of Augustin I. His sovereignty lasted from May 18, 1822, till March, 1823, when the army rose against him, and he abdicated and fled to Europe. Shortly afterward the country was declared a republic, and a constitution substantially like that of the United States adopted. Iturbide attempted to regain his throne by an uprising in 1824, but was captured and shot. The republic was "proclaimed" by Gen. Santa Anna at Vera Cruz in December, 1822, and under the title of constitutional president he became virtually dictator. From thence till the overthrow of his fifth dictatorship, August, 1855, the country was rended by revolutions, had an expensive war with the United States, and possessed no stable or even respectable govern

ment.

The "plan of Ayutla" was adopted 1855, a constituent convention was held 1856, and it promulgated a constitution, February 3, 1857, which with subsequent amendments, forms the present general law. The war of reform, already alluded to, ensued, a struggle between the adherents of the National, or Roman Catholic, Church, the army, and the aristocracy. The country had scarcely recovered from its surprise over the suppression and confiscation of the ecclesiastical property and buildings, when the period of French intervention opened, and was followed by the brief and luckless reign of the Austrian Archduke Maximilian as sovereign of the Empire of Mexico. During this period, 1861-67, Benito Juarez, an Indian, as constitutional president, directed the successful resistance to imperialism. His service as president was extended from December, 1857, till his death in July, 1872, and much of the present prosperity of the country is due to his firmness, liberal ideas, sound statesmanship, and prescience. He was succeeded by Lerdo de Tejada, and he in turn by Porfirio Diaz, an accomplished and successful general of the army, who, after a highly creditable service as president, was honored with a second re-election in July, 1888.

CITY OF

MEXICO.

NA

EXICO City comprises what is known politically as the Federal District. It is situated in latitude 19° 25′ 45′′ north, and longitude 99° 7′ 8′′ west from Greenwich, built upon the ruins of the ancient Aztec capital and at an elevation of about 7,500 feet above sea level. It is divided into eight sections, having in 1889 an aggregate of

304 streets with an average width of forty feet each, and containing 7,979 buildings, exclusive of government, public, church, and charitable structures, valued at $114,738,000, as well as 7,047 buildings in which its commercial and industrial interests were carried on, and ninety public squares. The Presidential Mansion, formerly the palace of the viceroys, is an enormous building, three stories high, 500. feet long and 350 feet wide, and is built on the site of the palace of Montezuma. It accommodates nearly all the public offices, including those of the heads of the different departments, and the senatorial branch of the congress. The most notable and con

spicuous building within the city walls is the famous Roman Catholic Cathedral, begun in 1593 and completed sufficiently to be dedicated in 1677, at a cost of $1,757,000. Subsequent improvements and ornamentation brought the total cost up to $2,500,000. Its decorations, grand altars, priceless carvings, gold and silver enrichments, and its paintings and statuary, render it without exception the most gorgeous ecclesiastical structure in the world. Among the other buildings which, from their architectural design, historical association, or contents, challenge the admiration of all tourists, are those of the Mexican Inquisition, founded in 1571, and now used as a national medical school; the custom house; the convent of Santo Domingo; the National Museum, which contains a unique collection illustrative of the

earliest history of the country, embracing an original sacrificial stone of the Aztecs, the world-famous Calendar Stone, and a statue of Huitzilopochtli of huge proportions; the Academy of San Carlos, established by King Charles III., of Spain, and filled with the largest and most costly collection of paintings on the continent; and the National Library, housed in the ancient church of San Augustin, which has been remodeled by the government at a heavy expense, containing upward of 150,000 volumes.

Of the ninety public squares the largest and most beautiful is the Plaza de

Armas, which is 800 feet long by 600 feet wide. There are numerous pleasure resorts in the city, of which the Passeo de Bucareli, or public drive, is to Mexico City what Hyde Park is to London, the Bois de Boulogne to Paris, and Central Park to New York. It is the afternoon resort of the wealth and fashion of the city. Hundreds of coaches in all shapes and forms, as well as hundreds of gentlemen on horseback frequent it daily; but on Sundays and holidays the drive is in its glory. Mounted policemen are stationed. every hundred yards to maintain order and guard against accidents. The carriages form a long line, going up on one side and down the other. The sidewalks for pedestrians are wide, well paved, and provided with carved stone benches at easy intervals. An additional attraction is given them by two rows of trees composed of the eucalyptus, or fever tree, and the ash, planted alternately. The drive is macadamized its entire length, and the centre is reserved for equestrians. The promenade extends from the bronze equestrian statue of Charles IV. to the castle of Chapultepec, a distance of 3,750 yards; the width, including walks, is 170 feet. It contains six circular spaces 400 feet

CHURCH OF SAN DOMINGO, CITY OF MEXICO.

in diameter for monuments to eminent men. In the first is a magnificent bronze and marble statue of Columbus, and in the second a monument to Guatimozin, the last Indian emperor. This grand drive was laid out by the Emperor Maximilian, first, to secure the shortest possible route to Chapultepec for military purposes, and, second, to provide one of the most beautiful drives in the world. The Alameda and the Passeo de la Viga likewise are

tempting resorts, but of less fashionable popularity.

There are very few small houses in the city, nearly all being very commodious though not tall, and as a rule each one is occupied by more than one family. In the principal streets the houses are usually two and three stories high. The wealthiest families rarely occupy more than one floor-the upper one-and often not the whole of that. The best three-story buildings generally contain from two to four habitations; each consists of a whole or a half of a floor, and

the front ground floor is almost invariably used by commercial, banking, or other business establishments. There is not a house of any pretentions whatever in the city without a court, on the ground floor of which are located the servants' quarters, coach houses, and stables. There is but one door on the lower floor, and none at all on the outside of the upper story. The door is very strongly built, and the opening high enough for a coach to pass through. It opens into the court, through which inmates pass to the stairway leading to the upper story. The tenement houses occupy large areas, and are built on much the same plan, with but one door leading into a court,

and from which each occupant has entrance to his own apartment on the ground floor or the gallery above, which runs all around the building. In the central districts these houses generally have two stories, but as a rule one only when built at a distance from the business centre, and they sometimes contain as many as forty distinct habitations.

In 1886, the business establishments of the city included 1,072 cigar and tobacco stores, 889 grocery stores, 670 pulque stands, 514 liquor saloons, 390 restaurants, 275 butcher shops, 190 bakeries, 144 grain stores, 130 barber shops, 118 tailoring establishments, 171 carpenter shops, 174 shoe stores, 88

MERCHANTS' BAZAAR, CITY OF MEXICO.

blacksmith shops, 79 drug stores, 68 hardware stores, 56 printing offices, 55 bath houses, 72 dry-goods stores, 48 chartered and private banks, and 46 cafés. There were also nine cotton, seven paper, and three woolen factories in the city and its immediate vicinity. The government has established a National Monte de Piedad, or pawn shop, and in addition to this there were 73 others, private, with a joint capital of $483,872. During the latter half of 1885, these pawnshops loaned the sum of $1,333,796 on various kinds of pledges, on which an average interest charge of 12% per cent. per month was paid.