150 MEXICO. 
On the festival of Mary, the mother of our Saviour, (who is worshipped 
here under so many metamorphoses,) the ceremonies are not alone con- 
ducted in the churches. There is scarcely a house in the city, where 
a little shrine is not erected, and adorned with a pi'ofusion of glittering 
ornaments and blooming flowers. Glasses and vases of colored waters 
flash amid innumerable lamps and wax candles; while the most splendid 
jewels of the mistress of the mansion adorn the sacred image. The 
floors of the dwellings are strewn with roses, leaving a path for visitors, 
and music and refreshments welcome all who are in habits of intimacy 
with the family. In this gorgeous display, there is considerable rivalry, 
and it is a feather in a family's cap to have its Virgin spoken of as — far 
excellence — the saint of the season. 
19^^ — Saturday. This is another festival — that of "£Z Castisimo 
Patriarca Sr. S. Josi, patron ■principal de la RepuUica,y N. Senora de 
la Piedady It is a festival, in other words, of San Jose and of the 
Virgin Mary, under another name. There were solemn services in the 
churches. 
30^/i — Palm Sunday. At eleven I went to the Cathedral, to hear 
high mass. The chief altar was shrouded with purple drapery, and 
all the ornaments were covered. The Archbishop sat under a velvet 
canopy fringed with gold, and the edifice was filled/ with a motley, palm- 
bearing congregation of ladies, leperos, cavaliers, and Indians. The ser- 
vice was odd. Two clergymen mounted pulpits on each side of the 
altar, while another took his stand in the middle of the steps leading to it. 
All had books before them, and palm branches in their hands, as had, 
also, the Archbishop and his suite of servitors. The priests in the pulpit, 
and the one on the steps, then proceeded to chant a sort of dramatic scene 
in badly pronounced Latin ; and the whole ended with wretched music 
from the choir and the organ. 
While this service was going on, there seemed to be great indifference 
in the demeanor of the well-dressed men. The ladies sat on the dirty 
floor, and with their books open before them, read away for very life ; 
ever and anon crossing their foreheads, mouths and bosoms; while the 
whole of the lo.wer classes stood by like the audience at some strange 
drama in an unknown language, which they thought as queer as it was 
unintelligible. The Indians, especially, who were grouped around the 
base of the columns, in all their usual dirt and rags, appeared particularly 
surprised at the Latin. Among the multitude, I could not help noticing 
an old, vicious-looking lepero, (a scarred veteran in crime and villainy, 
if we may judge by his countenance) who was extraordinarily zealous 
in pounding his breast, as if exorcising an evil and tormenting spirit. 
