mber, 1853, were
hurrying out of the city by the old gate and causeway of Tepeac to the
suburban village of Guadalupe Hidalgo, once Tepeac, but now consecrated
to the Virgin Mary, who, tradition says, appeared there in a bodily
form to an Indian _peon_. Juan Diego was the name of the Indian, and
1531 is the date assigned to the incident. I shall hereafter take
occasion to relate the story as given by the veracious Juan, and duly
attested by authority which ought to be competent to settle the
question, if any thing can do so. I hope that my readers will do their
best to believe it. If they honestly endeavor to do so, and do not
succeed, I trust they will not suffer on account of their lack of
faith.

The occasion that was drawing the multitude together was the
consecration of the bishop-elect of Michoican, which was to be
celebrated with great pomp at this most sacred shrine of the patron
goddess of the Republic. The State and the Church were duly represented
upon the platform by the President, the nuncio, and the archbishop.
Beneath the platform, and within the silver railing, were the official
representatives of foreign nations, who were easily distinguished by a
strip of gold or silver lace upon the collars and lapels of their
coats. To this uniformity of dress there was a single exception in the
person of the new American embassador, Mr. Gadsden, whose plain black
dress and clerical appearance would have conveyed the impression that
he was a Methodist preacher, had he not been engaged, with all the
awkwardness of a novice, upon his knees, in crossing himself.

This was the first occasion on which I had ever seen Santa Anna. If
looks have any weight determining a man's character, then truly he was
entitled to his position, for he was, by all odds, the most imposing in
appearance of any person in that assemblage, or any other I have yet
seen in Mexico. His part in the performance was that of godfather to
the bishop. Surrounded by kneeling aids-de-camp, he alone stood up, in
the rich uniform of a general of division, seeming the perfection of
military elegance and dignity. Each badge of prelatical rank, before it
was put upon the new bishop, was handed to Santa Anna, who kissed it,
and then returned it. He stood without apparent fatigue during the
whole of that long ceremony. I have often seen Santa Anna since that
time, but never have I seen him appear to such advantage as upon this
occasion.

THE BIBLE IN MEXICO