Army, Navy, etc.—ln accordance with the old constitution of Mexico, the standing army was to consist of 26,000 men, with a reserve of 65,000 men; but this number, which had fallen to nearly half the required force in 1855, has been so extensively reduced since that period by continual civil wars, that, according to Spanish authorities, the government of the late president Juarez, on the breaking out of hostilities with the French in 1862, was unable to bring into the field more than o,000 infantry, 800 cavalry, and 9,500 of the national g-uard. The total strength of the army is now estimated at about 20,000 men. The navy consisted of only some 300 men, while the fleet numbered only.9 small ships of war, carrying in all between 30 and 40 cannon. Education in Mexico, long in the lowest possible condition, even ammo- the wealthier classes, is now steadily improving. Liberal allowances have been madetiy the central and state gov ernments for establishment of new schools, etc. In 1873 there were in Mexico nearly 4,000 public schools, with about 190,000 scholars.
_Religion, etc.—The Roman Catholic is the dominant church of Mexico, but all other sects are tolerated. Mexico has 8 archbishops and 10 bishops. The administration of justice is not what it should be, but is not so inefficient, nor the courts so corrupt, as formerly. Brigandage and smuggling endanger personal security, and seriously damage the resources of the nation, but are gradually disappearing.
The supreme power of the state was, in 1858, vested in the hands of Benito Juarez, who was to bear the title of constitutional president, and administer public affairs in conjunction with a legislative congress, composed of a chamber of senators and lower house of representatives. Each province was to elect two senators and one deputy to every 40,000 inhabitants, and was, moreover, to have a separate provincial legisbuive chamber, presided over by its governor. President Juarez is undoubtedly, along with gen. Iturbide, to be regarded as the most distinguished character in modern 3Iexico. The unforttmate Maximilian was a mere episode in the career of the country-. A pro visional regency of the Mexican empire was appointed by the Junta Superior (fel Gobierno; which was itself constituted (June 16, 1863) by a decree of marshal Forey, leader of the French army of invasion. It was composed of 85 members. This junta at the same time established, under French influence, an assembly of notables, whom it charged with deciding in the name of the people what form of government Mexico should adopt.
On. July 10, 1863, this body, by an overwhelming majority, decided in favor of a con stitutional hereditary monarchy, and that the new ruler should bear the title of emperor of Mexico. See succeeding article. The present constitution dates from 1837. The execu tive power is vested in a president, elected by universal suffrage, for a period of 6 years. The legislative power is confided to a congress consisting of a house of representatives (one for ea.ch 80,000 inhabitants), aud a senate (with two members for each state).
Bistory of Mexico.—The history of ancient Mexico exhibits two distinct and widely differing periods, the former of which, that of the Toltecs, appears to have begun in the 7th and ended with the 12th c.; while the second, that of the Aztecs, began in the year
1200, and may be said to have been closed by the conquest of Cortes in 1519; for although the race has maintained occupation of the Mexican territory, its existence as a nation ceased with the Spanish domination. The origin and primitive seats of the Tol tees are shrouded in mysteiy; and all that we learn of this people is, that they came from the north, from some undefined locality, which they designated Tullan, and from whence they brought to the valley of Mexico the first elements of civilization. Their laws and usages stamp them as a people of mild and peaceful instincts, industrious, active, and enterprising. They cultivated the land, introduced maize and cotton, made roads, erected monuments of colossal dimensions, and built temples and cities, whose ruins in various parts of New Spain still attest their skill in architecture, and sufficient ly explain why the name Toltec should have passed into a synonym for architect. They :mew how to fuse raetals, cut and polish the hardest stones, fabricate earthenware, and weave various fabrics: they employed hieroglyphics for the record of events, were acquainted with the causes of eclipses, constructed sun-dials, devised a simple system of notation, and measured time by a solar year, composed of 18 months of 20 days each, adding 5 complementary days to inake up the 365, and intercalating 124 days at the expiration of every 52 years, which brought them within an almost inappreciable frac tion to the length of the tropical year, as established by the most accurate observations. These and other arts, with a mild form of religion, and a simple but just mode of administering the laws, the Toltecs bequeathed to the Aztecs, who engrafted upon the civilization of their predecessors many tierce and sanguinary practices in their religious, and many puerile usages in their social life. Nothing is known of the exact time, and still less of the manner and causes of the departure of the Toltecs from Mexico; but it has been conjectured that they went towards the south, and that the colossal architec tural remains of the cities of Palenque, Uxmal, and Mitla, in Central America, are the work of their hands. The Aztecs, as we have said, imparted to the institutions of the Toltecs a tinge of their owu somber cruelty, and produced an anomalous form of civiliz ation, which astonished the Spaniards by its mingled character of mildness and ferocity. Like the Toltees and the Chiehmecs, a rude tribe who had succeeded them, the Aztecs came from the north, and after wandering from place to place, founded in 1325 the city of Tenochtitlan, or Mexico. On the arrival of the Spaniards, their empire was found to extend from ocean to ocean, stretching on the Atlantic from 18° to 21° n. lat., and ou the Pacitic from 14° to 19° n. lat. Their government was an elective empire, the sovereign being selected from the brothers of the deceased prince, or, in default of thein, from his nephews. Their laws were severe, but justice was administered in open courts, the proceedings of which were perpetuated by means of picture-written records.