THE MARKET PLACE 



slaughter was greatest. And here Juan 

 Garido, one of the survivors of that 

 night of horror, built a little commem- 

 orative chapel of adobe, to be replaced 

 later by the present church, begun in 

 1599. There is a tablet and inscription 

 upon an exterior angle of the wall, and 

 the local name of the "Church of the 

 Martyrs," the acceptance of which eu- 

 phemistic title depends upon the di- 

 rection of one's sympathies. 



One of the first spots to claim the 

 visitor's attention is Chapultepec, rising, 

 as it does, a bold promontory of rock, 

 from the level plain. It has witnessed 

 the burial of Aztec kings, and its palace 

 and citadel, in former times, the scene 

 of vice-regal splendor and the seat of 

 two short-lived empires, are now the 

 official residence of Mexico's patriot- 

 president. The remains of the old via- 

 duct which served to connect this 

 stronghold with the Tenochithan of 

 Montezuma's day are still pointed out, 

 as well as of the one the Spaniards built. 



iiijw ; -' 



Everywhere the air is heavy with 

 tradition ; of tales of bloody struggle 

 between aborigine and invader ; patri- 

 ot revolutionists and the power of 

 old Spain ; of acts of charity and faith 

 on the part of good men and women ; of 

 condescension on the part of Heavenly 

 personages ; of apparitions of Saints 

 and Angels and Madonnas ! of holy 

 wells and enchanted waters, each with 

 its voluminously authenticated miracles, 

 there is no end. And, alas, even ac- 

 counts of public burnings and autos 

 da fe, held when that scourge of medi- 

 aeval Mexico, the Inquisition, had Mex- 

 ico in her bloody grip. 



It is pleasant to turn from the 

 latter dark memories to an account 

 like that given of San Juan de Pene- 

 tehcia, where, when an earthquake 

 shook that part of the city and the 

 church began actually to tumble about 

 the ears of the worshippers, an image 

 of the Child Jesus that stood upon the 

 altar, raised its arms and stayed the 



372 



