Page:Life in Mexico vol 1.djvu/174

154 sound of that gay music, and amidst the shouting and clapping of hands of the multitude. When the service was over, the procession passed out, every one kissing the hand of the Bishop as he went along, and we found some difficulty in making our way through the crowds of léperos, who, though not allowed to enter the church on this occasion, were swarming at the gates. Our carriage, as we returned home, formed one of a file of at least one hundred.

We found, on our table, another invitation to a very splendid Mass, which is to be performed in San Francisco, on account of the death of a friend of ours, a senator of distinguished family. The style of these invitations is as follows. A device is engraved on the paper, such as a tomb and cypress, and below is printed:

who died on the twenty-eighth of last month, request you to assist at the suffrage of the funeral honors, which, by the desire of his wife. Dona J A, will be celebrated in the church of San Francisco on the morning of the eighth of this month of February, 1840, at nine o'clock."

Beside this invitation, was a piece of information of a different description:

"General A and Anna R beg to inform you, that they have contracted matrimony, and have the honor of offering themselves to your disposal.

"M Street, No. 24. Mexico, 1840."