152 MEXICO. 
rest in the carved tombs around you ; and the master-pieces of the great- 
est artists realize once more, on their eloquent canvas, the triumphs of 
saints and martyrs. But not so here. The ritual is Indian, rather than 
civilized or intellectual. The show is tasteless and barbaric. The altars 
display a jumble of jewelry, sacred vessels, and utensils of the pre- 
cious metals mixed up with glass through which is reflected the tints of 
colored water, and the whole is overlaid with fruits and flowers. It is a 
mixture of the church and apothecary shop. Instead of the glorious pic- 
tures of the old masters, you have innumerable bad figures, badly drawn 
and worse colored, set in frames, the gilding and carving of which form 
the greatest attraction ; and in place of the airs of Mozart and Haydn, 
you have the music of the last Opera, and the favorite morceaux of Rob- 
ert le Diable. 
When the carriages cease to roll to-day, at ten o'clock, the hells are 
also silenced. Not a clapper is allowed to strike against bell-side until 
next Saturday. Yet, in order not to be without incessant noise in the 
streets, they have substituted rattles, and you scarcely meet a youth who 
has not one of these discordant instruments in his hand. The rattles are 
usually made of wood and bone, surmounted by the wax-figure of a bird, 
baby, or even, sometimes, a naked Venus; but for the higher classes they 
are of richly chased silver with tasteful ornaments, and become the fash- 
ionable presents of the season. 
The streets are alive with the gay throng, and I visited the churches 
of San Francisco, La Senora de Loreto, the Cathedral, Santa Clara, 
and the Profesa. San Francisco and La Prqfesa divide the fashionable 
world ; but the old Jesuits seem to have carried the day with the ladies. 
I took a seat on the benches, placed against the pillars which support 
the roof of the church, as I found it to be the custom for men to sit, while 
the aisle of the church is occupied by the kneeling females. When I en- 
tered the edifice there were but few at their devotions, but the crowd 
gradually increased, and in half an hour the building was filled with the 
gentle hum of a thousand lips in prayer. 
Near me knelt a lady, whose dress must have cost thousands in this ex- 
pensive country. She wore a purple velvet robe embroidered with whrte 
silk, white satin shoes, and silk stockings ; a mantilla of the richest white 
blonde lace fell over her head and shoulders, and her ears, neck, and fin- 
gers were blazing with diamonds. By her side, and almost touching, 
crouched an Indian, in rags scarcely sufficient to hide her nakedness, with 
wild dishevelled hair, bare legs, and a vacant stare from the gorgeous 
altar to the gorgeous dame ! And so, over the whole church, the floor 
was a checker-board of ladies and Uperos — of misery and pride ! 
