cost of two life-size statues—such as these pedestals could support; and, however meagre may be the annals of some of these fractions, no one of them can have failed to produce two personages, worthy of being honored with a monument, which, recalling his deeds, perpetuates them.
... the three conditions, which ought to be demanded in accepting the sculptures:
- That the honor should be decreed only to the notable dead.
- That all the statues should be of life-size and of marble or bronze.
- That the plans or models should be approved by a special jury, named by a cabinet officer, in order that only true works of art, worthy of figuring in a paseo in which exist monuments of the importance of those of Columbus and Cuauhtemoc, may be accepted.
Sosa’s suggestion was well received and, up to the present, something like forty statues have been erected, forming a notable gallery in which the nation and the states may well take pride. The states have taken their turns and one, each year, presents two statues, on the anniversary of National Independence—September 16. On the whole the statues have met the three requirements and not only form a Mexican house of fame, but an artistic adornment to a beautiful driveway.
MALINTZIN.
According to the testimony of judicious investigators, this celebrated Indian woman was born in the pueblo of Painala, in the Mexican province of Coatzacoalco (Vera Cruz). Her father had been a feudatory of the crown of Mexico and lord of many pueblos. Her mother, left a widow, contracted marriage with another noble, by whom she had a son,