mprinted themselves around a very coarse picture of the Virgin. This
is the story of the miraculous appearance of our Lady of Guadalupe.

[Illustration: TEMPLE OF THE VIRGIN OF GUADALUPE.]

The bishop was hard to convince at first, but when he considered that
the Indian could not himself paint, and had no money with which to pay
an artist, and, above all, as there was a fair chance of making money
by the transaction, he finally yielded to conviction. His example was
soon followed by the whole nation; and then the several buildings, one
after another, began to make their appearance. There was some
difficulty at first in identifying the place of the first appearance of
the Virgin, but this difficulty was removed by the Virgin herself, for
she again appeared and stamped her foot upon the spot, whereupon there
gushed forth a spring of mineral water.[39] This has proved an
infallible cure for all diseases of body and mind, and to it the
Indians resort to drink, and wash, and drink again, until it would seem
that they must soon exhaust the fountain, so great is the multitude
that resort to this spring of the Virgin.

The Collegiate Church--for there can not be two Cathedrals in one
diocese--is the principal building in the picture. It is not large, but
it surpasses any thing I have yet seen for its immense accumulation of
treasure, excepting always the Cathedral. A railing formed of plates of
pure silver incloses both the choir and the altar of the Virgin. These
are joined together by a passageway, which is inclosed by a portion of
the same precious railing. The golden candlesticks, the golden shields,
and other ornaments of gold, dazzle the eyes of the beholder, while the
three rows of jewels, one of pearls, one of emeralds, and one of
diamonds, encircling "the holy image," produce an impression not easily
erased. The contrast that is presented between these hoards of wealth
and the extreme poverty of the multitude that here congregate is most
striking.

The religion of Mexico is a religion of priestly miracles, and when the
ordinary rules of evidence are applied to them, they and the religion
that rests upon them fall together; hence the necessity of exacting at
the start a blind submission to authority, and an abnegation of the
reasoning faculties the moment the subject of religion is approached.
We have applied the ordinary rules of evidence to the romance of the
Conquest, and we find that it will not stand the test of