the insurrection of 1810
broke out, these two virgins parted company. "_Viva_ the Virgin of
Guadalupe!" became the war-cry of the unsuccessful rebels, while
"_Viva_ the Lady of Remedies!" was shouted back by the conquering
forces of the king. The Lady of Guadalupe became suspected of
insurrectionary propensities, while all honors were lavished upon the
Lady of Remedies by those who wished to make protestations of their
loyalty. Pearls, money, and jewels were bestowed upon her by the
nobility and the Spanish merchants; and as one insurrectionary leader
after another was totally defeated, the conquering generals returned to
lay their trophies at the feet of the Lady of Remedies, to whose
interposition the victory was ascribed. They carried her in triumphant
procession through the streets of Mexico, singing a _laudamus_. Then it
was that the Lady of Remedies was at the zenith of her glory. Her
person was refulgent with a blaze of jewels, and her temple was like
that of Diana of Ephesus, and all about the hill on which it stood bore
marks of the greatest prosperity.

RISE AND FALL OF THE VIRGIN.

Her healing powers were then unrivaled, and the list of cures which she
is claimed to have effected surpasses that of all the patent medicines
of our day. She was an infallible healer, alike of the diseases of the
mind and of the body. A glimpse of her broken nose and battered face
instantaneously cured men of democracy and unbelief. Heretics stood
confounded in her presence, while the halt, the lame, and the leprous
hung up their crutches, their bandages, and their filthy rags, as
trophies of her healing power, among the flags and other trophies of
her victories over the rebels. Nothing was beyond her skill; from
mending a leaky boat to securing a prize in the lottery; from giving
eyes to the blind, feet to the lame, mending a broken or a paralyzed
limb, or a broken heart, to putting the baby to sleep. Her votaries
esteemed her omnipotent, and carried her in procession in times of
drought, as the goddess of rain; and when pestilence raged in the city,
she was borne through the infected streets. Such was she in the times
of her glory.

Now all is changed. She is still a goddess, but her glory is eclipsed.
She, like many a virgin in social life, neglected to make her market
while all knees were bowing to her, and now, in the sear and yellow
leaf, she is a virgin still. Her temple is dilapidated, her garlands
are faded, her gi