th before anything is consummated. The charm of the whole
affair with these people consists in its secrecy and difficulties either
real or assumed. Lydia Languish cared nothing for Beverly when all
obstacles to their union vanished; opposition is the spice of love.

A pleasant story is told of the attractiveness of Jalapa. It seems that
an old traveler came here to pass a day, but was so fascinated with the
beauty of the place and its surroundings, the fragrance of its flowers,
the beauty of its women, and the salubrity of the climate, that he never
left it to the day of his death. Every nook and corner has its charming
bit of verdure, its plot of flowers, its broad green banana leaves
overhanging some low, white wall, or a tall palm with its plume-like top
overshadowing a dainty balcony. One often hears Jalapa spoken of among
the Mexicans as a bit of heaven dropped on earth.

The great shame and disgrace of Mexico has been the prevalence of
brigandage in the several states of the republic, and even in the
immediate environs of the national capital. All the efforts of the
government for years have proved ineffectual to suppress this
lawlessness until very lately, when, for reasons not very clear to a
stranger, it has seemed gradually to subside. Brigandage has not only
been a crying shame to the country, but has paralyzed business, kept
visitors away from Mexico, and caused her to lose her national credit
both in Europe and America. People will not invest money in great
enterprises in regions where the persons of their agents are not safe,
and where robbery and kidnapping are every-day occurrences. An
intelligent native attempted to convince the author that these
highwaymen were not composed of native Indians, half-breeds, or
Spaniards, but that they were mostly made up from Italians and other
Europeans who had been induced to leave their own country for their
country's good. Our credulity was not, however, equal to this solution.
Brigandage was long chronic here, and the brigands were Mexicans.

When the French army was here, it is said that General Bazaine had
occasion to be in the city at an opportune moment. Having heard by some
chance that the brigands had been very troublesome hereabouts, and also
that they would probably stop the next mail coach on its way to Vera
Cruz, he resolved to give these outlaws a lesson which they would not
soon forget. When the expected coach arrived, and while the mules were
replaced