MURDER OF AN AMERICAN. 141 
An American named Hayden resided there, and followed the trade of a 
shoemaker. He was a Protestant, but carefully observed all proper and 
decorous respect for the Catholic ceremonies and institutions of the coun- 
try. One day, the Host was passing his house to the dwelling of some 
dying person, with all the usual pomp and parade of ringing bells and 
chanting boys; and, as the shops are generally open to the street, Hay- 
den quietly arose from his work-bench, and coming forward, knelt on the 
sill of his door. He had scarcely prostrated himself, when a person (who 
is believed to have been an officei-,) accosted him, demanding in a rude 
tone " why he did not advance into the street and kneel ?" Hayden re- 
plied, that he thought it proper for him to kneel where he was. Scarcely 
had he uttered this when the soldier laid his hand on the hilt of his sword 
as if to draw. Hayden perceived this, and stepped toward his counter to 
seize a boot-tree for defence ; but before he could reach it, the soldier had 
plunged his sword through the poor man's back, directly into the heart, 
and he fell dead on the spot. 
An American, who was in the shop at the time, rushed to arrest the 
murderer and give the alarm, but the villain had fled — the crowd closed 
round him, no one pursued, and no one took means to recognize him ! 
Nor was this all. Difficulty was first experienced in obtaining per- 
mission from the authorities to bury our unfortunate countryman ; next, 
no coachman would take the body in his carriage, and the Consul was 
obliged to receive it in his private coach ; next, the funeral procession 
was pursued by a crowd, which, gathering in formidable numbers as the 
train moved along the streets of Plateros and San Francisco, pelted it with 
stones and other missiles, until Mr. Black (who is now our Consul in 
Mexico,) was obliged to halt the procession at the Accordada, and ask a 
guard of soldiers from the commanding officer as an escort to the grave 
at Chapultepec. The guard was given, ordered to load with ball-car- 
tridges, and as they departed the officer exclaimed — " Blessed is the land 
where there are no friars !" 
Notwithstanding the presence of the guard, the Consul was struck on 
the breast by a stone while reading the solemn service at the grave. 
Crowds had followed the funeral from the city, even to the distant 
graveyard ; and when they returned, it was rumored among the leperos 
that the " American had been buried with a quantity of clothing, bottles 
of wine, and money to pay the expences of his journey." This super- 
stitious tale had the due effect ; and although a man had been hired to 
watch the grave, yet soon after the interment it was broken open, and the 
body was found stripped of its clothes and flung naked on the ground. 
A reward of §2000 was offered by the foreigners, but no traces of the 
murderer or of the human hyenas were ever discovered. 
