Life in Mexico

Inglis Calderon de la Barca Frances Erskine

Description

In the year 1843, two new books took the American public by storm: one was Prescott's History of the Conquest of Mexico, and the other Life in Mexico by Madame Calderon de la Barca. William Hickling Prescott was already known as an able historian on account of his scholarly Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain which had appeared four years before and elicited praise from all quarters; but his new work outran the former in that the author had succeeded in depicting one of the most stirring episodes of history with the grandeur of an epic and the interest of a novel.

Sujets

• USA
• États-Unis

Informations

• Publié par: Pub One Info
• Date de parution: 23 octobre 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9782819909750
• Langue: English

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INTRODUCTION
In the year 1843, two new books took the Americanpublic by storm: one was Prescott's History of the Conquest ofMexico , and the other Life in Mexico by Madame Calderonde la Barca. William Hickling Prescott was already known as an ablehistorian on account of his scholarly Reign of Ferdinand andIsabella of Spain which had appeared four years before andelicited praise from all quarters; but his new work outran theformer in that the author had succeeded in depicting one of themost stirring episodes of history with the grandeur of an epic andthe interest of a novel.
It was therefore natural that a book with Prescott'sendorsement should be favourably received by the general public;but Life in Mexico immediately attained wide circulation onits own merits, and was received with unbounded enthusiasm. Soonthe slight veil that pretended to hide the author's name was drawnaside and Madame Calderon de la Barca became famous in literary andsocial circles.
Frances Erskine Inglis was born in Edinburgh in theyear 1804. Her father, William Inglis, belonged to a distinguishedScottish family, related to the Earls of Buchan, and was a grandsonof a gallant Colonel Gardiner who fell in the battle ofPrestonpans, while her mother, a Miss Stern before her marriage,was a celebrated beauty of her time.
Fanny, as Frances was familiarly called, was stillvery young when her father found himself in financial difficultiesand decided to retire with his family to Normandy where living wassupposed to be cheaper. But William Inglis died a few years later,and his widow determined to settle in America. In the United StatesMrs. Inglis established a private school first in Boston, later inStaten Island, and finally in Baltimore, and her daughter was agreat help, for she immediately revealed herself as an excellentteacher. Besides, Fanny became a great friend of Ticknor, Lowell,Longfellow, and especially of Prescott, who thought her "everlively and spirituelle ."
In 1836 a Special Diplomatic Mission from Spainarrived at Washington, and at its head came Don Angel Calderon dela Barca, a gentleman of high social standing and an accomplishedman of letters, who, naturally enough, soon established literaryrelations with William Prescott, then at work on his History ofthe Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella . In this connection hebecame acquainted with many of Prescott's friends, the Inglisladies among others, and the result was that he fell in love withthe accomplished Fanny, and married her in 1838. Shortly afterwardsDon Angel was appointed Isabel II's Minister to Mexico, the firstSpanish Envoy to the young Republic that had formerly been theKingdom of New Spain. The newly married couple, accordingly,started on their journey to Mexico, which was destined to be a longone, even for those days, for they left New York on October 27thand did not reach their destination until the 26th of the followingDecember.
Calderon's mission to Mexico lasted somewhat morethan two years, during which time he and his wife, says Prescott,"lived much at their ease," and "were regaled en prince ." Inspite of Don Angel's delicate diplomatic duties and her ownfrequent social engagements and strenuous excursions, Fanny InglisCalderon found time to write almost daily letters, most of them ofconsiderable length, to relatives and friends. These lettersconstituted the basis of the present book when they were collectedand published – with certain necessary omissions – simultaneouslyin London and Boston in 1843, under the title of Life in Mexicoduring a Residence of Two Years in that Country . The book wasprovided with a short but substantial Preface by Prescott.
That same year saw Don Angel Calderon de la Barcatransferred to Washington as Spanish Minister, a post in which henot only discharged his diplomatic duties with much ability, butalso frequented the literary circles and even found time totranslate several works into Spanish.
In 1853 Calderon was recalled to Spain by hisgovernment and arrived at Madrid on September 17th with his wife,who had recently become a Catholic. A year later, he was appointedMinister of State in the Cabinet of the Conde de San Luis, and thusbecame an actor in the troubled drama of that period of Isabel II'sreign. When finally the unpopularity of the government culminatedin a general rebellion, Calderon managed to escape the unjust furyof the rabble by hiding first in the Austrian, and later in theDanish Legation, until he was able to cross the frontier and takerefuge in France. The events that Madame Calderon had witnessed inSpain moved her to write that entertaining book The Attache inMadrid , which, pretending to be a translation from the German,appeared in New York in 1856.
The Calderons were able to return to Spain after anabsence of two years, but in 1861 Don Angel died at San Sebastian,just when he was expecting to move to a small villa which was beingbuilt for him nearby in picturesque Zarauz. Hard upon this eventMadame Calderon retired to a convent across the Pyrenees, butshortly afterwards Queen Isabel asked her to come back and takecharge of the education of her eldest daughter, the Infanta Isabel,a request which, though at first respectfully declined, was finallyaccepted by her. From that time on Madame Calderon became theconstant companion of the Infanta Isabel, until the latter'smarriage to the Count of Girgenti in 1868. She then returned to theUnited States, but only for a comparatively short time, for as soonas Alfonso XII came to the throne, Madame Calderon went back toSpain and was created by him Marquesa de Calderon de la Barca.Thenceforward she led a very quiet life until her death, in theRoyal Palace of Madrid, on February 3rd, 1882.
Any radical change in the form of government isliable to be accompanied by disorders, and this is even more likelyto be true in a country like Mexico, which has become famous forits frequent political troubles and has been aptly called "a landof unrest." In the eighteen-forties the country witnessed manyplans, "pronunciamientos" and revolutions, which could not escapethe vigilant mind of Madame Calderon, who often refers to them witha spice of delicate satire and irony which is not unkindly. Afterthe long period of peaceful if unexciting viceregal rule, thegovernment of the new republic had become the prey of politicalgroups, headed by men who coveted the presidency chiefly impelledby a "vaulting ambition" which, in most cases "overleapt itself."Madame Calderon drew faithful portraits of many of the politiciansof those days, not stinting her praise to such men of honour asBustamante, nor hiding her sympathy towards the much reviled SantaAnna.
Naturally, as the wife of the Spanish Minister, shefeels occasionally bound to dwell somewhat disparagingly upon theexisting state of things, as compared with the excellences of theformer viceregal regime. Thus, on visiting the older cities andestablishments, she lays stress on the great benefits that theMother Country had bestowed on her Colonies, an opinion that, shestates, was shared by the most distinguished persons in Mexico, whomissed the advantages of the days of yore: "I fear we live in aParadise Lost," she exclaims, "which will not be regained in ourdays!"
But this does not mean to say that she withholdspraise where praise is due. On more than one occasion she extolsthe valour of a soldier, the talent of a Minister like Cuevas, orthe honesty and clearsightedness of a politician like Gutierrez deEstrada; and when she refers to the rivalry that arose between thedifferent parties, she has unbounded praises for the cadets of theMilitary School, for their patriotic conduct and their loyalty tothe legally established government.
In Madame Calderon's time the Mexican upper classeswere an extension, so to speak, of the old viceregal society. Onlythe very young had not seen the Spanish flag flying over the publicbuildings or had not been more or less acquainted with the lastviceroys. The presidential receptions of a Bustamante or a SantaAnna in the National Palace, just as during the short reign ofAugustin I de Iturbide, were ablaze with brilliant uniforms,glittering decorations, fine dresses, and rich jewels, while atprivate parties the old family names and titles continued to beborne with the prestige of former colonial days.
On the other hand, the relations between lord andservant are faithfully portrayed by Madame Calderon de la Barca.Speaking of life in a hacienda , she describes how the ladyof the house sat at the piano, while the employees and servantsperformed the typical dances of the country for the benefit ofguests and relatives, without suggesting any idea of equality ordisrespect, more or less in the fashion of the Middle Ages, whenthe lord and the lady of the manor sat at table with theirservants, though the latter remained rigorously below the salt.With regard to the lower classes, Madame Calderon always sees thepicturesque side of things which she describes vividly andcolourfully.
It is to be regretted (particularly from a Mexicanpoint of view) that Fanny Inglis, or her editor, should havethought it expedient only to give the first and last letters of thenames of the more prominent persons of whom she speaks, a systemwhich makes it difficult for a reader of later days to identifythem, except in one or two cases. Many were the intimate friends ofthe Calderons, but especially the Conde de la Cortina, a well-known figure in society and in literary and scientific circles, theMarques and Marquesa de Vivanco, and the "Guera Rodriguez," (the"Fair Rodriguez"), a celebrated beauty of her time, who is said tohave been greatly admired by no less a person than Alexander vonHumboldt himself!
Naturally enough, Madame Calderon was a competentjudge of her own sex and was alert to the good qualities as well asto the foibles of the ladies of Mexico, whose excessive fondnessfor diamonds and, in some cases, too showy dresses elicit h