Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

So strong is its influence, that even to this day offerings are sent from every part of Mexico to this shrine of the Virgin. The first chapel was built at the top of the hill; a large one at its foot is now the principal one, and within its walls the picture is preserved. Several chapels have been erected at different times by individuals, and the whole collection presents rather a rich appearance. It is difficult to say to what style of architecture it belongs, as all pretensions to uniformity are destroyed by the numerous capellas (or chapels) erected in the vicinity of the principal edifice, by the more wealthy votaries of the virgin. One of them is very remarkable; having been built to commemorate an escape from shipwreck, it has assumed as much as possible the form of the sails of a ship. Our readers may, perhaps, perceive it in the engraving, which is copied from one of the plates in Mr. Ward's work.

POLICE.

THE city of Mexico," says Humboldt, "is remarkable for its excellent police. Most of the streets have very broad pavements, and they are clean and well lighted." He must use the word however more in its continental sense, than in the signification which we commonly attach to it, or else things must have greatly changed since the time when he wrote. The Mexican capital still continues to enjoy the advantages of broad pavements, and clean well-lighted streets; but, unfortunately, no man can walk them after night-fall, without running a considerable chance of being robbed or murdered. "We intended to go to the theatre," says Mr. Poinsett, "but first drove home to get our sabres, that we might walk home in the evening with safety. This will seem a very strange precaution in a civilized country, but it is absolutely necessary. The porter of our house seeing me go out in the evening when I first arrived, without being armed, remonstrated with me on what he was pleased to call my rashness; and, on inquiry, I found that it was considered imprudent to do so. I was told robberies and assassinations were frequent, and that not lesss than twelve hundred assassinations had been committed since the entrance of the revolutionary army into the capital. I could not learn that any of them had been detected and punished." Surely, then, if the police be excellent in the one sense, it is execrable in the other.

But this is not the worst; in the immediate vicinity of the capital, robberies are openly committed in the face of day. The ruined suburbs afford every advantage for the commission of crime, and the concealment of the offender; so that no one thinks of taking a walk into the outskirts of the capital without pistols and companions. It is not, however, by the lowest classes alone of the community that these offences are committed; individuals of a much higher order have been known to be engaged in them. Their mode of proceeding is to sally forth, well mounted, in large parties, and drag their victim from his horse by means of the well-known lasso; they then strip him of his clothes, as well as his money, and, should he be unwise enough to resist, sometimes murder him. Mr. Beaufoy says, that soon after he left Mexico, an English gentleman, newly arrived in the capital, was stopped, robbed, and stripped, close to the gate of the city. He was riding quietly about the environs, comparing the open pages of Bullock's book with what he saw himself, when he was disagreeably interrupted by a lasso, and rather a violent fall from his horse. Some fiveand-twenty Mexican gentlemen rode by, but, seeing what was going on, they very prudently did not interfere; had they done so, one of two evils must have occurred; either the Englishman would have got stabbed, or their countrymen would have lost their booty. Pistols are the most formidable weapons which the traveller can carry for his own protection; indeed, they are the only weapons to be relied on as a means of defence, for the natives are very good swordsmen, and when they have the advantage of numbers, will not be intimidated by any thing but firearms. Europeans are generally provided with them, and have, therefore, seldom been openly assaulted; whereas, some ludicrous instances have occurred of Mexican gentry coming back to town without their shirts.

Judging from the accounts of different travellers, we may infer that the state of the police in the capital, depends altogether on the character of the government generally, or of the individual functionary, within whose department the care of the lives and properties of its inhabitants may happen to fall. It would appear, that sometimes the authority of the state is exerted for the protection of its subjects,

by a vigorous repression of crime, while at others they are quietly left to take care of themselves in the best way they can. It is easy to conceive that under the old Spanish rule, the jealousy of the government may have led to a better system, and to a stricter enforcement of the laws, against all disturbers of the public peace; nor is it more difficult to understand how, in the course of the long revolutionary struggle which has uprooted the whole system of government in Mexico, and left the country a prey to contending factions, the efficiency of the police may have become relaxed, and a license have been assumed by evil-doers, to violate the laws with impunity.

PUBLIC WALKS.

LIKE most cities of Spain, and cities of Spanish origin, Mexico has famous public walks. The Alameda and the Paseo Nuevo are the principal ones; the former is more especially celebrated. Unluckily, however, it has shared in the common decline of all things in this capital, and no longer presents the same scenes of splendour which characterized it in former days; nevertheless it is still a place which possesses very considerable attractions, and is looked upon as a very important appendage to the city, by all its pleasure-loving inhabitants. Our extracts will enable our readers to compare its present condition with the appearance which it offered in the olden time, when, as a colony of Spain, Mexico enjoyed some portion of the prosperity which attached to the mother-country. The first is from the pen of Thomas Gage, commonly called Friar Gage, who resided in the capital for some time, during the year 1625.

[ocr errors]

The gallants of this city," he says, "show themselves daily here on horseback, and most in coaches about four of the clock in the afternoon, in a pleasant shady field called la Alameda, full of trees and walks, somewhat like unto our Moor-fields, where do meet as constantly as the merchants upon our Exchange, about two thousand coaches, full of gallants, ladies, and citizens, to see and to be seen, to court and to be courted, the gentlemen having their train of blackmore slaves, some a dozen, some half-a-dozen, waiting on them, in brave and gallant liveries, heavy with gold and silver lace, with silk stockings on their black legs, and roses on their feet, and swords by their sides; the ladies also carry their train by their coaches' side, of jet-like damsels, who, with their bravery and white mantles over them, seem to be, as the Spaniard saith, mosca en leche, a flie in milk. But the train of the viceroy, who often goeth to this place, is wonderful stately, which some say, is as great as the train of his master, the king of Spain. At this meeting are carried about, many sorts of sweetmeats and papers of comfits to be sold, for to relish a cup of cool water, which is cried about in curious glasses. But many times,' continues this quaint describer, "their meetings, sweetened with conserves and comfits, have sowre sauce at the end, for jealousie will not suffer a lady to be courted, no, nor sometimes to be spoken to, but puts fury into the violent hand, to draw a sword or dagger, and to stab or murther whom he was jealous of, and when one sword is drawn, thousands are presently drawn, some to right the party wounded or murthered, others to defend the party murthering, whose friends will not permit him to be apprehended, but will guard him with drawn swords, until they have conveyed him to the sanctuary of some church, from whence the viceroy his power is not able to take him for a legal tryal."

"

It would certainly be quite useless to look now-a-days for such a scene of splendour on the Alameda of Mexico; the trains of slaves "with silk stockings on their black legs and roses on their feet, and swords by their sides," have all passed away with the prosperity of this country. Of the size of this place our readers may, perhaps, be unable to form an idea from Gage's statement, that it was "like unto our Moor-fields" of the sixteenth century. Mr. Beaufoy says it is about as large as Lincoln's Inn Fields. It is laid out in lines radiating from different centres, and planted with avenues of trees, shrubberies, &c. It has a carriage-road round it, to which it is the fashion for ladies to drive out about four in the afternoon, and their carriages being drawn up in a long line, often remain stationary for hours.

"Amongst the many curious scenes that Mexico presented," says Mr. Ward, "I know none with which we were more struck than the Alameda. As compared with the Prado* of Madrid, it was, indeed, deprived of its brightest To be described in a future portion of this work.

ornament, the women, for few or none of the ladies of Mexico ever appear in public on foot: but to compensate this, it had the merit of being totally unlike any thing that we had ever seen before. On a Sunday, or Dia de Fiesta (Festival Day,) the avenues were crowded with enormous coaches, in each of which were seated two or more ladies, dressed in full evening costume, and whiling away the time with a segar, in awaiting the approach of some of the numerous gentlemen walking or riding near. Nor were the equestrians less remarkable; for most of them were equipped in the full riding-dress of the country, differing from that worn by the lower orders, only in the richness of the materials." We have already described this dress, as well as the enormous coaches here spoken of.

The Paseo Nuevo is another walk of note; it consists of a broad road, raised about three feet above the meadow that surrounds the city, and planted on both sides with trees. The Paseo de las Vigas forms a third; it runs by the side of the Chalco Canal, along which the native Indians convey to the city the fruits, flowers, and vegetables which are produced in their gardens. At an early hour in the morning, when the canal is crowded with boats pushing along to the markets, it presents an animated scene.

THE POPULATION.

THE best place for obtaining a general view of the population of Mexico is the Portales. "Here," says Captain Lyon, "the stranger sees the most extraordinary variety of people and things huddled together, into an apparently confused, yet well-ordered mass. Several principal shops open to the Portales, and innumerable petty venders of both sexes also display their wares crowded on tables, in boxes and baskets, in frames, or spread on the ground; while half-naked leperos, sleeping, overpowered by pulque, or begging of the passers-by; priests, monks, officers, Indians, ladies, and Europeans, form a continually-moving motley crowd. At one turn may be met the water-carrier with an immense jar hanging at his back, suspended by a broad leather belt from the head, while a smaller vessel hangs by another strap in front to maintain the balance. In a different quarter is seen a stout lepero bearing a chair slung from his head and shoulders, and in which is seated an old importunate beggar. On turning to avoid this object, there is a chance of stumbling over the fruit and flowers of some poor quiet Indian woman, as she sits crouched against a pillar, while the ear is frequently saluted by the loud cries of the newsmen, who sell in considerable quantities the publications of the day; proclamations for or against the Gapuchines (Spaniards), the priests, the election of deputies, or whatever may be the most agitating topic of the day."

The leperos mentioned in this extract are the most curious class of the population of Mexico; they resemble

7.52

the lazzaroni of Naples in every thing, with this only difference, that instead of eating maccaroni they drink pulque. This pulque is the favourite beverage of the lower classes in the city of Mexico, and in a very considerable portion of the republic around; it is the produce of a plant called Maguey, or Metl, or Pittes, a species of Agave Americana, or American Aloe. The growth of the plant is slow, but when it has reached maturity, its height varies from six to eight feet, with leaves of corresponding size; it will flourish with very little culture, on the poorest soil. In some parts of the country, there are regular plantations of this useful production; the plants are there arranged in lines, with an interval of about three yards between each. When the period of flowering arrives, the plant begins to be productive; it is on this account extremely important to the cultivator, to know exactly the time of efflorescence, The Mexicans learn its approach by certain signs which they attentively observe; they know almost the very hour in which the stem, or central shoot, which is destined to produce the flower, is about to appear, and they anticipate it by making a deep incision, and extracting the whole heart or bundle of central leaves (el corazon), leaving nothing but the thick outside rind, which forms a natural basin or wall, about two feet deep, and one and a half in diameter (see the Engraving.) Into this the sap, which would have gone to support the large shoot which has been cut off, is continually oozing in such quantities, that it is found necessary to remove it two or three times a day. This sap is allowed to ferment, and in a week or two it becomes pulque in the best state for drinking.

"The natives," says Mr. Ward," ascribe to pulque as many good qualities as whisky is said to possess in Scotland. They call it stomachic, a great promoter of digestion and sleep, and an excellent remedy in many diseases. It requires a knowledge of all these good qualities, to reconcile the stranger to that smell of sour milk, or slightlytainted meat, by which the young pulque-drinker is usually disgusted; but if this can be surmounted, pulque will be found both a refreshing and a wholesome beverage, for its intoxicating qualities are very slight, and as it is drunk always in a state of fermentation, it possesses, even in the hottest weather, an agreeable coolness." The offensive smell in question is attributed to the dirty pig-skins in which it is conveyed from the place of culture to large towns. There is also a strong sort of brandy, called Mexical, or aguardiente de Maguey, prepared from this plant, and of this the consumption is great.

The cultivation of the maguey thus possesses considerable advantages. To use Humboldt's words, " a proprietor who plants from 30,000 to 40,000 maguey is sure to establish the fortune of his children." But it reqires a degree of patience seldom found among the Indians of Mexico, to pursue a species of cultivation which only begins to grow lucrative at the end of fifteen years. In a good soil, the plant reaches the period of flowering in five years; in a poor one, no harvest can be expected in less than eighteen years. The plant is destroyed, if the incision be made too early,-that is to say, long before the flowers would have naturally developed themselves.

[graphic]
[graphic]

MEXICAN WATER-CARRIER.

THE PULQUE PLANT.

LONDON: Published by JOHN WILLIAM PARKER, WEST STRAND; and sold by all Booksellers.

[blocks in formation]

THE

[graphic]

UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE COMMITTEE OF GENERAL LITERATURE AND EDUCATION, APPOINTED BY THE SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE.

PRICE ONE PENNY.

[graphic][subsumed][subsumed][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][graphic][graphic][merged small][graphic][graphic][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][graphic][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][merged small][merged small]

SHOES, AND THEIR VARIOUS FORMS. THE invention of this useful article of dress must necessarily be attributed to a very remote period in the history of the world, for as soon as mankind had made even a moderate progress in the arts of life, their attention would naturally be directed to the contrivance of some method for preserving the soles of the feet from injury. In preparing a covering for the head, the most delicate materials, such as straw, shavings of wood, &c., were in the first instance resorted to, the only object being to protect the head from the heat of the sun, and occasionally from rain; but any substance calculated to guard the feet from injury, must be capable of enduring much wear and tear. On this account it is, that the earliest coverings for the feet, of which any traces exist, were formed of leather.

The first three engravings represent shoes, or rather sandals, (for the covering of the upper part of the foot is a much later invention,) of Egyptian manufacture, and show the high state of civilization in Egypt nearly three thousand years ago.

The sandals of the Greeks are the next we have to notice, and in these, the upper part of the foot is still left uncovered, although, perhaps, greater dexterity is exhibited in the different methods of fastening them on the feet. Much uncertainty, however, exists, as to the correct forms of the sandals of this celebrated nation, as most of the statues which have been preserved are greatly damaged, and the feet have been restored by modern artists: in addition to this, the greater number of the statues of their heroes, or gods, are represented with their bare feet. The form of the coverings for the feet of the ancient Romans is evidently derived from the Greeks, but they assumed a greater variety of shapes; in general, however, the upper part of the foot was either wholly or partially covered. The engraving No. 4, represents what may perhaps be most appropriately called a boot.

The four next engravings (Nos. 6, 7, 8, 9,) are representations of ancient shoes and sandals, of different kinds. The first, with spikes attached to the sole, is, evidently, intended for the purpose of rendering the wearer sure-footed, in ascending or descending steep acclivities, or in crossing plains of ice, or frozen snow. The next is almost a perfect shoe, but to what nation it belonged is uncertain. The third is a species of wooden clog, and is almost similar to those worn at the present day by the ladies of Syria. The fourth appears to be formed of leather; it is copied from an ancient fragment, but it is uncertain to what country it is to be attributed.

Referring to the shoes of modern nations, the first, and perhaps the most antique, are those worn by the Chinese. Like every other article of dress of this singular people, the shoes of the richer classes are chiefly formed of silk, and beautifully embroidered. Nos. 10 and 11 represent the foot and shoe of a Chinese lady of rank, which, from its extremely small size, was, no doubt, of the most fashionable form.

This strange desire of the Chinese females of all ranks, to reduce the size of their feet, is only another proof of the inconveniences and torments which have been endured for fashion's sake; and, although at first sight it appears extremely singular, it is not a whit more unnatural than the tight lacing of the ladies of Europe. To such an extent is this practice carried, that, says Lord Macartney, "Even among the middle and inferior classes, the feet were unnaturally small, or rather truncated. They appeared as if the fore-part of the foot had been accidentally

cut off, leaving the remainder of the usual size, and bandaged like the stump of an amputated limb; they undergo, indeed, much torment, and cripple themselves in a great measure, in imitation of ladies of higher rank, among whom it is the custom to stop, by pressure, the growth of the ancle, as well as the foot, from the earliest infancy; and leaving the great toe in its natural position, forcibly to bend the others, and retain them under the foot, till at length they adhere to it, as if buried in the sole, and can no more be separated. Notwithstanding the pliability of the human frame in tender years, its tendency to expansion at that period, must, whenever it is counteracted, occasion great pain to those who are so treated; and before the ambition of being admired takes possession of these victims of fashion, it requires the vigilance of their female parents to prevent their relieving themselves from the firm and tight compresses which bind their feet and ancles. When these compresses are constantly and carefully kept on, the feet are symmetrically small. The young creatures are, indeed, obliged for a considerable time, to be supported when they attempt to walk; but even afterwards they totter, and always walk upon their heels. Some of the very lowest classes of the Chinese, of a race confined chiefly to the mountains, and remote places, have not adopted this unnatural custom. But the females of this class are held by the rest in the utmost degree of contempt, and are employed only in the most menial domestic offices.

"So inveterate is the custom which gives preeminence to mutilated over perfect limbs, that the interpreter averred, and every subsequent information confirmed the assertion, that if of two sisters, otherwise every way equal, the one had been thus maimed, while nature had been suffered to make its usual progress in the other, the latter would be considered as in an abject state, unworthy of associating with the rest of the family, and doomed to perpetual obscurity, and the drudgery of servitude."

How this singular fashion arose, is uncertain; the common story in China is, that a certain lady of very high rank, happened to be gifted by nature with extremely small feet, and, no doubt, took good care that her advantage over the rest of her sex, should not be unknown; this naturally excited the emulation of others, and an endeavour was made to supply by art, that which was considered a deficiency on the part of nature.

This curious covering for the leg and foot (No. 12,) was in use among the Anglo-Saxons, it was employed chiefly by the higher classes, and by the clergy in general; a shoe was also worn along with it. These leg bandages, or garters, were at times very richly embroidered, and sometimes instead of being rolled one way, as in our engraving, they were employed and bound round contrary ways, so that when they were of two colours, the appearance resembled a Highland stocking; this was called cross-gartering.

The shoes of the Anglo-Saxons were very simple, but, at the same time, well contrived for comfort; they were usually tied at the instep by a leather thong.

After the time of the Anglo-Saxons, when the nation began to import its fashions from other countries, the form of the shoes and boots was constantly varying, indeed, they appear to have been made rather according to the whim or caprice of the wearer, than in consequence of any settled fashion; we must not, however, omit to notice the long-toed boot (No. 15,) so much worn in the reign of Richard the Second. It is said by historians that these were so inconvenient in walking, that the wearer was obliged to loop them up to the knee by means of metal chains;

it is also said that once on the field of battle, the young cavaliers were so encumbered by these unnaturally long toes, that they were obliged to cut them off in the heat of the conflict.

In the seventeenth century, the boots of gentlemen were ornamented with tops, sometimes elegantly fringed with lace, and the shoes also had immensely large rosettes of different-coloured silks.

We are coming now to comparatively modern times, and some now living can remember the highheeled shoes worn by the ladies in the last century. No. 17 represents a shoe of this description, such as was worn by the fashionable men of the day.

The shoe and boot represented in Nos. 18, 19, are still worn in France: the jack-boot has been so often noticed by travellers and others, that it hardly needs description; it is, however, perhaps, not generally known, that the foot of the wearer of this unwieldy boot does not reach the sole, but is received in a space about four inches above the ground, so that the heel of the wearer is immediately in front of the spur. The wooden shoe is formed out of one solid piece of wood, and is worn in France chiefly by the children and women in country places. It is the wooden shoe alluded to by Goldsmith's porter in the Citizen of the World, who, while resting from his load, declares the French to be only "fit to carry burdens, be cause they are slaves and wear wooden shoes."

No. 20 is a kind of sandal worn by the mountaineers in Switzerland, studded with iron spikes, to prevent the foot slipping.

The snow-shoe is formed of a frame-work of wood, strongly interlaced with thongs of leather; it is employed by the Esquimaux and the Canadians, to prevent their sinking into the snow, when crossing their extensive plains. This shoe causes great pain to the wearer until after considerable practice in the use of it.

We cannot better conclude this account, than by noticing the machines invented by Mr. Brunel for the purpose of making shoes for the Army and Navy. The chief difference between his method and that in common use, consisted in the employment of nails of different lengths, for the purpose of uniting the various parts of the shoes, the only part subjected to the operation of sewing being the three pieces of which the upper-leather is composed, namely, the vamp and the two quarters. The cutting-out is performed by large steel punches of the proper form; the holes to receive the nails are made with the greatest regularity, and by a very simple contrivance: the nails, which are also made by the same machine, are dropped with unerring certainty in their places, and at one blow they are all driven in to the proper depth.

The nails employed are of three kinds. 1. The long nails, which form a complete row, as near as possible to the edge of the whole shoe, passing through the two soles, the welt, and the upper-leather; the heel is also fastened on by a row of these nails round its edge. The heads, or thick ends of the nails, are seen on the lower side of the soles, and keep the leather from wearing.

2. The tacking nails, which are of such a size as to pass only through the sole and the welt. Of these there is a row all round the edge of the foot, but further from the edge than the row of long nails. 3. The short nails, which only penetrate through the thickness of the lower sole; they are disposed in parallel rows across the tread of the foot, and also in a double row parallel to the outline of the toe, at about three quarters of an inch from the edge.

WITCHES.

MATTHEW HOPKINS, THE WITCH-FINDER. AMONG the spots and blemishes which defaced "Old England," '-we mean England in the days even of good Queen Bess, King James, and our Charles's, none appear of a darker dye than the evils of superstition. And of all the forms under which the superstition of our ancestors is presented to our view, the notion respecting the existence and power of witches, is perhaps the most hideous and abominable. If the delusions of this kind had been so far harmless as to have kept within the minds of those persons whom they misled, we might, indeed, have wondered at such gross ignorance prevailing in the seats of learning, and amidst the bright periods of our literary history, like "the moping owl" in broad sun-shine; and we might have classed them among such Vulgar Errors, as those of "The philosophers' stone which should turn all to gold;' "The hidden virtue in precious stones," or, "The geese, which were produced from the fish called Barnacles!"

[ocr errors]

But the opinions respecting witches, were as cruel as they were false: and our feeling of the ridiculous, is quickly turned into that of sorrow and pity, on finding not only that some of the most learned, and, generally speaking, humane of our countrymen, in a past age, held the common notions upon witchcraft, but that thousands of poor, old, and innocent persons, mostly women, were condemned and executed for this alleged offence, in Great Britain alone! We say

[ocr errors]

alleged offence," when we consider the absurd stories told, and the many impostures which we know to have been contrived on the subject: at the same time, it may be well to remember the observation of Sir William Blackstone." It seems to be the most eligible way to conclude with an ingenious writer of our own (Addison,) that, in general, there has been such a thing as witchcraft, though one cannot give credit to any particular modern instance of it." Too many reported cases, indeed, there are, which, from the monstrous nature of the charge, the deep injustice of the kind of evidence, and the revolting barbarity attending the last resort against the accused, were a disgrace to our ancient criminal calendars. Dr. Grey, in his notes to the poem of Hudibras says, that he had seen an account of between three and four thousand persons, who suffered death for witchcraft in the king's dominions, from 1640 to 1660.

It should be a cause of thankfulness to us, that owing to the vast, though gradual, spread of sound knowledge since that time, and more especially in consequence of the mild and pure light which is shed into almost every cottage by the Gospel, now that the Bible may be read by all in their native tongue, we are freed from these shameful and degrading fetters; except, indeed, in some few instances in distant villages. But to show that the evil once reached even to the highest, both in rank and knowledge, we quote a passage from a sermon preached before Queen Elizabeth, in 1558, by Bishop Jewel, in which the mischiefs attributed to the agency of witches, and the effects of the "evil eye" are plainly declared. "It may please your grace to understand, that witches and sorcerers within these last four years are marvellously increased within this your grace's realm. Your grace's subjects pine away, even unto the death; their colour fadeth, their flesh rotteth, their speech is benumbed, their senses are bereft. I pray God, they may never practise further than upon the subject." The climax of this, must surely have been extremely startling, and have

Moved the stout heart of England's queen,
Though Pope and Spaniard couldn't trouble it.

« AnteriorContinuar »