The Washington union. [volume] (City of Washington [D.C.]) 1857-1859, 1858-04-23
The, CITY or. MEXICO.
(Corrcspondsnce Of Tho Mobile Register. ]

IT, . .s
Amid the rapid and complete political changes mado
here have frequently been struck with the contrast Of
fered by the material and soc immutability It s this
fact that makes the great work of Humboldt written
more than half century ago, still the text book for
every student of Mexican AFFAIRS lends such freshness
to the charming letters Of LAtrobe. The aud
customs of the old Spanars yet preserved to great
extent by their descenantsa fact st striking in
other cities where the proportion of foreign population is
much smaller than in the capital The scrupuous sepa
ration of tho sexes and the jealous guarding Of the
women, has strong favor of Orenaism and is perhaps
of those Moorish elements in the Spanish character
which have almost disappeared in the mother country but
remain active in the former colony curious Incident
which will often strike us ia the study Of
tune and dialect, To an American there y certainly
something very impressive about the city Of Mexico 1t
great and magnificent city when New York was
but fishing village and its prncely merchants traded
with China and the East indies through the port OF Aca
pulco and despatched silvcren galleons from Vera Cruz
to Spain when the guests Of the Boston teparty yet
unborn and long before the hunting grounds of the red
man had been cultivated into the tobacco plantations of
the Old Dominion. 1he massive walls OF hewn stone
stand firmly when first reared by the iron conquer
despite earthquakes md the tempess Of three hundred
years, and will endure long after many hourishing
American city of pershable brick and wood has been
built and rebuilt many times Indeed, the sterile
appearance of the plains Of CASTLE and the absence Of
the only essential to beautiful scenery lacking the M
bic lands of Mexico only to be found
the mountain sopesis hardly to be regretted when
reflect that to their original want OF timber is proba
bly, owing that taste and skill In mural architecture
which the Spanish to have inherited from their
Roman conquerors and which has induced them to rival
in the New World the stupondous creations Of the Old
How, as school do remember the picture OF the
quaint old cathedral IN the great square, and the Mexican
lady with surprisingly short pctticoats and bewchng
ankles putting cigarette II Well dreams reNli-
ties and those youthful myths have assumed forms and
substance Ten years ago, you, as young soldier In
victorious army, found these things !, perchance
mere lover Of the beantiful find them to-day. Poet
icai Calderon has said that only the unsghtly range
of buildings called the Paran prevented the Grand
Plaza of Mexico from being one OF the finest
squares in the world. Could the fair journalist re-
turn, she might venilatc her admiration in
ries of such ccstac sentences the ladies only know
how. to utter, for the obmoxions Pafinn has disap
peared its demolition by Santa Anna being OF the
most creditablc deeds that dubious hero We cannot
claim tho elegance of thu Place de aConcorde at Paris
the medGva richness of the square of Saint Mark at Ven
ice the noble proportions of the Piazza del Popoo at
Rome for anything this side of the Atlantic, but certain
ly neither prosaic New York nor prim Philadelphia
boast handsome square that Of Mexico. The Ca
thera has not the sky piercing spires lofty arch of the
grand old Gothic piles Of Antwerp and Cologne and
its architecture would shock the fstidous Mr. Rus
kin but It's noble building for all that massive az If
hen out of the living rock and we'll fitted to sustain tho
shock Of those earthquakes which ofsn shake this vol
canic land Set into its southwestern corner Just oppo-
site the entrance Of the fashionable Gale de PAeros 10
the curious calendar stone upon whose myytc Characters
much antiquarian lore has been exhausted. confess
myself not sufficiently animated BY tho ardor Of Bcsoni
Champocn TO attempt the riddle Of It's grotesque he
chanical knowledge Of the Azec evinoed IN the tran
sporntion ffom its quarry Of its enormous monoth.
l. Everything remains 10 you may remember It, The Ma
tion Palace and ormer vicersga resence stretching s
low facade for nearly quarter of mile along the east
side of the square always Produces upon mo the effect Of
colossal cotton factory, and only appears well at night
when illuminated, and when the Grand Paa brilliant
with the many coored cousons of exquisite Mexican
fireworks or is dinIy lighted by the mellow moon. On
the south side and oppose the Cathedral stands the
prominent building Of tAc DeputAcon, or city prison.
much feared by cvdong lcperos, and the line Of archcd
shops whose a-hnaginable WARES Mexican and foreign
sold from the silver plated and rchy-enbosssd sad
die Of the cavalier TO the penny rattle of the boy who
almost az noisy "a imp here In the United States To
the west, and Opposite the palace Is the Arcsde of the
Augustns tho fashionable moonlight promenade of this
ladies' and the resort Of that popnay portion of the pop
ulaton who afford 10 do nothing. An enterprsng
foreigner il about to dsipAte the gloom of this square
and the city dark nights with gas and has establish
cd extensive works the rasco while less active
Yankee has invaded It's ancient sancty by pushing tho
rails of the Tacuays road just Ia front of the mysterious
porphyry calendar. This spot, saturated with
the blood Of hccatomt of victims, slaughtered at the
shrine of the Aztec god afterwards tFoddsn by the
iron heel of the Castian conqueror and even in our sy
econg with the victorious artillery OF Scott ia now the
scene o the peaceful labors of modern science and the
dusy Indian whose forefathes here engaged in the in
ernal rites of Ba is startled by the shrill whistle
| OF the alialeyelling locomotive y" AA''