"Thanks, Senor Don Inocencio," said Pepe, feeling a bitter and
rebellious sentiment of hostility springing up within him toward the
canon, and unable to conquer his desire to mortify him. "But let none
of you imagine, either, that it was the beauties of art, of which
you suppose the temple to be full, that engaged my attention. Those
beauties, with the exception of the imposing architecture of a portion
of the edifice and of the three tombs that are in the chapel of the
apse, I do not see. What occupied my mind was the consideration of
the deplorable decadence of the religious arts; and the innumerable
monstrosities, of which the cathedral is full, caused me not
astonishment, but disgust."

The amazement of all present was profound.

"I cannot endure," continued Pepe, "those glazed and painted images
that resemble so much--God forgive me for the comparison--the dolls that
little girls pay with. And what am I to say of the theatrical robes that
cover them? I saw a St. Joseph with a mantle whose appearance I will not
describe, out of respect for the holy patriarch and for the church of
which he is the patron. On the altar are crowded together images in
the worst possible taste; and the innumerable crowns, branches, stars,
moons, and other ornaments of metal or gilt paper have an air of an
ironmongery that offends the religious sentiment and depresses the soul.
Far from lifting itself up to religious contemplation, the soul sinks,
and the idea of the ludicrous distracts it. The great works of art which
give sensible form to ideas, to dogmas, to religious faith, to mystic
exaltation, fulfil a noble mission. The caricatures, the aberrations of
taste, the grotesque works with which a mistaken piety fills the church,
also fulfil their object; but this is a sad one enough: They encourage
superstition, cool enthusiasm, oblige the eyes of the believer to turn