The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 71, July 1967 - April, 1968 Page: 133

Book Reviews

The fifth essay, by James M. Breedlove undertakes the analysis of the
"Effect of the Cortes . . . on Church Reform in Spain and Mexico,"
showing that later reforms and church-state affairs had their roots in
debates and enactments in the Cortes. Similarly, Neill Macaulay at-
tacks another basic situation in his essay on "The Army of New Spain
and the Mexican Delegation to the Spanish Cortes." The thesis he
follows is that independence could proceed only after the "army of
New Spain had been thoroughly subverted," accomplished not neces-
sarily in New Spain but in the Cortes where Mexicans eroded Spanish
control of the army and assuring its Mexican leadership.
John H. Hann elaborates on "The Role of the Mexican Deputies
in the Proposal and Enactment of Measures of Economic Reform
Applicable to Mexico," documenting the fact that Mexican delegates
worked incessantly for the recognition of Mexico as an economic equal
in the Spanish Empire, thus raising it from its early colonial status.
And finally, W. Woodrow Anderson addresses his work to "Reform
as a Means To Quell Revolution." In a sense a wrap-up, this essay
argues his title-that concessions were wrung or sought from the Cortes
as measures to throttle the revolution.
Thus the Mexican delegates-usually seventy of the permitted one-
hundred and sixty-labored in Spain for Mexico's well-being. As Miss
Benson points out in her conclusion, ". . . they were the men who
laid the real foundations for constitutional government in Mexico,"
for they received invaluable training in parliamentary affairs and in-
sights into political and related problems that Mexicans would face
for years to come.
The essays are well-balanced among themselves, and though repe-
tition is evident among them, it is necessary to set the context for the
individual subject. The sum of the work is to provide an important
corrective to our understanding of a complex historical period and
to effect a basis upon which further investigations can be developed.
The Institute of Latin American Studies has chosen well its Mono-
graph Number 5, and the University of Texas Press has produced its
usually fine product.
Texas Technological College DAVID M. VIGNESS
Sketches of Early Texas and Louisiana. By Frederic Gaillardet. Trans-
lated with an Introduction and Notes by James L. Shepherd, III.

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