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 from the rights secured to the eldest born by the custom of primogeniture. In its modern usage it is practically confined to the money endowment given to the younger children of reigning or mediatized houses in Germany and Austria, which reverts to the state or to the head of the family on the extinction of the line of the original grantee. In English history the system of appanages never played any great part, and the term is now properly applied only to the appanages of the crown: the duchy of Cornwall, assigned to the king’s eldest son at birth, or on his father’s accession to the crown, and the duchy of Lancaster. In the history of France, however, the appanage was a very important factor. The word denotes in very early French law the portion of lands or money given by fathers and mothers to their sons or daughters on marriage, and usually connotes a renunciation by the latter of any future inheritance; or it may denote the portion given by the eldest son to his brothers and sisters when he was sole inheritor. The word apanage is still employed in this sense in French official texts of some Customs; but it was in old public law that it received its definite meaning and importance. Under the kings of the third dynasty, the division of the kingdom among the sons of the dead monarch which had characterized the Merovingian and Carolingian dynasties, ceased. The eldest son alone succeeded to the crown; but at the same time a custom was established by which the king made territorial provision suitable to their rank for his other children or for his brothers and sisters; custom forbade their being left landless. Lands and lordships thus bestowed constituted the appanages, which interfered so greatly with the formation of ancient France. While the persevering policy of the Capets, which aimed at reuniting the great fiefs, duchies, countships, baronies, &c., to the domain of the crown, gradually reconstructed for their benefit a territorial sovereignty over France, the institution of the appanage periodically subtracted large portions from it. Louis XI., in particular, had to struggle against the appanaged nobles. The old law, however, never abolished this institution. The edict of Moulins (1566) maintained it, as one of the exceptions to the inalienability of the crown-lands; only it was then decided that daughters of France should be appanaged in money, or that if, in default of coin, lands were assigned to them, these lands should be redeemable by the crown in perpetuity. The efforts of the kings to minimize this evil, and of the old jurisprudence to deal with the matter, resulted in two expedients: (1) the reversion of the appanage to the crown was secured as far as possible, being declared inalienable and transmissible only to male descendants in the male line of the person appanaged; (2) originally the person appanaged had possessed all the rights of a duke or count—that is to say, in the middle ages nearly all the attributes of sovereignty; the more important of these attributes were now gradually reserved to the monarch, including public authority over the inhabitants of the appanage in all essential matters. However, it is evident from the letters of appanage, dated April 1771, in favour of the count of Provence, how many functions of public authority an appanaged person still held. The Constituent Assembly, by the law dated the 22nd of November 1790, decided that in future there should be no appanages in real estate, and that younger sons of monarchs, married and over twenty-five years of age, should be provided for by yearly grants (rentes apanagères) from the public funds. The laws of the 13th of August and the 21st of December 1790 revoked all the existing appanages, except those of the Luxembourg Palace and the Palais Royal. To each person hitherto appanaged an annual income of one million livres was assigned, and two millions for the brothers of the king. All this came to an end with the monarchy. Napoleon, by the sénatus-consulte of the 30th of January 1810, resolved to create appanages for the emperor’s princely descendants, such appanages to consist for the most part of lands on French soil. The fall of the empire again annulled this enactment. The last appanage known in France was that enjoyed by the house of Orleans. Having been re-established, or recognized as still existing, by the Restoration, it was formally confirmed by the law of the 15th of January 1825. On the accession of Louis Philippe it was united to the national property by the law of the 2nd of March 1832.

APPAREL (from O. Fr. aparail, aparailler, mod. appareil, from Low Lat. adpariculare, to make fit or equal), equipment, outfit, things furnished for the proper performance of anything, now chiefly used of dress. The word is also applied to the “orphreys,” i.e. embroidered strips or borders, on ecclesiastical vestments. APPARITIONS. An apparition, strictly speaking, is merely an appearance (Lat. apparere, to appear), the result of perception exercised on any stimulus of any of the senses. But in ordinary usage the word apparition denotes a perception (generally through the sense of sight) which cannot, as a rule, be shown to be occasioned by an object in external nature. We say “as a rule” because many so-called apparitions are merely illusions, i.e. misconstructions of the perceptive processes, as when a person in a bad light sees a number of small children leading a horse, and finds, on nearer approach, that he sees two men carrying bee-hives suspended from a pole. Again, Sir Walter Scott’s vision of Byron, then lately dead, proved to be a misconstruction of certain plaids and cloaks hanging in the hall at Abbotsford, or so Sir Walter declared. Had he not discovered the physical basis of this illusion (which, while it lasted, was an apparition, technically speaking), he and others might have thought that it was an apparition in the popular sense of the word, a ghost. In popular phraseology a ghost is understood to be a phantasm produced in some way by the spirit of a dead person, the impression being usually visual, though the ghost, or apparition, may also affect the sense of hearing (by words, knocks, whistles, groans and so forth), or the sense of touch, or of weight, as in the case of the “incubus.” In ordinary speech an apparition of a person not known to the percipient to be dead is called a wraith, in the Highland phrase, a spirit of the living. The terms ghost and wraith involve the hypothesis that the false perceptions are caused by spirits, a survival of the archaic animistic hypothesis (see ), an hypothesis as difficult to prove as to disprove. Apparitions, of course, are not confined to anthropomorphic phantasms; we hear of phantom coaches (sometimes seen, but more frequently heard), of phantom dogs, cats, horses, cattle, deer, and even of phantom houses.

Whatever may be the causes of these and other false perceptions,—most curious when the impression is shared by several witnesses,—they may best be considered under the head of (q.v.). Hallucinations may be pathological, i.e. the result of morbid conditions of brain or nerve, of disease, of fever, of insanity, of alcoholism, of the abuse of drugs. Again, they may be the result of dissociation, or may occur in the borderland of sleep or waking, and in this case they partake of the hallucinatory nature of s (q.v.). Again, hallucinations may, once or twice in a lifetime, come into the experience of the sane, the healthy, and, as far as any tests can be applied, of the wide-awake. In such instances the apparition (whether it take the form of a visual phantasm, of a recognized voice, of a touch, or what not) may be coincidental or non-coincidental. The phantasm is called coincidental if it represents a known and distant person who is later found to have been dying or in some other crisis at the moment of the percipient’s experience. When the false perception coincides with nothing of the sort, it is styled non-coincidental. Coincidental apparitions have been explained by the theory of (q.v.), one mind or brain impressing another in some unknown way so as to beget an hallucinatory apparition or phantasm. On the evidence, so far as it has been collected and analysed, it seems that the mind which, on the hypothesis, begets the hallucinations, usually does so without conscious effort (see ). There are, however, a few cases in which the experiment of begetting, in another, an hallucination from a distance, is said to have been experimentally and consciously made, with success.

If the telepathic theory of coincidental hallucinations be accepted, we have still to account for the much more common

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 large majority. Treating this as a vote of want of confidence Aberdeen at once resigned office, and the queen bestowed upon him the order of the Garter. He smoothed the way for Palmerston to succeed him, and while the earl of Clarendon remained at the foreign office he aided him with advice and was consulted on matters of moment. He died in London on the 14th of December 1860, and was buried in the family vault at Stanmore. By his first wife he had one son and three daughters, all of whom predeceased their father. By his second wife, who died in August 1833, he left four sons and one daughter. His eldest son, George John James, succeeded as 5th earl; his second son was General Sir Alexander Hamilton-Gordon, K.C.B.; his third son was the Reverend Douglas Hamilton-Gordon; and his youngest son Arthur Hamilton, after holding various high offices under the crown, was created Baron Stanmore in 1893. Among the public offices held by the earl were those of lord-lieutenant of Aberdeenshire, president of the society of Antiquaries from 1812 to 1846 and fellow of the Royal Society.

Aberdeen was a distinguished scholar with a retentive memory and a wide knowledge of literature and art. His private life was exemplary, and he impressed his contemporaries with the loftiness of his character. His manner was reserved, and as a speaker he was weighty rather than eloquent. In public life he was remarkable for his generosity to his political opponents, and for his sense of justice and honesty. He did not, however, possess the qualities which impress the populace, and he lacked the strength which is one of the essential gifts of a statesman. His character is perhaps best described by a writer who says “his strength was not equal to his goodness.” His foreign policy was essentially one of peace and non-intervention, and in pursuing it he was accused of favouring the despotisms of Europe. Aberdeen was a model landlord. By draining the land, by planting millions of trees and by erecting numerous buildings, he greatly improved the condition of his Aberdeenshire estates, and studied continually the welfare of his dependants. A bust of him by Matthew Noble is in Westminster Abbey, and his portrait was painted by Sir Thomas Lawrence. He wrote An Inquiry into the Principles of Beauty in Grecian Architecture (London, 1822), and the Correspondence of the Earl of Aberdeen has been printed privately under the direction of his son, Lord Stanmore.

The 6th earl, George (1841–1870), son of the 5th earl, was drowned at sea, and was succeeded by his brother John Campbell Gordon, 7th earl of Aberdeen (b. 1847), a prominent Liberal politician, who was lord-lieutenant of Ireland in 1886, governor-general of Canada 1893–1898, and again the lord-lieutenant of Ireland when Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman formed his ministry at the close of 1905.

See Lord Stanmore, The Earl of Aberdeen (London, 1893); C. C. F. Greville, Memoirs, edited by H. Reeve (London, 1888); Spencer Walpole, History of England (London, 1878–1886), and Life of Lord John Russell (London, 1889); A. W. Kinglake, Invasion of the Crimea (London, 1877–1888); Sir T. Martin, Life of the Prince Consort (London, 1875–1880); J. Morley, Life of Gladstone (London, 1903).

ABERDEEN, a royal burgh, city and county of a city, capital of Aberdeenshire, and chief seaport in the north of Scotland. It is the fourth Scottish town in population, industry and wealth, and stands on a bay of the North Sea, between the mouths of the Don and Dee, 130 m. N.E. of Edinburgh by the North British railway. Though Old Aberdeen, extending from the city suburbs to the southern banks of the Don, has a separate charter, privileges and history, the distinction between it and New Aberdeen can no longer be said to exist; and for parliamentary, municipal and other purposes, the two towns now form practically one community. Aberdeen’s popular name of the “Granite City” is justified by the fact that the bulk of the town is built of granite, but to appreciate its more poetical designation of the “Silver City by the Sea,” it should be seen after a heavy rainfall when its stately structures and countless houses gleam pure and white under the brilliant sunshine. The area of the city extends to 6602 acres, the burghs of Old Aberdeen and Woodside, and the district of Torry (for parliamentary purposes in the constituency of Kincardineshire) to the south of the Dee, having been incorporated in 1891. The city comprises eleven wards and eighteen ecclesiastical parishes, and is under the jurisdiction of a council with lord provost, bailies, treasurer and dean of guild. The corporation owns the water (derived from the Dee at a spot 21 m. W.S.W. of the city) and gas supplies, electric lighting and tramways. Since 1885 the city has returned two members to Parliament. Aberdeen is served by the Caledonian, Great North of Scotland and North British railways (occupying a commodious joint railway station), and there is regular communication by sea with London and the chief ports on the eastern coast of Great Britain and the northern shores of the Continent. The mean temperature of the city for the year is 45·8° F., for summer 56° F., and for winter 37·3° F. The average yearly rainfall is 30·57 inches. The city is one of the healthiest in Scotland.

Streets and Buildings.—Roughly, the extended city runs north and south. From the new bridge of Don to the “auld brig” of Dee there is tramway communication via King Street, Union Street and Holburn Road—a distance of over five miles. Union Street is one of the most imposing thoroughfares in the British Isles. From Castle Street it runs W.S.W. for nearly a mile, is 70 ft. wide, and contains the principal shops and most of the modern public buildings, all of granite. Part of the street crosses the Denburn ravine (utilized for the line of the Great North of Scotland railway) by a fine granite arch of 132 ft. span, portions of the older town still fringing the gorge, fifty feet below the level of Union Street. Amongst the more conspicuous secular buildings in the street may be mentioned the Town and County Bank, the Music Hall, with sitting accommodation for 2000 persons, the Trinity Hall of the incorporated trades (originating in various years between 1398 and 1527, and having charitable funds for poor members, widows and orphans), containing some portraits by George Jamesone, a noteworthy set of carved oak chairs, dating from 1574, and the shields of the crafts with quaint inscriptions; the office of the Aberdeen Free Press, one of the most influential papers in the north of Scotland; the Palace Hotel; the office of the Northern Assurance Company, and the National Bank of Scotland. In Castle Street, a continuation eastwards of Union Street, are situated the Municipal and County Buildings, one of the most splendid granite edifices in Scotland, in the Franco-Scottish Gothic style, built in 1867–1878. They are of four stories and contain the great hall with an open timber ceiling and oak-panelled walls; the Sheriff Court House; the Town Hall, with excellent portraits of Prince Albert (Prince Consort), the 4th earl of Aberdeen, the various lord provosts and other distinguished citizens. In the vestibule of the entrance corridor stands a suit of black armour believed to have been worn by Provost Sir Robert Davidson, who fell in the battle of Harlaw, near Inverurie, in 1411. From the south-western corner a grand tower rises to a height of 210 ft., commanding a fine view of the city and surrounding country. Adjoining the municipal buildings is the North of Scotland Bank, of Greek design, with a portico of Corinthian columns, the capitals of which are exquisitely carved. On the opposite side of the street is the fine building of the Union Bank. At the upper end of Castle Street stands the Salvation Army Citadel, an effective castellated mansion, the most imposing “barracks” possessed anywhere by this organization. In front of it is the Market Cross, a beautiful, open-arched, hexagonal structure, 21 ft. in diameter and 18 ft. high. The original was designed in 1682 by John Montgomery, a native architect, but in 1842 it was removed hither from its old site and rebuilt in a better style. On the entablature surmounting the Ionic columns are panels containing medallions of Scots sovereigns from James I. to James VII. From the centre rises a shaft, 12 ft. high, with a Corinthian capital on which is the royal unicorn rampant. On an eminence east of Castle Street are the military barracks. In Market Street are the Mechanics’ Institution, founded in 1824, with a good library; the Post and Telegraph offices; and the Market, where provisions of all kinds and general wares are sold. The Fish Market, on the Albert Basin, is a busy scene in the early morning.

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The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Jaunpur

JAUNPUR, jown-poor, British India, city in the district of the same name in the Benares division, on the river Gumti, 34 miles by rail northwest of Benares. It is a city of great antiquity and was formerly the capital of a Mohammedan kingdom extending from Budaun and Etawah to Behar. It has many fine architectural monuments, among them a gateway of the 16th century, a mosque dating from 1376, the baths of Ibrahim Shah, the bridge over the Gumti, built in 1569-73, and other splendid remains. The city was a centre of revolt during the Indian mutiny in 1857. While it is famous for its perfumes it is no longer commercially important. Pop. 30,473.


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 According to the Observador Medico, the death rate of the city for 1885 was 13,008, of which 6,431 were females, and 5,577 males. The most frequent causes of death were pulmonary and tuberculous affections, which, with pneumonia and bronchitis, made up an alarming mortality of 4,292—about one-third of the whole. Contrary to what might be expected, only 179 deaths occurred from small-pox, while typhus and intermittent and malignant fevers claimed but a small number of victims. After lung diseases, diarrhea and dysentery were the most fatal, running up to 2,866. Allowing that the city of Mexico has a population of 350,000, the annual death rate is a trifle over 37 per 1,000. But if we consider that annually thousands of poor Indians from the hot regions come to Mexico and die from exposure and hardship, the real death rate will not exceed from two to three per cent. From its high rate of mortality arises the reputation of the capital for extreme unhealthiness; but with its primitive system of sewerage, imperfect drainage, and poor ventilation of the houses, no surprise should be felt. Any one who witnesses the repairing and cleansing of the immense sewer canals that are covered over in the middle of the streets, will certainly wonder that the death rate is not higher.

The number of funerals consequent upon such a large mortality is only equaled by the strange manner in which they are conducted. The highest dignitaries of the land and the humblest peon share equal honors in the mode of transit employed in conveying their lifeless remains to their


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192 last resting-places. It was an astute nineteenth century schemer who conceived the idea of employing the street railways as the best method of transporting the dead to the cemeteries. One man owned all the lines of street railway, and in order to carry out his purposes, he bought up all the hearses and their equipments, and thus compelled the public to accept his plan. It works admirably so far. The wealthy may indulge a hearse car, plumed, draped, liveried, and lackeyed, for $120, with an additional one, or perhaps two, for friends. The plainer cars, drawn by one mule, may be procured for $3, while others reach from $12 to $30, including one or two cars, neatly draped, for mourners. But to the stranger eye, accustomed to seeing the long cortege moving solemnly along the streets, with its hearse and weeping mourners, the Mexican plan seems repulsive and devoid of that respect which we pay to the lifeless clay of our loved ones. It reminds one irresistibly of Thomas Noel's famous couplet:

A short sojourn, however, serves to convince the most skeptical of the "fitness of things," the Mexican method being far more expeditious and, it is claimed, less expensive than the old plan.

Any day in the week one may take a car for Tacubaya, and there see the Indians transporting their dead to Dolores Cemetery. I have seen four men bearing on their heads the coffin containing its dead occupant. For miles they tramp steadily along, themselves the only hearse, horses, cortege, or mourners.

with the muffled tread of naked feet, they journey with their dead. At other times one may see a poor woman, bearing upon her head a plain little open coffin, containing her dead child, with eyes wide open and a profusion of gay flowers covering the tiny form. What volumes it tells of the sweetly poetic thoughts, implanted by a divine hand in the heart of a poverty-stricken, bereaved Indian mother!


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 The Valley of Mexico is a basin, elliptical in form, about forty miles long by thirty wide. It is rimmed by mountains of porphyry, and its surface is diversified with lakes and hills. The scenery is unrivaled now as when it first met the enraptured gaze of the Spaniards, who in their enthusiasm exclaimed: "It is the promised land!"

The valley is watered by lakes, both of fresh and salt water. Lake Tezcuco, whose waters once surrounded the capital, has now retreated three miles.

A great portion of the valley was once a vast forest, which was denuded by the vandal conquerors. Hardly a vestige remains to tell of past glories save the grove of ancient cypresses at Chapultepec festooned with their melancholy moss.

In every direction one may gaze on scenes of beauty and grandeur, while in the distance, but ever in view, are the majestic Popocatapetl towering 17,720 feet over the surrounding mountains—and his less familiar but no less sublime consort, Istaccihuatl, pronounced és-tak-se-hwatl.

Popocatapetl ("Smoking Mountain "), with his tall peak, stands side by side with Iztaccihuatl, familiarly called La Mujer Blanca, or the Woman in White. The two mountains unite in forming a feature of intense interest to every stranger. The grand old mountain, lifting his imposing volcanic cone thousands of feet into the clear sky, seems to keep a majestic watch over the motionless slumbers of the Woman in White. The Smoking Mountain is silent now; but who can predict that the sleeping citizens of Mexico will never more be rudely awakened by his convulsive shakings and awful thunders?

The Indians, with their endless legends and traditions, wove a romantic story of these mountains. With their love for the marvelous, they attribute the Titanic mutterings of Popocatapetl to grief for his beautiful Iztaccihuatl, who sleeps on regardless of his thunderous tones.

The Woman in White lies stretched out as in a long and peaceful slumber—the rugged brow of the mountain forming the bier upon which she rests.

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196 their tents, and wandered under the shadows, and looked in awe on the grand entombment under the open heavens, of the dead woman. They have come and gone, disappeared forever from the sight of man, but, clad in her garments of perpetual snow, lying on her grand bier, through summer suns and winter frosts, Iztaccihuatl sleeps on.

With her arms folded over her ice-clad breast—her knees drawn slightly upward, with the limbs gracefully sloping, the figure of the sleeping woman is completely outlined on the mountain top. Her icy tresses flow unconfined over the dark mountain sides. Thrown over all is a winding-sheet, which falls in graceful folds, covering the dead, frozen woman.

Often, when the sun is descending behind the last dome on the western range, she may be seen, with a golden, cloud-made scarf, shaded to pale pink, that finally melts into a gauzy serape, which heightens the mystical charm of this fascinating mountain. The handmaidens of the sky who imperceptibly decorate this sleeping lady live and float afar off in the realms of eternal blue; and by mysterious instinct seem to know when she will look more lovely with a change of her dainty draperies. Stretching down their shadowy fingers, these ministering spirits catch up the fleecy masses of clouds as they hurry swiftly along, envelop her in their vapory shroud, and imprint kisses on her placid brow, and, whispering mournful words of endearment, pass silently back to their heavenly home.

Once, on a visit to Tlalpam I glanced into the clear waters of a shimmering lake. Reflected on its glassy bosom were these two mountains—peaceful, snow-clad, and as exquisitely limned under the matchless sky as though the water was a canvas, and a giant master-painter had planned and painted the whole grand scene.

The immutable laws of God create sublime works of sculpture and sublime paintings. Stand afar from Smoking Mountain and the Woman in White. Stand in their shadows, when the sun is sinking behind their lofty summits. The one rises, bold, rugged, misshapen,


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Rh and chaotic. It may be, perchance, once on a time, that he was linked with the snow-white and pure Iztaccihuatl; and charmed the eye as he nobly towered over her—the two one. But his rude, tumultuous violence severed from his side, nevermore to again return, the Woman in White, who was once a part of his soulless self. His mutterings were heard for a time; but the fabled anguish that once found vent is no longer heard; his grief for his once loved Iztaccihuatl is hushed. Men suffer and are silent, mountains are silent but suffer not. Men and mountains may never grieve, because they may be alike soulless. Contrasting with the dark, gloomy cone that seems to scowl on the scene, ever ready to break out into angry thunders, and startle the sleeping world, is clearly outlined against the sky the Woman in White at rest upon her couch in the peaceful sleep of the just or the dead. Her face is upturned to heaven, white, cold, beautiful, looking into the great unknown depths of the sky, smiling in her hopes of the great hereafter, unmindful of the grim, misshapen cone that towers from afar.


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Mexicans Brantz Mayer wrote as follows: "I have found them kind, gentle, hospitable, intelligent, benevolent, and brave. . . . In fact, regard them in any way, and they will be found to possess the elements of a fine people, who want but peace and the stimulus of foreign emulation to bring them forward among the nations of the earth with great distinction. . . . There are of course in Mexico, as in all countries, specimens of egotism, selfishness, haughtiness, ill-breeding and loose morals, both among the men and the women; but, although we find these floating, like bubbles, on the top of society, they must not therefore be considered the characteristics of the country. . . . With domestic virtue, genius, and patriotism, no people need despair; and it should be the prayer of every republican that enough of these still remain in Mexico to reconstruct their government and society."

In speaking of their politeness, Mayer continues: "The 'old school' seems to have taken refuge among the Mexicans. They are formally, and, I think, substantially, the politest people I have met with. The respect for age, the sincerity of friendship, the results of reading and education, and the honest, unpretending naturalness of


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The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Jáurequi y Aguilar, Juan Martínez de

JÁUREQUI Y AGUILAR, hou'rạ-gē ē ä'gē-lär, Juan Martínez de, Spanish poet: baptized Seville, 24 Nov. 1583; d. Madrid, 11 Jan. 1641. He studied at Rome and in 1610 is known to have been in Spain with a reputation

as both painter and poet. He is supposed to have painted the portrait of Cervantes mentioned in the prologue to ‘novelas exemplares,’ which is believed to be the one now in the possession of the Real Academia Española; and his translation of Tasso's ‘Aminto’ (Rome 1607) is praised in the second volume of ‘Don Quixote.’ His ‘Rimas’ (1618) comprised a collection of charming lyrics, and in its preface the poet severely scored the affectations of the school of Góngora. He was appointed groom of the chamber to Philip IV through the influence of Olivares, and afterward won the Order of Calatrava through his spirited presentment of his views of the art of poetry in ‘Discurso poético contra el hablar culto y oscuro’ (1624). Later, however, Jáurequi fell under the influences he had so strenuously combated, his ‘Orfeo’ (1624) showing evidences of the Góngora cult, while his translation of the ‘Pharsalia,’ published posthumously (1684), shows him a full convert to the method. His reputation rests upon his earlier work. An edition of his poems was published in ‘Biblioteca de autores españoles’ (Vol. XLII, Madrid 1857). His translation of the ‘Aminto’ was edited by Lopez de Sedano in ‘Parnaso español’ (Vol. II, Madrid 1768-78).


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Rh character, for which, over all other people I have ever met, I think the best of them are remarkable." . . . "The fine benevolence of ancient friendship, the universal respect for genius, a competent knowledge of the laws and institutions of other countries, a perfect acquaintance with the cause of Mexican decadence, and a charming regard for all those domestic rites which cement the affections of a home circle may all be observed and admired within the walls of a Mexican dwelling."

Brantz Mayer, above all other writers, not even excepting Madame Calderon de la Barca, has observed more closely and written more sympathetically and faithfully of Mexican characteristics. In dealing with this subject, it will be understood that reference is had only to the higher and more cultured classes of society.

During the more than forty years intervening since this distinguished writer gave expression to these views, ten years only of which have brought to Mexico the precious boon of peace, the changes occurring and the onward march of events in that country have proved the correctness of his assertions. With every possible distracting cause, calculated to foster and encourage ignoble traits and retrograde ideas, they have not only continued brave and patriotic, but their social and domestic institutions have remained sacredly intact. Let the unsympathizing comment as they may upon the hapless fate of poor Mexico, it is not to be gainsaid that perhaps no country in the world has politically presented a more desolate picture, nor yet one that speaks a nobler lesson.

But by sympathetic intuition a woman attributes to the women of Mexico that undercurrent of social and domestic regeneration which has purified and preserved her institutions. While the men have been engrossed in war and revolution, with their train of direful results, the women, in the seclusion of their homes, have kept an ever-


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User talk:Earle Martin

— billinghurst  sDrewth  15:26, 14 September 2012 (UTC)

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200 faithful watch over the domestic virtues, and the happiness and welfare of those whom God has given them.

In repose, there is in the eye of every Mexican an expression of deep sadness which is hardly accounted for by recent history, however tragic, and must have been transmitted to the race through the miseries of martial conquests.

It has occurred to me that the women have inherited a larger portion of this constitutional melancholy than the men. I have been more convinced of it on meeting and conversing with them in their own homes. When the death of a member of the family was referred to, which had taken place years before—perhaps a son or a husband killed in battle—the grief seemed as deep and uncontrollable as if it had happened on that day. They are all patriotic, and if the country suffers, it is a part of themselves, and is reflected in their lives.

The Mexicans are by nature close observers of physiognomy, and, though shy, are sharp critics of the bearing of strangers. Their extreme isolation has probably added to the natural impulse. It does not follow that they criticise adversely; but they weigh one's lightest syllable in their own balances. Upon their first coming in contact with a stranger, they expect him to look them clearly in the face; and be sure they are watching every movement and expression with the keenest suspicion. Whatever may be their own failings, they are wonderfully endowed with the power to "fix you with the eye;" and you are expected to meet it bravely, and not to quail under the penetrating glance. To an infinite degree are the women expert in reading character, probably more so than our own more world-experienced and educated countrywomen.

It is no matter of surprise that they are distrustful of strangers, when the most they have known of them has been in the way of armed forces seeking to crush out their national existence. Their hospitality, too, having so often met with unwarrantable criticism personally and in the press, they cannot be expected to welcome the stranger over their threshold without caution and misgiving.


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Rh A kindly and sympathetic warmth is always heartily reciprocated, while coldness at once repels. To desire their friendship is to deserve it, especially if the wish be tempered by the observance of the golden rule. No people are better aware of their national, political, and social defects, but, being sensitive, nervous, and very proud, an adverse criticism from the thoughtless and ungenerous stranger naturally wounds, and induces that reserve which is so largely national, and which it is so difficult to overcome. When a disposition is manifested to meet them on equal terms of friendly good-will, and proper deference is shown to their customs, it will be found that no people are more delightful, socially, more faithful as friends, or more ready to serve the stranger from whatever land, than the Mexicans.

Hospitality is one of the national characteristics, but it is of a nature peculiar to itself, and, contrary to our customs, the latch-string hangs on the inside, for the court circles of Europe are not more exclusive than the higher classes of society in Mexico. The architecture of the houses—their barred windows and well-guarded doors, which prevent intrusion from prying curiosity—together with the climate and customs, conspire to incline the people to lead exclusive lives. It is manifested even in the choice of vehicles, closed carriage being almost invariably used, though with such air and skies the reverse might naturally be expected. The first aspiration, with them, is to make home beautiful, and to this end every element of a cultured and refined taste is duly provided and cared for within the massive doors. The exquisite beauty of the rare and gorgeous flowers in the patios affords constant pleasure by day, while by night they have only to glance upward to obtain wondrous visions of a star-gemmed firmament.

Letters of introduction, even, will not always secure access to the inner circle of the home life. Comparatively speaking, few are accorded this privilege. But when once admitted by personal friends, especially if accompanied by them on the first visit, all formality and reserve are at an end, and the most gracious attentions are freely


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202, the veriest stranger feeling that he is no longer such. A genuine glow of pleasure has often been mine on finding that their inborn distrust of foreigners had melted away in my first intercourse with them. On passing many handsome houses in the large cities, and halting to admire the beauty and luxuriance of the flowers in the court, on seeing me the gentle voice of the dueña de la casa (lady of the house) would bid me enter and inspect them to my satisfaction. When this was done, and my hands filled with flowers, I was invited to the sala, chocolate ordered, and on departing—certain we would never meet again—a warm embrace, a cordial shake of the hand, and a "Vaya V. con Dios!" ("God be with you "), heartily given.

They are endowed by nature with a highly nervous and sensitive organization, with jealousy for a birthright; and amongst intimate friends of their own nationality they are easily offended, but less so with foreigners. And I have observed that the higher the altitude the more evident are these tendencies, attributable, probably, to both climate and elevation.

Much as the Mexicans love their homes, their language contains no word expressive of the meaning of the word "home." They have only casa (house), and hogar, but little used and lacking euphony. Another fact—the absence of chimneys, depriving them of the pleasures of the fireside, renders it only natural that they should seek diversion outside. The balmy air invites them to life al fresco, consequently the morning promenade, which usually includes the mass at church, the afternoon drive, and perhaps the theater at night, constitute their chief sources of outdoor recreation and amusement.

No people more eminently possess the faculty of entertaining their friends in a royally hospitable way. An assemblage of five hundred guests is as well taken care of as fifty, and no one feels neglected. They are convivial and joyous, mingling freely with one and all; gay sallies of wit and sparkling repartee rule the hour. But, at the same time, a remarkable dignity characterizes their every movement.

In the majority of the towns and cities the ringing of the cathedral bells, at ten o'clock, calls the people from their places of


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Rh to their homes, and the streets become as quiet and silent as the campo santo (grave-yard).

In all their professions of friendship, I have found them frank and sincere, and untiring in their demonstrations to the favored person who has won their regard. While this sincerity is unquestionable, they are yet gifted in a high degree with the pretty art of evasion. Let one who has had trouble confide in them, and let them be but fully convinced that they are the trusted custodians of such confidence, and nothing can induce them to betray the trust so reposed. The penalty of severest punishment cannot wring from them a secret intrusted to them. But by the dainty manipulation of their admirable tact and diplomacy, the inquirer is satisfied and not one syllable betrayed. As well try to make an incision in the side of Popocatapetl with a penknife as extract from a Mexican what he does not want to tell you.

It is asserted by some writers that there is no middle class. It is my opinion, founded upon careful observation and inquiry, that there is not only at this time a very large and influential middle class, but that every year it gains large accessions from the humbler class, who are making giant strides to a nobler place in life through the fine educational advantages now afforded them. In this connection I must say that, while access to the higher strata of society is difficult, the middle class vie with them in their hospitality, never turning a stranger from their doors, and some of the most delightful acts of courtesy and kindness that I ever met with in that country have been extended me by the ever faithful and gentle middle class. With them letters of introduction are unnecessary.

They may not own their homes, but there is an air of pretty neatness about their houses; an unobstructed freedom, a gentleness of manner, which I say unqualifiedly is not equaled anywhere. It is from this class that are springing up every year men of genius and talent, of unremitting toil and study, which will enable them to take that honored station in their chosen field of labor which, in all countries, is the reward of untiring patience and fidelity to any cause.


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206 The forms of greeting and salutation are numerous, and among them none is so distinctively national as the abrazo. Men fall into each other's arms and remain thus for several minutes, patting each other on the shoulder and indulging in all sorts of endearing epithets.

Another form, rather less diffuse, may be seen any time on the street and promenade, not only among men, but also between friends of opposite sex. In the quickest, most spirited manner, the arms of both parties are outstretched; they rush together for a second, their breasts barely touch, and while the observer is watching for a kiss to follow this ardent salute, they separate and the abrazo is finished. The extreme frankness accompanying it compels one to rather admire the custom; for it means no more than hand-shaking among Americans.

A mere introduction between men assumes elaborate proportions. Señor Calderon says: "I have the honor to present to you my friend, Señor Ojeda, a merchant of this city; "whereupon Señor Ojeda replies: "Your obedient servant. Your house (meaning his own) is in —— Street, where I am at your orders for all that you may wish; "or, "My house is muy a su disposicion" ("entirely at your disposal; make yourself at home").

From this profusion of politeness, doubtless, has arisen the impression that the Mexicans are devoid of sincerity; when in truth the recipient of such offers would alone deceive himself should he suppose that the Mexican proposed to make him a gift of his house.

Hand-shaking goes to extremes. If friends meet twenty times a day, the ceremony must be gone through as often.

It is not sufficient for gentlemen merely to touch the hat-brim, in passing each other or any friend; but the hat is removed entirely from the head, whether driving, riding, or walking. I noticed a little pantomime they go through when one gives a light to another. He draws his right hand quickly to his breast, in a second extends it outward, tipping his hat-brim three times, which is all repeated by the one who has lighted his cigar.

I saw on Calle Plateros, one day, two splendid carriages each


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Rh occupied by one man. On seeing each other, the carriages were halted, both alighted, removed hats, shook hands, embraced, talked for a few moments, again embraced, shook hands, bowed, took off hats, and each entered his carriage and went his way.

Among women the salutation assumes a more confidential form; the stranger receives a gentle tap of the right hand upon the left shoulder, and then a generous shake of the hand; while more intimate friends not only tap each other, but also kiss, not on the lips, however, merely laying the cheeks softly together. The Mexican mode is to be commended.

A lady admires some ornament or article of wearing apparel; instantly the possessor gracefully informs her it is "muy á su orden" ("at your orders "). Changing residence requires that cards be sent announcing the fact, and placing it "muy á su orden," otherwise visiting ceases. Young babies are also placed "muy á su orden." In writing notes of invitation, the Mexican lady always closes with, "We will expect you here, at such an hour, at your house."

A vein of sentiment and poetry, however, runs through every detail of their lives, which forms the motive power of that fastidious nicety which regulates social intercourse. A spray of flowers sent as a token will be first pinned over the heart, the pin left in it, indicating the pledge as a part of the personality of the donor, hence more sacred; or a note may contain a pansy, with a dainty motto inscribed on its petals.

In letter writing or in making a formal acknowledgment, politeness and high-bred courtesy govern; even the President would make himself the individual under obligation.

No gifts are made at Christmas, but on "El Año Nuevo" ("The New Year") tokens of all sorts and kinds, and cards, are sent to friends, with "felicitaciones."

Visiting is the same as in all well-regulated society, except that strangers must send their cards and make the first call. A short visit is not appreciated, as it would indicate coldness and formality. Everything is given up to the guest, let the time be long or short,


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208 and a Mexican lady never continues the performance of any duty, however urgent, or engages in anything that would distract her attention from her guests.

On entering a Mexican home, after an absence of months or years, if you are an old friend, the reception you meet with is overwhelmingly joyful. Every member of the household in turn gives you an embrace; you are seated on the right-hand end of the sofa, and then a thousand kind inquiries follow in regard to relatives, and many interchanges of thought and incidents that have occurred in your absence. You are allowed to do nothing for yourself, for the entire family, from the least to the greatest, perform a part in entertaining and making you feel at home.

But it is a difficult point in Mexican etiquette, that of seating visitors. Guest and host vie with each other in politeness, and sometimes several minutes are occupied in this courteous contest.

On leaving, the visitor is always entreated to remain longer, but when he must go, they "speed the parting guest" with all the fervor with which he is received.

Gentlemen bow first on the street, but ladies have the advantage in the house; for even if the President were to call, the lady of the house is not expected to rise from her seat to receive him.

In walking, ladies hold the right arm of the gentleman. The right-hand side of the back seat of a carriage, and the right-hand end of a sofa, are the places of honor reserved for the guest.

At balls introductions are not necessary for gentlemen to ask ladies to dance, and in private houses all are supposed to be ladies and gentlemen.

A lady retains her maiden name in marriage, and her visiting cards are engraved with her own name with the prefix of de before her husband's—as, Josefina Bros de Riva Palacio. Madame de Iturbide, as known in the United States and Europe, in Mexico is simply Alicia G. de Iturbide.

It is better for foreigners to have visiting cards engraved after the fashion of the country if they intend mingling with Mexican society.


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Rh Mexicans are as fastidious in the style and quality of paper and envelopes as in everything else; even the minutest detail is de rigeur. In high society, only the finest paper, with monogram in gold or silver, or elaborately engraved with the name inside the monogram, is selected. Some of the daintiest informal little notes I have seen, passed between lady friends—written on the finest paper, and then by deft fingers folded in the form of a leaf or flower, with the address on one tiny petal. In all correspondence the rubrica or firma must be used; neither the nature of what is written, nor the name, has any significance without the peculiar flourish beneath. This is taught in the schools, and the more elaborate the better. The rubrica is a receipt, a part of every business obligation or social correspondence. Every public document closes with "Libertad y Independencia" or "Libertad en la Constitution" and in sending an agent to a foreign country, every document relating to the business bears his photograph—perhaps a wise precaution.

In exchanging photographs, it is customary to dedicate them with a pretty sentiment or verse, and the date—not infrequently the age, also—is added.

Smoking publicly is not now customary with señoritas, but I have been told they indulge in this harmless and, with them, graceful pastime in private. Matrons smoke without reserve, and as a matter of course, men are habituated to the indulgence everywhere—no place in the house being exempt from the odor of the cigarette. Pipes are not used, and a delightful offset to smoking is that there is no chewing.

Many of their forms of daily and general politeness may seem empty and meaningless; but there is no more insincerity intended than in some of our own social small coin. It will be borne in mind also that these are not the characteristics of cities or city people, but belong equally to smaller towns and villages. In mingling with the people, their hospitalities and courtesies should be received in the same kindly spirit in which they are given.

Even in the country, on lonely haciendas, everything is free and open-handed. Your servants have the freedom of the kitchen and


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210 stables, the host gives up to you his place at the table, and often, on resuming the journey, will ride half a day, to lead you safely through some mountain defile or dangerous, bandit-infested place—and then the parting is as earnest and as zealous as word and manner can make it.

Natives of climes more frigid may contrast the formal bow, the restraint and stiffness of a possible shake of the hand, and the greeting commonly observed by their own countrymen, with the native ease and graceful cordiality to be met with here. Hence, an introduction into a select circle in Mexico makes a never-to-be-forgotten episode in the life of the favored stranger, cementing the ties which bind him to the country.

Wherever the fates may direct him, he will often experience a yearning to revisit a land where he was ever the recipient of a gracious courtesy scarcely to be found elsewhere. But few Mexicans, save those in diplomatic service, take up their permanent residence in other countries, especially among the Anglo-Saxons. The coldness and formality they there encounter freeze their own warm and cordial manner.

Like the Frenchman, the Mexican talks quite as much with hands and eyes as with his tongue. He shrugs also, but not so unceasingly as his brother Latin.

These gestures are rendered very attractive by the appropriate and graceful manner in which they are used. They are seen as much in the street or horse-cars as in the house.

One of the prettiest and most cunning of all the hand motions is called Beso Soplado, throwing kisses by gathering the finger of the right hand in a close group, touching the lips, then throwing them out fan-like, at the same time blowing on the hand as it is outstretched toward the object for whom the demonstration is intended, thus indicating that five kisses are given at once.

Illustration No. 1 of these movements, "un momentito," signifies the desire to postpone a departure or return, or the performance of some duty, then necessary. In a twinkling the taper fingers


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 to the intention of the Government to introduce a measure authorising them to make free grants of 160 acres of land to settlers who will clear, fence, improve, and reside. The Premier also proposes that the Government shall advance money to the extent of half the value of the improvements made, not exceeding a maximum in any case of £150 at five per cent. interest. This intelligence only comes by cable, and is still a matter for parliamentary consideration.

PHILIP MENNELL.


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 I.

no desire to get up what is called a "boom" in Western Australia, though that peculiar phenomenon has often uprisen on slighter grounds than those which are now directing public attention to the undeveloped resources of what, in a sober and sensible spirit, may justly be styled the "Coming Colony."

The "outer man" of Australia, as a whole, is monotonous and unattractive from a picturesque point of view, and its fauna and, to an extent, its flora, present characteristics which, even in the tropical regions, make tameness their chief attribute. Even the fast-disappearing natives lack the nobility of the Maori or Zulu, and though occasionally dangerous to the detached settler, have shown no disposition to war with the white intruder in the open. South Africa, on the other hand, with its more luxuriant vegetation, its man-devouring animals, and its warlike aborigines, presents just that element of romance and danger which renders colonisation piquant to the "young bloods" of the time. Western Australia, though a veritable land of flowers, participates in the prevailing characteristics of the rest of the continent. In a word, whilst to the nineteenth-century representatives of the "gentlemen adventurers"


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348. I remember editors from New York, impressive creatures; and Members of Parliament, hangers-on of the literary world of London; and actresses, its lions, when in England:—Janauschek, heavily tragic off as on the stage, for whom my Uncle's admiration was less limited than mine; and Miss Genevieve Ward, playing in Forget-Me-Not, her one big success, for she failed in the popularity to repeat it that comes so easily to many less accomplished. How timidly I sat and listened, marvelling to find myself there, feeling like the humble who shall be exalted in the Bible, looking upon my Uncle's rooms as the literary threshold from which I was graciously permitted to watch the glorious company within.

III

I had gone no further than this first, tremulous ardent stage in my career when my Uncle deserted his memorable rooms never to return, and J. and I started on the journey that we thought might last a year—as long as the money held out, we had said, to the discomfort of the family who no doubt saw me promptly on their hands again—and that did not bring me back to Philadelphia for over a quarter of a century. Of literary events during my absence, somebody else must make the record.

When I did go back after all those years, I was conscious that there must have been events for a record to be made of, or I could not have accounted for the change. Literature was now in the air. Local prophets were


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 collective Note from the Ministers of these Powers at Constantinople, dated 27th July, 1839, to the following effect : —

The undersigned have this morning received instructions from their respective Governments, in virtue of which they have the honour to inform the Sublime Porte that agreement between the five Powers is insured, and to invite the Porte to suspend any final determination without their concurrence.

It is well known that the policy of France subsequently diverged from that of the other Powers ; which, without her, signed the Treaty of London of 15th July, 1840, to the following effect : — In the name of the Most Merciful God. His Highness the Sultan having addressed himself to their Majesties the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary and Bohemia, the King of Prussia, and the Emperor of all the Russias, to ask their support and assistance in the diflSculties in which he finds himself placed by reason of the hostile proceedings of Mehemet Ali, Pasha of Egypt, — difficulties which threaten with danger the integrity of the Ottoman Empire, and the independence of the Sultan's throne, — their said Majesties, moved by the sincere friendship which subsists between them and the Sultan ; animated by the desire of maintaining the integrity and independence of the Ottoman Empire as a security for the peace of Europe ; faithful to the engagement which they contracted by the Collective Note presented to the Porte by their Representatives at Constantinople, on the 27th of July, 1839 ; and desirous, moreover, to prevent the effusion of blood which would be occasioned by a continuance of the hostilities which have recently broken out in Syria between the authorities of the Pasha of Egypt and the subjects of the Sultan; their said Majesties and His Highness the Sultan have resolved, for the aforesaid purposes, to conclude together a Convention, and they have therefore named as their Plenipotentiaries, that is to say : —

Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Right Honourable Henry John,


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Rh acknowledged, if not by all Philadelphia, by little groups of satellites revolving round them. Literary lights had come from under the bushel and were shining in high places. Societies had been industriously multiplying for the encouragement of literature. All such encouragement in my time had devolved upon the Penn Club that patronized literature, among its other interests, and wrote about books in its monthly journal and invited their authors to its meetings. During my absence, not only had the Penn Club continued to flourish—to such good purpose that J. and I were honoured by one of these invitations and felt that never again could Fame and Fate bring us such a triumphant moment, except when the Academy of Fine Arts paid us the same honour and so upset our old belief that no Philadelphian could ever be a prophet in Philadelphia!—but Philadelphia had broken out into a multitude of Clubs and Societies, beginning with the Franklin Inn, for Franklin is not to be got away from even in Clubland, and his Inn, I am assured, is the most comprehensive literary centre to which every author, every artist, every editor, every publisher who thinks himself something belongs to the number of one hundred—that there should be the chance of one hundred with the right to think themselves something in Philadelphia is the wonder!—and in the house in Camac Street, which one Philadelphian I know calls "The Little Street of Clubs," the members meet for light lunch and much talk and, it may be, other rites of which I could speak only from hearsay, my sex


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 — A copious Greek-English Vocabulary, compiled from the best authorities. 1850. 24010. 3J.

A Practical Introduction to Greek Accentuation, by II. W. Chandler, M.A. Second Edition. 1881. 8vo. los.dd. Hehrew. — The Book of Hebrew Roots, by Abu '1-Walid Marwan ibn Jan.^h, otherwise called Rabb! Youah. Now first edited, with an Appendix, by Ad. Ncubauer. 1875. 4to. 2/. 7^. dd.

A Treatise on the use of the Tenses in Hebreiv. By S. R. Driver, M.A. Second Edition, Revised and Enlarged. 1881. Extra fcap. 8vo. 7j. dd.

Hcbrezv Accentuation of Psalms, Proverbs, and Job. By William Wickcs, D.D. 1881. Demy 8vo. stiff covers, ^s.

Icelandic. — An Icelandic- English Dictionary, based on the MS. collections of the Inte Richard Cleasby. Enlarged and completed by G. Vigfusson, M.A. "With an Introduction, and Life of Richard Cleasby, by G. Webbe Dasent, D.C.L. 1874. 4to. 3/. 7^.

A List of English Words the Etymology of which is illustrated by comparison ivith Icelandic. Prepared in the form of an Ari'ENDix to the above. By W. W. Skeat, M.A. 1876. stitched, 2s.

An Icelandic Prose Reader, with Notes, Grammar and Glossary, by Dr. Gudljiand Vigfusson and F. York Powell, M.A. 1879. Extra fcap. 8vo. los. 6rf.

Latin. — A Latin Dictionary, founded on Andrews' edition of Frcund's Latin Dictionary, revised, enlarged, and in great part rewritten by Charlton T. Lewis, Ph.D., and Charles Short, LL.D. 1879 410. i/. e^s.

Sanskrit. — A Practical Grammar of the Sanskrit Language^ arranged with reference to the Classical Languages of Europe, for the use of English Students, by Monier Williams, M.A. Fourth Edition, 1877. 8vo. 15^.

A Sanskrit-English Dictionary, Etymologically and Philologically arranged, with special reference to Greek, Latin, German. Anglo- Saxon, English, and other cognate Indo-European Languages. By Monier Williams, M.A. 1872. 410. 4/. 14^.60'.

Nalopdkhydnam, Story of Nala, an Episode of the Mahd-Bhdrata: the Sanskrit text, with a copious Vocabulary, and an improved version of Dean Milman's Translation, by Monier Wdliams, M.A. Second Edition, Revised and Improved. 1879. 8vo. 15J.

Sakuntald. A Sanskrit Drama, in Seven Acts. Edited by Monier Williams, M.A. Second Edition, 1876. 8vo. 21s. Syriac. — Thesaurus Syriacus : collegerunt Quatrem^re, Bernstein, Lorsbach, Arnoldi, Agrell, Field, Roediger: edidit R. Payne Smith, S.T.P. Fasc. I-VI. 1868-83. sm. fol. each, i/. is. Vol. I, containing Fasc. I-V, sm. fol. 5/. 5J.

The Book of Kalllah and DimnaJi. Translated from A rabic into Syriac. Edited by W. Wrigiit. LL.D, Professor of Arabic in the Uni- versity of Cambridge. 18S4. 8vo. 2IJ.


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352 disqualifying me from getting my knowledge of them at first hand. And there is a Business and Professional Club and a Poor Richard, bringing one back to Franklin again, in the same Little Street. And there are Browning Societies, and Shakespeare Societies, and Drama-Reforming Societies, and Pegasus Societies, and Societies for members to read their own works to each other; and more Societies than the parent Society discoursing in the woods along the Schuylkill could have dreamed of: with the Contemporary Club to assemble their variously divided ends and objects under one head, and to entertain literature as George W. Childs had entertained it, and, going further, to pay literature for being entertained, if literature expresses itself in the form of readings and lectures by those who practise it professionally. The change disconcerted me more than ever when I, Philadelphia born, was assured of a profitable welcome if I would speak to the Club on anything. The invitation was tentative and unofficial, but the Contemporary Club need be in no fear. It may make the invitation official if it will, and never a penny the poorer will it be for my presence: I am that now rare creature, a shy woman subject to stage fright. And I cannot help thinking that, despite the amiability to the native, the stranger, simply because he is a stranger, continues to have the preference, so many are the Englishmen and Englishwomen invited to deliver themselves before the Club who never could gather an audience at home.


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Rh And Philadelphia has recaptured the lead in the periodical publication that pays, and I found the Curtis Building the biggest sky-scraper in Philadelphia, towering above the quiet of Independence Square, a brick and marble and pseudo-classical monument to the Ladies' Home Journal and the Saturday Evening Post, and if in the race literature lags behind, what matter when merit is vouched for in solid dollars and cents? What matter, when the winds of heaven conspire with bricks and mortar to make the passer-by respect it? I am told that on a windy day no man can pass the building without a fight for it, and no woman without the help of stalwart policemen. In her own organ of fashion and feminine sentiment, she has raised up a power against which, even with the vote to back her, she could not prevail.

And Philadelphia is not content to have produced the first daily newspaper but is bent on making it as big as it can be made anywhere. If I preserved my morning paper for two or three days in my hotel bedroom, I fairly waded in newspapers. On Sundays if I carried upstairs only the Ledger and the North American, I was deep in a flood of Comic Supplements, and Photograph Supplements, and Sport Supplements, and every possible sort of Supplement that any other American newspaper in any other American town can boast of—all the sad stuff that nobody has time to look at but is what the newspaper editor is under the delusion that the public wants—in Philadelphia, one genuine Philadelphia touch added


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356 in the letters and gossip of "Peggy Shippen" and "Sally Wister," names with the double recommendation to Philadelphia of venerable age and unquestionable Philadelphia respectability.

And I found that the Philadelphia writer has increased in niuubers and in popularity, whether for better or worse I will not say. I have not the courage for the role of critic on my own hearth, knowing the penalty for too much honesty at home. Nor is there any reason why I should hesitate and bungle and make myself unpleasant enemies in doing indifferently what Philadelphia, in its new incarnation, does with so much grace. I have now but to name the Philadelphian's book in Philadelphia to be informed that it is monumental—but to mention the Philadelphia writer of verse to hear that he is a marvel—but to enquire for the Philadelphia writer of prose to be assured that he is a genius. There is not the weeest, most modest little Philadelphia goose that does not sail along valiantly in the Philadelphia procession of swans. The new pose is prettier than the old if scarcely more successful in preserving a sense of proportion, and it saves me from committing myself. I can state the facts that strike me, without prejudice, as the lawyers say.

IV

One is that the last quarter of a century has interested the Philadelphia writer in Philadelphia as he had not been since the days of John Watson. Most Philadelphians


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The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Jaurés, Jean Leon

JAURÉS, Jean Leon, zhŏṅ lā-ȯṅ zhō-rā, French Socialist: b. Castres, 3 Sept 1859; d. Paris, 31 July 1914. He taught in Albi and Toulouse, and in 1885 entered politics and was elected to the Chamber of Deputies from Tarn; at this time he was a moderate Republican. In 1889 he failed of re-election, and returned to Toulouse, where he was active in the establishing of a college of medicine. Becoming a Socialist, he defended the strikers at Carmaux, and in 1893 was again elected to the Chamber, where he became one of the leaders of the Socialists. He failed of re-election in 1898, but was again elected in 1902. When the Socialist Millerand accepted a position in the Cabinet, Jaurés defended his action, thus opposing Guesde and the Parti Ouvrier, but sought at the same time to reconcile the factions. He also took an important part in obtaining a revision of the Dreyfus case. He stood out as a champion of the workmen in the great strike of 1910. At a Socialist conference in Brussels in the summer of 1914 he made a strong attack on militarism, and declared himself in favor of an international strike for the prevention of war — an attitude which subjected him to severe criticism, and was directly the cause of his assassination by shooting at the hands of a half-demented man outside a café in Paris. He was one of the greatest leaders of French Socialism, and probably the greatest orator in the Chamber of Deputies. He founded L'Humanité in 1904, and contributed six of the 12 volumes of the ‘Histoire Socialiste’ (1904-08).


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Rh owned a copy of Watson's Annals. I have one on my desk before me that belonged to J.'s Father, one must have been in my Grandfather's highly correct Philadelphia house, though I cannot recall it there, for a Philadelphian's duty was to buy Watson just as it was to take in Lippincott's, and Philadelphians never shirked their obligations. They probably would not have been able to say what was in Watson, or, if they could, would have shrugged their shoulders and dismissed him for a crank. But they would have owned the Annals, all the same. Then the Centennial shook them up and insisted on the value of Philadelphia's history, and Philadelphians were no longer in fashion if they did not feel, or affect, an interest in Philadelphia and its past. After the Centennial the few who began to write about it could rely upon the many to read about it.

Once, the Philadelphian who was not ashamed to write stories made them out of the fashionable life of Philadelphia. Dr. Weir Mitchell inaugurated the new era, or the revolt, or the secession, or whatever name may be given it with the first historical novel of Philadelphia. It is fortunate, when I come to Hugh Wynne, that I have renounced criticism and all its pretences. As a Friend by marriage, if such a thing is possible, I cannot underestimate the danger. Only a Friend born a Friend is qualified to write the true Quaker novel, and I am told by this kind of Friend that Hugh Wynne is not free from misrepresentations, misconceptions and misunderstandings.


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358 This may be true—I breathe more freely for not being able to affirm or to deny it—but, as Henley used to say, there it is—the first romantic gold out of the mine Philadelphia history is for all who work it. Since these lines were written the news has reached me that never again will Dr. Mitchell work this or any other mine. I cannot imagine Philadelphia without him. When I last saw him, it seemed to me that no Philadelphian was more alive, more in love with life, better equipped to enjoy life in the way Philadelphia has fashioned it—the Philadelphia life in which his passing away must leave no less a gap than the disappearance of the State House or the Pennsylvania Hospital would leave in the Philadelphia streets. If Dr. Mitchell's digging brought up the romance of Philadelphia, Mr. Sydney George Fisher's has unearthed the facts, for Philadelphia was the root of the great growth of Pennsylvania which is the avowed subject of his history. And the men who helped to make this history have now their biographers at home, though hitherto the task of their biography had been left chiefly to anybody anywhere else who would accept the responsibility, and my Brother, Edward Robins, Secretary of the University of Pennsylvania, has written the life of Benjamin Franklin, without whom the University would not have been, at least would not have been what it is. And in so many different directions has the interest spread that my friend since Our Convent Days, Miss Agnes Repplier, has taken time from her


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Rh studies in literature and from building a monument to her beloved Agrippina to write its story. When she sent me her book, I opened it with grave apprehensions. In the volumes she had published, humour was the chief charm, and how would humour help her to see Philadelphia? I need not have been uneasy. There is no true humour without tenderness. If she had her smile for the town we all love, as we all have, it was a tender smile, and I think no reader can close her book without wanting to know still more of Philadelphia than it was her special business in that place to tell them. And that no vein of the Philadelphia mine might be left unworked, Miss Anne Hollingsworth Wharton has busied herself to gather up old traditions and old reminiscences, dipping into old letters and diaries, opening wide Colonial doorways, resurrecting Colonial Dames, reshaping the old social and domestic life disdained by historians. The numerous editions into which her books have gone explain that she has not worked for her own edification alone, that Philadelphia, once it was willing to hear any talk about itself, could not hear too much. And after Miss Wharton have come Mr. Mather Lippincott and Mr. Eberlein to collect the old Colonial houses and their memories, followed by Mr. Herbert C. Wise and Mr. Beidleman to study their architecture: just in time if Philadelphia perseveres in its crime of moving out of the houses for the benefit of the Russian Jew and of mixing their memories with squalor. Of all


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The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Jasper, William

JASPER, William, American soldier: b. South Carolina, about 1750; d. Savannah, Ga., 9 Oct. 1779. At the commencement of the Revolutionary War he enlisted in the 2d South Carolina regiment, in which he became a sergeant. Subsequently, in the attack upon Fort Moultrie by a British fleet, he distinguished himself by leaping through an embrasure to the ground, under a shower of cannon balls, and recovering the flag of South Carolina, which had been shot off. Governor Rutledge presented him with his own sword and offered him a lieutenant's commission; this, however, Jasper declined, saying: “I am not fit to keep officers' company; I am but a sergeant.” His commander gave him a roving commission to scour the country with a few men and surprise and capture the enemy's outposts. His achievements in this capacity seem to belong to romance rather than history and in boldness equal any recorded in the Revolutionary annals of the Southern States. Prominent among them was the rescue by himself and a single comrade of some American captives from a party of British soldiers, whom he overpowered and made prisoners. At the assault upon Savannah he received his death wound while fastening to the parapet the standard which had been presented to his regiment. His hold, however, never relaxed, and he bore the colors to a place of safety before he died. A county of Georgia and a square in Savannah have been named alter him. Consult McGrady, ‘South Carolina in the Revolution’ (1901).


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362 the ways in which Philadelphia has changed, none is to me more remarkable than in this rekindling of interest out of which has sprung the new group of writers in its praise.

Nor were the Philadelphia poets idle during my absence. Dr. Mitchell had not before sung so freely in public, nor had he ranked, as I am told he did at the end, his verse higher than his medicine. Mrs. Coates' voice had not carried so far. Dr. Francis Howard Williams had not rhymed for Pageants in praise of Philadelphia. Mr. Harrison Morris had not joined the Philadelphia choir. Mr. Harvey M. Watts had not been heard in the land. I have it on good authority that yearly the Philadelphia poets meet and read their verses to each other, a custom of which I cannot speak from personal knowledge as I have no passport into the magic circle, and perhaps it is just as well for my peace of mind that I have not. Rumour declares that, on certain summer evenings, a suburban porch here or there is made as sweet with their singing as with the perfume of the roses and syringa in the garden, and I am content with the rumour for there is always the chance the music might not be so sweet if I heard it. I like to remember that the poets on their porch, whether their voices be sweet or harsh, descend in a direct line from the young men who wandered, discoursing of literature, along the Schuylkill. And Philadelphia's love of poetry is to be assured not only by its own singers but by its care, now as in the past, for the song of others. Horace Howard


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486 the above figures. Among the merchants there is discouragement and gloom, and among the people at large, more of uncertainty as to the future, apathy, or actual discontent, than I saw anywhere else in the Republic.

I went down with the crowd one day, to see the arrival of a coasting steamer—everybody in Vera Cruz goes down to the mole to see a steamer, big or little, come in. The arrival was the little square-toed side-wheeler, Ejujenia, from Tlacotalplam—and steamer and cargo reminded me, forcibly, of the description of the Yankee trading craft which Marryatt in one of his novels, describes so vividly. I mean the craft he met coming out of the West Indies, whose captain sold his spars to a French privateer, and then sent the English privateer into a trap, by telling him that there was but one French vessel instead of two, and the force so small and unprepared as to make it perfectly safe to attack them when they were lying at anchor repairing. The steamer might possibly be one hundred feet long and about half as broad, with a bow so like an old fashioned man-of-war's stern, as to make it a matter of doubt whether she would travel best "end foremost" or "broadside on."

A motley list of passengers and a mixed cargo had been picked up along the coast. The passengers were of all colors and nationalities, and from seventy-five to one hundred in number. About half, appeared to have complexions disastrously affected by coast-fevers and malarious diseases. As for the cargo, it comprised a little of everything. Crates of live chickens, great earthenware jars for holding drinking water, bunches of plantains and bananas, rolls of tiger skins, bales on


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Rh cage. And so the entertainment ended. I regret to add that when the bull was raised to his feet it was found that his back was so injured that he could not stand and he must be killed. The buzzards had already gathered in clouds in the vicinity, as if conscious that a feast was being prepared. This is Sunday amusement in Vera Cruz. But it was death on the bull.

But the bull does not always get the worst of it, in encounters with man and beast, in Mexico and elsewhere. I remember a bull and bear fight in New Orleans, in which the Attakapas bull General Jackson, doubled up the bear like an old shoe at the first charge, and made him bellow for help in a few seconds. I regret to say, that on that occasion my sympathies were so strongly with the bear at the start, that I lost all the money that my boyish industry had gathered together in several months. After the lapse of many years I got even at Vera Cruz.

A distinguished Mexican gentleman—whose name I suppress for various reasons—told us, one day on the trip from Guanajuato to Mexico, of his experience in bull-fighting in one of the larger cities of the Republic. It is the custom in bull-fighting countries, for the young bloods of the first families, who wish to distinguish themselves, to appear in the Plaza de Toros as amateurs, and fight the bull on important occasions. When Maximilian arrived in Mexico, a special gran funcion was gotten up for his benefit, and the young men of some of the oldest and most aristocratic of the Mocho families of the capital, appeared in the ring as picadors and matadors, the royal couple presiding at the brutal entertainment and delivering the prizes to the heroes of the conflict.


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Rh Furness, Jr., has taken over his father's task and, in so doing, will see that Philadelphia continues to be famous for the most complete edition of Shakespeare.

There had been equal activity during my absence among the story-tellers. Since Brockden Brown, not one had written so ambitious a tale as Hugh Wynne, not one had ever laughed so good-humouredly at Philadelphia as Thomas A. Janvier in his short stories of the Hutchinson Ports and Rittenhouse Smiths—what gaiety has gone out with his death! Not one had ever seen character with such truth as Owen Wister,—if only he could understand that as good material awaits him in Philadelphia as in Virginia and Wyoming. And John Luther Long is another of the story-tellers Philadelphia can claim though, like Mr. Wister, he shows a greater fancy for far-away lands or to wander among strange people at home.

There is no branch of literature that Philadelphia has not taken under its active protection. Who has contributed more learnedly to the records of the Inquisition than Henry Charles Lea, or to the chronicles of the law in the United States than Mr. Hampton L. Carson and Mr. Charles Burr, duly conscious as Philadelphia lawyers should be of the Philadelphian's legal responsibility? Who can compete in knowledge of the evolution of the playing card with Mrs. John King Van Rensselaer or rival her collection? Who ever thought of writing the history of autobiography before Mrs. Anna Robeson Burr? The


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Rh

II. .—Of the different kinds of abbreviations in use in the middle ages, the following are examples:—

III. .—The import of these will often be readily understood from the connexion in which they occur. There is no occasion to explain here the common abbreviations used for Christian names, books of Scripture, months of the year, points of the compass, grammatical and mathematical terms, or familiar titles, like “Mr,” &c.

The ordinary abbreviations, now or recently in use, may be conveniently classified under the following headings:—

title: Page:EB1911 - Volume 01.djvu/59


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Rh this without uttering a word. "One little moment!" Everybody uses it.

No. 2. El no quere gastar dinero''" ("He owes money but is very stingy, and from not using it to get the money, out of his pocket, his arm has grown too stiff to reach into his pocket for the money, consequently he is unable to pay his debts").

No. 3. "Muy buen violinista" literally means one who plays well on the violin, but in this instance he plays, instead, on the credulity and

verdancy of his friends. He plays off on them by inviting himself to dine with them, having little or nothing to eat at home, thus supporting himself on their involuntary hospitality.

No. 4. "Tiene bastante dinero" ("He or she has plenty of money").

No. 5. "Muy criticolo" ("It is quite doubtful in my mind"). I have seen three persons in conversation, one being engaged in relating some circumstance or event, the other two paying marked attention. When at length the narrator made a digression from facts, or added a few embellishing touches, one of the listeners, without speaking a word, but throwing a world of expression into her eyes, tossed her head to one side, and at the same time planting the forefinger of the right hand on the temple, the little boring process is gone through, and the unspoken language


text: 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Apparel

title: 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Apparel


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158 Rio Grande de Santiago, the outlet of Lake Chapala, upon a stone bridge of some nineteen arches. This bridge is one of the remarkable structures erected by the old Spaniards, and looks as if it might stand for many centuries more. At either end of the bridge are statues of the king and queen of Spain who were reigning when the bridge was erected, but so worn and defaced by time as to be unrecognizable. The stone tablets on which the records of the erection and other facts about the bridge were engraved, have all been plastered over with cement to deface and destroy them, for some reason not apparent. The only date I could decipher was 1718, and that appeared to refer to a repair instead of the erection of the structure. No one living in the vicinity could give us any data concerning it.

The falls of this river, a few miles below where we crossed, are said to compare, not unfavorably, with those of Niagara, but we did not see them.

We staid at Zapotlanejo, a curious old town of four or five thousand inhabitants, on our first night out from Guadalajara. A deputation of the citizens, on horseback, met us outside the town, and escorted us in. They are very poor, but wonderfully hospitable people. The houses have in many cases barricades upon the roofs, reminders of the former revolutions and invasions; and the remarkable number of fair-haired and fair-skinned children to be seen on the streets, tell the same story. A fine band welcomed us, the citizens made speeches in the evening, and were answered by Mr. Seward; and a concert by native Mexicans, all excellent players, the harper being blind, closed the evening's entertainment. The town has a fine old church, at present under repair, and stands


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Rh in a small but fertile valley, surrounded by cane, corn, and rice fields. We left Zapotlanejo on the morning of Oct. 27th, to ride thirty-two miles to Tepotitlan, a town of from five to eight thousand people. Our roads had been bad enough in all conscience before, but they grew worse and worse as we advanced, and the night rains grew heavier. This day's travel was the hardest we had yet experienced.

Nine miles beyond Zapotlanejo we crossed the Bridge of Calderon, a stone structure, spanning a deep but narrow arroyo. It was here that the Padre Hidalgo, the Washington of Mexico, with eighty thousand men, all Indians, armed with bows and arrows, and a few wooden cannon which burst at the first fire, attacked the Spaniards, in January 1811. The Spaniards were not a tenth as strong, numerically, but they were well armed, and all the desperate valor and enthusiasm of the Indians went for naught. The poor fellows rushed up to the Spanish cannons and pushed their hats into them to prevent their going off. So little did they know of the use and power of artillery. They were mowed down by thousands, and broke and fled at last in utter rout, leaving Hidalgo to make his way to Chihuahua, where he was betrayed into the hands of his enemies, sent to Guanajuato, tried, condemned, and executed.

The soil in this vicinity is a dark red earth, which resembles that of the gold belt of the Sierra Nevada, and is tenacious to the last degree when wet up by the rains, and worked into brick material by the wheels of vehicles. We passed during this day, a poor little village at which the butcher Rojas captured eighty men—all the able-bodied male population of the


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160 —and murdered them all in cold blood, some years since.

One of the most fearful brutes who ever infested the roads of Jalisco, was Simon Gutierrez, whose band was exterminated by the State troops in the Spring of 1869.

Gutierrez took refuge in the city of Guadalajara, and when his hiding place was discovered, (beneath a floor,) jumped into the middle of the troops, with a revolver, and fought until they riddled him. His body was propped up in a chair and exhibited three days in front of the prison on the Plaza, as shown in the picture, and crowds went to see it and make sure that the terror of Jalisco, for so many years, was dead, indeed, at last.

The poor people, all along the road, eke out a miserable living by selling a few small fruits, frijoles, tortillas, etc. etc., to travelers. I found one old fellow sitting on a stone by the roadside, miles from any habitation, with about a half-bushel of the nasty, little fruit resembling our northern "mandrake," or May-apple, called the guava—pronounced "guayava"—from which the guava jelly of commerce is made. I asked him how much


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Rh he would take for his whole establishment, stock in trade, basket, plates, and all. After a nice calculation, he decided that it was worth all together fully twenty-five cents, I paid him the money and made him distribute the fruit among the escort which just then came up; there was about enough to give them all the cholic for a week.

Suddenly, an idea, suggested by my reckless liberality, struck him with great force.

Was I not the grande hombre from the Estados Unidos del Norte? I had not the heart to deny it; then he fell on his knees, kissed my hand, and said that he had heard of me often, and now thanked God that he had been permitted to live to see me face to face. I had intended to break the plates and basket, and "bust up" the shop; but his devotion saved him, and I gave them back to him and made him a friend of the Americans for life. It is pleasant to do good at so small an expense.

On our second night out from Guadalajara, we staid


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162 at Tepotitlan. It was 9 o'clock in the evening when we entered this ancient town, escorted by the citizens with torches, while bells rang a tremendous peal, and a brass band played the national airs. We had a good dinner at the house of the curate of the town, and though our baggage did not arrive until two in the morning, we were provided with good beds and comfortable quarters, furnished by these kind-hearted people. The city contains from five to six thousand people and four churches. They repair the churches, and let everything else go to ruin. The people are mostly farmers, in a small way, and very poor. This year their crops were nearly an utter failure, and they appeared down-hearted.

We found here an American physician, Dr. John Rush, nephew of the famous Philadelphia physician of that name, and R. E. Armstrong, a resident of San Francisco, traveling with his family for their health. Dr. Rush served as surgeon in the 1st West Tennessee (colored) Volunteers, during the Rebellion, under Gen. Thomas. The town has its plaza, with public fountains in the center, and all towns in this country have. The streets, once well paved, are going to ruin.

Next morning, we drove until the middle of the day, over a poor, open, hilly, and mostly barren and uncultivated country, and then came in sight of the quaint, old city of Jalos, far below us in a tree-embowered valley.

This is a well-built little city of six thousand inhabitants, standing in a narrow cañada, wholly hidden until you come upon the brow of the hill from which we first saw it. It has a magnificent old church, in fine repair, and many beautiful private residences,


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Rh painted outside and inside in brilliant fresco. How the people all live I cannot imagine. As we entered the city the bells were ringing a joyous peal, and a band playing as usual. A fine house had been prepared for us upon the plaza, but as we did not propose to remain over night, we drove on, and lunched privately at the residence of a friend of Señor Bossero. As we passed through the streets a large party of school-boys met us, and at a sign from one of their number, all went down on their knees, on the cobbles, holding their hats in their hands.

The people, as we advanced eastward, became more white, and blue eyes and fair hair were not uncommon. The number of women was vastly in excess of the men, and, of course, lawful marriage is out of the question with the great number of the poor girls of the towns. They are human, and, as they cannot marry, is it a wonder that they sin? Nearly every girl among the lower orders, from fourteen years old upward, whom we saw as we passed along, had a child in her arms. I never saw so little corn, and so many children to the acre.

That night, we staid at Venta de Los Pagarros, twenty-four miles from Tepotitlan. Señor Perez, the owner of this great hacienda, which is twenty miles long, and has forty thousand head of stock upon it, has owned the property two years. He bought it when nobody else dared occupy it on account of the robbers. His house is literally a fortress, impregnable to all but heavy artillery. He organized his neighbors at once into a military corps, and commenced a war of extermination against the robbers. In an hour, he can rally two hundred well-armed men, and as soon as a


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164 band is heard of, they start for them, hunt them down, and shoot them all like dogs, making no prisoners. In this way he has restored peace to the neighborhood,

and is building up a town around him, already. He and his band have killed about eighty robbers within two years.

From this point the country grows still more broken, being cut up with deep arroyos, cañons and barrancas. The mountains in the distance are nearly all bare of timber, save a few mesquite trees, and the country has the general appearance of Western Texas along the southern edge of the great Llano Estacado. We were now ascending all the time, and had reached an altitude of about six thousand feet above the sea. We had left, the orange, palm, banana, and other fruits, and all the flowers of the tropics behind us, and were upon the Great Central Plateau of Mexico. The


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Rh scenery is mostly tame, and the country poor, and comparatively uninteresting.

Just as a heavy shower came upon us, we met the deputation of mounted citizens from San Juan de Los Lagos or "St. John of the Lakes," and dashing down a long, winding, well-paved grade, into a deep cañada, and over a high, well-built stone bridge, entered that substantial-looking city. A splendid house was provided for the company, and, as usual, we found that the family, having placed it at our disposal, had left it entirely themselves.

The District Judge, a young man, apparently of twenty-five years, who has the power of life and death over forty thousand people —there is no jury system here, and no appeal in criminal cases, though sentence of death passed by him must be confirmed by the Supreme Court of Mexico before it is finally executed— with the Political Prefect, and others, was in attendance to welcome Mr. Seward, and to see that the party wanted nothing. They told us that they had shot many robbers of late, but that there were still a number of very skillful ones in the vicinity.

Here and at Jalos, for the first time, we saw fences made on the simplest possible plan, from the great organo cactus. This cactus is eight-sided, and shoots up straight as an arrow, from ten to twenty-five feet in height, and five to eight inches in thickness. They cut the cactus into sections of the right length, stick the cut end into a trench, cover the dirt around it to the depth of a foot, and the fence is made. The pieces are set as closely together as possible, and, as they take root and grow for centuries, the fence improves with age, instead of going to decay like other fences. The


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166 nopal or prickly pear grows to perfection here, and the aloe or century plant, as well, or better, than in the tierra caliente. The town stands in a deep cañada, and a few inferior orange trees grow in the court-yards on the sunny side. Wheat grows well in this vicinity, and the flour, too, is excellent, almost equal to that of California, and much superior to that of the Atlantic States.

Looking up from the plaza, I gazed in silent admiration at the magnificent cathedral finished within one week of one hundred years before—they were making the most extensive preparations for celebrating the centennial anniversary—and the finest I had seen in Mexico, not even excepting that of Guadalajara. Its two graceful towers, wrought and carved with elaborate richness, to the very summit, from the beautiful pink lava rock of which the whole structure is built, are each two hundred and ten feet in height, and the main building is two hundred and ten feet long. The grand dome is covered with brilliant tiles in mosaic, and the vaulted roof, of solid masonry, is at least seventy-five feet above the floor.


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Rh In the basement, I descended eight wide stone steps, all cut from a single piece of stone, and in the sacristy saw the tomb of the projector of the cathedral, who died four years before its completion, and numerous magnificent and valuable old paintings. One is a picture of the Virgin, which performs miracles daily. Around this picture are hundreds of votive offerings, in the shape of others, illustrating the miracles performed by the Virgin in behalf of the persons offering them. Some of these were ludicrous in the extreme.

Entering the main building, I saw graceful columns in pale green and gold, supporting the fretted arched roof in the same colors, a magnificent altar in marble and silver, a chapel with a shrine of silver, and countless pictures and images, and decorations of barbaric richness. The rich notes of a superb organ resounded through the building, priests in gorgeous vestments mumbled the morning services, and incense filled the air. Gold and silver, satin and gilding, met the eye on every side, and the scene at first glance was one of bewildering beauty.

But I looked around me and saw men and women, barefooted and in rags, come creeping over the wet flagging of the wide yard, and down the long aisle upon their knees, some of them carrying lighted candles to offer at the shrine in fulfillment of vows made when the assistance of the Virgin was greatly needed, or groveling on the flagging at the doors; and I glanced from the sleek priests, who take in sixty thousand dollars per annum from votive offerings, to the poor wretches who toil for it and give it, and I went out with more of bitterness than satisfaction in my heart.

At the door I saw a conspicuously posted list of