ally excellent collection of paintings, among
them a series illustrating the life of the Virgin, by an unknown artist,
besides two fine canvases by Cabrera. But one grows fastidious in
visiting so many of these churches as he approaches the capital, and
becomes satisfied with examining the cathedral in each new city. The
whole country is strewn with these costly and comparatively useless
temples, many of which are gradually crumbling to dust, and nearly all
of which are dirty beyond description. Immediately after the Spanish
conquest a rage possessed the victors to build churches, without regard
to the necessary population for their support, perhaps hoping thereby to
propitiate heaven for their rapaciousness and outrageous oppression of
the native race. The criminal extortion exercised by the priesthood and
their followers forms a dark blot upon the escutcheon of both the church
and the state. O Christianity, as Madame Roland said of Liberty, "what
atrocities have been committed in thy name!"

Charles Lempriere, D. C. L., an able writer upon Mexico, says: "The
Mexican church, as a church, fills no mission of virtue, no mission of
morality, no mission of mercy, no mission of charity. Virtue cannot
exist in its pestiferous atmosphere. The cause of morality does not come
within its practice. It knows no mercy, and no emotion of charity ever
nerves the stony heart of the priesthood, which, with an avarice that
knows no limit, filches the last penny from the diseased and dying
beggar, plunders the widow and orphans of their substance as well as
their virtue, and casts such a horoscope of horrors around the deathbed
of the dying millionaire, that the poor, superstitious wretch is glad to
purchase a chance for the safety of his soul in making the church the
heir of his treasures."

Many of the better class of houses in the upper portion of Guanajuato,
some of which are extremely attractive, are built from a peculiar
sandstone quarried in the neighborhood, which is of many colors, giving
the fronts an odd, but not unpleasant appearance. The balconies of these
dwellings are rendered lovely by a great variety of creeping vines and
flowers in blossom. Among these the honeysuckle prevailed, often shading
pleasant family groups, and forming tableaux in strong contrast with the
more humble and populous portions of the town. In this part of the city,
where the gorge widens, a large reservoir has been constructed which
gets its supply