FAMOUS CATHEDRAL. 87 



The railing of the choir gallery was manufactured in China, 

 and was said to have cost one and a half millions of dollars. 

 An offer to replace it in solid silver was refused. On the 

 sides of the church there are over a dozen chapels, 

 inclosed in bronze gates, in one of which the body of 

 Iturbide, the first Mexican Emperor, is buried. Two valu- 

 able paintings hang upon the walls, one a Murillo, and 

 the other an original Michael Angelo, The dim light 

 which pervades the interior of the Cathedral, tempered by 

 the light of the tall candles, lends a weirdness to the scene, 

 but the effect, generally, is not so good as that rendered by 

 our stained windows. Here, in 1864, Maximilian and 

 Carlotta were crowned Emperor and Empress of Mexico. 



The view from the top of the Cathedral is grand, and should 

 be seen by every tourist. It was from a height like this 

 that Cortez first beheld the beauties of the valley of Anahuac. 

 At our feet lies the plaza, with its tree-dotted Zocalo, while 

 the entire city is spread out before us. Not far away looms 

 against the sky the tall castle of Chapultepec, while the 

 towers of Guadalupe come still nearer the vision. The dis- 

 tant fields of Maguey, the smooth waters of the lakes, and 

 the tall, sky-reaching elevations of Popocatepetl and Ixtac- 

 cihuatl, make a scene which it is no wonder Humboldt de- 

 clared to be the most beautiful eye ever rested on. We can 

 almost see the elevated path between the two mountains 

 over which Cortez, in 1520, and Scott, in 184V, led their 

 conquering hosts. The front of the Cathedral is always be- 

 seiged by beggars and lottery venders. Sometimes the 

 lottery vender is a man who importunes you to purchase; 

 sometimes a young girl, and at others, even a child of ten or 

 twelve years. The Mexican Government realizes fully a 

 million dollars per annum from licenses granted to protect 

 this business; rich and poor alike invest, the difference be- 

 ing only in the amount; strangers smother their scruples 



