Once
After A Church Feast, Which Was Largely Given Up To Drinking, The
Priest Fell Over On The Floor In A State Of Intoxication.
"While he
thus lay drunk, a boy crawled through the door to ask his blessing,
whereupon the priest swore horribly and waved him off, 'Not to-day,
not to-day those farces!
I am drunk, very drunk!'" Such an one has
been described by Pollock: "He was a man who stole the livery of the
court of heaven to serve the devil in; in holy guise transacted
villainies that ordinary mortals durst not meddle with."
Lest it might be thought that I am strongly prejudiced, I give this
extract from a responsible historian of that unhappy land: "The
simple-minded and superstitious Paraguayans reverenced a Pai, or
father, as the immediate representative of God. They blindly and
implicitly followed the instructions given to them, and did whatever
was required at his hands. Many of the licentious brotherhood took
advantage of this superstitious confidence placed in them by the
people to an extent which, in a moral country, would not only shock
every feeling of our nature to relate, but would, in the individual
instances, appear to be incredible, and, in the aggregate, be counted
as slanderous on humanity."
During my stay in Pagwaomi, a dance was held on the sward outside one
of the houses, and the national whirl, the sarandiy, gave pleasure
to all. The females wove flowers in their hair, and made garlands of
them to adorn their waists.
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