dressed, having on nothing to distinguish them from the crowd around. There may have been a priest behind the altar, or somewhere not visible to the devotees; but while I stood by the side of the image and witnessed the proceeding on two occasions, I could perceive none. An estimate may be formed of the crowds here present, when I state that the receipts this year, although the attendance was less than usual, were about twelve thousand dollars, while on some former occasions, the amount of money voluntarily given had reached the sum of eighteen thousand. To the question what became of all this money, I received the usual reply of Quien sabe! A gentleman, however, told me that it went to the City of Mexico, and that neither the poor of Magdalena nor the church there derived any benefit from it."

The fat priests of Mexico can tell you what becomes of the proceeds of these rich plantations-into the coffers of the Vatican every copper of this plunder, wrung from ignorance and ignominy, goes-on it, the tonsiled leeches of the church which preaches ignorance to the masses, prey.

"In the evening I visited the church again, when I witnessed the ceremony of consecrating ribbons. The space around the image was crowded, as in the morning, with devotees, each provided with a piece of ribbon. The mode of consecrating it depended upon the ailment of the applicant. If he or she had a pain in the head, the ribbon was passed several times across the forehead of the figure by the officiating Franciscans. If blind, the ribbon was passed across the eyes; if lame, or afflicted with rheumatism, it was passed across the arms or legs; and in many instances I saw it drawn between the toes of the saint. Had some of our turtle-fed aldermen been the applicants for the latter process, one might have believed it to have been for the gout; but I fancy that a diet of frijoles and tortillas does not often engender that disease in Mexico. Some of the worshipers were provided with long pieces of ribbon, which they applied in turn to every part, a knot being tied after each application, making, probably, as one of the gentlemen observed, a sort of family medicine chest.' The faith of the people in this thing of wood and paint is astonishing. An old man told us with the utmost seriousness, that last May, when the cholera visited the place, and was cutting off twenty a day,

they had only to bring the image into the street, and the disease at once disappeared. He was asked what he would have thought if the disease had continued. He replied that 'it was the will of the saint, and we must submit.'

"In our rambles, we dropped into an attractive-looking shop, to make inquiries about such provisions as we required. The proprietor, Señor Gonzales, was a native Castilian, which we soon perceived by the purity of his language. He at once recognized us as Americans, and after answering our inquiries, invited us into an inner apartment, furnished very handsomely, and in good taste. One of the first things I noticed here, was an American rocking-chair-an article of luxury better adapted, one would suppose, to the quiet habits of the Mexicans, with their fondness for a siesta during the heat of the day, than to those of restless Yankees. Wine and other refreshments were offered us, and an hour was agreeably spent in conversation with our new acquaintance. He gave us much information about the country, and the ceremonies we had just witnessed. While there, several strangers, also gentlemen of education and respectability, came in; and finding who we were, and of what we were in pursuit, they gave us such information as we required, and tendered us their services.

"I regretted to learn we could not procure the provisions we needed, but it was expected that the fair would bring many mules into market, so that in a few days we could

obtain all that we wanted.

"In the evening we walked about the town and among the booths, which were arranged on every side of the plaza and along the principal streets. They seemed much like those which it was customary to erect in New York on the fourth of July. Cakes of various kinds, tortillas, fruits, and aguardiente, were the staple articles; but while there were booths entirely appropriated to the sale of this intoxicating liquor, I do not remember to have seen a single drunken man. In the midst of these booths was a large inclosure, covered with the boughs of trees, beneath which some hundreds were assembled, and engaged in dancing. An enormous bass drum, which was heard above all other sounds, a couple of violins, and a clarionet, ground out waltzes and polkas, while the beaux were swinging round the senoritas in a

manner that would astonish our dancing community. Notwithstanding the crowd here assembled, most of whom were strangers to each other, the most perfect order was kept. The Mexican people are ardently devoted to dancing; and when they once enter into it, they do not cease until the sun appears the following day. Some of our party who were given to this amusement, thought they would like to take a few turns, so casting a glance along the line of dark-eyed damsels who occupied the benches, and selecting the most attractive, they advanced without any introduction, led them into the arena, and at once joined in the merry whirl. A perpetual fandango was thus kept up day and night, where people of all sorts, sizes, and conditions might be seen twirling to the slow measure of the Spanish reel, or the more active waltz and polka. But gambling, after all, seemed to predominate. Whole ranges of booths were devoted to this exciting amusement; and crowds of every age, sex, and class were assembled about them. Boys and girls of six and eight years of age laid down their coppers, and men their reals and dollars, while at other tables the more wealthy and aristocratic ventured their ounces. Some of the tables were attended by women, selected, not on account of their personal beauty, but for their expertness in shuffling the cards.

"We accompanied Mr. Pratt to the hills opposite our camp to take some sketches. The hills were separated from the camp by the river, on the banks of which were some hundreds of men and women bathing or washing. A few cottonwood trees grew along the valley, and the margin of the stream was lined with willow bushes. The hills here are about five hundred feet high, and from them we had a fine view of the town and the adjacent plain, which was inclosed, toward the south, by a high range of mountains. The hill was literally covered with cacti of every variety that we had seen, from tiny plants not longer than one's thumb, just projecting from some crevice, to the giant cereus, that shot up to the hight of fifty feet. The agave, yucca, fouquiera, Spanish bayonet, mezquit, and other plants, alike grew in profusion around us.

"In the evening we again visited the church, where the same scenes were going on as before described. It was now brilliantly illuminated, and a procession was marching

through the crowd, each individual in it holding a lighted candle in his hand. The music was performed by a circus band from Hermosilla, which played the same pieces for the interludes of the service as it did for the performances of the evening. Some of our popular Ethiopian melodies occasionally greeted the ear."

These precious scenes are not merely characteristic of a locality; they constitute the rule, without exception, of Jesuit ascendency in the New World. The thousand hoary ruins of their Missions, from Cape Horn to the Sabine, tell the same story of sneaking oppression.

Hear again another story, from the same source, of the fate of a Mission.

"Situated in the midst of a fertile valley, surrounded with abundant timber and supplied by a thousand springs, with an inexhaustible flow of water, the Mission of San Gabriel flourished and became exceedingly rich. Authentic records are said to exist, which show that at one time the Mission branded fifty thousand calves, manufactured three thousand barrels of wine, and harvested one hundred thousand fanegas (two hundred and sixty-two thousand bushels) of grain a year. The timber for a brigantine was cut, sawed, and fitted at the Mission, and then transported to and launched at San Pedro. Five thousand Indians were at one time collected and attached to the Mission. They are represented to have been sober and industrious, well clothed and fed, and seem to have experienced as high a state of happiness as they are adapted by nature to receive."

But what, in the meantime, has become of those "two hundred and sixty-two thousand bushels" of grain a year? Of course they went into the treasury of the "Society," which thus fanned its loafers upon the credulity of primitive races. But, with all the cloud of worldly cant with which the historians of New England love to involve this question of tolerance, the following story furnishes the most apt commentary upon the beneficent influence of the Jesuits upon our early history:

Finding the incursions of the Indians likely to continue, through the machinations of the Jesuit Rolle, the government of Massachusetts resolved to carry an expedition to Norridgewock, for the purpose of destroying the place and seizing the

instigator of the war. Two hundred and eight men were put under the command of Captains Harman and Moulton, and provided with whale-boats to proceed up the Kennebeck. Leaving Fort Richmond the eighth of August, they arrived at Taconick, the next day, where they left their boats under a guard of a lieutenant and forty men; the next day they commenced their march for Norridgewock, and in the evening captured the wife and daughter of Bomazeen, a well known chief, from whom they obtained exact knowledge of the state and position of the village. On the twelfth they approached the place; Harman, with a part of the force, took a route by the Indian cornfields, where it was supposed a part of the enemy would be found, while Moulton, with the remainder, continued on the direct route. About three o'clock in the afternoon, the latter came suddenly in view of the village, and found the Indians quiet in their cabins. Moulton then ordered his men to approach, as silently as possible, and make a close attack. An Indian, at this time, coming out of his cabin, discovered the English and gave the alarm, on which sixty warriors instantly turned out, and advanced to the attack, while the old men, women and children fled. Moulton reserved his fire until the Indians gave theirs, which proved harmless, most of the shot passing over the heads of the English; he then poured in his fire, which made unusual slaughter. The enemy then gave a second shot, and many fled toward the river, closely pursued by the English; some leaping into canoes without paddles, others took to the water and attempted to swim or wade over. As the river was nar

row and of little depth, some effected their escape into the woods on the opposite side; but the greatest proportion were cut down by the English fire. Moulton then returned to the village, where the Jesuit Rolle was firing from his cabin upon a party of his men, who had previously arrived. Orders were given to seize Rolle, if possible, alive, but his resistance rendered this difficult. Lieutenant Jaques stove in the door, and finding him resolutely re-charging his gun for another shot and refusing to ask for quarter, sent a ball through his head. The old veteran Mog, attempting to defend himself in another cabin, was shot down with several others, and some were made prisoners. Having cleared the village of the enemy, it was