unnecessary.[1] Yet in the poorest households hospitality was extended to any one with a profusion and good-will that seemed religious in its universality.
The light-hearted disposition of the people was best manifested at their numerous and spirited festivities, connected principally with the church, but multiplied by holidays in honor of birthdays and other incidents pertaining to the royal family; on the occasion of good news, and on the birthday of the viceroy there was likewise rejoicing.[2] Nearly all these were celebrated with processions, bell-ringing, bull-fights, balls, fireworks, and general merriment. On royal birthdays the ceremonies began with solemn mass, attended by the official bodies, and were followed by a public reception at the viceregal palace, where the hand of the ruler was kissed by the different bodies, in prescribed order of precedence. . Meanwhile artillery salvos resounded, and in the afternoon a promenade in coaches and on horseback was made by the leading personages in the alameda of Mexico.[3]
This afternoon promenade was for that matter a daily feature, which gave the best opportunity for displays of toilets and wealth. Hundreds of the heavy springless coaches of the time,[4] covered and embellished with profuse designs, then rolled slowly
- ↑ Even rich Indians seldom made an effort to rise above the poor neighbor in comforts. Alzate, Gazeta Lit., ii. 99; Estalla, xxvi. 307; Ward's Mex., ii. 179-80; Pike's Explor., 373. While benches or chairs were provided in the churches for certain classes of men, the women had to sit humbly on the floor, with or without mats.
- ↑ For the tribunals the holidays extended over easter, the week precedit, and Christmas, ash- Wednesday, and two carnival days preceding, and over 30 other days, chiefly of saints. Ordenes de Corona, 1747-50, MS., i. 42-3. In Guijo, Diario, i., passim, and Robles, Diario, are indicated a number of casual festivals. Reales Ordenes, iv. 375-6.
- ↑ As prescribed in Ordenes de Corona, MS., v. 113-15.
- ↑ Curtains were at one time used instead of doors. Latterly English vehicles came into vogue. Estalla alludes to the frequent sight of incomplete livery, a half-naked coachman with one boot, and so forth. More than once coaches had been forbidden in connection with other sumptuary restrictions, but this served only as a momentary check, and in 1785 the capital had 637 with an average of 4 or 5 servants attending. Villarroel, Enferm. Pub., 103. Gage claims that in his time, 1625, there were about 2,000, Voy., i. 213, but this is a mere guess.
