LETTER XII. 
THE VIRGIN OF GUADALUPE AND HEE FESTIVAL. 
The 12th of December is the Festival of the "Virgin of Guadalupe," 
(the Patron Saint of Mexico ;) and as the history of this personage, and 
The ceremonies in her honor are rather singular ; and the shrine where 
she is worshipped is one of the most magnificent in the Republic, I will 
give you some account of them. 
The church lies about three miles from the city, at the foot of the 
Sierra that rises from the plain on the north. The great Collegiate 
edifice is built on the level ground ; but the ancient, and I believe the 
original chapel, is on the top of an adjacent hill. The collection of 
buildings, devoted to this saint, form a little village of themselves, in- 
dependently of the small town, Avhich has grown up in the process of 
time from the pickings and pilgrimages to the sacred shrine. 
On the day in question, thousands went out to the church from the city 
of Mexico. From early in the morning, the magnificent paved road, 
built to this spot, in the palmy days of the Spanish Empire, was cov- 
ered with foot-passengers, horsemen, leperos, Indians, grandees in their 
sumptuous coaches, and in fact by all the population of the town, who 
could either walk, or afford to ride at their own or others' cost. Not a 
vehicle was to be had in the Capital for love or money, unless begged or 
hired on the preceding day. 
I went rather late, and found the churches crammed to suflx)cation, 
while the Archbishop recited mass, and the President and the high officers 
of state, seated under a canopy of crimson velvet, in the main body of 
the building, assisted in the service. 
A large portion of the crowd was composed of leperos, in their greasy 
blankets ; and from far and wide in the Department of Mexico, and even 
from some others, thousands of Indians had come to the festival, with 
their wives and children. In such a crowd, on a rather warm day, and ir. 
a church of ordinary size, you will readily agree with me that the. odor 
was not exactly that of attar of roses — consequently I left them to their 
devotions ; and, with a friend, betook myself to the open air and a sur- 
vey of the premises. 
