GEN. MANUEL GONZALES, FORMER PRESIDENT OF MEXICO.
"At the end of the hall is a painting, twenty-five feet long by ten in height, representing the great battle of Puebla, of May 5, 1862, when the French were so completely defeated—the battle commonly mentioned in Mexican history as the Cinco de Mayo. It is by Miranda, a native artist; and though it is not a fine specimen of painting, it is a correct representation of the ground on which the battle was fought—at least, so a gentleman says who has personally visited it. The scene illustrated in the battle is the turning-point, when a regiment of ragged Indians from Oajaca came into line, drove back the French, and gave the victory to the Republicans. This battle is regarded as the Waterloo or Gettysburg of the French in Mexico; it sealed the fate of Maximilian's empire and re-established the republic.
"Speaking again of Maximilian reminds us of a room which is on a corner of the palace, so that it has two windows at right angles. This was his favorite apartment, and in the latter part of his reign he used to pace its floor for hours. An English visitor says he could look from it two ways at once, though not the way to hold his throne. One window looks upon the market-place, and the other on the Plaza Mayor; the room is now the storage-place of relics, no one seeming to care to put it to any other use."
COLLATERAL IN THE MONTE DE PIEDAD.
From the palace to the pawn-shop may not seem a very natural step, though Frank said it had probably been taken by more people than would be willing to acknowledge it. Doctor Bronson and the youths took this step at the city of Mexico, and it was not a very long one either. The Monte de Piedad is not far from the National Palace; it corresponds to the famous Mont de Piété of Paris, and is in most of its features analogous to that French institution. Here is what Fred learned about it:
