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256 HOMAGE TO A BISHOP. 



paired and decorated ; and from every "win- 

 dow in the city there hung such a profusion 

 of fancy curtains and rich cloths that the 

 imagination was carried back to those glow- 

 ing descriptions of enchanted worlds which 

 one reads of in the fables of necromancers. 

 I must observe, however, that there is a cus- 

 tom in all the towns of Mexico (which it 

 would not be safe to neglect), providing that 

 whenever a religious procession takes place 

 all the doors and windows facing the street 

 along which it is to pass, shall be decorated 

 with shawls, carpets, or fancy cloths, according 

 to the means and capabilities of the proprie- 

 tor. During the bishop's sojourn in Santa 

 Fe, which, to the great joy of the inhabitants 

 lasted for several weeks, he never ai)pearea 

 in the streets but that 'all true CathoUcs' who 

 were so fortunate as to obtain a ghmpse of 

 his Senoria Ilustrisima immediately dropped 

 upon their knees, and never moved from that 

 position till the mitred priest had either vouch- 

 safed his benediction or had disappeared. 

 Even the principal personages of the city 

 would not venture to address him till they 

 had first knelt at his feet and kissed his 'pas- 

 toral ring.' This, however, is only a height- 

 ened picture of what occurs every day in the 

 intercourse between the rancheros and the 



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common padres of the country. The slavish 

 obsequiousness of the lower classes towards 

 these pampered priests is almost incredible. 



No people are more punctual in their at- 

 tendance upon pubUc worship, or more exact 



