Page:Mexico, picturesque, political, progressive.djvu/85

Rh taken hold of nothing characteristic of the time or country. This is the more to be regretted, since the land overflows with lavish beauty, and offers wonderful opportunities. So far, the genius of the place has made no particular impression; and the treasures of nature have been passed by for conventional representations of Scriptural subjects of no value. When will a Fortuny or a Gérome arise for Mexico.

Puebla and Mexico, the two principal centres of the country, share more than other places the cosmopolitan character of European cities, as well as the extremes of riches and poverty. While nothing is more superb than their palaces, few things are more squalid than the huts of the poor. The homes of the rich are on a magnificent scale of luxury. An arched driveway leads from the street to the central courtyard tiled with marbles, bright with flowers, statues, and splashing fountains, surrounded by all the appliances which wealth can suggest to indolence. Around this inner pleasaunce the house rises in a series of light-arched galleries resting on carved pillars, communicating by broad outer stairways of stone, and opening into every room by windows and doors