seven millions of dollars, which was awaiting the arrival in the harbor of the fleet that was to carry it to Spain. The chief portion of the inhabitants took sanctuary in the churches, where they remained pent up for a length of time; but the pirates contrived to seize a large number of clergymen, monks and women, whom they forced to bear the spoils of the city to their vessels, and afterwards treated with the greatest inhumanity.
The coasts of Mexico were, at this period, sorely harassed with the piratical vessels of France and England. The wealth of the New World, inadequately protected by Spanish cruisers, in its transit to Europe, was a tempting prize to the bold nautical adventurers of the north of Europe; and the advantages of the Spanish colonies were thus reaped by nations who were freed from the expenses of colonial possessions. There are perhaps still many families in these countries whose fortunes were founded upon the robbery of