s meditating the death of a seventh, is now dressed in
the latest Paris finery, and is a saint. The old miser, who laid up
such hoards while he starved himself to death, is here placed among
saints; the clothes are different, but there is the same forbidding
visage. Here, too, are the Queen of Sheba, the Babes in the Wood, the
Belle of the West, the Terrible Brigand, and Sir William Wallace--all
transformed into images of saints, before whom the people bow down with
the most profound reverence, and to whose intercession they commit the
salvation of their souls.

I do not know whether the showman or the priests are to blame for my
irreverence, or whether it is the fault of the system itself. The
argument in favor of the adoration of images is that they make
impressions on the senses which aid devotion; but, if the impressions
made on my senses are to be considered, the whole tendency is to debase
the immortal Maker of heaven and earth below the level of humanity,
"and to change the image of the incorruptible God into an image made
like to corruptible man." There was abundant proof of this in the
tabernacle of our Lady of Remedies above the great altar of the
Cathedral. There sits enthroned this cast-off bauble of some nursery,
emblazoned with jewels enough to supply the means to educate the whole
population of Mexico. To this piece of dilapidated wood and plaster of
Paris are conceded attributes of God Almighty: to grant rain in times
of drought; health in times of pestilence; a safe delivery to women in
peril of childbirth; and before it, in times of public calamity, the
highest dignitaries walk in solemn procession.

Nothing disgusts an Anglo-Saxon more than to witness the mental
degradation of the descendants of the Castilians, the slaves of
superstition, craft, and imposture. From generation to generation they
have lived in constant fear of the secret agents of the Inquisition,
and of the evil spirits that are ever plotting against the peace of
good Christians. The permanency of the laws of Nature, the very
foundation of all self-reliance and courage, is believed to be at the
caprice of every one of a legion of saints, each of whom has been
canonized on proof of working a miracle. Truth, and honesty, and
chastity are subordinate virtues, and only a slavish devotion to his
conscience-keeper can sustain a believer in the hour of greatest
necessity.

There are important truths to be learned in Mexico, and even in thi