eigners shall not be required to reside in the Republic for the acquisition of waste or public lands, real estate, and ships, but that they shall be subjected to the restrictions imposed by the laws then in force. The act further provided that all leases of real estate made to foreigners shall be considered as sales if for a longer period than ten years.

The obligations contracted by an alien acquiring real estate in Mexico are:

1. To subject himself to the laws of the country in force at the time of acquisition or which may thereafter be enacted respecting the ownership, transfer, use, and improvement of land, and to submit to the judgment and decrees of Mexican courts in everything affecting the said land.

2. To pay all lawful taxes levied on the property.

3. To aid with his services and means in the preservation of order and security in his place of residence, except in cases of disturbance due to political revolutions, or civil war.

4. To perform the duties of a Mexican citizen, which a foreigner becomes on acquiring real estate, provided he does not beforehand declare his intention to retain his nationality.

(Up to the year 1886 the Mexican law recognized as a citizen every foreigner who had acquired real estate, or had a child born in the Republic, unless he explicitly made known his intention to preserve his nationality by being" matriculated," i. e., having his name and nationality inscribed in a book kept for the purpose in the department of foreign affairs, and outside of the capital in the state governor's office, etc., but by the law of July 7, 1886, the acts requiring the registration of foreigners were repealed. A foreigner, however, desiring to be recognized as such, may solicit and receive of the said department a certificate of nationality, which will constitute a legal presumption of foreign citizenship, but

will not bar proofs to the contrary being adduced in courts of competent jurisdiction in the manner established by the laws or treaties.)

TITLE OF AN ALIEN

An alien holding real estate in the Republic loses all right, title and interest therein in the following cases:

1. By absenting himself with his family from the country for more than two years without previous permission of the government. This does not apply to mining property.

2. By residing permanently abroad, although the owner may leave a representative or attorney to look after the property and represent him. Mines are also excluded from this provision.

3. By transferring the title to the real estate to any non-resident of the Republic, either by deed, will, or other conveyance. An alien thus situated must sell the property within two years from the date of absenting himself, under penalty of having it sold on his account by the local authorities. In the event of there being an informer to bring the matter to the notice of the proper authorities, one-tenth of the proceeds of the sale may be retained by him. Mines are not included.

Under the law, as given in substance above, the secretary of public works publishes every two years the prices at which government lands may be purchased.

CHAPTER XXI

THE LEGEND OF GUADALUPE

At Guadalupe, in the Valley of Mexico, is found the holiest shrine of all in Mexico and its legend is the prettiest of all legends.

As we read the little of Aztec history that the Spanish left unburned we may well wonder at the similarity of their religion to that of the Christians, and we are apt to conclude that the ancient Mexicans were not the pagans they have been painted, says Reau Campbell in his interesting "Guide." "Guide." The Aztecs waited for the coming of a Christ to save them; Malintzi, the Saviour of the Aztecs, was a man of fair countenance, long flowing hair and beard, was of gentle mien and character, was and is to come to save the Mexican; Tonantzin was the Mother of Gods in their religion, and the people worshiped her on the Hill of Tepeyacac, now called Guadalupe, where the Holy Virgin appeared to Juan Diego and where her holiest temple stands. This is the legend of Guadalupe:

A pious Indian, Juan Diego, lived in the village of Tolpetlac, and as he went to mass in the church of Santiago Tlaltelolco, passed around the hillside of Tepeyacac, on Saturday morning, December 9, 1531. He heard the sweet music of singing voices; he was afraid, and, looking up, behold, a lady appeared to him and bade him hear what she might say; he should go to the bishop and tell him that it was her will that a temple in her honor should be built on that hill; he listened tremblingly, on his knees, and when the lady had vanished, went his way and told the bishop what he had seen and heard.

The bishop was Don Juan Zumarraga; he listened incredulously to the Indian's story and sent him away. Sorrowfully he returned to where the lady appeared to him, found her waiting and told the bishop's answer; she bade him come to her again.

On the following day, Sunday, Juan Diego came again to the hillside; the lady appeared for the third time and sent him to the bishop again with her message that a temple should be built for her. The bishop, still unbelieving and distrusting the improbable means of conveying such a command through this poor Indian, told him he must bring some unmistakable token that what he said was true, sent him away again, and, unknown to him, sent two servants to watch him; but as he approached the hill he became invisible in some mysterious way, passed around the hill, and alone saw the lady and told her the bishop required a token of the truth of her commands; she told him to come to her again the next day.

Then returned Juan Diego to his house, and found that his uncle, Juan Bernardino, was ill with the fever, cocolixtli, so that he must wait at home and attend him. Early on the morning of December 12, the sick man being at the point of death, Juan Diego started to Tlaltelolco to call a confessor; fearing that he might be delayed if he met the lady, and that his uncle might die unconfessed, he went another way, around the other side of the hill. But behold! she was there, coming down the hill and calling to him; he told her of his uncle's illness and of his need for a confessor, but she assured him that his uncle was already well. Then the lady told him to gather flowers from the barren rocks on top of the hill, and immediately the flowers grew where none had ever been before; she commanded him to take these flowers to the bishop as the token he had desired, and to show them to no other until the bishop had looked upon them.

Joyfully he folded the flowers in his tilma, a sort of cloak made of ixtli, a fiber of the maguey, and departed again for the bishop's house. From the place where the Virgin stood a spring of clear, cold water gushed forth; that is there to this day-a panacea for the ills that flesh is heir to. When he came to the bishop's house, the Indian dropped the flowers at the holy father's feet and upon the tilma appeared the image of the Virgin Mary, in the most beautiful colors. The bishop placed the wonderful tilma with its miraculous picture in the oratory of his house, holding it as a priceless treasure. Juan Diego, escorted by the bishop's servants, returned to his own home and found that his uncle was well, cured in the hour when the Virgin spake and told him no confessor was needed. A chapel was built where the roses had so miraculously grown from the rocks, and on the 7th of February, 1532, the tilma of the holy image was placed over its altar within the shrine. Juan Diego and his uncle, Juan Bernardino, became the attendants, and under the teachings of Fray Toribio Motolinia, Juan Diego and his wife took vows of chastity and remained in the house of the Virgin as her servants till Juan Diego died, in 1548.

SANCTIONED BY THE CHURCH

The legend had the sanction of Rome, first under Pope Alexander VII., who ordered an investigation by the Congregation of Rites with a view to the granting of authority for the perpetuation of the feast of the 12th of December, the day of the last appearance of the Virgin to Juan Diego, the day of his gathering the roses in his tilma, and the appearance of the image when the flowers fell at the bishop's feet.

Toward the middle of the eighteenth century the Virgin of Guadalupe was made the Patron Saint of Mexico for her protection during the plague of the matlanzahuatl in 1736. In 1754, Juan Francisco Lopez, a Jesuit priest,