Page:Pictures of life in Mexico Vol 2.djvu/84

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 National pride.—Patronising manners.—Drunken independence.—A swaggering postilion.—Braggadocio and abasement.—The adventures of an intoxicated family group.

feature of the Mexican character obtrudes itself forcibly upon the attention of a foreign resident at an early stage of his experiences—their braggart pride and lofty assertion of personal independence. You will seldom encounter a Mexican at all removed from the lowest grade, who has not such an overwhelming idea of his own grandeur and importance that he will admit of superiority in no shape or form. If you meet him on equal terms, and desire to enter into conversation, he immediately gives you to perceive that he patronizes you. Employ him in the meanest capacity—whether he waits upon you at table, feeds your mule, or furnishes you with boots,