Page:Life in Mexico vol 2.djvu/278

258, speaking the other day of General Bustamante, said, "Poor man—he is persecuted by all parties, just as Jesus Christ was by the Jansenists, the Sadducees, and the Holy Fathers of the Church! "What a curious olla podrida the poor man's brain must be!

In the midst of the revolution, we were amused by a very peaceful sight—all the nurses belonging to the Cuna, or Foundling Hospital, coming from the different villages to receive their monthly wages. Amongst the many charitable institutions in Mexico, there appears to me (in spite of the many prejudices existing against such institutions) none more useful than this. These otherwise unfortunate children, the offspring of abject poverty or guilt, are left at the gate of the establishment, where they are received without any questions being asked; and from that moment, they are protected and cared for, by the best and noblest families in the country. The members of the society consist of the first persons in Mexic, male and female. The men furnish the money; the women give their time and attention. There is no fixed number of members, and amongst them are the ladies in whose house we now live. The President is the Dowager Marquesa de Vivanco. When the child has been about a month in the Cuna, she is sent with an Indian nurse, to one of the villages near Mexico. If sick or feeble, it remains in the house, under the more immediate inspection of the society. These nurses have a fiadora, a responsible person, who lives in the village, and answers for their good conduct. Each nurse is paid four dollars per month,