The New era. [volume] ([Portsmouth, Va.]) 1845-1847, 1846-06-04

| superiluous 10 add another TO the manv descrin
t'ons OF 'hls famous building which have already
oeen published. Like all the other churches I'm
| Mexico, ii is built in the Gothic styls The
walls, Of several feet thickness. are made of M
hewn stone and lime. Upon entering il, one is
: apt to recall the wild fictiOns of the Arabian
Nights 1t seems as II the wealth uf empires was
collected there. The clergy in Mexico do not,
'ur obvious reasons, desire that their wealth
ShoriI be made known To lis full extent; they
tre' therefore, not disposed 10 give very full in
FORMATION npnn the subject, or 10 exhibit tho gold
ina SILVER vessels, vases, precious stones and
'uer forms OF wealth quite enough is exhibited
10 strike the heholder with wonder. The frs,
INJECT That presents itself on entering the cathe.
dIai Is the altar. near the centre of the bnldinu
Is made OF highly wrought aud highly polished
silver, and covered with proiuson of ornaments
Of pure gold. On each side of this altar rims
oauslrade, enclosing space about eight feet
wide and eighty hundred feet long The
oaIustrades are about four feet high, and four in
ches lhick In the largest part; the handrail from
SIX to eight inches vide. Upon the top of this
handraii at the distance of six eight feet apart,
are human images, beautifully wrought, and
about two fee, high. All of these The baluslrade.
handrali, and images, are made of compound OF
goid' silver, and copper-more valuable than
SILVER. was told that an offer had been made
% lake this baius,rade, aud replace it with an
other OF exactly the same size and workmanship
lars besides There is much more of lhe same
1alustrade in other parts of the church; | should
think, IN all OF ii, not less than three hundred
ieet.
As You walk through the building ON either
side there are different apartments, all filled. from
The floor to The ceiling, with paintings, statues.
vases, huge candlescks, waters and tboneepd
other articles, made of gold OF silver This. too.
rs only the every day display of articles Of least
value the more costly are stored away in chests
aud closets. What must il be when all these
are brought out, with the immense quantity of
+, precious stones which the church is known 10
possess4 And this is only one OF the churches Of
Inc city OF Mexico, where there are between sixtv
ana eighty others, and some of them possessing
lIlie less wealth than the cathedral and il musI
also be remembered, that Ill the other large cities,
such as Puebla, Guadalajara, Guanaiunto. Zaca
iecas, Durango, San Lonis Poosi, have eacb !.
proPoFhonate number of equally gorgeous es,ab-
iisnmen's. IL would be The widest and most
random conjecture 10 attempt an estimate If ihe
amount OF The precious metals thus Withdrawn
from the usual currency of the world, and wasted
III these baTbarIc ornaments, incompatible with
good TASTE as hey are with the humility " bich
Is the most striking feature in the character of The
founder OF our religion, whose chosen Instruments
were the low and humble, and who himself re-
gaded as the highest evidence of his divine mis-
sion, the tact that TO the poor the gospel was
preached. do not doubt but there is enough of
me precious metals in the different churches of
Mexico 10 relieve sensibly the pressure upon The
currency of the world, which has resulted from
the diminished productions of the mines. and The
increased quantity which has been Appropriated
to purposes of luxury, and pay the cost of much
more tasteful decorations in architecture and STA.
:uary made of mahogany
But The immense wealth which is thus collect
ed in the churches, is not by any means all or
even the larger portion, of the wealth of the
Mexican church and clergy. They own yery
many OF INC hnest houses IN Mexico and other
cities CHE rents Of which must be enormous. \
besides valuable real estates all over the Repnblic
Almost every man leaves bequesl in his viii
Tor masses for his soul, which constitutes an in
cumbrance on the estate, and thus nearly all the
estates OF the proPrietors morfgaged to the
church. The property held by The church in
mormaIn is estimated at fifty millions
Mexico is, believe, the only country where
The chnrch property remains untouched entirely
Some small amounts has been recently realized
from the sale of The estates Of The banished .Je
suits but with that exception, no President how
ever hard pressed, (and there is no dav in the
year that they are not hard pressed has ever
dared to encroach upon that which is regarded az
cohsecfa'ed property, with the exception of Gomez
Farlas, who, in 1884 proposed to the Legislative
chambers to confiscate all the church property.
and the measure would, no doubt have been
adopted, but for revolution which oyerthrew the
administration.
The streets Of Mexico are uncommony wide.
much more so than is necessary, considering that
they are not INSTRUCTED, as in our cities by draws
and wagons. The sidewalks are uncommonly
narrow. The streets are all paved with round
stones; the sides with very rough fiat ones The
houses on the principals streets are all two and
three stories high. lie elevation of the rooms.
from the floor 10 the ceiling, eighteen and twenty
feel, gives to a house Of two stories greater
height than we are accustomed to see in houses
Of three The roofs are all terraced, and have
paraPe. walls Of three or four feet nigh, answer
ing all the purposes Of breast work, use TOO
commonly mado of them in the frequent reyolu-
tons TO which that unfortunate country seems 10
be forever destined. The walls are built Of rouoh
stones of oil shapes and sizes, and large quantities
Of limo mortar. They are very thick, and in
larger edfces Of much greater massiyeness The
foundations Of most Of the largest are made with
piles. Even these foundations are very insecure
and 1t is surprising that they are not more SO,
with such an immense weight Of stone upon such
unsteady foundation. The streets cross each
other at ;he right angles, dividing the whole CITY
into squares. Each one Of these squares is called
street, and has a separate name a serious in
l., a.