Page:Young Folks History Of Mexico.pdf/406

400 a wandering Indian, who would otherwise have rejected the preaching of those holy men. It touched their national pride, to be told that this miracle was wrought for their benefit, and that the apparition appeared to one of the lowest of their race. Contributions for the building of the chapel poured in from every quarter, and there now stands upon the site of the hermitage, erected in 1532, upon the spot where the Virgin appeared, a magnificent structure dedicated to the most adorable Virgin of Guadalupe. Do you not give full credence to this story? Then enter the grand interior of that church, built in memory of this event, and walk down the nave and stand before the high altar. There you will see, securely framed in crystal glass, and once surrounded by a golden frame, that famous picture of the Virgin, stamped by supernatural agency upon the coarse tilma of Juan Diego, in December, 1531! Processions in her honor visit that church to-day, and her shrine, the chapel on the hill, is the goal of many a weary pilgrim. The spring of chalybeate water, and full of virtues, that gushed forth from the rock on which the blessed Virgin stamped her foot, still flows, and is the resort of thousands.

[A. D. 1743.] Returning to our chronology, we shall find that the Spaniards met with a great loss in the year 1743, in the capture, by the English admiral, Anson, of the East Indian galleon containing a cargo worth two millions of dollars! It was laden chiefly with silver, and was on its way to the East Indies to purchase those Oriental fabrics which found such quick sales in the marts of Mexico, when the English buccaneer pounced upon it from his hiding-place near Acapulco.

[A. D. 1746.] Under the viceroy who came into power this year, the Count of Revilla Gigedo, the royal revenues were largely increased, mines of silver and gold continued