400 M RX ICO> their reward ; and had freedom of commerce then existed, there is no doubt that the country would have derived the greatest permanent benefit from their exertions. As it was, riches easily acquired, were as lightly dissipated; but little was done towards national improvement ; — no fund was pro- vided for future emergencies ; — and, after the great convul- sions of 1810, 1811, and 1812, nothing remained to denote, amidst the general wreck, the epoch of splendour which had so immediately preceded it. The efforts of the Spanish Government to alleviate this dis- tress were unavailing; although, injustice to Spain, it must be said, that whatever may have been the faults of her Colo- nial System in general, with regard to the Mines she has al- ways adopted a more liberal policy. This liberality com- menced soon after the War of Succession, when, in order to conciliate the Mexicans, the King"'s Fifth was reduced to a Tenth, by a Decree dated the 30th of December, I7I6. In 1769, the price of the Quintal of Quicksilver, (a Royal mo- nopoly,) was reduced from eighty to sixty dollars, and in 1777? to forty-one dollars including the freight to Mexico. In I78O, gunpowder, (another monopoly,) was ordered to be sold at 4^ reals per pound, instead of six reals ; and an ex- emption from Alcavalas was granted in favour of all articles consumed in the Mines ; which exemption was so rigorously observed, that Don Jose Galvez, when establishing a small tax upon maize, at Guanajiiato, in order to improve the pre- sent entrance into the town, allowed the m.aize for the con- sumption of the Mines to pass duty free. By order of the same Count Galvez, in 1785, during a year of scarcity, the Miners were supplied with maize from the Royal stores, at the usual price. In 1793, the Government declared its intention not to raise the price of Quicksilver, even in time of war; and as recently as 1814, (8th August,) an order was issued, again exempting from the tax of Alca-
