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Rh absented himself; but no means were used for his apprehension. A few shoulders were shrugged, a few “que lástimas” (what a pity) uttered, and there the matter ended. The shoemaker returned in a few days, resumed his occupations, and remains still undisturbed, unless some other has in turn, passed him to his final account.

The only otfences noticed are political ones, and in these cases the soldiers act as civil officers. Of their suitability one melancholy instance fell immediately under my own observation. A lieutenant of infantry, and eight soldiers, were despatched to take a man prisoner who had committed some offence against the state. They entered the room in which he was sitting alone, about nine o'clock in the evening. He immediately blew out the candle and fired a pistol at their officer, whom he wounded. The eight soldiers report that their muskets missed fire: it is only known that in the confusion the prisoner escaped, and has not since been heard of. A suspicion having arisen a few days afterwards, that he was concealed in Guatimala, a second detachment was sent to capture him. The party mistook a discharged postman who was in the house, for their prisoner: the poor fellow resisted with a sword, and was immediately killed. Not content with passing five or six bullets through him, they pierced him with their bayonets, in order to


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Rh assure themselves of his death, and for this feat the leader of the detachment, was raised from a lieutenant to the rank of captain. After this, no further search was made for the real delinquent, and in two or three days the whole affair was forgotten.

Such was the exact state of the police of Guatimala in the year 1827, and the picture is certainly not overdrawn. The Patriot Cavalry, composed of the principal young men in the different shops and warehouses, was formed for the defence of the city, and is called out in case of tumult; but from their total want of discipline, and frequent refusals to obey the orders of their officers, they are but a poor protection either against internal or external enemies. In the month of August, a plan was formed for surprising the nightly guard, setting the prisoners free, and then murdering the chief officers of the government. This was discovered on the eve of its execution, and the Patriot Cavalry were called out at eleven o'clock at night. The corps consists of 150 men, and in this emergency only sixteen appeared.

The murder of the British consul, although arising from motives which but too powerfully influence the lower orders, cannot be considered as an event connected with passing circumstances. The primary motive was certainly revenge for

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Rh what the wretch chose to term the insults offered to him by his master, in the way of reproof. The secondary one, which probably determined him as to the time, was the hope of plunder. The sensation caused by the atrocious deed, will not easily be forgotten by those who, with the author, were only a few hours before dining with the deceased, and being waited upon by his murderer. It is not necessary to recall the circumstances which accompanied the horrid deed. Too often is the imagination injured, and the mind sickened, by similar recitals of human depravity.

The prison is spacious, and will contain from 3 to 400 criminals. In the summer of 1827, above that number were, for some time, in confinement. The prisoners sleep on dirty pallets, and many of the cells are in a filthy state; but as the rooms are tolerably well ventilated, they are on the whole healthy, and jail fever is unknown. The severest tortures have been here inflicted upon innocent persons, in order to induce confession; but I have been assured the practice was discontinued long before the revolution.

The processes in the criminal courts against offenders, are so long, and involved in such a multitude of forms and writings, as to render it impossible to do justice either to the prisoner or the public. Bad as was the state of things in


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Rh this respect before the revolution, they are now worse. While the prisons are crowded with criminals, the courts of justice are inactive, and in fact, a nullity. Imprisonment is the grand panacea for every evil, and when the prisoners increase too rapidly, so that the detention of so great a number is difficult and dangerous, thirty or forty, at the despotic command of the government, are marched off to the Castle of Omoa, where the climate soon puts an end to their miseries. Their bones mingle with those of thousands of their predecessors, and a new generation succeeds them, to occupy their places for a few months, and then, in turn, to make way for their successors.

Lawyers are an innumerable body, a certain proof that the laws are complex and confounded. In fact, a Guatimalian lawsuit is precisely the same thing as a chancery suit in England. Like a modern mouse-trap, the entrance is wide and tempting; half way in, it is impossible to withdraw,—the rest is an affair of your executors.

This wretched state of the criminal and civil courts of judicature, with the total absence of an organized police, although one of the causes of the frequency of crime, is by no means the most influential. The more immediate source of a great part of the wretchedness and consequent degradation of the lower classes, is to be found


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Rh in their prevailing habits of intoxication, and in the multitude of spirit-shops which, on every hand, offer temptations too powerful to be resisted by a people untrained to any habits of self-government. The liquor commonly taken, is prepared from what are termed panelas; these are small loaves of unrefined sugar, drawn from the cane, and by some called raspings; they are excessively sweet and cloying to the taste. Dissolved in water, and mingled with the juice of different fruits, the fluid is left to ferment until it becomes very strong and acquires its intoxicating effects. When in this state, it is considered fit for sale; and as it can be prepared at so cheap a rate as to come within the reach of the poorest Indian, immense quantities are disposed of, under the name of chicha, and these wretched creatures may be seen rolling about the streets and suburbs, in a state sometimes approaching to madness, and sometimes to insensibility, under its overpowering influence. In this way they spend the little money they acquire by their labour, and never rise higher in the scale of civilization than the low grade in which their progenitors have lived and died.

A more permanent and universal source both of crime and laxity of morals will however be found in the want of that early education which checks the growth of the corrupt principles of the


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Rh human heart, and fosters whatever is valuable to society, or honourable to man. Parents so dissipated themselves cannot be supposed to take much interest in the formation of the character of their offspring, who are as might be expected, generally left exposed to all the baneful influence of such example.

Nor is the evil at all counteracted by that intellectual cultivation which in some cases partly supplies the deficiency. There are two public or endowed schools for boys; the former belonging to the church, was established in the year 1548, and the latter under the direction of the municipality, about a century later. Each is endowed with an annual salary for the master of about 500 dollars. These situations are at present held by two ignorant old men who conduct the schools on the old Spanish system. A great portion of the time is occupied in recitations and in learning what they term the Christian doctrine. Under such direction the children after years of attendance are scarcely able to read or write decently. The united number on the books is about 400, but they attend very irregularly.

In each of the convents girls are taught to read as well as to sew, with the greatest neatness. The boys of the higher, and middle classes can generally read and write, but among girls the


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Rh latter is a rare accomplishment. In both cases, it is unaccompanied by that moral and religious instruction, which alone can make it valuable.

The most strenuous exertions have been made to introduce the Lancasterian system by the committee of that valuable institution, the British and Foreign School Society of London, but hitherto unsuccessfully. Congress has publicly expressed its determination to establish it, commissioners have been appointed and reports made, but from some cause or other no active steps have been taken to forward the object. The distracted state of the country, the want of finances, the secret hostility of the clergy, and the indolence of the government have all operated againt its establishment. But it cannot be delayed many years. A republican form of government is more than any other a government of opinion, and it will soon be found vain to boast of a freedom whose root is rottenness. Knowledge, universally diffused, is the vital sap of the tree of liberty, and without this strengthening impulse in every branch, its beautiful foliage will fade and wither. The page of history proves to us that monarchies may exist in the midst of moral and intellectual darkness, but republicanism is a plant of light, and will perish if the sources of its life and vigour be long withdrawn. If therefore Guatimala maintains


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Rh her independence, she will early apply a remedy to the universal ignorance which prevails among her sons, and from this source alone can any considerable improvement in public morals rationally be expected. Rh


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''Amusements,—Theatre,—Bull Fights,—Literature,—Newspapers,—Booksellers,—Fine Arts, &c. &c.''

stranger's first impression, that Guatimala is exceedingly dull and lifeless, will not, in all probability, be materially changed on a more intimate acquaintance; especially if he be one of that numerous class to whose very existence public amusements seem necessary, since there is not, perhaps, a city in the world where diversions of every species are more neglected.

The theatre, established about a year ago, is not much better in appearance than a country barn. In the heavy showers which frequently fall during the rainy season the water trickles through the roof, both into the pit and


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Rh boxes; and more than once, umbrellas have been as usefully employed within, as without the house, The scenery is wretchedly painted, and the Performers, with the exception of two European comedians, are said to be inferior to the lowest village strollers. The numbers who attended at the beginning of the year, were not sufficient to pay the expenses, and the company having struggled some time against the losses connected with empty benches, gave public notice, in the month of July, 1827, that owing to the thin attendance of the citizens, the performances would cease, and there is now little prospect of their being renewed.

This species of amusement, was originally established in the hope that it might become popular, and supersede, in great measure, the barbarous diversions of the bull-ring; but, although the pieces chosen were sufficiently licentious, and the dances somewhat indecent, with the additional temptation of the performances being held on Sundays and saints' days, it was not sufficient to wean the worthy citizens from their favourite “Toros,” and the exhibitions of the latter are still well attended. These, however, only take place in the dry season, and are neither conducted in so cruel a manner as in Spain, or the other parts of America, nor is the same degree of skill and courage displayed by the combatants. In the


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Rh eye of the connoiseur, they are deemed far inferior to similar exhibitions in Mexico; but they still possess sufficient attractions to draw crowds of every rank, and of each sex, to witness the barbarous spectacle, and to be brutalized by its heart-hardening tendencies.

A few large card parties, a solitary ball, and one or two billiard tables, will complete the catalogue, with the exception of that infamous nest of vice and cruelty—the cock-pit—which has, however, fallen into disrepute, and is only attended by the most depraved part of the people. The most successful speculations in this department have been those of travelling troops of equestrians and jugglers; but as they do not form any permanent source of amusement, they can hardly be considered as belonging to the city.

To name the word literature, in connexion with this part of Spanish America, seems almost ridiculous; yet, a slight sketch of the labours of the printing presses of Guatimala may not be altogether uninteresting. At what period this art was first introduced it is impossible to say; but it must have been exercised in the old city for above a century; since a treatise on practical arithmetic, by Father Padilla, a secular priest, was printed there in the year 1732. Whether any other work, equally useful, has issued from the


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Rh walls of the printing-office since that period, is a problem it perhaps would be difficult to solve.

Its chief occupation is to reprint papers from Rome, to publish the letters and charges of the archbishop, with now and then a declamatory sermon; and to supply the good Catholics with little volumes of prayers and devotional exercises for peculiar times and seasons. Since the revolution, however, three others have been established, which find employment in publishing the newspapers. A number of these publications have at various times, seen the light; but with the greater part, it has been but to be born and die. At present they are three in number, and published weekly: one called the Gazette of the Government; another, the Gazette of the State; and the third, The Indicador. All these support the measures of the present administration; are equally dull and uninteresting, and have a very limited sale. No news makes its appearance in any of them until it has been generally known in the city for a month, excepting official government papers, which are exceedingly long and tedious; and with these their columns are mostly filled. As the presses obtain little other employment, they of course are not very profitable to their owners.

The last book published, was a volume of poetical fables, by a Dr. Goyena, who styles himself


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Rh a son of Central America. These possess considerable merit, and display a degree of talent, which under proper cultivation, would have raised their author to eminence. The sale of them, however, has been scarcely sufficient to cover his expenses, and the book has not raised its literary parent from that poverty to which literature, especially of a poetical kind, almost invariably subjects its votaries. A system of stenography has also been prepared by one of the priests; but finding it impossible to obtain a sufficient number of subscribers to defray expenses, he has wisely abstained from printing.

Engraving is executed neatly, but the artists obtain no employ. The supply of books is by no means deficient, and rather exceeds the demand than otherwise. Spanish editions of heavy books, such as Universal Histories, &c. may be found in the stores of the old merchants, and lighter works, chiefly translations from the French, and many of them very exceptionable, are to be met with in two or three different shops, opened by agents of French booksellers. Mr. Ackerman, of London, has certainly rendered a much greater service to the country, in the class of books and prints which he has endeavoured to introduce. His elementary catechisms are exceedingly valuable, and his drawings and fancy articles will probably tend to foster, if not to


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Rh create a taste for the fine arts. In these, many of the natives excel; a lhct, which may be proved by reference to the various sculptures and copies of paintings which have been executed by their different artists. Indeed, in the present day, they can boast a miniature painter altogether self-taught, who, for exactness of resemblance, if not for delicacy of finish, my be placed in competition with almost any European.

As musical instrument makers, they are by no means contemptible. Two or three of the organs used in the churches, and particularly a very fine one in the cathedral, were manufactured in the city, and both in tone and outward ornament, they are equal to the majority built in Europe. Every species of fancy work they produce with great delicacy. The makers of artificial flowers surpass in the exactnass of their imitations of nature our English manufacturers; and the workers in wax, a tribe little known amongst us, succeed admirably in the production of models and specimens.


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Religious Processions,—Masked Dancers,—Clergy, regular and secular,—Ecclesiastical Quarrels,—Low State of true Piety,—Extracts from Journal.

the head of amusements, rather than devotional exercises, ought to be classed those numerous and splendid processions which claim so frequently the time and reverence of all classes of the community in catholic countries. In Guatimala scarcely a day passes without some one or other of these pageants inviting the attention of the devout, and the laugh of the scorner. A slight account of the celebrated one termed Corpus will enable the reader to judge of the rest.

This takes place in the month of June; and on the day set apart for the festivity, the shops are closed, and business suspended. About ten o'clock the cavalcade moves from the cathedral. A troop of military marching to a slow tune lead the way, and are followed by six of the finest Indian girls that can be procured, bearing large wax candles, and dressed in the ancient costume


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Rh of their tribes, accompanied by the great drum carried on the back of an Indian, and beaten by two others. These are succeeded by men bearing on their shoulders wooden platforms, on which are placed images of saints. Other representations of beatified cardinals and bishops follow, escorted by angels with spreading wings. Then succeeds an immense statue of St. Peter bearing the keys, and supported by angels on each side. Other images pass forward in succession and immediately precede the Host, which is carried under a splendid canopy, and accompanied by the archbishop and the dignified clergy. The various orders of friars, the curas and the collegial students in their robes follow, and fresh images of saints and angels, with a new troop of military bring up the rear.

Proceeding round the Plaza, the procession stops at every corner, where are erected at considerable expense large altars, covered with artificial flowers, looking-glasses, and wax candles; while thousands of kneeling spectators form a deep line on either side. Its setting out and return to the cathedral are notified by frequent discharges of sky-rockets, and the houses by which the host passes are hung with red cloth or silk.

By these ridiculous, yet dazzling shows, the church of Rome firmly attaches to her interests a superstitious and ignorant mob, and still reaps


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Rh new benefits from that artful policy by which her Jesuitical children led nations captive, and arrived at a degree of power and influence obnoxious and dangerous to their haughty parent. On the imagination of the simple Indians these splendid spectacles take a powerful hold, uniting, as many of them do, several of the heathenish rites of their ancient superstitions, with the showy ritual of a corrupted Christianity.

Walking through the streets one day, I was painfully surprised to observe a large statue of the Saviour borne on a platform by four men, and accompanied by ten or a dozen wretches grotesquely dressed and as absurdly masked, who were dancing before it in order to excite the mirth of the populace. It seemed to me a melancholy fulfilment of the prophetic declaration, “He is become the laugh of the drunkard, and the sport of fools.” But such is the temporising, and worldly spirit of this Babylon of the nations, that the only reply I could get from one of her worthiest ministers to an indignant remonstrance was, “We do not approve it, but it is necessary to give life to the festivity!”

Perhaps there is no country in the world where religious processions are so numerous, or the great mass of the people so fanatical as in Guatimala. Always distinguished for its rigid attention to the ceremonies of the church: it now


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Rh stands pre-eminent. In Buenos Ayres, ColumbiaColombia [sic], and Peru, the revolution has in this respect affected an important change; and even in Mexico, where the power of the clergy is still considerable, its superstitious frenzy is considerably repressed. But here every thing remains the same as before, not a priest has been ejected, or a friar displaced; and although their temporal influence has been somewhat lessened, their spiritual authority remains undiminished.

Asingular proof of their power to influence the decrees of the government has just been given. In July 1826, the supreme government, in imitation of the other republics, passed a law fixing the age at which young people should be permitted to enter the religious houses. The clergy resisted the enforcement of it, and in Sept. 1827, the present party, by a ridiculous decree in which they contradict every statement they had previously made, have abrogated the former law, and mere children are again permitted to immolate themselves for life.

In number they are fewer in proportion to the population than in Mexico, and this circumstance may, in some measure, have contributed to their security. From a statement issued by the government, it appears that there are not more than 300 friars in the United Provinces, of whom about 200 reside inthein the [sic] city; while the different


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Rh female convents do not contain more than 150 nuns. Of the secular clergy no census has been published. Although considerably more numerous than the regular they bear no proportion to the clerical body of Mexico, nor does there exist amongst them that enormous disparity of revenue which Humboldt describes as disgracing the church in New Spain. The peculiar privileges of the ecclesiastical courts remain untouched. The archbishop still has the power of punishing his clergy by confinement, and although for crimes against society or the state, a priest may be judged by the civil courts, no punishment can be inflicted without the consent of the archbishop, to whom he is delivered.

In political matters the body is at the present moment somewhat divided. The disputes with the state of St. Salvador are intimately connected with the claim of a Dr. Delgado to a bishopric, and although by far the greater majority cleave to the archbishop, and the decisions of the court of Rome, still there are a few stubborn dissentients who have placed themselves out of the reach of ecclesiastical discipline.

The friars as a body still live in hope of the re-conquest of the country by Spain, and the consequent re-establishment of their influence. I was much amused to observe the earnestness and mysterious shrug with which one of the old


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Rh fathers inquired the latest news from Europe when we visited his convent, where we found him busily employed in reading a volume of Ivanhoe, and I doubt not devoutly wishing that the happy days of darkness there depicted might once more return, and Friar Tuck and his Britannic Majesty again be bosom friends. A report had been circulated in the city, that a Spanish expedition was preparing in the Havanna, and his tottering limbs seemed to derive new strength from the rumour. It was evident enough that he thought Spain the most powerful empire of the world, although policy obliged him in great measure to conceal his opinions.

The controversy before alluded to, between the two provinces with respect to the right of appointing a bishop, threatens to strike a fatal blow at the influence of the church. In Salvador its effects are plainly visible in the almost universal infidelity which prevails, and among the middle classes of Guatimala the same epidemic malady is rapidly spreading. The spiritual part of the controversy commenced when the people of San Salvador, claiming their right to create a bishopric, appointed Dr. Delgado to the office. The archbishop of Guatimala declaring the appointment to be a privilege of Rome, refused to own his new brother, and appealed to the Pope.

A paper war immediately commenced, one party attacked, and the other defended. In an


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Rh amusing pamphlet, Father José Andres, after denying the right of any government to interfere with the spiritualities or secularities of the church, denounces San Salvador as an infamous adultress, denies the power of the new bishop to absolve from sin, or to administer the sacraments, assures the inferior clergy that as God scattered the tribes of Israel who separated themselves from the house of David, so surely would he destroy those who separated themselves from their lawful bishop, and calls upon the people to come out from the tabernacles of these impious men, lest they be involved in their sins. He insists that the tithes of San Salvador, are due to the church of Guatimala, and says they who withhold them, rob not man but God; concluding with many assurances that money is of little value when compared with the prayers and intercessions of their lawful spiritual advisers. To this Dr. Cañas replies in another pamphlet, and the worthy friar returns again to the field with fresh vigour, and fulminates new anathemas against the self elected bishop. He reminds him of the heavy punishment inflicted upon Ham the son of Noah, for despising an earthly parent, and argues that if his punishment were heavy, much more severe will be the lot of those who despise their spiritual parent the Pope.

In the midst of these disputes the march of infidelity began to be perceived by some of the


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Rh clergy. An earnest address to the clerical body both regular and secular was published by three priests, in which after lamenting the prevailing spirit among the people, to penetrate into mysteries, and both in public and in private to ridicule the dogmas of religion, they call upon their brethren to exert themselves with fresh vigour, and unitedly to oppose the new doctrine. These efforts have however produced little effect in arresting the progress of the contagion, which is rapidly spreading far and wide. San Salvador, at present in a state of complete anarchy, sends forth a weekly newspaper in which the authority of the pope, the celibacy of the clergy, and monastic institutions are openly ridiculed, and quotations from Voltaire striking at the root of all religion, are constantly inserted.

In the midst of these ominous events, the archbishop under the influence of that infatuation which so frequently clings to men in desperate circumstances, has threatened to excommunicate all who obey the new bishop, and has published a violent sermon in defence of the Pope. A few extracts may not be uninteresting. In the dedication to the most holy father Leo XII. the archbishop, after rejoicing in the zeal with which his holiness has defended the rights of the chair of St. Peter, adds, “We pray that holy apostle that he may obtain from God for you long life and


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Rh tranquil times, and that you may see all this new world ever in your fold, and may augment the number of those sheep which Christ has commended to you as his vicar on earth, to lead and guide to heaven.” The sermon commences by an address to the clergy urging them to zeal in these troublous times, and to keep firm in their obedience to the holy see. This preliminary exhortation concludes thus, “behold then the necessity of being within the divine bark of the fisherman, lest we make shipwreck of the faith and become the plaything of the waves, or the unhappy victims of piratical mariners. This tumultuous sea can only be navigated in one boat, in order to arrive at eternal happiness. This the greatest enemies of the church have confessed, and I am about to prove it, as a warning to those incautious and malicious men, who would cast America out of this one ship, and leave her to be tossed in the tempestuous sea of every heresy. For power to address you with effect, and so a to produce fruit, aid me to implore the divine grace through the intercession of Mary, our beloved mother saluting her with the angel “Ave Maria, &c.”

The sermon is founded upon Matt. xiv. 28: “Lord, if it be thou, command that I come to thee upon the water.” Its style is declamatory, and its object is to prove that there is no


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Rh salvation but through the See of Rome. In it he alludes to the wish of some to separate the Americas from the Pope; warns them against following the wicked example of Henry VIII. and Luther, the two great reformers, and quotes thirty confessions of learned Protestants, who acknowledge salvation may be found in the church of Rome: from whence he shrewdly argues, that since Protestants allow this fact, while Catholics assert salvation to be impossible out of their fold, it must be good policy in all to abide within the pale.

He then concludes thus: “O, priests of the Most High! now that you have heard from the mouth of your enemies, that most interesting of all acknowledgements, that there is salvation in the church of Rome, remain firmly seated in the ship of Peter, which can never sink; be united and obedient to the chair of Peter, which can never err; stand firm upon that Rock which can never be moved, the only anchor of our faith, and of our eternal safety. My brethren, venerable for your faith, piety, doctrine, veneration, and obedience to the vicar of Jesus Christ, and successor of St. Peter, announce these truths to your people, that they may be preserved from the flood of heresy which inundates the earth, in this only ark of Noah. Think upon, then, and preach these sayings, that following the voice of the only


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Rh shepherd to whom God has given the keys of heaven, we may merit and obtain an entrance into the church triumphant, by that port whither the holy and secure ship of the apostle, ever living in his successors, is now bearing us. Amen.”

In the midst of controversies such as these, it is vain to look for many followers of the meek and lowly Jesus. The votaries both of superstition and infidelity make their voices to be heard in the streets, but true piety loves the shade, and seeks retirement. It may be that there are those who have not bowed the knee to this two-fold Baal; but if they exist, it is in the secrecy of the closet, and who they are must be left for the day of judgment to declare.

In the absence of better comforters, the lower orders repair at certain seasons, to worship those images which have become celebrated for their miraculous properties. These pilgrimages are often distant, and the journey arduous; but what will not superstition accomplish?

The church of Esquipulas is famous on account of its containing an image of the Saviour crucified, executed in ebony, in 1595, by Cataño, an eminent artist. Its fame for miracles was so great that crowds of pilgrims formerly came from different parts of Mexico, and on the fifteenth of January, its festival, 80,000 people have been known to assemble.


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Rh At the present day, the number is greatly decreased, and not more than from 10 to 20,000 congregate.

At Viejo, about four leagues from Leon, is an image of the Virgin, which is visited in the month of February. This effigy is honoured, according to the account of the natives, as being the gift of the immaculate Virgin Sta Theresa. In short, every province has its wonder-working image, which, notwithstanding political changes, will continue to be worshipped until the universal diffusion of knowledge, and especially of Christian knowledge, dissipates the foolish vision, and scatters their deluded votaries.

During my stay I was enabled to procure the Bibles and Testaments of the British and Foreign Bible Society, and the publications of the Spanish Translation Society, to be exposed in one of the shops for sale; but from what I was able to observe, as well as from the number disposed of, there existed no demand for such books. Other means of throwing them into circulation are not practicable at present. What changes may take place in this respect, before long, it is impossible to say; but it is to be feared many years will elapse before any thing like a taste either for rational instruction or for the most valuable of all knowledge, will become general.


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Rh A few extracts from a journal I kept while in Guatimala, will probably exhibit more vividly the true character of the rigid Catholics than any lengthened disquisition. These memoranda are therefore given in the same form in which they were noted down for my own future perusal, without any attention to order.

June 3. A young student for the church visited us. I offered him Bogue on the New Testament, and Paley's Evidences, to read. He looked at them, said they were very good, but laid them down.

June 4. Passed a convent of monks with M. who showed me the building, and asked my opinion of monastic institutions. I replied “let your light so shine before men, &c.” She said her father wished her when a girl to take the veil, but she declined, and thought it better to be useful in the world. On our return I showed her a copy of the Scriptures as the ground work of all our belief. She asked if it were our custom to read it morning and evening. I said “Yes,” “Very good,” she replied, but exhibited no wish to read it for herself.

June 8. Padre B. visited us this morning. He seems a very intelligent man, and is able to read and translate English with facility. This he has acquired solely by the assistance of an old French


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Rh and English dictionary. His opinions are liberal, he regretted much the want of books in America, and attributed it chiefly to the inquisition, which had prevented the entry of any scientific works whatever. He asked me some questions about the Protestant religion. I showed him Doddridge's Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul, in Spanish, and offered to lend it to him, but he declined; he looked at a few pages and said it was very good. I showed him a Bible in Spanish, he only admired the binding. He wished to know the points of difference between the Anglican and Roman churches. I gave him an English Prayer-book, and pointed out to him the articles. When he came to those on purgatory, transubstantiation, and the adoration of the saints, he shrugged his shoulders, and observed opinions differed. I referred him to the Scriptures, but he declined controversy. From what I have seen of him I suppose him to be a man fully aware of the follies of the Romish church, but unwilling to avow sentiments which cut at the very root of priestly influence. He inquired about the mode of visiting the sick end dying, of administering the sacraments, &c. I explained fully, and informed him that the padres of the Anglican church did not profess to forgive sins, because they knew he only who could read the heart was able.


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Rh June 9. Visited an auction of the goods, pictures and reliques of a deceased padre. The room was full of priests. One of them was bitterly complaining that no one would buy the reliques. These consisted of the gums of some of the saints, enclosed in silver, and a few little images made of the ashes of others. The poor priest declared the neglect of them to be scandalous, some one had observed they were of no use. The paintings were mostly of saints, badly coloured and sold very high. While we were here the archbishop arrived, he was received with the greatest respect, all the priests remaining uncovered in his presence.

June 10. Met with the Canonigo T. When informed that I was a Protestant, he eagerly entered into controversy. I declined setting up one religious establishment in opposition to another, and referred all to the Scriptures. He seems a well read and intelligent man, but better acquainted with controversy than the Bible; and did not at all appear to like the doctrine of the religion of Jesus being so simple, that “a wayfaring man though a fool cannot err therein.” The priests have been careful to leave the impression that Protestantism is necessarily careless, both of doctrine and practice.

June 15. X. called, and finding me alone ridiculed the approaching procession of Corpus as


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Rh absurd. He is evidently an infidel: having never seen religion in a simpler and purer form, he considers it altogether a system of priestcraft; Visited his house the following day. The first book I saw was Voltaire's Philosophical Dictionary. Numbers of French books, although prohibited, have been introduced here. French novels of the worst description are to he met with in abundance, most of these are printed cheaply, with plates wretchedly coloured. Subsequently he received of me Bogue's Essay, and a copy of the New Testament, both of which he promised to read with care and attention.

Visited M. a devoted Catholic old lady. We found her busily occupied in preparing an altar for the approaching procession of Corpus. The base was of wood, covered with looking glass, and hung round with cut glass in festoons, with glass candlesticks. Above this was the altar, on which waswere [sic] placed six massy silver candlesticks, and the whole covered with beautifully executed artificial Bowers, of which she had made three large boxes full. The expense of this was about 150 dollars. To my inquiry as to the benefit of these pageants, the reply was, “It is the custom of our church.” She expressed herself very anxious for my salvation, and assured me it could not be out of the pale of the Romish church. Two priests came in while we were talking. She


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Rh told them who I was, said I had a good heart, but unhappily was not a Catholic. One of the priests, who appeared remarkably ignorant, asked if the English were Christians, and seemed much surprised when told they believed in the divinity of the Son of God and the influences of the Holy Spirit. He seemed to have an idea that Henry VIII. offended with the pope, had established in England a religion of his own, solely the offspring of his own brain; and could scarcely be persuaded that marriage in England was binding for life: this I found afterwards to be very generally discredited. He then proceeded to argue most vehemently in defence of the Pope and of general councils, the doctrine of the real presence, and the mediation of the saints, quoting doctors of theology with the greatest rapidity, and seemed much surprised I was not at once a convert, assuring me when I had heard all the proofs it was impossible to resist conviction.

June 18. The young student before referred to again called, and found me reading the Scriptures. I requested him to hear me, and correct my pronunciation, and by this means read to him the fifth and sixth chapters of St. Matthew. He was evidently pleased when I concluded, and showed no disposition to hear or read more. The second verse of the third chapter is translated “Haced Penitencia, and not as it ought to have been.


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Rh arrepentios. To discover the impression left upon his mind I asked him if the two terms were synonymous. His reply was “No! Arrepentios signifies repentance in the heart. Haced Penitencia, the penance of the church, the mortification of the body.” I had heard it asserted before that no one could be misled by the latter expression, but it is evident that it will be used to support one of the most dangerous heresies of the church of Rome. He subsequently brought me a defence of popery, which he wished me to accept, and received from me in return the first volume of Milner's Ecclesiastical History, which has been translated into Spanish.

Sunday. On this day the shops are closed, and business suspended, but the markets are carried on as usual, and the theatre is open. The Sabbath is by no means sanctified. Three priests were playing at cards with G. in the morning, and in the intervals of the game, the propriety of allowing the theatre to be open was discussed. Some of them argued that in time of war, it was more suitable to think of God, to pray and to fast, than to enjoy the merriment of a comedy; but no one seemed to think his own employment unsuitable for the day. S. and three friends called to invite us to accompany them to the theatre. We declined, stating our reasons. They comforted themselves by the thought that if we kept the


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Rh Sabbath more strictly than they, we did not attend to the various feasts which the Romish church sets apart as sacred. It seems out of their power to imagine that a religion of love can exist, and can only conceive of the Bible being read by Protestants, as a labour for which they hope to receive heaven. T. who was present, appeared to know something of English customs, and explained the strictness with which the sabbath was observed as well as some other peculiarities, and ended by saying—Religious Protestants read the Bible every day, they believe only in the Bible, they regulate all their conduct exactly by the Bible. They are Biblists. The rest were silent and did not seem exactly to like this definition of Protestantism. Happy would it be for Protestants were it more generally a true one.

June 29: Called at the house of Donna Maria E. She has a sister in the convent of Sta Clara. She had just heard from her, stating how happy and contented she was in her solitude, and would on no account change her mode of life. That the world may be in the heart, although the eye is closed to it, they seem to have no conception.

July 12. Padre called in to-day. He asked several questions about Europe, displaying the grossest ignorance. He remarked, that the whole of Europe was not so large as Guatimala, with several other observations equally learned.


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Rh Observing a pair of globes, he looked at them for some time, and astounded me by the discovery that the terrestrial represented Europe, and the celestial, America. How such men can have got ordination, seems astonishing.

July 17. N. has informed me very gravely today, that the question whether or no the Catholic religion shall be the religion of England, has been discussed in the commons, and lost only by a majority of four. From the same quarter, he has heard that in the next year an act will be passed in England, suppressing all the sects, and permitting only popery, and that the cabinets of Madrid and Vienna were treating in order to make Catholicism the universal religion. This information he has received from some priests, and all seem highly delighted with the thought. Yet this individual, on commercial subjects, is a very sensible man. Such remarks only prove the excessive ignorance that exists with respect to the nations of Europe.

July 22. A. sat with withwith [sic] me some time to-day, and blamed me for not confessing to the priest. I gave him my reasons for not doing it. He ended his defence of confession by saying: “But I ought not to talk with you on these subjects; it is sin. I have confessed to my priest a former conversation with you, and he tells me I ought not to enter into any controversy. The priests only


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Rh are sufficiently learned for that purpose. He assures me it is a sin to refer to the Bible, without the notes of the church.” I said, can the priest answer for you to God, or have you to answer for yourself. His answer was melancholy, but striking: “I am a plain man of business, and have had no opportunities of study. He is my spiritual adviser; I have confidence in him, and if he leads me into error, my blood is upon his head.” Had his confessor been present, he would without doubt have willingly received the responsibility with a blindness of heart equal to those of old, who on a different occasion, exclaimed, “His blood be upon us and upon our children.”

July 26. This is St. James' day; all the shops are shut, and it is kept as a feast day. St. James is considered the patron saint of the Americas, and also of Gallicia in Spain. According to their account, he drove the Moors from Gallicia, appearing before the armies of the Christians on a white horse. All these things, with an infinity of fables which belong to the middle ages, are here firmly believed.

July 30. Visited the Cathedral this night, to hear vespers, previous to the celebration of the feast of San Ignatius De Loyola, the founder of the order of Jesuits. It is a neat building, and has a fine organ. On this evening an image of Loyola was placed upon an altar, beautifully


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Rh decorated with artificial flowers, and to it, as well as to the empty pulpit, every passer-by bent the knee. I felt myself an intruder. I could not conform, and I fear only excited anger by non-conformity; indeed, there is a degree of danger, which it is wrong needlessly to incur.

August 6. The total absence of piety and spirituality in the forms of worship, is but too evident. The mere repetition of words, although with a smiling or laughing countenance, is considered sufficient, and in many instances a want of decency is observable which even policy would seem to forbid.

August 13. Day for the celebration of the transit of the Virgin. In the house of every rigid Catholic, an altar is erected in the sala or parlour, and recitations performed from three till four in the afternoon. The one raised in the house where we dwell, is a cushion, stuffed with wool, and covered with gold lace and spangles; on this, an image of the Virgin lying dead, is placed. She is clothed in gold and spangles, and her head-dress as well as her pillows, are of the best Flemish lace. From three to four prayers are recited to her before this image, and two waxen candles, in silver candlesticks, are kept continually burning. For fifteen nights successively this altar is to be illuminated, and in


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Rh to the afternoon prayers, recitations are to be repeated before it every night, at eight o'clock. I asked how this could be reconciled with the honour due only to the “one Mediator appointed between God and man—the man Christ Jesus;” but could get no other reply than, “Ave Maria Santissima.” The Virgin, is here the chief object of adoration; if any thing be lost, she is solicited to restore it, or to direct where it may be found; if any be sick, she is implored to heal, and on every occasion is addressed as an appointed mediator. The tradition given respecting her transit, as it is termed, in a small book of prayers for the fifteen days, is, “That at the day of Pentecost, she was in the house with the apostles, and was the first who received the gift of the spirit; that a voice was heard from heaven, saying, 'Come, my dove, my friend, my spouse!' and that immediately her soul ascended to heaven, her body remaining on the earth, shining like the sun.” The apostles, it is added, buried it, and after three days, it was raised again, and exalted at the right hand of the Saviour, where she has since remained, to intercede with her Son, for all the faithful.

August 26. Violent thunderstorm with very vivid flashes of lightning; the electric fluid fell in six or seven different parts of the city, scorching the goods in some of the tiendas, but happily


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Rh no lives were lost. At the time it happened we were in the house of Y. who lighted candles before an image of the Virgin, and began to recite prayers. As it continued, still doubting his security, he drew out a charm or waxen relique, which had been purchased at a high price, from Rome, and placed it upon the table, and kneeling before it felt himself at rest, and out of danger.

September 19. In conversing with the priests I have frequently found it difficult to restrain a smile at the eagerness with which they disclaim coercive methods of conversion. Conviction only is in their mouths, as if the Romish Church had never persecuted.

T. to-day defended the worship of images because they were representations of that which is holy. I read her the second commandment, and she at once denied that it was in the Catholic Bible. I fetched her one with the notes of the church, and then she believed, finding it explained away. This did not surprise me, as in all the catechisms for the children, and copies of the commandments, the second is always omitted, while to make up the number, the tenth is divided into two. The fourth is also always greatly altered, the feasts of the church being substituted for the Sabbath. Such abominable


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Rh corruptions of Scripture does Papacy permit and sanction.

November 22. Padre in conversation today, when heated by some paragraphs he had seen in the newspaper, declared, that if he had the power he would at once extinguish the art of printing, and forbid education. To the instruction of the Indians he always objects, as calculated to make them ungovernable. That this is a general, although suppressed feeling, there can be no doubt, and it might be a question worth discussing, how far an exclusive Papal establishment can possibly exist without impairing the liberties of an infant republic, and whether the genius of the one is not directly opposed to the prosperity of the other. The Italian republics might be adduced as a proof of the practicability of their union; but at that time religious opinions did not clash, besides which, they were governed altogether by an aristocracy. Louisiana and Georgia may be said to be Catholic States, but they have no exclusive establishment.

November 24. Padre wishing to convert me, asked what penalty would be indicted upon me on my return to England, if I went to mass and conformed to the Catholic ceremonies here? I assured him, none; at which he expressed his surprise that I did not conform when in a


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Rh country. I told him, religion was too important to change with climate, but he at once offered to answer to God for me, assuring me he possessed the power of pardoning sin, and that what he sealed on earth would be sealed in heaven; yet this man is totally destitute of every kind of religious feeling, and as ignorant as it is possible for man to be.

November 27. Visited M. to-day, who was very ill and thought herself dying. I have frequently been pleased to hear her speak on religious subjects, her doctrines always appearing more scriptural than the rest; yet I found her, in the fear of death perfectly miserable. In my presence she entreated the priest not to leave her for a moment, invoked all the celebrated images of the country, ordered candles to be placed before the images in the house, called loudly upon our Lord of Esquipulas, (a celebrated wonder-working image above 150 miles distant) and vowed if he would restore her, to make a pilgrimage to his shrine, and to give twenty dollars to the poor of Esquipulas. In all this, her thoughts never turned upon the sacrifice of Christ, or the merits of his blood, yet all these things she professes to believe, and I have heard her dwell upon them with pleasure in common conversation.

December 8. Gave to Padre C. a complete set of the Spanish tracts, published by the Religious


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Rh Tract Society in London, which he received with the greatest pleasure. I could dispose of any number of these productions, but I am not sanguine as to the good which might be expected to result. It is not for us to decide where God will give or where he will withhold the blessing; but viewed as means, I conceive millions might be circulated without the conversion of a single soul from the legal and idolatrous system of Popery to entire faith in the one only Saviour. From the circulation of the Scriptures, (even as translated by Scio de San Miguel,) good may be anticipated, but it is future rather than present. Popery throws a thousand chains around its votaries, and until these are broken, and the mind emancipated, and the whole system exposed as Antichrist, no great hope can be entertained for their moral regeneration. The desire to possess a Bible, by no means implies a sense of its value, or a disposition to study it. In Spanish America it has been forbidden fruit, and therefore it is longed for. If it be read, it is with a mind wholly subject to the decisions of the Romish Church, but it more frequently happens, that curiosity being satisfied, it is left on the shelf neglected and


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Rh. Considered ss seed which may one day produce an abundant harvest, its general circulation is however, highly important. These neglected copies may lie like so many trains of combustible matter among the rubbish by which they are surrounded, apparently inefficient and harmless, till some second Luther shall do in the new world, what his predecessor did in the old, boldly apply the torch, and kindle a flame at once purifying and enlightening, whose blaze shall never be extinguished.

December 10. Nothing can exceed the vapidness of the remarks the priests make on the vital truths of the Gospel; they speak of them as of subjects which have to be acknowledged, but may at the same time be despised with impunity.

December 20. Padre complaining of being obliged by his duties to read the service of the mass twice a day—he seems determined however to get through it as carelessly as possible, reading it aloud before us, and smiling and laughing at the same time. He had the assurance to insist at dinner to-day, that God had said in the Gospel that the clergy were the darlings of his eye, and that were they ever so wicked, the laity had nothing to do with it: this he positively asserted to be a literal quotation from Scripture, and his hearers humbly acknowledged the orthodoxy of his doctrine.


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Rh January 6. Padre showed us a silver watch he had just received from some one for whom he was to say six masses. In all probability some poor widow has given it to him to say masses for the soul of her deceased husband, as in this way all the ornaments and plate of those who have not money, is generally disposed of. He laughing, declares it to be a good bargain, and vows he will not say one more than the stipulated number.

Such is Popery, and such are Popish priests in Spanish America. That amongst so numerous a body, there may be found many estimable for their virtues, is as certain as that a far more numerous catalogue might be made of those notorious for their vices. In reflecting on the degraded and corrupt state to which the church has arrived in these parts, the mind is forcibly struck with the striking parallel which might be drawn between its ministers and the scribes and Pharisees of old, as depicted by our Lord. Like them they have a master whom they reverence more than the words of God,—even their own vain traditions. Like them they shut up the kingdom of heaven against men, neither going in themselves nor suffering them that are entering to go in. Like them they devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayers. Like them they compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and


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Rh when he is made, they make him twofold more the child of hell than themselves. Like them they pay strict attention to the external ceremonial, but omit the weightier matters of the law. Like them they boast themselves in the magnificence of their temples, and forget that God is not worshipped in temples made with hands. Like them they clean the outside of the cup and platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. Like them they build the tombs of the prophets and adore the memory of the saints, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, while they themselves are filling up the measure of the iniquities of their fathers.

But the parallel may be carried still further, against Jerusalem, the city of the God of Israel, the peculiar favourite of heaven, and even in the midst of all her corruptions, the only centre of true religion—against her, notwithstanding all her advantages, was the doom pronounced: “Behold, your house is left unto you desolate!” Let the page of history tell how awfully that doom has been fulfilled. Against Rome, the professed head of Christendom, who prides herself that her bishops are received in direct succession from the apostles; who adores the name of Christ, and glories in offering honour to his most devoted followers—against her is the sentence gone forth,


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Rh “Double unto her double, according to her works. How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much trouble and sorrow give her; for her plagues shall come in one day—death, and mourning, and famine! and she shall be utterly burned with fire; for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.” Truly may it be said of her, She is a “whited sepulchre, beautiful indeed outwardly, but inwardly full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.”


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Climate,—Temperature,—Rainy Season,—Thunder Storms,—Earthquakes,—Debility,—Diseases,—Smallpox.

describing cities, ruins, or romantic scenery, every one is in danger of stating rather the species than the degree of his enjoyment; the latter is almost always exaggerated. And even when this is not the case, so much depends upon the state of the body and mind of the individual at the time he experienced his sensations, that it becomes almost impossible for another following the same route to bear witness to his fidelity, by having enjoyed the same degree of delight, or received precisely similar impressions. But in giving the climate of any country, or part of a country, no such risk is incurred, since of all other things this has least to do with the imagination. It may, therefore, be asserted, without fear of contradiction, that Guatimala literally enjoys a perpetual spring.

Situated at an elevation of about 5000 feet above the level of the ocean, in what are called by the natives, “Tierras Templadas,” or the


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Rh temperate regions, this beautiful portion of the new world never feels the intensity of a summer's sun, or knows the stormy blasts of a wintry cold. The thermometer, during the whole year, scarcely varies. The average heat, in the middle of the day, may be considered as from 68 to 70 degrees, Fahrenheit, in the shade.

To this equality of temperature, there are, it is true, a few striking exceptions. During the period of the north winds, a current of cold air sometimes passes over the city in an evening, and produces within a few hours a difference of twenty degrees. Such changes, however, are both rare and transient.

Although the elevation of Guatimala approaches so near to that at which the clouds float over lands contiguous to the sea, this delicious spot is scarcely ever enveloped in those thick fogs which generally descend upon cities similarly situated. The environs, although now neglected, might be made to produce every variety of fruits and vegetables, all of which are capable of being brought to perfect maturity on the neighbouring hills and mountains, which are carpeted, during the whole year, with the most beautiful flowers, expanded in full perfection.

The seasons, instead of dividing to themselves four distinct portions of the year, here mingle, and know only the period of the rains, and of the


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Rh dry weather. The latter begins towards the close of the month of October, and lasts until the end of May, during which time only a few showers occasionally refresh the thirsty ground. But in the beginning of June, the rolling thunders and the forked lightning, begin to echo over the mountains and illuminate the hills, notifying the near approach of the semi-annual rains. The clouds, at first seen only as scattered specks on the horizon, now begin to congregate in the zenith, and copious showers swell the channels, and pour in torrents along the streets.

These seasons however are not so gloomy to the inhabitants, as the term would lead us to suppose. From six in the morning, till three or four in the afternoon, an unclouded sky generally invites the stranger to breathe its pure and genial air, and it is seldom before the latter hour that the firmament becomes obscured and the rains fall. With the exception of some little humidity in the atmosphere, no other inconvenience is experienced than the obligation to spend the evenings at home, an imprisonment only compulsory upon the ladies.

By the middle of October the north winds begin to blow, sweeping along with them the newly formed clouds, accompanied in their retreat as in their entry by electrical explosions, and


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Rh by slight shocks of earthquake. In the months of November and December, these winds blow with considerable force; and some days in the latter month are comparatively cold. Small portions of snow fall on the tops of the highest mountains, and sufficient ice is congealed to supply the city for a few months.

Earthquakes though not unfrequent, do not seem to possess now that destructive force in this region, which we are told they exercised in former times. The principal ones that have affected the city, are thus described by Juarros. He informs us, that the first of importance on record, took place on the morning of the 11th September 1541. “It had rained incessantly and with great violence on the three preceding days, particularly on the night of the 10th, when the water descended more like the torrent of a cataract than rain; the fury of the wind, the incessant appalling lightning, and dreadful thunder, were indescribable. The general terror was increased by irruptions from the volcano to such a degree, that in this combination of horrors, the inhabitants imagined the final destruction of the world was at hand. At 2 o'clock on the morning of the 11th, the vibrations of the earth were so violent, that the people were unable to stand. The shocks were accompanied by a terrible subterraneous noise, which spread universal dismay. Shortly


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Rh an immense torrent of water rushed down from the summit of the mountain, forcing away with it enormous fragments of rocks and large trees, which descending upon the town overwhelmed and destroyed almost all the houses, and buried a great number of the inhabitants under the ruins. When day dawned on the 11th, those who had escaped unhurt from the scourge, rendered all the assistance in their power to their less fortunate neighbours, who were maimed or wounded. They collected the bodies of the dead, and in the evening buried them. To commemorate this calamity, a fast was annually held on the day for twenty years afterwards.

On the 23d of December 1586, another very violent shock overthrew the old city; reducing the greater part of it to a heap of ruins, and burying under them many of the inhabitants. The earth shook with such violence that the tops of high ridges were torn off, and deep chasms formed in various parts of the level ground.

The third commenced on the 18th of February 1651, about 1 o'clock in the afternoon, when a most extraordinary subterranean noise was heard, and immediately followed by three violent shocks, at short intervals from each other, which threw down many buildings, and damaged others. The tiles from the roofs of the houses, were dispersed in all directions, like light straws by a gust of


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Rh wind. The bells of the churches were rung by the vibrations, masses of rock were detached from the mountains, wild beasts were so terrified that losing their natural instinct, they quitted their retreats, and sought shelter from the habitations of men.

A fourth occurred on the night of August 27th 1717, when the neighbouring volcano began to emit flames, which continued with slight shocks of earthquake, until the 28th, when they increased with great violence. The inhabitants became much alarmed, images of saints were carried in procession, public prayers were put up day by day, but they still continued; at last on the night of September 29th, the fate of Guatimala appeared to be decided, and inevitable destruction seemed to be at hand. Great was the ruin among the public edifices, many of the houses were thrown down, and all that remained were dreadfully injured. But the greatest devastation was seen in the churches. The inhabitants fled to the adjacent villages, and did not return till the shocks had ceased for some time, when they began to rebuild and repair their dwellings.

After several other shocks at different times, which effected various degrees of injury, such as the one of 1751, the one of 1757, called the earthquake of St. Francis, and that of 1765, which spread devastation over the province of


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Rh Chiquimula, came the one of 1773, which is thus described. “The year 1773 was the most melancholy epoch in the annals of this metropolis; it was then destroyed, and, as the capital, rose no more from its ruins. In the month of May some few slight shocks were perceived, and on the 11th of June a very violent one took place. Its duration was considerable, many houses and churches were much injured; during the whole of the night the shocks were repeated at short intervals, and for some days afterwards with less frequency. About 4 o'clock, in the afternoon of July 29th, a tremendous vibration was felt, and shortly afterwards began the dreadful convulsion, that decided the fate of this unfortunate city. It is difficult even for those who were witnesses of this dreadful catastrophe, to describe its character or the variety of its undulation; so entirely did terror, and the apprehension of immediate annihilation, absorb all powers of reflection. For several days these shocks continued, and sometimes in such quick succession that many took place in the short space of fifteen minutes. On the 17th of September there was another, which threw down most of the buildings that had been damaged on the 9th of July; and on the 13th of December one still more violent terminated the work of destruction.” Since then, nothing approaching in violence to any of those which have


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Rh been described, has been experienced, and the new city has hitherto remained uninjured.

During our stay at Guatimala, one of the most powerful which has happened for many years, occurred. About one o'clock in the morning we were awoke from sleep by a loud rumbling noise in the bowels of the earth, not unlike the rattling of heavy carriages furiously driven along the pavement. This lasted for about three minutes, and was succeeded by a violent heaving of the ground, causing a sensation somewhat like the rolling of a ship at sea. This motion was not probably of more than two or three minutes continuance, and at its conclusion was followed by a shaking similar to that produced by the motion of a steam-engine. At the first alarm most of the inhabitants sprang from their beds, and the more devout commenced recitations to the virgin. Candles were lighted and placed before the images of the saints, and sleep was banished from most eyes. The whole could not continue more than from six to seven minutes, although the fears of many led them to suppose it of much longer duration. Its effects proved disastrous in the southern provinces, from whence it proceeded, overthrowing or injuring both churches and houses in its course; but with the exception of the fall of one building about a mile from the


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Rh city, it did not do any damage in the immediate neighbourhood.

This temperate climate is as salubrious as it is agreeable. No epidemic at any period of the year, sweeps off its inhabitants; and with the exception of those “common ills which flesh is heir to,” it is free from every pestilential scourge. The few cases of fever which at times make their appearance, are brought by individuals who have contracted them on the coast. Diarrhœa sometimes attacks Europeans on their first arrival, but this seldom acts so powerfully as to produce dangerous consequences. It is generally attributed to some peculiar properties in the water.

Judging by the physical and moral character of the different nations of the world, it would seem that variable climates, subject to a fervent but ephemeral heat, and succeeded in other parts of the year, by a rigorous yet transient cold, are best suited to draw forth the energies of the mind of man, and to give force and vigour to his body. This hypothesis receives additional confirmation from the character, not only of the aboriginal inhabitants, but also of the descendants of the European settlers. The unvarying equability of temperature enjoyed in this favoured land, seems to induce a debility alike injurious both to the body and mind. The weakness of


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Rh the Indian population, although certainly exaggerated by Dr. Robertson, is yet considerable, and accompanied by a pusillanimity of character unusual among savages. The distinguishing characteristic of the creoles, as a whole, may be said to be mildness and inertness, while all the operations of government are marked by a want of energy truly surprising. The females marry early, and are old at forty; and the men at fifty-five exhibit a degree of bodily and mental weakness equal to what we expect at seventy in European countries.

According to the native historian before alluded to, the old city must have been subject to pestilential distempers. The account he gives of one which he says swept away, in three months, one tenth of the inhabitants, is curious, but so vague in its details as to make one almost doubt its authenticity. It happened in the year 1686. He says: “Some of the inhabitants died suddenly, others expired under the most acute pains of the head, heart, and bowels. No remedy was discovered that could check its destructive progress, although many of the deceased were opened to endeavour by that means to come at the cause of the disorder. So great was the number of the infected, that there was not a sufficient number of priests to administer the religious rites—the bells were no longer tolled for the dead


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Rh, and the corpses were buried “en masse” in a common grave. This disease appears to have disappeared independently of human means, and the credit of its removal is given to a miraculous interposition of the Virgin. She had been publicly solicited to interpose for them during three days, and her image during that time had been carried in procession. On the last day, about two in the afternoon, the face of the sacred effigy was discovered to be in a state of profuse perspiration for a long time. This prodigy was immediately certified by two notaries who were present, and from that day the pestilence ceased, and the sick recovered.

The ravages of small-pox have at various times spread desolation through the city, and though considerably checked by vaccination, it still occasionally devastates. This distemper is said to have been introduced into Mexico in 1520, by a negro slave of Narvaez, one of the conquerors, when it carried off one half of its inhabitants, and among others the Sovereign.

It first appeared in Guatimala in 1733, when it swept away in one month 1500 persons. From that time until 1780, it does not seem to have shown itself; but at this last period it again raged with destructive malignity. We are told “that the infected might not die without the administration of the Sacrament, the viaticum


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Rh was, carried from all the parish churches, and also from those of the regular religious orders. The dead were not permitted to be interred in the churches, both on account of numbers, and because the decomposition of bodies in a state of such virulent contagion, might cause injury to survivors: three cemeteries without the city were therefore consecrated for their sepulture.” Inoculation was now, for the first time, practised in Guatimala, with the most complete success; for although so many perished of the contagion, scarcely one of those who were inoculated died. At various intervals, however, it still made its appearance, and vaccination was early introduced.

In the year 1815, a pamphlet was published, by order of the Spanish government, explaining in familiar language, the symptoms of the disease; giving rules for diet, recommending suitable medicines, and strictly forbidding inoculation. It appeals very forcibly to the various orders of the clergy, urging them in their respective flocks, to use every effort for its alleviation, and especially to promote, by every means in their power, general vaccination. A fine bust of Jenner adorns one of the principal fountains, and serves to keep in remembrance the valuable discovery of which he was the author. Since the revolution, the propriety of providing a supply of virgin matter


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Rh has been brought before Congress, and like every thing else, been discussed, agreed to, and neglected. Before I left Guatimala, I delivered to each of their medical men portions of matter, from the National Vaccine Institution of England, hermetically sealed, and accompanied them with exact directions as to the best mode of preserving a constant supply; but such is their ignorance and carelessness, that it is highly probable the greater part of it will be wasted.


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Suburbs,—Villages,—Bee-hives,—Cochineal Plantations,—Grazing Farms,—Bathing Places,—Trip to Antigua, or old Guatimala.

the beauty of the environs, and the majestic character of the neighbouring scenery, rather than to any attraction which the city itself possesses, must be attributed that peculiar charm which compels the stranger to admire Guatimala, and impresses his mind even after leaving it, with the recollection of its loveliness and grandeur. The suburbs, in every direction, abound with pleasing walks, some leading to the hills of Carmen and Calvary, where chapels, called hermitages, are erected; and others, to the different Indian villages by which the city is surrounded. The adjoining country, for two or three leagues, affords numerous beautiful rides, and probably a greater variety of magnificent scenery may be found here, within the circumference of a few miles, than in the neighbourhood of any other city in either hemisphere.

One of the most agreeable pedestrian excursions is to JocotonangoJocotenango [sic], a village about a mile


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Rh distant. On the outside of the town, a fine avenue of trees leads into fields nearly isolated from the surrounding country, by stupendous barrancas, and surrounded in the distance, by a chain of mountains and volcanoes, over the tops of which an immense mantle of dark clouds lies almost perpetually stretched. On a fine evening, these fields are to be seen thickly studded with small parties, reclined upon the grass; some enjoying the cool breeze, and others listlessly gazing upon the majestic prospect. Close by is the village, which consists of a few small houses, a number of Indian huts, and a square or plaza, ornamented by a fine old fountain, which stands in the middle.

Once a year, this spot becomes the busy scene of rustic festivity, by the influx of visitants at the annual fair, which commences on the l4th of August, and lasts fifteen days. The first of these is appropriated to the sale of mules and horses, of which an immense variety are exhibited. The second is the great feast, and devoted to amusement. The middle of the plaza is then occupied by a multitude of Dulce women, who, squatted on the ground, are peeping through their black mantillas, and recommending the various preserved fruits and sweetmeats which they have for sale; a few covered stalls, with toys and ornaments, are interspersed among the crowd,


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Rh and numerous benches ranged around the square, are occupied by hundreds of Señoritas, glittering in all the tints of the rainbow, and differing not less in the colour of their skin than their vestments; gold and spangles are scattered in profusion over splendid lace dresses, and plumes of feathers bend over features of every order, from the thick-lipped and flat-nosed negress to the pale and delicate countenance of the Spanish belle. Fans, adorned with gilded hearts and darts, are flourished and flirted with a tact that would not have disgraced the days of Addison; and all the artillery of Cupid is directed at the crowds of spectators who parade on foot, or prance by on horseback, in order to exhibit their equestrian skill. This diversified scene is, to a stranger, both novel and diverting.

About two leagues to the S. E. the village of Pinula formerly attracted attention from its possessing a kind of seminary for young girls, who were educated free of expense, and maintained themselves by the productions of their gardens and bee-hives. The building which they inhabited appears very similar to a convent, and is now in a neglected state. Scarcely any pupils are to be found within its walls, and this once famed establishment, although sanctioned by royalty, is all but extinct.


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Rh The bee-hives used here are so different both in shape and construction to ours, that a slight description of them may be interesting. In form they are cylindrical, have about three feet in length, and nearly a foot in diameter, and are generally made of wood, with circular doors at each end, the bee entering at a small opening in the middle, which is by its situation generally protected from the rain. The one we saw opened was merely a log of wood roughly hollowed out, with doors at each end. The honey was contained in small bags about two inches long, of which a double row was arranged on each side the hive; the centre contained small cells of comb for the young ones. During the clearing of the hive, the bees flew around the head of the man who was extracting the honey, but did not offer any injury. This species of bee either has no sting, or else possesses that property in too feeble a degree to be dangerous. The honey has an agreeable scent, is much softer, and in taste not so pleasant as that of the European insect.

At short distances from the city many of the inhabitants have nopaleras or cochineal plantations, to which they pay considerable attention. These consist of a certain quantity of ground, carefully fenced in, and planted with parallel rows of prickly pear plants, (the Cactus cochenillifer,) or common Indian fig. Directly after


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Rh the rains have ceased, the insects are sown upon the plant. Twelve or fourteen of these are collected from the parent with a feather, and enclosed all together in a small bag of the maize leaf, left open, and pinned with a thorn to the leaf of the cactus. Seven or eight of these bags are placed on different leaves of the same plant. In a short time the insects begin to breed in the bags, and the young ones crawl out upon the plant. As they grow, they gradually cover themselves with a mantle of white paste, which protects them from injury by the weather, and in the course of three months, they are ready for gathering. This is done by scraping the leaf, and after a sufficient number have been reserved for seed, the rest are either placed upon tins in a large oven, or thrown into hot water. When dried they assume the appearance of small grains, and are ready for sale. A second crop is then sown, and in three months a second harvest is reaped, after which the seed is preserved by covering the plant till the rainy season is passed. After four or five years the cactus decays from


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Rh the quantity of nourishment drawn from it by the insects, and it is then necessary to root them up and plant fresh ones.

The cultivation of this insect was not commenced in Guatimala till the year 1821, and so rapid has been its progress that it is estimated the harvest of the present year will produce 90,000 pounds weight.

The “haciendas de ganados” or grazing farms, are generally several leagues distant. Some of them are very valuable possessions, having good houses connected with the farms, and very numerous herds, but being generally left to the direction of mayor-domos or foremen, they are mostly neglected. The land is so good, and the climate so favourable, that the care and management, which to an English farmer is of the last importance, can here readily be dispensed with; and nobody in Guatimala thinks of taking more trouble than is absolutely necessary.

Some of the wealthy Spaniards were formerly in the habit of expending very considerable sums of money upon these estates, uniting to the grazing department, sugar plantations, and of late cochineal gardens. One of the most beautiful of this description, about a league and a half from the city, strikingly exhibits the thoughtless profusion with which money was wasted upon such undertakings. It is situated upon the side of one


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Rh of the mountains, and commands a fine prospect of the plain of Guatimala, the city, the mountains, and the different Indian villages, scattered about them, forming a panoramic view from this situation remarkably interesting. The house and walks are elevated and laid out in the Italian style. Three stone terraces rise one above another, and a very fine archway adorns the entrance to the outer court. An immense aqueduct on the upper terrace supplies several stone reservoirs, and affords a sufficient quantity of water, both for the sugar mill on the second terrace, and for the irrigation of the whole of the land. Below and all around the buildings, are sugar plantations, orange and lime groves, nopaleras separated by hedge rows of plantain trees, and small Indian huts for the people employed on the estate. The works and edifices alone are said to have cost the original contriver £20,000 sterling; but in so careless a manner are these things executed, that the aqueduct is led through other estates, and is liable at any time to be cut off. This delightful spot is now in the hands of a company of individuals, who leave it to the care of an agent, who in his turn commends it to the care of nature. Neglect appears in every branch, half the produce is wasted, and the buildings are allowed to fall into decay.


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Rh The village of San Juan de Amatitan, and the town of Escuintla may be termed the fashionable bathing places of Guatimala. The former is situated near the lake of the same name, and has a fine river flowing near it, the waters of which are supposed to be medicinal. The latter which is by far the most frequented, although fifteen leagues distant, possesses a similar stream in which the visiters bathe. This place is infested by vermin of every description, the houses are wretched and the accommodations miserable; the climate is excessively hot, and the town so destitute of every comfort, that even chairs must be brought from Guatimala by the fanciful mortals who arrive for the benefit of their health. In the months of January and February the old and the young, the grave and the gay flock hither to derive as they imagine new vigour from the profuse perspiration they experience, and the bracing influence of this wonder-working water. It is amusing to observe how universally prejudice and fashion lead the world in chains; and one can scarcely restrain a smile at the remembrance that four months after the return of the good citizens of Guatimala, from their beloved Escuintla, the enlightened fashionables of Grosvenor square will be deserting country seats, furnished with every luxury, to crowd themselves into dirty garrets at the “adorable Brighton.”


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Rh The Antigua or old Guatimala—and the villages lying between it and the capital, may with propriety be included in this slight sketch of the surrounding country:—let us therefore at once set out for that city. Leaving Guatimala through the southern barrier, we proceed across the plain for about three leagues, when we arrive at the village of Mixco, situated on the declivity of a mountain, which commands a fine view of the valley, the mountains enclosing it, the city and its suburbs. This village is well populated and has a good church, its inhabitants are chiefly potters and carriers.

From hence the ascent is rocky, and steep, and the road continues rough and irregular till we arrive at the village of San Lucas about three leagues further. This place is termed by old Tomas Gage an English Friar, who about a century ago published a tour through Mexico and Guatimala, the granary of the capital, since it was found practicable to keep corn in good, condition here, much longer than in the old city. In the present day however, it has no claim to this honourable title. The cura of this village possesses probably more botanical information than any other native of the republic. He has taken considerable pains in the cultivation of European fruits and vegetables, and had at one period near a thousand different plants in his


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Rh garden. When we visited this spot, it was sadly overgrown with weeds, and appeared greatly neglected, which was attributed by the owner to a long illness from which he had but just recovered, and which had rendered him incapable of superintending it. We found here strawberries, olives, bergamot pears, figs, asparagus, besides a variety of plants and flowers he had received from Europe. This priest appeared to be a very intelligent man, had a tolerable good library, and had evinced both his patriotism and liberality in having had lessons prepared at his own expense for the establishment of a Lancasterian school.

From hence to the Antigua, a distance of three leagues, the road becomes tolerably level, and the scenery romantic. The mountains lie on each side, covered with verdure, and lined chiefly with stunted oaks, while the river which waters the old capital, rolls murmuring towards it at their feet. The view of the city from a distance, is highly pleasing: its situation is beautiful, and the plain on which it stands, very fertile. On approaching near to it, and entering the streets, the traveller is struck with the unique prospect which presents itself. Convents, churches, palaces, and public buildings of every description, stand before his eyes, all ruined and in great measure overgrown with moss: walls, with tremendous openings, and huge stones, tottering as


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Rh if ready to fall upon the head of the passer-by, remain precisely as they did when, fifty years ago, the inhabitants fled from their vicinity, through fear of being swallowed up by their ruins. The very rubbish in many places, has not been removed, and such is the superstitious feeling of the lower orders, that they object to see any portion of the stones appropriated to what they deem unhallowed purposes. These buildings are many of them in a very superior style of architecture, far surpassing similar edifices in the new capital. In the streets near the market-place, the houses have been mostly repaired, or rebuilt; but in some of the outer ones, bare walls, covered with moss, still meet the eye in every direction.

The suburbs constitute one vast garden, filled with vegetables, for the supply of both the cities, or covered with the nopal for the cultivation of the cochineal insect, of which a considerable quantity is annually produced. These gardens are mostly well directed, and regularly irrigated. In the vicinity, are some water-mills, for grinding flour; but the machinery is wretchedly coarse. The number of inhabitants is now estimated at near 16,000, employed chiefly in agriculture, and the streets and plaza are again thronged with a noisy multitude, equally forgetful of the fearful past, and careless of the future.


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Author:Catherine Gasquoine Hartley

Works

 * Life the Modeller (1899)
 * Stories of Early British Heroes (1902) [external source
 * The story of Seville, 1903 external source
 * A Record of Spanish Painting (1904) external source
 * Pictures in the Tate Gallery (1905)
 * The Weaver's Shuttle (1905)
 * Moorish Cities in Spain (1906) external source
 * The Prado (1907)
 * Seville (1907)
 * Granada, Present and Bygone (1908)
 * Velazquez (1908)
 * El Greco (1909)
 * Stories from the Greek Legends (1909)
 * Things Seen in Spain (1911)
 * Spain Revisited (1911)
 * The Story of Santiago de Compostela (1912)
 * Cathedrals of Southern Spain (1913)
 * The Truth About Women (1913)
 * The Position of Woman in Primitive Society (1914, US title: The Age of Mother-Power)
 * Children of the Empire (1916) with Arthur Daniel Lewis external source
 * Motherhood and the Relationships of the Sexes (1917)
 * Women's Wild Oats (1919)
 * Sex Education and National Health (1920)
 * Divorce To-day and To-morrow (1921)
 * The Mind of the Naughty Child (c. 1923)
 * Mother and Son: a psychological study of character formation in children (1923) external source
 * Women, Children, Love, and Marriage (1924) external source

title: Author:Catherine Gasquoine Hartley