Page:Face to Face With the Mexicans.djvu/316

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been validated.
310
FACE TO FACE WITH THE MEXICANS.

been founded about the year 1540. Two or three years later, in 1543, it was placed under the protection of the Emperor Carlos V.

A magnificent library that is open to the public is connected with this institution. The population of the city is about forty thousand, and its public benefactions are numerous and excellent. Among them I noted a hospital for men, and a separate one for women; Civil Hospital, Hospital del Corazon de Jesus, and Monte de Piedad, and many others. Not only are these institutions cleanly and well kept, but they are also spacious and airy. Since the reform war, and the separation of Church and State, many of the convents have been converted into hospitals. The afflicted inmates have a permanent and agreeable source of diversion in gazing upon the highly embellished walls of these stately institutions.

There are separate prisons for men and women, and also a general penitentiary. Cotton factories and other industrial establishments, including the manufacture of exquisite pottery, place Morelia in the van of progressiveness. The temples of worship are magnificent, and the public edifices of great elegance, while well-kept panthcons (cemeteries), paseos and alamedas add to the long list of its attractions. A favorite place of recreation is the beautiful avenue known as the Calzada de Guadalupe. It was originally constructed for the accommodation of the faithful who visited the Sanctuary of Guadalupe, where it terminated.

The Morelianos are exceedingly conservative, and neither Americans nor other foreigners have obtained any extensive foothold; nevertheless, there is a growing undercurrent of liberalism, which in many ways manifests itself. They have a city of many natural advantages, but while it is one of the most beautiful and interesting in the republic, it will be many years before the Anglo-Saxon race will reside there in great numbers.

We are everywhere forcibly reminded of Spanish domination in the architecture, which, like the language, has changed but little. Cities may differ in building materials, but the ancient Spanish is universally copied. However, it must be acknowledged that the Anglo-