Page:Vol 6 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/615

Rh religion itself. In their ignorance, they never could possess themselves of its true spirit, and the result has been the adoration of images, and blind fanaticism and superstition. The fact is, that the benighted Indians, forming the great bulk of the population, have been taught to worship images; the well-informed bowed the knee, perhaps, but in private derided the superstition they were obliged outwardly to conform to. It must be acknowledged, however, that in late years, with the spread of education, the people have been arriving at a better conception of christianity, and throwing off many of their former stupid beliefs.

General kneeling in the streets, when the parish priests were carrying the host to the moribund, and ordering of masses for the dead, to save their souls from torture, or to hasten their exit from purgatory, were common practices, and from the latter the church derived immense revenues. Ridiculous exhibitions were often made by the devout, such, for instance, as parading a figure of Christ in a green silk robe, with a large white handkerchief fastened across the shoulders to protect his back from the sun; and the virgin Mary following with a fashionable French hat, worn jauntily. The feasts of the crucifixion at Pueblo Viejo de Tampico, and of Santiago de Compostela, were evidences of a mixture of barbarism with civilization. Still other proofs might be given had I the space. I must therefore refer the reader to the authorities. I cannot omit, however, two instances of the worst species of ignorance and superstition occurring in late times. In 1869. in a town of the district