The men and women of this class have completely lost modesty; their language is that of the drinking-house; they live in sexual promiscuity, get drunk daily, frequent the lowest _pulquerias_ of the meanest quarters; they quarrel and are the chief causes of disorders; they form the ancient class of Mexican _leperos_; from their bosom the ranks of petty thieves and pickpockets are recruited, and they are the industrious plotters of important crimes. They are insensible to moral suffering, and physical suffering pains them but little, and pleasures give them little joy. Venereal disease and abortion render the women of the group refractory to motherhood; paternity is impossible on account of the promiscuity in which they live; these two natural springs of altruism destroyed, they are indifferent to humane sentiments and egoistic in the animal fashion. Everywhere they may be seen, the repulsive feature of our streets. In speaking they reveal a dwarfed intelligence, as sadly ruined by their life as is their body. Their ideas are rudimentary notions derived from the common talk of the streets, comments on public events--the escape of one criminal, the sentence of another, the deportation of their companions, the capture of some “crook.” They are godless, with feeble superstition regarding the saints depicted on their scapulars or the medal of the rosary, which they wear beneath their filthy shirt. Their number is enormous; they constitute the dregs of the laboring classes, and their presence betrays the vortices of vice, where the outcasts of civilization are dragged down. ALEJANDRO VILLASEÑOR Y VILLASEÑOR. [Illustration] This well-known journalist was born in Mexico, July 15, 1864. His education was gained in the _Colegio de la Sociedad Católica_ (School of the Catholic Society), the _Escuela Nacional Preparatoria_ (the National Preparatory School), and the _Escuela Nacional de Jurisprudencia_ (National School of Jurisprudence). He received the title of Advocate, July 7, 1887. While still a student, in 1885 and 1886, he assisted upon the staff of the _Boletin de la Juventud Católica_ (Catholic Youths Bulletin). In March, 1889, he became associated with the editorial management of _El Tiempo_ (The Time), with which he still continues. He has also written many articles for other leading periodicals. In October, 1895, he founded _La Tribuna_ (The Tribune), which was not a financial success. An article in this was the cause of his imprisonment in the famous city prison of Belem. Señor Villaseñor y Villaseñor is a member of various learned and literary societies and has participated, as a delegate, in several important congresses. Among the latter is the First Catholic Congress held in the city of Puebla, in February, 1903.