les of all sorts again make their appearance, the forts and
national ships are dressed in holiday flags, and the town is shaken
with reiterated salutes from a hundred cannons.

Military mass, as performed within the cathedral, seemed more like a
theatrical show than a solemn religious service. On the occasion
referred to, the congregation as usual was sparse, and consisted
almost exclusively of women, who seem to do penance for both sexes in
Cuba. The military band which led the column of infantry marched in,
playing a quick operatic air, deploying to one side for the soldiery
to pass towards the altar. The time-keeping steps of the soldiery upon
the marble floor mingled with drum, fife, and organ. Through all this,
one caught now and then the monotonous voice of a shaven-headed
priest, reciting his prescribed part at the altar, kneeling and
reading at intervals. The busy censer boys in white gowns; the flaring
candles casting long shadows athwart the high altar; the files of
soldiers kneeling and rising at the tap of the drum; the atmosphere
clouded with the fumes of burning incense,--all combined to make up a
singularly dramatic picture. The gross mummery witnessed at the temple
of Buddha in Ceylon differed only in form, scarcely in degree.

The wealth of the churches of the monks in the island was formerly
proverbial, but of late the rich perquisites which the priests were so
long permitted to extort from the credulous public have been diverted
so as to flow into the coffers of the crown. A military depotism
brooks no rival in authority. The priests at one time possessed large
tracts of land in Cuba, and their revenue therefrom, especially when
they were improved as sugar plantations, was very large. These lands
have all been confiscated by the government, and with the loss of
their property the power of the monks has declined and their numbers
have also diminished. Still the liberty of public worship is denied to
all save Roman Catholics. Since the suppression of monastic
institutions, some of the convents have been utilized for hospitals,
government storehouses, and other public offices in Havana. There are
some manifest incongruities that suggest themselves as existing
between Church and state upon the island. For instance, the Church
recognizes the unity of all races and even permits marriage between
all, but here steps in the civil law of Cuba and prohibits marriage
between white persons and those having any ta