St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1886-04-22
A TRIP TO OLD MExICO---vI, VIII.

A Sabbath at Queretaro-Sights In the
PIaza-MissfOn Work Done and to be
DOne-The Place where MAMMALIAN
was Executed-The Home OF the Toll
tecs.--The City of the Aztecs--some Of
its PecuIIarities--Objects OF Interest,"
The SacrificiaI Stone--Chapultepe and
Its Beautiful Palace.
When the Emperor Macmillan look
ed out upon his executiOners from the
''Hill of the Bells" on that bright June
morning in 1867, his eyes must have
taken in one of the loveliest landscapes
in all Mexico. QueretarO (Ka-ret-a-ro)
is pleasantly located in a fertile valley
about $50 miles north of the city of
Mexico, and has about 10000 people.
Our last Sabbath ia March was spent
here. The market and the principal
plaza are very near together, and it
seemed as though every body in the
city was in one of these two places.
The plaza is very shady; there are
many seats, a pretty fountain and a
good band is playing; a company of
soldiers are exercising on one side, and
people of all grades and conditions are
either walking, lettering or sitting, but
whatever they are doing they are So
cial, chatty and well-behaved. There
are no rude boys pushing through the
crowd, nor cloud" girls making them
selves conspicuous, as might be seen
in New England crowd. The weather
is like perfect day in June and every
one seems to be enjoying it just as
though there was nothing else to do.
The mass of people are of better class
and are better dressed than those seen
farther nOrth-at Zacetacas, Chihua-
hua, etc.-yet the ever-present beggar
in rags is here. He is seen every where
in Mexico and is worse even than the
wicked flea for while the one only
draws blood the other is drain on
the sympathies.
But what a spectacle presents itself |!
Here is people as completely foreign
as can be seen in Southern Europe or
Egypt. Four out of five, of the men
especially, are dressed in white. A
few only of both sexes. wear the bright
cOlOrs so common in some of the towns
heretofore visited. Perhaps One-half
the thrOng wear shoes; the others are
either barefoot or wear the universal
sandal of the realm-a piece of fut
sole leather fastened to the bottom of
the foot by leather strings. The hats
of the men are are tall, Handicapped,
wide brimmed affairs, of either light
felt or straw. The women wear no
head covering, the poorer class bring
ing their blankets over their heads on
occasion.
While watching this interesting
scene, two very handsome and elegant
ly dressed and apparently cultivated
ladies walk in upon the plaza and take
a seat near the fountain. Their cos
tunes are of black silk and lace, and
their features and forms are fit for an
artists model. They sit and chat to-
gether for some time, and men passing
raise their hats. After a little, two
beggar children, evidently about ten
OF twelve years old, come along the
walk and approach these ladies for
aims. The girl has on a dirty-white
cotton garment which nearly covers
her body. The boy has wrapped about
him a piece of thin gunny cloth or
coarse sacking, and nothing more.
There is neither hat, shirt, coat, vest,
pants, stockings or shoes on either of
these children. Surely the rich and
the poor meet together in old Mexico
especially the poor.
But here i'll this strange city of a
strange land is the missionary preach
er. At little chapel two or three
squares from the plaza Revs. Craver
and Kemble conducted services flor it
was quarterly meeting) and their eyes
were rejoiced and their hearts made
glad by the sight of several Americans
in their audience, the first white men,
us Mr.. Craver said. who had ever join
ed their service in all their toll of ten
years in QueretarO. Philadelphia, the
city of brOtherly love, will largely have
the credit of making the voluntary of
fering that day an even 500. There
were 30 or more Mexicans at the COM
muniOn service in the evening, which
was prolonged till a quarter after 81
o'clock. In one seat was seen mother
with nursing baby in her arms, the
next larger child asleep prone on the
floor, and a boy of perhaps four or five
years on little stool at the mothers
feet. The service was Spanish but the |
tunes were United States, and these
Mexicans sung them with much spirit |
The missionary here says that to
espouse the Protestant faith means os-
loss of employment and some
times starvation.
A mile from the plaza at Queretaro
is little hill of easy ascent, outside !
the city limits, from which is a mag
view of this valley which now
blooms like garden with cultivated |
fields and rich foliage. A more lovely |
scene can hardly be imagined. This
called in our language the
Hill of the Bells, has melancholy in
interest from its connection with the |
execution of Macmillan. This ed
ucated and cultivated though mis-
guided man, who came to Mexico |
under the belief that this country |
was ready to accept him as their