converted into free schools, and one immense church, and several minor ones. I was disappointed in these churches. The largest has beautiful colored glass memorial windows, the pictures being of the highest grade of merit, and many rich paintings, but otherwise it does not equal that at San Juan de los Lagos, and the others are comparatively poor affairs, very old, and not in the best of repair.
Apropos of churches, I must relate an incident which recently occurred here. Two robbers had been arrested by the authorities, and they—the robbers—threw themselves upon the protection of the new saint of the place, for whose canonization sixty thousand dollars in coin, wrung from the hard and stinted earnings of the laboring poor had just been forwarded by the Bishop of Leon to Rome, who, probably from a fellow-feeling, and possibly old association, so interested himself in their behalf, that the hearts of the authorities were moved and they were discharged without trial. The priests at once seized upon this fact as a miracle, and played for all there was on the board. They issued a pamphlet or tract, setting forth the details of the miracle, and rudely illustrated for the edification of the faithful. But, alas, they had crowed before they were fairly out of the woods, and the result was discouraging. Col. Rosado, who is an educated man, and appears to have a prejudice against saints and highway robbers being allowed to work together, immediately re-arrested the two robbers, tried, convicted, and shot them, thus spoiling the miracle, and causing the impression to go abroad in the community that even sixty thousand dollar saints will not always do to gamble on.
When we entered Leon, the Feast of All-Saints was
