Page:Pictures of life in Mexico Vol 1.djvu/256

228 effected towards the enlightenment of the thousands of ignorant and degraded Indians, who form the hulk of the population in Mexico!

It is too often the case, in many countries where the active spirit of true religion has no existence, that there is an effete and offensive display of its empty shadow and unmeaning letter. It is so in Mexico. In passing through the streets you will often receive the blessing of God, of Christ, and of the Virgin, from a villain who would, for the slightest consideration, imbrue his hands in your heart's blood; and, on calling to purchase some trifling article at a small-ware establishment, the owner, who would not scruple to rob you of the clothes you wear, if he could do it with impunity, will implore "the guardianship of all the blessed saints and angels upon your head," also. Thus the poor Indians at the mines, before they receive their miserable wages, stand in a line against the wall of the pay-room; and each exclaims, as he steps forward for his pittance, "Alabo a Dios,"Alabo a Dios,"—"I praise God,"—while in his heart he is thinking of the pulque-shop; and the pleasures of the gaming-