feeling the fresh air again. They say that the church floor is
frequently covered with blood after one of these penances, and
that a man died the other day in consequence of his
wounds."--_Life in Mexico_, vol. ii. p. 213.

CHAPTER XXX.

The Necessity of large Capitals in Mexico.--The Finances and
Revenue.--The impoverished Creditors of the State.--Princely
Wealth of Individuals.

Having spoken of the Church, the great power which overawes the
government, it is also proper to mention the secondary powers: the men
of colossal fortune. In a country like Mexico, whose wealth arises from
mines of silver, these immense private fortunes are requisite to the
successful development of its resources. Large capitals must be
constantly hazarded on the single chance of striking a _bonanza_, in an
adventure as uncertain as a game of _monte_. The abandoned mine often
turns out to be the treasury of an untold fortune to the man who was
laughed at for attempting its restoration, while the most promising
adventure proves a total failure. The temptations to these adventures
are dazzling in the extreme. The ambitious man forgets the shame and
irretrievable ruin that follows a failure, and looks only to the
chances of winning a title of nobility and "a house full of silver."
Men who shun the gambling-table will adventure all on a mine, and in a
year or two they have passed from the memory of men, for they have
become poor. Again, a man of slender means has become rich in the
Mexican sense, which means a man of millions, and then he is at once
elevated by his admirers into that brilliant constellation which is the
"great bear" of the Mexican firmament.

STATE CREDITORS.

Still, these powerful private individuals prevent the consolidation of
any government, whether republican or dictatorial, and put far off that
necessary evil, the confiscation of the estates of the Church. If there
is a Congress in session, its members are influenced as our own are
influenced. They are swayed this way and that by private interests.
When Congress is not in session, they are constantly operating upon the
treasury, or, rather, the minister of the treasury is diving about
among them to raise the means to keep afloat from day to day. They will
not submit to their full share of taxation. When they advance money on
the pledge of some income, it is on the most onerous terms, so that at
least one quarter of the revenue of Mexic