The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1825-09-05 00:00:00

ME XICAN FESTIVAL.

We extract from a number of the Mexican paper the
So/, the following account of the last celebration of the fes-
tival of San Augustin de la Cucoas. This Catholic paecua
or religious festival is held every year on IWhitsuntide at
the village of which it bears the name, which is situated
about four leagues from the city of Mexico. It is kept up
for three days, and is one continued scene of revelry—
cock-fighting, gambling, and pick- pocketing ; people of the
highest standing (especially ladies) attend; and, as the
little town is always crowded on the occasion, they have
to pay very extravagant prices for refreshments, lodgings,
and accommodations of every kind. The gamblers are
always sure of a golden harvest. Ladies bet freely, and
often very high.

MEXICO, Max 25.
The last rnnual fe.tival at San Augustin de las Cocoas was at.
tended by a larger concourse of people, end celebrated with more
magmficence and merriment than has been known for several years.
lIIIAII the houses were taken, and all the most distinguished persons
11 of Mexico were present. Cock-fights, balls, promenades, all cell-
,' lilted an immense concourse, and the most brilliant display of
beatify and fashion. The road was continually tilled with coaches
and persons on horseback. The eating-houses, all of which were
disposed and served in the most delicate style, were never empty;
and, unfortunately, we must say the same of the gambling houses;
great winnings and losing"' are said to have taken place, as well at
the monte-banks as at the cock-fighting.
This desire of amusement, this spirit of luxury and magnificence,
are, perhaps, the beat proofs of the progress which we have made in
our political career—now we hear nothing of conspiracies—no one
is prosecuted—all enjoy, in tranquillity, their liberty, their pro-
perty, and, what is more, hare the security of possessing, uninter-
ruptedly, the one and the other ; and thus it ja that the whole
community give themselves up to diversions and pleasures, from
the enjoyment of which they have been for a long time debarred.
Let us ifo on thus, and we shall soon have forgotten altogether the
evil which we hare suffered.

M. Dubois, the author of My Pocket Book, is, it is said
the editor of the European- Magazine under its new an
spices.---News Literature.
The Prussian government, in order to be certain that its
pensions paid by government are spent in the kingdom, has
issued a rescript, by which it is ordered that the life certi-
ficate shall henceforward specify that the pensioner resides
in the Prussian dominions.

At the celebrated Institution for the Deaf and Dumb at
Paris, one of the dives was asked the meaning of the word
" gratitude," he immediately took his pen and wrote.—
" The memory of the heart."
The harvest in the northern parts of England is just now
at its crisis, and we have to thank God for another week of
fine harvest weather. In the neighbourhood of Leeds the
corn is daily and rapidly removing from the field to the
stack-yard, and the quality of the,. rain is as line as the
condition in which it is gatheritrla excellent.—Lee4 Mer-
cury.

S.; E /I A V Ex.—The following account of this singular
village is extracted from an Edinburgh Paper, in which
it appears, accompanied by some remarks on the supplY
of the fish market of the Scotch metropolis:—" It is pretty
well known that the inhabitants of this village are a pc-
culiar people, and that their race is preserved pure and
uncorrupted by -,sonstant intermarriages. There is only
one instance of I Newhaven man marrying out of his own
sept ; but his Wife, during his life time, was treated as an
interloper by the other villagers, and even yet, now tbs.'
she is a widow, no one of them will exchange a word with
her, though, for her husband's sake, they have adopted
his children into their community. They tenaciously ad-
here to the ancient mode of fishing practised by their fore-
fathers, rejecting all modern improvements, by which
fishermen are enabled to catch fish of the first quality at a
great depth ; and hence, though our market is abundantly
supplied at all times, we have few prime fish, with the ex-
ception of haddocks. Turbot here is the greatest of rari-
ties, and so little known, indeed, by the generality of peo-
ple, that halibut is often imposed upon them for it ; yet
there is abundance of turbot in the Firth, more especiallY
towards its mouth. Then, the Newhaveners have a prac-
tice of emigrating in a body to the herring fishery about
this season of the year : and, as a consequence, no white
fish it to be seen in the market for weeks together.

I.