ing many saintly
garments wrought in gold and studded with precious stones. Perhaps you
will think, as we did, that such things are but tinsel before Him whom
they are supposed to honor. Such dazzling paraphernalia may attract
the ignorant or the thoughtless--may make followers, but not
converts. Conviction is not the child of fancy, but of judgment.

In an anteroom at the left of the altar there are also to be seen
utensils of silver and gold, with many costly ornaments for use before
the altar on special church occasions. One of these is a triumph of
delicate workmanship and of the silversmith's art. It is in the form
of a Gothic tower of very elaborate and artistic design, composed of
solid silver, ornamented with gold and precious stones. One regards
this thoroughly useless disposal of money with the thought that the
articles were better sold and the proceeds bestowed in worthy charity.
It would then fulfill a far more Christian purpose than that of adding
glitter to church pomp and ceremony.

To witness the observance of Holy Week, commencing with Palm Sunday,
in Havana, one would be impressed with a conviction that the people
were at heart devout Roman Catholics. The occasion is solemnly
observed. On Sunday the old cathedral is crowded by people who come to
obtain branches of holy palm from the priests. The old bell-ringer
becomes an important agent of the ceremonies, and the solemn spirit of
the occasion seems to imbue all classes of the Havanese. On Holy
Thursday, just before midday, the bells of all the churches cease to
ring, and every vehicle in the city disappears from the streets as if
by magic. The garrison marches through the principal thoroughfares in
silence, with measured tread and arms reversed. The national flags
upon the shipping, and on all the forts from Moro to the Castillo del
Principe, are displayed at half mast. The cathedral and the churches
are draped in mourning. On Friday, the effigy of our Saviour's body
is carried in solemn procession, men and priests marching with heads
uncovered, and devout women of the common classes, especially colored
ones, kneeling in the street as it passes. On Saturday, at ten o'clock
in the morning, the old bell-ringer suddenly starts a merry peal from
the cathedral tower--the bells of La Merced, San Agustin, Santa Clara,
and Santa Cataline follow; the town awakens to gayety as from a
lethargic sleep. Whites and negroes rush through the streets like mad;
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