save his companions, does not fly, but gives up his life sooner than betray them. ”

“ Instantly Benito was called, and was ordered to find the lost jewel. He was very weary from his former journey; but, mindful of his duty, he started for the forest, reaching it before the day was over. He searched for the earring faithfully, following the road which he and the Princess had taken; but all in vain. He was much discouraged, and sat down under a tree to rest. To his surprise a mouse of monstrous size appeared before him. ”

“ Be prudent, I pray you, Juan!" warned Don Pedro. "Such words are best left unsaid."
"Are they?" I demanded. "If to-morrow every free-minded man in New Spain spoke out his real thoughts, to-morrow this land would be free from Old Spain."
"Maria santisima!" gasped Doña Marguerite, dropping her fan and sitting erect.
"We forget that Don Juan is a citizen of the Anglo-American Republic," said Alisanda, calmly. "In his land men are not accustomed to wear muzzles." ”