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The Mexico City Cricket Club was founded in 1827 by a mixed group of British and foreign nationals. This article traces its origins, rules and regulations, membership, progress and activities through to the 1870s and again in the revival of the 1880s and 1890s. It reveals that although the game of cricket was adopted by few Mexicans, it was enthusiastically played by the British community in Mexico throughout the nineteenth century. The Club continues to the present time in Mexico City.

The decades that followed independence from Spain in 1821 transformed Mexico from a strong, stable colony to a republic suffering from economic decline and political turmoil. This chaotic state hindered efforts of the young republic to meet the aggressive expansionism of the United States between 1845 and 1848. Santoni sheds new light on Mexican domestic history during the conflict--a much neglected subject--through a comprehensive examination of the only Mexican political bloc that wanted war with the United States. Led by Valentin Gomez Farias, this faction was the radical federalists, who in 1846 took the name of "puros." Santoni demonstrates the reasons for the failure of the "puros""'" attempts to reestablish federalism in Mexico, shape public opinion, develop a civic militia and forge alliances with senior army officers and opposing political groups. Santoni maintains that the economic, social, and political troubles of Mexico nullified the "puros""'" endeavors to direct armed resistance against the Americans.

The main outlines of Spain's trading relations with its Latin American colonies are well known. Although in the eighteenth century, under pressure from international political and domestic economic considerations, the Bourbon monarchs had permitted some liberalization, the fundamental policy remained that of confining transatlantic commerce to the mother country. Even after the so-called free trade laws were issued by Charles III, only certain ports within the peninsula and relatively few merchants were able to engage in the American trade. These merchants acted on their own account buying and selling cargoes within Spain or from Europe, or as commission agents arranging the import-export cycle for a fixed fee or percentage. Few were manufacturers in their own right and most gained a substantial part of their business from the fact that Spain remained to a large extent a channel through which foreign manufactures were sent to the colonies. Organized in their powerful guilds, they constituted an effective and influential vested interest group, determined to protect their highly privileged position against any attempted incursions by foreigners or Spaniards. Their reasons, of course, were obvious and often denounced at the time. Commerce with America was highly lucrative and large fortunes were made from it, particularly during the last quarter of the eighteenth century when a significant expansion in the value and volume of trade took place.

Before the establishment of commercial banks in Mexico in the latter half of the nineteenth century, the aspiring merchant or impecunious landowner had few sources from which he could borrow capital. Funds were available within the country but the rich preferred speculation in government bonds and securities to investment in agricultural or industrial enterprises. Financial deals in which enormous interest rates were paid by the government to private individuals became almost a matter of public scandal and were widely condemned by politicians of all parties. The only institution to operate an extensive lending policy was the Roman Catholic Church which, through the offices of its Juzgado de Capellanías, continued after independence its practice of lending money to any person able to provide adequate security for a loan. Although the contractual terms demanded were by no means onerous to the borrower, nevertheless there was much criticism of these fiscal activities by the clergy. The liberals in particular attacked the Church’s control of the land which was a direct consequence of its lending operations. The Church’s defense against these attacks was based firstly on its rights under both civil and canon law, and secondly, on the benefits which the nation’s economy received from the widespread clerical investments. Furthermore, the clergy insisted that they were genuinely interested in utilizing their wealth for the advantage of the people and country as a whole. Hence their funds were invested by way of loans in every kind of industrial and agrarian venture.

The activities and business undertaken and conducted by the employees described in the previous chapter involved and were dependent upon the revenue of the Juzgado , which resulted mainly from the three sources mentioned in the title of the institution, namely wills, capellanias , and pious works. To some extent these three sources overlap, for benefices and pious works were usually established by will. Indeed, income from legacies was throughout the colonial period a most important branch of ecclesiastical finance and bequests of enormous amounts were made. It seems probable that almost every person who was financially able to do so did leave some form of legacy to a clerical corporation. The administration of the majority of these donations was entrusted to the Juzgado . The most common form of bequests were the capellania and the pious work. The latter requires little comment. Many people left funds or property, the income from which was to be devoted to a pious work. For example, in the year 1796 Juan Acosta left 200,000 pesos to the Church and this sum was to be invested to yield an annual income of 8,000 pesos. Half of the income was to be devoted each year to the establishment of a capellania , and the other half was to be used for the dowry of a novice wishing to take the final vows. Most of the charitable institutions managed by the clergy were supported by monetary gifts and legacies, and money was often left towards the maintenance of an orphanage or hospital.