Life in Mexico. Madame Calderón de la Barca
and titles continued to be borne with the prestige of former colonial days.
On the other hand, the relations between lord and servant are faithfully portrayed by Madame Calderon de la Barca. Speaking of life in a hacienda, she describes how the lady of the house sat at the piano, while the employees and servants performed the typical dances of the country for the benefit of guests and relatives, without suggesting any idea of equality or disrespect, more or less in the fashion of the Middle Ages, when the lord and the lady of the manor sat at table with their servants, though the latter remained rigorously below the salt. With regard to the lower classes, Madame Calderon always sees the picturesque side of things which she describes vividly and colourfully.
It is to be regretted (particularly from a Mexican point of view) that Fanny Inglis, or her editor, should have thought it expedient only to give the first and last letters of the names of the more prominent persons of whom she speaks, a system which makes it difficult for a reader of later days to identify them, except in one or two cases. Many were the intimate friends of the Calderons, but especially the Conde de la Cortina, a well- known figure in society and in literary and scientific circles, the Marques and Marquesa de Vivanco, and the "Guera Rodriguez," (the "Fair Rodriguez"), a celebrated beauty of her time, who is said to have been greatly admired by no less a person than Alexander von Humboldt himself!
Naturally enough, Madame Calderon was a competent judge of her own sex and was alert to the good qualities as well as to the foibles of the ladies of Mexico, whose excessive fondness for diamonds and, in some cases, too showy dresses elicit her mild criticism.
Monastic life was one of the features of Mexico at that time. Most cities, large and small, were full of churches, monasteries, and convents; and Madame Calderon (who became a Catholic three years later) was not then well acquainted with the ceremonies and liturgy of the Church, and consequently falls into many errors on the subject; but when she describes her visit to a convent and the ceremony of the veiling of a nun, she writes some of her most picturesque and touching pages.
Madame Calderon does not stint her admiration for the great buildings of the country, both civil and religious, though her descriptions betray only too often the influence of the romantic age in which she lived.
Beautiful indeed as is her description of a garden in Tulancingo, she rises to real eloquence before some of "Nature's pageants," admiring a sunset over the Monastery of San Fernando, walking under the shade of the centennial trees of Chapultepec, or wandering within the gigantic Caverns of Cacahuamilpa, the recollection of which, she says, "rests upon the mind, like a marble dream," and where an unfortunate traveller, years before, had lost his way and met a tragic death.
Prescott's statement that Madame Calderon's letters were not intended originally for publication seems hardly credible; but, on the other hand, there is no proof for the suggestion that she had the letters of Madame D'Aulnoy in mind. Be that as it may, the fact is that just as the French Countess has left us a living picture of Spain in the late seventeenth century, in the same way the wife of the Spanish Minister drew a most faithful pen-portrait of the social, political, and even economic order, in Mexico in the early nineteenth.
As to Madame Calderon de la Barca's personal appearance, since a portrait of her, which is said to exist in the possession of a relative, has never been published, the reader is free to imagine that lively lady as it may best suit his or her individual fancy. That she was clever, well-read, and an excellent judge of character, as well as a true lover of nature and a keen observer of manners and customs, is evident in her letters, which constitute by common consent a most entertaining and truly delectable narrative, which even the lapse of more than a century has not been able to mar.
MANUEL ROMERO DE TERREROS, Marques de San Francisco.
REFERENCES
History of the Conquest of Mexico with the Life of the Conqueror Hernando Cortes, and a view of the Ancient Mexican Civilization. New York, Harper & Bros., 1843.
Life in Mexico, During a Residence of Two Years in That Country, by Madame Calderon de la Barca, with a Preface by W. H. Prescott, author of The History of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, 1843.
The Attaché in Madrid; or, Sketches of the Court of Isabella II, translated from the German, New York, 1856.
Prescott Unpublished Letters to Gayangos in the Library of the Hispanic Society of America, edited with notes by Clara Louisa Penney, New York, 1927.
GLOSSARY
LETTER THE FIRST
Departure of the "Norma"—Last look of New York Bay—Fellow passengers—
Contrary Winds—Deceitful Appearances—Sunset in Southern Latitudes—Seas
passed over by Columbus—Varied Occupations on Shipboard—Berry Islands—
Bahama Banks—Evening in a Tropical Sea—L. E. L.—Pan of Matanzas—Morro
Castle—Bay of Havana—Arrival—Handsome House in Havana—Sights and
Sounds
LETTER THE SECOND
Havana Aristocracy—Lucia di Lammermoor—La Rossi and Montresor—Brig-of-
war—Countess de V—a—Dinner at H—a's—Southerly Winds—View from the
Balcony—Quinta of Count V—a—San Cristobal—Mass at San Felipe—Erard Harp—Dinner at General M—o's—A Dessert at Havana—Queen of Spain's Birthday—Dinner at the Yntendencia—La Pantanelli—Theatre of Tacon— Railroad—Cure by Lightning—Shops—Ball at the Countess F—a's Last Visit—Souvenirs
LETTER THE THIRD
Departure in the Jason—Spanish Captain and Officers—Life on board a Man- of-War—"Balances"—Fishing—"Le Petit Tambour"—Cocoa-nuts—A Norte—Spanish Proverb—Peak of Orizava—Theory and Practice—Norte Chocolatero—Contrary Winds—Chain of Mountains—Goleta
LETTER THE FOURTH
Distant View of Vera Cruz—Pilots—Boat from the City—Mutual Salutes—Approach to Vera Cruz—Crowd on the Wharf—House of Don Dionisio V—o—Guard of Honour—German Piano—Supper—Madonna—Aspect of the City—Sopilotes—Deliberations—General Guadalupe Victoria—Two-headed Eagle—Dilapidated Saint—Harp—Theatre—Doña Innocencia Martinez—Invitation from General Santa Anna
LETTER THE FIFTH
Departure from Vera Cruz—Sandhills—Oriental Scene—Manga de Clavo—
General Santa Anna—Breakfast—Escort and Diligence—Santa Fe—Puente
Nacional—Bridge sketched by Mrs. Ward—Country in December—Don Miguel—
First Impressions—Fruit—Plan del Rio—German Musicians—Sleeping
Captain—Approach to Jalapa—Appearance of the City—Cofre de Perote—
Flowers—House and Rock—Last View of Jalapa—Change of Scenery—San
Miguel de los Soldados—Perote-Striking Scene before Day-break—Non-
arrival of Escort—Yankee Coachman Dispute—Departure—Company of Lancers
—Alcalde—Breakfast at La Ventilla—Pulque—Double Escort—Crosses—
Brigand-looking Tavern-keeper—Ojo de Agua-Arrival at Puebla-Dress of the
Peasants—Christmas-eve-Inn-"Nacimiento"
LETTER