Page:Mexico as it was and as it is.djvu/103

 issues a circle of golden rays, while above it, as if floating in the air, hangs the figure of a dove, of solid silver, as large as an eagle!

Descending from the altar, you lean on a rail of gilded silver. The massive candlesticks, and all the stands and reading-desks are of silver, as is also a score of figures, some three feet high, for lamps and torches.

From the front of the altar to the body of the church, in which are placed the choir and organ, there is another silver hand-rail and balustrade on both sides of the central aisle. The choir is of a dark rich wood, covered with the most exquisite carvings, in high relief, of passages in the life of our Saviour, and its gates are beautifully inlaid with silver. The seats of the clergymen rise above each other in a double row, and in the centre stands a massive reading-desk, most gorgeously wrought of the precious metal.

To the left of the altar, a chapel, containing a collection of sacred relics, branches off from the main edifice. The whole eastern end of this is a blaze of crystal and gilded carvings, piled up to the lofty arched roof; while on the steps are two tall India jars, that would make in Europe the fortune of a china hunter.

As I left the door of this apartment, I noticed a recently painted picture, or rather frame of pictures. It represented a series of miracles wrought by the Virgin within the last ten years. First, a husband had stabbed his wife, and yet, by a prayer to the Saint, she was healed: Second, a child, who had fallen from a window, was miraculously preserved by her intervention: Third, a woman, passing through a wood, encountered a robber, who attempted to force her; yet, an opportune ejaculation to Guadalupe winged her feet, and she escaped: Fourth, a man was thrown from his horse, and saved: Fifth, a carriage passed over another harmlessly: And Sixth, the Virgin saved a woman from being gored by a bull.

As I passed around the church, I saw a variety of similar mementoes hung upon the walls—little pictures of sick women-of others praying—silver arms and legs, and even little waxen ones. In one place I noticed two braids of hair; the vow, doubtless of some poor Indian, and perhaps her most precious gift. I was told in Mexico, by a person who has seen it, that the native Indians at times come to this shrine, and play before the Virgin's image on their drums and flageolets.

As I passed through the door, I encountered a lépero-looking fellow, who, on one side, offered me a ticket in the "Lottery of the Virgin," while on the other, a servitor of the church held out a stock of red ribbons "with the measure of the Virgin's hands," and metal medals of Guadalupe. The latter I thought a better investment than the lottery; and buying one, which I dipped in the blessed well, I keep it as a memento of the visit and the spot.

For the curious in such matters, I give the original of a Sonnet and Verses—and the promise of Indulgences, in honor of the Virgin: