Page:Young Folks History Of Mexico.pdf/404

 398 Oglethorpe was at this time making his unsuccessful attack upon Saint Augustine, Florida, and the English admiral, Vernon, took Porto Bello and the forts of Cartagena.

In 1736 there visited Mexico a terrible epidemic, called Matlazahuatl, which carried off many thousands of the inhabitants, and it was at this time, and with the motive of



obtaining divine succor, that the Virgin of Guadalupe was declared the patron saint of the country. Mention has already been made of this saint, and a slight sketch of her first appearance in Mexico may not be uninteresting.