past and sorrow for the present; and were reconducted to our domicile by the poor employés, who seemed to think that a Spanish Minister was the next best to a Spanish Viceroy, of anything they had seen for some time.
"The Past is nothing; and, at last,
The Future will but be the Past,"
says Lord Byron. Here the Past is everything; and the Future?—Answer it who can.
We were assured, while wondering at the number of machines for false coining which had been collected, that there are twice that number now in full force in Mexico; but that they belong to such distinguished personages, the government is afraid to interfere with them. Besides this, there is now no sufficient punishment for this crime, a capital offence in the days of the Spanish government. A lady here is said to have exclaimed, with much simplicity, on hearing her husband accused of false coining, "I really wonder why they make so much noise about it. It seems to me that my husband's copper is as good as any other!"
24th.—We went last evening to the opera, which was a repetition of Lucia, as it appears they cannot venture, in the face of public disapprobation, to repeat Romeo and Giulietta at present. As we were passing through the square, the carriage suddenly drew up; the coachman and footman uncovered their heads; and an immense procession came passing along to the cathedral, with lights and military music. There were officers in full uniform, with their
