character--quite the converse of the hasty and
unreflecting Hidalgo--of sound judgment, irreproachable morals, and far
more liberal and extended views than could have been expected from the
confined education of a Mexican priest. The influence he possessed over
the Indians was said to be unbounded.

At the time at which the action of the book now before us commences,
namely, upon a carnival day of the year 1812, Morellos had marched into
the vicinity of Mexico at the head of his little army. The principal
leaders of the patriots, Vittoria, Guerero, Bravo, Ossourno, and others,
had placed themselves under his orders; and the moral weight of his name
seemed to be at last producing what had been wanting since the death of
Hidalgo--namely, that unanimity in the operations of the patriots, and
that degree of discipline amongst their troops, which were calculated to
gain them the confidence of the nation.

The first two chapters of the "Viceroy" are of so striking a nature, and
give such strange and startling glimpses of the state of Mexican society
and feeling at that period, that, with some slight abridgement, we shall
here translate them both.

CHAPTER THE FIRST.

"'Tis known, at least it should be, that throughout
All countries of the Catholic persuasion,
Some weeks before Shrove Tuesday comes about,
The people take their fill of recreation,
And buy repentance, ere they grow devout,
However high their rank, or low their station,
With fiddling, feasting, dancing, drinking, masking,
And other things which may be had for asking."

BYRON.

The siesta was over; and the profound stillness in which the capital of
New Spain had been buried during the preceding two hours, was suddenly
broken by the hum of innumerable voices. The noise, which commenced in
the suburbs, extended itself rapidly, and increased almost to a roar,
scaring away the gallinazos and other birds of prey, that were as usual
seeking food in the streets and squares of the city of Mexico. Thousands
of the inhabitants arose from their resting-places under the porticoes
of houses, churches, and palaces, or hurried forth from the great bazar,
eager to celebrate the carnival with that boundless mirth and license by
which Roman Catholic nations seem to console themselves for the fasts
and privations that are to succeed it.

The variety of the costumes in which the maskers had arrayed themselves
was endless, while the profanity of so