The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1846-06-13

small propretors are morlgaged TO the
church. The properly held by the church
in mortmain is estimated nj fifty millions
Mexico is, believe, the only country where
the church property remainsm its untouched
entirety Some small amount has been re-
Gently realized from the sale of the estates of
the banishcd Jesuits: but, with that eXcep-
ton no President however hard pressed, land
there is no day i'm the year that they nre moi
hard pressed has ever dared to encroach
upon that which is regarded Consecratcd
property, with the exception of Gomez Far
rias, who, in 1884 proposed TO the Legislative
chambers to confscate all the church proper
~, and the measure would, no doubt lave
been adopted, but for n revolution which 'oy-
erthrew the administration. g.H
The streets of Mexico are unconmonly
wide, much more so than is necessary, con-
sidering that they are not obstructed, as in
our cities by drays and wagons. The side
walks are uncommonly narrow. The streets
are all paved with stone; the sidewalks with
very rough flat ones. The houses on the
principal streets are all two and three stories
high. The elevation ofthe rooms, from the
floor TO the ceiling, eighteen and twenty feet,
gives TO the house of two stories n greater
height than we are accustomed TO see in
houses of three. The roofs are all terraced,
and have parapet walls ofthree or four feet
high answering all the purposes of breast
work, use too commonly made of them IN
! the frequent revolutions TO which that unior-
tunato country seems to be forever destined
| The walls are built of rough stones of all
shapes and sizes, and large quantities of lime
mortar. They are very thick, in ordinary
buildings from two TO three feet thick, and
in the large editices ofmuch greater mussive-
ness. The foundations of most ofthe largest
buildings are made with piles. Even the
! foundations are very Insecure, and il IL sur
prising that they are not more so, with such
an immense weight ofstone upon such an
Unsteady foundation. The streets cross each
other at right angles, dividing the whole city
into squares. Each one of these squares is
called a street and has separate name; n Sc
rous Inconvenience to n stranger in the city.
Instead of designating the street in its whole
extent, by one name, 81 numberingthe houses,
each side ofevery square has different name,
and names which sound, TO Protestant ears,
very much like the violation otthe Third Ar
ticle of the Decaloguc; such as the street of
Jesus, and the street ofthe Holy Ghost. A
fgentlenan will tell you that he lives in the
Holy Ghost, or that he lives in Jesus; certain
" not always true. if taken III the sense in
which our preachers use these words. In
most of these streets, there is n church,which
gives name to the street in which it stands
vents that of San Augustine for example)
covers the whole square, not with separate
buildings, but one single editice, with the u
sual patio or court, an open space in the CEN
tire.
There is not, ! believe, n house in the city
without this court, of greater or less dnnen-
sions, in proportion to the size of the build
ing. There is only one door on the lower
floor, and none at all on the outside fthe up
Il
and high enough for coach to pass through
it opens into the patio through which you
pass to the steps leading to the upper stories,
where alone every body lives except the low
er classes. In all the establishments of the
better classes, the basement story is only oc-
cuped 10y the servants, aud as lumber rooms;
and what struck me as very strange as stables
do not suppose that there is such a separate
building in the city as stable. In visiting
Count Certuna, for example, whose whole es-
adjustment is altogether princel y, and others
ofequal splendor and luxury | found this
court on the ground floor used as a stable,
and passed through rows of horses and carri- |
ages to make my way TO the most spacious
halls, filled with fine paintings of the great
masters, and furnished throughout in style al
together gorgeous. In some of the larger
private buildings thirty and forty different
families reside; each one having rented one
or two rooms; all entering Mt the only outside
door into the court, which is the common
property of al---and from which each has an
entrance TO his own rooms on the ground
floor or gallery above, which runs all around
the building. lido not think that the area
covered by the city ofMeXco can exceed two
miles in length, and amile and a halfin width;
a very smals space to be occupied by popu-
laton of nearly two hundred thousand. But
it is not at all surprising when you see 30 or
forty families, enough to make respectable
village. all huddled away in one house, and
consider what large number sleep i'll the
open air in that delightful climate. How
pure must be the atmosphere when the city
of Mexico is so remarkably healthy, notwith-
standing such crowded and filthy mode of
living, and with tropical sun shining upon
the moist surface ofthe whole valleyl One
would think the latter sufficient of itself to
produce the most fatal malaria. t-.I
tits a little curious that whilst the buildings
and population of Mexico are thus crowded
into so small space, and the rents are three
times as high as in the city of New York,yet
all around the city there is vacant ground,
and as dry as the city itself, which may be
had almost for the taking. ] was riding out
with a friend one evening when he showed
me square containing between five or six
acres Just in the rear ofthe Plaza de Toros
on the outskirts OF the clty, ana not more
than half or three quarters of a mile from the
public square, which he had Just purchased
for four hundred dollars. Why such lots
are not improved and the city extended, cam
not easily comprehend. l.7s
Mr. Thompson remarks that the soldieIy
are almost all ofIndian blood, and scarce
stronger than the women ofthe United States;
lido not hesitate to say that if l was in
command of an army often thousand disci-
plined troops, and was going into battle, and
was offered ten thousand more Mexican !