Alice Dixon Le Plongeon

“ And yet, can lovely charity exist where hope and faith have fled?"
"No!" replied the aged man; "if we hope not for better things, have faith in no one, in nothing—the motive for charity is gone. Why put forth a hand to raise the fallen if we have no hope for them, if we believe they will fall again as surely as the sun will rise to-morrow? To relieve the temporary wants of a fellow-creature is called charity. The beggar wanders forth from his wretched hovel with hope and faith to win something from charity. He succeeds and shares his morsel with one as miserable as himself. ”

“ Stretching my hand toward the darkening heavens, already studded with a few glittering stars, I asked him, "Is there, then, no perfect happiness in any part of that immensity, no divine abode where sorrow is unknown?"
"Happiness and sorrow only exist by comparison. The two conditions are as inseparable as light and shadow. Wert thou to live a million years in every part of the universe, thou couldst never escape all pain. To be, is to suffer as well as to rejoice. ”

“ Raising his head, the old man said, "Hope! faith! enchanting illusions, interminable anticipations never to be fulfilled! Afar off we see a glittering light, soft and clear as that of the fire-flies that illumine the darkness of night. It is distant, very distant; that distance is the future, unknown, mysterious, always before us, never to be overtaken. We see the bright beam, but between it and us all is vague and shadowy. The solitary light is hope, with its glowing radiance, its deceptive mirage ”

“ Until we succeed in moderating our selfishness there will always be millionaires and beggars; with periodical uprisings of the enraged masses, who, in their assault on capital, do about as much harm to the rich man as a butterfly's delicate wings could inflict upon a stone wall: the wings are bruised and weakened; the wall is unaltered. Only when men cease to love money will mankind be well off, and that time is not near at hand. ”

“ I interrupted; "better to be disappointed than hopeless; few indeed are the brave souls that need not hope; many a weary spirit, without that one poor consolation, would pass through its joyless existence like a wanderer in the desert without sun or star to guide him on."
But the sage said, "Happy is he who after a lapse of years can yet hope! Happy the one whose heart has not grown sick from hope long deferred; for hope departed, can faith exist? ”

“ Work, we must; and we become more and more the slaves of labor as civilization increases and fictitious wants are created.
The unequal distribution of wealth, that causes such bitterness of spirit and fierce struggles between capital and labor, is the natural result of a complicated social system; nor is it easy to suggest an effective, lasting remedy; for we are inclined to think that even the most earnest socialist would be unwilling to renounce his right to amass property. ”

“ Beyond a question it is piteous to see a thinly clad woman, barefooted, blue with cold, clasping a famished babe to the breast that quivers with suppressed sobs—with grief for the hapless little one who can find there no warmth or nourishment: while a luxurious carriage rolls by, the gouty epicure within too ill-humored to take the trouble of throwing a penny to his starving fellow-creature, who, with beseeching eyes, implores his aid, as the snow-flakes flutter down upon her ragged garments. ”

“ Alas! will he ever be intellectual enough to seek happiness through perfect obedience to nature's laws? The fanatic fasts until he is horrible to look upon, heaping indignities and torments on his unfortunate body. The glutton forces into his poor stomach what would be enough to keep two or three men in good health. Are not the fanatic and the glutton equally culpable and wretched? Be moderate in all things; crave neither wealth nor honors, for only knowledge and wisdom can give true satisfaction. ”

“ The principal industry of the villagers is fishing, and from the month of April to August, all their attention is given to turtle-catching. So, on that moon-lit night, as we strolled along the beach, men, women, and children also wended their way to the north end of the island, where all was silent as the white tombstones in the village grave-yard by which we passed. ”

“ Centuries ago, the people of America had a system of communism that we to-day would not tolerate—no! not even those who declaim against capitalists, while in their heart of hearts they hope to one day have a capital of their own. ”

“ When we ourselves questioned a Carib about the terrible Mafia, he said it was the Devil, that was why they worshiped him; not God, for God was good. "Mafia," said he, "always carries away the boy that is offered to him." ”

“ Hope is but a vain shadow, and we cling to it as to a strong anchor; like the bright reflection cast by a mirror, its light withdrawn leaves us in yet greater darkness, Daughter, those who have no hope are never disappointed. ”

“ Labor is the unavoidable condition of life; to toil for existence an unchangeable law of nature. From the smallest microscopic insect to the largest globe that is forever rushing through boundless space, every atom is active; every creature struggling, toiling, battling for life; millions upon millions of individuals bound together, forming one great whole, and mutually dependent on each other. ”

“ I said, "such a scene fills my soul with delight, with hope. The beautiful colors and forms make me revel in dreams of brighter lands, of a better state, where there shall be only joy and goodness. Surely in time man will become more perfect even here. There is much to hope for; we must have faith in the future. ”

“ The journey back is even harder, for they are tired and loaded; yet these people are such lovers of cleanliness that, arriving at their poor huts, before tasting food, they will use some of the water that has cost them so much, to bathe their smoke-begrimed skin. As several women once fainted in the cave, men now always fetch the water.
Yucatan is, and has been for ages past, quite free from earthquakes, while all surrounding countries are from time to time convulsed. This immunity may be due to the vast caverns and numerous great wells existing throughout the land. ”

“ We found a strange character living on the island apart from every one except two men who serve him. With them he makes houses, stone walls, and statues of himself. He calls himself Spanish Consul and fomentador, has large plantations of vegetables, and plenty of cattle, yet will neither give nor sell anything to anybody, not even a little milk for any one who is sick. Vegetables and fruits ripen and rot, while his cattle roam everywhere and spoil all that other people plant. He works like a slave, and only allows himself one scanty meal a day. ”

“ A man walked beside, with a table on his head. Men, women, and children, some mourners, others idlers, brought up the rear. The men were bareheaded, the women wore mantillas as at church. They looked sad, but the absence of a black hearse, and other funeral paraphernalia, seemed to rid death of half its horrors.
The followers sang a dirge. At each corner the procession halted, the table was put on the ground, and the coffin placed on it. The priest, with his face toward the deceased, then chanted in a sonorous musical voice, the people responding. ”

“ Poor humanity! with all its pride, its vices, its prated virtues, what is it? Make a hole in the earth, fill it to the brim with flesh—human or not human, all flesh is alike—return to that spot a few days later ”

“ Thus we became acquainted with their mode of life, religion, sacred rites, superstitions, fables and traditions; as well as learning something of their philosophy, and observing how communism is practiced among them. In a ranch called X-Uaiul, near the ruined city of Zay, the inhabitants still preserve the customs of their ancestors. Not only do they work their fields in common, and share equally the product of their labor, but even the food is cooked for all in one building, every family sending thither for its allowance, which is regulated according to the number of persons in each home. ”

“ Ten miles from the eastern coast of Yucatan lies the Island of Cozumel, one of Nature's favored spots, where there is perpetual spring, and to live in the open air is a delight. We wanted a house, nevertheless, and were by no means charmed when informed that it would be very difficult to find a lodging. ”

“ O, fair hope! everchanging, never, never true! for delightful as the reality may be, how far does it fall short of the expectation! The nectar we have longed to quaff no sooner reaches our lips than it becomes embittered! ”

“ The writings of Mexico proper (anciently Yucatan was not part of Mexico) were altogether pictorial. Not so those of the Mayas; but, like the Egyptians, the Maya scholars represented material objects by drawing their outlines to render their conceptions more plain to those uninitiated in the arts of reading and writing.
They also employed symbolic characters, in order to conceal truths discovered by them when they did not care to make them known to the multitude; perhaps believing that "the secrets of nature or art discovered by philosophers, must be hidden from the unworthy." ”

“ From the depths of those forests where sunbeams dance among the leaves and struggle with them in a vain endeavor to reach the delicate ferns and flowers that nestle below, her sweet but plaintive cry is wafted to us on the breeze that comes laden with forest echoes. ”

“ Vice is to do anything that is unnatural. It is right for the creatures peopling sea and air to prey upon and devour each other; they obey that supreme law, self-preservation. Harsh as it may sound, selfishness is a law that all must obey. ”

“ As we stooped to crawl in and out, we conjured up visions of diminutive individuals going back and forth, and up and down the almost perpendicular stairs, in quaint and scanty attire, bearing offerings to propitiate the dear gods of the sea. ”

“ Then Friar Juan de Orbita, the most excitable of the two fathers, mounted on the back of the horse, and, using a stone as a hammer, broke it into small pieces, scattering them over the floor of the temple, at which the Indians were so exasperated that they raised a great outcry: "Kill them! kill the white men! they have destroyed our thunder god; let them die for the injury they have done!"
The priests, instead of showing fear, knowing well the language of the natives, scolded them for their idolatry ”

“ I have done all the good in my power to everybody, never refusing to serve the poor because they could not pay me; yet I have an Evil Eye; I do not know how it happens. One day I walked through a yard without glancing to the right or to the left.—Almost immediately a woman came running after me, saying: 'Oh, Señor Cura, you have looked at my pig, and it has just dropped down dead! ”

“ Whether life is worth living or not, makes no difference; the ever-dominant power that we call instinct, impels us to strive; repels us from extinction; we blindly obey. We are weary in mind and body, we suffer only: nevertheless we employ the proper means to go on existing. ”

“ Reaching a place where thick shrubs grew, not far from the water's edge, all concealed themselves behind the bushes or in the shadow cast by them, and from their hiding-place watched silently for the turtles. ”

“ The people found there at the time of the Conquest said they did not know; if any traditions existed among them they remained untold; nor is it to be wondered at when we consider the way in which the natives were treated by the European invaders.
Civilized as they were in some respects, the Americans at that epoch were degenerated—as history teaches us that all great nations do sooner or later degenerate, like individuals who, having reached maturity, pass to old age and decay. ”

“ All identity is gone, and millions of identities will spring from the destruction, identities that we either ignore or regard as infinitely inferior to ourselves; identities that are, in fact, no less important in the Great Whole than we—we who consider ourselves of such vast interest to the Supreme Power ”

“ Pirates' exploits and their buried piles of gold and gems are the inexhaustible source of all the romantic stories that the fishermen love to tell on moonlight nights, seated on the bottom of some boat turned up on the beach. ”

“ It seldom occurs to those who have not seriously considered the matter that there is no reason why this large continent should not have been inhabited by as great a variety of people as the lands on the other side of the globe, since it was equally suitable for the human race. ”

“ It would be almost impossible to transport the salt by land to village Dolores; the only roads are narrow pathways through the thicket, and the soil is so rocky and uneven that it is tiresome to walk, much more so to carry a load. A great extent of the interior of the island is taken up by a most picturesque lake that opens on the south side of the bay by a narrow channel through which the water of the ocean enters. The lake is consequently subject to tides, and it is navigable for the majority of the canoes used by the fishermen. ”

“ The rocky elevation upon which the shrine stands is a wild and romantic spot, its base surrounded by crags against which the roaring billows constantly dash their white foam. On each side the rocks are yielding to the unceasing action of the waves ”

“ The law-givers of each land will assure thee that right is to obey their mandates; and will chastise any divergence from them; while Nature, inexorable, will instantly inflict the penalty of any disobedience to her laws. ”

“ After dark we sat round an enormous camp fire, and knowing that it was not impossible for us to be disturbed by wild beasts or Indians, we vied with each other in telling blood-curdling stories to make the time pass pleasantly. ”